Chapter 82: Martial Apprentice Fourth Level

Seeing no hope in Li Xingchao, Fang Xu turned his gaze to Yun Jin.

"Your Highness, I think you should still step in to restrain these martial artists," Yun Jin said after a moment's hesitation.

Maple Forest Town lies within Huangzhou Prefecture, and its common folk are all subjects of Huangzhou Prefecture; to be arbitrarily slaughtered and humiliated like this is ultimately improper.

"Just a bunch of lowly commoners," Li Xingchao said, utterly indifferent.

After hearing that, Yun Jin still wanted to say something, but upon reflection she understood Li Xingchao's plan.

He and the Eldest Prince are now locked in a fierce struggle for power, both desperately courting Yu State's great and small factions.

Those who come from major powers inherently regard common folk as livestock, killing them for pleasure at the slightest disagreement.

If Li Xingchao steps forward to restrain them, it would undoubtedly push those forces that have not yet chosen a side toward the Eldest Prince.

After all, no faction likes to follow a master who insists on too many rules.

As for popular sentiment, that's a joke.

Yu State's martial arts flourish; the imperial family rules the world together with martial artists, not the common folk.

As long as one controls those clans possessing martial artists and holds absolute military advantage, the common folk of the Seven Provinces have no chance to rebel.

"Your Highness."

After observing Fang Xu for a long time, Xu Liang suddenly rose, approached Li Xingchao, and whispered something in his ear.

Li Xingchao's expression showed slight surprise as he looked at Xu Liang and asked, "Diviner, are these words true?"

Xu Liang gave a slight nod.

Upon seeing that, Li Xingchao studied Fang Xu more closely and then said lightly, "I have heard from Xun'er that you are a clever person; since Yun Wan chose, before her departure, to give you her personal jade pendant, letting the Yun clan protect you, it shows you have caught her eye."

"I value talent, and am even more willing to give young people an opportunity."

"Xun'er, spread the word: this person is mine; anyone who dares to provoke him is opposing me."

He had no intention of looking after the ordinary commoners of Maple Forest Town, but after hearing Xu Liang's words, he still prepared to spare Fang Xu's life.

Li Xun bowed slightly: "Yes, Father."

Fang Xu also knew that, at this time, being able to look after himself and his senior sisters fully was already rare; as for others……

Just look after oneself.

"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!"

Feeling grateful, he bowed to Li Xingchao and Fang Xu spoke.

"Train well; I have high hopes for you." Li Xingchao said with a light smile, waving his hand: "Go."

Leaving the government office, Fang Xu let out a slight sigh of relief.

He didn't know what Xu Liang whispered to Li Xingchao, but there was no doubt his words changed Li Xingchao's mind; otherwise, given Li Xingchao's indifference toward ordinary people, he would certainly not care whether this obscure nobody lived or died.

Forget it!

As long as safety can be assured first, that's enough.

After returning to the Hall of Far Reaching and telling Lu Qingluo of Li Xingchao's promise to protect him, Fang Xu saw on her face a hint of anger, sorrow, and helplessness.

No wonder, judging from the words I got from Tongtong earlier, Lu Qingluo is very likely the Holy Maiden of Murky Cloud State.

He didn't know what the Holy Maiden represents in Murky Cloud State, but there is no doubt that Murky Cloud State's greatest enemy is the Yu State imperial family and the Butcher Zhao Wujii.

As the Holy Maiden of Murky Cloud State, yet now she must rely on her enemy's protection to survive; Lu Qingluo's heart surely cannot be at ease.

"Senior sister…" Fang Xu still wanted to comfort her with a few words.

Lu Qingluo forced a faint smile, shook her head, and said, "I know this is not the time to be willful."

"Only by surviving will there be any chance; rest assured, I know what to do."

After experiencing the ruin of her country and family, Lu Qingluo is more resilient than I imagined, which reassures Fang Xu considerably.

Guarding the three women, with safety assured, Fang Xu seized every moment to cultivate.

During this period, aside from regularly going to the outskirts of Timber Blue Mountain to make some "friends" and keep his friend list constantly full, Fang Xu rarely went out.

With ample supplies of blood food and Blood Qi Pills, his cultivation slowly increased.

In just ten days, he reached the Martial Apprentice Fourth Level.

This is all thanks to the Divine Extension Canon altering his aperture storehouses, making his breakthroughs nearly bottleneck-free; once the chaotic qi in one aperture storehouse is refined, the next storehouse can easily be opened.

After absorbing the power of the four aperture storehouses, Fang Xu could clearly feel his strength growing greater.

At the Martial Apprentice Third Level, he already possessed the strength to defeat most martial artists below the Martial Master Realm; now, having broken through to the Martial Apprentice Fourth Level, Fang Xu very much wants to test whether he can match a Martial Master Initial Level practitioner.

Gazing at the fourth aperture storehouse about to be fully refined, Fang Xu fell into contemplation.

Life Artifact!

Each aperture storehouse can nurture a Life Artifact, to later blast open the stone gate within that storehouse.

But where can I possibly find so many Life Artifacts now?

The first Life Artifact is the strange wooden staff given by Lu Zhiyuan; the second and third are two scale pieces suspected to be dragon scales from a fierce beast; the fourth Life Artifact remains undetermined.

Huh?

As Fang Xu worried, his gaze caught the gold‑silk soft armor hanging nearby.

This was obtained when he killed a martial artist on Timber Blue Mountain who was preparing to trade his head for a reward; he doesn't know the exact quality of the soft armor, but its protective ability seems decent.

Can the aperture space nurture this soft armor?

Having thought of this, Fang Xu immediately noted it down; after the chaotic qi in the fourth aperture storehouse is completely refined, he will definitely try this soft armor.

At dawn, Fang Xu had just risen, preparing to go to the training ground to practice the Nine Monkey Staff, when a familiar figure appeared outside the door.

"Fang Xiaoge, sorry to bother you."

At the entrance of the Hall of Far Reaching, a plump woman smiled and greeted him.

Fang Xu blinked slightly, then realized this woman was the proprietor of Xing Ji Blood Food Shop in Clear River County.

The last time he went to Clear River County to buy blood meat, he had once told this proprietor that he planned to transfer Lu Zhiyuan's blood food shop to Xing Ji; the woman had merely said she would come by sometime to have a look.

"It's you, older sister, please come in." Fang Xu greeted politely.

Having a sweet mouth doesn't suffer loss; this woman is over fifty, so calling her older sister is not mistaken.

The woman smiled slightly, then led eight attendant martial artists into Zhiyuan Hall.

"Fang Xiaoge, please forgive me; Maple Forest Town has been unsettled lately, so I had no choice but to bring extra people." Seeing Fang Xu staring at the few martial artists behind her, the woman apologetically said.

"No problem, no problem." Fang Xu waved his hand with a smile and said: "Last time we parted hastily, I still haven't asked for your esteemed name, older sister."

The woman slightly bowed: "I'm old and faded, what refined name could I have? If Young Master Fang doesn't despise me, just call me Rong Jie."

Her real name is Xing Rong; she is a branch of the Xing family, responsible for the Xing family's blood food business throughout Qinghe County.

After Xing Rong came to Maple Forest Town, she received the news that Fang Xu is a person of the present Seventh Prince.

Previously in Qinghe County, Fang Xu appeared as a friend of Yun Qing, the legitimate heir of the Yun family; now he is also a person of the Seventh Prince. Surprised by Fang Xu's identity, Xing Rong naturally also developed the intention to befriend him.

"Rong Jiejie, please wait a moment; I'll go fetch my senior sister." After greeting Xing Rong to wait in the side room, Fang Xu said.

The blood food shop belongs to Lu Zhiyuan; if he wants to transfer it out, he naturally needs to obtain Lu Qingluo's consent.

After inviting Lu Qingluo over, Fang Xu gave a brief introduction and expressed his idea; Lu Qingluo directly said that everything could be left to his decision.

Having obtained authorization, Fang Xu began to calculate in his mind whether he could gain more benefits from this transaction.

(End of chapter)