Hello, Martial Arts Masters (continued)

"Alright, let's not talk about this today. I understand you want to enjoy some quality time with your family. Come find me at There Is an Inn again tomorrow."

"Thank you for your understanding, young master."

The next day, Zhao Donglai brought his son to the inn.

"I am deeply grateful to you for saving my life yesterday."

Zhao Jiaren still looked Qi and Blood and anemic, but fortunately he was able to get out of bed and walk without any problems. He seemed much healthier than Si Ming was a few days ago, at least he didn't need anyone's help to walk.

"It's nothing, just a small favor."

Si Ming turned to look at Si Jingyu, who nodded slightly, indicating that his guess yesterday was correct, and so he made a decision.

"I don't like formalities, so let's get straight to the point. I have two conditions regarding payment: first, your children must become my disciples."

"This..." Zhao Donglai could not hide his shock, clearly not expecting the other party to make such a request. "Leaving aside my daughter, my son loves literature and is a scholar who is physically weak and cannot even kill a chicken. Moreover, he is congenitally frail and cannot practice martial arts."

Si Ming, "He is not born weak, but rather born with excessive nourishment, yet lacks the corresponding methods to channel it, which has burdened his body. As the medical principle says, 'Nourish what is deficient, drain what is excessive.' Your son has Innate Wood Virtue Physique, just like your daughter, with an Innate Spiritual Qi within him. However, he neither knows how to channel it nor how to use it, resulting in his body being overwhelmed and giving him the illusion of a weak constitution."

"But my daughter doesn't show any symptoms of weakness like my son."

"Your daughter's destiny is Yi Wood. Yi Wood is gentle and skillful, with tolerance and adaptability. Even if she lacks guidance, it doesn't matter. But your son's destiny is Jia Wood. Jia Wood is the first of the Heavenly Stems, belonging to Yang Wood. It is upright and strong, a pillar of society. It needs Geng Metal to prune it to make it useful. Otherwise, it will be too rigid and easily broken."

Zhao Donglai wanted to say more, Si Ming waved his hand and said, "I won't force you on this; it's all up to you."

Zhao Jiaren was silent for a moment before asking, "Can I really practice martial arts? When I was young, my father took me to find good teachers everywhere, but they all said that I couldn't practice martial arts, that I would die young if I did."

"Because those people are all useless. Just because they can't do it doesn't mean I can't."

Having witnessed Si Ming's incredible skill yesterday, Zhao Donglai didn't think there was anything wrong with what Si Ming said.

Zhao Jiaren decisively replied, "If that's the case, I'm willing to become your disciple."

"Jiaren, have you thought this through? Your mother has always hoped that you would pursue a career in government, live a peaceful life, and not get involved in the fighting and killing of the martial arts world."

"Father, I've thought it through. I'll try to persuade Mother," Zhao Jiaren said with deep emotion. "Does pursuing an official career guarantee a peaceful life? I used to think so, but this illness has woken me from that dream. These are far from peaceful times. Aside from the warring states, the Anomalies is an invisible blade hanging over everyone's head. It seems far removed from us; perhaps only one in a thousand will encounter it. But what if it happens to you? Where can you turn for justice? No matter how well you've studied, if a supernatural Anomalies strikes, you're helpless. To truly live a peaceful life, you must first have the ability to protect yourself. That's why I must learn martial arts!"

His words not only convinced Zhao Donglai, but also made Si Ming look at him with new respect. Originally, he only valued the other party's talent, but now it seems that this person also has a very clear mind and his own worldview. People who have been educated are indeed different.

Don't think that practicing martial arts only requires physical strength; the mind is also very important. Some people understand the same set of martial arts more deeply than others, and they achieve twice the results with half the effort. This is because they not only use their bodies to cultivate, but also their minds.

"Master, please accept my bow."

Zhao Jiaren knelt down without hesitation and kowtowed to Si Ming in reverence. Although the other party seemed to be younger than him on the surface, his profound Internal Cultivation had the effect of preserving youth and prolonging life. One could not deduce a person's true age just by looking at his appearance.

Seeing that things had come to this point, Zhao Donglai stopped objecting and instead said, "Jiaren, you are supposed to be a scholar. How can you be so careless about the matter of becoming a disciple? You must invite guests from all sides, serve tea to the disciples, and have them perform the three kowtows."

Si Ming, "No need. I didn't plan to formally accept you as my disciple today. Let's just put your name on my list for now. To become my disciple, talent, aptitude, hard work, temperament, and wisdom are all indispensable. Only when you achieve results that satisfy me will I consider formally accepting you as my disciple."

He certainly put on the airs of a reclusive master. Zhao Donglai and the others didn't know how precious the so-called Innate Dao Physique really was. After witnessing Si Ming's abilities, they felt that it was indeed unreasonable for such a great figure as him to casually accept disciples, and it was only right to leave him for an assessment.

Zhao Jiaren respectfully replied, "I will certainly not disappoint my master."

"You should be glad you made the right decision. Throughout history, there have been many children who showed extraordinary talent from a young age, but most of them died young and did not live long because they did not know how to channel their Innate Spiritual Qi, which instead became a burden and shortened their lifespan."

Si Ming continued, "The second requirement is that the Origin Return Sect must form an alliance with our sect, and acknowledge our sect as its leader, and me as its leader."

This relieved Zhao Donglai. He was really afraid that the other party would ask to merge Origin Return Sect into their sect, in which case he would become a sinner against the sect. Right now, it was just an alliance. Origin Return Sect was only a third-rate sect in the martial arts world. There was nothing shameful about being someone else's underling. On the contrary, it seemed that they could make a profit by attaching themselves to a powerful figure.

"May I not know the name of your esteemed sect?"

"Ming Cult."

The reason Si Ming chose this name was not because he particularly liked "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," but simply because his name contained the character "Ming." In fact, he preferred "Carefree Sect," which sounded much more sophisticated. Unfortunately, the name Carefree Sect was obviously Daoist School and had nothing to do with the Mohist School sect. The Mohist School sect emphasized discipline, which had nothing to do with being carefree.

Although Si Ming had no intention of spreading Mohist School thought in the Barbarian Continent, there was no reason for him to defect to another school of thought. Moreover, the Ming Cult was named after light and used the sacred fire as its emblem, which was closely related to Si Ming's lifelong learning.

Zhao Donglai very perceptive, immediately clasped his hands and said, "From this day forward, the Origin Return Sect will follow the Ming Cult's lead. All disciples in the sect will obey the orders of the Alliance Leader. Anyone who disobeys will be punished for the greatest disrespect, as if they were defying the sect leader."

Si Ming waved his hand and said, "There's no need. These are all superficial. I don't care what others think of me. There's a saying that goes, feelings are only temporary, but interests are eternal. So when I cooperate with others, I never force them, but pursue a win-win situation."

Zhao Donglai was pondering the meaning of the saying, "Feelings are only temporary, but interests are eternal," he saw Si Ming take out a booklet and say, "Sect Leader Zhao, please take a look."

Zhao Donglai took the booklet and opened it. The first page was the table of contents, which listed the names of various martial arts, such as "Five Demon Fists," "Mighty Eagle Claw Art," "Blood-Burning Finger," "Snow Swallow Spear Technique," "Blue-Yellow Sword Technique," "Well Moon Saber Technique," and so on. In addition, there were various Internal Cultivation, lightness skills, and body-refining techniques. Each martial art was marked with a number, followed by the page number. Turning to the corresponding page would show a brief introduction to that martial art.

Why are you showing me these things? Are you trying to intimidate me and prove how powerful the Ming Cult behind him is?

To be honest, Zhao Donglai was genuinely shocked. If the martial arts described above were real, even the top martial arts sects wouldn't have such a profound foundation. Putting aside everything else, there were over thirty different internal Internal Cultivation methods alone. You have to understand that even the top martial arts sects don't have more than ten Internal Cultivation is extremely difficult to Internal Cultivation. If you practice a martial art incorrectly, at most it will damage your Foundation, but if you practice Internal Cultivation incorrectly, it can lead to serious consequences like Qi Deviation and death. To create an Internal Cultivation method without any errors, you would need countless test subjects.

Si Ming, "This is an exchange system I established for the alliance. As long as you are a member of the alliance, you can earn contribution points by completing tasks issued by the alliance. As for the use of contribution points, you can tell by looking at the numbers after those martial arts skills."

Zhao Donglai's breathing suddenly became rapid, and he said in an incredulous tone, "Could it be that we're exchanging contribution points for martial arts skills?"

"That's right." Si Ming nodded. He had referenced many cultivation novels from his previous life for this move. "Given that Origin Return Sect was the first sect to ally with Ming Cult, every disciple of your sect will receive a beginner's gift... cough cough, a welcome gift, namely 500 contribution points."

Zhao Donglai quickly flipped through the catalog, found martial arts skills with a contribution point of 500 or less, and discovered that most of the low-grade martial arts skills were within this number. In other words, each disciple could choose one skill to practice for free, or even lower their requirements by carefully calculating and practicing two skills. For example, the "Mighty Eagle Claw Art" cost 300 points, while the "Eight Trigrams Saber" cost 200 points.

Of course, some low-grade martial arts are quite expensive, such as the Five Demon Fists, which costs 750 points. However, it can be purchased separately, with a total of five chapters, each worth 150 points.

But none of that mattered. When Zhao Donglai saw that the first part of the "Lesser Yang Art Upper Part" was worth 500 points, he knew that from then on, the disciples of the Origin Return Sect would only have the Alliance Leader in their eyes, and no longer regard him as the Sect Leader.

Although it's only half of an Internal Cultivation, and judging from the introduction it's a very basic introductory-level Internal Cultivation, for many martial artists in the martial arts world, they spend half their lives as henchmen for those Aristocratic Clan families just for this one Internal Cultivation. Now, the disciples of the Origin Return Sect can obtain it with ease, which is practically the treatment of those legendary martial arts masters who fall off a cliff to pick up a secret manual. Moreover, judging from how easily the Sick Young Master gives each person 500 contribution points, it doesn't seem difficult to accumulate 1,000 points.

Zhao Donglai suddenly felt his mouth go dry. He swallowed and asked, "As long as I meet the contribution points, can I exchange all the martial arts skills mentioned above?"

Si Ming, "Of course not, there are different levels of authority. You see, I've divided the martial arts into four grades: low, middle, high, and supreme. As long as you're a member of the alliance, you can freely exchange for low-grade martial arts. To exchange for middle-grade martial arts, you must hold a certain position in the alliance and prove your contribution. For example, you, Headmaster Zhao, have that kind of authority. To go higher, you must gain the alliance's trust. For example, Young Master Zhao is now my disciple, so all three grades of martial arts are open to him. As for supreme-grade martial arts, you must make significant contributions to the alliance."