Chapter 54: Gathering

A new manager has arrived at the Inner Courtyard.

That day, as soon as he arrived at the shop, Li Yuan learned of this news; what left him stunned was...

"Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren Yu Zhen? How could it be him?"

Glancing from the corner of his eye at Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren Yu Zhen reprimanding apprentices before the courtyard gate, and at Qin Xiong who seemed to have just finished a conversation and left, Li Yuan grew secretly wary in his heart.

Since returning from Mount Fajiu Mountain, he had been paying close attention: the bounty on Nian Jiu had been raised again to two hundred taels; nearly half the City Guard were chasing the culprit through the city; and the funeral music of various families had been playing for several days.

The Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren in the city had long since departed.

This Yu Zhen...

"Perhaps he was involved too?"

Though wary in his heart, Li Yuan did not turn and leave; he went to the Inner Courtyard as usual and, together with the other apprentices, paid his respects to the new manager.

Yu Zhen seemed to have already forgotten him; after casually saying a few words, he left with a yawn, while Yue Yue Yunjin was still instructing the apprentices.

"Junior Brother Li, there is a small gathering in the Inner City in four days; do you want to come along?"

Wu Ming put down the stone mill used for strengthening Qi and walked over.

"Young Lady Lu's small gathering?"

A slight stir arose in Li Yuan's heart; after Tang Tong departed, Wang Gong had met with him a few times but never mentioned this matter again.

"You know about it too?"

Wu Ming was slightly stunned, then nodded:

"Elder Zhang must have told you; our courtyard has six quota spots to enter Divine Weapon Valley next year—no, six quota spots for the assessment."

"Master mentioned it."

The two found a quiet place to talk; mostly Li Yuan asked while Wu Ming answered.

"Divine Weapon Valley is a thousand-year-old great sect; every city and county in the Hidden Dragon Prefecture looks to it as its leader; it is a true hegemon."

When mentioning Divine Weapon Valley, Wu Ming's eyes were full of reverence and longing:

"The last time Divine Weapon Valley opened its gates was decades ago; normally, none of us would qualify to enter Divine Weapon Valley; this opportunity must not be missed."

Li Yuan thought for a moment and accepted Wu Ming's invitation.

He too was curious about Divine Weapon Valley.

On the way back to the forging room, he happened to glance and saw in the corner of the martial arts courtyard Niu Gui and Liu Qing exchanging quiet words; only when they saw him approach did they scatter.

"These two?"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Both were apprentices of the Middle Courtyard; even if they had scattered, their private relationship was still quite good, but why scatter suddenly upon seeing him?

"They must have something to hide?"

Thinking that Liu Qing had approached him around the time Qin Xiong was transferred, Li Yuan's heart grew slightly cold.

That dog bear must have been watching him long ago...

Turning these thoughts over in his mind, Li Yuan had no intention of startling the snake; he turned and went to the forging room.

Li Yuan took three days off.

During these three days, Li Yuan did not go to the weapon shop; at home he familiarized himself with new control combinations and, through a broker, rented a small courtyard in a nearby alley.

Of course, since it was urgent, he paid a few extra coins.

Afterwards, he had Li Lin accompany him to buy some tables, chairs, bedding, and the like; after busying himself for nearly three days, he finally moved in.

"Having silver doesn't mean spending it like this; there's enough room at home; you insist on moving out."

That night, in the newly rented small courtyard, after eating and drinking his fill, supported by Wang Juan and slightly drunk, Li Lin was still complaining,

chattering on and on about saving money to marry and have children.

"Alright, alright, I'll listen to you; I'll save more."

Li Yuan brushed it off; after sending his second brother home, Li Yuan took a long detour to familiarize himself with the streets and alleys of Chaiyu Ward; for these three days he made this detour every day.

"The last Leopard Fetus Marrow-Transforming Pill!"

Li Yuan felt somewhat reluctant; a pill costing ten taels was something he could never bring himself to buy, yet he had to admit the pill's efficacy.

Extending the tendons by one inch increases strength by three parts; this is the best pill to assist hard-body Wu Gong.

"Let's keep it for now."

Stuffing the pill back into the bottle and tucking the bottle into his Six-Heaven Boots, Li Yuan tilted his head back and swallowed a Zeng Xue Dan; feeling the slight warm current rising within his body, he began practicing the Soldier Body Stance in the room.

Relying on the medicinal power of the Leopard Fetus Marrow-Transforming Pill, in just a few days he discovered that his own small blood-Qi circulation had begun advancing toward the great circulation.

"If there were enough Leopard Fetus Marrow-Transforming Pills, I feel I could form the great circulation in at most a few months; unfortunately..."

After slowly completing the twenty-four forward-and-backward forms, Xu Xu, Li Yuan broke out in a full sweat; his internal blood-Qi was exhausted, so he had to swallow another Zeng Xue Dan.

Repeating this process several times, he finally stopped late at night.

"It hasn't rained for quite some days..."

Glancing at the moonlit, star-sparse night sky, Li Yuan closed the doors and windows tightly, stripped, and went to sleep.

Nothing happened all night; early the next morning, he went to the forging room as usual and followed Zhang Ben to learn the techniques of quenching, tempering, and polishing.

Near noon, he put down the forging hammer and went out.

"Junior Brother Li, over here!"

Wu Ming was already waiting outside the door; Yue Yue Yunjin, whose complexion had recovered considerably, was also there; he nodded weakly, looking Burdened with worries.

The three headed toward the Inner City; along the way, Yue Yue Yunjin was silent and spoke little, while Li Yuan asked about this gathering; regarding Divine Weapon Valley, he was very attentive.

However, Wu Ming knew little more than he did; the only useful information was that Young Lady Lu's aunt was said to be an inner-disciple of Divine Weapon Valley.

"County Magistrate Lu's sister-in-law is also from Divine Weapon Valley? Truly a tangled web..."

Li Yuan muttered to himself.

The inner city was far more bustling than the outer; at high noon, the scent of wine and meat drifted through every lane and alley.

"One Character Wine House."

Li Yuan looked up.

This wine house stood a full nine stories tall, the tallest building in both the inner and outer cities, belonging to the 'One Character Inn.' All who came and went were wealthy and powerful; one meal was said to cost a tael or two of silver.

Once they arrived, Yue Yue Yunjin was fine, but Wu Ming grew a bit reserved. Their two families were not poor, but this was his first time here.

"Three guests, please come this way. Miss Lu has already given instructions."

A waiter stepped forward, bowing with a smile to lead the way.

Li Yuan felt no such reserve; he looked around the wine house with great interest. The decor was fine, the arrangement not bad either, and outside every private room attendants stood with lowered heads, waiting on guests.

"Brother Yue!"

No sooner had they reached the third floor than someone came over, dressed in brocade, bearing and presence striking, smiling and greeting Yue Yue Yunjin, who forced a smile onto his face.

That young man was quite the talker. After a few words of conversation, Li Yuan learned this man was the son of the inner city's county commandant, Qiu Da's direct superior, named Liu Zheng.

"Strong breath, full Qi and blood — also great completion of Qi and blood, even more solid than Yue Yue Yunjin?"

Li Yuan was not surprised.

Wu Gong, once one enters the door, from mastery to great completion, as long as elixirs keep up, even the most ordinary bone structure can be piled up quickly.

The inner city lacked no wealthy households; great completion of Qi and blood was not rare.

But the true difficulty was not the piling up of blood Qi, but breaking through to internal strength.

"This is the fourth young master of the Deputy Magistrate's family, Liu Liu Yunwu."

"Wen Wen Yida, the third young master of the Deputy Magistrate's family…"

"The Young Lady of Chief Clerk Wang's family, Wang Wang Peiyao, Miss Wang…"

……

Liu Zheng led the way into the private room, introducing the three to everyone.

Inside the private room were more than ten people, all of them bright and splendid, which made the few who had come from the outer city look rather drab and dusty.

'Heh, truly, no common folk come and go here!'

Li Yuan clicked his tongue inwardly, casting a glance at Wang Gong and Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, whose expressions were none too pleasant.

With the young masters and ladies of the inner and outer cities clustered together, those two did not stand out as much. Of course, if they were the young master and young lady of Shopkeeper Cao's family, it would be different.

The Cao family of the Weapon-Forging Shop was no small, humble household.

"Please be seated first, everyone."

Among the crowd, a woman spoke.

The moment she spoke, the gaggle of young masters and young ladies in the private room fell silent.

There was no need to ask — this gentle-speaking, delicately pretty young lady was County Magistrate Lu Lu Yunqing's legitimate daughter, Lu Lu Bailing.

……

After a round of polite exchanges, Li Yuan found a corner to sit down, next to Wang Gong, whose expression was ugly.

"Mm, these pastries are nice, this fish is very tender too, tsk, honey water…"

While the young masters and young ladies chatted with great enthusiasm, Li Yuan listened with one ear and tasted the delicacies.

Especially the honey water — it had been far too long since he had drunk anything sweet.

Unlike the apprentices of the outer city, the young ladies and young masters of this private room knew a great deal; in their conversation they let slip many matters that, for Li Yuan at this moment, counted as secrets.

Nominally, the imperial court was the overlord of all under heaven, but in fact, within Zhilong Prefecture, the Divine Weapon Valley was heaven itself.

This was a dynastic system different from his previous life. Li Yuan had read a great deal these past days and knew the reason.

Dayun's Great Ancestor Pang Pang Wenlong did not raise his army until he was seventy; the various sects answered his call in droves, and together they won the realm. Over a thousand years, the disciples of each sect and faction had long since penetrated into every aspect of life.

In the end, this formed the pattern of Dayun founding the nation through martial arts, with sects and factions ruling the realm.

"Similar to the enfeoffment system of my previous life? The difference is, the sects do not style themselves kings, but they truly can sway the imperial court, even control it…"

"Three Thousand Divine Guards?"

"Zhilong Prefecture's Hundred Families Martial Arts Ranking?"