Clang

That afternoon, calm returned to the pawnshop.

All three official appraisers had shown themselves. Chen Shaojun deliberately glanced at the chief appraiser, Qin Wenshan.

The man looked like a small old fellow in his fifties or sixties. Dressed neatly in black cloth garments, he remained expressionless throughout. Even after appearing, he did not say a single word, merely watching the second appraiser Dai Ming and third appraiser Zhang Gao soothe the many apprentices.

It was truly hard to imagine that he bore the title Copperhide Iron Hands outside.

Before long, the shopkeeper arrived as well.

A handsome young man in his twenties came with him. Dressed in white and holding a painted folding fan, he cut quite the image of a refined young master.

"This is Lin Qi. From now on, he will take over Shen Lang's duties."

The shopkeeper did not introduce him further, quickly sending the various servants and apprentices back to their respective tasks.

Seeing this, Lin Qi merely smiled faintly. With a flick of his hand, the painted fan in his grasp opened, revealing a landscape painting and calligraphy.

Yet what truly drew everyone's attention was a line of neat regular-script characters written upon that landscape painting.

Second Under Heaven!

Second?

Then who was first?

And second at what, exactly?

Questions rose in everyone's hearts.

Yet he had arrived directly as the ticket clerk, his status beneath only the shopkeeper and the three chief appraisers. Without knowing his temperament or whether he was easy to speak with, no one dared open their mouths lightly.

Even Xu Hongtao obediently began carrying out his proper duties as an unpacker.

"Second Under Heaven? Does that mean he only acknowledges being beneath one man?

"Is that genuine confidence, or is he simply showing off?

"But his surname is Lin..."

Chen Shaojun's gaze flickered.

He had not forgotten that this pawnshop belonged to the Lin Family.

Did this man's arrival seem to foreshadow something?

Though Chen Shaojun guessed that he was probably not a direct descendant of the Lin Family.

The Lin Family had produced chancellors and generals. No matter how far it had declined, it would not send a direct descendant into a shop to work.

Not to mention that the current Lin Family head still held a place in the imperial court.

Night fell.

Most of the apprentices and servants had already lain down on the communal sleeping platform to rest.

Chen Shaojun, however, stood in the courtyard and began practicing his stance once more.

The benefits of reporting to the martial arts school revealed themselves at this moment.

He no longer needed to practice martial arts furtively.

Even if others saw him, they would at most envy him. They would not question where his martial arts had come from.

After all, few people in the Lin Clan Pawnshop knew martial arts.

There were only Xu Hongtao, the three chief appraisers, and Shopkeeper Liu.

Now, Lin Qi, the newly arrived ticket clerk, should be added to that list.

With so many of the pawnshop's higher-ups gathered today, Chen Shaojun could not suppress his curiosity and cast the Spirit Eye Technique. Using it to observe their blood qi, the difference between martial artists and ordinary people was as clear as day.

From this, Chen Shaojun could see that third appraiser Zhang Gao's martial arts should be the weakest. His blood qi was only several times stronger than that of an ordinary apprentice.

Next came second appraiser Dai Ming and Shopkeeper Liu Quan.

What surprised Chen Shaojun was that Xu Hongtao's blood qi was only a sliver stronger than Shopkeeper Liu Quan's, and was even weaker than chief appraiser Qin Wenshan's.

Listening to Xu Hongtao boast every now and then, Chen Shaojun had truly thought the man was very powerful.

Perhaps it was because he had been injured?

Having mastered the traditional medical diagnostic method of Observation, Auscultation, Inquiry, and Palpation, he could indeed vaguely tell that Xu Hongtao's blood qi was somewhat unsteady. He must have suffered a severe injury before.

And the injury had been near his dantian.

But the most surprising of all was still Lin Qi.

His blood qi was not particularly strong, even several degrees weaker than Zhang Gao's. Yet the instant Chen Shaojun's Spirit Eye Technique swept over him, he seemed to sense it and immediately turned his gaze toward him.

Had Chen Shaojun not shifted his eyes away in time, the other man might have discovered him.

"This Lin Qi is absolutely not simple."

A trace of wariness arose in Chen Shaojun's heart.

For the first time, he also learned that the Spirit Eye Technique was not omnipotent. If used before a true expert, there was a risk of being detected.

Fortunately, whether Xu Hongtao, the three chief appraisers, Shopkeeper Liu, or Lin Qi, all of them had homes outside and did not live in the rear courtyard.

This naturally cleared away the risk of Chen Shaojun being exposed while practicing other martial arts at night.

Of course, he still remained somewhat cautious around the other apprentices. Only after everyone had gone to sleep would he practice martial arts such as the Tiger Demon Body-Tempering Fist and Eight-Step Cicada Catcher.

"It is late."

Chen Shaojun glanced at the sky.

The moon hung directly overhead. It was almost midnight.

He then withdrew his fist stance and leisurely headed toward his room.

He had only just reached the doorway when he suddenly heard the sound of a roof tile shattering. He turned his head, just in time to see a nimble figure dive down from the rooftop.

"This is..."

Chen Shaojun froze. Though the man had covered his face with black cloth, the scar stretching from his cheek all the way to his brow allowed Chen Shaojun to recognize him at once.

The scar-faced man.

The assassin Peng Dongcheng.

"Die!"

Peng Dongcheng's eyes were icy, his killing intent thick.

For the Primordial Spirit Pearl, he had plotted for more than half a year.

He had been on the verge of success. The Jade Ruyi was already in his hands, and the Primordial Spirit Pearl was within reach. His lifespan was about to increase, his strength could advance another step, and the Innate Realm lay within sight... everything had been so beautiful.

Yet it had all come to nothing.

His dream had shattered.

Only an empty shell remained of the Primordial Spirit Pearl. Someone had long since beaten him to it.

Thinking of his painstaking schemes, his expectations through countless days and nights... only for it all to turn out to be nothing but a joke, monstrous fury surged within him, and hatred drove him mad.

Shen Lang was merely the beginning.

His plan was to kill every last person in the Lin Family Pawnshop, leaving none alive.

Chen Shaojun was not even worth his attention.

He could not even be bothered to verify whether Chen Shaojun was the appraiser apprentice who had identified the treasure that day.

In any case, not a single person in this courtyard would survive.

Once Peng Dongcheng killed, he would slaughter an entire household to the last.

His longsword left its sheath. The sword tip darted up and down like a spirit serpent flicking its tongue, rapidly stabbing toward Chen Shaojun as Peng Dongcheng dove.

"So he really came looking for me."

Chen Shaojun understood, yet remained exceptionally calm.

A straight ruler had somehow appeared in his hand.

Clang!

The ruler smashed against the longsword.

The longsword snapped in response.

It... it broke?

How was that possible?

Peng Dongcheng was stunned.

His longsword was no ordinary item. Forged from hundred-refined steel and quenched in spirit water, it possessed astonishing hardness. Though it could not compare to divine weapons or peerless armaments, it was still one of the finest swords. The weapons used by many Qi Sea Realm martial artists might not even match his longsword.

Yet such a treasured sword had been smashed cleanly in two by the other man's ruler?

What sort of weapon was this ruler?

And was this man not an appraiser apprentice? How could he possess such strength? Not only had he blocked Peng Dongcheng's sword strike, he had even shattered Peng Dongcheng's weapon?