The thing he had obtained unintentionally, that lay at the bottom of his chest, turned out to have such great use.
Wang Sheng, fearing he had made a mistake, made another trip to the City Lord Mansion, but this time he didn’t go to the Cultivation Technique Tower but to the library instead.
As expected, although there were no Martial Arts Secret Manuals in the library, there were a few miscellaneous talks that were still considered not bad.
In terms of value, they were far less than that manual on the study of the universe, but they still had some decent reference value.
Thinking of these, Wang Sheng organized the things he had gained.
He sorted out everything he thought was valuable and spent some time copying them.
There were a total of five books, one of which was a secret technique obtained in the secret chamber of the City Lord Mansion, and the other four were miscellaneous talks, much like the books on the study of the universe.
After he finished organizing, Wang Sheng picked up these manuals and started to study them.
With wide eyes flickering in the dim light, twelve people were copying books while one read, until it was time for sleep at night.
The next day, Wang Sheng did not break his promise and took those twelve people to the auction held every ten days at Yuelai Inn. This was a regular auction, without any special items, but it still attracted quite a few people.
Especially those smaller forces.
They wanted to find high-end Martial Arts Secret Manuals, and this kind of auction was a good channel for that.
Wang Sheng, because he brought many people and they were young, attracted quite a bit of attention, but there were also people who recognized Liu Jian’an and others, so no one came to bother them.
He was very indifferent and directly booked a private box.
This type of box, aside from during special occasions for those major powers, would normally be rented out to those with a lot of money.
Wang Sheng was not lacking in Spiritual Medicine, and naturally, he was not short of money either, so he entered the box.
Money, this kind of thing, is actually just the most common currency, unless it’s something high-end, otherwise ordinary money is used for transactions.
The auction started soon, and this time Wang Sheng was only there to show people around, so he didn’t participate in the auction at all.
The items in the auction were arranged from the lowest to the highest value, and the final item, a Cultivation Technique that could reach the Grandmaster level, indeed caused a lot of contention.
And for the auction of the Grandmaster cultivation method, they didn’t accept money but traded with Spiritual Medicine instead.
Ultimately, this Grandmaster Level cultivation method was sold for a high price of 36 stalks of Spiritual Medicine.
It was auctioned by a Ninth Grade Martial Artist.
Thirty-six stalks of Spiritual Medicine, even in Shuzhou, were not considered a small amount, and in other provincial cities, these Spiritual Medicines would be even more astonishing.
It seems that he was lacking in his future path, so he was willing to pay a not insignificant price to buy it.
Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought never left the person, and when the man left the auction house afterward, he suddenly smiled.
“Come on, I’ll take you to see some fun!”
As soon as that Ninth Grade Martial Artist stepped out of the auction house, he was targeted by others.
Liu Jian’an and the others were still excited from witnessing the auction’s competition, and then they were directly taken out the door by Wang Sheng with his Divine Thought, arriving at the entrance of Yuelai Inn.
The man who had auctioned the Grandmaster Level cultivation method went straight into Yuelai Inn and into a special cultivation chamber.
“Little uncle, what are you going to let us see?”
“The cruelty of the Cultivation World!” Wang Sheng half-jokingly said.
He more or less guessed the Ninth Grade Martial Artist’s intention, which was probably to want to make a breakthrough before leaving, not knowing how long it would take.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we may not get to see it.”
According to plan, he would leave tomorrow and wouldn’t specifically wait for a martial artist to have a breakthrough.
Wang Lingwei, who was originally happy to watch the excitement, heard her little uncle say they might not be able to see it and was instantly disappointed. Still, she didn’t say anything.
The next day, Wang Sheng packed up and prepared to leave.
But then he suddenly noticed something.
“Has he made a breakthrough?”
The Ninth Grade Martial Artist, it seemed, had been well-prepared and had achieved the Grandmaster Realm in one night.
It was now up to whether those lurking powers were smart enough.
If they were smart enough, perhaps nothing would come of it. If they were not smart enough and had their vision clouded by greed, they were likely to take a big fall.
“Looks like we still have excitement to watch!”
With that, Wang Sheng directed Da Bai to head towards the city gate, which was also the direction of the Ninth Grade Martial Artist.
Indeed, there were people following up, but there were quite a few less than yesterday.
It seems that some had clearly understood the situation.
Wang Sheng lifted the cover in front of the carriage and said, “Look at that person, do you remember him?”
All twelve of them saw the man, and Wang Lingwei was the first to say, “I remember, isn’t that the person who got the last item at the auction yesterday? Little uncle, you said you’d take us to watch his excitement!”
“Yes, others are covetous of the Martial Arts Secret Manual he has, but that man went straight to rest at Yuelai Inn last night. Tell me, if you were the ones coveting his manual, would you still go after him today?”
“Uncle Wang, Mr. Jiang has taught us that we should not do such things.
Wang Sheng listened to this morally sound response and didn’t argue. Instead, he said, “I’m talking hypothetically. Suppose the ones tracking him were you, would you still go directly after him? You can think it over before answering!”
All twelve of them fell into thought.
Wang Sheng then added, “One more thing, the items on that person are extremely important to you, you could even say indispensable!”
After saying this, finally, someone responded.
“I probably would!”
But it was quickly countered by someone with a different opinion, it was Liu Jian’an, who said:
“I probably wouldn’t. Uncle Wang, you said that man stayed at Yuelai Inn overnight, he might have prepared some kind of trump card, whether it’s a power boost or reinforcements arriving, it means increased risk, and there’s no need to approach it.
Even if I really can’t let go, I’d definitely wait for the first wave of people to probe, and if it’s no good, leave immediately.”
Wang Sheng still smiled, looking at the others.
In the end, more people leaned towards Liu Jian’an’s decision, yet there were a few who wanted to pursue directly, stating they intended to seize the initiative. Young and not yet of age, but full of vigor.
He made no comment.
“Alright, now that choices have been made, let’s see what the facts reveal!”
The Martial Artist who had become a Grandmaster had already left the city.
Not long after departing the city, someone launched a direct attack.
Then—
Facing a Grandmaster Level Martial Artist, those people naturally had no ability to resist, and the first wave was completely killed.
“Do you see? He was a Ninth Grade Martial Artist yesterday, and today he is a Martial Artist at the Grandmaster Level. Great changes can also take place overnight.”
Those who spoke of seizing the initiative bowed their heads in shame.
Wang Sheng instructed them to watch what happened next.
Some tested and verified the man’s Grandmaster Level strength, yet still, some entered the fray.
The Grandmaster was held up, and as others joined in, perhaps due to just having broken through, the Grandmaster was beaten back.
It was at this time that someone else joined the battle from the outside, but their target was the Grandmaster’s enemy—clearly, this person was the Grandmaster’s backup.
In the end, whether it was those from the first wave or the second, all were killed, their bodies dropped to the ground, blood spilled everywhere, and no one dared to approach.
The twelve youngsters had never seen such a scene before and were somewhat unable to accept it for a while.
Wang Sheng felt nothing but said, “Do you see? Even if you think you are sure, others are still surer and better prepared. Without understanding the whole situation, the best strategy is not to engage.
In any endeavor, intelligence is of the utmost importance. You think you’re well-prepared, but how can you be sure that others are less so?”
After making his point, Wang Sheng said no more and let them ponder on their own.
Though they hadn’t joined the fight, the corpses on the ground were surely enough of a reminder.
And if they were so terrified that they turned completely cowardly, even timid, it would mean they were not cut out for the path of a Martial Artist at all.
Twelve or thirteen years old was indeed young, but for a Martial Artist, it was time to be exposed to these things.
As for the Three Great Families, according to what Wang Sheng knew, the Martial Artists they raised were even fighting against death row inmates at Liu Jian’an and their ages, getting firsthand experience about the fragility of life.
His method of teaching was already considered gentle.
He let them think for themselves, and he signaled Da Bai to continue the journey.
“Da Bai, let’s go!”
…
There were two routes out of Shuzhou.
One was to go to the docks and travel down the Yellow Dragon River; the other was to pass through the One-Line Sky Gorge.
Flowing downstream meant heading south, but since Wang Sheng’s destination, the Imperial City, lay to the north, naturally, he needed to pass through the gorge and then head north.
For the following period, they all lived out in the wilderness.
Liu Jian’an and his twelve companions did not disappoint Wang Sheng, and they all quickly recovered, evidently not too deeply affected.
Wang Sheng also took the opportunity to educate them.
“I’m not telling you that you must seize others’ possessions, what I want you to understand is, when you think you’re fully prepared, think about your enemy. Could they be even more prepared? Don’t be a fool rushing in headlong!”
Caution was the first principle that Wang Sheng taught them.
Clearly, after witnessing such a scene, all twelve remembered it well, nodding subconsciously.
Seeing their serious expressions, Wang Sheng knew the lesson had hit home. He smiled and said, “As long as you remember, go and cultivate now. Cultivation is very important too.”
So the twelve set about their cultivation.
Wang Sheng also urged Da Bai to quicken their pace; help in the wilderness was limited for him.
The sooner they entered the next city, the better the chance of finding more secret manuals.
After approximately three days, they emerged from the mountains and slowly entered the boundaries of Jianzhou.
And along the way, they encountered quite a few human settlements.
But compared to Shuzhou, Jianzhou seemed much more dilapidated.
“Uncle Wang, those people…”
Liu Jian’an saw the people begging along the road, each one gaunt and on the brink of collapse, seemingly not having eaten for a long time.
“Pitiable people!”
Wang Sheng didn’t say much and didn’t suggest rescuing them.
Even now, with his heavens-reaching strength, he couldn’t save these people.
Unless he could conjure an endless supply of food from nothing.
Even with his progress bar, he couldn’t do that.
In times of chaos, a few thousand or even million pounds of food wasn’t going to solve the problem.
Liu Jian’an, of course, understood this.
However, it wasn’t easy to shrug off compassion, so in the end, Liu Jian’an decided not to look anymore.
Wang Sheng continued his silent cultivation, and Da Bai continued on the planned route.
It wasn’t until they were nearing a county town that Wang Sheng opened his eyes.
He sensed killing intent.
Not far away, he saw a banner with the words “Heavenly Sect” and people were distributing porridge beneath it.
The killing intent was coming from there.
“Interesting, so they are waiting here?”