Marrying Wives and Attaining Immortality in a Chaotic World

Chapter 190: Battle Tactics

Seeing that the negotiation had been settled, Shui Yingyue ordered the servants to serve the food.

The meal was sumptuous, but all the dishes were cold salads. Eating in the rain, what an experience… Xu Lian found it quite novel.

Xiang Chengxing felt a little uncomfortable, but didn’t say anything.

Ye Beining took a couple of bites before angrily throwing down his chopsticks. “Sister Shui, the way your Yunzhou Prefecture treats guests is really unreasonable!”

Shui Yingyue had no choice but to ask the kitchen to prepare a table of hot dishes, which they ate in a place sheltered from the rain.

After the meal, although the atmosphere wasn’t very harmonious, there were no further disputes.

Shui Yingyue arranged accommodations for the three visiting geniuses, each with their own separate courtyard, which was quite considerate.

As soon as Xu Lian entered his room, he immediately started allocating points to his rank, checking what materials were needed to advance to the Great Grandmaster stage. Since this was Yunzhou Prefecture City, a place rich in cultivation resources, he was sure that he could find the necessary ingredients.

[Rank assignment successful. Add one Leafless Fruit to advance to Great Grandmaster Stage 1]

Leafless Fruit?

As expected, Xu Lian had never heard of it before. He had some Spirit Fruits in his spatial bag, but those were for increasing lifespan and were definitely not the same as the Leafless Fruit.

Not knowing wasn’t a problem, as long as someone else knew… Xu Lian went out, hired a beast drawn carriage, and went to a place where cultivation materials were sold.

Upon arriving, he asked for the price. Good heavens, one fruit costs 100,000 Spirit Stones. In fact, the higher the rank, the more expensive the materials.

If he wanted to prepare all the materials needed to advance from Great Grandmaster Stage 1 to Stage 9, he would need at least 500 fruits, totaling over 50 million Spirit Stones. Currently, he only had about 10 million Spirit Stones in his pocket, which was far from enough.

He spent 1.11 million Spirit Stones to buy the first 111 fruits.

Advancing to Great Grandmaster Stage 1 required one fruit.

Advancing to Great Grandmaster Stage 2 required two fruits.

Stage 3 required four fruits.

Stage 4 required eight fruits.

Stage 5 required thirty-two fruits.

Stage 6 required sixty-four fruits.

All told, that was 111 fruits.

As for the remaining materials, he would have to wait until he could gather more Spirit Stones.

Returning to his courtyard, he used six progression points and all the materials to advance to Great Grandmaster Stage 6 in one go… Cheating was just that unreasonable.

At night, Xu Lian tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Thinking about Ye Beining next door, who was probably enjoying himself with that beautiful sword servant, made it even harder for him to sleep. He regretted not bringing Huo Xin’er with him. It’s not like he didn’t have someone…

The next day, Shui Yingyue arrived.

She invited the three of them to the Shui family’s training grounds, where the elders of the Shui family would conduct their training.

The Hundred Boats Secret Realm only allowed one hundred small boats to enter, so the competition for spots was extremely fierce. Each boat could carry up to four people, forming small teams. The battles between the teams were different from the individual duels, testing not only strength, but also the level of coordination and mutual understanding.

Undoubtedly, the better the coordination within a team, the more effectively each member’s strength could be utilized, thus increasing the chances of victory. It was a simple principle.

Upon arriving at the Shui family, Xu Lian was surprised to find that it wasn’t as grand as he had imagined. It looked like an ordinary wealthy household.

Xiang Chengxing whispered to him, “The Shui family is one of the two big clans in Yunzhou Prefecture. Their influence isn’t limited to this city of Yunzhou Prefecture, but extends to the entire Yunzhou Prefecture. The Shui family has millions of members, but they’re not concentrated in one place. Instead, they are spread all over Yunzhou Prefecture.”

Xu Lian understood. It wasn’t practical for millions of clan members to live together in one place, so they had to be scattered.

The light drizzle suddenly gathered, forming a graceful woman draped in a misty robe.

Shui Yingyue bowed slightly. “Our Shui family elder has arrived.”

Xu Lian and Xiang Chengxing also bowed slightly, and even the arrogant Ye Beining did the same. In front of an elder of such stature, any young genius would have to show some respect.

“Since everyone is here, let’s begin.”

The Shui family elder extended a hand, and a blue light spread out, causing the raindrops to coalesce into four watery humanoid figures.

It was a simple form-shaping puppet technique, but no one dared to underestimate it. After all, it was being performed by an elder. Even a leaf or a flower in their hands could kill a young genius. How could the younger generation dare to be careless?

Shui Yingyue, Xiang Chengxing, Ye Beining, and Xu Lian – the four geniuses exchanged glances and each charged at the watery figure closest to them, engaging in battle.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”…

For a moment, the training grounds were filled with surging energy, crisscrossing sword energy, and billowing mist, erupting in bursts of dazzling light.

After just a few moves, the four geniuses had gauged the strength of the watery figures-they were equivalent to Great Grandmaster Stage 2. Not too strong, but not too weak.

Ye Beining, with his Great Grandmaster Stage 4 cultivation, and Shui Yingyue and Xiang Chengxing, both at Great Grandmaster Stage 3, had no trouble dealing with the watery figures. As they fought, they kept an eye on Xu Lian, the only potential weak link in their team.

Xu Lian, now at Great Grandmaster Stage 6, found it all too easy to deal with a Great Grandmaster Stage 2 watery figure… But following his usual habit, he didn’t reveal his full strength, only displaying the power of a Grandmaster Stage 9 cultivator.

With his left hand, he summoned a golden imperial capital, and with his right hand, he conjured a replica of the city of Yunzhou Prefecture. He didn’t lag behind and even gained a slight upper hand, forcing the watery figure to retreat repeatedly.

This took the three geniuses by surprise. A Grandmaster Stage 9 cultivator could unleash combat power surpassing that of a Great Grandmaster Stage 2? No wonder he had won the competition in the imperial capital. His reputation wasn’t unfounded.

Seeing his strength, the three geniuses finally acknowledged him as a teammate. Not bad… he probably wouldn’t hold them back.

“Open!”

Ye Beining no longer held back. His palm transformed into a battle blade, cutting out a sword beam several zhang long.

“Boom!”

With a loud explosion, the watery figure was shattered and scattered into a pool of water.

Shui Yingyue and Xiang Chengxing also unleashed their full power, destroying their respective watery figures and claiming victory.

Xu Lian felt it was about time and stopped conjuring Yunzhou Prefecture City. Instead, he focused on the Golden Imperial Capital, summoning one after another until the watery figure collapsed.

“Your strength has passed the test,” the Shui family elder commented. “However, in the 4v4 battle just now, you all fought individually and didn’t use the team’s collective strength.”

Ye Beining said, “We just met yesterday, and today is our first day of training. It’s normal that we haven’t developed team coordination yet.”

The Shui family elder looked at him. “That’s why I’m here to train you. Next, I’ll teach you a combined attack technique called the Four-Symbol Battle Tactic. It’s suitable for the four of you to use together, and it can increase your team’s overall strength by at least twice.

The Four Symbols Battle Tactic is a secret technique of our Shui family. Naturally, being a member of the Shui family, Yingyue has no issue learning it. But you three are outsiders. How should we solve this?”

Ye Beining, Xiang Chengxing, and Xu Lian exchanged glances. It seemed like the Shui Family Elder wanted something in return.

The Shui family elder continued, “If it were an ordinary combat technique, I wouldn’t mind giving it to you. But the Four-Symbol Battle Tactic is a high-level combined attack technique, useful even for those who have reached the level of Great Ability.

Think about it. If you were to take this technique back to your families, it would significantly enhance the overall combat strength of your elders.

Even though there is no enmity between your families and the Shui family now, who is to say that we won’t become competitors in the future? That would be detrimental to the Shui family,” 

Xiang Chengxing asked, “What do you suggest, Elder? How can we learn the Four Symbol Martial Arts?”

The Shui family elder replied, “I can offer a few options for you to choose from.

First of all, the simplest method is to buy it. You can purchase the Four-Symbol Battle Tactic from the Shui family, and I’ll teach it to you. Of course, the price will be very high. To avoid you saying that the Shui family is greedy, I don’t recommend this option.

Second, you can offer an equivalent martial art in exchange for the Four Symbol Martial Arts. The Shui family won’t take advantage of you. The three of you can draw lots, and whoever is unlucky will have to provide a technique of equal value.

Third, you can owe us first and pay us later.

I’ll teach you the four-symbol fighting tactics first. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll know how good it is.

If you manage to enter the Hundred Boats Secret Realm and gain opportunities from it, you can use those opportunities to repay the Shui family.

If you don’t get any opportunities, you don’t have to repay anything.

If you get two opportunities, you’ll have to give one to the Shui family.

If you get four opportunities, you’ll have to give two, and so on. This is a kind of betting agreement.

Fourth, there’s the possibility of marriage. Each of your families can marry a legitimate daughter to the Shui family, and the Four Symbols Battle Tactics will be handed over. Illegitimate daughters won’t do.

Alternatively, each of you can marry a daughter from the Shui family. After marrying her, she must be your primary wife, not a concubine.”

“…: Xu Lian didn’t know what to say. He could only think, “Impressive,” or perhaps “Spicy,” as in, the older the ginger, the spicier it is.

Ye Beining and Xiang Chengxing were also at a loss for words. However, they couldn’t find anything wrong with the Shui family elder’s proposal. It was fair and just.

The graceful Shui family elder, draped in her misty robe, let out a light laugh, clearly amused. “You decide. I’m curious to see what you choose.”