Don't think I'm being noisy, I'm still pushing for votes to climb the rankings. There's still a bit of a distance to go, and I can only rely on everyone. One vote from each person will do the trick.
******
When these words were spoken, it was as if a pot had exploded. Countless people immediately turned their gazes toward Su Mu, their eyes full of disbelief.
So that's how it is! Yang Kai suddenly understood. He had been guessing what Su Mu's purpose was, but after much thought, he could only come up with two possibilities: one was for profit, and the other was for fame. He never expected that he was completely wrong, and that Su Mu was actually after beauty.
Yang Kai had also seen Boss He's daughter. The little girl was delicate and charming, though not of倾城倾国之容, she was still a refined and graceful beauty, with clear eyebrows and bright eyes, and a slender figure. She was only fourteen this year and was already a famous little beauty in Wu Mei Town.
Who would have thought that such a young girl would be targeted by Su Mu, which is why the He family's rice shop had attracted this trouble.
"You stop talking nonsense!" Su Mu's face turned red with anger, and he still tried to argue.
The man continued to sneer, "I'm not talking nonsense. Although my brother and I have some despicable qualities and often do things to deceive people, we would never slander a rice shop by saying they put poison in their rice, cutting off their livelihood. You must know that all of you here are also the ones who support my brother and me. Cutting off someone's livelihood is like cutting off our own path to survival. I would never do such a thing. All of this was orchestrated by this boy."
His words were sincere, and this made a group of people laugh.
Yang Kai asked at the right moment, "How much did he promise to give you as a reward after the deed was done?"
"Fifty taels of silver!" the man replied.
"Fifty taels, that's a lot," Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Boss He, after listening for a while, naturally understood the whole story. He glared at Su Mu with disdain and said, "You despicable person, to use such dirty tricks. My daughter would never look at you. Lingxiao Pavilion has produced a scoundrel like you, truly disgracing the good reputation of Lingxiao Pavilion. You have a good appearance, but your character is not even a fraction of Young Brother Yang's. Truly, the same rice can produce a hundred different people. I am ashamed for your parents."
The merchants also began to curse and ridicule Su Mu's despicable actions.
Su Mu's face turned green and red, knowing that after today, he would have to cover his face whenever he came to Wu Mei Town again.
And the source of all this trouble was this... senior brother! If it weren't for him, he would have surely won Boss He's favor today, and in the future, he could have interacted more with the He family's daughter, making it easier to get close to her. With a reputation for chivalry, he might have even won her heart.
But now, everything had become a dream. Not only had his plan failed, but his reputation was also ruined.
In extreme shame and anger, Su Mu's expression became calm. He looked at Yang Kai coldly and said, "Senior Brother, may I ask your name?"
"Guess!" Yang Kai winked at him.
Su Mu took a deep breath, "Even if you don't tell me, I can still find out your identity. You've been in the sect for more than three years and haven't even broken through to the Body Tempering Realm, so you must be a probationary disciple. There are only a handful of probationary disciples in the entire Lingxiao Pavilion. Just wait, I will settle this score with you."
With that, he turned and walked away. Su Mu had some skills, and even though someone tried to block him, he pushed them aside and left as if no one was there.
After Su Mu left, people remembered the two men who had been beaten into pig heads, but they were nowhere to be found. They had run away when Yang Kai and Su Mu were confronting each other.
This farce came to an end, and it was Yang Kai's keen eyes that exposed this fake trick, earning him praise from the merchants. Boss He, in particular, was extremely grateful to Yang Kai.
The young shop assistant also looked at Yang Kai with admiration.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, the boss's wife came over, holding Yang Kai's hand and not letting go, liking him more and more.
Boss He looked worried, "Young Nephew Yang, today you offended that Su Mu. In the future, there might be some trouble in the sect."
After today's incident, Boss He's way of addressing Yang Kai had become more affectionate.
"Don't worry," Yang Kai smiled, "The sect has its own rules. Even if he hates me, he can't do anything to me."
"Although that's true, you must still be careful. If today's incident brings you any harm, I would feel very guilty."
"I will be careful," Yang Kai reassured him.
The He couple were grateful for Yang Kai's help today and insisted on keeping him for dinner. Yang Kai was about to agree, but the boss's wife's words scared him away.
"Little Yang, are your parents around? Where do you live? Have you gotten married this year?"
Judging by her tone, the boss's wife seemed to want to become his mother-in-law. Yang Kai mumbled and quickly left.
Before leaving, he carried a large bag of white rice, far more than what ten taels of silver could buy. This way, he wouldn't have to worry about food for a month.
Yang Kai was originally worried that Su Mu would ambush him on the way. After all, Su Mu looked refined but was petty and devious, and it wasn't impossible for him to ambush and attack. But Su Mu never appeared until Yang Kai returned to Lingxiao Pavilion.
Upon careful thought, it was reasonable that Su Mu didn't ambush him. Although many people died during internal challenges in Lingxiao Pavilion, the sect strictly prohibited unprovoked attacks on fellow disciples, especially outside the sect. If Su Mu dared to ambush him outside Lingxiao Pavilion and was caught, he would be in big trouble.
If he wanted to deal with him, he would definitely do it through challenges! As for whether he could find out his identity, that was no longer in doubt. There were very few probationary disciples in Lingxiao Pavilion, and even if Su Mu didn't know him before, he could easily find out his identity by asking around.
Yang Kai couldn't see Su Mu's true strength, but he was definitely in the Body Tempering Realm. It was just a matter of how many layers he had reached.
It seemed he needed to hurry up and practice, or he really wouldn't be able to stay in Lingxiao Pavilion.
With this in mind, Yang Kai hurried back to his small house, rested for a while, and then began to practice.
At this time, it was no longer possible to practice the Body Tempering Technique, but he could practice the basic techniques of Lingxiao Pavilion. These basic techniques were external exercises used to temper the body, using external techniques to exhaust one's physical strength to achieve the purpose of tempering the body.
For example, the long fist and whip kick that Yang Kai used when he was challenged were such basic techniques. The long fist and whip kick were not considered true martial arts but were only considered basic techniques, which every sect and family had.
On the left side of Yang Kai's small house, there was a wooden dummy as tall as a person. He had made it himself, using wood from a hundred-year-old locust tree, which was very hard and perfect for practice. The wooden dummy was pitted and even had some faint bloodstains, marks left from Yang Kai's daily practice.
He took a stance and began to strike the wooden dummy, each punch and kick using his full strength, his legs moving as fast as the wind. The wooden dummy swayed and made thudding sounds.
However, after practicing for a short while, Yang Kai felt something was different.
His punches and kicks today seemed much stronger than before. The extent of the wooden dummy's swaying and the dull sounds it made clearly showed the difference. Moreover, as time passed, he felt a warm and tingling sensation beneath his flesh and above his bones, a clear sign of the meridians being stimulated. The qi sensation that had just appeared in the morning gradually became clearer, stirring within his body.
Starting from the fourth layer of Body Tempering, the qi sensation would appear, allowing the tempering of the body's meridians. This warm and tingling sensation was a sign of the meridians being expanded.