Chapter 428: The Third Path (3/3)

Officially closing?

The crowd was stunned once again; what was going on?

Li Heng continued to speak.

"Just as you see, that Wujian Innkeeper from a moment ago is gone, so I have become the innkeeper of this inn, and therefore this Wujian Inn is going to close."

"What do you mean by closing?"

The waiter on the side stepped forward, trembling, and asked.

Although he did not understand what was happening, as an employee of this Wujian Inn, he could sense that the great god before him was truly the innkeeper of Wujian Inn!

"It means this inn is no longer open for business, closing down for good, of course."

Li Heng said with a happy smile.

The crowd was instantly dumbfounded.

So happy about closing down for good?

This Wujian Inn was a gold-swallowing beast; how could someone choose to close it? Was there too much money?

Upon hearing this, the waiter felt a bad premonition rise in his heart.

"You said closing? Then what about me!"

He pointed at himself and asked in astonishment.

"As for you, considering you're just a worker, go back to where you came from." Li Heng glanced at the waiter and said calmly. He had no interest in running this so-called inn; he only intended to fleece it.

"Alright, stop disturbing the peace."

With a wave of his hand, these guests and the waiter vanished from the inn, appearing at the foot of that lonely mountain the next moment, looking completely bewildered.

The little golden dragon finally came to his senses and hurriedly crowded next to Li Heng.

"My Lord, what is this? How did you become the innkeeper? Being an innkeeper in such a Ghost Place, this won't do." He wagged his tail and said with great worry.

"This is adult business, you pet, stay out of it. Besides, is this dragon worried about me? You're worried about not having those delicious Energy Crystals later, right?"

Li Heng glanced at the little golden dragon, seeing through his thoughts.

The little golden dragon gave an awkward smile upon hearing this.

Could he be blamed for that?

Who told those Energy Crystals to be so delicious, and they could even make up for the missing parts of his True Spirit. Now, his True Spirit had already solidified quite a bit; if he kept eating, who knows, he might really be able to turn from death to life and return once more.

Li Heng ignored the little golden dragon and looked around the inn.

Because the original Wujian Innkeeper was too stingy, and the food in the inn actually relied on the power of the Wujian Strange and wasn't made by a chef, they only hired one waiter.

Now that the waiter was gone, it was just right for him to act as he pleased.

For example, buying this Wujian Inn!

He possessed Source Power and also the Trading Balance, which was the manifestation of the concept of trade; theoretically, he could trade for anything and buy anything, but because the main body of the Wujian Strange was truly too powerful, the purchase price was also too expensive for him to afford.

But for just a Wujian Inn, it was different.

He summoned the Trading Balance and began to weigh the price of this Wujian Inn in the conceptual realm, discovering that he could not afford the price for a complete purchase; buying it would still leave him penniless.

Li Heng was somewhat surprised; it was just an inn, that shouldn't be the case.

However, after sensing it carefully, he suddenly realized.

It turned out that this Wujian Inn was not an independent entity; a large part of its origin had a very strong connection to that Wujian main body. To completely buy the Wujian Inn was equivalent to buying a large part of the Wujian main body.

That was why he couldn't afford it and would be left penniless.

If he changed his thinking, he didn't need to buy it completely; there were downsides to a complete purchase. For instance, he would Absolutely be detected by the Wujian main body, which would then fly into a rage and descend to kill him.

Moreover, after a complete purchase, he would need to put in effort to maintain the Wujian Inn. He was buying the Wujian Inn to keep fleecing it; he couldn't have to put the wool back on for the sake of this "sheep."

In that case, it would be better to only buy a portion.

It was equivalent to investing in a company.

Suppose one compared the Wujian Inn and the Wujian main body to companies.

Then the Wujian Inn was a subsidiary, and the Wujian main body was the parent company; all the funds for the subsidiary, Wujian Inn, came from the support of the parent company, the Wujian main body.

The Wujian main body was also responsible for the profits and losses of the Wujian Inn.

But if Li Heng invested in the subsidiary Wujian Inn right now and bought a portion of the ownership, he would become a shareholder of this subsidiary. In this way, the profits and losses of the Wujian Inn would be the responsibility of both Li Heng and the Wujian main body.

And Li Heng only wanted to fleece it; he only wanted to take a cut.

After all, he didn't want to be responsible for the losses of the Wujian Inn, and he certainly didn't want the Wujian main body to discover that he had secretly bought the ownership of this Wujian Inn, going from a worker to a shareholder in one fell swoop.

Therefore, he could completely rely on his status as innkeeper to perform deeper operations; while continuously fleecing the Wujian Inn, the resulting losses would still be borne by the Wujian main body.

Li Heng's eyes lit up; this idea was brilliant.

Although it would be a fantasy for an ordinary living being to hide such an act from the Wujian main body, for a cheater like him, Li, it wasn't impossible.

He just needed to use Source Power.

Sure enough, after sensing it, the Source Power required to buy only half the ownership of the Wujian Inn—and the part that did not involve the Wujian main body—was greatly reduced. Even if he needed to add a little Source Power on top of this to cover it up, it was still within his capacity; he didn't even need to use Golden Source Power!

He no longer hesitated; as his thought fell, the Source Power in his body dropped by half, turning into a Chip and placing it on the Trading Balance. The Wujian Inn on the other side of the balance was instantly lifted, and the two sides balanced.

In an instant, the purchase was complete.

Li Heng sensed that half the ownership of this inn belonged to him!

He smiled slightly; no matter how hard a worker works, they are still a worker, but with shares and ownership, it's different—that makes one a capitalist.

The best part was that he didn't have to bear the losses.

Of course, he estimated that it was impossible to hide this from Wujian forever.

But he didn't intend to hide it forever either. By the time he was tired of fleecing it and couldn't fleece it anymore, it wouldn't matter if the Wujian main body knew about it. And by that time, whether this Wujian main body would dare to trouble him was not certain.

"Here, have a piece of Energy Crystal to gnaw on."

Li Heng reached out and, using the miraculous nature of this inn, created a crystal of a colorful black, tossed it to the little golden dragon, and got a piece of chocolate for himself, tossing it into his mouth.

The little golden dragon was instantly overjoyed, hurriedly catching it for fear it would fall to the ground, and took a bite with great satisfaction.

As a manager, if one wants to produce food, one must apply for it from above.

Furthermore, one must use one's own wealth as a guarantee.

This is perhaps the reason why the previous waiter and the Wujian manager were so terrified when they saw them eat so much food, and why they wanted them to pay up first.

But as a shareholder, one of the owners.

No application is needed; one can use it directly.

As for the consumption required to create this food?

We must thank the Great, selfless Wujian entity.

"Alright, let's go, back on the road."

Li Heng and the little golden dragon walked out of the Wujian Inn, and the Wujian Inn rapidly shrank, turning into a toy-like model that hung from Li Heng's waist, swaying continuously with the wind.

This is also the reason why Li Heng just announced that it was closed for good.

The current Wujian Inn is not here to serve others; it is here to serve him, the shareholder—using public resources for private use, get it?

They continued along the small path ahead, departing leisurely.

At this moment, above fields of mountain-of-blades and seas-of-fire.

A consciousness was patrolling.

Suddenly, this consciousness stopped and fell into a long, deep contemplation.

What is going on? Why do I feel like someone is plotting against me?

But I haven't found anything; why on earth is this?

The consciousness felt somewhat lost.

Before long, the figure of the waiter appeared on the lonely mountain where the Wujian Inn had originally stood. He was panting and drenched in sweat, having finally climbed up.

However, when he saw that the Wujian Inn was gone, he was dumbfounded.

〣(oΔo)〣

What is going on! Where did such a huge inn go!?

The waiter, or rather Xiaojiu, was somewhat panicked.

After Li Heng had suddenly thrown him at the foot of the mountain earlier, he hadn't reacted in time; his heart had even been filled with joy, as this meant he had regained his freedom and didn't need to continue staying at the inn as a waiter.

But after a long while, once he came to his senses, he realized that he seemed to know how to do nothing but be a waiter, and Wujian Road was so dangerous that he might be gone for good any day.

It would be better to go back and be a waiter in prison!

And so, Xiaojiu, having thoroughly recognized his own nature, spent great effort to climb back up this lonely mountain, intending to beg the new manager to let him stay.

As it turned out, the inn had vanished entirely.

Xiaojiu was completely bewildered, not knowing what to do.

What should I do!

At this moment, a burst of laughter came from the sky.

"Xiao Si, we have arrived at the location of the Wujian Inn."

"Ah, I'm so looking forward to it. I want to see just how extraordinary this Earth-Grade Wujian Inn, which claims to be able to make all the delicacies in the World, really is. If it doesn't taste good, I'll smash this inn!"

"Xiao Si, don't be reckless. Behind the Wujian Inn is Wujian itself. If you continue to be so willful and gluttonous, be careful of getting a beating from Father Emperor when we return."

Following the sounds of conversation, two figures drifted down from the sky.

Xiaojiu, in his bewilderment, focused his eyes to look.

They were actually two young women, exuding an air of nobility.

The two women arrived on the lonely mountain, looked at the flat ground on the mountain, and seeing not a shadow of the inn, they also fell into confusion.

"Third Sister, did you lead us to the wrong place?"

The slightly younger-looking woman asked the other, older woman beside her in confusion.

"That shouldn't be; it is right here."

This Third Sister replied, bewildered.

"There's a little brat over there; I'll go ask."

The woman called Xiao Si, seeing that her own sister didn't know either, and noticing Xiaojiu standing stunned nearby, couldn't help but have her eyes light up and ran over.

Until she saw Xiaojiu's face.

She was suddenly startled and stunned, shouting.

"Xiaojiu!"

Xiaojiu:???

One wave of trouble had not yet subsided when another rose.

Before he could figure out what was going on, a figure of Terror tore through the Void and appeared above this lonely mountain, continuously scanning everything below.

Finally, the figure spoke in a cold voice.

"Old Demon of Heavenly Abyss, get out here! Don't think that just because you've become the manager of the Wujian Inn here, I can't find you. Hand over my brother's remains and weapon quickly, and I will spare you an easy death!"

The aura erupted, and a vast World appeared behind the figure.

Judging by the power, it was at the level of the Nine Tribulations Heaven and Earth, faintly revealing a trace of Eternal Rhyme; even though tribulations were vaguely emerging in the Void, Heavenly Thunder and earthly fire could not shake this Heaven and Earth in the slightest.

And at this time, the culprit, Li Heng, had long since traveled far away.

The little golden dragon looked at Li Heng with eager eyes.

It had finished gnawing on that piece of colorful black crystal.

Li Heng casually condensed another crystal and threw it to the little golden dragon, as if feeding a dog. Anyway, this dragon was restricted by its current state and didn't eat much; for the entire Wujian Inn, it was merely a drop in the bucket.

But since it had taken benefits from him, Li Heng...

Then work must be done.

"You raise an army for a thousand days to use them for a single moment; we have reached a fork in the road, so go scout the path for me and see what lies ahead on both roads." Li Heng sat lazily in the shade of a large tree, pointing at the two forks ahead; as the wind blew past, he felt quite refreshed.

The prerequisite being to ignore the lonely graves on both sides of the road.

And to have a strong constitution capable of withstanding the cold, ghostly wind.

"Exalted One, can I choose not to go?"

The Little Golden Dragon looked at these two roads with some trepidation.

One road submerged into shadows, the end of the road seemingly endless darkness, while the other road was filled with light, seemingly leading to a bright World.

But even with his dragon body and snake brain, he could figure that out.

Both of these roads were Absolute danger.

Not to mention the road submerged in shadows, but the other one filled with light? What a joke; in such a Weird environment, wouldn't a road filled with light just be baiting someone to take the hook?

"You may choose not to go."

Li Heng spoke lazily, the implication being very clear.

Walking on this road, he discovered that Divine Sense was of no use at all, but he did not want to consume Source Power casually, so he could only use this very primitive method.

"Understood, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

The Little Golden Dragon immediately conceded, following his heart.

Upholding the principle that "what is empty is full, what is full is empty," and that the most dangerous place is the safest place, he chose the road that submerged into shadows and led toward darkness.

Then very quickly, he fled back in a panic.

"Exalted One, ahead lies an endless Abyss."

Li Heng remained lying down, not answering.

The Little Golden Dragon could only obediently run to the other road, the road filled with light, and then fled back in a panic again.

"Reporting to the Exalted One, ahead of this road is a blank void!"

"What should be done now?"

The Little Golden Dragon swallowed his saliva, incomparably confused; both roads were clearly impassable, so what should be done now?

"Then walk the third road."

Li Heng stood up and answered softly.

"The third road? Oh, I understand, the Exalted One is indeed wise!"

The Little Golden Dragon's eyes lit up.

The Wujian Road, as the saying goes, whether there is a gap or no gap, it exists within the heart, so to leave here and continue forward, one must detach from the heart.

He could not help but sigh in his heart, convinced and admiring. It seemed the Exalted One had long since perceived where the third road was; what great Wisdom.

This road was not in Reality, but in the heart!

As expected, his realm was still too low.

Then,

He saw Li Heng throw a punch.

Everything ahead shattered; the road of darkness, the road of light, all turned into nothingness and were swept away, leaving only a flat, broad Great Dao.

The dragon was completely stunned.

Li Heng withdrew his fist, turned his head, looked at the Little Golden Dragon, and spoke.

"What did you understand?"