Chen Baiqing, with a gloomy expression, walked up to Manager Chen and yanked the foul sock out of his mouth.
Manager Chen took a deep breath and imdiately started to wail loudly.
"Store Manager, you must stand up for ! They are inhuman! They nearly killed on the way!"
"Shut up!"
Chen Baiqing yelled angrily, his refined face now twisted and ferocious.
"Chen Moshan, by seniority, you are my great-uncle, and my father's cousin.
When my father went far away to study dicine, you stayed behind in our hotown to take care of my grandmother.
This kindness, both my father and I have kept in our hearts."
Manager Chen hurriedly said, "It's good that you rember these things, Store Manager. We are family after all! How can we let outsiders bully people of our Chen Family?"
"Do I treat you as family, but do you treat as family?"
A deep look of disappointnt appeared on Chen Baiqing's face.
"All these years, I knew you were not capable, yet I let you manage Shenghe Hall, giving you so much power.
I know you've been skimming money on the side, but I turned a blind eye to it because of your past kindness to my father and .
Your son Chen Gui has average talent, yet I taught him everything I could for over twenty years, and he beca a senior pharmacist.
But this ti? This ti, transporting the spiritual dicine was a matter of great importance to the reputation of Shenghe Hall, as well as the lives of all these employees!
Chen Moshan, it's one thing to make money, but you disregarded the reputation of Shenghe Hall for your own selfish desires, and you almost killed these employees who have believed in and followed for years. You really deserve to die!"
"Store Manager, please let explain..."
Manager Chen was truly panicked and hurried to make excuses.
But Chen Baiqing didn't give him the chance, waving his hand to have him taken away and bound.
Han Zheng and Li Sancheng, among others, watched the scene with a sense of satisfaction.
Although they didn't know how Chen Baiqing would deal with Manager Chen, they were sure he wouldn't let him off easily.
Chen Baiqing turned to Han Zheng and bowed solemnly.
"Little brother Han, thank you so much for this ti.
If it hadn't been for you guys, not only would this whole cart of spiritual dicine have been lost, but also the lives of these employees.
The fifty taels of silver from before was too little; I have prepared an additional one hundred taels as a thank-you."
Upon hearing this, Han Zheng and the others imdiately lit up.
What a considerate person!
Even if Chen Baiqing hadn't given any extra money, it wouldn't have been an issue since it was a trusted duty.
But his generosity was unexpected, giving each one a hundred taels, more than the earlier reward.
"Also, Little Brother Han, it was thanks to you that disaster was averted. We have just got a large supply of spiritual dicine, so I will prepare a set of dicine baths for you as an additional gift."
"Manager Chen, you are too kind."
A surge of joy rose in Han Zheng's heart.
A hundred taels of silver would only make his life more comfortable and relieve his worries about food.
But a set of dicine baths could significantly enhance his current strength.
Li Sancheng and the others displayed envious looks, but there was no jealousy.
After all, they had seen Han Zheng's performance along the way.
His ruthless fight against the boar demon risking his life.
His joint effort with Li Feng to take control and subdue Manager Chen.
His asured advance and retreat facing the Sll Fragrance Sect, effectively driving them back.
They knew they wouldn't have succeeded in any of these tasks themselves, so what was there to be jealous of?
"I need to rush these spiritual dicines back to Shenghe Hall soon, so you guys should head back and rest up. You have really been through a lot these past days."
Chen Baiqing handed out the silver notes to them, then went off to direct the employees of Shenghe Hall in transporting the spiritual dicines.
Li Feng ca over and spoke softly to Han Zheng, "I am going to help the Store Manager handle these spiritual dicines first. Once I am done, I will co find you and tailor a set of dicine baths for you."
Li Feng, seeing the potential in Han Zheng, knew it was right to be on good terms with such a promising young martial artist.
"Thank you," Han Zheng bowed his hands.
Li Feng, a senior pharmacist personally preparing a dicine bath for Han Zheng, would definitely yield much better effects than any pre-made formula.
The people of Shenghe Hall got busy, while Li Sancheng and so others could no longer stay awake and decided to go ho to rest and catch up on sleep.
As the leader of this expedition, Han Zheng needed to return to the martial arts hall to report to Li Jingzhong about everything that had happened on the trip.
In the martial arts hall, there seed to be no classes today, and the disciples were practicing on their own.
Seeing Han Zheng return, they looked at him with slightly curious eyes.
After all, they were still not qualified as full disciples, yet Han Zheng had already managed to escort a trading convoy.
They were curious about how much silver Han Zheng had made and whether he encountered any dangers.
This could well be sothing they would need to face in the future.
"Back already? Did you encounter any difficulties?"
Li Jingzhong called Han Zheng to the inner hall and asked with a smile.
Han Zheng forced a smile, "Difficulties would be an understatent; I almost died out there."
With that, Han Zheng recounted all that had happened on his journey to Li Jingzhong.
Of course, he concealed the fact that he had enhanced his abilities using the Taotie Furnace, simply stating it was an epiphany during battle that increased his strength.
After listening, Li Jingzhong sighed, "I haven't left the county town for a while myself. I didn't expect the world to be getting tougher by the day.
Your trip was indeed perilous, even encountering Demons.
However, it also turned out to be a blessing in disguise since your strength has greatly increased.
Having opened two hundred and twenty acupuncture points and eight ridians, your realm is now on par with Song Tianqing and the others."
"It was sheer luck, Master, thanks to your teachings.
By the way, Master, do Demons also have realms? The pig Demon I encountered had imnse strength, almost comparable to the late Postnatal stage."
Li Jingzhong nodded, "Martial Artists have different realms, and so do Demons, though not as detailed, often categorized by species.
For instance, the sa Postnatal Demon, a pig Demon has trendous strength; as long as it is a healthy adult, it could match a Martial Artist in the late or peak Postnatal stage.
With just a bit more strength training, it could reach the Innate Realm.
However, if it was a rabbit or mouse that gained intelligence and beca a Demon, their Postnatal Realm wouldn't be as formidable, only capable of deceiving ordinary individuals.
But once a Demon surpasses the Innate Realm, it is no ordinary Demon but akin to a Martial Artist in the Xuan Gang Realm, known as a Great Demon.
Regardless of their species, all Great Demons are formidable characters.
Keep in mind that a Great Demon possesses the power to slaughter an entire city."
Han Zheng bitterly smiled, "Why do I feel like Human Warriors are at too much of a disadvantage compared to Demons?
Even a low-level Demon like a pig Demon reaches the peak Postnatal stage upon reaching adulthood and can ascend to Innate with just a little training.
anwhile, a Martial Artist might spend a lifeti and still not reach the transition from Postnatal to Innate."
Li Jingzhong replied, "Though Demons are strong, they are not truly invincible. Our sole advantage as Human Warriors is our potential.
That pig Demon, reaching its peak in adulthood, can at best reach the Innate Realm.
But even after one hundred or a thousand years, the majority of pig Demons will never advance beyond that realm, only a rare few becoming Great Demons.
Whereas for us Human Warriors, who's to say that a seemingly ordinary low-level warrior won't one day stand at the pinnacle of Martial Arts?"
In fact, Li Jingzhong's words were also ant to encourage Han Zheng.
Martial Artists also value root bone and talent.
So Martial Artists, due to poor innate talent, might never reach the Innate Realm even with a lifeti of training.
Compared to Demons, who esteem their ancestral lineage, Human Warriors indeed have more potential in cultivation.
At this mont, Han Zheng suddenly rembered sothing and took out the Blood Slaughter Saber Technique he had acquired from the pig Demon, handing it to Li Jingzhong.
"Master, after I killed that pig Demon, I took a sword manual from it. I only glanced through it briefly and felt sothing was off, so I'd like you to see whether I should cultivate it."
Li Jingzhong took the sword manual, still reeking of a strong tallic scent, and his brows furrowed deeper as he read.
After a while, he finally said, "This Blood Slaughter Saber Technique is a standard Demon Path Evil Cultivation thod.
It requires the condensation of Evil Qi to enhance its power. Though it is just a Postnatal cultivation technique, with enough Evil Qi, its combat power could even be comparable to Innate.
However, once Evil Qi enters the body, if it's not controlled properly, it could affect one's ntal state; all Demon Path Evil Cultivation Techniques are like this. They offer rapid power increases but have unstable foundations.
So, whether to cultivate this depends on you. If you do, you must control your ntal state and not let the Evil Qi affect you."
Han Zheng nodded, but he had already decided to cultivate it.
He was quite confident in his ntal state.
Could there be anything more sinister than the Taotie Furnace?
He had managed to maintain control of his ntal state even in the face of the Taotie Furnace's temptations, not completely sacrificing all his parts—let alone a re Postnatal cultivation technique like the Blood Slaughter Saber Technique.
"By the way, Master, should we inform the governnt office about the Sll Fragrance Sect? After all, the Sll Fragrance Sect has nearly erged in the Southern Mountain."
Li Jingzhong pondered for a mont, "We should tell the governnt office about this. 'If the lips perish, the teeth will be cold.' Huainan Road has been breached by the Sll Fragrance Sect; we too must be on our guard."
Having said that, Li Jingzhong summoned a servant to send the ssage to the governnt office.
About half an hour later, an arrest officer in his thirties, tall, lean, and wearing a black and red official uniform, stepped into the Martial Arts Hall.
As Han Zheng looked up at the arrest officer, he subconsciously felt a chill.
The man exuded a fierce and cold aura; though he was trying hard to conceal it, Han Zheng could still feel a trace of murderous intent leaking out.
Moreover, his murderous aura was at such a level that it could hardly be concealed—this person's hands were undoubtedly stained with many lives!
Weren't they saying the County Magistrate of Black Stone County was useless, and the governnt weak and powerless? Then why was there such a high-level expert?
The governnt office's arrest officer inadvertently glanced at Han Zheng.
He had a lean face, long, narrow eyes that were sharply piercing, and a sowhat fierce scar across his cheek.
Even from that one look, Han Zheng felt like he was being preyed upon by a fierce beast.
The governnt office's arrest officer then turned his head and gave Li Jingzhong a seemingly amiable smile.
"Old teacher, hope all is well. It's been a long ti since I revisited the Martial Arts Hall, and it has grown significantly. I really miss the days when I practiced boxing under your guidance.
I was a bit hurried when I ca back the other day, and I didn't have a chance to visit you; I hope you don't mind, Teacher."
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