From a humble farmer to a great martial arts master

Chapter 106, Settling a Minor Grudge

Chapter 107, Settling a Minor Grudge

"There's no time to lose, let's go now. I'm going to pay my respects to Elder Feng."

Fang Yanping finally found an excuse to leave and said impatiently, "It takes willpower to remain unmoved by temptation, and the feeling of restraint is not pleasant." He kept reminding himself that this could be regarded as part of martial arts training.

Ren Qingshan felt a little uneasy, but still nodded and prepared to leave—Shang K had no feelings and would break up as soon as he said he wanted to.

The girl from Lu Haichuan's side finally couldn't help but interject, saying softly, "Old Feng is also at Phoenix Pavilion tonight; he's a regular here."

All four of them were slightly taken aback.

Lu Haichuan asked in great surprise, "How old is Elder Feng?"

"He's ninety-seven years old, but that's how it is for innate martial artists. Even now, Elder Feng can still enjoy the company of three women a night."

Ren Qingshan's sharp Adam's apple bobbed as he marveled at the firepower of the innate martial artist. He laughed and said, "It seems I made the right choice in finding a teacher. I'll ask Master Feng to teach me this method of fierce combat later."

The girls couldn't help but laugh uproariously.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Fang Yanping asked where the old man was and asked a girl to go and pass on the message so as not to disturb him. Lu Haichuan quickly handed her a fifty-tael silver ingot.

She smiled radiantly and swayed away.

"It seems that Phoenix Pavilion is a hub for all kinds of intelligence in the prefectural city. Do you all know a lot about it?"

Ren Qingshan played with the beautiful woman on his lap, and blew a kiss into her ear.

"You flatter us, young master. It is our duty to serve you gentlemen well."

She's truly high-tech; she can sleep with men, act as a social gossip, and provide all sorts of intelligence—it seems I'll have to come here more often from now on.

Ren Qingshan wanted to generously apply for a credit card, but considering his current financial constraints, he had no choice but to give up.

This operation killed Qian Chengen, injured Liu Fangyuan, and eliminated future troubles, but gained nothing—no martial arts skills, no money, not even a reputation. Ren Yaowu, your sixth uncle has done right by you! You really got a free ride this time!

I need to figure out where to make some money.

Rice shops rely on a steady stream of cash flow from daily operations, which is insufficient to support land purchases and expansion.

The girl who went out quickly returned and said that Master Feng had asked Magistrate Fang to bring Ren Qingshan over. Seeing that he wasn't mentioned, Jiang Shi'an shifted his position and sat back down, only to be jokingly invited by Ren Qingshan, "Come on, Brother Jiang, does he owe you a cup of wine?"

So he gave an awkward smile and got up.

Led by the girl, the three walked through a long indoor corridor and entered a private courtyard.

In a pool of steaming hot spring water, Feng Jingxian was comfortably surrounded by two women—it was a solo trip, and in the presidential suite no less.

Ren Qingshan felt a surge of admiration for the old general.

Amazing!

This old man is the embodiment of someone who, when awake, wields power over the world, and when drunk, rests on the lap of a beauty: a lifetime of military campaigns, slaying seven innate beings, destroying a kingdom, sleeping with a queen, and visiting brothels at the age of ninety-seven.

"General Feng, I am Fang Yanping. I apologize for disturbing you."

The three stood by the pool and greeted each other in turn.

Feng Jingxian knew Fang Yanping and Ren Qingshan's situation. He only asked Jiang Shi'an a couple of questions before agreeing to go to Jiuyang Martial Arts School to report on the first day of next month and pay a tuition fee of 50,000 taels of silver per person—openly asking for money.

Ren Qingshan's eyes flickered slightly, and a pang of heartache arose in his heart. He immediately stopped admiring him.

That old man is robbing me!

Fang Yanping readily agreed, beaming with joy, feeling it was well worth it; anything that can be bought with silver cannot be considered expensive.

He then asked Feng Jingxian if there was a solution for Ren Qingshan's current physical condition.

Feng Jingxian pondered for a moment, then suggested three paths:

First, buy another set of Five Elements spiritual items and try to regulate your body.

Secondly, one can cultivate an external martial art to its highest level and then seek to break through to a higher level. If one has sufficient talent, one may be able to reach the Innate Realm.

Third, there is a "Devouring Heaven Demon Sect" in the martial arts world, which has a Devouring Heaven Technique that can absorb the enemy's true energy. If you are hit by this technique, you can completely destroy the stagnant and disordered true energy in your body and start learning martial arts from scratch.

The three methods are all difficult, but they offer a glimmer of hope.

Fang Yanping thanked them again before leaving with the two of them.

After leaving, he brought up the matter of buying a set of Five Elements spiritual items for Ren Qingshan. Ren Qingshan pondered for a moment, but did not refuse. He told him about the five innate spiritual items in the Five Directions Divine Court Scripture—anyway, the "Longevity Cocoon" could not be obtained in winter, so as to save him from nagging.

Fang Yanping also said that he would pay for the tuition fee for joining the Jiuyang Martial Arts School.

Now he is truly wealthy and powerful. The county has confiscated the Qian family's property, and he has also inherited the property of the third branch of the family. He himself has almost no material desires and spends very little.

After some initial refusal, the two had no choice but to accept.

Mr. Fang is so generous!

Renjia Village.

Ren Qingshan followed Fang Yanping and Jiang Shi'an back to the county town to see his wife and children, and then returned to Renjia Village to pay respects to his nephew.

Half a month has passed, and Ren Yaowu has long been laid to rest, his memorial tablet placed in the ancestral hall.

His father, Ren Zhengwei, had a few more gray hairs at his temples and looked much older.

-

The loss of a child in old age is a great misfortune.

He was always strong, and he couldn't tell anyone about the various feelings he had.

He sighed deeply and felt regretful about Ren Qingshan's current physical condition. For a child from a poor family to succeed, it was truly a matter of life and death, and the rope always broke at its thinnest point.

He also cursed the heavens for being blind, displaying a very strong sense of malevolence.

Ren Qingshan listened to his complaints and tried his best to comfort him, but he didn't mention a word about what had happened in the prefectural city.

This matter concerns my life and fortune; I cannot speak to an irrational person about it.

Not to mention him, even Fang Yanping, a close friend, didn't know.

Ren Qingshan told Ren Yaohui to stay at home and spend more time with his father. Ren stayed overnight and left him three thousand taels of silver.

Ren Zhengwei couldn't sleep a wink all night after receiving this huge sum of money, tossing and turning in bed.

After getting up the next day.

He insisted that Xiao Hui continue to follow him, prioritizing his son's future and instructing him to continue serving his sixth uncle to the death.

Human relationships are intertwined with calculations of self-interest, but for Ren Yaohui, this was exactly what he wanted, and he drifted away with his sixth uncle.

A luxurious carriage slowly traveled along the official road leading to the prefectural city.

Inside the carriage, Xiao Cui was holding Qiang's baby son in swaddling clothes, with Tao'er and Xing'er following behind.

Ren Qingshan rode a black horse, carrying a sword and a bow.

From now on, the focus of our activities will be in the prefectural city, so of course I'll be bringing my wife and son along.

Playing is playing, making a fuss is making a fuss, taking a concubine is taking a concubine, visiting a brothel is visiting a brothel—but one's wife, whom one has married since childhood, should not be neglected.

Beside him were Ren Yaohui, Jiang Shi'an, and several escorts from the escort agency. He had already arranged various matters within the agency, scaling back its operations to only escort goods from the prefectural city to Huaiyin. Once the prefectural city branch was established, they would then plan for further development.

He knew that he was able to establish himself in the prefectural city thanks to Ren Qingshan, and his words and actions were even more polite than before.

-

The carriage traveled along the road, passing through Yushugou.

Ren Qingshan took the opportunity to visit Li Yiming, who warmly welcomed him. During their conversation, he learned that Li Yiming's teacher, Li Mubai, might take over the position of Tongpan (assistant magistrate) and was currently making efforts to secure the position.

Li Mubai was once the magistrate of Huaiyin County. Later, he was promoted to the prefectural city. Although he rose to the sixth rank, he was in the canal transport office, and his power was still somewhat less than that of a prefectural vice-prefect.

Hearing him talk about this, Ren Qingshan had a lot to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. "You and your master, kowtow to me!"

Upon learning that Ren Qingshan and Jiang Shi'an were both going to the Jiuyang Martial Arts School to become disciples of Feng Jingxian, Li Yiming, being well-versed in human relationships, presented each of them with a generous gift of three thousand taels of silver at the end of the banquet.

For a small-town gang, this was a huge sum of money.

Ren Qingshan was both amused and exasperated. In the end, he had climbed too fast, and now he couldn't even care about such a small amount of money.

I accepted it anyway.

late at night.

After checking into the Li family's guest room and waiting until everyone was sound asleep, Ren Qingshan quietly got up and told Xiao Cui that he was going out for a while and would be back the next morning.

Although she was a little nervous, she was exceptionally compliant and didn't ask any questions.

Ren Qingshan left the Li family quietly, changed into night clothes, and disappeared into the vast night, moving extremely fast.

Objective: Kill the tiger!

Those bandits!

The first time he helped Lu Qingyi transport silver to the prefectural city, he took a detour of 500 li to avoid them, vowing that he would "repay" them properly once he achieved success in martial arts.

Now, it's time.

kill!

The notebook still records that the steward of the Liu family was, in Ren Qingshan's eyes, also a dead man in the futures market.