Black City Is Black City!

Lian Taoze fell silent for a moment, lowering his voice until it was nearly inaudible. "I can't really explain it either. I only heard it from others. All I know is that Tai Sui Lord is the sky over the Inner City. With him there, no one can breach Black City."

"Tai Sui Lord..."

Zhou Chen turned those four words over and over in his mind. This world was far stranger than he had imagined, filled with far too many things he had never heard of.

"Senior Brother," he said, recalling a question that had troubled him for years, "what territory does our Black City actually belong to?"

After being reborn here, he had asked his parents before, but they had been unable to answer, as though they had never even considered the question.

There were no divisions like the counties and prefectures of ancient times, nor were there escort agencies transporting goods. Everyone simply curled up safely within this city and lived out their entire lives.

"Territory?" Lian Taoze froze for a moment, as if this were the first time he had heard the word. "What territory?"

Zhou Chen's heart sank slightly. "I mean, what is this place of ours called?"

Lian Taoze shot him a strange look. "Black City is Black City. It's the largest city. As for who governs it... I really don't know. Besides, the outside is all Black Mist. Very few people go out to investigate. We can communicate with Azure City and Crimson City only by using tamed little Mist Monsters to deliver messages. No one has ever gone farther than that. Why are you asking this?"

"Nothing. I was just curious."

Zhou Chen brushed it off casually. Seeing that even his well-informed senior brother did not know, he lost the urge to press further and merely buried the question in his heart for now.

Lian Taoze then asked about his cultivation progress.

Zhou Chen glanced at the panel and said it was passable.

[Realm: First-Rank Skin Tempering Realm (Initiation) 623/1000]

The Mist Incense had finally grown to two feet tall over the past two days. At the normal rate, he would be able to light it tonight and break through in one stroke.

As he was pondering this, the door to the inner courtyard creaked open.

Old Zheng emerged, stroking his beard. He tilted his chin toward the side, singled out a frail youth, and told Steward Ma to drive him away.

The youth's surname was Chen, and he too came from a poor family.

Today marked exactly three months. His qi and blood had failed to break through the barrier of the First-Rank Skin Tempering Realm, so by the rules, he could only roll up his bedding and get out.

The young man surnamed Chen went pale in an instant. His lips trembled a few times, but in the end, he could not say a single word.

Steward Ma quietly offered him a few words of consolation. He lowered his head, silently packed his things, and left.

As he passed the senior and junior brothers training in the yard, he forced a smile and pretended not to care. Yet he found the gazes around him as cold as winter well water. Not one person returned his smile.

Especially Zhang Shaojiu. The two had known each other since childhood and had entered the hall together to practice boxing. They had once promised that whoever progressed faster would give the other a hand.

But after Zhang Shaojiu revealed his talent, something seemed to come between them.

Until last night, Zhang Shaojiu had gone with Shen Ao to sample the city's glittering pleasures. Overnight, he had changed greatly, carrying an air of lofty nobility that the young man surnamed Chen found unfamiliar.

At that moment, Zhang Shaojiu stood surrounded by the crowd. He cast the Chen youth a calm, indifferent glance, then withdrew his gaze, his face devoid of any extra expression.

The young man surnamed Chen recalled what had happened the night before. He had found an opening and sought out Zhang Shaojiu, hoping to mend their relationship. He brought up the "fun times" when they had scavenged rotten vegetable leaves at the market to fill their bellies, imagining that his former friend would remember their old bond and give him a hand in the future.

But before he could finish, Zhang Shaojiu had cast him an impatient look. That icy gaze, tinged with killing intent, had scorched the words right back down his throat and left cold sweat streaming down his back.

Clack!

After the young man surnamed Chen left, the martial hall's doors closed again.

The disciples in the yard wore different expressions. Those from wealthy families did not change much; even if they failed at martial arts, they had other paths to take. As for the impoverished disciples who had staked everything on this, they secretly gritted their teeth and urged themselves to work even harder.

Zhou Chen silently watched it all and let out a soft breath in his heart.

If not for the Divine Statue in his mind, then in another month or half a month, he too would have met the same fate.

Even if Master Zheng showed mercy and allowed him to stay at the martial hall doing odd jobs, he would only be wasting away his entire life.

That was not the life he wanted.

He did not want to muddle through this life in a daze. He wanted to rise above others!

Lian Taoze sensed that the atmosphere had grown stifling, so he smiled and changed the subject. Patting Zhou Chen on the shoulder, he said, "Junior Brother, don't lose heart yet. Don't you still have a month and a half? I'll think of something and see whether I can help you secure a few sponsorship slots."

"Sponsorship?"

"That's right." Lian Taoze smiled as he explained, "For martial arts, three parts are training and seven parts are eating. People from ordinary families like yours have a hard time in the early stages, but some wealthy households are willing to offer support and form a good bond. They sponsor dozens of people, and as long as one or two become Martial Warriors, they profit. But don't think this is some pie falling from the sky. At its core, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"Think about it. We Martial Warriors care about our reputations too. If you receive support early on, you naturally have to repay them later. For example, you might lend your name to them or hold down the fort for them. Otherwise, if word gets out that you repay kindness with ingratitude, what merchant house or wealthy family would dare employ you? My family's sponsorship slots for this year were already full before you arrived. Otherwise, I could have saved one for you, Junior Brother."

Perhaps fearing Zhou Chen would not believe him, Lian Taoze added rather awkwardly, "To tell you the truth, Senior Brother can't decide these sponsorship slots either. There are two branches in my family. My father handles the business and accounts, while my eldest uncle manages the Martial Warrior Attendants in the merchant houses. He has the final say over sponsorship slots. Besides, of our family's more than ten sponsorship slots each year, eight go to my cousins training at Plum Rain Martial Hall. I can only get two, and every time I get them, I immediately give them to some needy new disciples."

"You overstate it, Senior Brother. Being able to enter the martial hall and meet someone like you, someone willing to help others along, is already an enormous stroke of luck for me."

Zhou Chen spoke with complete sincerity. Though Senior Brother often joked around with the disciples and had no proper bearing when fighting crickets, he was still a Second-Rank Flesh-Tempering Warrior. Once he stepped outside, what family would not greet him with a smile? He simply had no airs and was willing to be close to them.

Zhou Chen could understand that Lian Taoze had few slots in hand. With Lian Taoze's temperament, if he truly had the final say, he would probably ignore talent and look only at who was pitiful, giving slots to whoever seemed most desperate. But with such a great Lineage behind him, how could they allow him to scatter silver so freely? To make a losing business?

That his uncle allowed him two slots was already an act of mercy.

Zhou Chen could practically picture Lian Taoze's eldest uncle's worried face.

Afterward, Lian Taoze called over several more newly initiated disciples. Like Zhou Chen, their clothes were patch upon patch, and the soles of their shoes were nearly worn through.

Lian Taoze smiled at them and said, "Junior Brothers, please wait a moment. The Junior Sisters surnamed Liu and Sun from our inner courtyard did not come to our martial hall only to practice martial arts. They are also here to look for promising seedlings. I'll call them over shortly for a chat. When the time comes, make sure you perform well."

The moment those words fell, disciples from ordinary families like Zhou Chen grew excited, their eyes lighting up.

Du Song, standing beside him, was also delighted. He said to Zhou Chen with longing, "Chen, Senior Sister Liu is the Liu family's eldest daughter. I heard she has seven or eight sponsorship slots every year! Senior Sister Sun isn't bad either. Her father runs a medicinal herb shop in the Outer City, and their family is loaded. It would be wonderful if they took a liking to us."

The other disciples nearby nodded in agreement. "That's right! If we can get their support, eat a little more meat each day, and drink one more bowl of Qi-Blood Soup, our chances of breaking through will rise by a few points."

Who came here to practice martial arts without yearning to become a Martial Warrior?

If they failed after three months, they could only go out and do dirty, exhausting work, such as becoming courtyard guards.

Don't let the title of courtyard guard fool you. Put bluntly, they were just servants. In the novels of his past life, when the protagonist flipped over an enemy's courtyard wall and slapped one dead with a single palm, those were the cannon-fodder courtyard guards.