Cruel Family Law, Chapter 11: Flawless Jade (1)

Our group, led by a few soldiers, arrived at the mountain stronghold. Before me lay two large chests, and a headache bloomed. These large chests were always the most troublesome to deal with.

"Where's Master? Where is my Master?" Li Da asked anxiously. Zhang Yu beside him also looked puzzled, but he kept staring at me. Could he have seen that the child before him was their Master? Impossible. Our Tianxin Sect's secret technique (actually a secret technique of the Cultivation World, but since I'm the only cultivator in this world, it belongs to whoever I say it belongs to), how could he possibly see through it?

I smiled, and my body gradually transformed until I resembled Sword God Sui Yu. Li Da, standing beside me, stared blankly.

"Master? Is that you, Master?"

"That's right!" I said, smiling at him.

"Ahhh... My Master can do magic! My Master is an immortal..." Li Da jumped and shouted loudly, drawing the attention of some of the stronghold's soldiers. Sweat. How could Li Da's reaction be so different from Sister Yu and the others?

"Just now, I saw a child transform into that sword master. I swear, I really saw it." A soldier who had witnessed my transformation wanted to show off to his companion. But the result... his companion simply walked away, looking at him as if he didn't know him.

"Ah Yu, why were you looking at me just now? Did you realize I was your Master?" I asked my third disciple. This question had been bothering me.

"How could this disciple see through such an immortal technique? It's just that when we were at the foot of the mountain, there was no Master in the carriage at first, only a child. Later, the child disappeared, and Master appeared. Just now, Master disappeared, and the child reappeared. That's why I was suspicious, but I still find it hard to believe that such an immortal technique exists in this world." My third disciple looked at me with adoration.

To have my third disciple act like this made me quite proud, but I immediately remembered my purpose. I asked, "What about the money we found? How did it go?" I looked at my eldest disciple and asked.

"Master, we've inventoried the stronghold's collective assets. It totals about three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver," Li Da said proudly.

"Why aren't there any other valuables? Robbery shouldn't just be about money. What about the gold and jewelry?" Sister Yu asked, looking confused.

"There's no need to ask. It must be in Li Si's private vault. I've had my second brother watching it. Let's go see what treasures are there!" This brat Li Da actually took the lead without waiting for me. He had no respect for me as his Master.

"Li Da, I haven't left yet!" I said to him coolly.

Seeing my expression, Li Da secretly thought, Damn it, I forgot to let Master go ahead. What should I do?

Li Da blinked his small eyes and immediately said respectfully, "Master, I was just leading the way to ensure you didn't take a wrong turn!"

When I heard that, it actually made sense. I really didn't know where Li Si's room was.

"Li Da, you're quite good. When we get to the capital, I'll teach you peerless martial arts. You lead the way," I said loudly. I had planned to teach them the Taiji Yin Yang Art when we reached the capital anyway, so it wouldn't cost me anything.

"Thank you, Master, thank you, Master!" Li Da's eagerness intensified, and he ran ahead even more happily...

A bamboo house, similar to the other houses, appeared before us. It seemed Li Si wasn't too stupid; he knew to hide here to deceive his subordinates and make them think he was just like them.

"Master, I've been watching here. No one has entered that private vault," Li Er rushed out from Li Si's inner room and announced his great achievement to me, his chest puffed out high.

"Second Brother, let me tell you, our Master is an immortal! Just now, I saw him transform from a child into this!" Li Da immediately began to brag to his brother about the secret he knew.

"Big Brother, you don't have a fever, do you? Are you too happy today? So happy your brain is muddled? You can even say Master is an immortal. I truly pity myself for having such a foolish older brother," Li Er began to sigh dramatically.

"I really don't have a fever. I'm fine. I really saw Master transform from a child into this. Sigh, you still don't believe me. Master, tell him, am I telling the truth?" Li Er was at his wit's end and could only ask me, the person involved, to prove it.

I looked at these two clowns and gave a helpless wry smile. Who told me they were my disciples! I circulated my True Primordial Energy, and slowly, I transformed from the appearance of Sword God Sui Yu back to my original form. Shaking my head, I walked into the house. "Ah Yu, hurry up and come in!" I said lightly.

Leaving the dumbfounded Li Er and the smug Li Da behind, Ah Yu and the others followed me into Li Si's house without any surprise.

As I entered Li Si's house, wow! It was unusually luxurious and extravagant. Stepping into his inner room, a very ordinary-looking but made-of-purple-dragon-wood bed lay across it. I glanced under the bed and smiled faintly. Father, you never expected your son's first pot of gold would be obtained so easily.

My eldest disciple immediately ran up from behind and moved the larger wooden bed aside. A messy "beautiful" scene appeared before us under the bed. Li Da gave a disdainful smile, kicked away the clutter, and a small iron ring immediately appeared before us.

My eldest disciple immediately turned to look at my smartest third disciple. Zhang Yu glanced at Li Da, smiled, and walked towards the bed from my side. It seemed my third disciple was quite good; he wasn't always cold and aloof, and he treated his brothers and me, his Master, very well.

Zhang Yu walked to the iron ring, extended his right hand, grabbed the ring, turned it left three times, right four times, and then left four times. A "creak, creak..." sound rang out, and a small stone box emerged from beneath the ground.

I walked forward and examined it carefully. Looking at the only defensive measure on the stone box – a large stone lock – I smiled. My right hand lightly brushed over the stone lock, and a flash of Sword Light flickered and disappeared. With a "bang," the large stone lock fell to the ground.

I looked at my own people, who were all staring at the stone box. I smiled. No one could escape this temptation. I calmly lifted the stone lid and looked at the contents. On the surface, I appeared very calm, but in the depths of my heart, a stormy sea was churning. What could it be?

Everyone around was staring at everything inside. For a moment, they all fell silent. After a long while, exclamations of amazement finally erupted one after another. What was it? Besides thirty bank notes of ten thousand taels each, there was also the national treasure Blood Phoenix, a treasure worth nearly a million! In addition, there were some jade stones beside it...

They were all amazed by the Blood Phoenix. But I grew up in the Zhang Family, and I had seen countless treasures like this. Although the Blood Phoenix was a top-quality treasure and the proof of the empress of the previous dynasty, it couldn't shock me, a cultivator.

What shocked me were these more than ten jade stones. In the Zhang Family, I had discovered that the crystal stones used for cultivation or replenishing True Primordial Energy in the Cultivation World were the jade stones of this world. However, the best crystal stones I had seen in the Zhang Family before were high-grade crystal stones. I thought there were no top-grade crystal stones in this world. But, but...

Among these more than ten pieces, there were two top-grade crystal stones. The remaining few also included five high-grade crystal stones, and the other eight were mid-grade crystal stones. My heavens, even in the Cultivation World, these top-grade jade stones were extremely rare. Ordinary cultivators couldn't afford them at all; only elders or sect leaders of major sects, and the next generation of heirs, were qualified to use them. Moreover, they had a very special characteristic: generally, crystal stones whose energy had been depleted would turn into powder. Only top-grade crystal stones, after their energy was absorbed, would turn into Flawless Jade without any imperfections, although their hardness would decrease to the level of high-grade crystal stones.

I suddenly remembered that Zhang Yu's father was a very famous jade carver. Perhaps he would know where these top-grade crystal stones could be found. I could no longer bear my anxious mood. I reached out, took those jade stones (from now on, crystal stones will be uniformly called jade stones in the text, and the grades of jade stones will be equivalent to crystal stones), and they all entered my hands.

I looked at Sister Yu and the others, who were still examining the Blood Phoenix, and said loudly, "Brother Wang, you're in charge of our finances now. Please put these things away first. Also, from now on, we are all one unit. If anyone has any difficulties, speak up. Remember, we are one unit."

"Yes, Master (Young Master) (Second Brother)!" Everyone looked at me, extremely happy, because everyone felt a sense of belonging, like family.

Brother Wang immediately began to pack up all these assets, and everyone helped to move things.

"Zhang Yu. Let's go see your father. I have some questions about jade stones that I want to ask Uncle, and I haven't visited Uncle yet, which isn't very good," I said to Zhang Yu with a smile.

"Okay, Master, I'll lead the way." Zhang Yu walked ahead with a calm expression, but his heart was filled with indescribable emotions. The child beside him spoke to him in a master's tone. On the surface, it seemed quite amusing, but when he faced his Master, his eyes only saw his Master's towering, mountain-like figure, and he didn't notice that his Master was just a child. He became even more certain that he had not chosen the wrong Master.

I followed Zhang Yu across a small stone bridge, and a bamboo house appeared before us. A middle-aged man, about forty years old, was in the open space outside the house, using a bamboo knife to split thin bamboo. The bamboo became thinner and thinner, but he kept splitting it, yet he didn't break the very thin bamboo strip. I observed all this with my spiritual sense.

He had no martial arts, so why did he have such keen eyesight, better than that of a martial artist? His knife was just an ordinary bamboo-splitting knife, so why could he split the bamboo in half so easily?

"Dad, I brought my Master to see you!" Zhang Yu shouted excitedly at the middle-aged man.

Oh, so he's Zhang Yu's father, the chief carver of the number one jade shop in the world. I thought, looking at him.