The Martial Arts World is Full of Experts Chapter 62

162

Zhang Xiaoyuan remembered that jade pendant.

Hua Liuque had just told him this morning that when he first ventured down the mountain, he accidentally got separated from his senior brothers. Unable to find the way back, he took refuge in an old temple to rest, where he was found by Lu Yanfeng.

Back then, Lu Yanfeng smashed his sect's jade pendant, threatening to expel him. Believing it, Hua Liuque planned to sneak away on the way back to the sect. That was how he ended up slipping into a pleasure house, leading to the chaotic events that followed.

But that was Hua Liuque's version.

Based on Lu Yanfeng's recent actions and thoughts, Zhang Xiaoyuan felt he could probably guess the true situation in Lu Yanfeng's mind about this matter.

It was Hua Liuque's first time going down the mountain, so he was quite worried.

However, this time, with Hua Liuque's senior brothers leading the way, it had nothing to do with him directly. Unable to accompany them, he simply secretly followed a few steps behind to ensure their safety.

Hearing that Hua Liuque had gone missing, he naturally panicked. After going through great hardships, he finally found him. Worried and anxious, unable to express his feelings, he unintentionally lashed out at Hua Liuque, leading to the shattering of his sect's jade pendant.

Perhaps he had been regretting all these years, even attributing everything that happened back then to himself, with no chance of undoing it.

Words can hurt, and while a broken jade pendant could be repaired, the impression Hua Liuque formed about their relationship was not easily changed.

Zhang Xiaoyuan couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Just as he thought this, the next moment, he heard Hua Liuque speak up, "Is he trying to intimidate me..."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "Huh?"

Hua Liuque: "Eldest Senior Brother injured his leg, and now he's threatening me. I will surely end up like this jade in the future..."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

"How can he hold a grudge like this?" Hua Liuque whined with a bitter face. "What do I do? I think he must also resent Eldest Senior Brother now."

Lu Zhaoming held the box, his gaze distant, as if he had completely emptied himself.

Zhang Xiaoyuan coughed and said, "I actually think Lu Yanfeng is apologizing to you."

Hua Liuque was taken aback. "Apologizing?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan nodded. "He repaired the jade pendant to tell you that he was wrong about what happened back then."

Hua Liuque: "...I don't believe it."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "He just struggles to speak. If he doesn't say anything, it might seem... unsettling."

Hua Liuque: "Scary."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

Zhang Xiaoyuan gave up.

This matter had nothing to do with him. Why should he rack his brains to speak up for Lu Yanfeng, this fool?

He took a deep breath, deciding to end it here today. Instead of wasting time on this, he might as well go back and help the fat pigeon lose weight, and write about the love and hatred within the Scattered Blossom Palace, earning a few pieces of silver for the sect.

At this moment, Lu Zhaoming slowly regained his composure.

He looked at the jade pendant in the box, expressing his biggest doubt.

"Sect jade pendant." Lu Zhaoming furrowed his brow. "Is it the jade pendant all sect disciples have?"

Hua Liuque nodded. "Each disciple within the Scattered Blossom Palace had one. I'm just an outer disciple. The inner disciples' jade pendants are even more exquisite."

Lu Zhaoming: "......"

Hua Liuque continued, "For instance, Master Mei's jade pendant is a precious heirloom passed down through many generations in the sect, probably a rare treasure in the world."

Seeing Lu Zhaoming staying silent with a strange expression, Hua Liuque couldn't help but ask, "Eldest Senior Brother, why are you asking about this?"

Lu Zhaoming hesitated to speak.

Hua Liuque: "Is there something unusual about this jade pendant?"

Lu Zhaoming: "...The Scattered Blossom Palace is quite wealthy."

Hua Liuque: "......"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

163

Zhang Xiaoyuan quickly did a mental calculation.

Hua Liuque's jade pendant, though of average quality, wasn't something too shabby. Based on his experience, he estimated its price to be between three to five taels of silver.

With tens of thousands of outer disciples in the Scattered Blossom Palace, each with a jade pendant, that amounted to thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver.

The inner disciples' jade pendants were of better quality. Even for a moderately graded jade pendant, its value started at twenty taels. Considering there were close to a thousand inner disciples in the Scattered Blossom Palace, and each pendant cost around twenty taels of snowflake silver, the total expenditure reached a substantial twenty thousand taels.

As for the sect master and the elders' jade pendants, not to mention their individual worth, just presenting one of them could command several hundred or even thousands of taels of silver. Given the size of the Scattered Blossom Palace, just the jade pendants of the disciples would cost around sixty to seventy thousand taels of silver.

Zhang Xiaoyuan glanced at Eldest Senior Brother, then at the casually shattered jade pendant in the box.

Zhang Xiaoyuan tightened his small money pouch.

Eldest Senior Brother likes it! It's on the agenda!

Once he earned more money, once their sect grew stronger, this jade pendant must be arranged!

Hua Liuque nodded in agreement with Lu Zhaoming's perspective.

"A large sect, of course, has wealth," Hua Liuque said. "Most of the land in the city below Xianglin Mountain belongs to the Scattered Blossom Palace. I heard that the senior sisters use pearl powder for skincare daily, and Junior Martial Uncle's Cold Iron Sword... it's just one of his many hidden swords, a gift from Master Mei on his fifteenth birthday."

Lu Zhaoming: "......"

"He even has a room dedicated to storing his swords," Hua Liuque said. "This grudge-bearing weirdo doesn't have any other hobbies. He just likes collecting peculiar weapons."

Lu Zhaoming rarely revealed a hint of envy in his expression.

Hua Liuque didn't notice Lu Zhaoming's reaction. He continued with the facts, "Because Junior Martial Uncle likes tranquility, Master Mei specially arranged a secluded martial arts practice area just for him. It's said that any spiritual elixir or miraculous medicine found must first be sent to him. No wonder there are occasional rumors about the two of them within the sect."

Lu Zhaoming only heard the first half.

His envy deepened. "So many hidden swords, a private martial arts practice area..."

Zhang Xiaoyuan couldn't stand it anymore.

He would buy a few swords and build a training ground! Today, he'd go back and write articles for the Martial Arts World's Secrets Digest! Anyway, the Scattered Blossom Palace was enough material for seven or eight pieces. He'd first squeeze out all the information from the Martial Arts World's Secrets Digest, then promote his own Bai Xiaosheng business. Let those who wanted to buy information come to him. As for Cold Iron Swords or Hot Iron Swords, he could buy ten for Eldest Senior Brother!

Hua Liuque wanted to continue.

Zhang Xiaoyuan grabbed Hua Liuque's arm, coughed heavily, putting a stop to whatever he was about to say next.

Eldest Senior Brother had just experienced a spiritual shock from the revelation of a predominantly same-sex environment in the martial arts world. It was better not to hit him with a financial one immediately.

"It might not be appropriate for us to stand on the Scattered Blossom Palace's training ground," Zhang Xiaoyuan said. "Let's discuss this after we go back?"

Little did he expect that this remark would suddenly make Lu Zhaoming realize that they were indeed on the outer disciples' training ground of the Scattered Blossom Palace.

Extending for dozens of yards, the ground was paved with neatly arranged blue bricks. Weapon racks were placed on the side, filled with wooden and iron swords used by the disciples for daily practice. There were even dozens of training dummies. This was only the outer disciples' training ground. He could hardly imagine what it was like for the inner disciples and Lu Yanfeng's daily martial arts practice.

His face showed a tinge of envy, as if he had trouble finding his way.

Hua Liuque finally realized the issue.

He wanted to grab Lu Zhaoming's arm but didn't dare. His leg hurt, so he withdrew his hand and exclaimed, "Eldest Senior Brother, it's just a training ground. We'll have our own in the future!"

Zhang Xiaoyuan patted his chest. "Eldest Senior Brother! I'll earn money to buy it for you!"

Lu Zhaoming: "......"

Hua Liuque roughly estimated the cost and felt he couldn't earn that much money. Clearing his throat, he chimed in, "Xiaoyuan will buy it for you!"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "Hua Maque!"

Hua Liuque: "You have money. You can do it!"

Lu Zhaoming hesitated for a moment before softly saying, "I don't really want it that much..."

"I can, but at least as fellow disciples, can't you contribute a bit?" Zhang Xiaoyuan reached out to Hua Liuque. "Not much, just give me ten taels for now."

Hua Liuque: "...Sly merchant!"

Zhang Xiaoyuan immediately turned to Lu Zhaoming. "Eldest Senior Brother, he won't even contribute this little money for the sect. Break his leg!"

Hua Liuque: "You're just taking advantage of Eldest Senior Brother's favoritism!"

Lu Zhaoming: "What...?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "Hua Maque, Lu Yanfeng hasn't gone far yet. I can call him back now!"

Lu Zhaoming: "......"

Hua Liuque: "You, you, you... at such a young age, why are you so ruthless!"

Their banter and quarrel attracted the curiosity of several Scattered Blossom Palace disciples returning after dinner. Hua Liuque felt a bit embarrassed, fearing he might encounter someone familiar but unable to walk away quickly. He just bowed his head, muttered to himself, "If I knew I'd be returning to Scattered Blossom Palace, I should have changed my face before coming back."

Zhang Xiaoyuan paused.

"Changing faces?" Zhang Xiaoyuan grabbed Hua Liuque's arm, filled with excitement. "You know disguise techniques?"

......

The three returned to the courtyard. Zhang Xiaoyuan pestered Hua Liuque, eager to inquire about the specifics of what he meant by "changing faces." Hua Liuque, unaware of Zhang Xiaoyuan's intentions, thought he was curious due to Zhang Xiaoyuan's relatively short time in the martial arts world. Without much consideration or caution, he openly shared everything with Zhang Xiaoyuan.

"It's called disguise, but it's not much different from a woman's makeup," Hua Liuque casually remarked. "I only know the basics, can slightly alter my facial appearance. As for those mythical skin masks you hear about in the martial arts world... I haven't seen them."

Zhang Xiaoyuan nodded continuously.

Seeing his expression, Hua Liuque couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to learn?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "I do!"

Hua Liuque: "Why do you want to learn this?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "Just for fun."

His age and background were indeed excellent disguises. He only needed to associate everything with the curiosity of a teenager, knowing that Hua Liuque wouldn't suspect anything.

Indeed, Hua Liuque only slightly frowned. "But I don't carry the tools with me..."

Zhang Xiaoyuan grabbed Hua Liuque's hand. "No worries! Teach me after we leave!"

Hua Liuque: "......"

Lu Zhaoming was sitting nearby, furrowing his brows. Without a word, he discreetly moved Hua Liuque's arm and asked Zhang Xiaoyuan, "What exactly do you want to do?"