All the ministers of Western Xia lowered their heads.
After a moment of silence, one figure stepped forward and bowed solemnly: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Li Daoqiang is so arrogant and reckless; we absolutely cannot let this slide."
"Indeed, that is correct."
"Yes, if we let Li Daoqiang have his way, where will Western Xia's dignity stand?"
...
Immediately, the others chimed in, their words all expressing anger.
Emperor Li Qianshun of Western Xia wore a grim expression as he looked down at his ministers.
Once they quieted down, he spoke coldly: "My beloved ministers speak truly. But how should we respond? General Helian and the others must be rescued."
Another silence fell, then the leading figure on the left spoke gravely: "Your Majesty, Li Daoqiang is a bandit from the Song Kingdom. Our Western Xia envoy was captured by a bandit within Song territory. We should hold the Song Kingdom accountable and demand they hand over the culprit."
"The Chancellor speaks wisely. I second that."
"I second that."
...
A flurry of agreements followed.
Li Qianshun nodded and said solemnly: "Good. I will immediately send a diplomatic note to the Song Kingdom, asking the Song Emperor if bandits within his borders have grown so lawless as to dare kidnap a visiting envoy."
"Your Majesty is wise."
After a round of flattery, most of the ministers dispersed, leaving only a few behind.
The atmosphere in the room grew heavier.
"Chancellor, do you think the Song Kingdom can resolve this?" Li Qianshun's grim expression softened slightly, replaced by more gravity. Being extorted and watched by a peerless expert demanded seriousness.
The Western Xia Chancellor shook his head, his expression heavy: "Your Majesty, a peerless expert, and a bandit at that. Unless there's no other choice, the Song Kingdom will not offend him. Sending the diplomatic note will only lead to bickering."
Li Qianshun sighed, his last shred of hope vanishing. Of course, he knew the note had to be sent. It was the public solution, preserving Western Xia's face and allowing them to blame the Song Kingdom. As for the real, covert solution... just thinking about it infuriated him. Though the other party was a peerless expert, being extorted as a nation made him, the emperor, feel utterly humiliated.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger." The Chancellor naturally saw Li Qianshun's thoughts. He too was angry, but he knew solving the problem was paramount. "The rumors outside don't specify how much silver Li Daoqiang demanded from us. Clearly, Li Daoqiang is shrewd, knowing to preserve some of our face and not push us to the brink, so he can get the silver. As long as the world doesn't know the exact amount, Western Xia's loss of face won't be too great. Based on Black Dragon Stronghold's past practices, the world will at most guess a few million taels. A few million taels, compared to Li Daoqiang's status as a peerless expert, isn't too much."
The few present nodded inwardly. Thinking about it, it was true. A peerless expert's status was too high, not much lower than Emperor Li Qianshun's. If it was just a few million taels, Western Xia's loss of face wouldn't be too severe.
"But handing over thirty million taels of silver to Li Daoqiang like this—I truly can't accept it," Li Qianshun sighed.
The Chancellor's eyes flickered, and he said firmly: "Your Majesty, the envoys must all return without exception. Only then can Western Xia avoid further ridicule."
A trace of wariness flashed in Li Qianshun's eyes, then he nodded solemnly: "The Chancellor is right. I will send someone with the silver to ransom them."
"Your Majesty is wise. It's best to reach an agreement with Li Daoqiang that the transaction can proceed, but the amount Western Xia paid must never be disclosed to outsiders," the Chancellor said gravely.
Li Qianshun nodded, his gaze growing deep.
...
Li Daoqiang naturally didn't know what happened in Western Xia, but he could guess. Western Xia wasn't like the Song Kingdom, let alone the Ming or Yuan Kingdoms. Facing a peerless expert like him, what could it do? It would bow its head in reluctance. If it didn't and sent experts to attack Black Dragon Stronghold, he'd be even happier—it would mean he could extort even more. Honestly, among all the kingdoms, Western Xia was one he least feared, even less than Dali. Not in terms of national strength, but because Dali was a Buddhist kingdom, deeply tied to the Buddhist sect with strong backing. Western Xia was different.
Western Xia surely had experts, and likely a peerless expert too. In this world where martial arts reigned supreme, founding a kingdom required a strong enough expert to suppress its fate. By now, he had roughly guessed that only peerless experts could suppress a nation's fate. But even if there was one peerless expert, so what? Not to mention that such experts rarely acted lightly; he didn't believe they would fight to the death over thirty million taels. He had at least saved them some face, deliberately settling accounts with Helian Tieshu and the others behind the Beggar's Sect to avoid exposing the exact amount. If the thirty million taels weren't made public, Western Xia wouldn't lose too much face. Even if, worst case, Western Xia wanted to fight him, he wasn't afraid. So he traveled with confidence, little worry. He had that money in the bag.
Time passed quickly amid the world's uproar. Over ten days later, Li Daoqiang personally escorted Helian Tieshu and the others, nearing Jingzhou's borders.
One day, he received news about Qiao Feng. His master, Xuan Ku, had died, killed outside Shaolin Temple. The prime suspect was Qiao Feng. But there was no news about his parents being killed. Without such rumors spreading, it proved Li Daoqiang's warning had worked; Qiao Feng's parents were alive. Li Daoqiang felt a bit gratified. After all, he had softened for the sake of nostalgia, and a good outcome was welcome. Without Xiao Yuanshan personally killing Qiao Feng's parents, and without Qiao Feng killing A'Zhu, the two greatest tragedies of Qiao Feng's life were gone. He likely wouldn't end up in that desperate situation. For some reason, as he delved deeper into the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, he grew to admire Qiao Feng more and didn't want to see him go down that path. His desire to recruit Qiao Feng into Black Dragon Stronghold also grew stronger. But unfortunately, that was really hard unless a perfect opportunity or reason arose. So far, he hadn't found one.
Setting that aside for now, Li Daoqiang continued studying the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.
Two days later, he returned to Black Dragon Stronghold. After giving some orders, checking on things, and sharing some intimacy with Qi Fang, he officially began cultivating the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. He was already proficient in the palm force circulation, and the meridians were honed to instinct. Now, the main focus was the true core essence of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. When martial arts reached a certain level, deepening them required the concept of "essence," which could also be understood as one's own path—a mysterious thing, like sword intent or blade intent. Li Daoqiang had long determined the essence of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms: using a broad mind and bold spirit to dominate the world as the foundation, forging the dragon-subduing will and true intent. It could also be called martial will, often linked to the martial soul.
Having reached the eleventh level of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art, he already had a martial soul, but it was just a byproduct of the art—not very strong, and its power wasn't great. After all, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art was ultimately a technique to enhance one's own strength, not a true combat method.
Once he began cultivation, dragon roars occasionally echoed from the secret chamber, and an oppressive aura spread. In just half a day, Li Daoqiang smoothly condensed the dragon-subduing true intent, bringing the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms to a minor completion. The speed was astonishing. Of course, this was partly due to his ten-plus days of prior study, but it also showed how well the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms suited him. His combat power even increased slightly.
Just as he wanted to continue cultivating in one go, people from Western Xia arrived. The visitor was a master-level expert, somewhat unfamiliar, with almost no reputation in the world—clearly one of Western Xia's hidden assets. The negotiation went smoothly: thirty million, six hundred forty-seven thousand taels of silver in exchange for Helian Tieshu and the others, plus a promise never to reveal how much Western Xia had paid. Li Daoqiang readily agreed. The deal was done. Over thirty million robbery points were in hand, along with over thirty million in silver.
As the Western Xia party left Black Dragon Stronghold, they were naturally spotted by those watching closely. News spread quickly, adding fuel to the already heated discussions. Of course, facing a peerless expert and a reckless bandit, Western Xia's submission didn't surprise most. What intrigued them was how much Western Xia had been extorted. Unfortunately, no definite answer came. Black Dragon Stronghold remained silent this time.
Ignoring the outside chatter, Li Daoqiang focused on the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms after securing the robbery points, delegating other matters to his subordinates. But just a few days later, he emerged from seclusion again because someone he hadn't expected had come to see him.
"So, you want to see me, the Stronghold Master, and claim you can control the Beggar's Sect for me?" Li Daoqiang looked at the woman before him with a hint of amusement. She appeared pure and beautiful, a strikingly attractive young matron.
"Exactly," the woman said, dressed in white mourning clothes, her fair, delicate face exuding confidence.
"What makes you think you can?" Li Daoqiang asked with a faint, intrigued smile.
"With my beauty and my status," she replied confidently.
"Heh, the widow of Ma Dayuan, a deceased deputy leader's widow—does that count for anything?" Li Daoqiang said with a playful grin.
"Giggle, since the Stronghold Master chose to see me, doesn't that mean you think it does?" The woman smiled back, her bright, confident expression shining.
"Haha, good, a confident and clever woman. I'll give you a chance. Tell me what you want."
(Chapter 3, requesting subscriptions.)
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