Chapter 247: Royal Jade Pavilion!
"Hot buns fresh out of the steamer! Fresh and delicious, I guarantee that you'll be satisfied by it!"
Early in the morning, a deep aroma wafted along the streets of Jade Dragon Street. Huge crowds walked in and out of the numerous taverns, teahouses, and bun shops along the street.
By the east of Jade Dragon Street, amidst the steam from fresh buns, the signboard of a tavern could be vaguely seen.
Royal Jade Pavilion!
Three elegant golden words were written on a black background. The signboard was switched just this morning, and what came along with the signboard was a new boss.
However, as all of the workers and cooks remained the same, few knew that the tavern had switched hands.
Even though some did notice the change in signboards, they didn't think too much of it.
At this very moment, Wang Chong was seated in the Royal Jade Pavilion.
In the most extravagant room on the second floor of the Royal Jade Pavilion, the men from the Zhuang Clan and Chi Clan were busy stuffing food in their mouths, and there were already a few dozen bamboo steamers placed on the ground beside the table. However, what was more impressive was the number of bamboo steamers on the table that was stacked up into a tall tower.
The Zhuang Clan steel cavalry and Chi Clan steel guards were renowned throughout the entire Central Plains, but this was the first time Wang Chong and his group witnessed their fearsome appetites.
Almost there!
Seated by the railing, Wang Chong finally finished his training and slowly opened his eyes.
It had been several days since their last operation, and since then, Wang Chong had been spending his time cultivating in this Royal Jade Pavilion.
Dong dong dong!
Someone knocked on the door from the outside.
"Come in," Wang Chong said impassively, without even turning around.
The door of the VIP room opened, and the black-clad Miyasame Ayaka appeared. She was holding onto a huge stack of bamboo steamers filled with buns.
"Gongzi.” Miyasame Ayaka walked in carrying the steamed buns, kneeled down, and placed the buns before Wang Chong. After which, she took out a pair of chopsticks and cleaned them meticulously before passing them over.
"How is it?"
Grabbing the pair of black jade chopsticks, Wang Chong picked up a soup bun and placed it in his mouth. The outer wrapping of the soup bun was soft, and biting lightly on it, warm and delicious soup immediately burst into his mouth. A feeling of comfort embraced him as he swallowed the soup and bun.
Not bad!
Wang Chong nodded his head in satisfaction. He had eaten at many luxurious taverns and teahouses before, but he still felt that the soup buns here were the best.
Well, this was one of the reasons why Wang Chong chose this room out of all taverns in the capital.
As for the other reason… It was because Wang Chong needed a tavern of his own to operate in.
It would be both inconvenient and eye-catching if he were to head to the taverns of others every time he had to do something.
On the other hand, if he had one of his own, it could serve as a private and convenient place for him to eat, cultivate, and conduct operations.
On this aspect, he was envisioning something similar to the Yao Clan's Vast Crane Pavilion.
The use of owning a tavern couldn't be measured with just monetary profits.
"As gongzi expected, our operations have caught the attention of the Goguryeons. The first, second, and third bases of the Goguryeons have beefed up their security and are proceeding warily," Miyasame Ayaka reported respectfully from her position. She was extremely meticulous in making use of the objects in the room such as the shadows, blinds, and pillars to conceal her presence to those who might possibly be looking from the outside.
It was her instincts as an assassin at work.
"Heh, the Goguryeons aren't all brawns and no brains. At the very least, King Sosurim isn't an easy person. Given how many of their people we have killed in the past few days, even if the others don't suspect anything, it is about time that King Sosurim would start getting wary," Wang Chong replied nonchalantly as he picked up another soup bun and placed it in his mouth. He looked so composed and at ease that it seemed as though everything was within his calculations.
"Will there be problems from this? King Sosurim is a vicious person who dares to even attack the Three Great Training Camps. I fear that it might be dangerous for us if we were to incur his notice!" Miyasame Ayaka frowned in worry.
In Great Tang, King Sosurim was a legend. His plans were thorough, vicious, and daring. And yet, no one knew his appearance.
This meant that even if he were to walk by you, you might not even notice him, and this put one in a very vulnerable position.
"Haha, he isn't as frightening as you think he is. In the end, he's still a mortal. It's only because we've never seen his true appearance that he seems much bigger than he is." Wang Chong swallowed the soup bun as he waved his hand casually.
Fear originates from the unknown!
King Sosurim was clearly well-aware of this logic, and he was making full use of it.
Just like how assassins hide in the shadows to keep their identities secret, King Sosurim was doing the same as well. If his appearance were to be made known, the public's fear of him would fade along with his veil of secrecy.
"... Besides, did you forget about him dispatching troops over from Goguryeo? Given how huge an operation this is, how can he possibly have time to bother with little fries like us?"
Wang Chong paused for a moment before continuing. "Besides, this might actually turn out well. If we were to alarm him, he might strike earlier!"
“Dimming the boundary between truth and false”, this was the reason why Wang Chong didn't make a move the past few days. He was intentionally making it impossible for the Goguryeons to comprehend the pattern behind his operations, and their inability to deduce the actions of their opponent would surely leave them uneasy.
This unease would surely propel them to move quicker.
Just as the saying went, “haste makes waste”. Any operation, once rushed, would surely be filled with flaws.
Miyasame Ayaka frowned in contemplation, still attempting to understand the meaning behind Wang Chong's words.
Wang Chong chuckled. Paying it no heed, he picked up yet another soup bun and placed it in his mouth.
He didn't feel anything while he was cultivating, but once he stopped, he immediately felt hunger pangs striking his stomach.
While eating his soup buns, Wang Chong continued deciphering the content of the 《Art of Life Massacre》.
In the past three days, Wang Chong had been spending his time interpreting the Art of Life Massacre. Initially, when Wang Chong began learning the technique, the Origin Energy he could expel was only as slim as a spider's web.
When Wang Chong descended from the mountain, he was able to expel Origin Energy around the width of a finger. But now, due to the dense Origin Energy he had absorbed, his Sword Qi of Massacre was now around the width of four fingers, and it harnessed great might.
And upon reaching Origin Energy Tier 9 and gaining the ability to emit internal energy, Wang Chong was now able to shoot out Sword Qi of Massacre without using a sword as a medium, while maintaining the same level of might.
... With this, I can be considered as a swordsman!, Wang Chong thought, gulping down another soup bun.
Wang Chong had specialized in the use of spear in his previous life, so this was his first time becoming a swordsman. While he was still a rookie even among swordsmen, he nevertheless could definitely be considered as one who walked the Way of Sword now, a very different path from that of his previous life.
Elder Su's swordsmanship is known to be the number one in the world. While I've only reached the first layer of sword qi, I am already able to breach the Stellar Energy of a True Martial realm expert already. However, this is still insufficient. There's a total of nine revolutions to the first layer of Art of Life Massacre, where a round of expansion and compression of sword qi is equivalent to one revolution. Only after reaching the ninth revolution can my sword qi be considered as the authentic Sword Qi of Massacre. Given that I have yet to even reach the first revolution, I really have to continue working hard, Wang Chong thought as he subconsciously knocked on the table in front of him with his left knuckle.
The sword qi of the Art of Life Massacre started out narrow, but it would gradually grow thicker and more powerful as one progressed in the art. Upon reaching a certain point, the sword qi would have to be compressed continuously back to its original width once more.
When the sword qi returned back to the width of a spider web once more, that would be counted as the first revolution. After which, the cycle would repeat for another eight more times...
The might from the sword qi is proportionate to the number of revolutions. The more the revolutions, the stronger the sword qi. Upon reaching nine revolutions, there would be nearly nothing in the world that could withstand the sword qi.
A swordsman who had reached the ninth circulation of the Sword Qi of Massacre would be able to display astounding might even without a weapon in hand.
However, as the number of revolutions increased, the harder the cultivation of the technique became. At the same time, the color of the sword qi would change as well.
—This was what Wang Chong had deduced from the sutra of the Art of Life Massacre.
Currently, Wang Chong was still at the level of a “half-revolution”.
But even this state of half-revolution was capable of posing a fatal threat to True Martial realm experts. This was the might of Su Zhengchen's swordsmanship!
"Let's go, we'll rest at home. Also, there are some things I need to take care of."
After eating a steamer full of soup buns, Wang Chong stood up and left. It had been half a month since he had come out from Kunwu Training Camp. It was time for him to deal with the Wootz steel weapons accumulated at Tuoba Guiyuan's end.
Money was like flowing water. Without a steady stream, it would soon dry out!
Wang Chong knew that he would require a lot of money in the future, and currently, the sales of Wootz steel weapons were his only source of revenue.
"Hey! Don't you have any eyes? Look where you are walking!"
Just as Wang Chong was about to leave, a commotion suddenly sounded on the streets outside. Turning around, Wang Chong saw a plump merchant, leading a group of tall and brawny mercenary experts, pointing at an unkempt middle-aged man, bellowing insults with a reddened face.
While the middle-aged man did look unkempt, Wang Chong was able to tell with a single look that the other party was an expert. When the other party walked, his footsteps were exceptionally stable, and his shoulders didn't even sway in the least. Furthermore, it was a completely subconscious motion.
It was a common habit that would appear in martial artists who had reached a certain level of mastery in their training.
Martial arts focus heavily on precision and steadiness in each movement. A lack of perfect control over one's hands and feet was a sign of weakness.
With such standards in mind, once one's cultivation reached a certain level, such gestures, or lack of them, would become second nature. Their hands and feet would be exceptionally stable, like a tree rooted to the spot. If one paid careful attention, the difference would be as clear as heaven and earth.
As such, it actually wasn't too difficult to differentiate an ordinary citizen from an expert.
"He's in for a round of suffering!"
Shaking his head, Wang Chong chuckled, paying it no heed. Such affairs were a daily occurrence for a place as huge as the capital.
That unkempt middle-aged man was clearly far more capable than the mercenaries around the plump merchant. The plump merchant had indeed struck an iron wall this time. There was no doubt that he would soon regret his actions dearly.
Thus, Wang Chong didn't interfere and walked away calmly.
But just a few steps later, a shocking sight occurred.
"Hit him, give him the beating of his life!"
"Who do you think you are? Don't you know it's basic courtesy to apologize to someone after bumping into them? Don't hold back, beat him hard! If he dies, I'll take responsibility!"
"Hmph, I thought that given how arrogant you were acting, you might just be some formidable person. In the end, you're just a useless trash!"
The bellows of the plump merchant echoed down the entire street. This time, even Miyasame Ayaka was slightly perplexed as well.
The both of them turned around, only to see the unkempt middle-aged 'expert' being viciously pummeled on the floor.
The guards of the merchant circled him tightly and rained blows down upon him. On the other hand, the unkempt middle-aged man seemed as though he were no different from an ordinary man, unable to retaliate at all.
"Hm?"
A gleam flashed across Wang Chong's eyes. This time, he was truly intrigued.