Chapter 71 - 66: Zhao Ci’s Insufficient Firepower Phobia (Part 2)

Chapter 71: Chapter 66: Zhao Ci’s Insufficient Firepower Phobia (Part 2)

Seventeen years ago, I listened to him and stayed behind in Lingge to act as your bodyguard.

And what did I get for it? An ungrateful little bastard who has the gall to fucking suspect me!

You think I’m still going to listen to him?"

Zhao Ci chuckled sheepishly. "My apologies, Uncle. I was being petty. I’ll kowtow to you right now to make it up to you!"

"Enough, enough! Making a Prince kowtow to me in apology? I don’t have a death wish."

Xiang Yunzhan waved his hand impatiently. "But you, you little rascal, you haven’t done anything wrong, so why are you sneaking around? Spit it out. What do you want, coming over so early?"

Zhao Ci chuckled. "It’s about those things I had you build last time. I need you to make twenty more. Same old deal, rig them with a self-destruct mechanism. If anyone tries to use them on the sly, everything inside gets blown to smithereens."

In reality, his anti-theft measures were simple. He’d prepare a metal casing, place a molded glass Condenser inside, and then seal it shut with a cast iron plate.

Then he’d add a lock-picking trigger and a vibration-activated detonator.

If anyone dared to force it open, the glassware inside would be blown to bits.

That’s right!

Gunpowder formulas and glassmaking techniques both existed in this world. It’s just that they were so pathetic they hadn’t been put into daily production.

It was all dug up from the ruins of a previous dynasty. Who knew what the deal was with this so-called "previous dynasty," but their civilization seemed to have been absurdly advanced.

Xiang Yunzhan waved his hand. "No problem! By the way, just sketch out the blueprints for the metal casing. I have a use for them! No need to draw the glass parts. I remember how."

"Alright!"

Zhao Ci understood and couldn’t help but smile. His uncle was a straightforward man, true, but he was also a crafty old soldier through and through.

’What damn good were blueprints for just the metal casing!’

Xiang Yunzhan stood up and yawned. "Nothing else, right? Finish your drawing and get lost. I’m going back to sleep!"

"There is!"

Zhao Ci stood up. "Could you introduce me to a few young War Gods from our Xiang Family? My Tenth Prince’s Mansion is still short on Mansion Officials!"

This was his main reason for coming today.

He may have made a name for himself, but he was still facing a shortage of manpower.

If he wanted to earn more merit, he needed more people.

But he’d used Gu Xiangzhu’s connections to ask around, and it turned out that most of the notable young talents between sixteen and eighteen had already been snatched up by the other mansions.

Besides, his actions yesterday had undoubtedly offended the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince quite badly. Anyone thinking of joining the Tenth Prince’s Mansion would have to think twice.

In truth, he felt his situation was a bit awkward.

Because farming for Insight and earning merit weren’t entirely compatible.

If his mansion was short-staffed, he would inevitably find himself stretched thin when things happened.

Xiang Yunzhan’s brow furrowed. "My advice is not to recruit indiscriminately right now. It’s not easy to earn merit through business. If you’re just doing it for your own cultivation, the business alone is enough to exchange for plenty of Cultivation Resources. But if you recruit a few people, how will there be enough meat to go around?

I won’t even mention that girl from the Zhu Family; she actually does real work.

But you even dared to take in that kid, Feng Kucha... Brotherhood is brotherhood. You can help out your buddies when you’re rich and powerful, but letting a buddy drag down your career is just fucking stupid!

Of course, a real man’s word is his bond. The guy has even prepared a Snake Woman to deliver to your bed. You absolutely can’t go back on your word now, or you’ll lose face!

But as for everyone else, it’s better not to recruit them if you can help it.

Especially those from the great aristocratic families. They’re all just in it for the merit.

Following you won’t help them earn much merit, but they’ll still be greedy for yours. So tell me, are you going to give it to them or not?

That’s a recipe for disaster!

And you call yourself a businessman? You can’t even figure out this simple calculation?"

With that said, he turned and walked directly toward the back courtyard. No matter how many times Zhao Ci called out to him, he remained unmoved, just waving his hand in annoyance, gesturing for Zhao Ci to leave quickly.

His whole demeanor screamed that he’d said his piece and that was that.

However... Zhao Ci thought about it and realized his uncle had a point. ’Having a group of elite warriors relentlessly farming merit is one way to do it.

But relying on the merit from my business to level up on my own is also a pretty good option.

If I recruit more Mansion Officials, I really have to consider the cost-benefit ratio.

Recruiting some of those hardcore badasses would be great, of course.

But if there aren’t any candidates like that, I should probably just wait and see. I can recruit Mansion Officials anytime, so there’s no need to rush.

Anyway, my own power spike will definitely come after I open my Physical Body Divine Treasure. History isn’t short on people with freakishly powerful bodies who could challenge those in higher realms.

But if... I could find some people who aren’t so obsessed with merit, that might not be a bad idea.’

His uncle was inexplicably irritable today, for reasons unknown.

But his advice was truly spot-on.

Zhao Ci didn’t linger. After finishing the blueprints, he tossed them through the window of Xiang Yunzhan’s bedroom, got straight into his carriage, and headed home. He’d deal with the Pill Workshop after the new distillation equipment was built. As for now... time to cultivate!

The First-Grade Flesh Soul and the Celestial Demon Body had already given him a taste of their power.

He’d gone from a weakling with a combat power not even reaching five to a total beefcake.

Although his realm was still low and his overall strength was lacking, he could definitely use some extreme tactics to make up for the difference.

Before, when he ran into Zhao Yong in private, he still had to avoid offending him too much.

But now, he truly dared to take him on.

’But... my Flesh Soul has been pushed to its limit by the Emperor Pill. What about Muscle and Bone Refining?’

’If I can’t get my muscles and bones to the top tier, isn’t my fear of insufficient firepower going to act up?’

Zhao Ci felt a headache coming on. He did have one more Emperor Pill on hand. Although it was low-grade, it was still a treasure that countless Cultivators in the Imperial Family could only dream of obtaining.

It’s just that a person could only take one of these things in their entire life.

For Muscle and Bone Refining, he would have to find other pills and Secret Techniques.

Right now, he was suffering from a severe case of insufficient firepower phobia.

He was more and more convinced that having the biggest fist was the only absolute truth.

Not only did he have to put on an act for Old Deng, but he also had to endure humiliation from that old hag of a jailer.

Once he got stronger, he would, one way or another, give Old Deng a slap across the face and pin Gu Xiangzhu to the ground to spank her.

’I’ll just cultivate first!’

’I’m still a long way from my first Muscle Refining, so I won’t think about all this other stuff for now.’

’Most people go through Body Refining ten times, and there’s a good reason for that.’

’Although the skin and muscles all over my body are already close to the human limit, the improvements are still concentrated in the muscle groups used for combat and defense.’

’My cardiac muscle, smooth muscles, sphincters... and even the muscles in my tongue. There are many small areas that haven’t been developed to their full potential.’

’Especially my tongue. I have to train it well.’

’In the future, I’ll need a silver tongue to keep my wife happy.’

’The next few sessions of Body Refining should be very fast.’

’As long as I have enough Insight, my cultivation has no bottlenecks.’

’But this damned Insight mechanism uses an exponential explosion for its leveling system.’

’What’s limiting my cultivation is actually the speed at which I can acquire Insight.’

’To reach the Physical Body Realm, I need at least another one hundred and ten thousand Insight.’

’Where the hell am I supposed to get all that?’

’I need to gather two hundred thousand taels’ worth of pills as soon as possible and collect this batch of Insight.’

’This wave should net me at least fifty thousand Insight. It’s probably the only large batch I can get in the near future.’

’But the good thing is, Old Deng is paying me for these pills, which makes me the only candidate to deliver the Emperor’s Gift Pills.’

’Under these circumstances, no one is qualified to compete with me.’

’Nothing should go wrong, right?’

After his breakthrough, Zhao Ci’s mind and body were exceptionally active.

One outlandish thought after another kept popping into his head.

The carriage was fast.

In no time, it had galloped from the north of the city to the entrance of the Tenth Prince’s Mansion.

He was just about to get out when he heard the driver speak.

"Your Highness, don’t get out yet!"

"What’s wrong?"

"Looks like our home’s being robbed by bandits!"

"Bullshit! This is the goddamn Tenth Prince’s Mansion! What bandit would dare... Ah! We are being robbed by bandits?"

The moment Zhao Ci stepped out of the carriage, he was startled by the scene before him.

The entrance to the Tenth Prince’s Mansion was packed with a sea of people. Each person held up a wooden sign, and their clothes were generally simple, suggesting they were commoners or from modestly wealthy families.

Some were dressed as scholars.

Some wore tight-fitting martial attire.

All of them were quite young and handsome.

They were currently shouting in a mix of southern and northern accents.

"Pick me!"

"Pick me!"

"Tributor Zhu, pick me!"

"Number One Heroine of Alchemy, pick me!"

"Lord Zhu, pick me! I’m strong and powerful!"

"Lord Zhu, pick me! I have a silver tongue!"

The crowd of men were frantically marketing themselves like goods waiting to be selected.

Meanwhile, Zhu Li, dressed in a fiery red alchemy robe, was clearly overwhelmed by the choices.

"This is outrageous!"

Zhao Ci fumed, "It’s only the first day of our successful venture, and she’s already holding an audition for gigolos?"

The driver: "..."

Zhao Ci leaped from the carriage and strode over quickly.

’Tributor Zhu, don’t believe his one-sided claims!

His tongue can’t possibly be more nimble than mine!’