Chapter 12

"Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan?" Upon hearing this, Liu Liu Qiaolian's expression suddenly became somewhat complex.

"What's wrong?" Xia Daoming asked.

"Actually, Liu Zhong and I often traveled north and south as traveling merchants to make money. Besides supplying the supplements needed for Liu Zhong's martial arts practice, another major purpose was to save enough money for him to apprentice at the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan." Liu Liu Qiaolian replied. In the firelight, a crystal-clear glow flickered in her beautiful eyes.

"I almost forgot, the martial arts you learned are also the Dragon-Snake Art! But is the tuition for the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan very high?" Xia Daoming was very surprised upon hearing this, but soon recalled the moves and blood-energy fluctuations Liu Liu Qiaolian had shown earlier, and felt relieved. He was just very surprised by the tuition of the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan.

"If it's just the small Wu Shi realm, it's no more than ten or twenty taels of silver a year. The biggest expense is actually purchasing the secret medicines for the Qianjiao Wu Guan to refine blood energy.

But the tuition for advancing from a fourth-rank small Wu Shi to a fifth-rank Great Wu Shi is very expensive because it involves the Divine Charm Secret Map.

Divine Charm Secret Maps are all secret techniques that are not passed on. In martial arts sects, only inner disciples have the opportunity to observe and comprehend them. In martial arts families, generally only direct descendants have the opportunity to observe and comprehend them.

Martial Halls teach martial arts to outsiders to make money, so outsiders can also observe and comprehend the Divine Charm Secret Maps of the Qianjiao Wu Guan, but the cost is extremely expensive, and many Martial Halls also set many conditions.

For example, a fourth-rank Wu Shi cannot be over twenty-five years old, observation and comprehension must be paid for separately according to time and frequency, and Martial Halls often require the submission of a 'name-submission' letter."

"Cannot be over twenty-five years old?" Xia Daoming couldn't help but frown upon hearing this.

He was twenty-four this year. Speaking of which, in a few months, he would be twenty-five. Didn't that mean he was just stuck at the threshold?

"That's right. It is said that when one reaches the age of twenty-five, blood energy has already climbed to its peak. If one hasn't been able to become a fourth-rank Wu Shi by this age, generally speaking, it is very difficult to have hope of breaking through to become a fifth-rank Great Wu Shi." Liu Liu Qiaolian explained.

She now understood that while Master's strength was terrifyingly powerful, his knowledge was truly limited.

"By the way, how much is the cost?" Xia Daoming asked.

"Five thousand taels! And for every hour of observation, you need to pay an additional hundred taels of silver, or help the Qianjiao Wu Guan complete a task." Liu Liu Qiaolian replied.

"Five thousand taels!" Xia Daoming gasped upon hearing this number.

He had ransacked the entire Blood Wolf Hall and only managed to scrape together five thousand taels of silver.

He had thought this was a huge sum of money, enough for him to settle down in Li Cheng, apprentice, and even cover his expenses for a period of time, but he didn't expect it to be just enough for the apprenticeship fee.

Fortunately, he had made two windfalls along the way and obtained over two thousand taels of silver. Otherwise, with his lavish spending along the way, he wouldn't even be able to afford the tuition by the time he reached Li Cheng.

"Master doesn't need to worry. When this servant and Liu Zhong escaped from the Liu Family Village, we brought some valuables, and over these years of adventuring back and forth between the north and south, we have also accumulated some wealth. Calculated together, it's not a problem to scrape together five thousand taels of silver." Liu Liu Qiaolian said.

Xia Daoming listened to Liu Liu Qiaolian's considerate and understanding words, looked at her beautiful, fair face and plump figure behind the firelight, remembered her busy service to him not long ago, and how he had been like a Master, with clothes brought to him and food fed to him. He also remembered the weapon-wielding beauty Ji Ji Wenyue in the desert, where he had to arrange everything himself, and couldn't help but feel a great deal of emotion.

"When young, I didn't know the goodness of a young woman, wrongly taking a young girl as a treasure. When young, I didn't know the fragrance of living off a woman, wrongly planting rice seedlings in my youth! I, Xia Daoming, have lived two lives, and now I finally understand this thought-provoking, cautionary proverb!"

Just as Xia Daoming was feeling emotional, he suddenly saw Liu Liu Qiaolian untie her clothes behind the firelight.

"Oh my, this... how am I supposed to handle this!" Xia Daoming was instantly stunned.

Although in his past life, he wasn't a chaste man when it came to relations between men and women, sometimes going to bars alone or at business occasions, he couldn't avoid playing along.

But he was far from being casual enough to hook up with a decent woman the moment he met her.

Moreover, in this life, he really wasn't mentally prepared for such things.

At the very least, Xia Daoming believed that he needed to wait until he had achieved success in his martial arts practice and established a foothold in this world before he would consider such things.

"Xing Lian'er..." Xia Daoming soon made a decision.

But before Xia Daoming could say what he wanted to say, Liu Liu Qiaolian took out a tattered, yellowed map made of an unknown material from her undergarments.

"Ahem!" Xia Daoming was choked by his own saliva upon seeing this.

"Did Master have something to tell this servant just now?" Seeing this, Liu Liu Qiaolian hurriedly stood up, walked behind Xia Daoming, gently patted his back, and asked.

"Uh, no, I was just curious about what personal item you were going to take out." Xia Daoming said.

Upon hearing this, Liu Liu Qiaolian handed the tattered map in her hand to Xia Daoming, a look of sadness and reminiscence appearing in her eyes.

"My father was once the Master of the Liu Family Village and the patriarch of the Liu clan. This map is said to have been passed down from our ancestors, saying that the place marked on this map contains the Dragon-Transformation Fruit."

"Dragon-Transformation Fruit?" Xia Daoming revealed a look of confusion upon hearing this.

"The snake is a small dragon, the flood dragon is a half-dragon, so the first four layers of the Dragon-Snake Art are also called the Teng-Snake Art, the fifth to eighth layers are called the Hidden Dragon Art, and the ninth to twelfth layers are called the Dragon-Transformation Art.

When the Teng-Snake Art is practiced to perfection, one can comprehend the Divine Charm Secret Map and practice the Hidden Dragon Art, which can cultivate dark energy and advance to become a Hidden Dragon. A Hidden Dragon is not yet a true dragon; it hides in the deep abyss, hidden and not yet revealed, constantly accumulating and strengthening its dragon nature and dragon power.

Only when the Hidden Dragon Art is practiced to perfection can one transform into a true dragon, which can be large or small, hidden or revealed, changing infinitely. That is the Dragon-Transformation realm of our martial arts, which is also the Grandmaster realm.

A Grandmaster can write and paint Divine Charm Secret Maps containing dark energy for disciples to observe and comprehend, but the Divine Charm Secret Map of the Grandmaster realm, which is the Transforming Energy, cannot be written or painted by a Grandmaster; only a Great Grandmaster can write and paint it."

Hearing this, Xia Daoming's expression changed slightly, and he blurted out, "Does the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan have a Divine Charm Secret Map of the Dragon-Transformation realm?"

"In legend, the dragon is one of the most powerful divine beasts, with immense supernatural powers and infinite changes. When a martial artist performs the Dragon-Snake Transformation, once the true dragon is manifested, its power is much stronger than other martial arts. Of course, the difficulty is also much greater.

Therefore, the Divine Charm Secret Map of the Transforming Energy of this martial art, let alone the Hidden Dragon Qianjiao Wu Guan, probably doesn't exist in the entire Mangzhou. As for the Great Liang Kingdom, this servant's knowledge is limited, so I don't know." Liu Liu Qiaolian replied.

Xia Daoming's expression turned gloomy and ugly upon hearing this.

His goal was not just to be a Great Wu Shi, but a Great Grandmaster.

But now it seemed that the Divine Charm Secret Map of the Transforming Energy for this martial art was extremely difficult to find, and it was even hard to say if it existed in the Great Liang Kingdom.

"How do you know so much?" While Xia Daoming's mood was gloomy, he was also very curious about Liu Liu Qiaolian's knowledge.

"This servant's ancestor was once a Transforming Energy Grandmaster!" Liu Liu Qiaolian said, revealing a trace of pride, but soon her expression dimmed again.

"Could it be that the Dragon-Transformation Fruit can help people comprehend the Dragon-Transformation realm?" Xia Daoming's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he blurted out, his gaze falling hotly on the tattered map.

It was just a pity that the map was quite tattered. Xia Daoming could tell that it depicted the Cangmang Mountains, but he could no longer determine the specific location in the Cangmang Mountains where the mountain with three peaks rising straight into the sky and the flying spring and secluded valley below was located.

"Master is wise. It is said that the Dragon-Transformation Fruit is grown in a place stained by dragon blood. After eating it, one can comprehend the true dragon changes of blood energy and strength without a teacher.

It is rumored that my ancestor was chased by enemies into the Cangmang Mountains and got lost, but by a stroke of luck, he obtained a Dragon-Transformation Fruit and eventually became a martial arts Grandmaster.

Before he passed away, he left behind a map and a Dark Energy Divine Charm Secret Map. Unfortunately, the Cangmang Mountains are extremely dangerous. After my ancestor passed away, family disciples successively entered the Cangmang Mountains to find the Dragon-Transformation Fruit, but none of them ever came out again.

Those were the most outstanding disciples of the family. Their loss caused the family to decline rapidly. By the generation of my great-grandfather, the divine charm in the Divine Charm Secret Map had completely disappeared, and the Liu Family Village never produced another Great Wu Shi.

As for this map, by the time it was passed to my father, it was already very tattered. Now that the Liu family has no male descendants, and this servant is already Master's person, this map should naturally be kept by Master.

It's just that the Cangmang Mountains are extremely dangerous, and this map is very tattered. It's already very difficult to find the place from back then according to the map. If Master hasn't practiced to the eighth-rank Great Martial Master realm, you must never have the idea of entering the Cangmang Mountains." Liu Qiaolian said.

"Don't worry, unless it's a last resort, I won't take this path." Xia Daoming nodded, then carefully put away the tattered map in his hand.

Regardless, this was also a path for him to become a Grandmaster in the future, so he definitely had to keep it safe.

Just as Xia Daoming put away the tattered map, he saw Liu Liu Qiaolian reach into her undergarments again.

"No way, could it be that I still can't escape this ordeal?" Xia Daoming's mood was conflicted.

As a result, Liu Liu Qiaolian took out a yellowed but not tattered paper made of an unknown material.

"This is a medicine refining secret recipe passed down from my ancestors, called the Earth-Hidden Blood-Returning Pill. It is said to be a pill suitable for Grandmasters to take. I don't know if it's true or false, but please keep it safe, Master." Liu Liu Qiaolian handed the medicine refining secret recipe to Xia Daoming.

Xia Daoming took the medicine refining secret recipe and scanned it. He didn't recognize most of the medicines recorded on it, but he recognized one: a Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng that was at least a hundred years old.

"It actually requires Dragon-Pattern Purple Blood Ginseng. It seems that the rumors about the Earth-Hidden Blood-Returning Pill are very likely true!" Xia Daoming was pleasantly surprised and carefully put away the medicine refining secret recipe.

When Xia Daoming put away the medicine refining secret recipe, Liu Liu Qiaolian straightened her clothes, which made Xia Daoming feel a strange sense of melancholy.

That night, the master and servant stayed at the temple.

Liu Liu Qiaolian had gone through major changes and was physically and mentally exhausted. Now that she had no other distractions and only wanted to follow Xia Daoming to repay his kindness and finish the rest of her life, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, sleeping very soundly.

Xia Daoming, on the other hand, tossed and turned for a long while, thinking about the tattered map and the medicine refining secret recipe, then about apprenticing in Li Cheng, and sometimes thinking about the beautiful maid lying not far from his side.

After a long while, Xia Daoming finally fell into a hazy sleep.

The next day, as soon as Xia Daoming woke up, he discovered Liu Liu Qiaolian's busy figure.

Not only had she prepared clean water for him to wash up in advance, but seeing him wake up, she immediately brought it over, and she had already prepared breakfast.

After a simple breakfast, the two of them each carried a bundle and left the temple.

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