Chapter 10: Apprenticing, Shenquan Sect

Those born with Godly Strength or natural immense strength are mostly the legendary fierce generals of history books and biographies, rare in this world.

Who could have imagined that a disaster victim recruited at random would actually possess such a trait?

Li Shu was also looking Lu Yuan up and down at this moment, and after a slight pause, he suddenly spoke:

"Lu Yuan, are you willing to take me as your master?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the two brothers Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu did not have much of a reaction, as if they had already known.

But all the others, whether old or new, were completely shocked, looking at Lu Yuan in disbelief.

The old hands all knew that although Li Shu was only the manager of the Boxiyuan, he was also one of the veterans of the Qinglong Gang in the past, with quite high martial arts and status.

It was only because he had fallen ill from years of bloody fighting in his early years that he had been recuperating in this garden after getting older.

In terms of status alone, Li Shu was no worse than a Hall Master; for him to take the initiative to accept a disciple was a chance for a carp to leap over the dragon gate!

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Lu Yuan did not hesitate much upon hearing this and immediately knelt down:

"Disciple Lu Yuan, greets Master!"

Clearly, his performance of standing out from the crowd during these days had thoroughly caught the other party's eye.

He had intended to do so merely to gain attention and fill his belly more, but he had not expected to be chosen as a disciple.

Li Shu's status in the Qinglong Gang was not low; becoming his disciple had more advantages than disadvantages, so he naturally would not refuse.

"Good, good, good!"

Li Shu laughed and stood up from his grand armchair:

"Today I have accepted such a fine disciple, it is only right to celebrate. Tonight, wine and meat will be provided without limit, everyone eat to your heart's content!!"

In an instant, twenty or thirty gazes filled with envy and jealousy were cast upon Lu Yuan, as if they wished they could take his place.

Led by Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu, the rest of the group could only offer their congratulations in unison:

"Congratulations, Master (Li Shu), for gaining such a fine disciple!"

Li Shu was all smiles:

"Alright, the competition starts tomorrow, all of you can rest for half a day. Lu Yuan, come with me!"

Waving his hand to disperse the surrounding people, he beckoned Lu Yuan to follow him into his small courtyard.

In the side room of the small courtyard, there was a shrine set up with many spirit tablets inside. Li Shu went before the tablets and bowed to offer incense:

"Ancestors of the Shenquan Sect, the forty-sixth generation disciple Li Junxian is accepting Lu Yuan as a disciple. He is a son of the Han people and possesses natural Great Strength, capable of bringing glory to our lineage. Today, I bow and inform the ancestors."

After offering the incense, he turned to look at Lu Yuan:

"A Yuan, you also come and offer incense to the ancestors."

Lu Yuan followed suit, immediately walking forward to burn incense and pay his respects.

At this moment, he felt the Heavenly Book in his mind ripple again.

After a brief check, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his own Qi Luck had increased by another 20 units, reaching 71 units in total including the original amount!

Clearly, his act of apprenticing to Li Junxian had brought about a change in status and even reputation, thereby increasing his Qi Luck.

Not noticing Lu Yuan's anomaly, Li Shu slowly spoke at this time:

"Listen, kid. Your master, I, am named Li Junxian. Besides Dahu and Erhu, you are my third personal disciple. My lineage comes from the Shenquan Sect; have you ever heard of it?"

Lu Yuan racked his brains to recall, then shook his head: "This disciple does not know."

Li Junxian sighed:

"The Shenquan Sect was one of the ten great martial arts schools of the previous dynasty. At its peak, it had thousands of disciples, and the Jing Dynasty court at the time regarded it as a pillar of support. During the late years of the Jing Dynasty, the world was in turmoil with uprisings everywhere. Because the Shenquan Sect's mountain gate was besieged by rebel armies, it suffered heavy casualties."

"After this battle, the Shenquan Sect never recovered. Later, when the Great Jin entered the pass, they dispatched a large army to destroy mountains and temples, sweeping through the pugilistic world, burning books and banning martial arts. A great Shenquan Sect thus fell apart. This happened hundreds of years ago, so it is normal that you haven't heard of it."

Hundreds of years ago, this history was long enough.

Other than that, he had no particular feelings, so Lu Yuan said in realization: "So that's how it is."

Li Junxian continued:

"After the destruction of the Shenquan Sect, many disciples fled with the intention of re-establishing the sect, even uniting with fellow practitioners to overthrow the Jin Dynasty. It is a pity that under the traps and pursuits set by the Jin Dynasty, the remaining disciples also suffered heavy casualties, and in the end, they could only hide their names and disappear."

"By now, the name of the Shenquan Sect has become a thing of the past. My lineage is merely what was left behind by a descendant of a true disciple of the Shenquan Sect before he died, barely counting as orthodox."

Lu Yuan listened with great interest and asked tentatively:

"Master, does our Shenquan Sect still intend to rebel now?"

Li Junxian's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he said with a bitter smile:

"You have a lot of nerve, is rebellion something that can be mentioned so casually?"

Lu Yuan quickly said:

"Disciple spoke out of turn, Master please do not blame me."

Li Junxian sighed long:

"Do not say such things in the future. The Shenquan Sect is already history. I only accidentally obtained some inheritance. Things like re-establishing the sect or rebuilding the nation are all impossible dreams."

"In this era, martial arts have actually begun to decline. The Firearm and Cannon invented and improved by those Shenluo People are incredibly powerful. A master who has cultivated martial arts for ten or twenty years cannot withstand a single volley of gunfire on the battlefield. What use is that?"

"Think about these past ten years or so, with the invasion of the Holy Roman Powers and the Sha'e Empire to the north. The Jin Dynasty boasted of strong soldiers and brave generals, but what of it? They were still beaten bloody and routed for thousands of miles by sturdy ships and powerful cannons, leading to the ceding of territory, payment of indemnities, and national humiliation."

The original owner's memory contained a bit of a hot-blooded youth who often spoke grandly and criticized the court, so Lu Yuan asked curiously:

"May I ask Master, I have heard that the Martial Arts Grandmaster of the True Martial Realm is extraordinary, difficult to harm with Firearms and Cannons, and can take a head from among thousands of troops. When foreign enemies invaded, why did the Jin Dynasty not dispatch them to carry out decapitation tactics?"

Li Junxian shook his head:

"Taking a head from among thousands of troops refers to ordinary armies, not the new-style armies equipped with Firearms and Cannons today. Even a Martial Arts Grandmaster is extremely dangerous on a battlefield with ten thousand guns firing and ten thousand cannons blasting; one moment of carelessness and there will be no corpse left."

"And don't you think that only the Jin Dynasty has experts? The Holy Roman Powers have Secret Martial Arts, the Sha'e Empire has Blood Sacrifice Warriors, and even the tiny Sunlight Country has the Ninja Martial Way. Their top experts are not much inferior to the Great Jin. If they really started decapitation tactics, it would only end in mutual destruction."

Lu Yuan listened thoughtfully.

The so-called Secret Martial Arts, Blood Sacrifice Warriors, and Ninja Martial Way were things the original body had heard about from traveling storytellers in the county town teahouses. They were special cultivation methods belonging to various Western countries, and their achievements were not much inferior to martial arts.

Of course, like martial arts, they were also at a low-martial level, and it was hard to say what the outcome would be once they reached a battlefield filled with artillery fire.

Therefore, practicing martial arts has no future; one must cultivate immortality instead.

While these thoughts were still turning in his mind, Li Junxian had already spoken:

"Alright, enough idle talk. Now that you are already a disciple of mine, Li Junxian, I, as your master, naturally must show something. Starting today, I shall impart to you the Shenquan Sect's Entry-level Stake Method. Listen carefully!"

(End of chapter)