### Chapter 2: Business at the Door?

### Chapter 2: Business at the Door?

The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art is the supreme technique of the Esoteric School.

With each level mastered, it is said to grant the strength of one dragon and one elephant. Mastering ten levels would confer the immense power of ten dragons and ten elephants!

However, the reward Su Mo received was the thirteenth level of Great Perfection!

This level of attainment is beyond human capability.

The difficulty with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art lies not in its practice but in the time required.

An ordinary person needs two years to master the first level, four years for the second, eight years for the third, and so on. Who could possibly live for thousands of years to achieve the thirteenth level of Great Perfection?

Even those with exceptional talent, who progress much faster than ordinary people, can only reach the tenth level in their lifetime.

Only Su Mo, through the system's reward, leaped from obscurity to this unprecedented realm in a single day.

Still, it took him an entire night to fully assimilate his newfound internal energy.

Now, he could control it effortlessly, as if by will alone!

Exhaling a long breath, Su Mo suddenly opened his eyes, causing the room to glow momentarily.

Fortunately, this extraordinary sight lasted only a moment and went unseen. Otherwise, his fame would have spread throughout the martial world immediately.

"This is the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art!"

Su Mo sprang up, feeling deeply satisfied with the internal energy coursing through his body.

"With this martial art, expanding my escort agency is just a matter of time. However, the martial world is treacherous and dangerous. Even with the Great Perfection of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art, I must be wary of underhanded tactics."

He had spent recent days reading ancestral records, gaining a profound understanding of the perilous martial world described within.

In the martial world, all sorts of people exist.

Some, unable to defeat their opponents openly, resort to secret plots that are difficult to guard against.

The records mentioned numerous instances where skilled martial artists were ambushed and killed by cunning villains.

Such dangers are ever-present!

After a brief moment of satisfaction, Su Mo reminded himself not to let his guard down.

He quickly tidied up, drank a cup of cold tea that had been sitting overnight, and then left to eat something.

Having no other business in Jinyang City, he planned to return to Sunset City after delivering Li Yishu.

However, due to the system's pending settlement and the need to prepare for his first reward, he stayed an extra night.

Now that the reward was claimed, it was time to head back.

Though "man eats, horse chews" is a saying, he and Li Yishu had walked over mountains to get here, and he didn't plan to gallop back on horseback.

Horses are expensive!

"Everything starts hard; we'll save where we can for now."

Muttering to himself, Su Mo left the city, identified the direction, and headed toward Sunset City.

...

...

The sunlight was perfect, and Su Mo found a comfortable spot by a tree to eat some dry rations.

After a morning of travel, Su Mo experienced the benefits of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art.

Previously, with shallow internal energy, he often felt fatigued during travel. Fortunately, Li Yishu, being a weak scholar, did not notice his limitations.

But with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art, he felt invigorated and energetic, his stamina seemingly endless.

If not for hunger, he could have run straight back to Sunset City.

Biting into a flatbread and washing it down with water, though not particularly tasty, it filled his stomach.

Suddenly, he heard movement in the woods and turned to look.

After waiting for a while, he saw a man in black emerge. The man looked thin and disheveled, with a fierce glint in his eyes.

Seeing Su Mo, he was visibly startled, clearly not expecting anyone else to be there.

Moments later, the man relaxed and approached Su Mo.

Su Mo frowned slightly, noticing the scent of blood emanating from the man.

Such a person often meant trouble.

In the martial world, it's best to stay away from trouble.

Unexpectedly, before Su Mo could move away, the man fell to his knees.

Su Mo was shocked. "Why do you show such great respect?"

The man grimaced, spitting out a mouthful of blood, barely able to speak. "Are you from the Ziyang Escort Agency?"

Su Mo glanced at the "Ziyang" characters on his sleeve and realized the situation.

Without waiting for Su Mo to speak, the man in black suddenly took out a brocade box from his robe and threw it to Su Mo: "Please deliver this item to Yuquan Inn in Ji Mingyi and hand it to a person named Wang Xianglin. There will be a generous reward upon completion!"

"Mission: Deliver the brocade box to Wang Xianglin at Yuquan Inn in Ji Mingyi!"

"Do you accept?"

Is the second mission coming so soon?

Su Mo was somewhat conflicted.

Ji Mingyi wasn't far, though not exactly on his way, it would only delay him by a few days.

What troubled Su Mo was that this escort job seemed very dangerous!

Although the promise of a generous reward was tempting, getting involved without knowing anything was like putting himself under a precarious situation.

Though new to the martial world, Su Mo understood the importance of caution, and he hesitated for a moment.

But before he could make a decision, the man in black suddenly went limp and died on the spot!

"Ah..."

Su Mo was stunned; how could he die so quickly?

After a moment's thought, he stood up, put the pancake into his bag, and approached the corpse with the brocade box. He put on a deer-skin glove to guard against any poison, then turned the body over.

A quick inspection revealed that this person had died a just death.

His body was riddled with countless knife and sword wounds, and there was a deep indentation on his chest, clearly indicating a severe blow.

The fact that he managed to stay alive long enough to reach Su Mo was already a miracle.

"Someone skilled with knives, someone with swords, and an expert in internal martial arts—quite a few enemies... This job is indeed troublesome, and there's no deposit either. It's best not to take it..."

As Su Mo muttered to himself, he heard footsteps approaching.

Then a voice mockingly said, "Indeed, indeed, such a headless job might end up headless. If it were me, I wouldn't take it either."