The subjugation of the Green Wood Wolf pack was incredibly simple.
The wolf pack seemed to understand the rule of'survival of the fittest' better than any other creature and followed it more thoroughly, quickly submitting to Xiao Linger's command.
"If you dare hit me again, I'll make sure you have no place to be buried!"
Surrounded by wolves, the young girl in the center wore a fierce expression.
Xiao Feng approached the girl with a wooden stick in hand, and the Azure Wood Wolves surrounding them moved aside one after another.
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name. For Taiwan novels, look for the super convenient one.]
"Is your skin itching?" Xiao Feng struck Xiao Linger's leg with the stick, making her jump in pain. "How dare you slack off during your Cultivation!"
Even after being hit, Xiao Linger refused to back down. She bared her claws and teeth, saying, "Where did I slack off! Today's six hours of Cultivation were finished ahead of schedule!"
"Then add another hour!" Xiao Feng said, his face not turning red and his heart not skipping a beat.
"I won't!" Xiao Linger was furious. "This Lady only agreed to six hours. You might as well beat me to death!"
"Fine!" Xiao Feng sneered and rolled up his sleeves... Ten minutes later, Xiao Linger was hiding behind a shivering Green Wood Wolf. Even though her eyes were full of resentment, her mouth was no longer so stubborn.
"Xiao Zi, I will definitely avenge you!" Xiao Linger gritted her teeth and sat down cross-legged.
After the outer perimeter of the Magical Beast Mountain Range in this area was completely under Xiao Linger's control, dozens of precious medicinal herbs were delivered every day.
It had to be said that Xiao Linger truly had a talent for leadership. Even though every Demonic Beast knew that Xiao Linger wasn't as powerful as Xiao Feng, the level of respect they showed her was still greater.
In her free time, Xiao Linger would sit on a rock and gaze at the sky. Xiao Feng didn't know what she was thinking, but at such times, he rarely urged her to Cultivate. After all, he, Xiao Feng, wasn't some kind of devil.
"You are even more ruthless toward Demonic Beasts than I am. I'm starting to think that story you told before was fake." Xiao Feng sat down not far from Xiao Linger.
Xiao Linger looked surprised. "You actually believed it?"
Xiao Feng's face darkened. He took out his precious stick from his storage ring—this was the one he found most comfortable to use. While gesturing toward Xiao Linger, he said, "I've caught you slacking off again!"
Xiao Linger curled her lip. "It wasn't all fake."
"I need to go out for a couple of days to purchase some things," Xiao Feng said.
Xiao Linger tilted her head. "Then I'm going too."
"Stay and Cultivate properly. Why are you running around?" Xiao Feng scoffed.
Xiao Linger glared at him. "Mind your own business!"
Xiao Feng glared back.
Xiao Linger lifted her chin. "I'm more familiar with this place than you are. I'll go out if I want to, you can't stop me!"
"Are you looking for a beating?"
"If you dare hit me again, I'll let every Demonic Beast in the Magical Beast Mountain Range know that you, Xiao Feng, are infertile!" Xiao Linger said, getting carried away.
Xiao Feng laughed from extreme anger. He didn't care about the fertility thing anymore; he'd give her a thrashing first.
Having received another beating because of her big mouth, Xiao Linger skillfully applied medicine while whimpering, "I'm not the one who said it, why are you hitting me?"
Xiao Feng frowned. "If you didn't say it, could it be that I said it?"
Xiao Linger curled her lip. "Everyone says so."
Xiao Feng froze. "You mean..."
Xiao Linger looked at Xiao Feng with disdain again. "They think we are a couple, but since we've been together for so long without having any offspring, I explained to them that it wasn't my problem."
"Then it's damn well not my problem either!" Xiao Feng felt a sudden surge of anger.
In the end, Xiao Feng still brought Xiao Linger along, even though he was very reluctant and she didn't care whether he was willing or not.
People were coming and going in the nearby town, and stalls selling medicinal herbs and Monster Cores were everywhere.
Xiao Linger had somehow obtained a half-mask that covered her left cheek, revealing half of her pretty face. Passersby cast their gazes her way, some with appreciation, others with greed... A mocking smile hung on Xiao Linger's face. "Look at them, ugly humans."
Xiao Feng ignored her.
The Mercenary Town wasn't large, but there were plenty of places to stay. Half of the shops along the street were inns of various sizes, and every single one was packed to capacity.
"Did something happen..." Xiao Feng whispered as he walked toward the nearest inn.
Xiao Linger was attracted by a snack stall and was about to walk over when Xiao Feng pulled her back.
"Let go of me!" Xiao Linger shouted.
The surrounding noise dimmed slightly as almost everyone's gaze fell upon the two of them.
At this time, Xiao Feng was not much shorter than Xiao Linger. At first, everyone thought they were just a bickering couple, but before long, they realized things weren't that simple.
"Behave yourself!" Xiao Feng shot her a look.
"What! You want to hit me again, don't you!"
When Xiao Linger's temper flared, she was like a loudspeaker. It hadn't felt like much back in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, but now that they were in town, he realized this temper was practically asking for a beating.
"Don't shout. Have you forgotten what I said?" Xiao Feng threatened her with his eyes.
Xiao Linger sneered, her eyes full of hatred. "How could I forget? You've imprisoned me by your side; I won't forget for the rest of my life!"
More and more people gathered to watch, with most gazes falling on Xiao Feng. They looked like a match made in heaven, but was there actually such a filthy side behind the scenes?
Discussions broke out everywhere.
"This guy really doesn't seem like a good person!"
"That girl is so pitiful!"
Xiao Feng took a deep breath, his expression and gaze turning cold. He looked at Xiao Linger and said calmly, "I'll only ask you once: are you going to keep making a scene?"
Xiao Linger's heart trembled. She wanted to shout another line, but her lips parted and she ultimately didn't dare make a sound. Finally, she turned her head away from Xiao Feng, her nostrils flaring as she gave a soft snort, saying nothing more.
Xiao Feng stepped forward, took Xiao Linger's hand, and pushed through the crowd to leave.
Suddenly, someone blocked their path. He was clad in armor stained with dark blood, his face hidden within a helmet. His voice was somewhat raspy. "Since the young lady doesn't want to follow you, isn't this forced behavior a bit too much?"
Xiao Feng's expression didn't change as he pulled Xiao Linger forward. "Solve it yourself."
Xiao Linger pouted, glared at Xiao Feng, and then glared at the armored man opposite them. Her tone was unfriendly. "Who are you! This Lady's business is none of your concern!"
The armored man paused, reacting only after a few seconds. "Oh, it seems I was being nosy."
After saying that, he turned and left.
"Tch, just a young couple having a spat." Someone waved their hand and walked away.
"Dammit! Forced to eat dog food again!" Someone glared at the two of them fiercely and turned away grumbling.
The crowd quickly dispersed.
"What were you trying to do just now?" Xiao Feng asked.
"What do you care?" Xiao Linger was somewhat annoyed at her own lack of backbone for being intimidated by Xiao Feng, and now she was in a bad mood toward everyone.
"Oh."
Xiao Feng didn't press further. He dragged her into another inn, booked two rooms, and ordered a table of food.
Once the dishes were brought into the room, Xiao Feng closed the door and looked at Xiao Linger, who was eating messily.
"Actually, I should say sorry to you."
Xiao Linger was shocked, her eyes wide. Her lips moved slightly, but she ultimately fell into silence.
Xiao Feng looked down at his hands. "During this time, I've been walking the line between life and death every day, and I haven't been able to control my emotions well. That's why I hit you so often. I should say sorry to you."
The surprise on Xiao Linger's face vanished, replaced by deep disdain. "How about I say sorry to you a hundred times and then beat you for two months?"
"Of course not!"
"But that's exactly how you've treated me!"
"Because you can't beat me. So hurry up and eat, then get back to your Cultivation!"
"Mind your own business!"
Xiao Linger looked at Xiao Feng sideways, her emotions filled with disgust.
Xiao Feng almost wanted to hit her again; after all, he had been doing it for so long that it was hard to change the habit instantly. "I don't know when I might leave. You must become capable of standing on your own as soon as possible. If hating me makes you Cultivate harder, I don't mind if that hatred becomes even deeper."
After saying those words, she received another good thrashing.
Xiao Linger sat cross-legged on the bed, glaring at Xiao Feng's departing back. Her eyes were red with anger and she gritted her teeth. "He just wanted to hit me and made up those high-sounding excuses. I will definitely avenge Xiao Zi!"
Before leaving, Xiao Feng called over the waiter and handed him a gold coin.
"Is the inn always this crowded on normal days?"
"Young master must be joking." The waiter bowed and scraped as he took the gold coin. "Usually, some mercenaries entering the mountains stay for a few days, but when would it ever be this lively? Since young master is asking, you probably don't know about the events of the past few days."
Without waiting for Xiao Feng to ask, the waiter continued, "Just a few days ago, someone discovered that the Azure Wood Wolf King guarding the entrance to the central Magical Beast Mountain Range had vanished. Now, the three major mercenary groups in town are preparing to invade the central region. Many people have come during this time in response to the call."
Xiao Feng nodded and waved the waiter away.
This waiter was very articulate, explaining the current situation clearly in just a few sentences.
"Many people have come in response to the call..." Xiao Feng murmured, then smiled and stepped out onto the street.
The waiter said that many had come in response to the call, not all. In other words, there were some who weren't there for that. Whether they came of their own accord or had other motives... no one could say for sure.
In short, beneath the bustle of this small mountain town, turbulent undercurrents were surging.
There was no need to specifically ask around; more than half the people on the street were discussing the three major mercenary groups.
"Excuse me, where are the bases of these three mercenary groups?" Xiao Feng asked a passerby.
"Another one rushing to his death?" the passerby muttered softly, then pointed ahead and smiled. "Keep walking straight and you'll find a square. The people from Iron Sword, Canine Tooth, and Blood Dark Flower have all been there lately."
"Thanks." Xiao Feng sized the man up. Someone who could speak in such a tone clearly wasn't an ordinary person, but after looking for a few seconds, he couldn't form any lasting impression; the man's appearance was simply too ordinary.
The man didn't mind, smiling as he turned and left.
Following the direction the man pointed, it took less than ten minutes for a massive square to appear before them.
At this moment, the square was bustling with noise. As far as the eye could see, there were only people.
A tent was set up at the very back, with three long queues extending from it all the way to where Xiao Feng stood.
"If you aren't at least a Dou Practitioner, don't join the fun."
Before Xiao Feng could get closer, someone stopped him and pointed to a nearby bluestone monument. It was already covered in marks—fingerprints, fist marks, and cuts from sabers and swords.
"A Dou Practitioner?" Xiao Feng walked up to the stone monument and placed his hand on it.
He slowly closed his eyes, his entire body beginning to relax, his breathing becoming longer and deeper.
Intent rises from the heart, power is born from the feet.
Like a surge of heat, it rose from the ground into his soles, then traveled up through his feet—legs, waist, shoulders—and finally was delivered through his arm to his palm. His muscles and bones shifted from relaxed to tense and back to relaxed, like a wave rising from his feet and surging through his body, carrying his entire strength into his palm and into the stone monument.
Only after that did the Dou Qi surge out from his palm.
The bluestone monument turned into a pile of dust.
Only then did Xiao Feng open his eyes. Looking at the pile of bluestone powder before him, he fell into deep thought.
This method of exerting Hidden Force was a technique he was already familiar with from his past life, but this was the first time he had used it in this life. He hadn't expected it to be so powerful, which couldn't help but make him think further.
This world didn't seem to have methods for refining bones. Even Xiao Yan's body tempering only started with flesh and blood, yet the strongest part of the human body was still the bones. Many Saints' flesh and blood would rot away after death, leaving only their bones to endure in the world.
What if one led Qi into the bones... Xiao Feng stood motionless, but everyone else was going crazy.
"This... this... this..." The man from before felt his legs go weak. He couldn't imagine what kind of person could achieve this, but it was clearly not someone he could stop!
Everyone who saw this scene was in an uproar, drawing even more people to look over.
Finally, three people walked over from the tent at the front of the lines.
"This little brother looks quite unfamiliar. Are you also planning to come and help?"
Before they even got close, the burly man on the left spoke with a smile. He had a beard-covered chin and looked similar to Li Kui.
"Beaten to it by this guy again," the woman in the middle muttered, then immediately smiled at Xiao Feng to show her goodwill.
The third person on the right looked ordinary, but compared to the man on the left, he seemed somewhat thin and weak.
The three of them each glanced at the spot where the bluestone monument should have stood, where there was now only a pile of dust. Their eyes couldn't help but shrink.
As Dou Masters, they could shatter the monument, but they couldn't achieve something like this.
A Great Dou Master? Or some kind of powerful Dou Technique?
"It's too chaotic here. Why not come to my Canine Tooth Mercenary Group for a drink?" the man on the left asked with a smile.
Xiao Feng snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at the three of them, and nodded. "Fine."