Chapter 81: Tong Jia Becomes an Apprentice, Profound Martial Jin Body (Please Subscribe)

Lady Zhushan hid her identity and sent a subordinate from Qianzhen Ge, who had previously had dealings with the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce, to knock on the gates of the An Mansion, then requested to see the master of the An Mansion in that subordinate's name.

Upon hearing it was an acquaintance from Qianzhen Ge, Young Miss hurried to welcome them into the reception hall; just as she was about to exchange pleasantries, she saw that acquaintance bow respectfully to a fat-faced woman wrapped in a drab robe, then retreat cautiously.

Just as Young Miss was feeling suspicious and uncertain, the fat-faced woman said, "They call me Lady Zhushan."

An Chenyu was stunned, a sudden panic rising in her heart; this was one of the three giants of Hanping Prefecture, and the most mysterious one at that, so she hurriedly and respectfully said, "An Chenyu greets the senior."

No one would ever associate this woman with Lady Zhushan, yet no rumors had ever spread about what Lady Zhushan actually looked like. Could it really be this plain-looking, pockmarked, fat-faced woman? An Chenyu felt doubtful in her heart, but she could only wait patiently.

One does not visit a temple without a cause.

Furthermore, Lady Zhushan had already "disappeared" for a long time, to the point where even the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall and White Camel Manor could not invite her; appearing suddenly today, and coming to the An Mansion, there must be a major matter.

Lady Zhushan said, "Summon Tong Jia here as well."

An Chenyu felt even more suspicious, but she still went out to call Ying'er and told her to fetch Tong Jia.

A moment later, Tong Niangzi also entered the room.

Lady Zhushan said, "Close the door."

Her voice possessed a certain magic; Tong Niangzi obediently closed the door.

Only three women remained in the room.

An Chenyu was just about to make introductions, but Lady Zhushan suddenly said, "President An, Miss Tong, I wish to make a deal with you two."

"I want you to order Song Cheng to be my partner."

"The reward is—"

She looked fixedly at An Chenyu and said, "The Ruyi Chamber of Commerce can establish a channel relationship with Qianzhen Ge to sell the merchandise from the first floor of Qianzhen Ge."

She then looked fixedly at Tong Jia and said, "I will teach you medical skills; for as long as Song Cheng is my partner, I will teach you."

These unthinkable words left both women completely dumbfounded.

In fact, Song Cheng had spoken to them about this matter, and had also said he had recently been keeping an eye on Lady Zhushan, hoping to observe the south of the city through her to find a desperate escape route for the An Family.

But the way things unfolded was truly too unexpected.

Song Cheng had not yet gone to visit Lady Zhushan.

Lady Zhushan had come to them instead.

And her request... was bizarre.

Lady Zhushan had very little patience; seeing the air go quiet, she asked coldly, "Are you unwilling?"

An Chenyu was the first to react, cutting in before Tong Jia could, and respectfully said, "Senior, we are naturally willing, but we do not know what 'partner' means? And how are we to partner?"

Tong Jia secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself that it was fortunate An Jie spoke first.

If she had spoken, she would certainly have skipped over this point and asked directly why they needed to issue orders. If that had happened, Lady Zhushan might have guessed that they were prepared.

Lady Zhushan explained the matter of being a "partner" in detail, finally saying, "Only a blind Martial Artist of the Form Realm can be my partner. When I use my illusions to control the enemy, they must strike quickly to kill the enemy for me."

"I was originally slowly scouting for blind people of the Jin Realm or even the Force Realm; I even have some being cultivated in my temple at the same time."

"But it is extremely, extremely difficult for a blind person to practice martial arts; even if I exhaust Pills and try my best to nourish them, it is difficult to cultivate a blind person of the Form Realm in a short time."

"What's more, I hope for my partner to be a formidable Form Realm expert."

"Yet those I have cultivated are merely blind people who are not even as good as ordinary Form Realm Martial Artists."

"Due to personal reasons, I do not like to have any connection with men; strangers are already the limit of what I can accept."

"Therefore, I hope you two can issue an order to Song Cheng to make him my partner."

"He will obey the order and be a good partner to me."

"And as for him and me, we will actually still be strangers without any superfluous feelings."

An Chenyu: Tong Jia:... Lady Zhushan said, "I have certain methods, so I can see that on the outside, you two might be completely obedient to Song Cheng."

"But in fact, you are his true masters."

An Chenyu: Tong Jia:... An Chenyu was the first to say, "Please give us some time, Senior; we will order Little Song to be your partner."

Little Song, indeed... Lady Zhushan nodded, which further corroborated her view.

In front of these ladies, that fierce and powerful Song Xiazi was merely Little Song.

"I will wait."

She sat to one side, wrapped in her drab robe.

Even though the day was already hot, her robe was thick and light-blocking.

Anyone wrapped in such a robe would be drenched in sweat.

But Lady Zhushan did not have a single drop of sweat.

She was like an exquisite piece of jade, fragrant when cold.

An Chenyu called Ling'er, who had the best tea-making skills in the mansion, to serve Lady Zhushan fine tea, then took Tong Jia and hurried off to find Song Cheng.

Song Cheng had psychological expectations.

After hearing the descriptions from An Jie and Tong Niangzi, he understood instantly: Lady Zhushan's mental state was indeed problematic.

However, the fact that the other party was willing to come in person could be considered as her placing quite a bit of importance on him as a partner.

And this was his goal to begin with.

Besides that, the "establishment of a channel relationship between the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce and Qianzhen Ge" and "Lady Zhushan's intention to take Tong Jia as a disciple" were unexpected bonuses.

If Lady Zhushan had a favorability system, she would certainly be able to see that Song Cheng's favorability toward her had increased.

Song Cheng organized his thoughts and arrived at the reception hall, only to see a gray outline sitting upright on a wooden chair in the hall.

That outline was a woman with a fat face, wearing heavy outer garments.

As for the colors, they were quite peculiar.

Taboos were red.

Dead objects were black.

The living are white.

This was his first time seeing gray.

Is this a mixture of black and white?

As for the strength data, it is "0~0".

The favorability is 80.

This level of favorability means she will not harm him.

Lady Zhushan came with sincerity.

Many thoughts flashed through Song Cheng's mind; before he could speak, Lady Zhushan already said, "Please close the door, close it tight."

She did not have the slightest bit of small talk, stating directly what she needed.

Song Cheng had long since understood this lady, so he asked nothing and simply closed the door, closing it tight.

"Please take off the black cloth," Lady Zhushan said again.

Song Cheng took it off.

"Open your eyes."

Song Cheng opened them.

If one were to say that when the Ghost Tide first dissipated, his pupils were "a bean-sized speck of focused black hidden within the vast white of the eyes," now they were "a tiny dot."

Extremely strange.

It was as if a needle tip had been dipped in ink and lightly touched upon white paper.

As for his vision, it was originally just blurry, but now it was basically completely gone.

"No wonder you went to Qianzhen Ge to buy a Soul Strengthening Pill; it turns out you were persecuted by an evil Ghost. I suppose the rumors in Shanghe County that you can see through Ghost servants are also because of this," Lady Zhushan commented.

And her favorability rating strangely increased to 90.

"I'm used to it," Song Cheng replied indifferently, then wrapped the black cloth back on.

Lady Zhushan said, "Me too."

Having said that, she added, "I still need to perform a test."

"Mm."

"Lift your head, look at me."

Song Cheng complied.

In his eyes, the outline of the gray, fat-faced woman suddenly appeared like a gray lotus in water; she shed her coat, and underneath, a black gauze garment wrapped around her supple waist, tender and plump long legs, and crystalline small feet.

Her grayness grew closer to black, the black lines outlining a flawless silhouette. This was a flawless woman, a femme fatale who could topple cities, every stroke and every detail possessing the ultimate feminine charm, curves and arcs that seduced a man's Soul. "Am I beautiful?" Lady Zhushan held her neck proudly, her voice enchanting, yet her face was expressionless, even cold.

The pockmarked fat face vanished, replaced by a pretty face that could drive any man mad.

"Beautiful," Song Cheng praised, but it was flat and plain, without madness.

The air was quiet for a moment.

Lady Zhushan wrapped herself back in her heavy clothing, and without avoiding Song Cheng, she picked some ointment from a small medicine jar, then rubbed and smeared it on her face, turning back into the appearance of the fat face from before.

"We are partners now."

Lady Zhushan said.

Song Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lady Zhushan said, "You are partnering with me because of your wife's orders, and I am partnering with you because I need an expert who cannot be affected by my illusions to cooperate with me.

That is why we have come together.

You listen to my orders only because they are your wife's orders, not because of me.

Do you understand?"

She seemed to be trying her best to distance herself from any relationship with any man.

"Therefore, I will only use direct orders when we are partners, in emergencies.

Because there is no time to explain many things.

As for other matters, I will not manage you, and you do not need to manage me.

As for whether you are sitting and drinking tea or lying down and rolling around right now, I will not care.

And as for how to address you, I will call you Little Song, because your master seems to address you that way.

This might make you more accustomed to it."

Song Cheng's expression was strange.

He said "Fine," then sat down casually.

Lady Bamboo Mountain suddenly said, "Little Song, you are a Guest Elder of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall and have also participated in the great battle at East City Pass. You must think I am a woman who asks nothing and only wants to take Bamboo Mountain Temple and flee, right?"

Song Cheng said, "When everyone is fighting with their lives, someone must always leave a way out.

So this is not fleeing; this is foresight.

Actually..."

Before the words "We are like-minded, I am also looking for a way out" could fall, Lady Zhushan shook her head slightly and interrupted, "Little Song, you are wrong. I just never approved of this war from the beginning.

Big Hall Master and Laoduwu both think this is a barbarian invasion; their enemy is the barbarians, and they want to passionately defeat the barbarians.

But I know it is not.

This is a war between humans and Ghosts.

The more intense the war, the more deaths there will be.

The more deaths, the easier it is to bring about more terrifying evil Ghosts, making the next Ghost Tide even more horrific.

Even if the Ghost Tide recedes, there are still many Ghost servants lying in wait, especially those barbarians scattered outside.

They came from the north, appearing unharmed, but in reality... they have long since been infiltrated like a sieve."

We are in the city, we have Soul practitioners, but the barbarians have none.

The Ghost servants want to use the barbarians to head south and stir up chaos in the human world.

I want to expose them.

I have already found a medicinal formula.

This formula can force Ghost servants into Manifestation.

I want everyone to realize this, to realize that Ghost servants have already infiltrated many places. We cannot have war; we need unity."

After saying this, she laughed at herself self-deprecatingly, "But saying such things while the northern barbarians are invading and the county seat is being slaughtered, even I find it ridiculous.

However, there is no other way. Ghost servants have memories; they know that there is a group of people like us among humans, so they will treat us as their primary target.

For every one of us who can see the Ghost servants that dies, the human perspective becomes a fraction more blurred.

Everyone will fight to the death; whether the Great Shang wins or the northern barbarians win, it actually doesn't matter.

What matters is that the war is always there, the famine is always there, and death is always there.

They do not want the northern barbarians to win, nor do they want the Great Shang to win.

They want balance.

The small cavalry units of the northern barbarians attacking the city are merely scouts.

Their purpose is to determine the strength of the city's defenses, and then they will thrust into the city like a sharp blade, attempting to kill us.

They are almost here.

I have seen it.

Little Song, come with me to welcome them.

Whether they are strong or weak, I do not know, but I will not retreat.

My battlefield has always been different from others.

What I want to guard is not just a Prefecture City, but something more."

The calm voice contained hot-bloodedness and impassioned fervor.

Song Cheng:????????

He was stunned, with a retort stuck in his throat.

"No, Senior, hasn't our Zhushan Temple not moved a single person?"

"Because our battlefield is not elsewhere; it is right here."

Song Cheng:... Fine.

The matter was clear.

Although the master of Zhushan Temple had an eccentric personality, she had no intention of fleeing.

"Little Song, you seem a bit dejected?" Lady Zhushan was very sharp, "Actually, you don't need to worry. Once my illusion is deployed, the Ghost servants will also instantly stop moving. All you need to do is quickly step forward and kill them one by one, ensuring they are dead.

As for being ambushed, you don't need to worry either.

Where those Ghost servants are right now is all within my grasp. I will release false information, and then we will go ahead and wait for them."

That day, Lady Zhushan moved directly into the An Mansion, staying in the courtyard next to Song Cheng's.

The medicine men began a massive relocation, and soon that courtyard was filled with a strange, ancient aura.

It was the boudoir style of an ancient noblewoman.

The bed was a luxurious gold-inlaid jade couch, just looking like an antique from over a thousand years ago... the mirrors, the coat racks, the wardrobes, everything looked like an antique.

And that night, Tong Jia went to Lady Zhushan's residence to become her apprentice.

And Qianzhen Ge also signed a contract with the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce. As for Song Cheng, becoming a partner to one of the three giants of Hanping Prefecture, his benefits were also not few.

Cultivation techniques that originally required Soul projection to sneakily view were no longer needed.

Zhushan Temple had vast resources; in order to cultivate medicine men, they had collected many techniques and compiled them into volumes. Among them, there were many strength techniques and Jin Realm techniques, compiled into one volume called the Zhushan Martial Outline, which even included a form technique called Whale Swallowing the Canghai.

In the past, this Zhushan Martial Outline was only for medicine men to read.

But because Song Cheng's status was special, a copy of this Zhushan Martial Outline was brought to him.

In the courtyard at night, Song Cheng closed his eyes to rest, and Ling'er held the book, reading it to him word by word by the moonlight.

With Lady Zhushan present, he naturally could not project his Soul at will.

Ling'er read for the whole night, and also listened for the whole night to the low humming of the muscles and bones in Song Cheng's body, like thunder on the horizon, faintly buzzing.

That was the filling of gaps in the Jin Realm techniques, that was the ultimate state of the Jin Realm.

A night passed.

Ling'er was yawning incessantly.

Song Cheng's state, however, was at its absolute peak.

He glanced at the panel.

Under the 【Technique】 column, "Xuanwu True Strength (9 Jin) (Yellow Grade Grade C) (Perfect)" had disappeared, replaced by "Xuanwu Body (Perfect)".

(End of chapter)