After the group had completely disappeared into the distance, Long Xuan finally mustered up the courage to approach the battlefield, hoping to scavenge anything that might have been left behind.
They had left in a hurry, so there was a possibility that some treasures had been overlooked and left behind.
As soon as he arrived at the battlefield, he was stunned by the terrifying aftermath of the battle. The ground was riddled with giant craters, stomped out by the fierce fighting.
Many Gu cultivators had been trampled to death, their bodies so mangled they were too gruesome to look at.
Had he not killed enough people himself already, Long Xuan might have thrown up upon witnessing such a scene for the first time.
Suppressing his discomfort, he stopped looking at the disfigured corpses and focused on his taskâcleaning up the battlefield and looting whatever he could, intending to leave as soon as possible.
The fat man who had been addressed as Third Young Master was clearly the most promising target, so Long Xuan instinctively headed toward him first.
Looking at this blood-soaked, ragged figure, Long Xuan couldn't help but sigh.
Not long ago, this same man had been flaunting his wealth in Tianyue City, but now, had he ever imagined this would be the outcome of his arrogance? Had he foreseen that flaunting his riches would make him a target for those who despised him?
Shaking his head, Long Xuan inspected the body of the Third Young Master carefully from head to toe and soon spotted something hidden within his chest area.
His heart leaped with joyâthere was indeed treasure left behind! He immediately reached out to claim it.
However, just as his hand slipped into the fat man's clothing, the manâs previously shut eyes suddenly opened wide, glaring at him.
At that moment, anyone would have been scared half to death.
Long Xuan, completely unprepared for the corpse to "come back to life," was caught off guard and jumped several steps back in shock.
His heart pounded wildly in his chest as he stared at the Third Young Master in disbelief. He was still alive!
How could this be possible? Those people were so thorough in their actionsâhow could they leave someone alive? Did they not know how to ensure the kill? How could they make such a rookie mistake?
âCough, cough!â
The Third Young Master coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his face pale as he weakly said, âDisappointed? Iâm still alive. Donât be fooled by the fact that my dantian has been destroyedâitâs not hard for me to take your life. If youâre smart, youâll leave now, and Iâll pretend this never happened.â
After calming his startled heart, Long Xuan curiously asked, âYouâre hiding a storage ring in your clothes, arenât you? I didnât expect you hadnât stored all your valuables in the Three-Legged Golden Toadâs belly.â
âI believe a multi-treasure merchant like yourself must have some hidden trump cardsâsomething that could threaten me.â
âBut Iâm really curious: how did you manage to fake your death and fool those people?â
âThey didnât finish you off, nor did they check your clothes for the storage ring. If it were me, Iâd have burned the body to ashes after the kill. Even if you werenât faking your death, the corpse might still have clues revealing my identity.â
âItâs easy to deduce the identity of the killer from the wounds on the body. How could they make such a rookie mistake?â
Long Xuanâs thoughts raced. Although he was wary of the treasure merchant, he didnât leave immediately.
He needed the Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu Recipe, and with the merchant now weakened, and the strongest of the toads dead, this was the best opportunity to seize the recipe. How could he just walk away?
If he didnât grasp this opportunity today, collecting the formula for the Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu would be nearly impossible in the future.
The strength of the Qian Clanâs merchant guild far surpassed that of the Long Clan. It would be no easy feat to get their hands on the recipe for such a powerful Gu.
âHeh,â the Third Young Master let out a bitter laugh, his face still pale as he spoke, âDo you really think theyâre that stupid?â
âIâm telling you, in this world, there are no fools. Fools donât survive in this world.â
âIf they were really that stupid, could they have planned such a perfect assassination? They nearly killed me.â
âThere arenât many successful assassinations of multi-treasure merchants throughout history, but they pulled it off.â
The Third Young Masterâs eyes flashed with fury, and a murderous intent surged as he said angrily, âThe reason Iâm still alive isnât because theyâre stupidâitâs because they purposely left me alive!â
âThe Fake Death Pill I took was useless. Any smart person would have pulverized my body, leaving no chance for the Qian Clan to find the culprit.â
âHeh! They could have killed me, but they didnât. They merely crippled my dantian. Did they really think Iâd be so easily fooled?â
âMy so-called brothers really took me for a fool. If it were outsiders who attacked me, theyâd definitely kill me. Only members of my own clan would spare my life.â
âThey didnât do it out of kindness or brotherly love. They left me alive because theyâre overly cautious and want to leave themselves an escape route, in case this ever gets exposed.â
âThereâs no secret that doesnât eventually come to light. Killing a fellow clan member is a capital crime, while merely injuring one carries a much lighter punishment.â
âKilling a clan member means paying with their life, no matter their talent or status. Injuring a clan member, however, is not a death sentence, and in time, it might even be forgotten.â
âThey feared the risk of death, so they left me alive and simply crippled my dantian.â
âAs long as Iâm a cripple, I can no longer compete for the position of clan leader. Whether I live or die no longer matters to them, and thatâs how I managed to keep my life.â
âHeh! My dear brothers, still not ruthless enough. They feared death too much to eliminate me completely.â
âDo they really think that just because Iâm now a cripple, stripped of my power, that I canât do anything to them? So naive!â
The Third Young Master clenched his fists, his teeth grinding in seething hatred as he roared.
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan finally understood.
So this was all a power struggle for the position of clan leader, a case of siblings turning against each other.
Such scenarios were all too common in large clans. Even within the Long Clan, such events occurred frequently. For example, Long Buhui had been imprisoned in the Holy Tree Grounds for a long time, forced to guard the sacred tree.
The Qian Chamber Of Commerce was vast and powerful, and the competition for the position of clan leader must have been even fiercer.
The current leader of the Qian Clan had fathered over a dozen talented offspring, all potential candidates for the leadership. Their internal strife was far more chaotic.
The head of the Qian Clan, in his wisdom, granted each of the clan leader candidates authority over a region, with the understanding that the one who earned the most wealth would become the next clan leader.
While this method certainly ensures that the most capable leader will be chosen, its drawbacks are equally clear.
Each candidate is given too much power, and each one controls wealth comparable to a nation. They all possess the potential for immense destruction.
If these ten or so candidates fail to handle matters properly, it could lead to internal strife within the Qian Clan, or even deal a significant blow to it.
Currently, the Qian Clan is already beginning to show signs of disorder, and it is unclear what kind of crisis might arise in the end. Whether Qian Jinjin, one of the candidates, will survive this crisis unscathed is also uncertain.
Long Xuan started to let his imagination run wild. He was contemplating whether he could forcefully seize the recipe for the Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu from the Third Young Master.
Despite being in a weakened state and unable to act personally, Long Xuanâs five clones had terrifying combat power.
Right now, the Third Young Master had suffered serious injuries, and the most powerful Three-Legged Golden Toad was dead, making this an extremely rare opportunity.
Although the Third Young Master, as a wealthy merchant, surely had many powerful cards up his sleeve, Long Xuan was confident that his own chances of success were still greater.
However, this thought didnât last long before he quickly abandoned it.
It wasnât that he feared losing to the Third Young Master. Instead, it was because he shared the same concern as the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on the Third Young Masterâthe fear of being discovered and then hunted down by the Qian Clanâs business association.
This potential consequence had to be carefully considered. Long Xuan had always been cautious by nature and never willing to take unnecessary risks.
The Qian Clanâs business association spanned across various regions and controlled vast, incalculable wealth. Its ranks were filled with powerful individuals, and there were likely countless Gu Kings among themâdefinitely not a force Long Xuan could afford to offend in his current state.
He could never guarantee that after killing someone, the Qian Clanâs business association wouldnât trace it back to him.
If even the other clan leader candidates who targeted the Third Young Master couldnât be sure of avoiding detection, how could he? He wasnât that arrogant.
In this world, Gu insects come in countless strange and unpredictable forms, with abilities more bizarre and astonishing than the next.
So one should never assume theyâve covered their tracks completely.
For instance, there are Gu insects with divination or prophetic abilities in this world, which could directly reveal the identity of the perpetrator. What good is it to act discreetly then?
Thus, out of caution, Long Xuan ultimately abandoned the idea of killing and robbing. Instead, he planned to acquire the recipe for the Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu through a trade.
No clan would easily trade a secret Gu recipe, but nothing is ever absolute.
Under normal circumstances, even if Long Xuan offered a fortune, the Third Young Master would never trade away the clanâs secret Gu recipe.
But now, things were different. The Third Young Master's dantian was destroyed, and his cultivation path was ruined for life. No Gu cultivator could accept becoming a cripple.
But what if something could repair his dantian at this moment? To regain his life and seek revenge, would he betray his clan and trade the secret Gu recipe?
Long Xuan believed the Third Young Master would likely choose to make the trade. In fact, most people in this world would probably make the same decision in such a situation.
Humans are selfish. When their own survival is at stake, who would care about anything else? Who could endure being a cripple for the rest of their life?
Since he wasnât planning to kill and seize the treasure, Long Xuan had only one option leftâoffering the Heaven Mending Pill. He took a deep breath and said, "How about we make a trade?"
"I have something that can repair your dantian, but you must trade me the recipe for the Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I assure you, I only need the recipe for reference and will never actually refine the Three-Legged Golden Toad Gu."
"As long as I don't refine it, no one will ever know you leaked your clan's secret Gu recipe. You can safely make this trade with me."
As expected, Long Xuanâs words immediately caused the Third Young Masterâs eyes to widen in disbelief. His breathing quickened, and he looked at Long Xuan as if he wanted to devour him, his emotions highly agitated. "Is that true? Do you really have something that can repair my dantian?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Youâre lying! As a head of the Qian Clanâs business in this region, Iâve handled countless treasures and am the most knowledgeable person around, yet I have never seen any pill that can repair a dantian."
"Forget seeing it, Iâve never even heard of such a thing! A pill that can repair a dantian? Thatâs unheard of. You must be trying to deceive me!"
The Third Young Master shook his head frantically, unable to believe that such a pill existed in this world. It was too coincidental that right after he was crippled, someone would conveniently show up with something that could repair his dantian.
If such a pill truly existed, he would have been dead long ago. His enemies would never have just crippled his dantian.
It was precisely because a destroyed dantian couldnât be repaired in this world that he had lost the ability to rise again, and his enemies spared his life.
Though he was convinced the news was false, the Third Young Master still looked at Long Xuan with hopeful eyes, wanting to believe but afraid to, trapped in deep internal conflict.