Pledge of Allegiance

"My master has already passed away!" Xia Daoming replied.

"Passed away?" Liang Jingtang was stunned upon hearing this and remained silent for a long while.

"Alas!" Only after a long time did Liang Jingtang let out a long sigh. "Tell me about your master, and how he passed away. He was a Fourth-Rank Martial Master—by all rights, he should not have died so young."

"Yes." Xia Daoming bowed slightly and gave a general account of Qiu Zhiheng's past in opening a martial arts school in Black Stone City, as well as his murder.

As for the century-old Dragon-Patterned Purple Blood Ginseng, Xia Daoming replaced it with a dispute over other interests.

After listening, Liang Jingtang fell silent again for a long while before saying sadly, "These are chaotic times. We martial artists may seem more capable of protecting ourselves than ordinary people, yet precisely because of that, we are unwilling to live quietly and are more easily drawn into struggles for interests and bloody killings. More often than not, it is difficult to meet a good end.

"Your master lived to sixty, and after his death, he even had you brave danger to avenge him. In the netherworld, he can close his eyes in peace."

"The enmity of killing one's master cannot exist beneath the same sky. What does braving a little danger amount to?" Xia Daoming said.

"Well said—the enmity of killing one's master cannot exist beneath the same sky!" Liang Jingtang slapped the armrest of his chair, and his gaze toward Xia Daoming gained another trace of appreciation.

"How old are you this year? And when did you cultivate the Dragon Serpent Art to the fourth level?" Liang Jingtang asked.

"Reporting to the master, this junior is twenty-four this year. I reached the fourth level at twenty-two," Xia Daoming replied.

Liu Qiaolian had once told Xia Daoming that martial arts schools generally would not give twenty-five-year-old Martial Masters the opportunity to observe the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram.

Xia Daoming would turn twenty-five in a few months, so he had only just barely squeezed past the age threshold.

That age was certainly not favorable, and he would very likely be turned away at the door.

Therefore, before coming here, Xia Daoming had already decided that, aside from playing the card of his connection to Qiu Zhiheng, he would also move forward the time when he became a Fourth-Rank Martial Master to age twenty-two.

Xia Daoming had also considered altering his real age, but conditions in the north were harsh. This body had been affected by the environment and had matured early to begin with. If he tried to pass himself off as younger, it would be difficult for Liang Jingtang not to grow suspicious.

"Reaching the fourth level at twenty-two would certainly count as outstanding in a remote little place like Black Stone City. But among Li City's younger generation, it can only be considered very ordinary.

"Moreover, you delayed for two years before coming to Li City. That means you wasted two years when you could have been taking secret medicines to cultivate Hidden Strength. Even if I grant you permission to observe the Hidden Dragon Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram out of consideration for Zhiheng, I fear it would still be futile. You would only waste your silver, as well as the divine rhyme contained within the diagram." Liang Jingtang frowned slightly.

Xia Daoming was both startled and secretly relieved.

Fortunately, he had played a small trick. Otherwise, he would likely have had to reveal part of his true ability to earn the chance to observe the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram.

Judging by Liang Jingtang's tone now, he simply did not want Xia Daoming's efforts to end like drawing water with a bamboo basket—nothing but emptiness. It was not that he intended to give him no chance at all.

"This junior has traveled ten thousand miles and endured countless dangers to reach Li City. My heart for martial arts is unwavering. I ask the master to fulfill my wish!" Xia Daoming said as he dropped to one knee.

Liang Jingtang looked at Xia Daoming's resolute expression, stroking his silver beard. After pondering for a long while, he said, "Each time the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram is unveiled, its divine rhyme fades by a fraction.

"Therefore, every sect or Lineage treats its Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram as a secret never passed outside, reserving it only for disciples and descendants with hope of reaching the Great Martial Master realm. This is to prevent the diagram from being squandered, cutting off the opportunities of future generations and thereby burying the future of the sect and Lineage as well.

"Although martial arts schools openly accept disciples in exchange for money, when it comes to teaching the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram, money alone is absolutely not enough. Furthermore, I am old. My martial path has reached its end, and I have no children. Wealth holds little temptation for me now.

"My greatest wish is to cultivate a truly formidable Great Martial Master who can carry forward the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School. Thus, five years ago, I stopped accepting disciples, unless someone with genuine martial talent could move my heart.

"You only became a Fourth-Rank Martial Master at twenty-two. Your martial talent is not outstanding in Li City, and you also wasted two years for nothing. If not for the sake of your deceased master, I would absolutely never give you this opportunity!"

"Thank you, Master!" Xia Daoming said with great delight.

"Do not rush to rejoice or thank me. I am giving you this opportunity out of regard for your deceased master, but the rules for imparting the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram cannot be broken. Listen first. If you can accept them and fulfill them, then it will not be too late to thank me and become my disciple." Liang Jingtang waved his hand.

"Please speak, Master!" Xia Daoming said solemnly.

"First, the tuition is five thousand taels. However, your master and I were close fellow disciples in our youth. By rights, I can be considered your martial uncle. Since you come from a remote place and presumably do not have much wealth, I will waive two thousand taels. You need only pay three thousand."

Xia Daoming was first surprised, then looked at Liang Jingtang with a new glint in his eyes.

"Second, submit a Pledge of Allegiance! Once the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram is imparted, you will count as a personal disciple, unlike those people in the outer courtyard who pay to learn martial arts. Your will must be tested, and your loyalty to the school guaranteed.

"Third, you will have only ten opportunities to observe it, one hour each time, once every half year. In other words, if you cannot comprehend the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram and cultivate Hidden Strength within five years, you will never have another chance.

"Not only that, apart from the first time, each subsequent observation will require another hundred taels of silver or the completion of one task," Liang Jingtang said.

"Why can each observation only last one hour, and why is it only once every half year?" Xia Daoming asked.

Liang Jingtang gave Xia Daoming a somewhat surprised look.

He had thought Xia Daoming would be more concerned about the tuition and the Pledge of Allegiance.

After all, even with his partial reduction, three thousand taels of silver was still an enormous sum for a young Fourth-Rank Martial Master from some remote little place.

As for the Pledge of Allegiance, it could not possibly be an easy matter. Otherwise, why would he set such a condition?

Yet Xia Daoming had directly skipped over those two conditions, as though silver and submitting a Pledge of Allegiance were not problems to him at all.

After his surprise, Liang Jingtang still answered, "The Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram contains the martial heart and blood of a Martial Dao Grandmaster. It holds wondrous martial divine rhyme within it, and its impact on a person's consciousness and intent is immense.

"Ordinary people will easily fall into mental confusion after observing it for more than an hour. Some may even lapse into unconsciousness and become fools. The half-year interval is because, after observing the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram, one can repeatedly recall and ponder it in the mind over the following half year.

"After half a year, that memory can no longer be found and must be renewed through another observation. Of course, observing it once every month or two might yield better results, but the divine rhyme in the diagram would also fade and be depleted more quickly."

"So that is how it is!" Xia Daoming said in understanding, though inwardly he was secretly astonished and wanted all the more to see the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram.

"You will naturally understand once you have the chance to observe the Mysterious Divine Rhyme Diagram," Liang Jingtang said.

"This junior understands. I ask the master to tell me what Pledge of Allegiance I must submit," Xia Daoming asked.

Several days later.

On a country road more than thirty li east of Li City, Wu Changlu rode a horse with a dry blade of grass between his lips. One hand held the reins, while the other occasionally went smack! smack! against the buttocks of the girl laid crosswise before him on the saddle.

Behind Wu Changlu followed two servants, each with a dry blade of grass in his mouth, swaying atop their horses.

Watching the girl's body twist continuously before them, muffled "Mmmph! Mmmph!" sounds coming from her mouth stuffed with cloth, their eyes gleamed with lust and wicked smiles spread across their faces.

For every time their young master had his fun, he would hand the victim over to them.

After they had their fun too, they could sell the girl to human traffickers and make a tidy windfall for nothing.

And with their young master taking the blame, they did not need to bear the slightest risk.

Just as master and two servants imagined taking the girl back to Wu Family Fortress for a merry time, a man in fitted black clothes and a bamboo hat that concealed his entire face suddenly appeared in the road ahead.

"Move aside! Move aside! This is Young Master Wu Changlu, legitimate son of Elder Wu Yueming of Wu Family Fortress!" Seeing someone blocking the road, the two servants immediately rode forward and shouted.

"So you are Young Master Wu Changlu!" The man in the bamboo hat swept his gaze over the girl pinned across Wu Changlu's front. Killing intent flashed in his eyes, and he had already leaped from his horse.

While still in midair, he unleashed Soaring Serpent Through Mist. Shadows of legs overlapped, and in the blink of an eye, he swept the two charging servants off their horses.

Then, borrowing the force, he flipped through the air. With a Python Emerging from its Lair, his knife-hand thrust straight toward Wu Changlu's throat.

Wu Changlu's face drained of color. He crossed his arms to block while shouting, "Who are you? Why do you—"

Before Wu Changlu could finish, he felt a terrifying force slam viciously into his crossed arms.

The next instant, Wu Changlu was sent flying helplessly from his horse.

Before he could recover his senses, the man had already landed close behind him, a sharp short blade now in his hand.

The short blade flashed with cold light beneath the sun, and Wu Changlu's head separated from his body.

The man then turned swiftly and finished off the two servants who were struggling to crawl back up.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!"

The girl on horseback watched the horrifying scene before her. Seeing the man in the bamboo hat walk toward her, she struggled even more fiercely, terror filling her eyes.

"Do not be afraid. I will not kill you." The man in the bamboo hat untied the girl's ropes.

"Thank you, great hero, for saving my life!" The girl, pale-faced, repeatedly kowtowed to the man in the bamboo hat.

"Leave this place quickly." The man in the bamboo hat waved his hand.

The girl kowtowed twice more, then staggered into a run back the way she had come without looking back.

"The rumors from outside were wrong. This Wu Changlu was actually a Fourth-Rank Martial Master. And strangely enough, his force contained Hidden Strength, though it was extremely weak. Good thing I was the one who acted, or this would have become a huge mess!" After the girl left, the man in the bamboo hat crouched beside Wu Changlu's body to search it, muttering quietly to himself.

The man in the bamboo hat quickly searched all three bodies. He then placed Wu Changlu's head into a black leather bag, hastily buried the three corpses, mounted his horse, and galloped toward Li City.

One hour later.

Xia Daoming, dressed in fitted green clothes and carrying a leather bag in his hand, entered the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School.

Yuchi Xiao, who was instructing and overseeing everyone's martial practice in the outer courtyard, saw Xia Daoming enter. His gaze swept over the leather bag in Xia Daoming's hand, revealing a flicker of surprise.

"You got it done so quickly?" Yuchi Xiao stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"Mhm." Xia Daoming nodded.

"Nothing went wrong?"

"No. Is the master here?"

"He is. Come with me."

Soon, the two passed through an arched gate and walked along a winding corridor into the inner courtyard.

There will be another update later.