In this Hongshi Gang, Teng Qing-shan and his group received a warm welcome.

  That night, everyone had a hearty dinner. Zhu Chongshi arrived safely at his destination and was visibly delighted, drinking until he was drunk and only then separating from Tan Qingshan and the others in a state of intoxication.

  "Brother Qing Shan! You can stay here for a few more days!" Zhu Chong Shi, reeking of alcohol, stumbled as he walked and enthusiastically threw his arm around Qing Shan's shoulder. "I know that the Black Armor Army doesn't have anything going on right now, so don't worry about it. Just think of it as a delay on your journey and take a few more days to have some fun! Oh... by the way, I've arranged for two beautiful twin sisters to stay at your place. Tonight, you can really let loose and have a good time, haha..."

  Zhu Chongshi finished speaking and smiled, then left with the support of his subordinates.

  "Is she a woman?"

  Hong Qingshan shook his head and walked towards his own residence.

  It was unclear whether the other Black Armor soldiers had enjoyed those women, but without a doubt, that night Teng Qing Shan practiced his Xing Yi San Ti Shi and sat cross-legged in the courtyard for an entire night, not touching the two girls once.

  ……

  In a large hall, Zhu Chongshi sat in the main seat, with much of the wine's effect already worn off.

  "Old Master!"

  In the central hall, two tall men bowed and shouted.

  Zhu Chongshi's face revealed a hint of a smile: "You two have worked hard, has the cargo been lost along the way?"

  "We didn't disappoint our orders." One of them said with a loud and clear voice, "We gathered together with other merchants to form a large caravan, escorting nearly a thousand people. Although there were some twists and turns along the way, not a single item of our goods was missing, all four boxes of goods arrived here."

  Merchants travel far and wide, often gathering together with many other merchants.

  Merchants increased in number and formed a large group, so they could hire many guards, which was also safer.

  "Hmm." Zhu Chongshi nodded, "Alright, it's getting late now. You two can withdraw and rest."

  "Yes, sir." The two of them withdrew.

  Zhu Chongshi picked up the teacup beside him, took two sips of tea, and his eyes gleamed with a hint of intoxication: "Father is right, can't put all eggs in one basket! If it weren't for Qing Shan brothers this time, I'm afraid my goods would be hard to keep intact. My strength is still not enough to deal with Meng Tian! If these goods are robbed... only Fan Shi brothers' goods will be left!"

  After years of hard work, the goods accumulated from overseas were divided into two batches by Zhu Chongshi.

  Among them, Fan brothers disguised as ordinary traveling merchants, carrying four boxes of goods rushing to Chu Prefecture.

  Zhu Chongshi himself was leading a team of ten cargo carts, hurrying towards Chu Prefecture.

  Even if the ten cargo trucks were robbed, he still had four boxes of goods. In Zhu Chongshi's view, even with four boxes of goods, he also had a 20% chance of snatching the family heirloom.

  "Qing Shan brothers, so young! I ask myself if I have been diligent, talented and had rare opportunities, there shouldn't be many of my juniors who are stronger than me. But this Qing Shan brother..." Zhu Chongshi has been wandering overseas for years, having experienced life and death, and having had rare encounters. He has never relaxed his martial arts training.

  I thought I was strong enough.

  But who would have thought that Teng Qing Shan could actually kill Meng Tian. Zhu Chong Shi was confident, but he didn't think he could surpass Meng Tian.

  "There are people outside of people, and there is heaven beyond the sky!" Zhu Chongshi sighed, "Father was right, no matter when, one can't be complacent. When one is complacent, failure is not far away." Having just returned from overseas, his heroic spirit was brutally crushed by Teng Qing Shan's strength.

  Zhu Chongshi also increasingly understood the profound meaning of some words his father occasionally said.

  ******

  Night!

  A carrier pigeon fell into Jiangning Prefecture and returned to Yuan Zong's inner court.

  Carrier pigeons were used to send messages, which was very common in the nine states. Of course, it was usually sects or some wealthy merchant families who had the capital to train carrier pigeons and have intelligence points all over the place.

  The road winds and turns, for example, Teng Qing Shan and his party rushed from Jiangning Prefecture to Chu Prefecture, a distance of nearly two thousand miles.

  In fact, this road is winding and most of it is a detour.

  And the straight-line distance is much shorter.

  This pigeon flies, and it doesn't matter if there are rivers or mountains blocking the way below. Moreover, on this vast land of nine states, under the nourishment of heaven and earth spiritual energy, the speed of this pigeon is also extremely fast. Some top-notch pigeons can fly through a state in just one day.

  For example, among the three great dragon horses, the 'Black Nightmare Horse' can travel 5,000 miles in a day, but because of the winding roads, it would still take a whole day to traverse the entire Yangzhou.

  ……

  Guiyuan Sect, outside the sect's main gate, a middle-aged man in gray robes rushed over hastily. At this moment, there was not a single light on inside the study room, it was pitch black. However, the man in gray knew... For most nights of the month, the Sect Master would be staying in this study room. On the other hand, the training grounds exclusively for the Sect Master had rarely been visited.

  "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

  "Come in!"

  With a creak, the door of the study was pushed open. Zhuge Yuanhong had already gotten up and lit the candle.

  "Lord, an urgent secret letter from Xuyang County." The man in gray handed over a rolled-up letter.

  Zhuge Yuanhong's eyebrows rose, and he said it was an urgent letter, not ordinary. Zhuge Yuanhong furrowed his brow, took the letter, unfolded the paper, and immediately burst out laughing: "Haha... what a surprise! Qingyang Shidi, come take a look."

  "Surprise?" The man in gray robes hesitated for a moment, somewhat puzzled, and then accepted it.

  "Two of my Black Armor Army soldiers are dead and one is severely injured. Did Teng Qing Shan kill Meng Tian?" The grey-robed man looked at Zhuge Yuanhong in shock, "Master, this... how is this possible?"

  "Qingyang, this news only says that Qing Shan was seriously injured by Meng Tian and then chased him all the way, later returning with a Blood Moon sword. As for whether he killed Meng Tian, no one saw it." Zhuge Yuanhong said with a faint smile, "No one saw it, so this matter can't be clarified."

  The man in grey robes nodded hastily and said, "But Meng Tian is a master of the 'Earth List', how could he be defeated by Tun Qing Mountain and have his weapon seized? With his weapon seized, nine out of ten chances are that he was killed!"

  Whether Meng Tian is really dead or not, the fact is that his troops have been taken away.

  For a super master, having his weapon seized is utter defeat!

  "Xu Yangjun said that it's now widely circulating, Teng Qingshan severely injured Meng Tian, causing Meng Tian to cut off one arm, and chased him all the way, but didn't say he was killed!" Zhuge Yuanhong said.

  "Hmm." The man in grey robes nodded.

  It turned out that this news was spread by the twenty or so people who saw Meng Tian being seriously injured by Tun Qing Shan back then.

  The Sanshi Inn survived that bloody battle, and those twenty or so people naturally left quickly. They didn't know whether Teng Qing had killed Meng Tian or not. These men were traveling in Xuyang County, and this news was widely discussed.

  This spread quickly and eventually reached the ears of Guiyuan Zong's intelligence personnel.

  "Haha... Qing Shan, he must be able to make it onto the 'Hidden Dragon List'." Zhuge Yuanhong said with a bright smile. "As for whether he can make it onto the 'Earth List', it's hard to say... because in order to make it onto the 'Earth List', the Wanxiangmen examination is also extremely strict. Whether Qing Shan was able to take his opponent's weapon by himself, it's also hard to say. Because no one saw!"

  The man in grey nodded.

  It's indeed difficult to be listed in the "Earth Rankings". Just look at those masters who are listed, which one of them doesn't have a series of shocking achievements.

  To be listed on the "Earth List", the fastest way is to either directly kill your opponent, of course this requires someone to witness it, otherwise who knows if it was you or not. The second option is for your opponent to formally admit defeat after being beaten, which also needs a witness.

  Zhuge Yuanhong smiled and said, "No matter what, I have returned to the Yuan sect. At least there is a younger generation of disciples who can be listed on the 'Hidden Dragon List', and no one will dare say that the Yuan sect's younger generation is incompetent!"

  The younger generation of Guiyuan Sect is not short of masters.

  Zang Feng and Guan Lu, the two young leaders, Zuge Yun and others, however, outsiders still think that the younger generation of the Guiyuan Sect is not good.

  The outside world doesn't know what geniuses are hidden within your sect, they only look at the Dragon List.

  "The master......" The man in gray suddenly became somewhat apprehensive and excited, saying: "Teng Qing Shan is not yet twenty years old, now he can defeat Meng Tian! Absolutely the strength of the 'Earth List', you say, can he reach Xiantian?"

  "Congenital?" Zhuge Yuanhong's eyes lit up.

  A born strongman, for a sect, is self-evident.

  "You go down first." Zhuge Yuanhong said.

  "Yes, Master." The man in gray immediately retreated with respect.

  Zhuge Yuanhong waved his hand and extinguished the candle, sitting quietly in the dark study for a long time: "Teng Qing Shan, with a clean and simple background, it's absolutely impossible for him to be a pawn of other sects. Moreover, I estimate that no sect would be willing to let such a genius become a pawn! This is definitely my Guiyuan Sect, the first genius in a thousand years! If Teng Qing Shan can continue to improve at this speed, decades or even centuries later, under his leadership, my Guiyuan Sect may... one day surpass Qinghu Island and become the number one sect in Yangzhou! Teng Qing Shan, I will cultivate you with all my might, let's see how far you can reach. I hope you won't disappoint me!"

  Sometimes, one must be resolute!

  Although Tun Qing Shan's parents were not disciples of Guiyuan Zong, they could not be considered the most trusted kind.

  Ke Heng Qing Shan is also considered to be of a clear and clean background. Such an extraordinary genius, if not cultivated, would it not be easy for other sects to snatch away?

  When it's time to make a decision, one must make a decision!

  In his heart, Zhuge Yuanhong had already intended to cultivate Teng Qing Shan as the next generation's sect master! The succession of the Yuan Sect's sect master is not necessarily from father to son, but rather selecting the most outstanding disciple!

  In the past, Zhuge Yuanhong had considered Zhang Feng, Guan Yu and his son Zhuge Yun as candidates for the position of leader.

  These three people are formidable, but...

  Compared to Meng Tian, Teng Qing Shan is far inferior. What's more, Teng Qing Shan is only seventeen years old! A seventeen-year-old defeating a top master of the Earth Board, this has never happened in the past thousand years of Gui Yuan Sect. What's even more astonishing is that Teng Qing Shan had always cultivated on his own and had not truly received any guidance from Gui Yuan Sect.

  "What about the 'Guiyuan Heart Classic' and the 'Youyue Gun Classic'? What should he pass on?" Zhuge Yuanhong thought, "One is my Guiyuan Sect's town temple treasure, a heavenly-level secret classic, while the other is just an earthly-level secret classic. However, it's a gun technique! Hmm..." Zhuge Yuanhong also seriously considered how to cultivate Teng Qingshan.

  （）