Martial Path Resources

The front yard of the Martial Arts Hall.

When everyone saw Senior Brother Zhou Xing and the iron-tower-like Zhang Tiesheng entering the front yard, they all greeted them.

Hearing the voices behind him, Zhao Hu turned around and immediately saw Zhou Xing and Zhang Tiesheng.

At that moment, Zhou Xing also looked toward Cheng Ran and Zhao Hu. With a smile on his face, he walked straight in their direction.

"Several Junior Brothers are all here! I'm afraid I've arrived late! What's going on? How did I hear that Junior Brother Zhao was going to spar with Junior Brother Cheng?"

He then looked toward Li Qing, who stood out like a single red flower among ten thousand greens. "Junior Sister Li is here too! Has Junior Sister Li officially entered the ranks of Martial Dao Ninth Rank?"

"Senior Brother Zhou!" Zhao Hu called out.

Li Qing also said, "It went fairly smoothly. I officially entered the ranks of Martial Dao Ninth Rank yesterday."

"Congratulations!" Zhou Xing said with a smile.

His gaze then drifted back and forth between Cheng Ran and Zhao Hu.

"I had just stepped through the Martial Arts Hall's gates when I vaguely heard the two Junior Brothers' words. Is Junior Brother Zhao planning to spar with Junior Brother Cheng?"

Zhao Hu said, "Hmph! I've been displeased with Cheng Ran for a long time! I just don't know whether he has the guts to accept the challenge."

Cheng Ran immediately wore an helpless expression, his gaze turning toward Zhou Xing.

Zhou Xing could not help but smile knowingly before saying, "Junior Brother Zhao asking Junior Brother Cheng to spar with you is going a little too far!"

"Junior Brother Cheng has been in the Martial Arts Hall for less than half a year, while Junior Brother Zhao is at the Minor Achievement Realm of Martial Dao Ninth Rank. Moreover, your Tiger Form Fist is Perfected Realm, and you've already mastered Fierce Tiger Force. How can Junior Brother Cheng possibly accept your challenge?"

Li Qing also seemed to understand something at that moment. She was not foolish; how could she fail to know that Zhao Hu had always been interested in her?

She looked at Zhao Hu with some disgust.

"Senior Brother Zhao has gone a little too far!"

"I've gone too far?" Zhao Hu's eyes blazed like fire. He glared fiercely at Cheng Ran. "Very well! Cheng Ran, I'll remember you!"

Seeing this, Cheng Ran wore a trace of helplessness.

Jiang Ning also clicked his tongue inwardly.

The ancients truly never lied when they said beauty was a calamity!

Fortunately, Senior Brother Cheng was the one being targeted, not me!

At that moment, Jiang Ning secretly made up his mind that he had to keep farther away from women.

Especially women like Li Qing, who possessed such pleasing looks and beauty.

At that moment.

Watching Zhao Hu leave, Zhou Xing smiled at Cheng Ran.

"All right, Junior Brother Cheng. It's fine now!"

Cheng Ran cupped his fists. "Thank you, Senior Brother Zhou, for helping me out."

"It was nothing!" Zhou Xing said with a smile. "Zhao Hu is impervious to reason and stubbornly clings to his own logic. Junior Brother Cheng, you'll have to be more careful from now on!"

"I understand!" Cheng Ran cupped his fists.

Zhou Xing smiled in response.

As for Zhao Hu, he had privately tried to recruit him long ago. After failing to recruit him, Zhou Xing naturally chose to stand on Cheng Ran's side today.

In his view, Cheng Ran had a solid family background and decent Martial Talent.

His odds of defeating Xiao Peng in the competition for a place in the Patrol Office were not low. The two of them were roughly evenly matched.

Naturally, he did not intend to give up on recruiting Cheng Ran.

To him, the most important thing about entering the Patrol Office was power. The Patrol Office possessed far too much authority.

It could inspect all the people and patrol the entire realm. From princes and nobles down to common people, it could execute first and report later.

How could he fail to understand just how immense that power was?

If the Zhou Family wanted to flourish, become a family power like the Cao, Liu, and Xie Three Families, or even surpass them and become the local emperor of Luoshui County, the key lay in the Patrol Office.

Great Xia's special circumstances had given birth to a special Imperial Court institution.

Thus, he intended to befriend every person who might enter the Patrol Office.

However, he truly had no way to recruit Zhao Hu. Zhao Hu came from the bottom rung and was born with tremendous hostility toward disciples from wealthy households like him and Cheng Ran.

Zhou Xing also drew several invitations from his robes.

"Junior Brother Cheng, I wonder if you'd be willing to come to Fenghua Pavilion three days later?"

"This is?" Cheng Ran asked hesitantly.

Zhou Xing smiled. "The Patrol Office will Establish Prefecture three months from now. I'm very optimistic about Junior Brother Cheng and would like to become colleagues with you! The conditions I'm offering are inside. Junior Brother Cheng, you may as well take a look!"

Cheng Ran smiled knowingly. "Senior Brother Zhou, please allow me some time to consider it."

"No rush! No rush!" Zhou Xing said with a smile, shaking his head. "You have three days to consider it, Junior Brother Cheng!"

He then looked toward Li Qing and took an invitation from his robes. "Junior Sister Li has a quite substantial family background. Although you probably look down on the conditions I'm offering, I still wish to advance and retreat together with Junior Sister Li."

Li Qing took the invitation, glanced at it, and closed it.

"I appreciate Senior Brother Zhou's kindness! Since we are fellow disciples, we should naturally advance and retreat together!"

Hearing this, Cheng Ran understood Li Qing's meaning and smiled.

"In that case, having Junior Sister Li say this is enough!"

Zhou Xing then said, "Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first?"

"Take care, Senior Brother!" Cheng Ran said.

Li Qing also nodded.

Jiang Ning cupped his fists and said, "Senior Brother Zhou, please wait."

"What is it?" Zhou Xing stopped.

Jiang Ning said, "I want to buy several Wild Ginseng roots from Senior Brother Zhou to replenish my body's depleted Vitality."

"So that's what it is!" Zhou Xing's face filled with a smile. "Normally, I give the other Junior Brothers ten taels of silver for a ten-year-old root. I wonder how much Junior Brother Jiang has budgeted?"

Jiang Ning took out the Silver Note from his robes, along with two twenty-tael silver ingots entrusted to someone by Jiang Li. "Senior Brother Zhou, this is fifty taels in Silver Notes, along with twenty taels of silver. I intend to exchange it all for Wild Ginseng."

Zhou Xing accepted the Silver Notes, did not even bother checking them, and directly tucked them away. His manner was exceptionally straightforward.

"Since Junior Brother Jiang has asked, I naturally can't sell them to you at ten taels of silver per root. Later, I'll have my servants deliver ten Wild Ginseng roots. The extra three will count as this Senior Brother's token of goodwill."

"Then thank you, Senior Brother Zhou!" Jiang Ning cupped his hands in thanks.

Zhou Xing smiled. "You and I are fellow disciples, and I am also your Senior Brother. With the bond between fellow disciples, it is naturally my duty as your Senior Brother to look after you. There's no need to be so formal with your thanks."

After saying this, he glanced at Jiang Ning. After pondering briefly, he abandoned the thought of investing in Jiang Ning.

He had some impression of Jiang Ning. On the first day he met him, Jiang Ning had given him a small but significant surprise.

Thus, he had remembered Jiang Ning back then, as well as Jiang Ning's name.

But to him, it had only been a surprise.

At the time, Jiang Ning's performance in his eyes had merely been that of someone with an outstanding memory.

Now, in his view, Jiang Ning had practiced martial arts for too short a time and possessed limited strength. He was completely unrelated to the Patrol Office's Establish Prefecture in the near future.

He had missed this chance to leap through the Dragon Gate and grasp great authority.

Though Jiang Ning's talent seemed decent in his eyes, his future achievements would still be limited.

Therefore, although he was somewhat optimistic about him, simply forming a little goodwill was enough!

The Jiang Ning of today was not worth having him spend such a great price to invest in.

After all, although his family business was quite substantial, his expenses were also great. Moreover, if he wanted to invest in and recruit the people he valued, he needed an enormous amount of wealth and resources.

If he did not place a heavy bet, how could he gain their goodwill?

Once an investment succeeded, if the person invested in seized the opportunity presented by the Patrol Office and rose to great heights in the future, the Zhou Family would also rise with the tide.

The goodwill of Martial Path experts and those who wielded power could not be measured with mere Gold and Silver.

Investing while someone was still weak and had yet to prosper—once the investment succeeded, the returns would naturally be incomparably abundant.

Even if that person could not rise to great heights in the future, as a fellow member of the Patrol Office, once Zhou Xing was promoted, he would still have someone trustworthy to employ.

Therefore, he naturally was unwilling to waste wealth and resources on someone with no chance whatsoever.

In his eyes, a person's opportunities in life were limited. Once one missed an opportunity, it was truly gone, and one's future fate would be completely different.

Luck and opportunity were also part of strength. Zhou Xing firmly agreed with this saying.

After making his decision, he waved his hand and then turned to leave.

Seeing this, Li Qing also said, "You two chat. I'm going to pay my respects to Master."

"Take care, Senior Sister!" Cheng Ran said.

Jiang Ning also called out, "Take care, Senior Sister Li!"