Lu Qingchan's eyes flew open in disbelief.
"Mom, this crystal card... I think it's Cloud Smoke Steps. No, wait!"
She shook her head as something occurred to her. "It looks similar, but it isn't Cloud Smoke Steps. It seems identical to the footwork practiced by my classmate's younger sister, a girl named Li Xianyu.
"But Li Xianyu can barely produce two or three stiff-looking afterimages. In this card's mental world, there were dozens, maybe hundreds. They moved with grace, each one differently. It was dizzying to watch.
"That didn't look like a C-Rank Martial Art at all. It looked more like a top-tier B-Rank Martial Art footwork technique."
"Oh? Really?"
Xu Yunyan crouched and took the card. She saw that the colors in its vision had faded considerably.
Yang Shen laughed. "Young lady, this is a C-Rank footwork technique called Cloud Shadow Steps. It's no B-Rank Martial Art, and it isn't Cloud Smoke Steps."
"I'll pay for it."
Xu Yunyan stood, took out her Star Dollar Card, and swiped it through the reader on the counter.
Just like that, 260,000 Star Dollars were gone.
"Let's go, Qingchan."
Lu Qingchan murmured an acknowledgment and followed Xu Yunyan out of the shop.
"Take care! Come again!"
Yang Shen called after them.
Once they had left the crystal card shop, Xu Yunyan asked, "Qingchan, will that Cloud Shadow Steps card help you practice Cloud Smoke Steps?"
"It will!"
Lu Qingchan nodded. "Is Cloud Shadow Steps really just a C-Rank Martial Art? It's almost identical to Cloud Smoke Steps. It feels more like an advanced version."
"As long as it helps you, that's what matters. The shop owner doesn't understand, but you should know better than most what makes a B-Rank Martial Art. If you think it's a B-Rank Martial Art Crystal Card, then it is one.
"And if the technique on that card looks identical to what your classmate's younger sister practices, the Divine Sense Master who made it must be the same person who taught her. How could an ordinary high school have so many hidden masters?"
Lu Qingchan nodded, then asked, "Mom, wasn't buying me two Army-Breaking Fist cards a little wasteful?"
"If they help your martial arts training, how could that be wasteful?" Xu Yunyan said. "In a little while, we'll pick out spirit herbs to refine your blood qi in a medicinal bath. Compared with that, what are two Army-Breaking Fist cards?"
"But my classmates are all very careful with spirit herbs and crystal cards.
"They only use one card for each martial art, and I've never even heard of any of them using spirit herbs to refine their blood qi."
Xu Yunyan sighed.
She looked at Lu Qingchan and shook her head.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
"Nothing."
Xu Yunyan's voice turned wistful. "I just feel sorry for you. A direct descendant of the Dongchuan Lu Family, forced to scrimp and save on martial arts training.
"Do you know how your cousins in the Lu Family train? After receiving instruction from renowned teachers, your eldest and second uncles' children use at least a dozen corresponding Psionic Crystal Cards for a single martial art.
"The spirit herbs they use in just one session of refining their blood qi cost more than everything you've spent on martial arts training so far."
Lu Qingchan could not help sounding surprised. "They spend that much on training?"
"That's nothing. The Dongchuan Lu Family is the foremost family in the military.
"The resources its younger generation receives are secondary. More importantly, direct descendants receive guidance from a Grandmaster several times a year. That's why they advance so quickly in martial arts.
"Your father was foolish to fall out with your uncles. Leaving the Lu Family himself was one thing, but he dragged you into it and cost you the treatment a direct descendant deserves.
"Otherwise, with your talent, you might have achieved as much as Yuan Hao.
"Fortunately, I took the betrothal gift from the Lu Family and the Xu Family's dowry with me when we left. You haven't received the same excellent treatment as the other direct descendants, but I've made sure you haven't lacked the resources you need. You haven't fallen too far behind your relatives."
"It isn't all Dad's fault," Lu Qingchan said. "My uncles went too far, too."
"The youngest brother in the direct line gets pushed around by his older brothers. That happens in every major family in East River Province. Why was your father the only one who couldn't bear it?
"He left the Lu Family in a fit of anger and made you suffer with him. How is that fair?
"Before winter break, I'll persuade him to apologize to your uncles so you can return to the Lu Family and receive the treatment you deserve.
"Until then, keep refining your blood qi and maintaining its purity. And listen to me: if you have the chance, get to know that Divine Sense Master who's your age.
"A Divine Sense Master so young would be a powerful ally in your martial arts training, even after you return to the Lu Family."
Faced with her mother's earnest concern, Lu Qingchan could only nod and agree.
Elsewhere, after returning home, Chen Lie went to his family's Practice Room to train in the Basic Body Tempering Technique and absorb the nutrients from the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal.
He could feel that his Blood Qi Value had risen again, though not by much. There was no equipment at home to measure it.
At dinner, the three members of the Chen family sat together.
"Your second uncle called again today," Feng Yuelan said. "He asked whether we'd made a decision.
"He also asked your father to come home so our families could get together."
"What's going on?" Chen Xingyao asked. "Mom, what does Second Uncle want? Why does Dad have to come back?"
"His son Chen Ye's Blood Qi Value rose too quickly, leaving his blood qi unstable. Your uncle wants your father to use his Military Merit to exchange for a Blood Mist Flower to stabilize it."
"What? That stuck-up Chen Ye has unstable blood qi? Serves him right!
"And since when did Dad have Military Merit he could exchange for a Blood Mist Flower?"
Chen Xingyao looked puzzled.
"Your father has saved that Military Merit for more than ten years," Feng Yuelan said. "He wanted to keep it for you and your brother."
"Second Uncle's family is so snobbish. Now that they need something from us, we definitely shouldn't agree too easily!
"But a Blood Mist Flower? What a strange name. Blood Mist Flower, Blood Mist Flower..."
Chen Xingyao set down her bowl and chopsticks, picked up her Communicator, and searched the official Martial Dao Commerce website. Her eyes widened.
"A Blood Mist Flower costs sixty-nine million Star Dollars! It's listed as a Martial Dao Rare Treasure, and the site doesn't even have any in stock?"
She looked up. "Mom, is Dad's Military Merit really worth that much? Can he exchange it for a treasure worth tens of millions?"
Feng Yuelan nodded. "That's why I said he'd saved it for you two all these years. He couldn't bear to use it himself."
"That's outrageous! How could Second Uncle's family ask for something so precious? They have no shame!"
Chen Xingyao's voice shook with indignation. "Mom, you and Dad mustn't agree."
"We won't," Feng Yuelan said. "But it's hard to refuse outright. It would be best to have a reason."
"We can put them off for now," Chen Lie said. "A reason will come."
He knew his parents were too softhearted to refuse relatives directly. Otherwise, this would never have happened in his previous life.
"If they weren't too embarrassed to ask, why should we be embarrassed to say no?" Chen Xingyao huffed.
"If it were up to me, I'd refuse outright and ask Second Uncle and Aunt whether Chen Ye is worth tens of millions of Star Dollars.
"Didn't Chen Ye know his Strength Value wasn't high enough while he was training? Now that his blood qi is unstable, he's after Dad's Military Merit.
"It would take a long time for most people to make their blood qi unstable, wouldn't it? Chen Ye must have known what was happening. He just wanted to cut corners in his training.
"Even if a Blood Mist Flower stabilizes his blood qi, he'll keep running into problems. He'll never accomplish much."
Chen Lie glanced at his sister in surprise. He had not expected her to say something so perceptive.
Only now did he realize how childish he had been in his previous life. His sister had been far more mature. No wonder she had always been impatient with him: she had thought he was immature.
"What are you looking at me for? Don't tell me you don't want to refuse Second Uncle.
"It's not like you and Chen Ye are close, right?"
Chen Xingyao caught Chen Lie looking at her.
"It's nothing." Chen Lie shook his head.
"Mom, listen to me. That's what we should do. If you and Dad feel awkward about it, let me talk to Second Uncle the next time he calls or comes over."
Chen Xingyao turned to Feng Yuelan.
"That's enough. Stay out of it, and don't say anything rash if he does come over. Your father and I will handle it," Feng Yuelan told her.
Chen Xingyao pouted, picked up her bowl and chopsticks, and went back to eating.
Early the next morning, Chen Lie skipped school and returned to the Martial Artist Market in the provincial capital.
With 800,000 Star Dollars to his name, he naturally wanted to buy the martial arts resources he needed.
But after spending most of the day browsing the market, he still had not found what he was looking for.
When he left the last shop, he saw that he had reached the end of Market Street. Are martial arts resources in Dongchuan Province really this scarce? Why can't I find anything?
East River Province was, after all, a province of Blue Star. Even if its resources were scarce, he should have been able to find at least one worthwhile item.
Or do I simply lack access to the channels the rich and powerful use to buy martial arts resources?
Chen Lie had no way around that problem. Blue Star's martial society had a rigid hierarchy. Those at the top and those at the bottom rarely crossed paths.
At his key high school in East River Province, for instance, he had been an Ordinary Class student in his previous life. In three years, he had barely seen the school's senior staff.
The Elite Class and Ordinary Class were separated by a single wall, yet Elite Students almost never mingled with the Martial Arts Students in the Ordinary Class.
That was the barrier between social classes, and it was hard to break.
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