Long Xiao crippled Bao Tie, knowing the Bao family would not let it go. He began to ponder how to deal with them.
To know yourself and your enemy is to win every battle. Without understanding the Bao family at all, he would be caught off guard when they came knocking.
The next morning, after his morning exercises, Long Xiao called Mi Tianfu, asking him to accompany him to the Earth God Temple.
After getting into the car, Long Xiao called Luan Jiping, wanting to learn about the Bao family from her.
After recounting everything that had happened yesterday to Luan Jiping, Long Xiao asked, "Sister, how much do you know about the Bao family?"
"Long Xiao, tell me your location. Some things can't be explained in a few words. I'll come to you."
Long Xiao told Luan Jiping he was going to the Earth God Temple. Luan Jiping asked strangely, "You've caused such a big incident, and you're still in the mood to buy antiques?"
"Sister, I can't explain the specific reason either. I'll tell you when you get here."
Luan Jiping arrived quickly. Just as Long Xiao and his companions were coming from the parking lot to the Earth God Temple, Luan Jiping arrived.
Accompanying her was a spirited old man in a custom-tailored suit.
The old man's name was Xiao Wuhui, Luan Jiping's butler.
Luan Jiping introduced Xiao Wuhui to Long Xiao. After a few polite exchanges, Xiao Wuhui asked, "Long Xiao, how do you plan to deal with the Bao family?"
Long Xiao smiled casually and said, "That depends on them. If they dare to touch me or those around me, I will destroy the Bao family."
"Young man, you are too arrogant. Do you know how large and powerful the Bao family is?"
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "No, I only recently heard that there is a Bao family in Donghai."
Seeing Xiao Wuhui's dissatisfaction with Long Xiao, Luan Jiping said, "Old Xiao, Long Xiao, let's talk as we walk. I'll first introduce you to the situation of the major families in Donghai."
Luan Jiping told Long Xiao that the most powerful families in Donghai were the Three Dragons, Two Tigers, and One God of Wealth, and the four strongest forces were the Four Great Blacks. Bao Erhu was one of the Two Tigers.
On the surface, the Three Dragons were mysterious, the Two Tigers were overbearing, and the God of Wealth was amiable. However, the waters of Donghai ran deep, with various forces intertwined like a large net, firmly controlling Donghai City.
The Bao Group, outwardly engaged in industries such as construction, finance, and medicine, secretly colluded with various overseas forces, had investments in multiple countries, and kept a large group of martial artists. Many of the Bao family's descendants were martial artists themselves.
Although Long Xiao had some strength, he knew very little about martial artists.
When asked about martial artists, Luan Jiping glanced at Xiao Wuhui and said, "Old Xiao, tell Long Xiao."
Xiao Wuhui explained to Long Xiao that martial artists were divided into four major realms: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow, with each major realm further divided into four levels: early, middle, late, and peak.
Heaven realm martial artists were legendary, existing in only a few major countries worldwide and in very small numbers.
The number of Earth realm martial artists in China was still a mystery. Legend had it that there was an Earth realm martial artist in Donghai, but no one had ever seen them.
Profound realm martial artists were what people often referred to as experts. Many major families in China had them, and there were some in the top families of Donghai, but their numbers were not large.
The most numerous were Yellow realm martial artists. Yellow realm martial artists had the lowest strength. Every top family in Donghai had quite a few, and some family descendants were Yellow realm martial artists.
The four of them walked and talked. Long Xiao learned about martial artists and the major families while also observing the items displayed on the street stalls.
Almost everything displayed on the street was an imitation; very few old items had any value.
After the four of them had browsed for an hour, Long Xiao suggested visiting some shops.
Luan Jiping sensed Long Xiao was looking for something and asked, "Brother, are you looking for something?"
Long Xiao nodded and said, "I'm looking for the 'qi' I need."
Hearing Long Xiao mention looking for 'qi', Luan Jiping was confused and didn't understand.
Xiao Wuhui asked, "Long Xiao, 'qi' is invisible and intangible. How can you find it?"
Long Xiao smiled and said, "I can see it. In fact, everything in the world has 'qi', but some are useful to humans, and some are not. I'm looking for the useful ones."
Entering a shop, Long Xiao looked around and found some genuine antiques, but he didn't find any 'qi' useful to him.
As he was about to leave, Long Xiao asked, "Boss, do you know where they sell gemstones and rough jade on this street?"
The shop owner was very enthusiastic. He told Long Xiao where to find gemstones on the street and which shops sold rough jade.
After visiting a few more shops, Long Xiao finally found a pile of rough jade in one of them.
"Young man, the raw stones in our shop are of superior quality. We once opened a 'King's Green'," the owner said as he saw Long Xiao squatting and examining the stones carefully.
Long Xiao selected ten pieces from the more than fifty stones of various sizes that contained jade. These rough jade stones all contained 'qi' of different colors, and one piece even had a faint green 'qi'.
Long Xiao picked up each rough jade stone and simultaneously used the 'Dragon Swallows the Seas' technique, absorbing all the 'qi' within the rough jade into his body.
Looking inward at his dantian, Long Xiao discovered that all the 'qi' had separated into five colored energy masses, suspended in his dantian according to the five cardinal directions.
Although cultivating the 'Dragon Abyss' had not increased his strength, his dantian was expanding rapidly every day. Now, when he looked inward, his dantian was as vast as an open plaza that could accommodate thousands of people.
The five-colored 'qi' included the green wood 'qi' from the east, which was very strong and the size of a baseball. The other four were only the size of a ping pong ball and their colors were very faint.
Long Xiao squatted motionless for ten minutes, looking at the stones. The owner was getting impatient and asked, "Young man, have you made your choice?"
Long Xiao looked at his dantian, then stood up and smiled, "I've chosen ten pieces. Pack them up for me, and I'll take them later."
The stones had prices marked on them, and Long Xiao didn't haggle. After paying the marked price, the owner asked, "Young man, aren't you going to cut them?"
Long Xiao shook his head and said, "No need. Please help me send them home first. I'll cut them when I have time."
Long Xiao left his address, and the shop owner hired people to deliver the goods. The four of them continued their stroll.
After using the whole morning, Long Xiao was disappointed that he hadn't absorbed much 'qi' and abandoned the idea of improving his strength through this method.
In the past few days, while studying the 'Dragon Treasury', Long Xiao had figured out that the 'qi' in heaven and earth could be classified according to the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Each type of 'qi' had its own function and different methods of use.
Life 'qi' was actually green wood 'qi', belonging to wood in the five elements, located in the east, and affecting the whole body through the liver.
At noon, Long Xiao did not return to the Lin family. They all went to Xinglin Caotang. While dining, Xiao Wuhui meticulously introduced Long Xiao to the Bao family's Profound realm experts.
According to the information he had, the Bao family had a total of fifteen Profound realm experts: eight at the early stage, six at the middle stage, and one at the advanced stage.
"Old Xiao, you mean the strongest in the Bao family is that advanced Profound realm expert. As long as I can defeat him, dealing with the Bao family won't be a problem."
Xiao Wuhui glanced dismissively at Long Xiao and nodded, saying, "That's right, but the possibility of you defeating an advanced Profound realm expert is slim."