Zhao Changhe directly took out a piece of silver and placed it on the table.

San Niang's eyes lit up as she hugged the silver to her chest and said with a smile, "It's nothing special, really. They always sell grain here and then transport jewelry and other goods to the Western Regions to sell. Over the years, they must have made a fortune."

Zhao Changhe said speechlessly, "I could tell that even without you saying it."

"What do you want to know then?"

"Their strength, the forces they deal with here, and their connections in the Central Plains - if you know."

San Niang chuckled, "Hey, are you from the Demon Suppression Division of Da Xia?"

Zhao Changhe remained expressionless, "If I want to uproot them and eradicate them, of course I need to know this information. What does it have to do with the Demon Suppression Division?"

San Niang laughed and tapped the table, "Who else can you ask if not me? I'm just an innkeeper."

Zhao Changhe glanced at her and smiled slightly, "Then I won't disturb you."

San Niang looked at him with interest and smiled as she left.

It was already dark after dinner, but the market was still brightly lit. Standing at the window of the guest room, one could see the lights of countless households stretching for miles.

This was not an exaggeration, and it might even be an underestimate.

The market itself was quite large, and there were numerous caravans camped around the periphery, all unloading and loading goods. Torches flickered, voices buzzed, and even from a distance, one could faintly hear the commotion within the market.

Zhao Changhe's gaze shifted from the distant campfires to the street outside the inn.

The two Qiao family merchants, one had lost a tooth, and the other had a broken hand. He had thought they would seek revenge immediately, but to his surprise, they hadn't come. Everything was calm.

Zhao Changhe believed that the other party wouldn't dare to bring a thousand troops into the market, and the garrison of Tie Mu'er was not to be trifled with. But gathering a few dozen people to cause trouble should not be a problem. It seemed that group brawls should happen frequently in this place, but surprisingly, no one had come.

It seemed that San Niang wasn't exaggerating. Her deterrent power was real.

She could ignore fights inside the inn, but it seemed that no one dared to bring trouble to her guests from outside.

Zhao Changhe raised his hand and shrugged. He was surprised at how he had broken someone's hand today. It seemed that the effects of the fruit given by Xia Longyuan, the breakthrough to the seventh level of external martial arts, and the entry into the so-called Blood Asura Body had brought about greater changes than he had originally imagined.

External martial arts focused on physical strength, which was essentially the power and resistance of the body. Under normal circumstances, both offense and defense would be improved when the body was strengthened. However, due to the different orientations of the cultivation methods, each school had its own characteristics.

For example, he was more inclined towards offensive techniques, while Situ Xiao was more inclined towards defensive techniques. But in reality, the differences were not too significant. If Situ Xiao's defense was rated at one hundred, his attack would be at least eighty to ninety, not low in defense and high in attack. It was the opposite for him.

After all, everyone was still within the realm of humanity, and the human body was not that different for everyone, right?

But from now on, there would be more significant differences.

He had never had such great divine power before. The breakthrough to the first level of Xuan Guan should not have caused such a crazy growth. It could only be understood as the initial effect of body transformation. This type of physique seemed to be heading towards a "limitless strength," beginning to become non-human.

This was just the performance of reaching the seventh level of Xuan Guan. What about reaching the higher levels? Could he move mountains and fill the seas?

It could be imagined that he was heading towards "limitless strength," while Situ Xiao was heading towards "indestructibility," and there would be a significant difference in offense and defense. It was like the difference between the eldest and third brother.

And how would the qualitative change of internal techniques be?

Finally, he could understand Xia Longyuan's performance. It seemed that there was a path to follow.

Zhao Changhe silently continued to cultivate for a while, calculated the time, and when the night grew deeper, the torches of the distant caravans had been extinguished quite a bit. He slowly turned and left the inn, returning to the wine hall.

The drinkers had already dispersed, and San Niang was leaning on the counter, bored, her lotus feet swaying back and forth, kicking a Persian cat by her feet. Every time she kicked it, the cat would shake, but it refused to leave, just like the drinkers who lingered by her side in the evening.

Hearing someone enter through the back door, San Niang lazily looked up and saw Zhao Changhe. She then lazily leaned back on the counter and said, "What, here to buy wine? Or Jiangnan cuisine?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Why can't it be to chat with you?"

"Forget it, you don't want my fragrance to affect your meal."

"But you invited me, and I came."

"When did I invite you?"

"When you tapped the table three times." Zhao Changhe smiled, "There are no customers left, and you're still here, bored. Why not go to the gambling house you mentioned and play a few hands?"

"It's too noisy, just like it is here during the day. It's hard to have a conversation with anyone."

Zhao Changhe nodded, "I feel the same way."

Saying that, he sat down in front of the counter and slapped a piece of silver, "Bring two more pots of osmanthus wine. The one I had before was quite good."

"Why two pots?"

"I'm treating you to a pot."

San Niang's bored expression quickly disappeared, and she turned around happily to get the wine.

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Zhao Changhe said with a smile, "Are there so few people who treat you to drinks? Look how happy you are."

"No matter how many there are, who would refuse a treat?" San Niang quickly fetched two pots of wine and poured one for Zhao Changhe, looking like a young girl.

Thinking of the various brand-new, unopened cell phones hanging on Idle Fish, "Gifts from a lapdog," it seemed that one could never have too many.

But then San Niang added, "Just like how you men don't mind having many women."

Zhao Changhe had just taken a sip of wine and almost sprayed it out when he heard this. His disguised old face felt a little hot. "I really didn't come here to flirt with you!""I know," Sanniang said leisurely, "Many come here to buy intelligence, especially recently, with more people from the Central Plains showing up, all eager to inquire about the barbarian military situation. Some time ago, there was a drunkard carrying a heavy sword, staggering around here for nearly a month, completely plastered. It wasn't until the old lady doused him in urine that he was willing to leave, and now who knows where he's gone to die."

Zhao Changhe: "……"

Sanniang glanced at him sideways: "Understand? There are things we don't dare sell. After all, we have to make a living here. If you don't want to die, you'd better keep your mouth shut. Military intelligence, for instance, we won't sell even for extra money."

Zhao Changhe said, "Understood. But what about the matter you were halfway through telling me about? Can you finish that?"

Sanniang continued, "They were dealing with the manager of the Yellow Sand Gathering, the Khan's trusted general, Ubaru. Normally, their grain is transported directly to the Yellow Sand Gathering, but this time, for some reason, they came with empty carts. Presumably, they offloaded somewhere else along the way."

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment, then passed over another silver piece: "Does Ubaru's strength count as military intelligence? It should be common knowledge."

Sanniang smirked sarcastically, "Xuan Guan six or seven levels of ordinary stuff, useless in battle. But what can you do? He's the Khan's confidant. He doesn't go to the front lines to fight; instead, he comes to the rear markets to collect some goods and play with women. Isn't that prestigious enough?"

Zhao Changhe thought to himself that at least he could be sure she wasn't one of Ubaru's people.

As he pondered what kind of story might be hidden here, Sanniang suddenly asked, "What's your name?"

Zhao Changhe replied, "Wang Daozhong."

"The Wang Daozhong from the Langya Wang family? Or just a namesake?"

"You guess?"

Sanniang eyed him suspiciously for a long while, then suddenly said, "If you really are from the Wang family, I suggest you run fast."

Zhao Changhe blinked, "Why?"

"Hé Léi sent word to the tribes long ago, claiming that his affairs were disrupted by Wang Daozhong, and warned the Khan not to trust the Wang family's envoy. Now that Hé Léi is dead at the hands of the Rosefinch, all the tribes are guessing whether it's related to the Wang family—I heard that during the Langya Sword Debate, the Four Elephant Sect's Holy Maiden was also present, so it's likely that the Four Elephant Sect has formed an alliance with the Wang family."

Zhao Changhe almost burst out laughing, but he kept a solemn face and asked, "What does the Khan think?"

"I have no idea what the Khan thinks, but I do know that if the War Lion tribe finds out you're here, they'll want to fight you to the death."

"Is the War Lion tribe nearby?"

"Not only are they nearby, but they've also been having a tough time lately, with everyone eyeing them like prey, wanting to swallow them up. If I'm not mistaken, this batch of Qiao family grain was originally meant to be sold to the War Lion tribe... Where is it now?"

Zhao Changhe suddenly found the affairs of the world quite amusing.

It seemed that even such matters could create inexplicable connections, as if there were threads invisibly linked together.

And this Sanniang... didn't you say you didn't dare mention military affairs? Does this count or not?