There was no sense of time in martial practice. In the blink of an eye, Shengtian City had entered winter, and goose-feather snowflakes drifted down in flurries.
During this time, the entire imperial city had been thrown into no small uproar by the Star-Picking Divine Thief.
With the Prince's Estate pushing things along, all the major martial arts schools in the city, along with several underground gangs, had come to life. Even some common folk had joined in, all to find the thief who had stolen the prince's four-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng.
But the outcome was naturally obvious. They did not even have a clear description of the person's appearance, so how is it possible for them to capture that audacious divine thief so easily?
Meanwhile, Li Qing had not been idle either. He exchanged all the finest jade he had brought out of the Eternal Night World for silver.
Then he leased a blacksmith shop on a street in the outer city, spending no small amount of silver. Fortunately, all the paperwork was in order, so he did not need to make an extra trip to the government offices.
And so, Li Qing became the owner of a blacksmith shop once more. Every day, he forged iron for others and also spent time selling weapons he had crafted himself.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Inside the blacksmith shop Li Qing had leased, he hammered an iron block of dark red with a grave, focused expression. His movements were meticulous in every detail, as though he were treating a work of art.
Outside the shop, because of the blazing heat of the forge, no snow remained in front of Li Qing's blacksmith shop. Instead, it was warm and dry.
Qi Kang sat on the ground with his back against the doorpost, gazing listlessly at the snowy street outside.
Clang!
With Li Qing's final hammer blow, a kitchen knife had already taken its initial shape.
Qi Kang spoke at the right moment. "Master, don't forget the Green Mountain Martial Arts School's banquet tonight. That master has finally had a son in his old age—he's been so happy these past few days that he can barely contain himself."
Li Qing withdrew from the stance of the Ancient Profound Hammer Technique and plunged the kitchen knife into water. The intense heat made sparks dance across the surface, and white steam billowed up violently.
Once the kitchen knife had gradually cooled, Li Qing softly let out a breath and said to Qi Kang, "Go sharpen and edge this knife, then deliver it to Widow Wang's home."
After leasing this blacksmith shop, Li Qing had naturally taken Qi Kang on as his apprentice. However, what he taught him was not martial arts, only blacksmithing and forging.
After gaining a long life, Li Qing finally understood why Patriarch Bodhi had not allowed Wukong to claim publicly that he was his disciple.
He was worried that his disciple would go out and cause trouble. If he provoked some formidable figure, then even the master would not be able to escape.
Therefore, Li Qing taught only the craft of blacksmithing. As for anything related to martial arts, he taught nothing at all.
That evening, night fell.
Li Qing led Qi Kang to the only martial arts school on this street, the Green Mountain Martial Arts School.
This elderly master truly had some skill. He was an expert who had cultivated Outer Strength.
However, that did not rank him among the notable figures in Shengtian City. The ones with truly resounding reputations were Shengtian City's three great martial arts schools!
They were the Hongfeng Martial Arts School, the Flying Cloud Martial Arts School, and the Golden Armor Martial Arts School!
The martial hall masters of the three great schools were all Internal Energy experts. Their martial strength could not be underestimated, and they also had quite a few Outer Strength experts under their command. They were far beyond what the Green Mountain Martial Arts School could compare to.
Besides that, there was another powerful underground force in the city that could not be ignored: the Nine Lotus Sect!
This sect's influence spread across nearly half of Feng Kingdom, and it had an ambiguous relationship with the imperial court. That was why it could put down roots in Sheng Tian as well.
Qi Kang had gathered all of this information by himself.
It had to be said that Qi Kang was highly capable. He helped Li Qing gather intelligence and lent a hand in the blacksmith shop, doing everything perfectly. Li Qing was beginning to feel a little embarrassed, wondering whether he ought to give him a bit more pay.
Of course, Qi Kang, who worked without complaint or resentment, had never once mentioned a raise. His greatest wish was for Li Qing to teach him martial arts.
Making their way down the street, the two finally arrived before the gates of the Green Mountain Martial Arts School.
At a glance, they could see the master, who had gained a son in his old age, standing before the entrance to welcome guests. The smile on his face was dazzling—he could not have been happier.
"Ha ha ha ha! Master Li, please come in and take a seat of honor." Master Xu Qingshan cupped his fists toward Li Qing, carrying himself like a man of the martial world.
Seeing this, Li Qing also took out his gift. As he offered his congratulations, he stuffed the gift money into Xu Qingshan's hands.
"Congratulations, Master of the Green Mountain Pavilion!" Li Qing said with a smile.
Xu Qingshan accepted the gift money. Feeling its satisfying weight, the smile on his face grew even broader, though his words were modest. "Ha ha ha, Master Li, you're far too courteous. Come in, have a seat. Come in, have a seat."
In truth, doing business in Shengtian City required more than paying taxes to the government. Behind the scenes, one also had to pay these martial arts schools some protection fees. When troublesome matters arose that the authorities could not be bothered to deal with, one could generally turn to these schools.
After paying the protection fee, local hooligans and ruffians generally would not come to stir up trouble, allowing one to do business in peace.
The underground forces of all Shengtian City were basically monopolized by the three great martial arts schools and the Nine Lotus Sect. Small schools like the Green Mountain Martial Arts School had no choice even if they did not want to collect money, because opening a martial arts school here required the approval of the three great schools. Every so often, they had to pay them their share.
Even the government turned a blind eye to such matters, maintaining a tacitly approving stance.
The Green Mountain Martial Arts School, for instance, belonged to the Flying Cloud Martial Arts School's territory. Every year, a large portion of the fees that the Green Mountain Martial Arts School collected from the businesses on this street had to be handed over to the Flying Cloud Martial Arts School.
The division of territories had long since reached a balance. Of the vast Shengtian City, one half belonged to the Nine Lotus Sect, while the other half belonged to the three great martial arts schools.
It was said that long ago, before the territories had been clearly divided, the three great martial arts schools and the Nine Lotus Sect had constantly fought one another. Fierce battles broke out outside the city every night.
Even the Internal Energy experts of the major factions had clashed on many occasions.
But in the end, after the imperial court intervened to mediate, those fierce conflicts gradually subsided, eventually forming the current arrangement.
As the saying went, "Rice in Shengtian is dear; to dwell in the great city is no easy thing." There were naturally many reasons behind that.
The martial arts schools collected protection fees from merchants. Having no choice, the merchants could only raise the prices of their goods and earn that money back from the common people.
Such was the martial world.
When Qi Kang first learned these inside details, he was like an indignant youth. In private, he did not know how many times he cursed the imperial court for its incompetence and those martial arts schools and sects for their black hearts.
Naturally, he also came to hate people like those of the Green Mountain Martial Arts School. He wished he could master martial arts, become an unrivaled expert, and sweep away every martial arts school and sect that gnawed away at and exploited the common people.
Li Qing merely smiled at this and did not tell Qi Kang that the three great martial arts schools and the Nine Lotus Sect were most likely acting under the imperial court's instructions.
It was fine for Qi Kang to curse in private, but outside, he still had to put on a proper appearance and restrain himself a little.