Chapter 150: 149. The Mansion

149. Chapter 149: The Mansion

Time slipped by, and three days passed.

During these three days, great changes occurred within San Yang City; the most important was the rebuilding of the Zhao Martial Arts Hall.

But it was rebuilt on the site of the Jin Family Martial Arts Hall.

Because the original location of the Zhao Martial Arts Hall was poor, too small, and severely damaged—completely ruined—it was simpler to clear and clean the seized Jin Family Martial Arts Hall and move in directly, saving much trouble.

Over these three days, the disciples of the Zhao Martial Arts Hall gradually returned.

Some disciples who had graduated, upon hearing of the Zhao Martial Arts Hall's resurgence, came to pay their respects and brought expensive gifts; other factions and groups in San Yang City, fearing retribution, flocked to curry favor, hoping for forgiveness, while injured disciples needed treatment, and all order needed rebuilding—it was a constant flurry of activity.

Fortunately, Zhao Ge had experience managing a martial arts hall and assigned several trusted disciples to handle affairs; within just a few days, the hall had already taken initial shape.

Li Yi, meanwhile, chose to stay out of it all—he didn't understand these matters and didn't want to waste time on them, so he returned to his own mansion and buried himself in cultivation.

Yes,

he now had his own mansion in San Yang City.

This mansion had previously belonged to the Han Family Martial Arts Hall; after Han Tianbao was killed and his disciples eliminated by the Wei Wu Escort Agency, the Han Family Martial Arts Hall remained intact, and after hiring a few servants to clean it, it was ready for immediate occupancy—no effort required.

But the mansion was huge.

Li Yi lived alone as if in an estate, empty and vast—lose a person here, and you'd never find them.

According to his master's advice, he should soon hire a steward and buy servants, maids, and attendants to properly establish the Li Mansion, lest he be laughed at.

But for now, Li Yi could only make do.

He now wandered the mansion alone with his Eight-Treasure Deer, searching for things that interested him—he entered the weapons arsenal and found numerous powerful bows and crossbows, even some fine iron armor; he even tried out the world's bows and crossbows, ultimately concluding they were inferior to firearms.

Thus, Li Yi quickly lost interest.

He then went to the medicine room and discovered many precious herbs left behind by the Han Family Martial Arts Hall—such as Blood-Boosting Pills, which were brewed from various tonics to nourish the body and strengthen the blood, essential sustenance for martial artists; Li Yi found several chests of them, likely of great value; besides Blood-Boosting Pills, there were other tonics for strengthening tendons and bones, healing medicines, poisons, and more.

"Wait—Han Family should have a secret vault. Valuable items wouldn't be left out in the open." Li Yi suddenly remembered something and immediately left the medicine room.

At this moment,

outside the medicine room, the Eight-Treasure Deer stood like a statue, head raised, utterly still.

"Stop pretending. Help me find the Han Family's secret vault—there must be potent herbs there you'd love. If you want to eat, earn your keep." Li Yi said.

Upon hearing this, the Eight-Treasure Deer immediately pranced happily in one direction, as if it had been waiting for Li Yi to speak.

Seeing this, Li Yi immediately followed.

The Eight-Treasure Deer, born with the ability to locate earth treasures and exceptionally sensitive to the scent of potent herbs, soon led Li Yi to an unremarkable study in the back courtyard.

The Eight-Treasure Deer tapped the floor with its hoof, signaling that the secret vault lay beneath.

"A hidden underground chamber?" Li Yi walked over, stomped hard with his foot.

Spiritual force erupted—the floor instantly sank and collapsed.

A passage leading to an underground vault appeared before him.

"You're quite useful, you mountain treasure. Your ability to find things is unmatched. After Han Tianbao's death, no one likely knew of this vault—whatever's inside must be perfectly preserved. Let's see if I can find anything useful." With this thought, Li Yi entered the passage.

But after only a few steps, dozens of arrows shot from the opposite end—ferocious, powerful, capable of easily killing a Blood-Refining martial artist.

"Traps?" Li Yi paused, then without hesitation punched forward.

His fist unleashed a torrent of force, a whirlwind reversing the arrows, scattering them everywhere—none could harm him.

To avoid further trouble, Li Yi activated his spiritual sense and immediately sensed everything around him.

Under the effect of his spiritual sense, Li Yi detected several more traps—he destroyed them all, then stepped calmly into the vault.

The vault was large, filled with all manner of chests on the floor.

Li Yi opened several chests and found them packed with vast amounts of gold and silver—immensely valuable. He also discovered several rare treasures, such as a golden bead.

This golden bead could be boiled into a liquid; drinking it would strengthen tendons and bones, with extraordinary effects.

But before Li Yi could examine it further, the Eight-Treasure Deer darted out, snatched it in its mouth, chewed a few times, swallowed with a gulp, then stared calmly at Li Yi—as if to say, I ate it. What are you going to do about it?

"You're not the least bit modest when you see something good," Li Yi scolded, but the golden bead held no use for him—let the Eight-Treasure Deer have it.

He found a precious ginseng, seemingly hundreds of years old, but useless to him.

The greatest nourishment for an Evolver is cosmic energy; these treasures are priceless to people of the Four Seas and Eight Continents, but to Li Yi, they might be worth only a few bottles of golden nutritional liquid.

"Is this… an Yin Horse?"

Li Yi's expression brightened—he saw a clay horse on a shelf, unremarkable in appearance, yet he recognized it: an Yin Horse usable on Ghost Street.

This item was extremely useful to him.

"Good find. It seems Han Family's people once visited Ghost Street." Li Yi immediately secured the Yin Horse.

He continued searching.

Li Yi found a small chest containing several so-called martial arts manuals. He flipped through them briefly; though he couldn't read the characters of the Four Seas and Eight Continents, he could roughly identify them as Han Family's methods for training skin, bones, and tendons, and even methods for training marrow and replacing blood.

Even Han Family's core technique, the Heart-Shattering Palm, was recorded.

Acquiring these meant Li Yi inherited the entire Han Family Martial Arts Hall's legacy.

"The cultivation methods of the lower three realms are useless to me. But the marrow-replacement blood method could help—I'm about to enter the marrow-refining realm. Still, my master has his own marrow-replacement method. I'll take these back and compare later—choose the superior one." Li Yi stored them away and kept searching.

He was beginning to understand why people loved being bandits.

The Han Family Martial Arts Hall had developed for decades; once seized, all its resources and wealth became Li Yi's.

And Li Yi had only been in San Yang City for one day—he was now wealthy beyond measure, owning not just a martial arts hall, but all its affiliated businesses; with just a few hired hands to manage them, he'd have a constant stream of income.

This shortcut to becoming a billionaire was addictive.

Once accustomed to it, who would still bother with slow, honest development and management?

No wonder every dynasty treated bandits with zero tolerance—once this bandit ambition took root, it was nearly impossible to return to being an honest, law-abiding citizen; eventually, one either murdered and plundered or raised a banner in rebellion, threatening imperial rule and requiring extermination.

After circling the vault, Li Yi took only what he needed and left.

He then wandered other areas, familiarized himself with the surroundings, and returned to the main hall of the Han Family Martial Arts Hall.

But the hall was now empty—he sat down casually and began to ponder.

"This mansion is excellent as my base in San Yang City. But considering I may make a second or third cross-world journey, I need a secondary base outside the city. The Yin Horse entering the city is too conspicuous—I must conceal it somewhat, for this world still has upper-realm masters and thousand-year spirits. Everything must remain low-key."

"Yet to operate in San Yang City, I need my own people. Otherwise, as a newcomer in an unfamiliar place, I'll achieve little. My master is busy with the martial arts hall and recovering from injuries—I can't bother him with trivial matters. Zhao Qian is still a girl, inexperienced. Rong Niang and Skinny Monkey are excellent, but my master needs them too—they're likely overwhelmed. And I don't know anyone else in the hall."

"Besides, I can't wait until the martial arts hall is fully stabilized before pursuing my own goals—there's no time. I must return to Tianchang City."

Li Yi realized he had much to do. Thinking this, he grew restless, went to the stable, led out the black steed, took some gold and silver, and stepped outside.

The Eight-Treasure Deer glanced once and immediately followed.

Near the Han Family Martial Arts Hall, shops were closed, buildings empty.

Everyone who had been close to the Han Family had fled, abandoning the area, fearing future retribution.

But once Li Yi left this street, he still felt the bustle of San Yang City—crowds surged, people came and went.

Under these circumstances, Li Yi dismounted, walking the streets while leading his horse.

Though he alone had stirred the Fengyun of San Yang City, most people there didn't recognize him—they simply saw him as an outsider martial artist, paying him little attention.

This, for Li Yi, was actually beneficial.

He approached a street vendor, asked for the location of the broker's office. The vendor, seeing Li Yi was a martial artist, dared not offend him and immediately pointed out the direction.

Li Yi thanked him, gave the vendor a silver tael, and headed toward the broker's office.

Soon, he found the shop.

This was a lesson he learned from Zhao Qian: in the Four Seas and Eight Continents, no matter where you are, the broker's office is the most well-informed place—and no matter what you do, you'll inevitably deal with it.