Page 270
Page 270
Because of its intricate and skillful control, many of the troublemakers on Ghost Street died without ever knowing who killed them.
But as more and more people died, the secret of Ghost Yama's palm technique was discovered.
Instead, Bai Hong's palm power was replaced by the name 'Netherworld Ghost Palm,' which intimidated the surrounding area.
"This is the Netherworld Ghost Palm?"
"To be precise, it should be the White Rainbow Palm Force, which comes from the same school as the Kasaya Subduing Demon Skill that you used to dodge Ghost Shadow's attack earlier, little monk."
"A Shaolin secret technique? But this humble monk has never heard of Shaolin having such a technique?"
Kumārajīva looked at Sun Tianfeng with a look of suspicion in his eyes.
But Sun Tianfeng couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, her words laced with sarcasm:
"It is often said that monks do not lie, but you little monk, you don't have a single truth in your mouth. Is the Kasaya Subduing Demon Skill you performed really a Shaolin secret technique?"
This old woman has been traveling the martial arts world for at least sixty years; what kind of martial arts hasn't she seen?
From the first glance I saw you perform the Kasaya Subduing Demon Skill, I knew it wasn't a genuine Shaolin technique. Do you think this old woman is seeing things?
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Kumārajīva with utter contempt.
Although they couldn't see any flaws, the authority of the Ghost Street Protector, coupled with Sun Tianfeng's advanced age of at least seventy and extensive knowledge, meant that his words were not unfounded.
Moreover, the palm technique of Ghost Yama was profound, and it was a unique skill from the same school as this great monk's. That's already giving this great monk too much credit.
"Amitabha Buddha, this humble monk does not understand what the venerable elder is talking about?"
Chapter 329 Musk Coffee: Crisis Amidst Abundant Food Supply
"Senior, don't!"
The domineering power of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill's initiation was so great that, let alone Duan Yu's unpredictable Beiming Divine Skill, it would be impossible to interrupt it without the strength of a grandmaster.
Should they be forcibly separated?
In the end, it will only be the weaker party who dies from broken meridians.
As the transfer of power neared its end, Zhang Xiaoshan directly intervened and interrupted the process.
At the same time, a complete tonic pill and a wisp of pure yang purple energy sent Duan Yanqing to another secret room for secluded cultivation!
As for Duan Yu? Zhang Xiaoshan waited quietly for him to wake up.
Having mastered the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, Duan Yu was able to open his eyes in less than three minutes.
"Young master, which senior is it?"
"Has Prince Duan sensed anything unusual about the true qi within his body?"
This skill is called the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, which is derived from the meaning of "bitterly hating to press the gold thread year after year, making wedding dresses for others".
The true qi of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill is fierce and intense, domineering and unparalleled, a rare divine skill in the world. However, practitioners cannot use it themselves, and as time goes on, the true qi passing through the body will feel like being pricked by needles and cut by knives, akin to the agony of being slowly sliced to death.
This kind of suffering can only be relieved by transferring it to someone else.
The person whose energy was transferred not only escaped the torment of the wedding dress's internal energy, but also retained the same fierce and powerful true energy, as if they had cultivated it themselves for decades, wielding it with complete ease!
Upon hearing this, Duan Yu raised his hand and unleashed a Six Meridians Divine Sword.
The sword energy, which had been unreliable, suddenly shot out, leaving a three-inch finger hole in the wall of the secret chamber.
Moreover, the power of the sword energy was not only several times stronger, but also flowed more smoothly and freely. Duan Yu felt that there was a lightning zone within ten feet around him.
If he so desired, his sword energy could pierce through an opponent's body with a mere flick of his wrist.
"Does such martial arts still exist in the world?"
Others cultivate martial arts to dominate the martial arts world, but this Wedding Dress Divine Skill, as the name suggests, is actually only for making a 'wedding dress'.
At this moment, a true qi within his body, completely opposite to the Northern Darkness Divine Art, not only did not interfere with each other, but was also freely usable and unaffected by anything else. In fact, its power was several times stronger than his previous internal energy.
"Which senior is it?"
Duan Yu was extremely grateful that the other party, also a member of the Dali Duan clan, had ultimately helped him.
"He is currently in seclusion to heal his injuries. As for whether he can recover, that depends on his fate."
His only wish was to wait for a member of the Dali Duan family to pass on his skills. Now that his wish has been fulfilled, and he has been freed from the "Wedding Dress Divine Skill," the young master Duan need not worry about him!
"But···"
Before Duan Yu could finish speaking, Zhang Xiaoshan shook his head at him and led him out of the secret chamber.
At this moment, inside the main hall of the Tianji Tower.
The dilapidated tables and chairs had been completely tidied up, and Kumārajīva naturally retreated in a sorry state.
After all, three top masters were eyeing him covetously, and Sun Tianfeng had even revealed the origin of his martial arts skills. For Kumārajīva, a wise man would not stand under a dangerous wall!
At the same time, they are extremely wary of Ghost Street.
The palm strikes were roughly equal, but Ghost Yama's strongest technique is the Dragon-Slaying Saber Technique, which has made him virtually invincible in the past two years.
Moreover, each of the two protectors is no ordinary person; their strength is unfathomable.
He couldn't afford to mess with such a ghost town.
"Son!"
"I hope Grandma Sun wasn't upset."
Zhang Xiaoshan had a smile on his lips, as if he had already anticipated what had just happened.
Upon hearing this, everyone looked on with strange expressions and sighed in bewilderment.
"If that's the case, why did you still treat that great monk with such courtesy, young master?"
"The Tibetan National Preceptor, a Buddhist genius."
It's a pity that his obsession with martial arts has driven him to madness. Leaving aside the relationship between Tibet and the Central Plains, killing him would bring us no benefit whatsoever!
"But this monk's martial arts skills are extremely high. I'm afraid he'll cause chaos in the Central Plains."
"Maybe, but what does it have to do with us?"
Zhang Xiaoshan didn't care at all; Kumārajīva's commotion was just a way to fight for the secret manual.
As a member of the Buddhist community, if Kumārajīva were to cause trouble, the Zhang family wouldn't even need to intervene; someone else would step in to keep him in the Central Plains.
Even Duan Yu, after today, who will recognize whom?
After receiving the power transfer, Duan Yu's strength was enough to overcome any threat, so there was no need for the Zhang family to protect him anymore.
For Duan Yu, having the Zhang family around would be a burden, so Zhang Xiaoshan wasn't worried at all that Duan Yu would cling to the Zhang family.
Sure enough, the next day someone from the Zhang family informed them that Duan Yu had left the Zhang family on his own.
At this point, Duan Yu's goal was naturally to travel and enjoy the scenery, to go to places he couldn't go before.
However, Duan Yu was kind-hearted by nature, so Zhang Xiaoshan was not worried that the other party would cause too much of a commotion.
On the third day, Kumārajīva, having devoured the information, got up to take his leave.
After learning that Duan Yu had left, Kumārajīva still hadn't given up on the Six Meridians Divine Sword and scoffed at Duan Yu's choice.
Without the Zhang family's protection, they naturally acted without restraint.
···
"Young master, these are things brought by the Southeast Asian merchant caravan!"
In three years, the Zhang family had completely consolidated their unshakeable position in Southeast Asia.
Leaving aside Zhang Xiaoshan's impressive display of power in Southeast Asia last time, the cooperation between the two sides alone—including jade, spices, and Pusa Man—was arguably even closer than the cooperation between the Zhang family and Dali.
Most importantly, every time the caravan made its round trip, the Zhang family would sell some travel slots to Zhongyuan for a seven-day tour of Jiangnan, with all meals and accommodation provided by the Zhang family.
The ship even has sea fishing, a swimming pool, a casino, and more than a dozen other entertainment options.
However, the specialty product that Nanyang brought this time was coffee.
However, it's not ordinary coffee, but top-grade elephant dung coffee and musk coffee.
Under the disgusted gazes of Huang Rong and the others, Zhang Xiaoshan meticulously ground and baked the food, even tasting it from time to time, which almost made Huang Rong vomit up her leftovers.
This scene almost made Liu Sheng Piaoxu and the others think that Zhang Xiaoshan had gone mad.
However, Zhang Xiaoshan was extremely satisfied with the result.
Elephant dung coffee and musk coffee do not reduce bitterness, but rather completely eliminate the bitter taste.
That faint musky scent, when savored carefully, leaves a lingering aftertaste.
Zhang Xiaoshan suspects this is due to animal mutation.
Although the women looked at him strangely, Zhang Xiaoshan remained calm and composed. He had drunk it a few times in his previous life and did not feel any aversion to it.
Most people would absolutely reject this name, unaware that it is something more precious than gold.
"Piaoxu, how long until the Persian fleet returns?"
"About two or three months, young master, are you sure these things will sell?"
·········Requesting flowers·· 0
"It's not a question of whether it can be sold or not, but whether one tael should be sold for one gold or ten gold?"
These two types of coffee are extremely rare, totaling only about a thousand catties a year. With a mere 100,000 taels of gold, Zhang Xiaoshan still wouldn't be interested in such a small amount of profit, given the Zhang family's current income.
The key was the distribution channels, and the goods that were scarce in the hands of the Persian nobles.
"But···"
"If you don't tell me, and I don't tell you, who will know?"
"···"
Liu Sheng Piaoxu was also shocked by Zhang Xiaoshan's shamelessness, and at the same time felt sorry for those Persians.
In their eyes, this coffee, brewed through the cycle of grains from elephants and musk-producing animals, was nauseating and disgusting, yet Zhang Xiaoshan wanted to sell it to those Persians at a high price, which seemed outrageous.
"call!"
After Liu Sheng Piaoxu left, Zhang Xiaoshan looked at the account book beside him.
The operation, which involved selling treasures stolen from the Jin Dynasty imperial tombs for nearly 30 million taels of gold, has recently come to an end.
Whether it was the eight million taels allocated to building private schools or the twenty million taels allocated to constructing dikes, both ultimately yielded tremendous results.
. . . 0
Not only were dikes resembling the Great Wall built along the banks of the Longjiang and Longhe rivers, but free private schools also sprang up everywhere, all of which greatly shocked the Central Plains.
The ledger in his hand was a perfect answer sheet.
It took nearly six years, and every expenditure was documented, with each major sect having its own copy.
In addition, sweet potato seedlings were planted on a large scale starting last spring, when the Zhang family leased tens of thousands of hectares of land.
During the autumn harvest, the phenomenal yield per acre shocked everyone.
At this time, there were no chemical fertilizers, and most of the fertilizers were organic compost. Therefore, even the best fertile land could only yield three or four bushels of grain per harvest!
The first large-scale planting of sweet potatoes yielded as much as 4,000 jin in good quality and more than 2,000 jin in poor quality.
The difference of almost ten times left everyone speechless!
This spring, sweet potato cultivation will undoubtedly flourish throughout Kyushu.
Anticipating this situation, the Zhang family also stockpiled rice from Southeast Asia, since planting more sweet potatoes would inevitably reduce the share of rice.
As a result, the price of rice will definitely rise significantly this year.
With no shortage of food, the Zhang family's true colors as unscrupulous merchants were fully revealed.
Sweet potatoes were clearly a good thing for the four great empires.
With abundant grain, people naturally live in peace and prosperity, a sign of a peaceful and flourishing era.
But Zhang Xiaoshan knew that this was definitely not a good thing for the three great empires.
With more food available, civil administration will inevitably surpass military prowess.
In contrast, the Later Zhou Empire, which still relies on military achievements to this day, will become a vicious wolf, devouring the three great empires that are gradually lowering their guard.
blogombal