Chương 150: Destroying Locked Forest, Dividing Eagle's Sorrow

The Black Iron Stronghold. When Song Que returned to the stronghold, Nie Feng and the others, who had been waiting anxiously, hurriedly ran out and surrounded him to ask what happened. Seeing the injuries on Boss Song's body and his clothes torn like a beggar's, it wasn't hard for everyone to guess he had just experienced a tragic battle. Fierce light flickered in Xiong Ba's eyes, and he asked grumpily in a booming voice:"Young Master, who injured you? Let me avenge you! I swear I'll smash him to a pulp!"

Patting his loyal underling's shoulder to reassure him, Boss Song signaled everyone to follow him into the room before he began recounting the events. Naturally, he didn't mention a single word about encountering the Blood-Robed Venerable or cultivating the Star-Absorbing Great Art, covering it up with a white lie. After all, having more people know about this would serve no benefit.

"Don't worry. The Stronghold Leader of the Locked Forest Stronghold, Zhen He, colluded with outsiders to ambush me and Stronghold Leader Sha Maiquan of the Rooster Stronghold, intending to seize control of all of Eagle's Sorrow Ravine. Everything has already been resolved by Stronghold Leader Sha Mai and me. Old Nie, immediately gather our men. Lead them to join forces with the Rooster Stronghold and level the Locked Forest Stronghold!

As for the loot, hide what you can hide; whatever you can't, split it evenly with them. Once you're done, remember to throw a torch and burn the place to the ground! From now on, all of Eagle's Sorrow Ravine will listen to the commands of our two strongholds!" This excuse had been agreed upon by him and Old Sha Mai beforehand, so everyone didn't suspect a thing upon hearing it. The group rubbed their hands together in excitement.

"Young Master, let me go smash those villains flat to vent your anger!" Seeing the excited look in Xiong Ba's eyes, Boss Song felt a toothache. Why is this guy so bellicose and bloodthirsty? Fortunately, he was fiercely loyal. Grandee Song decided to indulge him.

"Alright, then Old Nie and you, Xiong Ba, will lead the team later. Old Nie, find Dao Zi or someone familiar with the terrain to guide you."

"Understood, Young Master!" The two happily accepted the order.

"Young Master, speaking of someone familiar with the territory, I have someone to recommend to you," Nie Feng pondered for a moment before speaking up.

"Oh? Who is it?"

"Young Master, do you remember a person named Bucktoothed Su?"

"One of the two who led the attack on us last time? How is he doing?" Boss Song had a good memory and asked curiously.

"Haha, Young Master, this person has surrendered to us, and his attitude has been quite satisfactory. He has now been promoted to a headman. Being a former bandit, there isn't a single street or alley in Eagle's Sorrow Ravine that he doesn't know. Having him guide us will save us a lot of trouble."

"Then it's him. Old Nie, you decide. If this person hasn't shown any unusual behavior, you can appropriately grant him more wealth and power. After all, his Third-Grade strength shouldn't go to waste."

"Wise decision, Young Master. I was thinking the same." Nodding and dismissing the crowd, Song Que no longer paid any mind to the matter. He indifferently nodded in agreement when Li Xin and Husky aggressively begged to tag along; after all, this trip wouldn't be very dangerous anyway. But no matter how low the danger was, Grandee Song was truly determined not to leave the stronghold this time.

He would wait until he had finished consuming the Golden Bone Fruit and seen how much his strength had improved before considering showing his face outside. Society out there is too dangerous; it's still safer at home. Expert Song was truly acting cowardly this time. But how could he not be afraid? Thinking about what had just happened, his heart was still pounding!... Returning to the earlier events.

When the Blood-Robed Venerable forced him to cultivate the Star-Absorbing Great Art, Song Que naturally was very willing to sacrifice Old Zhen for the sake of his own little life. But just as he prepared to channel his internal energy to suck the opponent dry, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Boss Song's mind. He suddenly thought of a method that might completely eliminate the hidden dangers of this cultivation art! The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

That was to use the Tesseract as the Dantian, directly transferring the enemy's essence and blood energy into it to be converted into the purest energy! In this way, his own essence and blood wouldn't be affected, and there would be no troublesome consequences later on! To think was to act. At that moment, he could only take a gamble. Fortunately, even if the whole world turned its back on a transmigrator, the Tesseract remained reliably loyal from beginning to end! Boss Song had succeeded!

He truly wanted to throw his head back and laugh up at the sky to vent the fear in his heart. From now on, even if someone called him a member of the Blood Demon Cult, he himself wouldn't believe it! You don't believe me? How do you want to test me? Be my guest! Furthermore, the essence energy of a Fourth-Grade cultivator like Zhen He was no less than that of a three-hundred-year-old ginseng! In that case, wouldn't that mean... Amitabha! How could I, Boss Song, be so evil?

This should be considered as the wicked villains out there being converted by the 'Holy Monk Song' and thoroughly repenting, wanting to do something for the entire world before dying to atone for a part of their sins! Let's just consider it organ donation, blood donation, or humanitarian body donation—purely for medical purposes! Yes, for the sake of science, it has nothing to do with right or wrong! Song Que happily settled on this reasoning.

Having suffered quite a bit of fright today, but also reaping a decent harvest, he took a refreshing bath, returned to his room to use the energy to condition his body, and began to rest. As for external matters, he didn't care for now. Boss Song was determined not to meddle in other people's business! It's too scary out there!... The next morning, after his morning practice, Song Que was enjoying his breakfast when he was startled by a commotion outside.

Guessing that Old Nie and the others had returned, he wasn't in a hurry to check, leisurely waiting in his room. As for Lightning, it had been dispatched by him since last night to track the Blood-Robed Venerable and locate the old thief's lair. But unfortunately, it was all in vain. That guy secretly leaped over the city wall, sneaked into the Commandery City, and quickly lost his tail. Lightning observed for a long time but still hadn't spotted anyone suspicious.

With such a dense population and numerous buildings in the city, finding him again was unlikely. Although Boss Song felt a bit regretful about this result, he wasn't too surprised and ordered Lightning to fly back. That was it for today, but he absolutely wouldn't stop investigating this person in the future. This demonic practitioner knew his roots inside and out and possessed the ability to threaten his life.

Until he was eliminated, Song Que couldn't eat or sleep in peace, feeling as if there were a thorn in his heart, a venomous snake hidden behind his back that could deal him a fatal strike at any moment. Therefore, his primary goal right now was to find this guy and send him back to the embrace of the Demon Ancestor. Sha Maiquan also needed to die; he knew too much! There was no need to worry that Boss Song's martial prowess was vastly inferior to the enemy's.

As long as he found him, he would find a way to secretly assassinate him, and let this old dog know one thing: Humans are superior because of their brains. Don't f ck with a transmigrator. *... He hadn't been lost in thought for long before Xiong Ba and the others returned in high spirits, carrying a considerable amount of items. It seemed they had truly grasped the essence of 'ransacking a house and exterminating a clan'.

"Big Brother, we're back!" As soon as they arrived, Li Xin couldn't help but show off. Having led a group of underlings to conquer north and south for the first time, he was practically bursting with excitement, chattering non-stop the entire way back.

"Big Brother, you don't know! Our sudden attack caught the villains completely off guard! They were chased by me, fleeing in panic..." Smiling and listening to the kid ramble for a while, Boss Song finally turned and asked:"Old Nie, were there any problems?"

"Young Master, when we arrived, we coincidentally met the people from the Rooster Stronghold, and both sides divided the tasks to attack the Locked Forest Stronghold. Fortunately, we had Bucktoothed Su guiding us, so our men easily avoided many traps and launched a surprise attack on the enemy. Later, during the division of the spoils, there was a minor friction, but it was resolved smoothly. Nothing else out of the ordinary happened.

I roughly calculated it: the treasures and weapons are worth no less than thirty thousand taels of silver! Following your instructions, I didn't accept any surrendered troops; in the end, they were all taken away by Stronghold Leader Sha Mai. We also found a few martial arts manuals in Zhen He's room. The people from the Rooster Stronghold didn't seem very interested, so I brought them back."

"Mhm, very well done. Look into rewarding the men based on their merits; don't be stingy with the money. From now on, only our two strongholds occupy this area, so the toll for passing merchant carriages should also be raised to fifteen taels per carriage. Remind our subordinates to implement this." Seeing everyone return unscathed, Boss Song was satisfied enough. The extra income was merely adding flowers to brocade; he didn't care too much about it.

Generously rewarding the underlings in the stronghold would effectively boost their loyalty.

"Understood, Young Master. I will have the men organize a stronghold feast tonight to announce this good news to everyone."

"Old Nie, you handle it as you see fit. But remember not to slack off on security."

"Yes, Young Master!" Nodding in satisfaction, he continued to sit leisurely and enjoy his tea. Everyone else busied themselves with their own tasks. Xiong Ba enthusiastically grabbed a hammer and went out to the courtyard to pound away. Li Xin, that kid, probably went to catch up on sleep; his shadow was nowhere to be seen anyway. Boss Song couldn't help but shake his head. In the future, relying on this foolish Bear will be much more reassuring.

Hearing the endless cheers echoing from the stronghold below, it seemed Old Nie had already announced the good news. Song Que felt an exceptionally profound sense of peace. At least here, he had a group of underlings, so he wouldn't be bullied by others at will anymore. From this perspective, cultivating capable subordinates was highly necessary. After all, even a Grandmaster wouldn't dare casually fall into a siege.

If entangled by several battalions of soldiers, even a Grandmaster expert would be slowly worn down to death. Boss Song didn't ask for a massive army, just enough strength to deter top experts from acting recklessly. Otherwise, living in constant fear in the future wouldn't be a pleasant experience. He could learn from Old Nie's method of raising a group of loyal private soldiers. Don't be like these useless things over here.

Glancing sideways at Husky, who was wagging its tail with a sycophantic expression and offering a string of jeweled necklaces to Mengmeng, he felt a toothache. Being a simp has no future! These useless things can't be relied on for anything!