Chapter 21: The Black Robe Submits

  Xu Hua was extremely excited in his heart, today he actually learned about another path of cultivation - Body Refining!

  Before today, he had never heard of the term "body refinement". He practiced the "Devouring Life Technique", which made his physique extremely strong, surpassing those with innate divine strength at the same age. If he were to take the path of body refinement, it would obviously be more promising than cultivating true energy, with the help of life essence and spirit. He believed that on this path of body refinement, he could go further than ordinary people.

  Luò Chéng listened to these secrets on the side, but he didn't get as excited as Xú Huá, because he originally didn't know much, and after hearing these strange things, he wasn't that thrilled.

  "I think your physique should be very strong!" At this moment, the black-robed man was almost certain that Xu Hua's physique was incredibly powerful, otherwise he wouldn't have felt the faint sense of danger emanating from him.

  Xu Hua wore a black robe and smiled faintly, saying: "Innate divine power!"

  Xu Hua wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal his true nature, so he came up with a reason for himself. The identity of being born with divine power suited him well, but in reality, he was even more terrifying than those born with divine power, though he would never let others know.

  "What? It's actually innate divine power." The black-robed man was shocked, his eyes filled with astonishment. People with innate divine power were extremely rare, and it was unlikely that even one would appear among ten million ordinary people. Each one was a martial arts prodigy. He had casually encountered a young boy who possessed innate divine power, so how could he not be astonished?

  Although people born with divine power are rare, the entire Tianxuan continent has nearly 10 billion people. Even if one person in 10 million is born with divine power, there will be nearly a thousand people with divine power on the entire continent. Over the years, many sects have also basically explored some situations of people born with divine power.

  People born with divine power will probably slowly distinguish themselves from ordinary people after the age of twelve. Their physique is far stronger than that of ordinary people, and as they grow older, their physique becomes stronger and stronger, and their physical strength increases more and more.

  Generally speaking, people born with divine power can possess strength exceeding a thousand kilograms by the age of fifteen. Especially in the following seven or eight years, the enhancement of their strength is terrifying. Even without good nurturing and abundant resources, an ordinary person born with divine power will increase their strength by at least a thousand kilograms every year during this period. This means that by the age of twenty-three, they will have at least nine thousand kilograms of physical strength. Such immense power and physique make countless warriors envious.

  90,000 jin of strength is enough to crush all the strong martial kings, and even some weaker martial emperors can put up a fight. This is also why it's said that the achievement of innate divine power is at least that of a martial emperor. After all, without any resources, one can still grow to this level of strength. How terrifying would someone with innate divine power be after being nurtured by a major power?! It's simply like a human-shaped monster!

  Hei Pao, upon learning of Xu Hua's innate divine power, became extremely excited and said in a flattering tone: "You are an innately divine person, it would be such a waste if you didn't cultivate your body with a good cultivation technique. As it happens, I have obtained a decent body-refining technique by chance, and I am willing to give it to you. I only hope that Young Master will accept me!"

  Xu Hua and Luo Cheng looked at each other in dismay, while Hei Pao felt a little ashamed, but the scars on his face concealed his emotions.

  It's not surprising, really - the achievements of those born with divine power are too astonishing and too rare. This has led many people to attach themselves to those with innate divine power, even protecting them when they're weak. Now that the opportunity is right in front of him, Black Cloak naturally doesn't want to let it slip away.

  "Please, young master, take me in!" The black-robed man, the first of the five great generals of Qingfeng Village, who even made the village head Lu Tianhu tremble with fear, actually knelt down before a youth. If this got out, it would shock many people. Black Robe was also a person with a story, but no one knew what it was, and no one knew why his face looked like that. Black Robe had already seen that Xu Hua was kind-hearted, so when Xu Hua didn't know what to do, he knelt down, stirring up Xu Hua's compassion and getting taken in by him.

  "What are you doing, get up quickly, I'll take care of you." Xu Hua's kind thoughts arose, and he immediately stepped forward to help the black-robed man up. Luo Cheng still had some guard against the black-robed man, but didn't stop the young master.

  "Thank you, young master, thank you..." The black-robed figure's trembling hands were clearly due to excitement.

  "I'll accept you, but from now on, you can't continue to be evil. If not, I don't want you!" Xu Hua looked at the black-robed figure with a serious expression. As soon as he heard that the person was from Qingfeng Village, he knew it was a den of thieves. Since this black-robed figure had come out of there, it was clear that they had blood on their hands. This made Xu Hua subconsciously uncomfortable, although his way of thinking had changed, but some habits and thoughts still remained the same as before, yet without the same level of repulsion."

  "Hei Pao immediately vowed: 'From now on, whatever Young Master says is what it is, and as long as others don't take the initiative to provoke me, I absolutely won't take the initiative to kill anyone.'"

  Xu Hua nodded in satisfaction that Hei Pao had done so well. "This is Luo Cheng, he's my book boy."

  Hei Pao and Luo Cheng nodded to each other, but didn't say much. However, Hei Pao noticed that Xu Hua held Luo Cheng in high regard, and he also made up his mind to get along well with Luo Cheng from now on.

  "By the way, you should introduce yourself first, I don't know much about you yet!"

  Then the black robe began to recount one by one...

  After Hei Pao finished speaking, Xu Hua and Luo Cheng finally understood the general situation. The Qingfeng Village where Hei Pao was located was on the outskirts of Luocheng, on a mountain called Lao Tie Shan. Many bandits and strongmen gathered there, and Hei Pao was one of them, a member of Qingfeng Village. In Qingfeng Village, he could be said to be second only to the village master, but the village master had always been wary of him, and he didn't have much real power in the village. This time, the five great generals of Qingfeng Village came out of the mountain together to escort the treasure protected by the three brothers of Xueying.

  Xu Hua took out a sheepskin scroll from his bosom and unfolded it.

  All he saw was a sheepskin scroll with what appeared to be a map on it, but there were also some markings on it. Xu Hua immediately determined that this was a treasure map.

  "It's just a map, isn't it? What use is it, it's not some kind of martial arts secret manual!" Luo Cheng curled his lip in disdain.

  The man in black stood silently beside him, while Xu Hua dryly said: "You don't know the value of things. When you go back, study and learn to recognize characters properly. Otherwise, even if a treasure map is placed right in front of you, you won't be able to tell what it is. I'm not sure what's on this particular map, but since people are fighting over it, whatever is on it must be quite valuable."

  "Hmm..." Luo Cheng chuckled to himself on the side, but the black-robed man said: "Young Master, this treasure map is probably not that simple."

  "How was it? Right, you came for this, should know more about it." Xu Hua said to him.

  "This treasure map was actually handed over by the mastermind behind Qingfeng Village, it's absolutely not simple, I said that young master has obtained the treasure."

  "Is there a backstage force behind the bandit forces like Qingfeng Village?" Xu Hua's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded immediately: "Yes, even if these bandit forces are strong again, how can they be stronger than the major forces in Luocheng? It's surprising that no one in Luocheng has eliminated these bandits. I'm afraid they have colluded with each other long ago... In the end, it's the weak who suffer..."

  The more he understood the world, the more a faint sense of disappointment crept into Xu Hua's heart, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that disappointed him. Suddenly, a glimmer of murderous intent flashed in the eyes of this normally kind-hearted man as he asked, "Do you know who is behind Qingfeng Village?"

  "Hei Pao shook his head and said: 'Only the leader of Qingfeng Village, Lu Tianhu, knows about it. The others don't know.'"

  "Let's take a good look next time we have the chance!" Xu Hua put away the sheepskin scroll, "We should head back to where we were earlier and see how they're doing. By the way, what's your relationship with the four people who came with you?"

  "They didn't have much contact with me, and I don't know what they were thinking, but that scholar was the leader's confidant."

  "If they can be subdued, then subdue them!" At this moment, Xu Hua suddenly thought of the idea of subduing these people. Before, he hadn't thought much about it, but now he suddenly realized that gathering those evil people under his command and restraining them from harming others wasn't also a kind of good deed? The more evil people he subdued, the fewer people they would harm...

  "Your Highness, you need to be careful of that Snow Eagle's leader, he absolutely doesn't have good intentions towards you."

  Xu Hua nodded, now he also understood. Previously, it was just too chaotic and he didn't think much about it. That man helped him escape, wasn't it to let him help divert a great enemy, so that he himself would have a chance of survival? Xu Hua was kind-hearted, but not foolish. "Who are they again?"

  "They were originally three people, but one of them was poisoned to death by Du Niangzi. The three of them called themselves Xueying, and they were famous figures in Lao Tie Shan for many years. Together, the three of them could rival Wu Wang."

  "It seems they are also bandits?" Xu Hua's face looked a bit ugly, he didn't expect that in the end he would be saving bandits.

  "Yes, the three brothers didn't join any gang, but they've done their fair share of robbery and murder." The black-robed man's words made Xu Hua's anger surge even more. After a long silence, he let out a breath he had been holding for a while and said, "Heh, it seems I really need to change my ways from now on. At least for now, my goal is to get stronger, or else everything will just be empty talk!"

  "Your Highness, as long as we become stronger, you can do whatever you want! Even the Emperor won't be able to control us! If anyone dares to disobey, eliminate them!" Luo Cheng's words, which carried a hint of arrogance, made Xu Hua feel much better.

  "Let's go back and take a look! It's been so long, just don't know if they're dead or not..."

  At this moment, Xu Hua had even forgotten the Body Refining Technique he wanted, but the black robe was already in his hands, and whenever he wanted to look at it, he could just look at it, so there was nothing else to do.

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