Chapter 186: Gate Guests of Noble Lineages, Fallen into Despair

The process of refining Qi and blood is a gradual strengthening that accumulates over time.

From the 1st to the 9th stage, it involves constant compression and condensation, gradually breaking through the boundaries of life and death and opening up channels.

Depending on the material, the direction of an object's reinforcement varies.

For example, the heirloom sword of Head Constable Qu is reinforced for sharpness, while the bottle containing the venom of the Grey Jade Snake is reinforced for isolation and biochemical protection.

An Amulet has only one function: self-defense.

The astonishing Qi and blood stored within the copper plate remains Dormant under normal conditions, but once it encounters an intrusion by a Demon, it erupts to destroy the enemy.

It is easy to imagine that the higher the level of the Amulet, the higher the level of Demon it can defend against.

Even an expert at the 8th or 9th stage of Qi and blood cannot compare to the weakest Martial Master.

Since Zhou You knew of the existence of Amulets, he would rather pay extra to upgrade to an Amulet at the Martial Master level.

"Please wait a moment, guest; there are no ready-made Amulets crafted by Martial Masters."

The shop assistant changed his tone, "However, we can customize one for you; you only need to wait for one day."

He invited Zhou You into a quiet private room, where rich tea and snacks were served for him to enjoy at his leisure.

On the table were ivory chess pieces and dice to pass the time, along with a few miscellaneous books and novels currently on the market.

A moment later, the shop assistant's pleading voice, begging and imploring, rang out from outside the private room.

"Grandpa Zhang, have some mercy, old man. Even if you don't care about me, you should at least consider the matter of your meals."

"You haven't been to the garden for a while, neglecting the two young ladies, Cha Zi and Yanhong; be careful they don't give you a green hat."

"You've worked hard, old man; once you finish this job, you'll have money to go whoring!"

It seemed this Martial Master was not easy to hire! The private room door opened, and a foul-faced old man walked in, staring rudely at Zhou You, "You're the one paying?"

Ah, yes! Zhou You nodded subconsciously, cupped his hands, and asked, "How should I address this master?"

The old man puffed up his cheeks and stayed silent, so the shop assistant rushed to smile and apologize in his stead.

"This is Master Zhang Huaimin, a guest hired by our Treasure Pavilion, an expert who is an Intermediate Martial Master."

Zhou You felt a sense of awe; no wonder he could still go whoring at his age—this physique was simply incredible, truly worthy of an Intermediate Martial Master.

This unremarkable old man was one level higher than his nominal master, Wang Jianxiong.

With this gap in levels, a conservative estimate was that the old man could take on ten Wang Laohus; his big temper was understandable.

"Master Zhang, to put it simply, I want two Amulets. I hope you will give it your all and spare no effort; the price is negotiable."

Seeing that Zhou You was straightforward, Zhang Huaimin didn't mince words, "The price you offered is too low. 8,000 or 9,000 taels to hire a Martial Master like me? You need to add more money."

Zhou You looked at the shop assistant; wasn't it supposed to be 1,000 taels? Why was there a discount?

The shop assistant smiled awkwardly; it was just an industry rule—they lived off the price difference.

"How absurd!"

The old man flew into a rage and punched the wall of the private room, causing it to collapse, "You're trying to fleece me? You brat, you've got some nerve."

A large hole that could fit seven or eight people gaped open in front of them! The shop assistant's voice trembled, "Grandpa Zhang, don't be impulsive. It doesn't matter if you beat me to death, but, well, you have to pay for the damages."

"Get out!"

After Zhang Huaimin chased the shop assistant away, he beckoned to Zhou You, "Sit down and let's talk!"

Zhou You flicked the brick dust off his shoulders and sat down calmly.

"Brat, do you know why I deliberately chased him away? Because you and I have private matters to discuss that cannot tolerate a third person." "The Treasure Pavilion has too many rules, and killing to silence someone is too much trouble, so I had to let him get lost."

"Hmm, you practice Poison Palm."

Zhou You's heart skipped a beat, and he asked in return, "How did you see that?"

"The color of your palms is vibrant, almost like a Demon's; one look and I knew they carried something—your palm power is not clean."

"Also, it's been half a quarter of an hour since I arrived, and gray energy occasionally flashes across your face."

"Let me give you a piece of advice: once Poison Palm is practiced to a profound level, no matter how you resolve it, you cannot avoid the poison gas attacking your heart."

"At that point, you will only have two choices: one, cripple your palm power; two, fuse the poison with your Qi and blood."

Zhou You listened thoughtfully, cupped his hands toward Zhang Huaimin, "Many thanks for the master's reminder."

In fact, practicing Seven Step Poison Sand Palm to the later stages of Qi and blood also meant facing this problem.

The Heart-Protecting Pill is like a moat, shielding the heart pulse from the Palm Poison, but as the palm power increases, it inevitably flows through the whole body along with the condensation of Qi and blood.

If one cannot pass the barrier of the heart, one cannot fully replace the Qi and blood throughout the body and will never be able to break through to become a Martial Master.

"I've talked too much nonsense; let's get to the point. Those who practice Poison Palm are not exactly saints; do you have any good business deals to bring this old man along to make a fortune?"

Zhou You's eyelids twitched, and he smiled as he explained, "Master, you are joking; this is Fucheng."

"So what if it's Fucheng? People still do business and fence stolen goods here. What do you have on hand? Yellow rice, white rice, or red goods?"

Yellow rice meant gold, white rice meant stolen silver, and red goods meant jewelry—all underworld jargon! Zhou You couldn't help but feel curious; the old man before him had very wild connections and didn't look like an employee working in the shop at all.

"I haven't asked yet, what is the master's background!"

Zhang Huaimin sighed, "My affairs are no secret; you'll find out if you ask around a little."

As it turned out, the old man originally had a good job as a Gate Guest for a noble family in the city.

There has always been a saying in Fucheng: first-class martial artists become Gate Guests, second-class martial artists open martial arts schools, and third-class martial artists go to work.

Top-tier martial artists are the targets recruited by noble and wealthy families in the city, hired with heavy gold as Gate Guests.

As a Gate Guest, one has wine, meat, and beauties in abundance, being kept by the family to risk one's life for the Master Lineage at critical moments.

In a sense, a Gate Guest is a death warrior raised by others.

When Zhang Huaimin was a Gate Guest, he had no worries about food or clothing and was surrounded by crowds when he went out; he was nothing like the down-and-out person he was now.

It is no exaggeration to say that when he visited the garden, from the unmarried courtesans to the popular stars, they all had to line up and smile, waiting for him to whore! However, heaven has unpredictable winds; a sworn brother of his committed a crime that implicated him, leading to him being expelled and cast out by the Master Lineage.

"I've had many sworn brothers in my life; who knows which time I was drunk and acknowledged that bastard!"

Zhang Huaimin cursed, "He ran off to Jietian Ling to be a mountain king in some Cloud-Touching Stronghold, but he made me take the fall. Look at the life I'm living now!"

"That bunch of snobbish villains, and they even call themselves peers of the Martial Dao! Their character is no different from the girls in the gardens; they fawn over you when you have money and trample you when you don't. Bah!"

Zhou You pressed his legs together and sat even more upright.

Hmm, the old man Zhang Huaimin was actually the sworn brother of the Great Leader of the Cloud-Touching Stronghold, or rather, his victim.

The rest of the story was much simpler.

The Great Leader was robbing houses and plundering in the Cloud-Touching Stronghold, which directly affected his employment environment; after all, the relationship between the two sides was tangled, and no one dared to invite a wolf into their home by hiring a martial arts master suspected of being an insider.

After the old man was expelled, his situation plummeted, and within a few days, he had spent all his savings, ending up wandering around looking for someone to take him in.

It must be said that this Rare Treasure Pavilion wasn't picky either, taking the opportunity to drive down the price and hire Zhang Huaimin to work for them.

Falling from first-rate to third-rate all of a sudden, who could feel good about that? (End of this chapter)