Apex War God - Chapter 52
After the wolf horde’s assault, more than half of the mountain prison guards were injured or dead. There were also many fatalities among the prisoners. It could be said that this was the worst the mountain prison had been in the last ten years.
Taking the opportunity provided by the need to report this vital matter to the imperial court, Meng Helang and the others left hurriedly.
Previously, Meng Helang entertained ideas of taking down the King-level treasure. But since Wang Jiuzhong was the living “King-level treasure,” Meng Helang did not dare to fight him.
As for Yang Wu, Meng Helang had completely forgotten about him, not taking him to heart at all.
Wan Tianlong knew that after this incident, the management of the mountain prison would be reassigned. The imperial court would definitely send new people. He was not sure if he could keep his position as warden.
On the other hand, Lie Feng and Lie Ziying, that father-and-son pair, gained many followers because Lie Ziying had taken a King as his master, something glorious.
Many guard captains and squad leaders would take shelter under Lie Feng. Thus, Wan Tianlong’s influence would inevitably decline.
Wan Tianlong ignored these matters for the time being. As long as he was the warden, he had to manage the prison well. He ordered the merger of the cellblocks, reducing sixty-eight cellblocks to seventeen, to lighten the workload of the prison guards and make things easier to manage.
This was done only as a last resort since the prison guards had been decimated, and the imperial court’s reinforcement would take some time to arrive. As for the Barbarian Suppression Army, it lost people all year round. Borrowing people from it would be even more difficult.
Just like that, adjacent cellblocks were merged; cellblocks 1, 2, 3, and 4 became one, and cellblocks 5, 6, 7, and 8 became one. Due to this, the prisoners in the merged cellblocks could visit more freely. New frictions could definitely break out. But after the great battle, the prison’s management had become even stricter. And in the wake of this crisis, everyone just wanted to live in peace.
Yang Wu was in cellblock 7, but he paid these matters no mind. After he fought beside Wan Lanxin, they went their separate ways.
As the warden’s daughter, Wan Lanxin really should not associate with him too much. Besides, many people were waiting for an opportunity to make trouble. Wan Lanxin and Yang Wu were not fools, so they became more cautious.
Moreover, they had just encountered a Wolf King. They were still in shock and needed a little time to calm down.
When Wan Lanxin left Yang Wu, she still did not forget to make a strong commitment to helping Yang Wu cast off his prisoner status as soon as possible.
Yang Wu believed in Wan Lanxin’s generosity, but he did not expect too much. He knew very well that he could only rely on himself to have a chance.
Ever since the Wolf King was forced away, Yang Wu had been meditating. Firstly, he had to recover completely from his injuries. Secondly, he had managed to open more acupoints during his battle with the Wolf General and wanted to maintain the trend of continuous self-improvement.
Three days had passed. All this time, Yang Wu had been outside the stone hut in the Dragon Turtle Water Suppressing Stance while circulating the Supreme Nine Profound Art. Since he had absorbed the Nascent Profound Essence, the Supreme Nine Profound Art could circulate without his conscious effort. If he deliberately drove it, the result was even more powerful.
A puddle of water had already formed on the ground where Yang Wu stood. Anyone who saw this would be amazed. How could there be any water on this arid mountaintop?
During these three days of meditation, Yang Wu had not only recovered from his injuries but also opened a total of ninety-nine acupoints, leaving only nine acupoints to 108 acupoints.
Energy whirlpools formed in his body; the energy they contained was incredibly vast, no less than that of a Consummate Grade Warrior.
These past three days, he managed to open ten acupoints. If other people knew, they would be shocked. However, he was not satisfied because if the absorbed energy had not been used for healing, he would have already become a Superior Grade Warrior.
“Little black dog, you have come to steal my wine again. Just go away already. This old man does not have much left. I cannot waste it on you.”
“Hey! Hey! That’s enough. If you chase me again, don’t blame me for what happens next. Don’t think that I cannot teach you a lesson with my old arms and legs. This old man is an expert who can capture dragons with his hands and step on tigers with his feet. Argh! You bit my butt again! It hurts! Yang Wu, you brat, why aren’t you coming quickly to help me? Don’t you want me as your younger brother’s teacher?”
Xun Rui was staying in Yang Wu’s stone hut. Currently, he was being chased and nipped by a puppy.
Xun Rui had asked Yang Wu for three things: to eat meat, to stay in a stone hut, and to have a beautiful woman to wait on him.
Yang Wu met his requests. He had collected a Wolf General and several carcasses of Wolf Soldiers among the slaughtered wolf spirits. After skinning and sun-drying them, he ended up with a lot of meat, a large portion of which he gave to Xun Rui. Furthermore, he let Xun Rui stay in his stone hut and had Xu Jiaohua wait on him.
Xun Rui was a cheeky, perverted old man who did not hold back. From time to time, he would take some wolf meat, roast it over the fire, and eat it. He would also make Xu Jiaohua massage his legs and back. And occasionally, he would sneak a pinch on her bum, making her screech.
Yang Wu ignored Xun Rui’s antics. In his heart, he considered Xun Rui as half an expert despite his reservations. He just hoped that this old man revered by his little brother had some ability so that honoring him in prison this way would not be in vain.
This carefree old man’s greatest fear was Sooty poaching the wine in his wine gourd. To date, he had managed to protect his wine—but not his bum. He was often bitten and would burst out in yelps again and again.
Yang Wu helplessly stopped practicing and entered the stone hut. There, he saw Sooty biting Xun Rui. “Senior Xun, you drink your wine every day. I’m afraid it has already bottomed out. If you just let Sooty take a sniff, the puppy will lose interest. There is no need for you two to keep squabbling.”
“This gourd of wine is a rarity. How can it be wasted on the dog? Ugh! Quickly tell it to let go of me!” Xun Rui said while swinging his bum, trying to throw off the puppy.
“Sooty, that’s enough! Come here!” Yang Wu called out.
Sooty obeyed Yang Wu. It released Xun Rui’s bum and jumped onto Yang Wu’s shoulder. However, the puppy still stared at the wine gourd in Xun Rui’s death grip, its tongue lolling out, obviously still coveting the wine.
Yang Wu petted Sooty and comforted it, saying, “Just wait until we get out of this place. I will give you many vats of aged wine to taste. There is no need to care so much about that small amount of inferior wine.”
Woof! Woof! Sooty responded with its head lowered.
Xun Rui rubbed his bum and laughed, “This gourd contains an immortal wine. Ordinary wines cannot compare to it.”
Sooty barked, looking like it would pounce again and try to snatch the wine and scaring Xun Rui into leaving the stone hut in a hurry. But he still did not forget to say, “I am staying away from the black dog to protect my bum!”
“Senior Xun, that King from before, was it you?” Yang Wu suddenly asked him.
Xun Rui turned around, straightened his rather bent waist, and answered with a dignified air, “Uh… Little Wu is rather perceptive and actually knew that that King was me?”
Yang Wu looked at Xun Rui’s unkempt appearance and sighed, “If you were a King, you would not be staying here. My imagination just ran wild.”
Three days ago, a King fought with the Wolf King. Yang Wu, like everyone else, did not clearly see the appearance of the King. But he felt the voice of the King and Xun Rui’s sounded similar. That was why he asked such a question.
“Little Wu, why are you looking at me like that? Why don’t you think I am a King now? I am just assuming the appearance of an ordinary person!” Xun Rui scolded. Then, he noticed Sooty looking like it would pounce again and sped away like his feet had oil under them.
Yang Wu slapped his forehead. In no mood to pay attention to Xun Rui and Sooty, he went down the mountain to look for Xu Jiaohua.
Xu Jiaohua quickly appeared before him, wearing simple prisoner clothes revealing half of her quivering bosom. It was quite a view. No wonder that old man Xun Rui is always trying to take advantage of her.
Xu Jiaohua bowed and asked in a charming voice, “Young Master, why are you looking for me?”
Xu Jiaohua gazed at her outstanding master. Her heart felt restless and unbearable. She yearned to spend a night with this young master. Unfortunately, the master did not favor a fallen woman like her.
“You said before that cellblock 7 can challenge the bosses from higher cellblocks by wagering Scarlet Steel Rock, right?” Yang Wu asked.
With a nod, Xu Jiaohua replied, “Yes, Master.” After a pause, she asked, “Don’t tell me Young Master plans to issue a challenge now?”
Yang Wu gave a light nod and replied, “That’s right. Tell me about the bosses of cellblocks 5 and 6.”
Not daring to hide anything, Xu Jiaohua reported everything she knew to Yang Wu.
The boss of cellblock 6 was Zhou Xuelong, also known as One-Eyed Dragon. He was as strong as Black Ape. Rumor had it that he really liked to drink blood. In cellblock 6, there were frequently strange occurrences where a prisoner would turn up dead, drained of blood. Someone even claimed to have seen this boss biting a person.
The cellblock 5 boss, Slouching Wang Bajin, was an old prisoner who had been imprisoned for more than five years. He had long since accumulated fifty tons of Scarlet Steel Rock, enough to join the Death Legion and make contributions to erase his crimes. However, this guy chose to pass his days in this prison. It seemed he wanted to remain here until he died.
According to Xu Jiaohua, these two were in the Consummate Grade Warrior Realm. Slouching Wang Bajin was already close to the General Realm and was fully capable of being one of the top three bosses, but he just did not have the drive for it.
“I see. Deliver a challenge letter to both of them on my behalf. Tell them I will bet all the Scarlet Steel Rock I have. If the two of them win, they can divide it between themselves. If I win, they have to give me ten tons of Scarlet Steel Rock each!” Yang Wu said in a deep voice.
Currently, he had thirty tons of Scarlet Steel Rock. If he lost, he would lose all that Black Ape left behind. However, if he won, he would accumulate fifty tons of Scarlet Steel Rock, so it did not matter if his bet was ten tons more than both of theirs combined. He was just worried they would refuse to accept the joint challenge.
He did this not because he was baselessly thinking highly of himself, but because after fighting and killing Black Ape and a Medial Grade Wolf General, he now had the confidence to take on these two prison bosses.
“Young Master, isn’t…isn’t this too hasty. You can challenge one of them first,” Xu Jiaohua advised.
She was afraid Yang Wu would be defeated, and she would suffer again.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Yang Wu said, “Just go ahead and deliver the challenge letter.”
Although he had to accumulate Scarlet Steel Rock, he also wanted to continue honing his combat skills through battle. Once he left this prison, he would have to atone for his crime by joining the Death Legion, which had an eighty percent mortality rate. If he was not capable enough, he would not survive the battlefield and return.
He did not want to die on the battlefield when he had yet to reunite with his family, find Snot-Nosed Bug, his childhood sweetheart, and have kids with her.
