Little Junior Sister's Recommendation

Of course, Zhou Ye was not that perverse. He was merely admiring the scenery and sighing over it a little.

After all, Zhou Ye had heard that Du Juan would not turn fourteen for another few months, and only then would she begin formally practicing martial arts.

It was just that Du Keyuan doted especially on this granddaughter. He had used medicinal herbs, medicinal baths, and every other method as though money were no object, desperately laying a solid foundation for Du Juan. That was why the little girl carried a fragrant scent all over her body, like cured meat that had been pickled for years. Ahem, ahem.

"Little Junior Sister, when the army entered the city that day, what exactly happened?" Even now, Zhou Ye had not figured out what the rebellion that day had really been about. If he could not understand the specific cause, he felt somewhat unsettled, as though his heart were bobbing up and down.

"I don't know either," Du Juan answered crisply. "But my grandfather said that the former garrison general is now the prefectural governor. The previous prefectural governor was killed by him."

"Ah?"

"Anyway, you don't need to concern yourself with that. My grandfather also said that military disasters like this happen often. These past few years have been better; before, one would happen every few years. So everyone has long grown used to it. When this kind of military disaster passes, it passes. You don't need to worry at all."

"Ah?"

"Just live as you did before. Everything carries on as usual. I don't know anything more than that!"

"Oh, oh!"

To his surprise, the more Zhou Ye listened, the more confused he became. This was far too absurd, wasn't it? But he could not demand too much of a little girl. Asking her to explain the situation clearly would be making things difficult for this little junior sister.

That said, as long as everything went on as usual, it was fine! That was enough!

As Du Juan finished the registration, she explained, "Senior Brother A-Ye, after you enter Force, you can learn a set of fist techniques—Wind-Thunder Grappling Hands. Grandfather said fist techniques can be used for sparring, but in actual combat, it is best to use weapons. To keep disciples who have only just begun practicing martial arts from getting hotheaded and causing trouble everywhere, weapons are not taught for now. Only after reaching Manifest Force will you be taught a weapon technique for free. And it will be a follow-up second-rate martial skill to the Wind-Thunder Grappling Hands."

Zhou Ye nodded. He completely understood this reasoning.

In battle, having a weapon or not; having armor or not; even having a horse or not—those were entirely different matters. Under normal circumstances, they allowed for absolute crushing superiority.

Of course, if you said you would train your fist techniques to an extremely high realm and practice the Body Tempering Method until your entire body was like a lump of iron, with every part of you usable as a weapon, then suit yourself. Martial skills of that kind did indeed exist.

But do not forget, you were not a Martial Saint overnight. When you had only just begun practicing martial arts, how were you supposed to get through that long developmental period?

In battle, your fists might be hard, but in the end, someone would chop you to death with a blade or stab you to death with a spear. Even if your fists were harder, would it not merely mean they needed to chop you a few more times?

Weapons were also extensions of both hands, and you were at a considerable disadvantage in terms of range. Even if one spear thrust could not kill you, what if I stabbed you eighty or a hundred times? Yet you would not even be able to land a single punch on me.

Thus, when both sides were roughly equal in strength, not using a weapon put one at a serious disadvantage.

Of course, if you simply liked having hard fists and wanted to bully weaklings, beating up little kindergarten kids or something, then pretend none of that had been said.

For that very reason, Zhou Ye had not placed much importance on fist-type martial skills in his previous martial skill training.

Fist techniques were generally used for nonlethal contests, such as sparring, arena matches, or martial contests to win a bride. Fine! There were no bride-winning contests here, just martial contests. They could effectively control the damage and were not so intense. As for battles with weapons, never mind severed hands and feet—perhaps in the blink of an eye, one's head and body would be parted?

That would be far too bloody. In many situations that did not involve life and death, the intensity had to be kept under control, so it was better to compare fists!

For that very reason, Du Keyuan only taught fist techniques during the Force Entry stage. It was to prevent disciples from inviting disaster outside, perhaps ultimately implicating the martial hall. Only after they stepped into Manifest Force would he truly teach them how to use weapons. And it would be a second-rate martial skill at that.

But unexpectedly, Du Juan then gave him a pleasant surprise. Her brows danced as she said, "Senior Brother A-Ye. Once you have been in Force Entry for a year, you will go out to take up official posts. If you know absolutely nothing about using weapons, wouldn't that be too dangerous? So we are giving you an opportunity—Grandfather previously collected quite a few other martial skills. They are not from our Wind-Thunder Martial Hall. Once you learn them, our martial hall will absolutely not acknowledge them. Do you want to learn them?"

Zhou Ye was immediately amused. So there were unspoken rules here too. He declared boldly, "How much!"

He knew this grandfather and granddaughter pair were both money-grubbers, great and small. Was it not simply a matter of money?

"Hehehe!" Du Juan shot him a sidelong glance, and there was even a trace of childish charm between her brows. "Senior Brother A-Ye, you really are straightforward. Fifty taels per skill."

"Little Junior Sister, do you have any recommendations?"

"I recommend a Trace-Hiding Breath-Concealment Art. Many disciples have bought it before, and it is quite suitable for mountain hunters like you. It is very useful for hunting and avoiding fierce beasts. But it would be best to choose a weapon-type skill as well. I can make the decision—if you buy two together, you only need to pay ninety-five taels?"

"Bought!" Zhou Ye slapped his chest without the slightest hesitation.

To him, this was using silver to buy free attribute points. Looking back now, how worthwhile those two third-rate martial skills he had bought earlier had been.

Du Juan covered her mouth and giggled endlessly, looking like a cute little fox whose scheme had succeeded. "Senior Brother A-Ye, have you decided what weapon you want to use? Are you still using a saber?"

Zhou Ye did not particularly care about weapons. "Little Junior Sister, do you have first-rate or second-rate martial skills for sale here?"

"There are four second-rate ones. But it is best to practice them only after reaching Manifest Force."

"What price are the second-rate ones?"

"Three hundred taels per book. Unlike outside, what we give you here are all original copies? Not to mention the altered frauds outside, even many martial skill manuals that can be practiced use coded words and cryptic language. Quite a few also have useless content added in. Once you practice them, they may instead become harmful..."

"Oh?"

From Du Juan's introduction, Zhou Ye learned that cultivation methods and martial skills were the secrets never passed on by every sect, aristocratic family, martial hall, and the like. They generally absolutely forbade them from being spread outside.

But what should one do when carrying them out? Sometimes one needed to practice on the road and keep them at hand for reference. If they were lost, would that not mean they had spread outside?

So clever people came up with a method—make a copy. In it, key words and sentences would be replaced with coded words and cryptic language.

But coded words and cryptic language also had flaws. What if even the owner forgot them? Or rather, what if there was only this one copy with coded words and cryptic language? If they were forgotten, would not even one's own sect or family lose the inheritance?

So another method was devised—padding it out, stuffing in a large amount of useless content.

Others simply had no way of knowing which sentences were true and which were false.

That made things rather convenient for the carrier. As long as all the useless content was filtered out, would it not become the original copy?