Chapter 157: Laying Out the Su Residence

Su Yang stepped forward, wrapping his arm around the peacock woman's slender waist, and looked down at the dying bull demon on the ground. "Bull Head," he said, "you may now breathe your last."

Following the demise of Niu Daidan and Niu Erdan, the entire Peach Mountain returned once more to Su Yang's control. The demonic entities that had previously entrenched themselves on Peach Mountain, wreaking havoc, scattered in frantic flight.

The harvest this time was quite good. The corpse of a second-grade wild demon, once processed to remove its venomous tumors, would be equivalent to a rare second-grade medicinal herb.

Thinking of medicinal herbs, Su Yang could not help but think of Song Tiantian.

That woman still owed him three first-grade medicinal herbs!

...

The peach demon remained behind to manage the ravaged Peach Mountain, while Su Yang took the peacock woman and the green fox demon ancestor back into Yanggu County.

Entering the city.

Su Yang dragged a bull head behind him with a rope. It was as large as a water vat, leaving a startling trail of friction across the bluestone pavement.

The giant bull head's eyes were wide open, looking extremely gruesome.

"Such a huge bull head! Could... could this be that bull demon from Peach Mountain?"

"My goodness, did Master Su actually slay that bull demon? That bull demon possessed the strength of a second-grade wild demon."

"Do you think Master Su's cultivation has already broken through to a second-grade martial artist?"

"Hiss... A second-grade martial artist? A second-grade martial artist in his early twenties? Isn't that a bit too terrifying?"

"Didn't Master Su go take the autumn imperial examinations a while ago? Do you think he passed?"

"I have a hunch that in the future, Master Su will not stay cooped up in our impoverished backwater. He will likely go to the bustling capital and establish a world-renowned family."

"Now that even a second-grade wild demon is no match for Master Su, the entire Yanggu County—no, within all seven counties—belongs to the Su family. Even in Suzhou Prefecture, Master Su will surely hold a prominent position."

"Well said. I heard Master Su even has a father-in-law who serves as an assistant prefect in Suzhou Prefecture...!"

Within Yanggu County, the crowd of commoners gazed at Su Yang, who was dragging the bull demon back, and discussed it animatedly.

Yet there was no doubt.

At this moment, Su Yang had become the goal of striving and the role model for all commoners in Yanggu County, and even across the seven counties.

...

Upon returning home, Su Yang processed all the venomous tumors out of the demon corpses harvested this trip, and then steamed and consumed them.

The flesh and blood of third-grade demons no longer held much use for him, but they were just right for the peach demon and the peacock demon. As Xiaoqian was an incense-bound spirit, she had no way of consuming demon flesh and blood.

Three days later.

It was the full-month banquet for Su Yang's eldest concubine-born son, Su Qinchu!

The entire Su family was exceptionally lively, and every prominent family with any standing across the seven counties came to present congratulatory gifts.

"Gifts from the Assistant Prefect of Suzhou Prefecture have arrived...!"

"Gifts from the Prefect of Suzhou Prefecture have arrived...!"

Just as everyone was chatting over drinks, a servant's high-pitched voice rang out from outside the door.

"The Prefect? Even Lord Prefect has sent congratulatory gifts?"

"The Su family truly commands such immense prestige!"

"From now on, this Su family will likely be a towering Buddha statue within Suzhou Prefecture as well."

"Impressive, truly impressive. Master Su is only around twenty years old this year, isn't he?"

"My wife, in a few days, call your distant nieces or younger sisters to our home. I will find a way to send them to the Su estate so Master Su can cast his eyes upon them. If we can forge a marriage alliance and become in-laws, then we will soar to great heights...!"

"Alright, I'll return to my maiden home tomorrow... By the way, my dear husband, should I bring my mother over as well?"

"Your mother is only in her early forties, right?"

...

It was understandable for Assistant Prefect Li to send him gifts—he was his father-in-law, and although it felt somewhat awkward for a father-in-law to send gifts to his son-in-law, it was quite normal, seeing as Assistant Prefect Li held great hopes for his future.

As for Lord Prefect, he must have learned of his achievements in Jiangcheng and how highly regarded he was by the regional inspector.

For himself, this was also a good thing. From now on, he could leverage the tiger's might, using the inspector's prestige to firmly and steadily establish his footing within Suzhou Prefecture.

After all, within Suzhou Prefecture, there were still a few first-grade martial artists, and quite a few second-grade ones as well.

Next would be the full-month banquets for his second, third, and fourth sons; the congratulatory gifts for those certainly could not be meager either.

Besides, the banquet for passing as the runner-up in the provincial examination also had to be held, and the gifts received then would naturally not be few.

Early the next morning.

Su Yang led his household servants and hastened toward Suzhou Prefecture at dawn.

Family Progress: You have successfully attained the status of a juren, adding a layer of security to the family's expansion. However, merely being entrenched in the impoverished seven counties to the west of Suzhou Prefecture is far from enough; you need to venture into major cities like Suzhou Prefecture itself.

Establish industrial layouts within Suzhou Prefecture to obtain 100,000 points of incense [Second-grade Mind-Control Worm].

The new family progress needed to be completed as soon as possible. Only by acquiring more incense could one enter the first grade.

As for Xiaoqian, Su Yang had already instructed his servants to make arrangements: placing her divine statue in several selected villages, and finding a few low-strength demonic entities to harass these villages, acting out a play in coordination with Xiaoqian.

In the end, he would harvest another wave of incense faith.

Suzhou Prefecture.

To be honest, this was truly his first time setting foot here. Although slightly inferior to Jiangzhou, it was immeasurably more luxurious than Yanggu County.

The first person to pay a visit to was naturally the Prefect of Suzhou Prefecture, followed by a visit to his father-in-law.

The Prefect of Suzhou Prefecture, Ren Qianshan, was extremely enthusiastic about his arrival. After all, having placed as the runner-up in the provincial autumn examinations, there was a very high probability he would pass the metropolitan spring examinations as a jinshi.

By then, his starting post might well be that of a prefect, or if not a prefect, at least an assistant prefect.

Yet when he himself had attained the jinshi degree, he was already over fifty years old.

And Su Yang.

At twenty years old, with terrifying martial arts talent, he had already reached the realm of a second-grade martial artist. Entering the Minor Grandmaster realm in the future was practically a certainty.

Once he entered the Minor Grandmaster realm, he would be able to prolong his life straight to one hundred and thirty years.

Rumors had it that the Grandmaster realm could even prolong life straight to two hundred years.

Who could say!

This young man had hopes of stepping into the Grandmaster realm.

Moreover, the literary fortune of Confucianism could also extend one's lifespan. He had heard that Su Yang was already a third-grade scholar, which had prolonged his life by at least a full decade.

If this kid advanced by leaps and bounds on the Confucian path in the future, his lifespan might even reach three hundred years!

Prefect Ren Qianshan knew very well that while he was high and mighty now, fifty years from now, he would be nothing more than an ant in front of this person.

If the other party could take care of his family a little bit when that time came, they would surely live very well.

...

After emerging from the Prefect's residence, Su Yang went to the home of Li Doukou's father, Assistant Prefect Li, and had a meal.

Immediately afterward, right in the most prosperous district of Suzhou Prefecture, he spent a large sum of silver to rent a commercial shop, to be opened directly in three days. Everything was already complete, and it only required slight modifications.

The fabrics from Yanggu County were already being continuously transported to Suzhou Prefecture.

Moreover, with the Prefect looking after things in Suzhou Prefecture, there surely wouldn't be any major trouble.

Three days later.

The Su Family Drapery Shop opened its very first branch in Suzhou Prefecture!

With low prices, it was snapped up the moment it opened, effectively cleaning out the businesses of all its competitors.