Wei Hao was a martial arts fanatic, but to his misfortune, his ordinary talents in the field made it impossible for him to practice most of martial arts techniques. This was a problem which even the Duke of Wei was helpless before.
As such, Wei Hao held an intent craving for power!
Wang Chong giving him a martial arts manual was completely out of Wei Hao's expectations. One must know that in this era of martial arts, other than those commonplace martial arts techniques which were publicly known, all martial arts manuals were worth a ton. No power would easily impart their secret arts to an outsider.
Thus, Wei Hao was honestly surprised by this matter.
Flipping through the pages, Wei Hao was initially browsing through it casually, but it didn't take long for him to be absorbed into it.
Even though he hadn't tried cultivating it yet, Wei Hao sensed that the technique which Wang Chong had given him was much stronger than the one he was cultivating.
Seeing Wei Hao slowly getting engrossed into it such that his breathing grew faint, Wang Chong nodded his head with a smile.
Wang Chong had always felt guilt toward Wei Hao.
Wei Hao had always regarded him as his best buddy, but due to several misunderstandings, Wang Chong fell out with him, losing this precious friend of his.
Even so, Wei Hao didn't give up on him. During this hardest times in his previous life, he chose to help Wang Chong despite the disapproval of his clan.
The Wang Chong back then couldn't be of assistance to Wei Hao at all. He could only watch as Wei Hao was swept away by the catastrophe like the many others.
Thus, upon given a chance to do it all over, Wang Chong wanted to do something for him.
Martial arts has always been Wei Hao's weakness. His ordinary talents had limited his growth, and this wasn't something the Duke of Wei could solve despite his power and wealth. Thus, even at his very last breath, Wei Hao had never grew strong.
Wang Chong had always wanted to give him a hand on that, but it was difficult to find a suitable cultivation technique for him. After spending a long time recalling all of the cultivation technique in his head, he finally found one which was the most suitable for Wei Hao.
This was also the reason why Wang Chong took so long to pass this on to Wei Hao.
Time slowly ticked by and Wei Hao's attention was completely into the manual. Wang Chong didn't interrupt him and sat quietly in the carriage.
Hu!
After a period of time, Wei Hao exhaled a huge breath and finally lifted his gaze from the book.
""Mountain Ascension Formula"? Such a weird name. Why haven't I heard of it in the past? Wang Chong, where did you obtain such a powerful martial arts manual from?"
Wei Hao stared at Wang Chong in shock, as though he had become a complete stranger.
For some reason, from the moment Wei Hao started flipping through the manual, he felt extremely fond of the cultivation technique. It was as though a mysterious energy was tugging on him, prompting him to read on.
Thus, only when he finished reading through the entire manual did he finally turn his gaze away from it and exhale deeply.
Wei Hao didn't know where Wang Chong got this cultivation technique from, and with a single look, it felt wild, completely different from the other martial arts of the Wang Clan. But for some reason, Wei Hao liked it a lot. While flipping through the manual, he had a feeling that it was tailored for him, and this made him feel extremely excited.
"Why, you don't like it? Return it to me then!"
With an impassive face, Wang Chong stretched out his hand as he said.
"Scram! Since you've given it to me, it's mine now. You stinky brat, don't even think about getting it back!"
Wei Hao held the "Mountain Ascension Formula" tightly in his embrace, as though saying that Wang Chong would have to get past him before getting back his manual.
"Hahaha!"
Wang Chong retracted his right hand and burst into laughter.
Seeing Wang Chong laugh, Wei Hao couldn't help but chuckle as well. The two brothers seemed to have gone back to the times when they were extremely close to one another, and the slight estrangement in their relationship that arose from Ma Zhou's incident vanished completely.
"Stinky brat, this "Mountain Ascension Formula" shall be my reward for the effort I have put in for the past few days, so don't even dream about getting this back! Right, if you have any more of such stuff in the future, make sure to tell me."
"Dream on!"
Wang Chong reprimanded him with a smile. Wang Chong wasn't surprised that Wei Hao would become so fond of this cultivation technique. This cultivation technique was created for people with average talents like Wei Hao.
As everyone knew, rather than geniuses, ordinary humans with ordinary talents were the most populous in the world.
Even though they were destined to achieve little, there were always exceptions to the rule. Regardless of what it was, there was always hope.
"Mountain Ascension Formula" was such a 'hope'.
This cultivation technique didn't demand much of one's talents, but one had to put in ten times or even hundred times the effort to make up for it.
As the saying goes, 'the dumb bird learns to fly first'. If one's talent couldn't match up with the others, one had to put in much more effort than them!
This was the concept behind the "Mountain Ascension Formula"!
There was no limit to this cultivation technique. From Origin Energy Tier to True Martial Tier, then to Profound Martial Tier, and on to Emperor Martial Tier, one could continue cultivating this cultivation technique upward, but one would have to put in much more hard work than the others. The further one advanced, the more hard work one had to put in, sometimes even up to a thousand times more.
For this cultivation technique, 'hard work' was probably the only limit!
Even so, Wang Chong didn't have too great of an impression of this cultivation technique. In fact, he nearly failed to recall its existence. That was because even though this cultivation technique had 'mystical' effects, it wasn't compatible with Wang Chong.
Everyone had a cultivation technique that was compatible with them. This cultivation technique may be 'formidable' for Wei Hao, but to Wang Chong, it couldn't even compare up to an ordinary cultivation technique.
Furthermore, no one had been able to complete this cultivation technique in his previous life. The reason was simple:
Lack of time!
One needed a huge amount of time to practice this cultivation technique. Furthermore, there were less diligent people than geniuses in the world.
"It's sufficient that you know of this. Don't talk about this cultivation technique to anyone else, including your father."
Wang Chong instructed.
"Don't worry, I understand. After I become stronger, I will teach that brat Wei Zhe a lesson."
Wei Hao spoke indignantly.
Hearing Wei Hao speaking of his cousin, Wang Chong could only chuckle. Even though Wang Chong didn't find the possibility likely, he didn't say anything about it.
Everyone was fated to meet a nemesis in their life.
Wei Hao's nemesis was his cousin, 'Wei Zhe'.
In the younger generation of the Wei Clan, Wei Zhe was indisputably a genius. Even though he was younger than Wei Hao, his cultivation far surpassed his.
Perhaps he was angry that his father's official position was lower than that of Wei Hao's father. Or maybe, he wished to vent his father's frustration on Wei Hao in his place.
Every time he came to the Wei Residence, he would target Wei Hao and look for reasons to beat him up.
This made Wei Hao's father, the Duke of Wei, extremely angry. Furthermore, Wei Hao didn't inherit the Duke of Wei's strength, possessing only ordinary talent. Thus, Wei Hao's plight actually wasn't any easy as he usually behaved.
This was also one of the reasons why Wang Chong gave Wei Hao the "Mountain Ascension Formula".
"Putting this aside, I have something I need to trouble you on."
Diving straight into the topic, Wang Chong opened the wooden crate in the carriage and 17000 gold taels immediately appeared before their sights.
"Here is 17000 gold taels. Take it and help me gather some rations, such as cow, goat, pig, banana, sorghum, millet… It is fine as long as it is edible."
"You sold the sword out?"
Wei Hao's eyes widened. The previous 37000 gold taels had been passed to the two Sindhi monks, so this additional 17000 gold taels must have come from the sales of the sword.
"Un, I sold it for 35000 gold taels. Only half of the sum is here."
Wang Chong nodded his head, not hiding anything from Wei Hao.
"Don't worry! This isn't a difficult matter to attend to as long as there is money. Leave it to me."
Wei Hao said.
Wei Hao didn't possess absolute say in the Wei Clan. Even so, as long as the money came from him, and it was just simple and profitable trade, the Wei Clan wouldn't obstruct him.
"Also, I need your help on something."
Wang Chong whispered his thought. Hearing his words, Wei Hao nodded his head and said, "No problems, leave this to me as well!"
After instructing everything required, Wang Chong hopped off the carriage, leaving it to Wei Hao for him to transport the gold, and returned to his own residence.
His little sister was currently having the time of her life. After obtaining the 'huge sum' of a few hundred gold taels from Wang Chong, she became a tycoon. Thus, she has been spending her days following behind Cousin Wang Zhu Yan, and sometimes, she didn't even return home.
Given the strict house rules of the Wang Clan, such actions were usually forbidden. However, since she was with Cousin Wang Zhu Yan, mother would allow the matter slip as long as the latter sent a note over.
After arranging the matter with the Sindhi monks, Wang Chong was completely free for the next few days. He would wake up in the middle of the night to cultivate his Dragon Bone Art and Herculean Fist. During the day, he would head to the Ghost Tree District and make a move with his black stone, dueling it out with the ex-God of War Su Zhengchen, who was still hiding in the shadows.
The days went by peacefully and orderly.
......
"Come! Let's toast to Young Master Su!"
"I don't concede to anyone, but Young Master Su is an exception. Young Master Su has always been the person that I respect the most."
"Zhang Wei, I agree with you! Come, Young Master Su, let me propose this toast to you. You have always been a person which I respect the most. In the capital, who hasn't heard of Young Master Su's name?"
"Indeed! Given the authority the Duke of Su possesses, who would dare to offend you? Even the Yao Clan and Wang Clan would have to tread carefully around you!"
…
In the Eight Gods Pavilion, wine cups knocked against one another. A large group of people was gathered around Su Bai and they were busy fawning over him. Su Bai, lying horizontally on his chair, raised his wine cup and accepted their praises readily.
These scions gathered around him were of the most influential bunch in the capital. But honestly speaking, Su Bai didn't think highly of them.
Su Bai knew that they were fawning over him, but there was something that they were right about. That was, his father, the Duke of Su, Su Fuwei, was one of the most influential people in the Great Tang capital.
Even existences like the Yao Clan and Wang Clan couldn't disregard his father's existence.
"Right, Young Master Su, why would you suddenly call all of us over to treat us?"
The group of scions put down their wine cups and asked curiously.
Su Bai wasn't a stingy person, but he wasn't a generous one either. Even his acquaintances found it hard to meet him in the Eight Gods Pavilion and have him treat them to a meal. Given how they were completely unrelated to him, the entire matter was probably out of question.
Yet, he took the initiative to invite everyone to the Eight Gods Pavilion to treat them to a meal. This has caught many of them off guard.