Chapter 32: Disciple Faction

During his recovery, he could not practice, so his Experience Points stopped growing; aside from the 100 points gained from completing the trial, there was no other income.

Half a Monarch Life-Changing Pill, however, brought an unexpected joy.

Not only did it sweep away the Void Charm evil Qi that had invaded his body, but it also brought him an increase of 5 points in attack.

It's just that...

The effect of the Monarch Life-Changing Pill was the same as the Tiger-Subduing Fist; the focus was on strength and defense.

Strength and defense increased by 2 points, but speed only increased by 1 point.

Zhou You felt a bit obsessive-compulsive, so he spent 10 Experience Points of his own to bring his speed up to 22 to match the others.

"The improvement of attributes is essentially forcing growth; one must have matching exertion methods and proficiency."

"Next, I must bitterly practice the Tiger-Subduing Fist and rely on my own efforts to raise its level."

Zhou You's injuries were mostly healed; just as he was able to get out of bed, it was time to move.

That's right, he was now a Zhengshi Xuitu and could no longer continue living in the collective dormitory for new students.

Although Zhengshi Xuitu were also in the Outer Courtyard, they were not in this area, but had a separate corner to live in.

New students and Zhengshi Xuitu usually had no overlap in their activity areas and rarely saw each other.

For example, since Li Hao, who had broken through earlier, was promoted and moved away, the new students had rarely seen him.

"It's you?"

Zhou You did not expect that the Zhengshi Xuitu sent to help him move would actually be Li Hao.

Li Hao was also a bit surprised; he had still underestimated Zhou You, as this city youth had quietly cultivated internal strength.

He was also somewhat relieved that he hadn't listened to Zhang Shu's instigation to make things difficult for Zhou You at the time.

Otherwise, he would have already created a powerful enemy.

"That's right, Senior Brother Shen asked me to come and help."

Li Hao was concise, pointing out his backer in one sentence.

Zhou You was a bit surprised that Li Hao actually had a friendship with Shen Sijing; it seemed the interpersonal relationships within the martial arts hall were also very complex.

In fact, the significance of Li Hao coming over was more to help hold up appearances.

Zhou You was now a Zhengshi Xuitu; he didn't need to do things himself, as a shout would bring several strong new Apprentices to help.

These people were originally unfamiliar with Zhou You, and even kept their distance from him because of Zhang Shu's rumors.

However, they were now acting exceptionally enthusiastic...

"Senior Brother Zhou, you've just recovered from your injuries; let me handle this rough work."

An Apprentice who looked mature insisted on snatching the light clothing bundle from Zhou You's hands.

The other Apprentices were not to be outdone, moving nimbly, and in a moment, they had packed up everything.

The truly valuable wealth was all kept on Zhou You's person, so he wasn't afraid of others seeing it.

"Is there anything else?"

Li Hao asked.

Zhou You subconsciously looked around, his gaze landing on Fang Guiqi's bed.

During his recovery, Apprentices had already been ordered to search it once, packing up and taking away the things Fang Guiqi left behind.

The Apprentices doing the work were very dissatisfied, complaining that this monster was a pauper who didn't even know how to save up some wealth.

These cleanup tasks usually had perks to be gained, but they hadn't expected it to be so clean that not even a single silver particle could be found.

Who could have guessed that Zhou You was so ruthless that while sick, he had crawled to the bedside to scrape away the valuable items in advance.

"Nothing left, let's go!"

On this day, Zhou You officially moved into the area for Zhengshi Xuitu and was officially listed under the Jianxiong Martial Arts Hall.

Li Hao introduced him to another Zhengshi Xuitu named Xu Ying.

"This is your Apprentice waist token; hang it at your waist to prove your identity."

"There are 10 sets of training uniforms for the martial arts hall, provided by Senior Brother Shen's family."

"By the way, Junior Brother Zhou, I heard your father also works at Senior Brother Shen's firm?"

After Xu Ying finished introducing the various matters, he didn't forget to ask at the end.

Upon receiving Zhou You's affirmative answer, Xu Ying became even more enthusiastic, "What a coincidence, my father also works at the firm; we are all old family friends!"

Based on this sentence alone, Zhou You knew that Xu Ying was definitely one of Senior Brother Shen's people.

Even he himself, due to his father's connection, was viewed as Shen Sijing's reserve underling.

During the conversation, he learned that Xu Ying's father was at the manager level of the firm, belonging to the management layer.

When he learned that Zhou You's father was still a low-level worker, he patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Shen does things openly and will definitely give you an explanation."

What kind of explanation? A promotion and raise for my father?

Zhou You suddenly thought, is it possible that Zhong Shaoying's hostility toward him was because of this?

He asked inadvertently, "Is Zhong Shaoying of the Inner Courtyard not on good terms with Senior Brother Shen?"

Xu Ying looked at Zhou You in surprise; this newly promoted Junior Brother had quite the eye for things.

He had been planning to remind him later.

"That's right, Zhong Shaoying's family is at a manor outside the city, and he comes from the tenant farmers under the Hall Master; later, he became an Inner Court Disciple, and his mother was promoted to become the manager overseeing the manor, so he counts as having made it."

"Among the Apprentices, there are quite a few who are tenant farmer disciples following Zhong Shaoying."

"Those of us born and raised in the city don't get along too well with them."

Understood, understood.

Zhou You's heart suddenly cleared; without realizing it, he had been drawn into the internal strife of the martial arts hall disciples.

Wang Jianxiong ran a martial arts hall, but besides his status as a martial arts master, he was also a major landlord who collected rent.

He has shops and residences for rent in the city, the annual rent is a generous sum, and he also has hundreds of acres of fertile farmland and manors outside the city, employing thousands of tenant farmers to farm and work for him.

The composition of the Disciples in the martial arts hall is complex; there are children of good families from the city, as well as children of tenant farmers from the fields and manors.

The sources from inside and outside the city are different, and they are naturally at odds with each other.

Shen Sijing's family are great merchants, representing the connections within the city, while Zhong Shaoying is an outstanding son of the manor's tenant farmers.

The two sides have constant conflicts in their daily lives, to the point that Disciples and Apprentices of different statuses have divided into camps.

Why did Zhong Shaoying make things difficult for Zhou You? It is precisely because Zhou You is a youth from the city.

Shen Sijing speaking up for him, and coming over specially afterward to win him over, was also for the same reason.

"The ways of the world are traps everywhere; treacherous, truly treacherous!"

Zhou You couldn't help but wipe his sweat, and he sincerely cupped his hands, "Many thanks for the guidance, Senior Brother Xu."

"No need, our fathers are colleagues, and we should be closer in the future."

When Xu Ying finished speaking, his expression suddenly became grave, "There is one more person in the Inner Courtyard whose status is transcendent, someone neither side dares to provoke easily; you must remember, remember well."

"Who?"

"The third young master of the Qi Family, a noble family of Gongliang City, Qi Fengzhang."

Just one person alone, whose prominence overshadows the two forces from inside and outside the city; he is that noble family disciple, Qi Fengzhang.

There is a reason behind this; Jianxiong Laoye is able to gain a foothold in the city and operate this martial arts hall by also relying on the power of the Gongliang noble family.

Therefore, Qi Fengzhang's status in the martial arts hall is transcendent, and no one dares to offend him.

……

Zhou You had just settled down when someone came to find him in a hurry; it was Song Fugui.

He came too hastily, his oil pole tipped over on the ground, spilling a large patch of oil, which attracted wild dogs to scramble and lick it up.

Song Fugui's face was full of anxiety, and upon seeing Zhou You, he pulled on his sleeve, "It's good that you're alright."

"I came to deliver oil today and saw the Wild Fox Gang blocking the door with people, all saying you were bedridden with a serious illness and would never recover."

"Tu Laosan is being aggressive; hurry back, it will be too late if you are late!"