So This World Really Is Dangerous

The next day.

Li Qiming got up early and packed his belongings.

There really was not much—just a few taels of silver.

He did not even have a change of clothes of his own, since everything he wore had been servant attire.

He would have no use for those servant clothes from now on, so he had given them to his little brother last night.

Standing at the entrance of Laifu Restaurant, Li Qiming looked back once before turning and leaving.

Before long, he arrived at Dragon Roar Martial Hall.

Dragon Roar Martial Hall was grand and imposing, its buildings ancient yet luxurious. It was the largest structure in the city.

It was also, without question, the greatest power in all of Dragon Spring City—bar none!

It was said that Dragon Roar Martial Hall had already stood for three hundred years!

Its foundations ran deep indeed.

Do not underestimate three hundred years. Based on Li Qiming's understanding of history, in the ancient world of his previous life, hardly any dynasty had endured that long without being overthrown.

The average imperial dynasty had lasted less than two hundred years.

Yet Dragon Roar Martial Hall had existed for three hundred years!

Within a hundred-mile radius, it was an unquestionable colossus!

Even the authorities had to give Dragon Roar Martial Hall seven parts respect!

I made the right move!

Li Qiming nodded to himself. His goal was to find someone to rely on, to stay alive safely, and to avoid being casually killed by powerful martial artists or demons.

To buy himself time to grow!

Now that he had finally joined the Martial Hall, the next step was to become stronger as quickly as possible!

There was another important reason everyone wanted to join Dragon Roar Martial Hall and compete to become Registered Disciples: to learn martial arts!

Although the Tiger Roar Fist was also a martial art, it was merely a low-grade technique.

Dragon Roar Martial Hall, on the other hand, had a long history. It was said that there was a three-story pavilion filled entirely with martial arts manuals!

Wasn't this far safer than looting corpses? And the drop rate from looting corpses was unreliable. There might not even be any martial arts...

Most importantly, looting corpses carried risks!

His current strength was simply too low.

The outside world was far too dangerous. It was wiser to lie low within the Martial Hall!

Li Qiming recalled some web novels he had read in his previous life, where certain protagonists hid away in deep mountains and ancient forests for a thousand years, then emerged invincible beneath heaven!

He planned to do exactly that!

If he was going to lie low, he would lie low to the very end!

Of course, he might not live that long... After all, he had not heard of anyone in this world living for more than a thousand years.

There were not even people who lived several hundred years.

Just as his thoughts wandered, a figure appeared before Li Qiming.

"Brother Qiming, I'm Wang Jie."

Wang Jie spoke with a restrained expression.

He was Shopkeeper Wang's youngest grandson.

Shopkeeper Wang had instructed him to wait here for Li Qiming.

Wang Jie had risen before dawn and waited at the entrance for a full hour.

After all, no one knew when Li Qiming would come to report in.

"Wang Jie."

Li Qiming nodded and looked him over. He was a skinny youth who seemed somewhat underdeveloped, a rare sight among martial artists. After practicing martial arts, even if one did not turn into a hulking mass of muscle, one would at least develop the muscles one should have and become somewhat sturdier.

Wang Jie's physique was probably an inborn issue.

His martial cultivation was also extremely low, merely at the early stage of the Blood Refining Realm—even lower than Li Qiming had been before.

His appearance seemed quite ordinary too. At a glance, he looked like the sort who was easily bullied...

No wonder Shopkeeper Wang had said Wang Jie was always being bullied. Looking at that miserable, put-upon appearance, even Li Qiming felt a little like giving him two punches.

Li Qiming even suspected that Wang Jie might possess some innate bullied-by-default constitution.

"I joined later, so I should call you Senior Brother Wang."

Li Qiming clasped his hands and spoke.

Wang Jie jumped in fright and hurriedly waved his hands.

"Brother Qiming, don't make fun of me... Seniority in the Martial Hall isn't ranked like that. Here, the strong are the masters!"

"Your realm is higher than mine. By rights, I should be calling you Senior Brother!"

Li Qiming froze. This was different from what he had imagined.

But this was a martial world. Everything depended on strength.

Seen that way, it was reasonable enough.

"Brother Qiming, I'll take you to register your household status. Once you have Martial Hall registration, you can go anywhere under heaven!"

Wang Jie spoke excitedly.

"Alright. Sorry to trouble you."

Li Qiming did not understand these matters, but he knew that having household registration—especially Martial Hall registration—was definitely a good thing.

The Martial Hall had its own registration office.

After changing his registration, Li Qiming finally cast off his servant status for good.

He had previously been a servant, and his registry had listed him under the Lowly Registry. Now, it listed him under the Martial Registry.

At the same time, he received a set of gray robes belonging to a Registered Disciple.

Li Qiming looked doubtfully at the gray robes in his hands, then at the identical gray robes Wang Jie wore... He remembered that Qin Yu, Qi Weiwei, and the others wore black robes, did they not?

If he did not understand, he asked.

The answer was that those black robes belonged to the "Elite Disciples" among the Registered Disciples.

The gray robes, meanwhile, belonged to the most ordinary Registered Disciples.

To become an "Elite Disciple," one needed to reach the middle stage of the Blood Refining Realm and possess a certain amount of contribution points to the sect.

"Contribution points?"

Li Qiming seized on the key phrase and asked with a frown.

Wang Jie nodded solemnly.

"Yes... The Martial Hall has a Contribution Hall, and it contains many assignments. Completing sect assignments earns you contribution points."

"Contribution points are crucial within the Martial Hall. They are also the hardest currency around. You can use them to buy weapons, martial arts manuals, even pills..."

"Wait!"

Li Qiming rubbed his temples. This was not what he had imagined at all!

He had wanted to lie low for a thousand years and only leave the mountains once he was invincible. Why did he have to take assignments?

"Assignments? Why are there assignments?"

Li Qiming was deeply puzzled.

Why would the mighty Dragon Roar Martial Hall need people to do such assignments?

This time, it was Wang Jie's turn to freeze. He pondered for a moment before cautiously asking a question.

"Brother Qiming, do you think this world is safe?"

Without hesitation, Li Qiming shook his head.

"But what if I told you that even this current state of danger exists only because countless people are acting to protect it?" Wang Jie said gravely.

Li Qiming's heart jolted.

"That's right. Dragon Roar Martial Hall is one such force... Don't be fooled by how Dragon Spring City seems to hold many dangers. The world outside the city... is even more dangerous!"

"Demons of every kind, demonic cultivators, martial artists driven red-eyed with killing, bandits, and an endless stream of evil men! And all manner of strange and eerie phenomena descending upon us!"

"Every day, huge numbers of people die. Corpses often carpet the ground, and blood flows into rivers."

"If righteous martial artists like us did not step forward to uphold order, the entire world would descend into chaos in an instant, and the people would be left without a way to live."

"Setting the world right was the original purpose behind Founder Long Yingtian's creation of the Martial Hall. It has also been the ancestral teaching passed down through every generation of the Martial Hall!"

Li Qiming felt as though thunder had exploded beside his ears, while a chill spread through his entire body.

He had never expected the Martial Hall to be this kind of Martial Hall, much less that this world was dangerous to such a terrifying degree!

It far exceeded his imagination!

"Brother Qiming, don't worry. The Martial Hall will not force you to take assignments you cannot complete... I usually join up with everyone else, help out with some manual labor, and earn a share of contribution points..."

Seeing that Li Qiming's expression had turned rather unpleasant, Wang Jie hurriedly changed his tune.