Blue-Wave Martial Academy.
By then, the front courtyard had already gathered many disciples.
Among them were the five true disciples who had a genuine master-disciple relationship with Wang Jin.
The academy's true disciples were those who shared a true master-disciple bond with Wang Jin.
In Great Xia, the relationship between master and disciple was no less profound than that between father and son.
As the saying went, a teacher for a day, a father for life.
Today was also a grand occasion for Blue-Wave Martial Academy in recent days.
The fierce tiger Wang Jin had captured from the mountains some time ago and kept penned up for many days was about to be released.
This was an opportunity for all the disciples to watch their senior brothers battle the fierce tiger up close, to witness firsthand the majestic might of the king of beasts.
The Tiger Form Fist within the Five Animals Fist had been derived from fierce tigers. Thus, observing a fierce tiger in mortal combat at close range was an opportunity for any disciple practicing Tiger Form Fist.
If they could seize this opportunity and gain some insight into the fierce tiger's spirit and form, their fist techniques would break through.
Mastering any one form of the Five Animals Fist would qualify one to become Wang Jin's true disciple.
For many disciples who had entered the academy, becoming Wang Jin's disciple was an opportunity to change their fate.
If their fist techniques advanced another step and reached perfection, allowing them to grasp force as explosively powerful as Fierce Tiger Force—
Their combat strength would undergo a qualitative transformation, and it would also greatly aid their entry into the ranks of the Martial Dao.
Even among ninth-rank Martial Dao practitioners, only half could master a low-grade martial art to the perfection stage.
In Great Xia, where the Martial Dao flourished, wealth and status had to be protected by force.
Ordinary children of wealthy families held no real standing before a ninth-rank Martial Dao practitioner.
As long as they became Wang Jin's disciples, they would have a certain chance of entering the ranks of the Martial Dao.
Even for children of wealthy families, this would bring a change in status.
If they could advance further in this life and become an eighth-rank practitioner, they would be a figure worthy of praise throughout Luoshui County.
Even ordinary families of wealth and rank could not compare to the status of an eighth-rank practitioner.
This was why, although Blue-Wave Martial Academy had not been open for long and charged exorbitant fees, so many people from wealthy and influential families still came to study under it.
It was simply that most could not persevere.
Even now, every so often, outer disciples of the academy who could not endure the hardship of martial training would quit.
Of those who studied martial arts at the academy, fewer than half could persist for six months.
Let alone meet Wang Jin's requirement of bringing any one fist form to the mastery stage.
At this moment.
In the academy's front courtyard.
Liu Zhixiang, sporting a goatee, entered the academy gates with an attendant.
Just moments ago, he had received Wang Jin's permission to enter.
The moment he crossed the gates, his gaze swept over everyone in the front courtyard and immediately met Zhou Xing's.
"Nephew Zhou, I trust you have been well!"
Liu Zhixiang's lips moved slightly. As he met Zhou Xing's gaze, a genial smile spread across his face.
Though his voice was not loud, what kind of person was Zhou Xing?
Nominally the senior brother of Blue-Wave Martial Academy, he had long since entered the ranks of the Martial Dao. He was a ninth-rank practitioner whose skin refinement had reached minor accomplishment, his skin and flesh as hard as stone.
Moreover, he had mastered four forms of the Five Animals Fist. His Tiger Form Fist had even comprehended its true intent and reached the perfection stage, granting him Fierce Tiger Force.
Such a person was an outstanding talent among Luoshui County's younger generation.
With martial strength like his and exceptionally keen five senses, he naturally heard Liu Zhixiang's words.
At this moment, upon hearing Liu Zhixiang's words.
The smile on Zhou Xing's face abruptly darkened.
"Such arrogance. It seems that matter was not merely groundless rumor. The Fourfold Merchants Association's business truly is entangled with the Liu Family, one of the three great families!"
He immediately suppressed the emotions rising within him.
Then, after patting Xiao Peng in front of him and offering a few words of encouragement, he prepared to head to the rear courtyard to pay his respects to Wang Jin.
Zhou Xing knew that if the Zhou Family wished to rise, it had to rely on Wang Jin first.
Wang Jin was his master—a master equal to a father.
And behind Wang Jin stood Constable Wang, that great figure among Luoshui County's garrison troops.
That was why, despite having better choices, he had chosen to enter Blue-Wave Martial Academy.
Second, he knew he also had to rely on himself.
To him, the Inspection Office was an opportunity—an opportunity to stir the winds and clouds, an opportunity to change Luoshui County's current situation.
Martial force was important, but influence and authority were even more important.
By joining the Inspection Office, he could borrow its influence and hold power in his own hands.
As the saying went, commoners did not fight officials. No matter how prosperous the Zhou Family became, it was still made up of commoners.
Only by leaning against the Great Xia Court, against this towering tree, could one grasp power.
It was precisely because of this idea that he wanted to begin by investing in those around him, recruiting talent and building a career within the Inspection Office.
Only then would the Zhou Family have a chance to rise again in his hands, to become an aristocratic family equal to Luoshui County's three great families—or even the one and only Zhou Family in Luoshui County.
These thoughts flashed through his mind as Zhou Xing strode steadily toward the academy's rear courtyard.
He knew that he was not yet qualified to fall out with Liu Zhixiang, because Liu Zhixiang represented the Fourfold Merchants Association and possibly part of the interests of the Liu Family, one of the three great families.
On the other side.
Watching Zhou Xing's departing back, Liu Zhixiang, with his goatee, first felt regret, then wariness. His gaze toward Zhou Xing became exceedingly sharp.
"I truly underestimated this boy! I provoked him so openly, yet he could act as though he had seen nothing. He will not be easy to deal with!"
Thinking of this, he recalled the information regarding Zhou Xing.
Zhou Xing was known as the Zhou Family's qilin son.
He possessed outstanding Martial Dao talent and was only twenty-one years old.
He had entered the ninth rank of the Martial Dao, with his skin refinement at minor accomplishment.
He possessed considerable talent in fist techniques, having reached the perfection stage and grasped Fierce Tiger Force.
Liu Zhixiang secretly felt some regret.
"Zhou Xing should not be offended too deeply. I must find an opportunity to ease matters somewhat!"
"But the task assigned from above must also be carried out!"
"The Inspection Office concerns Great Xia's future. It is a heavy wager jointly placed by the Emperor seated high above and the Martial Saint whose might presses upon the world—a heavy wager to prop up a collapsing edifice!"
"Once the Inspection Office is established, it will surely stir the winds and clouds across the land. Those qualified to join it must be taken seriously!"
"As the times make heroes, we must befriend such talents!"
"Only by delivering charcoal in the snow can one earn a favor!"
"Such investments are the way of commerce."
With these thoughts in mind, Liu Zhixiang's gaze quickly swept across the academy's front courtyard.
Before coming, the association president had given him intelligence on Blue-Wave Martial Academy. It recorded the academy disciples who might have a chance to join the Inspection Office.
His task was to personally appear as a manager of the Fourfold Merchants Association and invest in those listed.
To offer charcoal in the snow.
At their current level of strength, even a small investment could be exchanged for a favor and draw them closer.
If any of them grew in the future and became a great figure in Luoshui County, that favor would be worth a thousand pieces of gold.
That was the Fourfold Merchants Association's way of doing business.
If a merchant wished to grow stronger, without great figures of high rank and power standing behind him, without several Martial Dao experts behind him, how could he possibly grow bigger and stronger?
That was tantamount to fighting jackals and wolves that devoured people without spitting out the bones.
Its peril was no less than the flashing blades and shadows of battlefields.
It was danger that killed without visible blood!
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