Chapter Fifty-Six: The Carrot and the Stick

After they agreed, Li Xingyu immediately took out paper and pen and transcribed the Qi Refining technique in the language of the Celestial Empire. He copied it seven times and handed a copy to each of the seven men. After they examined the texts and confirmed their authenticity, they all thanked Li Xingyu. He then said, "For innate masters to cultivate the Dao, they must start from the early stage of Condensing Qi. Although you already have true energy within you, there is still a difference compared to that of a true cultivator. However, your cultivation will be much easier. But I must warn you: if news of this leaks out, and I learn who is responsible, I will wipe out that person's family. If I cannot find the culprit, none of the seven of you here will escape. I am alone, and you all know that, given my abilities, you cannot defend your families from my attack." A proper warning or even a threat is necessary after granting such a benefit—a carrot and stick approach, the classic American tactic.

The seven were still basking in the joy of obtaining a cultivation technique, so they showed no resentment toward Li Xingyu's warning, which was more of a threat. Moreover, he had the strength to back up his words. Each of them immediately swore to keep the secret and not to share it with anyone outside those present. Besides, they all hoped to obtain the subsequent stages of the technique from Li Xingyu, so he found their assurances trustworthy.

Li Xingyu made this decision after careful deliberation and weighing all possible gains and losses, concluding it was the best choice. Firstly, these basic techniques were of no further use to him; even if these few obtained them, they could not threaten him for decades, especially since they lacked the advanced techniques and offensive spells. Secondly, he considered silencing them, but they had likely informed their families of their outing companions, if not their business. At least Mu Xueqing and Mu Bate in the Mu family knew he was with Mu Chenhua. Even immediate elimination upon return couldn’t guarantee that no one else knew, and who could say whether Mu Xueqing would have the heart to do it? This would have resulted in a feud with their powerful backgrounds, and since he couldn’t leave the planet immediately, he would remain a target. Even if he left the Celestial Empire, the grudge would follow him, and his reputation would spread among the major powers of the Celestial Empire and its neighboring nations, contrary to his desire for discretion. Lastly, though he was confident in his own strength, these men were still formidable innate masters—a certain risk remained. Considering all these factors, he ultimately chose the carrot and stick approach: offering benefits and hope, while using his strength to deter them and the forces behind them.

Having completed the transaction, the danger from the others was essentially resolved. Now the group turned to the issue of departure, as the defensive formation outside the cave had changed. When the topic arose, all eyes turned to Li Xingyu and Master Ouyang—the former possessing the highest cultivation, the latter an expert in formations. Noting their attention, Master Ouyang spoke first: "I have carefully examined the formation outside. My knowledge of cultivation world formations is rather superficial, so leaving without breaking the formation is difficult. As far as I know, the only option is to forcefully break it." He then looked at Li Xingyu, as any forceful breakthrough would depend on him.

Li Xingyu understood that Master Ouyang’s knowledge of formations was indeed limited, and his own was even less. Therefore, brute force was the only way. However, directly entering the formation to force a breakthrough was extremely dangerous. After some thought, he addressed the group: "Gentlemen, I will handle the matter of breaking the formation outside. Please remain in the cave for now, to avoid injury from any violent energy surges during the breakthrough."

Seeing no objections, Li Xingyu slipped off his backpack, put his hands inside as though searching for something, but in fact withdrew a laser gun and a spacesuit from his storage ring, placing them in the bag before taking them out. Since he had already revealed his greatest secret, he felt there was no need to conceal the existence of the laser gun and spacesuit. In fact, once they witnessed the gun’s power, it might serve as an even greater deterrent. However, there was no need to expose the storage ring, as it might arouse their greed.

Li Xingyu offered no explanations, instead calmly preparing the spacesuit and getting ready to don it before attacking the defensive formation with the laser gun. He worried that any mishap during the attack could prove troublesome, and the suit offered much-needed protection. The others sensibly refrained from asking questions, merely watching curiously and speculating to themselves about his actions and the items he revealed.

Once dressed in the spacesuit, Li Xingyu carried the laser gun to the cave entrance. After observing the formation outside, he began firing at the spots that exhibited the strongest energy fluctuations. With each blast, a deafening roar and explosion followed. Thanks to the protection of the suit, Li Xingyu could barely stand at the entrance, while those inside the cave could feel the violent energy waves and the tremors in the ground, almost exceeding their endurance.

After more than a dozen explosions, Li Xingyu ceased firing. He had cleared a corridor over two meters wide through the formation, allowing direct passage. Removing his helmet, he called to the others and took the lead through the breach, the rest following in turn. As they walked through the tunnel Li Xingyu had carved out, seeing the formidable defensive formation so effortlessly breached, and the deep craters in the stone revealing the power of the attack, their estimation of his strength—and especially the weapon in his hand—grew severalfold.

They could understand the suit as some kind of defensive armor, but none recognized the laser gun, instead assuming it must be a legendary magical weapon used by cultivators. Since they believed they could not wield such an artifact themselves, no one showed excessive greed.

After leaving the formation’s defensive boundary, Li Xingyu replaced the ruby in the laser gun and, after some thought, continued to destroy the remaining defense formations in front of the cave. The others understood this—since part of the formation was already destroyed, it was better to finish the job rather than attract attention. They were all surprised by Li Xingyu’s prudence at such a young age.

After completely dismantling the formation, Li Xingyu adjusted the angle and power of the laser gun, then aimed at the top and sides of the cave, melting the rock with the beam and sealing the entrance. Once finished, he stowed the laser gun and spacesuit in his backpack.

After surveying the ground and cliff face for a moment, he cupped his fists to the group and said, "Gentlemen, you are all men of great experience—could you help me disguise the traces here, so that this cliff and the ground look ordinary?"

"Young Master Li, there’s no need to be so polite—it’s but a small task," Master Ouyang replied first, and the others quickly agreed. Under Master Ouyang’s guidance, they began erasing the traces of Li Xingyu’s attack, taking care not to be careless—if a passerby noticed anything unusual and word leaked out, Li Xingyu might suspect them, which would spell disaster.

Before long, their work was complete. The area now looked completely ordinary; after some time or a rainfall, no passerby would notice anything amiss. Li Xingyu was very pleased—for even if he passed by now, he would not spot any abnormalities.

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