Chapter Seventy-Three: The Greatest Tycoon of the Future

Xu Xiaozhan? His name is Xu Xiaozhan?

The moment he heard that name, Liu Pan was momentarily stunned. Afterward, he stared in bewilderment at the person pinned to the ground, utterly powerless to resist.

There was indeed a Xu Xiaozhan in Liu Pan’s novel, though he had never written much detail about him, so Liu Pan’s understanding of Xu Xiaozhan was limited. Of course, the lack of detailed description was mainly because Xu Xiaozhan and the protagonist, Liu Kuang, walked entirely different paths.

In his book, Xu Xiaozhan could definitely be called a miracle. Without possessing formidable martial strength, he relied on an extraordinary mind to climb to heights in this world of martial prowess that most people could scarcely imagine.

Though Xu Xiaozhan’s life in the novel was tinged with tragedy, his abilities were beyond question.

Right now, what Liu Pan cared about most was whether the Xu Xiaozhan before him was the same one from his book.

If so, then...

Liu Pan couldn’t help but recall a popular internet joke he’d once seen back on Earth:

If you could go back twenty years, what would you do?

The answer: I’d go to Hangzhou and find a young man. I’d treat him to meals and drinks, take him out to karaoke, never let him pay, and swear brotherhood with him… Then I’d go to Shenzhen and do the same with another young man—meals, drinks, karaoke, brotherhood...

Could it be that such a wild scenario was really happening to him now? Liu Pan entertained the thought with no small delight.

He had never imagined that the future greatest tycoon from his book would appear in a backwater like Yunliu City.

As it happened, the first meeting between Liu Kuang and Xu Xiaozhan in the novel didn’t even take place here, but in Burning Heaven City, known as the foremost city of the Southern Prefecture.

At that time, Xu Xiaozhan wasn’t wealthy or powerful, merely a disciple of a sect called the Luoyan Sect in Burning Heaven City. He was running errands at a small business owned by the sect because he’d taken on a sect task.

Liu Kuang met him there because he urgently needed some resources but didn’t want to attract attention, so he went to that small shop to sell some of the elixirs he had refined.

Though things ended somewhat poorly for Liu Kuang, Xu Xiaozhan seized the opportunity and made a hefty profit. After that, Xu Xiaozhan’s rise was meteoric, and when the two met again, Xu Xiaozhan was already in Central State, preparing to break into the top ten merchant guilds of the Tianfeng Continent.

In short, Xu Xiaozhan’s first pot of gold in the novel was inseparably linked to the protagonist, Liu Kuang.

Is it, or isn’t it? Liu Kuang couldn’t be sure.

In his novel, Xu Xiaozhan’s rise was clearly due to his intelligence and composure. Yet now, this Xu Xiaozhan had his own father ambush Liu Pan and Liu Kuang. While Liu Pan couldn’t quite fathom the reason, it struck him as anything but calm and composed.

However, the more Liu Pan analyzed the encounter between Liu Kuang and Xu Xiaozhan from his novel, the more he felt the youth before him was likely that very same Xu Xiaozhan—which left him feeling distinctly unsettled.

What should he do? Though he couldn’t be absolutely certain this Xu Xiaozhan was the same as the one from his book, Liu Pan had already decided to save the young man before him.

After all, a person like Xu Xiaozhan—no matter what relationship they might have in the future—was surely worth befriending early on. On the principle of rather saving the wrong person than missing the right one, he ought to help Xu Xiaozhan now.

But how?

Liu Pan glanced at Liu Kuang, who stood before him, his eyes unreadable. If anyone could resolve this crisis, it was doubtless Liu Kuang, the one directly involved.

“Speak. Why did you do this?”

Elder Yang looked at Xu Yangfeng as he spoke. At first, seeing only Xu Yangfeng, he’d thought it troublesome and doubted he’d get much out of him. But when Xu Xiaozhan rushed out, Elder Yang’s heart eased considerably.

“So it was you!”

Before Xu Yangfeng could reply, an unexpected voice drew everyone’s attention.

Unbothered by the sudden scrutiny, Liu Pan pointed at Xu Xiaozhan, then turned his head to address Liu Kuang, “Brother Liu Kuang… senior brother, he’s the idiot who couldn’t tell a spirit herb from a weed—the one I told you about.”

The questioning was interrupted. Elder Yang’s face darkened, but upon realizing that this brazen youth was speaking to Liu Kuang, he relaxed a little.

“What, do you two know that person?” Elder Yang asked. Though he addressed both, his focus was clearly on Liu Kuang.

Liu Kuang was thoroughly baffled. In the past few days, he and Liu Pan had wandered around Yunliu City; thanks to their keen spiritual senses, they’d managed to buy quite a few valuable items off ordinary street stalls at bargain prices.

However, as for the Xu Xiaozhan now trampled on the ground, Liu Kuang truly had no memory of him.

Moreover, Liu Pan had never mentioned any so-called idiot who couldn’t recognize a spirit herb.

What on earth is going on?

As Liu Kuang remained speechless under Elder Yang’s questioning, Liu Pan smoothly picked up the story. In fact, Liu Pan had fully expected Liu Kuang to be bewildered.

“Senior, here’s what happened,” Liu Pan began. “Two days ago, I was wandering around Yunliu City, and when I passed through a remote alley, I saw that fellow over there furtively selling herbs at a street stall. Out of curiosity, I went over to take a look and found that the herbs he was selling had remarkable vitality, very much like spirit herbs. What surprised me even more was that he was selling them at the price of ordinary herbs, even cheaper, in fact. Though I suspected something was off, I decided to gamble and bought a few. Later, back at the inn, I showed them to Senior Brother Liu Kuang and discovered they really were spirit herbs. So I went back and bought up everything he had left…”

At this point, Liu Pan frowned slightly, glancing from Xu Xiaozhan to Xu Yangfeng, and suddenly seemed to realize something. He jabbed a finger at Xu Xiaozhan and cursed, “Damn it! Did you sneak spirit herbs from your house to sell, and after you’d sold everything, your father found out and…”

Liu Pan didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.

Having spun this tale, Liu Pan felt a measure of relief. Thankfully, he’d managed to piece together a plausible story. Though it was riddled with holes, at least it made sense on the surface. As long as Liu Kuang went along and said a few words to back it up, any inconsistencies could be glossed over.

As for whether Liu Kuang would plead with Elder Yang to spare the Xu father and son, Liu Pan had no worries. He'd already done so much—if Liu Kuang couldn’t see he was trying to save them, it would be an insult to the protagonist’s intelligence.

When Liu Pan finished, Xu Yangfeng looked utterly bewildered, but with his face covered in blood, it was impossible to tell what expression he wore.

As for Xu Xiaozhan, his sobs had quieted, though he was still sniffling. With his formidable mind, he had realized halfway through Liu Pan’s story that Liu Pan was helping him, and hope flickered in his eyes. Inevitably, his gaze fell upon Liu Kuang.

He knew very well that, in the end, everything depended on what this spiritually gifted young man would say.

Elder Yang frowned deeply; he found Liu Pan’s story highly dubious. After a moment’s hesitation, his gaze settled on Liu Kuang.

Xu Yangfeng had ambushed Liu Kuang, making Liu Kuang the “victim.” If Liu Kuang, the victim, didn’t refute Liu Pan’s story, it would be tantamount to confirming its truth—that Xu Yangfeng had attacked them to reclaim those valuable spirit herbs. As for why he’d attacked Liu Kuang as well, it probably had something to do with the close relationship between Liu Pan and Liu Kuang.

After all, if someone snatched away a friend right in front of you, it would be strange if you didn’t cause a scene.

With this in mind, Elder Yang wasted no more time and asked Liu Kuang directly, “Is this true?”