Gao Wu: A centenarian old man, many children and good fortune! Chapter 136

The news that Xiao Yan had taken in Tao Ling, the niece of the Raging Waves Battle King, and that this Tao Ling was an unparalleled genius who had reached the One-Star Battle General realm at only sixty-one years old, was like a bombshell dropped into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a new storm among the various forces in New Nanjing City Four!

Those families who had originally thought that Xiao Yan had changed his “gift-giving” standards, no longer valuing only strength but instead focusing on the “comprehensive value” of women (such as special potential, background, etc.), were now completely dumbfounded!

They were shocked to discover that their previous猜测… was only half-right!

Xiao Yan was indeed no longer content with just high-level warriors above the Seventh Rank, as he used to be. But his new standard wasn’t a lowering of the threshold; instead, it was… raised to a completely new, even unbelievable level in an even more astonishing way!

He wasn’t refusing women anymore; instead… he had started taking in Battle Generals!

Moreover, he was taking in “young” Battle Generals with limitless potential, like Tao Ling, who had achieved the Battle General realm at only sixty-one years old!

This news was like a bolt from the blue for those forces who were still racking their brains, trying to select young women with special skills or backgrounds from their families, hoping to win Xiao Yan’s favor!

“Battle Generals?! He’s actually started taking in women of the Battle General level?!”

“My heavens! A One-Star Battle General at sixty-one! How many such geniuses can be found in the entire Alliance? And he’s taken her into his chambers?”

“Before, we thought he just liked young girls with special potential. Turns out, his real target is… female Battle Generals?!”

“This… this appetite is too big! Battle Generals! They are beings who can guard a region and establish a sect! And they’re willing to humble themselves to him?”

“Could it be… that he has some special癖好? Or… does he truly possess some evil cultivation method that can rapidly increase his strength by combining with powerful women?!”

For a time, various speculations, discussions, and incredulous exclamations rose and fell in the secret chambers of various families. Those forces who had thought they had figured out Xiao Yan’s preferences now realized that this new king’s conduct was far more unpredictable than they had imagined, and even more… unsettling!

Before, when they sent Seventh Rank female warriors, although they felt a pang of pain, they could at least accept it. After all, while Seventh Rank warriors were considered experts, their numbers were relatively higher, and they were relatively easier to cultivate.

But Battle Generals… that was an entirely different level of existence!

For any family to cultivate a Battle General was a huge achievement, enough to bring glory to the family and deter all sides! Every Battle General was the family’s most precious strategic resource, the cornerstone of the family’s continuation and development!

Now, Xiao Yan had actually begun to openly “accept” female Battle Generals! This undoubtedly sounded an alarm for all forces!

They began to panic, began to guess, what exactly was this new king’s standard? What did he truly want?

Could it be that in the future, to curry favor with him, they would have to offer their own female Battle Generals? This was simply asking for their heart’s blood!

Some families who had originally held a glimmer of hope, thinking that since they didn’t have Seventh Rank female warriors, they could send some women with other special skills to try their luck, now completely gave up. Even Battle Generals were being taken in; their so-called “special talents” probably wouldn’t even count as a small dish in his eyes.

The entire “gift-giving” market in New Nanjing City Four was once again thrown into chaos and confusion due to Xiao Yan’s new “standard.” Those families who possessed young, beautiful, and infinitely potential female Battle Generals (though such families were rare) were now on pins and needles, fearing that one day Xiao Yan’s gaze would fall upon their own family. And those families without such “top-tier resources” began to work even harder to search for and cultivate young women who fit the “ultimate potential type” or “special skill type,” hoping to make up for the quality gap with quantity or uniqueness.

Just as the entire city was buzzing with discussions and anxiety over Xiao Yan’s new “hobby.”

Far away, deep within a secluded sanatorium in the city, the Blazing Sun Battle King, who had chosen to retire and stay out of worldly affairs, also learned of this amusing and infuriating news through his remaining intelligence channels.

When he heard that Xiao Yan had even taken in Tao Ling, the niece of the Raging Waves Battle King, that genius girl who had achieved the Battle General realm at only sixty-one years old, into his “harem,” even with his composure and self-control, his mouth couldn’t help but twitch, finally turning into a helpless and contemptuous shake of the head.

“Absurd! Absolutely absurd!” The Blazing Sun Battle King slammed the intelligence report onto the table, his aged face filled with disappointment and… a hint of undetectable schadenfreude.

In his opinion, Xiao Yan’s actions were simply digging his own grave!

“Insolent boy! He will never achieve greatness!” The Blazing Sun Battle King snorted, his tone filled with disdain, “I thought he had such character and means to be able to kill Cangshan and Raging Waves and force back Blood River! But I didn’t expect that as soon as he gained power, he would become so infatuated with women and act so absurdly!”

In his long life, he had also seen many powerful individuals with extraordinary talent and immense power who, due to their indulgence in wine, women, wealth, and anger, ultimately squandered their cultivation and even ended up disgraced.

And Xiao Yan’s current actions, in his opinion, were no different from those people!

“Indeed, who doesn’t like young and beautiful women? When I was young, I also had a few romantic escapades.” A trace of reminiscence flashed in the Blazing Sun Battle King’s eyes, but then it became sharp again, “But everything has a limit! The path of cultivation is like sailing against the current; if you don’t advance, you retreat! How can you waste precious energy and time on these mere women?!”

He believed that the reason Xiao Yan’s strength had surged was definitely due to some heaven-defying fortuitous encounter or inheritance. But such encounters could not be endless! If he didn’t diligently cultivate and consolidate his foundation, he would sooner or later exhaust this luck!

And now, Xiao Yan not only widely accepted beautiful concubines, an astonishing number of them, but he even began to dabble in genius women of the Battle General level! In his opinion, this was no longer just “lustful”; this was simply… neglecting proper duties! It was indulging in trivialities and losing one’s ambition!

“Hmph! Battle Generals, what proud beings are they? Each one possesses a powerful will and spiritual core! How can they be compared to ordinary women?” The more the Blazing Sun Battle King thought about it, the more he felt Xiao Yan’s actions were foolish, “He thinks that with his current strength, he can easily control the mind of a Battle General? That’s simply wishful thinking! Forcibly keeping a resentful female Battle General by his side is no different from placing a bomb that could explode at any time on his pillow!”

He even began to maliciously speculate whether Xiao Yan had truly cultivated some evil art of yin-harvesting and yang-nourishing, which was why he craved these high-level women so much. But even evil arts required a great deal of mental effort to refine and suppress; if one was not careful, it would backfire and lead to qi deviation!

“So addicted to women, not thinking of making progress, neglecting cultivation… Hmph, how long can this power and authority that fell from the sky last for him?” A cold sneer flashed in the Blazing Sun Battle King’s eyes, as if he had already seen Xiao Yan’s future of being abandoned by his followers, his cultivation stagnating, and ultimately being replaced by a stronger person.

He shook his head and threw the intelligence report about Xiao Yan aside, no longer paying attention. In his heart, this young man who had once shocked and intimidated him had now become a “fool” whose head was turned by desire, not worth him wasting any more thought on.

He only needed to wait quietly, waiting to see how Xiao Yan would personally bury the hegemonic enterprise he had built with his own hands, all because of this absurd “hobby.”

The Blazing Sun Battle King did not know that Xiao Yan’s actions, which he considered “self-destructive,” “addicted to women,” and “neglecting proper duties,” were precisely the true source of Xiao Yan’s continuous breakthroughs and rapid increase in strength.

He also did not know what astonishing “rewards” those female Battle Generals, whom he considered “time bombs,” would bring him in the future under Xiao Yan’s unique “in-depth guidance” and the miraculous effects of the system’s “bloodline feedback.”