Uninvited Guest

"Shi Yuanbai?!"

Yan Shuoting and the Zhang family steward both frowned slightly.

The Sha Gang is one of the top three major forces in Baisha County. Its young leader, Shi Yuanbai, even studied at the Yongning Prefecture Academy. After returning to Baisha County for three years, he has almost secured his position as the next leader of the Sha Gang.

in other words.

The person who came to congratulate us today is not a young man, but the future leader of the Sand Gang!

The portion size is completely different.

Even many large martial arts schools in the city don't offer this kind of treatment.

Your presence is a great honor!

But......

Why did he come?

This is the shared sentiment of Yan Shuoting and the Zhang family steward.

They knew Shi Yuanbai.

As the only son of Shi Fengsha, the leader of the Sand Gang, he has always had extremely high standards, yet he was willing to come and congratulate a village academy.

"Could it be that Zhong Xuan is on good terms with the Sha Gang?"

If the three major powers in Baisha City are the Martial Arts Association, the Purple Gold Hall, and the Sand Gang, then Zhong Xuan can be on good terms with all three at the same time, truly playing both sides.

Yan Shuoting and the Zhang family steward couldn't help but praise Zhong Xuan's great abilities.

As for Xu Mao and Xu Tian, ​​they both tensed up instantly, after all, Xiahe Village had almost fought to the death with the Sand Gang over the water source.

Neither of them could figure out Shi Yuanbai's intentions.

"Uncle Chung..."

Xu Mao whispered something warily in Zhong Xuan's ear.

Zhong Xuan gave Xu Mao a reassuring look.

He was well aware that he had absolutely no affinity with the Sha Gang, and in fact, he harbored some grudges against them because of Ma Lei.

Since we're already here, we might as well make the best of it.

Shi Yuanbai came to offer his congratulations, and as the host, there was no reason not to welcome him.

That's the rule.

"Young Master Shi has arrived; I have failed to greet you properly."

Zhong Xuan smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

He was much more composed than Xu Mao and Xu Tian standing beside him.

This is not only due to the difference in temperament, but also because Zhong Xuan's martial arts realm is higher, and he can withstand the power of Shi Yuanbai's Bone Refining Martial Arts.

Shi Yuanbai was elegant and refined, not at all like a warrior, but more like a scholar.

"Congratulations, Dean Chung."

He smiled and clasped his hands in congratulations.

Seeing Shi Yuanbai personally offer his congratulations, the expressions on everyone's faces became incredibly interesting.

Great future!

There aren't many people in the entire Baisha County who can be so polite to Shi Yuanbai, the young leader of the Sha Gang.

Zhong Xuan's expression remained unchanged, still smiling, but he was slightly startled inside.

Shi Yuanbai appeared to be walking slowly, but in the blink of an eye, he was already less than three feet away from him.

It was clearly the use of some extremely skillful lightness technique.

Suddenly—

Zhong Xuan sensed a faint demonic aura.

"The Black Cult!"

If he hadn't cultivated the Nine Strikes of the Flying Eagle and possessed the innate talent of a great demon, ordinary martial artists would never have been able to sense this faint aura.

"As expected, they had ulterior motives."

How could Zhong Xuan not see it?

Shi Yuanbai came for the Great Demon Bone.

There was no panic, nor was there any preemptive strike.

The Great Demon Bone had long been integrated with his entire body's bones. Even with secret techniques, it was impossible to tell from the sight that his bones originated from that Great Demon Bone.

He forced himself to remain calm and showed no sign of anything amiss.

However, Zhong Xuan was also secretly preparing to make his move, ready to use Crane Bone to escape should anything change.

Given his status at the Flying Eagle Martial Arts School, as long as he wasn't killed on the spot by Shi Yuanbai, the young gang leader couldn't do anything to him.

This is what it means to have a big tree to lean on for shade.

A moment later.

The faint demonic aura vanished completely.

Regarding the anomaly that just occurred.

Even Yan Shuoting, who was also at the late stage of the Skin Refining Realm, was completely unaware of this.

"It wasn't him..."

Shi Yuanbai thought to himself.

He came here today because he happened to be nearby and, having heard about the school's establishment, decided to visit the branch director of the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Academy.

Flying Eagle Martial Arts School is the mainstay of the martial arts association.

The Martial Arts Association and the Sand Gang are both top-tier forces in Baisha County, and as the young leader of the gang, it is necessary for him to meet this renowned and late-blooming Master Zhong.

As for testing.

It was just something I did on a whim.

After all, according to the Great Sage, those who can consume qi must be extraordinary.

Zhong Xuannian was still able to practice martial arts even in his sixties, and even made great progress in it. Perhaps he had obtained some extraordinary good fortune.

If it were an ordinary person, Shi Yuanbai might have already ordered someone to capture them for research.

But Zhong Xuan was not only a student of the Imperial Academy, but according to his spies, he had a very good relationship with Zheng Yue of the Flying Eagle Martial Arts School. Zheng Yue was Qian Hong's senior brother, and Qian Hong's strength was in no way inferior to his father's.

Shi Yuanbai would never risk offending the Flying Eagle Martial Arts School for a mere possibility.

"Mr. Zhong's establishment of schools is a great thing that benefits the entire county. Since I have happened to come across this opportunity, I should present him with a gift."

Shi Yuanbai beckoned to his Sha Gang subordinates beside him.

The man from the Sha Gang respectfully handed a small jade bottle to Shi Yuanbai.

"Consider this Nine-Blood Pill a congratulatory gift."

"May Mr. Zhong's martial arts career flourish forever."

Nine Blood Pill!

Upon hearing these three words, Yan Shuoting and the Zhang family steward could no longer remain calm. Those were precious pills that could help one break through to the late stage of the Skin Refining Realm, each worth a hundred taels of silver, and Shi Yuanbai had given them away so casually.

They really are rich and powerful.

After delivering the gifts, Shi Yuanbai led the Sand Gang members away gracefully.

Zhong Xuan gazed at the small jade bottle in his hand, lost in thought.

"I have never revealed my cultivation level to anyone. It's normal for Shi Yuanbai to think I'm at the mid-stage of the Skin Refining realm and give me the Nine Blood Pill."

However, he did not intend to take it.

Firstly, he has already made a breakthrough.

Secondly, I don't trust them.

It's not uncommon in the martial arts world for people to be given fake pills, which can lead to others suffering from qi deviation during practice.

One should always be wary of others.

Not to mention that the young leader of the Sha Gang could not possibly be a kind-hearted person.

"Shi Yuanbai's delivery of the pills suggests he didn't discover anything..."

Despite this, Zhong Xuan still carefully analyzed the situation.

The families from Xiahe Village who were involved with Heishi have all moved to other counties.

No matter how powerful the Sha Gang is, they can't extend their reach to other counties.

After confirming that there were no mistakes, Zhong Xuan continued to preside over the academy's opening ceremony.

One hour later.

Peace and tranquility were restored in front of the academy.

Zhong Xuan locked the gate before returning to the Zhong family's old house, which was not far away.

The gifts in the courtyard have piled up into a small mountain.

Most of them were grains, and you could even see chickens.

These were all gifts from the villagers of Xiahe Village.

The truly valuable gifts were those from Yan Shuoting, the Zhang family, and Shi Yuanbai.

"One Blood Strengthening Pill is worth fifty taels."

"Two Nine-Blood Pills, worth three hundred taels."

"This is......"

Zhong Xuan opened the large wooden box that the Zhang family steward had sent.

Opening the box on the spot would be a disgraceful act, and Zhong Xuan, being an elder, knew the proper etiquette best, so only now had the opportunity to open the Zhang family's congratulatory gift.

Inside the large wooden box lay a leg bone, about the length of a forearm, of unknown origin.

"Demon beast bone!"

Zhong Xuan was slightly surprised.

Zhang Lie actually gave him a monster bone.

Even the weakest of the monsters has a leg bone worth five hundred taels of silver.

A rough calculation.

On the first day of school at the academy, they received a congratulatory gift worth a thousand taels of silver!

"So old Zhong can be this shameless?"