Not only was Jiang Sanli dumbfounded, but Brother Ma's underlings were also utterly perplexed.
What's going on?
Why would Brother Ma hit Jiang Sanli?
Did his brain suddenly get muddled?
"Brother Ma! Brother Ma! It's me, Jiang Sanli!" Jiang Sanli dared not fight back, only able to protect his head and take the beating. In fact, even if he had the guts to fight back, he was no match for Brother Ma.
"I'm hitting you, you bastard!" Brother Ma cursed as he beat him, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"
Who is Shi Hao?
That's the man even the owner of the gym has to call boss, and besides, Shi Hao made a massacre in the martial gym – it's not like he hasn't seen it before. To be honest, he was nearly scared to wet himself then.
Jiang Sanli actually wanted me to extort Shi Hao?
What kind of suicidal behavior is this?
"You idiot!"
"Damned scum!"
"Do you know who this gentleman is?"
"Shi Hao, Young Master Shi!"
"You motherf***er, even our boss's boss has to call him Young Master Shi when they meet, and you dare encourage me to go against Young Master Shi?"
Brother Ma continued to beat and curse him, trying to dissociate himself from the situation.
Jiang Sanli was shocked. This fool in his eyes... actually had such a prominent identity?
No wonder the guy was so generous with money, making him think he was an easy mark. It turns out he really wasn't short of cash.
"Young Master Shi, I was wrong!" Jiang Sanli was quick on the uptake and didn't beg Brother Ma for mercy, but instead crawled over to Shi Hao's feet, kowtowing continuously.
Brother Ma, on the other hand, was continuously stomping on Jiang Sanli, without the slightest bit of mercy, as he truly loathed Jiang Sanli for almost getting him involved as well.
Now, he didn't know what Young Master Shi was thinking, and if this master wanted to kill... then he was definitely doomed.
"That's enough." Shi Hao waved his hand, his expression calm.
Brother Ma let out a sigh of relief, as it seemed Young Master Shi wasn't angry with him.
Shi Hao looked towards Jiang Sanli and said indifferently, "You've got quite the appetite, wanting to extort a thousand taels of silver from me?"
"No, no, no!" Jiang Sanli hurriedly responded, "You misunderstand, Young Master Shi, I was just joking earlier."
"Oh, you came all the way here to joke with me?" Shi Hao said with a smile.
"No, of course not." Jiang Sanli's eyes darted about as he quickly thought of a strategy, and then a spark of ingenuity struck, "Young Master Shi, I came to bring you a treasure!"
"A treasure?" Shi Hao couldn't help but chuckle, "Where is it?"
Jiang Sanli wanted to stand up, but Brother Ma immediately raised his fist, scaring him into kneeling again quickly.
Shi Hao smiled, "Let him stand up."
Brother Ma then withdrew his fist and stood behind Shi Hao, groveling like a sycophant.
——As long as he served Young Master Shi well, his life was set on a path to glory.
Only then did Jiang Sanli climb to his feet, cautiously saying, "Please allow me to go inside, Young Master Shi."
"Go ahead." Shi Hao gestured with his hand.
After a while, Jiang Sanli came back holding a wooden box covered with fresh soil, obviously just dug up from the ground, which explained why it took some time.
"Young Master Shi!" He approached Shi Hao, opened the box, and presented it respectfully in front of Shi Hao.
Shi Hao glanced at it and saw a stone inside, only a third the size of a fist.
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"You motherfucker, trying to fool Young Master Shi with a piece of crap stone?" Brother Ma immediately scolded, "Although Young Master Shi's surname is Stone, he has nothing to do with actual stones."
Uh, what kind of complaint is that?
"Young Master Shi, hear me out!" Jiang Sanli hurriedly said, "This stone is no ordinary one; it glows in the dark!"
"A glowing stone, isn't it still just a stone?" Brother Ma immediately kicked and punched Jiang Sanli, "Besides, if it were a treasure, wouldn't you, the prodigal son, have sold it for money long ago?"
"I wanted to sell it, but the pawnshop wouldn't take it!" Jiang Sanli cried, for he was no tough guy, "But this must be a treasure!"
Shi Hao took the stone and immediately felt a strange sensation.
Huh, he was astonished to find that it contained an incredible amount of energy.
This is... a Spirit Stone.
Shi Hao quickly recalled from his memory that this was a peculiar stone and an immensely important Cultivation Resource, which could greatly accelerate cultivation.
The value of a Spirit Stone was astounding; even a small piece was worth at least tens of thousands of silver, and what's more, such things were priceless and rarely sold. Who would want to sell such a precious item?
However, in the Hua Yuan Nation, this was considered useless because everyone practiced Body Cultivation and didn't cultivate techniques. Without cultivating techniques, one couldn't extract the energy within the Spirit Stone.
"Stop," Shi Hao waved his hand. Jiang Sanli wasn't wrong; this was indeed a treasure.
"I'm keeping this item," he said indifferently.
"Thank you, Young Master Shi! Thank you!" Jiang Sanli was overjoyed, feeling like his life was saved.
"Leave," Shi Hao said.
"Yes, yes!" Jiang Sanli hurriedly left, fearing that if he delayed any longer, Shi Hao might change his mind.
Brother Ma still tried to get close, to flatter him, but Shi Hao waved him away too.
Shi Hao took the Spirit Stone into the house. He couldn't use it directly for now since its energy was so immense that it would probably burst him if he tried to absorb it directly.
But he could still use it.
— Incorporated into the Formation, using the Power of Heaven and Earth to guide out the energy from the Spirit Stone was like diluting it with water, allowing gradual absorption.
Shi Hao had already practiced for the day, so he decided to wait until tomorrow to try and see how much he could improve.
The next day, as usual, he practiced the Tyrant Body Technique in the morning. Over the past few days, his physique had significantly improved; the effectiveness of the Tyrant Body Technique was indeed extraordinary.
In the afternoon, he added the Spirit Stone to the Formation and then sat down cross-legged to circulate the Nine Revolutions Sky-Plundering Scripture.
With a pull of the Soul Tentacle, terrifying energy rushed into his body, rampantly elevating his strength.
One revolution, two revolutions, three revolutions... nine revolutions!
Shi Hao stopped, sprang to his feet, swung his fist, whoosh—the sound of the fist wind howled.
"Twenty thousand jin of strength!" He made an extremely precise judgment and couldn't help but reveal a look of shock.
An increase of a whole four thousand jin in strength, the effect of the Spirit Stone was indeed terrifying!
Then, Shi Hao showed a hint of a smile.
When he went to the Imperial Capital, he should have a strength of over three hundred thousand jin. To know, even the starting point for a high-level Martial Venerable was only a strength of one hundred and fifty thousand jin, with the limit being around three hundred thousand jin. Historically only a few individuals could reach such a level, with most around two hundred thousand jin.
Plus, with his Sun-Level high-grade Martial Techniques, Shi Hao estimated he could sweep through the entire Hua Yuan Nation—with the exception of the legendary Martial Venerables.
Hence, he could go to the Shi Family to avenge his foster father without having to think of any strategy.
That's the benefit of having strength.
With absolute power, one can break all rules.
"Go back to the academy and grab some food on the way," Shi Hao murmured.
No help for it, although he might be wealthy enough to rival nations in the future, he was broke right now.
Just as he returned to the academy, he saw a person and couldn't help but show delight as he quickly followed and called out, "Ruffian."
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