Chapter 68

Nine days later.

Wu Tie, in the small courtyard, performed a set of Vajra Subduing Demon Fist with wide openings and closings; the fist qi shook the air, emitting a thunderous roar.

Golden light faintly glowed on both fists; when the fists swung, it seemed as if chanting followed, shaking people's ears and eyes, making the five viscera and six bowels seem to tremble along.

Both stalks of Lava Grass had been completely consumed; the Foundation Establishment Form had broken through to 1,032 forms; the primal vitality within his body surged several times; the power contained in the two stalks of Lava Grass was truly extraordinary.

Wu Tie's height had increased to nearly two meters; this was all due to the changes brought by skeletal mutation.

With such stature, and practicing the extremely rigid Vajra Subduing Demon Fist, Wu Tie's every move truly resembled a Vajra descending to the mortal world; his momentum was overwhelmingly fierce and domineering, the air in the small courtyard almost condensed into substance, leaving no room for outsiders to stand.

With a loud 'Hu-ha' shout, Wu Tie's five viscera and six bowels churned; he suddenly opened his mouth, and a stream of hot air burst forth.

The hot stream blasted against the wall on one side of the courtyard; faint firelight appeared, and a foul smell rose to the heavens; Wu Tie only felt his whole body relax, becoming extraordinarily light and agile, his entire body clear and pure like crystal.

Looking again at that wall, on the stone-built perimeter wall, a black stain as large as two meters remained.

The medicinal power of Lava Grass is astonishing, but its side effects are also extremely great.

Compared to the Foundation Establishment Elixir produced by the Ancient Divine Soldier Camp, Lava Grass is extremely overbearing, placing a huge burden on the physical body. More importantly, Lava Grass itself carries fire-toxin impurities; if taken in large amounts over a short period, the fire toxin accumulates in the body, causing intangible damage to the physique.

Wu Tie also used the wide-opening Vajra Subduing Demon Fist to stir his blood and qi, and combined the golden light at his brow with righteous qi to shake his entire body, gradually expelling the accumulated fire-toxin impurities from his bulk.

This is because the Foundation Establishment Form he cultivates is extraordinarily profound; the primal vitality within his body can penetrate every minute corner; all impurity fire-toxins are gradually guided by him to temporarily reside in the stomach, and only then can they be expelled by the 'Moving Technique'.

If it were someone else……once fire-poison impurities entered the body, no matter how many times one cleansed the flesh with even the most miraculous prime herb, it would be extremely hard to completely expel the fire-poison impurities, inevitably harming future cultivation.

After lowering his fighting stance and taking nine long deep breaths, Wu Tie's scorching body returned to normal; only then did he look toward Old Bai standing in the courtyard corner, his face deathly pale from the pressure of Wu Tie's fist force and intent.

"Old Bai, just in time—Sixth Shi sent over several jars of good wine; come… let's drink and chat." Wu Tie grabbed a piece of hemp cloth, wiped the sweat from his body, casually threw on a long robe, and sat at the stone table in the courtyard.

Old Bai came over smiling, his hands unconsciously rubbing together as he asked Wu Tie with a hint of disbelief.

"Little Iron Steward, did you really consume both stalks of lava grass?"

Old Bai simply couldn't believe it……two stalks of lava grass, even if they were the lowest grade of prime herb, their medicinal potency was still too great for low-level cultivators like them.

Over nine days, Old Bai had only taken a small half‑piece of lava grass leaf, yet even that had tormented him to the point of wailing and suffering beyond endurance.

He already possessed the strength of a half‑step Sensing Profound cultivator……whereas Wu Tie, if I'm not mistaken, is merely at Foundation Establishment, just Foundation Establishment.

"Naturally thick‑skinned and flesh‑thick." Wu Tie thumped his chest hard, producing a muffled "thud‑thud". He looked at Old Bai and laughed: "This lava grass is just a bit of a burning sensation when swallowed, not unlike strong liquor."

"My parents gave me a sturdy frame, so I can endure it." Wu Tie laughed brightly, his cheeks slightly flushed.

This down‑to‑earth statement is actually a lie.

Among the four Wu brothers, his physique is the weakest, even a bit frail; since childhood, Wu Zhan has judged him incapable of cultivation.

Saying "My parents gave me a sturdy frame" made even Wu Tie blush a little when he spoke it.

Old Bai, meanwhile, shook his head in astonishment, swiftly lifted two large stone bowls, and poured a bowl of wine for himself and one for Wu Tie.

After a sip of strong liquor, Old Bai narrowed his eyes, looked at Wu Tie, and said: "Just this morning, Second Shi returned…… he sought out Sixth Shi, and the two had a huge argument."

"Huh? And then?" Wu Tie lifted the large bowl and drank half of it.

This is a dispute among the Shi family brothers; Wu Tie has no intention of getting involved…… what business is it of his? None of them are his relatives, after all.

"Second Shi was kicked by Sixth Shi…… sent rolling a hundred or so meters." Old Bai giggled: "Second Shi's personal guards wanted to intervene, but Sixth Shi's few close guards broke their legs and threw them out."

"No wonder Second Shi flew into a rage—before us he'd recruited five or six batches of workers, after us another three batches…… all were brought to Stone City and all were annexed by Sixth Shi into his own name." Old Bai lifted the large bowl, took a deep sip of wine, and praised: "Good wine indeed…… truly, a wealthy household, no wonder it's one of the three great clans, the Shi Family."

"What was Second Shi's reaction?" Wu Tie drained the large bowl in one gulp, then poured himself another.

"He got up, cursing as he walked away." Old Bai sighed: "What reaction could he have? If he fought, he'd lose; if he sued, half of the Shi Family's Elders back Sixth Shi…… apart from shouting a few curses, what else could he do?"

Wu Tie took another sip of wine, set down his stone bowl, looked at Old Bai earnestly, and said: "Old Bai, this is another family's internal affair; we'll stay out of it…… the Shi Family pays us wages, we serve the Shi Family…… we haven't sold our lives to them."

These past few days, Old Bai has occasionally come over to get friendly with Wu Tie; since they've developed some rapport, Wu Tie deliberately spoke up to remind him.

"I'm just one person; if anything happens, I can easily run."

"You're different—you have a wife and children, thousands of clan members…… if something really went wrong, wouldn't you die of heartache?" Wu Tie pointed at Old Bai, smiling: "You're the sort who can't bear the slightest trouble, and you cherish those little ones in the clan so much."

Old Bai chuckled a few times, lifted his stone bowl and sipped the wine: "How could I? Mixing in the affairs of those great clans—am I that foolish? I'm just trying to find a steady bowl of rice for the kids…… hey, these days the kids eat until their mouths are full of oil…… how wonderful!"

Raising his head, Old Bai wistfully said: "Wouldn't it be great if everyone stopped fighting? Let me and my children just eat meat and drink wine in peace here—how nice? Tsk, Sixth Shi is so generous; my little rascals all get meat to eat……"

Swaying his head and body, Old Bai chuckled softly: "Once we've eaten and drunk our fill, we'll quickly pair the little ones off, have babies, have children—one generation after another, generation after generation…… descendants without end…… what a wonderful life!"

Wu Tie's mouth twitched; he stared at Old Bai's face full of yearning and said nothing for a long while.

Your rat‑folk's appetite is indeed tiny; the food needed to raise one rock dwarf would feed three rat‑folk.

But you don't factor in your rat‑folk's breeding rate; if you let them multiply generation after generation, in ten or twenty years the whole Shi Family could be eaten into bankruptcy……

The Shi Family summoned them back to serve the Shi Family, not to bring a bunch of elders back to devour the Shi Family's food stores!

Shaking his head, Wu Tie reached out and patted Old Bai's shoulder: "Take it easy, Old Bai…… you really can't have too many……"

Old Bai gave a hehe chuckle, happily lifted the large bowl and drank again.

Though the rat‑folk clan is weak, they have their own way of survival.

Old Bai has his own plans; this is nothing Wu Tie needs to worry about.

Old Bai drank himself into a stupor, then, supported by a few little rat‑kids, staggered away; Wu Tie tidied up the wine jars and stone bowls, pondered a while, and also left the small courtyard where he'd been hiding for several days.

All the way asking the Shi Family's guard warriors, Wu Tie, after having joined the Shi Family for so many days, arrived for the first time at the core of Stone City.

Sixth Shi's residence, as well as the homes of some senior members of the Shi Family, are located here.

Some of the Shi Family's power organs—such as the Punishment Office handling penalties, the Foreign Affairs Office managing external affairs, the Internal Affairs Office overseeing internal management, and so on—are also established here.

The Foreign Affairs Office is a large two‑story building; each floor's area is at least five or six times the size of Wu Tie's small courtyard.

Outside the Foreign Affairs Office's door stood a line of helmeted and armored iron dwarf warriors.

Compared to the common gray dwarves and rock dwarves, these iron dwarves are a full half‑Chinese‑foot taller, standing about 1.56 meters high, and their skin is pitch black like ink, truly as if forged from black iron.

Like their other dwarf kin, their bodies are square and sturdy, resembling so many meaty lumps standing there.

They wear fine armor, left hand holding a shield, right hand gripping a great axe, each with a full beard, their bodies reeking of strong alcohol, and their eyes flicker with hints of ferocity.

A group of rock dwarves carried water buckets, busily working at the Foreign Affairs Office's entrance.

The ground was covered in pale‑red pooled water, the air reeked of blood, and the rock dwarves swiftly wiped the surface, bit by bit tidying the small square outside the Foreign Affairs Office until it was spotless.

Wu Tie remembered what Lao Bai had said while they were drinking just now.

It looks like Stone Sixth Master not only beat Stone Second Master, but also gave Stone Second Master's usual External Affairs duties a beating.

From the bearing of these iron dwarves, they clearly had just been in a fight.

"How overbearing! Is this Stone Sixth Master trying to break all ties?"

Wu Tie smiled, took out his identity waist plate, gave it a shake, and leisurely walked into the External Affairs Office building.

On the first floor of the External Affairs Office lay a long stone table, with a row of petite rock dwarf girls sitting behind it, each with a thick stack of beast-skin books in front of them.

Sometimes, inevitably, some hot-tempered ox-tribe warriors would slam their fists on the stone table, their loud roars frightening those girls until their faces turned pale.

The whole hall was in disarray, having somewhat the atmosphere of a market haggling.

Wu Tie approached an idle girl, placed both hands on the stone table, lowered his head to look at the petite dwarf girl, and asked: "I am Wu Tie, a first-class steward of the External Affairs Office; I want to know how I can obtain more element grass?"

The girl lifted her head, glanced at Wu Tie, and said respectfully with a hint of fear: "Element grass? The clan distributes it via missions."

With difficulty, she lifted from the table a beast-skin book almost as tall as she, flipped open a few pages, pointed at the dense text, and said: "You see, this is the clan's distributed mission…… hunt a three-headed black viper, take its venom sac and gall bladder, plus its fangs, tendons, scales, and skin—in short, the whole body of a three-headed black viper can be exchanged for six stalks of lava grass."

She flipped another page of the beast-skin and continued: "However, the three-headed black viper's movements are mysterious, hard to track; therefore, if one could slay a frenzied-blood giant, it could be exchanged for twenty stalks of lava grass……"

She sighed, lifted her head to look at Wu Tie, and said: "But frenzied-blood giants at least have Chonglou Realm strength…… Sir Wu Tie, first-class steward, you are only a first-class steward; your strength may not be enough to face a frenzied-blood giant."

Wu Tie's face turned red, being slapped in the face by his lack of strength.

He coughed once and said dryly: "Well, I am only at the Foundation Establishment stage with Yuan Gang body-tempering cultivation; what tasks suit me?"

He coughed once, and said in a dry voice: "Hmm, I'm only at the Foundation Establishment stage, with Yuan Gang infusing the body—what work is there suited for me to do?"

In the superficial data Old Tie gave, there happens to be a record of the frenzied-blood giant.

It is when the giant clan undergoes a bloodline breakthrough, accidentally going berserk, completely losing consciousness, yet due to the bloodline advancement gaining powerful divine abilities, becoming a frenzied, vicious aberration with extremely strong destructive power.

However, in Old Tie's data, frenzied-blood giants are at least one, even two major realms above Chonglou Realm, terrifying existences.

And this little girl actually said that frenzied-blood giants at least have Chonglou Realm strength?

Such frenzied-blood giants are far weaker than those in Old Tie's data…… but Wu Tie also lacks the strength to deal with them.

"Well, a frenzied-blood giant recently discovered has, under the pursuit of the clan Elders, fled into the Endless Black Abyss…… that place is too dangerous, and its area is too vast, so I do not recommend you go hunt it." The girl furrowed her brows and rapidly flipped through the beast-skin pages.

"Hmm, a frenzied-blood giant recently discovered has, under the pursuit of the family Elder, fled into the Endless Black Abyss…… It's too dangerous there, and the area is too vast, so I also don't advise you to go hunt him." The girl furrowed her brow, quickly flipping page after page of the hide.

"Slay a mutant centipede snake? Too dangerous."

"Slay a bloodthirsty ant queen? Too dangerous."

"Slay a brain-eating shadow lizard? Too dangerous."

"Kill the brain-eating shadow lizard? Too dangerous."

……

……

Wu Tie's complexion gradually darkened.

Each of the girl's "too dangerous" remarks was like a slap, making his face redden and nearly provoking him to anger.

He finally couldn't hold back, lightly coughed once: "Um… miss… could you find something I can do with my strength, something relatively easy to accomplish? Like, say, killing a nest of rock lizards?"

Wu Tie finally decided to be shameless, and finally put forward his task request.

The hall on the first floor suddenly fell silent; all the warriors in the External Affairs Office who had been shouting loudly turned to look at him.

Then laughter burst out, and all the warriors burst into loud laughter.

Especially the few ox-tribe warriors who had just been shouting loudly laughed even harder, some even sitting on the ground, pointing at Wu Tie and laughing "hou hou".

Wu Tie's face kept shifting between green and red, he was truly about to become angry from embarrassment.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the beast-skin book from the girl's hand and jabbed it hard: "Stop choosing, I'll take this task."

The girl's face stiffened as she looked at Wu Tie, her mouth twitching violently.

But she dared not speak, merely looking at him pitifully, her eyes glistening with tears.

But she simply did not dare to speak, merely looking at him pitifully, her eyes glistening with tears.