From the fusion of Tongbei Quan to the Longevity Martial Saint

The sound wasn't particularly loud, but it reached Fang Qing's ears very clearly.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Qing saw a woman in a light blue-green dress slowly emerge from behind the bear demon.

The woman wore riding boots made of the hide of a mythical beast.

A solitary orchid was also inlaid on the riding boot.

The lake-green long dress didn't have many embellishments, but the fabric was clearly very expensive.

The woman had a rather ordinary-looking sword slung at her waist.

The skin on her neck was incredibly delicate, almost translucent.

With an oval face, cherry lips, eyebrows like spring mountains, and phoenix eyes that, though languid, give off an air of unfathomable mystery.

This woman's appearance and figure were the most beautiful she had seen in a long time.

Although Yang Jiumei is also a beauty in the making, she is still young and naturally not on the same level as the mature and charming woman in front of her.

However, the next moment, when the woman walked out, Fang Qing, who was already extremely nervous, tensed up even more.

A large amount of blood in his body instinctively rushed into his legs and hands.

This is the subconscious bodily reaction when humans face fear.

Blood provides enough nutrients and oxygen to flow into the legs and hands, allowing humans to quickly squeeze out their potential and run.

When this seemingly harmless woman appeared, Fang Qing's subconscious mind reacted in this way.

This is enough to prove how dangerous the woman in front of them is.

To see the bear demon's strength, Fang Qing would have to crane his neck, almost at a 90-degree angle, to even see it.

Compared to Fang Qing, this woman's strength was like an insurmountable mountain with no visible peak.

The danger levels of the bear demon and the woman are worlds apart.

When Fang Lingsu emerged from behind the bear demon, her five guards also came out.

The guards walking in front looked at Fang Qing with some surprise.

"Second Miss, there's still one who wasn't scared."

"Judging from this, they're going to fight the bear demon to the death."

"Not bad, this saltworks actually has a tough guy!"

Fang Lingsu's beautiful eyes also flashed with surprise as she took a closer look at Fang Qing.

However, things quickly returned to calm.

Fang Lingsu was somewhat disappointed by Fang Qing's cultivation level.

The first level of body tempering is just perfected, but it's still a bit low.

After glancing at Fang Qing's face, Fang Lingsu turned her head and spoke towards the bear demon.

"This is an intelligent bear demon. On my way here, it killed my horse."

"I can only use it to pull my carriage."

"Don't worry, this bear demon has been crippled and is no longer dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Fang Qing's pupils immediately contracted sharply.

That bear demon was far stronger than Li Zaotou.

The two are not even in the same league.

Otherwise, Li Zaotou wouldn't have abandoned his concubine at the first meeting and fled to some unknown place.

Such a powerful bear demon was easily defeated by this woman who looked only a year or two older than him.

Only then did I notice that the bear demon had two thick ropes strapped to its shoulders, like the straps of a schoolbag.

Sure enough, there was a four-wheeled carriage behind the rope.

Fang Qing, who was admiring Fang Lingsu's pretty face, quickly looked away and lowered his head.

They didn't even dare to make eye contact with each other.

Fang Lingsu's cultivation and strength far exceeded his imagination; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to subdue the bear demon so easily.

At this moment, Fang Lingsu stood before the bear demon as if a toddler, just learning to walk from its swaddling clothes, stood before a robust, adult man.

No one present dared to underestimate Fang Lingsu.

Fang Lingsu didn't even raise her head, but simply turned her head slightly and gave instructions to the bear demon behind her.

"I will arrange for someone to verify the information you provided about those demonic beasts."

"If the information is true, everything is negotiable."

"If the information you provide to me is incorrect, I can guarantee that even if I have to search every inch of your hideout, I will still find you and tear you to pieces."

The bear demon, who had been so arrogant just moments before, now stood behind Fang Lingsu like a well-behaved child, letting out a soft whimper.

It was both a protest and a plea for mercy.

Fang Lingsu waved her hand casually.

The bear demon's face immediately adopted a human-like expression, displaying an air of ecstatic joy.

He quickly took a half step back to create distance between himself and Fang Lingsu. Seeing that Fang Lingsu ignored him, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed several times to her.

The bear demon removed the ropes binding him to the carriage.

Turning around, I found myself in a grove of trees on the side of the road I had come from, and I rushed in.

Fang Qing's mind was still filled with the image of the bear demon crying tears of joy and gratitude towards Fang Lingsu.

At this moment, I felt a mix of emotions.

Sure enough, as long as one's cultivation level is high enough, even the most domineering bear demon can only bow down and submit.

Thinking of this, Fang Qing let out a slight sigh of relief.

"I wonder when I'll be able to become such a master?"

……

Just then, Li Zaotou emerged from the corner.

Li Zaotou acted as if he had just appeared.

Without mentioning the bear demon incident, he quickly went to Fang Lingsu's side, cupped his hands, and said:

"Second Miss, why did you come here personally for the year-end inventory of the salt fields?"

"Just let me know, and I'll immediately arrange for someone to submit this year's account books and all inventory information for the saltworks."

Fang Lingsu glanced at Li Zaotou with a half-smile, but didn't say anything more.

With Fang Lingsu's level of cultivation, her senses would be incredibly sharp.

Even if the bamboo forest had blocked her view, she could have easily grasped everything that had just happened here.

The reason Fang Lingsu didn't confront Li Zaotou directly was simply because she was a mild-mannered person and too lazy to argue.

Before Fang Lingsu could speak.

The next moment, among the five guards standing behind Fang Lingsu, one of the guards, surnamed Lin, looked in Fang Qing's direction and said with great interest:

"Li Zao Tou, who is this valiant man?"

Given Fang Qing's current physique, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe him as a strongman.

Seeing that Fang Lingsu didn't respond to his words, Li Zaotou didn't care at all.

He glanced at Fang Qing, then quickly introduced her:

"This man is the son of a salt farmer in our salt field, and he is a slave."

When Guard Lin heard that Fang Qing was actually the son of Salt Master, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

The Great Qian Dynasty was different from Earth.

If the world wants to achieve upward social mobility, there is at least one path to take: the college entrance examination.

Everyone can compete fairly in the college entrance examination.

However, in the Great Qian Dynasty, all martial arts and cultivation methods were actually monopolized by local clans and immortal clans.

Clans like the Fang family of Huizhou merchants possessed at least several third-grade martial arts techniques.

Even those from prominent clans might possess fourth-grade martial arts techniques.

Fang Qing's original Salt Handle Body Tempering Technique was actually not even in the top rank.

It belongs to the miscellaneous category in the entire cultivation system, and doesn't even qualify as a first-grade skill.

It is easy to imagine how profound the cultural heritage of a clan like the Fang family must be.

Not to mention the local immortal clans, whose foundations are even more unfathomable.

They had already monopolized all martial arts techniques.

People like Fang Qing, sons of low-level salt farmers, have absolutely no chance of learning high-level martial arts.

This is what the officials, the local clans, and the local deities want to see.

Furthermore, with Fang Qiu and his ilk holding hereditary salt labor slave status, the common people at the bottom of society could be bound together generation after generation.

They were enslaved by these local clans and immortals for generations, and their wealth was continuously provided to them.

Their descendants can suck the blood of Fang Qing and his ilk from the bottom rungs of society for generations to come.

Li Zaotou noticed that Guard Lin was quite interested in Fang Qing.

Fang Lingsu also appeared to be listening attentively.

Li Zaotou's gaze immediately turned cold.

The next moment, Li Zaotou said casually:

"However, this person is now a criminal in the saltworks."

We just found 1500 jin (750 catties) of smuggled salt in his residence.

"After careful examination, we found that these smuggled salts were the same batch that was lost by salt bandits when the salt field was attacked half a month ago."

"I suspect that this young man didn't have time to hand over the salt to those salt bandits, so he had to store it temporarily at his residence."

"But we never expected that Li Laolai, the most responsible head of our saltworks, would see through our scheme and bring him directly to justice."

……