He Gave Too Much!

"Small problem. I've got plenty of money. How much?" Lu Ren rarely put on such a grand air.

"Mm, the best sword I have is made with top-grade materials. It'll cost thirteen million six hundred thousand."

"Holy shit, boss, are you trying to eat me alive?!"

The weapon shop owner looked somewhat displeased. "What are you saying? This is top-tier cold weapon craftsmanship, and many of those ultra-tough alloys come from materials labs through special channels. Without connections, don't even dream of getting them. If business hadn't been so bad these past few years, I'd have doubled the price!"

Lu Ren coughed dryly. "Boss, something more ordinary will do. I don't have that much money."

The weapon shop owner did not even look up. "I could tell. You got money, but you still haven't got the bearing for it. Three hundred thousand. I know you're a Martial Daoist. You'll definitely be satisfied."

After arranging a time with the owner, Lu Ren left the shop and headed straight for Yan Zhenghua's convenience store.

The moment he entered, before he even came face-to-face with anyone, Yan Zhenghua's weathered, mellow smoker's voice rang out in a sleazy tone.

"What'll it be, friend? I just got a batch of miracle oil in. Every buyer gave it a five-star review. You can follow my shop on Meituan too—we deliver right to your door. Buy one bottle and get two protective garments free, heh heh... Oh, it's you, kid!"

Yan Zhenghua emerged, and his enthusiastic voice immediately faded. He looked Lu Ren up and down, raised a brow, and said, "The killing aura around you has gotten a lot heavier. Looks like you've been slaughtering your way through things lately! And the police still haven't arrested you?"

Lu Ren was speechless. "Boss, please. I'm officially certified. Otherwise, could I swagger around Hua Country like this?"

"Oh?"

Yan Zhenghua glanced left and right outside the convenience store. Once he confirmed no one was tailing Lu Ren, a strange smile appeared on his face. "Looks like you've had quite a few things going on lately."

"Speak." Yan Zhenghua said lazily, "You suddenly came running into my little temple after all this time. What do you want?"

"I want to learn swordsmanship!"

"Didn't I tell you before? Your killing intent is too heavy. You simply can't cultivate the swordsmanship I created. My sword is a sword of intent, fundamentally different from ordinary forms-based sword techniques... Of course, it's not like there's no way around it!"

Yan Zhenghua stared fixedly at the stack of cash in Lu Ren's hand, then put on a thoroughly troubled expression. "But with this little money of yours, you're making things difficult for me!"

Lu Ren pulled another stack from his backpack.

At the sight of it, Yan Zhenghua's sleazy eyes gleamed. His hands flashed like lightning as he snatched the money from Lu Ren's grasp.

He was not a greedy man. Unfortunately, the other party was offering far too much!

Fast—swift as lightning, fierce as a gale.

Lu Ren even felt a blast of wind strike his face, making him squint involuntarily.

"Is this Phoenix Zenith Fist?"

Rustle, rustle!

Yan Zhenghua counted through the bills without looking up. "Kid, this little money is only enough for me to teach you swordsmanship. Forget about my fist techniques. You're not my ideal successor."

Lu Ren clicked his tongue, then sank into a horse stance. As his waist and hips dropped, he whipped a punch into the air beside him.

Whoosh!

A sharp, piercing cry suddenly rang out. Yan Zhenghua could not help looking up, and surprise filled his eyes.

"Falcon Fist?! Where did you learn that?"

He knew Lu Ren inside and out. He knew exactly what the kid was made of. Yet after only a few months apart, Lu Ren had already brought Falcon Fist to a respectable level?

It made him want to cough up blood. Damn it, I wasn't this arrogant even when I was learning fist techniques back then.

He clearly came here to wreck my place!

A Martial Dao genius?!

So what if he's a Martial Dao genius? I'm not even in this circle anymore!

The expression on Yan Zhenghua's greasy, fat face grew increasingly hostile, and his mood worsened by the second. If not for the money, he would have thrown Lu Ren out.

Yet the weighty banknotes in his hands made a kindly smile appear on his face despite himself.

No one could escape the law of "it smells so good"!

Watching him, Lu Ren grumbled inwardly. Even powerful Martial Daoists had to bow their heads to life in modern society...

"Of course it was officially authorized. So, what do you think? Didn't I grasp its essence quite well?"

"Officially authorized?" Yan Zhenghua pinched his chin and scrutinized Lu Ren. "Just what major deed did you pull off to make an expert from the Public Security Bureau teach you martial arts?"

Looks like this dead fatso knew the ins and outs of things pretty well!

"You don't need to worry about that. In short, I came here to prove that I'm not some mentally twisted person, nor someone who would go on a killing spree because of it. I'm officially authorized, officially certified!"

Lu Ren said seriously, "I just want to say that you actually can teach me!"

Lu Ren's attitude was very sincere. Yan Zhenghua fell silent for a while before suddenly waving a hand listlessly. "Fine. This little money isn't enough for me to pass all my ultimate arts on to you. I'll teach you swordsmanship first. Come in. Don't just stand there."

He needed to add more money!

Lu Ren understood what Yan Zhenghua meant.

As he followed Yan Zhenghua into the training room behind the convenience store, an older woman suddenly called from outside.

"Old Yan, how much is this vinegar?"

Yan Zhenghua shouted back, "Eight yuan. Just scan the code to pay. I'm busy right now—the prices are all labeled!"

Once inside the training room, Yan Zhenghua held a wooden sword and said solemnly, "The decline of martial arts is already an inevitable trend. With the development of technology, a Martial Daoist who has trained bitterly for twenty or thirty years cannot withstand a single bullet fired from a handgun. A hundred years from now, martial arts may completely fade away and vanish into the river of history."

At this point, Yan Zhenghua seemed somewhat desolate. "Actually, there's no point in keeping it all hidden. Two years ago, I uploaded my fist techniques and sword manual to my Weibo. A few hundred people viewed them, and the number of downloads was zero."

"Huh?!" Lu Ren was rather surprised. "You actually uploaded martial arts online? Weren't you afraid people would learn them?"

Yan Zhenghua sneered. "How could they be so easy to learn? Even if I gave you my sword manual and you practiced according to it, without my annotations and explanations, you still wouldn't even get through the door after ten years."

These Martial Daoists were truly crafty as monkeys. No wonder they were not afraid of others taking their fist manuals. Even if someone stole one, without annotations and explanations from previous generations—or if even one line was missing—they would practice it into a complete mess and cripple themselves in the process.

Lu Ren said, "You people really know how to keep things hidden. No wonder so many things throughout history were taken into the grave."

Yan Zhenghua sighed. "That was one reason, I suppose. Many old masters always wanted to hold something back. They held back one thing after another, until they took it all into the coffin with them. Many top-tier, even seemingly mystical arts, have mostly been lost by now."

Lu Ren grinned. "You're not going to hold something back too, are you?"

Yan Zhenghua merely smiled without answering.

Lu Ren slung an arm around Yan Zhenghua's shoulders and whispered, "I know a pretty good massage parlor. Their sauna and foot baths are all top-notch!"