Chapter 31

All the goods destined for Heavensky Alliance were cut off by Zhao Hui's order.

Unlike the past, when even a slight reduction in quantity would cause Heavensky Alliance to foam at the mouth and rage, this time there was no reaction from them.

Zhao Hui continued to focus on his work, undisturbed.

With a large stock of coal secured, he discussed the design of a massive blast furnace with the chief engineer and meticulously deployed the martial artists sent by the Nan Gong family to cover every possible route.

By redirecting all the goods destined for Heavensky Alliance to the General's residence, he further solidified his position in Jiangxi, and the General's favor towards Zhao's trading company reached unprecedented heights.

Amidst all the smooth progress, there was one thing that troubled him: the Snow Spirit Wine and Black Clear Water destined for the Martial Arts Alliance.

To have to provide the Snow Spirit Wine for free, let alone the Black Clear Water, was unacceptable!

Considering the exorbitant price of Snow Spirit Wine, it was something Zhao Hui could not bear.

However, if a bottle of wine could pacify the first power in the martial world, it would be a worthwhile investment, he tried to convince himself.

What troubled him the most, however, was the Han Bing Wine and Black Clear Water.

For now, he had diverted the supply intended for Heavensky Alliance to solve the problem, but it was not a fundamental solution.

With a significant amount of goods being diverted from Anhui to Jiangxi, the dissatisfaction of the Hefei merchants was escalating.

The supply itself was severely insufficient.

He was recruiting and rapidly training experts from all directions, but even with more stores, the cottage industry level could not meet the needs of the entire Jiangxi.

What was needed now was a decisive move.

To dominate Jiangxi, the scale had to be elevated to an industrial level, not just a cottage industry.

At one corner of the meeting table.

While Zhuge Yun was intensely working on the final touches of the ten-story pavilion design, a murmuring voice from Zhao Hui reached his ears.

"Establish Cao Family Foods. To mass-produce braised pork and Black Clear Water, we need to supply pre-processed ingredients to achieve a different level of output. Rename Cao Family Distillery to Cao Family Liquor and apply the division of labor system. Increase the production of Han Bing Wine by dozens of times to dominate the entire Jiangxi, and if there is surplus, explore other sales channels. The nearest city is Hubei."

Although occasionally incomprehensible words spouted from Zhao Hui's mouth, Zhuge Yun could not fail to notice that he had embarked on another grand plan.

"Feeling lonely talking to yourself? Can I know the details too?"

Zhao Hui smiled.

"Of course, Vice President."

* * *

Inside the Cao Family Inn by Poyang Lake.

Nan Gong Zhang Huo and Zhang Yilong exchanged cups of wine.

"Ugh, Brother Nan Gong. Do you know what the happiest thing is since I joined Brother Zhao Hui?"

"Isn't that story getting old?"

"No, I can drink this precious Han Bing Wine for free whenever I want. How many people in Anhui and Jiangxi can enjoy such a privilege?"

Yan Shangluo nodded in agreement and subtly refilled his own cup.

Zhang Yilong, whose forehead twitched, firmly grabbed Yan Shangluo's wrist.

"Kid! You're drinking too fast!"

"What the hell! You're not much different!"

Zhang Yilong's chest muscles rippled.

"There's a hierarchy between a department head and a regular employee, you brat! If you're unhappy, quit!"

At that moment, Jin Jiaxi, who was sitting in a corner and trimming her nails, suddenly snatched the entire bottle of Han Bing Wine.

Gulp, gulp!

"Hey, you pale woman!"

"That woman!"

Thud!

Jin Jiaxi roughly placed the bottle on the table and swept her long hair back.

"Where's Pang Xiaoxia?"

Everyone averted their eyes from her, pretending not to hear.

Jin Jiaxi sneered and laughed coldly.

"Are you all taking sides with her just because you're men?"

"Taking sides as fellow 'humans'?"

"Hmm. Why is that guy so weak for women?"

Even Nan Gong Zhang Huo, who had been silent on the matter, interjected this time.

"Before that... it's strange that he even sees them as women."

"What?"

Nan Gong Zhang Huo hesitated for a moment, his eyes lingering on Jin Jiaxi's ghostly pale face, then his eyes shone with determination.

"What's the point of cultivating power by harming others? Are you willing to give up your humanity for such an inhuman and heretical martial art?"

"Ho ho, is it so serious just to share a little blood?"

With a subtle smile, Jin Jiaxi faced Nan Gong Zhang Huo's stern warning.

"If this were the territory of the righteous or even the Nan Gong family, you would have been handed over to the Martial Arts Alliance by my hands."

"Wow! A colleague?"

Nan Gong Zhang Huo's lips twisted into a strange angle.

"Colleague?"

Nan Gong Zhang Huo abruptly stood up, his face even colder.

"Recognize your situation clearly. In my eyes, you are no different from the Southern Prison Blood Demon, who delights in human blood."

Twenty years ago, the notorious Southern Prison Blood Demon was executed by the Martial Arts Alliance after countless murders.

Was he not a public enemy of the martial world?

"Ha ha! What an honor! I, a mere woman, am on par with the Southern Prison Blood Demon!"

"Damn woman!"

Yan Shangluo shook his head in disgust.

The Southern Prison Blood Demon's killings were indiscriminate. Even the evil factions suffered greatly from him.

Was he not a public enemy for nothing?

"Hmm, my mood is ruined. I'll be going now."

As Nan Gong Zhang Huo left the inn, Zhang Yilong and Yan Shangluo also got up.

Zhang Yilong glanced at Jin Jiaxi.

"You've gone too far. Tone it down. It's dangerous to keep provoking Brother Nan Gong, regardless of me or this guy."

Jin Jiaxi sneered.

"Hmph! What can that guy do to me, the Poisonous Plum Hong?"

Sighing deeply at her attitude, Zhang Yilong hurriedly followed Nan Gong Zhang Huo.

On the way back to the Cao Family Trading Company's residence.

As they turned a dark alley corner, Nan Gong Zhang Huo suddenly crouched.

"Killer intent!"

"What?"

Sssssss!

A wave of shadowy figures pressed in from all sides.

In the pitch-black darkness of the alley, a figure finally revealed itself.

The sharp, reverse-bladed saber gleamed with a dazzling silver light under the moonlight.

"Kill!"

As the masked man shouted, the assassins simultaneously emerged like ghosts under the moonlight.

On rooftops, walls, and cypress trees.

Nan Gong Zhang Huo swung his sword without hesitation at the three assassins within his range.

"Imperial Sword Technique!"

Whoosh!

Three powerful streams of sword qi shattered everything in their path, but the assassins did not flinch.

The sword qi passed right through their bodies!

"Damn! Illusions! And stop shouting the names of your techniques! You might as well wear them on your head! I am the second son of the Nan Gong family!"

Zhang Yilong, with the peak external skill Iron Armor Body, launched himself like a cannonball and crashed into a wall.

Boom!

"Ha ha ha! I'll kill you all!"

True Martial Heaven Fist

Third Form.

Heaven-Reversing Nine Strikes.

Nine powerful punches in a row!

The nine streams of punch qi spread like waves, flipping the ground within their range.

In an instant, the assassins' figures disappeared into the ground.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Several pavilions were reduced to unrecognizable rubble.

Splat!

The chilling killer intent felt in the air!

When Nan Gong Zhang Huo and Zhang Yilong looked up, it was already too late.

Hundreds of silver sabers rained down from the sky like rain.

Whoosh!

"Ugh!"

"Ah!"

They frantically tried to block and dodge, but it was impossible to defend against hundreds of sabers!

As Nan Gong Zhang Huo tried to pull out the eight sabers embedded in his shoulder, thigh, and abdomen, his figure staggered.

Nan Gong Zhang Huo, struggling to maintain his fading consciousness, roughly stabbed his sword into the ground. He slowly channeled his internal energy to the Heavenly Gate point, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

"Poison?"

"Ah! Damn!"

Zhang Yilong, having the peak external skill Iron Armor Body, was less injured but equally poisoned.

The masked leader, revealing his even white teeth under the moonlight, sneered.

"Hmph, you're just at the late-stage expert level."

Their skills and experience, gained only on the martial stage, were not enough to match them.

They were merely late-stage experts from prestigious families, with brute force but no real substance, easy targets.

"Ouch!"

Yan Shangluo, who appeared late in the center of the scene!

He skillfully swung his large chain scythe and planted it in the ground.

Whoosh!

Bang!

"Ouch! Are you guys from the Black Moon Special Forces?"

Yan Shangluo licked the blade of his chain scythe and smiled casually, but he could not hide his tension.

Nan Gong Zhang Huo and Zhang Yilong looked at his trembling body.

The guy who used to defy even his master Ma Jianwang was now trembling with tension?

Nan Gong Zhang Huo, biting his lips fiercely, slowly channeled his internal energy to expel the poison, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

"Get out of the way."

Zhang Yilong immediately recognized their hierarchy.

To call a disciple of the late-stage expert Ma Jianwang "you" meant they were at the Heaven Killer level.

If each of them was a Heaven Killer, they were as good as dead.

To reach the Heaven Killer level, one must be at the peak expert level. Some of them had even reached the Transformation level.

Roughly twenty of them.

Zhang Yilong spat.

"Damn, you're really determined."

Zhang Yilong stood up and glanced at Nan Gong Zhang Huo.

"Brother Nan Gong, quickly bring Brother Zhao Hui here."

Because of the Iron Armor Body, his condition was better. Nan Gong Zhang Huo needed immediate treatment.

But Nan Gong Zhang Huo's face twisted like a demon's.

"Back off?"

To a swordsman who had mastered the Imperial Sword Technique?

Instantly, a powerful sword qi erupted from Nan Gong Zhang Huo's sword.

"Get out of here!"

Nan Gong Zhang Huo's figure shot out like a ray of light.

He unleashed the Imperial Sword Technique with all his internal energy.

Imperial Sword Form.

First Form: Imperial Heaven-Shaking Dance.

It was an incomplete technique, but the most powerful sword technique he could muster.

A powerful imperial aura arose.

A wave of blue sword qi crashed down like a massive wave, enveloping the assassins.

Whoosh!

It was a sudden and unexpected attack, and one assassin, unprepared, was struck by the blue sword qi.

"Ugh!"

Gall Tian, the leader of the Black Moon Special Forces, dodged and gritted his teeth.

'So, they are from a prestigious family!'

Look at that brute force of blue sword qi.

He had only heard of the Imperial Sword Technique, but the skill displayed by a late-stage expert was unbelievable.

Instantly, Gall Tian's figure blurred.

"Be careful!"

Yan Shangluo's voice, filled with alarm!

The Black Moon Special Forces were not terrifying because of their individual strength.

As Gall Tian moved, the figures of the Special Forces members also blurred.

A barrage of sabers shot out at incredible speed.

It was a combined attack by dozens of people, the symbol of the Black Moon Special Forces, the Night Moon Flying Death Dance.

Whoosh!

"Damn! Damn it!"

Yan Shangluo's eyes changed.

A chilling killer intent burst from his eyes, and his signature technique, the Devilish Blood Snake Whip, swept through the scene like a storm.

Crack!

Clang! Clang!

With bloodshot eyes, he deflected countless sabers, but he could not block them all.

"Ah!"

As Yan Shangluo was brutally torn apart and fell, a high-pitched laugh echoed.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Jin Jiaxi, gracefully using her lightness skill under the moonlight, swung her whip.

Whoosh!

"Brothers, you're weaker than I thought?"

Nan Gong Zhang Huo, struggling to suppress the spreading poison, stared at Jin Jiaxi's back with wide eyes.

His pale face was more bewildered than surprised.

Is this woman in her right mind?

At least twenty Heaven Killers, each at the peak expert level!

Even though it was incomplete, it was a powerful technique he had unleashed with all his internal energy, yet these experts dodged it with ghostly movements.

Even Zhang Yilong's incredibly powerful punches and Yan Shangluo's cruel whip techniques were ineffective against them.

But Nan Gong Zhang Huo's concern soon turned to shock.

Sssssss!

As a more powerful aura erupted from Jin Jiaxi's Blood Snake Whip, which had been dancing like a snake,

"Wow!"

"Her, that!"

Zhang Yilong and Yan Shangluo's eyes widened in disbelief.

A blood-red aura, like mist, was emanating from Jin Jiaxi's entire body.

Nan Gong Zhang Huo groaned as if in pain.

"True Martial Flower?"

This was clearly a phenomenon where her internal energy had materialized and was being emitted externally, known as True Martial Flower.

While it did not create the immense pressure that Zhao Hui had shown, even if it was at the initial stage, it was a clear sign of the Transformation level!

For Nan Gong Zhang Huo, it was a significant shock.

'How could this be...!'

Even without the absence of the Huashan Little Dragon, he was the winner of the previous Little Dragon Grand Tournament.

Among all the late-stage experts of the righteous factions, excluding the Huashan Little Dragon, he was the best.

In contrast, Jin Jiaxi was almost unknown, even in the evil factions.

How could she, a woman, achieve the initial stage of the Transformation level, something he himself had not accomplished?

Nan Gong Zhang Huo, along with Zhang Yilong and Yan Shangluo, could not understand.

But their confusion was understandable.

No one truly understood the special nature of the Blood Snake Heart Spring Technique that Jin Jiaxi had mastered.

To her, the blood of an Absolute Peak expert was equivalent to the legendary Blue Jade Oil.

Drinking the blood of an Absolute Peak expert, which filled a pool, was an incredibly rare opportunity.

In fact, consuming the blood of about ten Absolute Peak experts in the martial world was even rarer than finding the Blue Jade Oil.

It was truly an extraordinary stroke of luck!

At that moment, Gall Tian, the leader of the Black Moon Special Forces, reappeared under the moonlight like a ghost.

"Are you both in your right minds?"

Yan Shangluo and Jin Jiaxi were under the command of Heavensky Alliance, with the ranks of Black Killer and Ghost Killer.

Blocking the Black Moon Special Forces was tantamount to high treason.

What was incomprehensible was that they were facing a group of Heaven Killers.

Moreover, the fact that she was a disciple of the Poison Whip Death King made him uneasy.

The Poison Whip Death King's Seven Deadly Whip was perfectly countered by their Night Moon Death Technique.

Furthermore, she had somehow displayed True Martial Flower.

"Ha ha ha! We are perfectly fine!"

Jin Jiaxi, with her long hair swept back, had raised her internal energy to the maximum.

"You're crazy."

Jin Jiaxi's face contorted.

"Damn! You're all calling me crazy!"

Seven Deadly Whip.

Sixth Form.

Ruin Eight Whip.

Her whip whirled at an incredible speed, creating numerous whirlwinds that extended in all directions.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Jin Jiaxi did not stop there. She swiftly retracted her whip and leaped into the air.

Seven Deadly Whip.

Fourth Form.

Shatter Eight Whip.

The Blood Snake Whip, filled with sharp energy, split into eight and rushed towards the ground at blinding speed.

Whoosh!

It was a scene that resembled a combined attack by two people!

Gall Tian, realizing the danger, shouted.

"Illusion!"

However, Jin Jiaxi's attack was half a beat faster.

The Special Forces members vanished like ghosts!

But those who tried to