Hidden Hand I

After the meal, Zhang Rongfang continued to send people to keep watch over the Li Family.

This continued for three consecutive days, and the same thing happened.

On the fourth day, a new attribute emerged, and the Li Family finally made a move.

Li Guanyue arranged for Zhang Rongfang to meet and talk at the nearby Cloud View Wine House.

Zhang Rongfang gladly went.

Cloud View Wine House is located on the outer ring of Citong. It is considered a high-end restaurant. The food and drinks are not very good, but the focus is on the gorgeous decoration, which makes it look very prestigious.

The restaurant has three floors, each with its own set of rules for receiving guests.

Only high-net-worth clients who have spent a lot of money here over the years are eligible to make an appointment in advance for the top floor.

The middle section offers regular, standard prices, while the bottom section features inexpensive set meals for dine-in.

"Speaking of which, I used to really enjoy eating at Cloud View Wine House several years ago. The food wasn't that great, but the environment was nice, the soundproofing was good, and the floor was thick, so walking around didn't make any loud thumping noises like in other restaurants, which would spoil my mood."

Inside a large private room on the third floor.

Li Guanyue, accompanied by his eldest son Li Erchan, was sitting at a large round table in a private room, chatting animatedly with Zhang Rongfang and Zhang Zhenhai across from him.

Zhang Rongfang was still dressed as Zhang Jingrong, looking like a wealthy young master who loved martial arts. He held a white fan, had long hair adorned with jade, and exuded a wild and unrestrained yet heroic air.

Zhang Zhenhai, standing beside him, wore a black mask, a black veil, and a black fitted outfit with blue trim, dressed as a personal maid or bodyguard.

"Master Li, why don't you be frank and tell me what conditions you require for me to be willing to seriously teach you the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training?" Zhang Rongfang asked sincerely.

"This is actually very simple." Li Guanyue smiled, his somewhat melancholy expression easing slightly.

"You should know that my Li Family's secret martial arts are so powerful that even in Great Capital and Central Capital, a simple shout will attract countless experts to inquire about the price."

Therefore, the price for teaching martial arts is definitely not low.

"That's easy to say. Master Li, name your price. Whether it's reasonable or not, I'll take care of it," Zhang Rongfang said with a smile. As long as you're willing to name a price, everything else is negotiable.

Li Guanyue laughed and gently tapped the table.

"Young Master Zhang is so straightforward, so I'll get straight to the point. To learn my family's martial arts, several conditions must be met. The first of these is to pay a substantial deposit."

"May I ask how much the deposit is?" Zhang Rongfang asked.

"This number!" Li Guanyue opened one palm and clenched his index finger.

"No problem, no problem. Is it one thousand taels? No problem at all," Zhang Rongfang with a relaxed smile.

"Ten thousand taels!" Li Guanyue stated directly. "The deposit is at least ten thousand taels!"

He never actually intended to teach martial arts; it was just that his family was struggling to make ends meet and he had too many debts on goods. In desperation, he could only think of swindling as much as he could.

Let's just offset the debt first.

"Okay!" Zhang Rongfang unchanged.

A chill ran down Li Guanyue's spine. He had only been asking for an exorbitant amount. He hadn't expected the other party to agree so readily, without a moment's hesitation.

"Are you sure?!" he asked seriously. He understood in his heart that his martial arts skills were probably more important to the other party than he had imagined.

The price you quoted earlier was too low. Li Guanyue immediately realized this.

"Of course," Zhang Rongfang nodded.

Although he doesn't have much money coming in right now and is constantly spending money on martial arts, he can easily come up with 10,000 taels from the money he got from the Secret Cache and his previous savings.

I just didn't expect them to want so much.

"Alright, when can we sign the papers and collect the deposit?" Li Guanyue asked hurriedly.

"Of course, it's anytime." Zhang Rongfang nodded.

Before long, the two drafted a contract, stipulating that if one party paid money, the other party would definitely pass on the complete martial arts skills to the other party after the other conditions were met.

After thinking it over, Li Guanyue carefully added three conditions to the agreement.

"After you pay the deposit, as long as you can meet these three conditions I mentioned, my Li Family's authentic martial arts will be passed on to you without reservation!" he said in a deep voice.

In fact, if it weren't for his previous business dealings that led to the collapse and losses of his fleet, he wouldn't have been able to repay a large sum of money owed to him.

There's no need for them to resort to martial arts to make money now.

Originally, he only wanted to use the guise of teaching martial arts to extort a few thousand taels of silver.

Who would have thought that this person would take out all ten thousand taels without even blinking?

With this money, he could even rebuild his previous fleet, and it wouldn't be enough.

Immediately, Zhang Rongfang quickly took out ten thousand taels of silver notes and ten thousand taels of Great Ling Zhiyuan Treasure Notes, all of which were newly issued coins, and Zhang Zhenhai, who was standing next to him, gave them to him directly.

Li Guanyue suppressed his excitement, feeling as if he were in a dream. When he left the restaurant after receiving the money, he felt his steps were unsteady.

All the suffering of these past few days seemed to vanish in an instant at this moment.

Back home.

His children rushed over to him.

"Dad! How is it!?"

"Father, how did the talks go?"

"Where's the money? Where's the money??"

The three sons and three daughters eagerly approached their father, waiting for his reply.

"Don't worry, everything is going smoothly. Even smoother than I expected." Li Guanyue laughed.

All the long-standing repression and setbacks were relieved at this moment.

He recounted the whole story, and his children gasped in surprise.

"So much money, and that person just gave it all away at once?"

"Is Dad really going to teach me seriously this time?"

"No rush, no rush. If he can really fulfill the remaining three conditions, I will definitely be willing to teach him properly," Li Guanyue nodded.

But even he himself didn't quite believe those words.

It wasn't that no one had ever tried to take his family's martial arts skills before, but he had always turned them down.

The reason I agreed this time was because my family really couldn't hold on any longer.

In addition, aren't there three other conditions?

If that person fails to meet the three conditions, he can be magnanimous and still teach him martial arts, just a little bit of his family's martial arts techniques, and that will be the end of it.

He was extremely familiar with this kind of tactic.

Moreover, he wasn't the only one who used it this way; there were countless people in the Li Family who did it in the past.

Otherwise, where did those inferior versions of the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Manual on the market come from? While comforting his children, Li Guanyue began to plan how to use the money to quickly rebuild the fleet.

He was unwilling to accept defeat.

People are meant to get up from where they fall.

Therefore, he will make a comeback.

He just didn't notice.

Among his children, his youngest daughter Li Wansha, who was always the most rational and gentle, was looking at him with slight worry.

In fact, the reason they came to Citong to make a living was because they had swindled a large sum of money from others elsewhere and then used it to build a fleet of ships in Citong, hoping to become captains.

Otherwise, in these times, no one would be willing to take their entire family and move around constantly.

But if such methods are used too often, trouble will eventually break out. *** Dozens of miles away from the Ci Tong Port, on a desolate coastline.

On a rugged, steep, rocky beach.

Zhang Rongfang, dressed in black, and Zhang Yunqi stood facing each other on two reefs.

There was no one around except them.

There were no Rebel Sect, no idle fishermen, and none of Zhang Rongfang's men.

The sea breeze blows, and the waves crash against the rocks.

The two stood more than ten meters apart, both with their bodies ramrod straight.

"After more than half a year, your strength has increased significantly. It seems that it won't be long before you surpass this old man like me," Zhang Yunqi sighed.

"Uncle Yun Qi, why do you say that? I still have a long way to go to reach your level. Perhaps I can do it in the future, but I am still far behind now," Zhang Rongfang said modestly.

"Just take that as a way of comforting me," Zhang Yunqi smiled. "Our continuous crackdown on the Spirit Vein has already attracted the attention of many forces. Especially in the last six months, our actions have become more frequent and faster, which has probably aroused the vigilance of others."

"Is it the Ling Ting, or...?" Zhang Rongfang frowned slightly.

"Both the Western Sect and the Secret Teaching have sent people to Citong. It seems both sides are plotting something, vying for control of the fleet," Zhang Yunqi sighed. "Now we all follow your lead. What are your plans?"

"Let's just sit back and observe. From beginning to end, our goal has been to preserve ourselves and continue to wait for the future. What does the conflict between the Western Sect and Secret Teaching have to do with us?" Zhang Rongfang replied.

"Understood." Zhang Yunqi nodded.

"Actually, there's another reason I called Uncle Yun Qi out today," Zhang Rongfang continued. "That is, I've just made some breakthroughs in my martial arts and wanted to find someone to spar with, but there aren't any suitable opponents around, so..."

"Alright, then I'll spar with you, young master." Zhang Yunqi was actually quite curious about the strength of this young master of the Human Seed.

This Zhang Ying is rumored to be the Daoist with the highest Civilian Skill talent in the history of the Great Dao Sect.

As for martial arts, all that is known is that he was once Spirit Envoy of the Golden Wing Tower, and nothing else.

Lately, I've only seen him practicing here and there, rarely focusing on the Great Dao Sect. He seems quite unproductive.

This is a good opportunity to take a closer look and see just how skilled he is in martial arts.

This will allow us to better allocate resources to protect the enemy in subsequent operations.

"Then, I apologize for offending you." Zhang Rongfang clasped his hands and bowed.

"Please, young master." Although Zhang Yunqi's physical strength has declined due to his No God Worshipping, his Super Grade strength Three Voids master, combined with his extremely high level of martial arts, still makes him a formidable force.

In terms of technique, it did make up for a lot of the speed and force of the descent.

The two held their breath and looked at each other.

Suddenly, two figures rushed out and charged at each other at the same time.

Zhang Yunqi's martial arts practice is somewhat eclectic; his attacks are sometimes as sharp as a blade, and sometimes as gentle as a falling leaf. It all depends on his personal choice.

This time, he chose speed.

In the blink of an eye, the two passed each other and exchanged a move instantly.

There was no physical contact; just as they were about to exchange blows, they simultaneously withdrew their hands and passed each other.

The two exploded with similar speeds.

Zhang Yunqi's heart skipped a beat. He remembered that this Daozi's martial arts were only at the External Medicine level before, but now... Before he could think any further, he changed his posture, turned around and took a step, and unleashed a set of Eight Trigrams Iron Heart Palm in a smooth and flowing manner.

This set of martial arts is the Superior Martial Arts he uses most often when he is not wielding a knife. Its characteristics are a balance between offense and defense, and sharpness and agility.

It has a strong tolerance for error when faced with the sudden outburst of any martial arts technique.

Zhang Rongfang hand, started with the Great Dao Sect Talisman Art in a conventional way.

The martial arts of the Great Dao Sect are moderate, peaceful, balanced, and diverse, making them excellent for dealing with various unorthodox martial arts.

This type of martial arts is resilient and extensive; no matter what unexpected move it faces, it can find a corresponding countermeasure from a large number of techniques.

The opponent's Eight Trigrams Iron Heart Palm was agile, and its palm strikes were powerful and explosive.

Zhang Rongfang countered with the more agile and balanced Mixed Origin Talisman and Vitality Talisman.