Deathmatch Arena

Under the gloomy sky, they bypassed Chessboard Street and arrived at Liansheng Escort Agency in Saddle Ward.

This was Lu Li's first time stepping through the escort agency's gates.

The gate towers of the agency were plain and solid, its two black-lacquered elm doors half open.

Crossing the low threshold, the layout within opened up, orderly and well-arranged.

The front courtyard held a broad training ground of packed yellow earth, its surface crushed hard and firm, not a blade of grass in sight. Weapons, stone locks, and more were arranged along the edges...

From within came waves of muffled shouts mixed with the crisp clang of colliding weapons. A rough scent of sweat, rust, and aged tung oil rushed toward them.

"Instructor Shen! You're here!"

"Instructor Shen!"

"Instructor Shen, it's been many days..."

Shen Gangfu walked ahead with his hands behind his back. Greetings repeatedly reached his ears, and he nodded to each in return.

They passed through the agency's front courtyard, then turned and wound their way to the side courtyard's wing rooms. Lu Li followed close behind his master, occasionally glancing sideways to take in the courtyard's layout.

Before an exquisite wing room.

"Su'e, is the young mistress here?" Shen Gangfu's voice was neither loud nor soft, carrying a faint hint of urgency.

"Instructor Shen, please enter the main hall. I'll call the young mistress at once."

The two took their seats in the main hall.

Before long, another maid brought over tea and set it between them. Shen Gangfu lifted his cup and took two small sips.

Lu Li sat upright, his gaze fixed ahead, pondering inwardly. Obtaining a method to improve his Root Bone probably would not be easy... At that thought, he felt that his master truly treated him like a son.

Lu Li could not help but feel moved.

To encounter such a good master was a blessing as well. In Shen Gangfu, he saw the rare bearing of a true Jianghu man.

He had seen such people only in films from his previous life—the chivalrous spirit of old Jianghu hands. In times like these, it was far too precious.

"Uncle Shen." Lin Lanyi smiled faintly, her hands still clasped behind her back as she walked into the main hall at an unhurried pace and took the seat of honor.

"Lu Li greets the young mistress." Lu Li rose and cupped his hands to Lin Lanyi, a faint smile in his eyes.

Lin Lanyi examined the haggard yet still composed Lu Li, then said calmly:

"Ah... Your Gate-Breaking failed and injured the foundation of your vital blood..."

Before she had finished speaking, Lin Lanyi rose again. One hand remained behind her back as she lightly paced back and forth across the hall.

"What brings Uncle Shen here?"

Shen Gangfu spoke at the right moment. "Lanyi, you have seen Lu Li's condition. I came here... I came here to seek a method to improve his Root Bone."

Lin Lanyi stared at Lu Li's face. Only after a moment did she slowly shake her head and look toward Shen Gangfu.

"Uncle Shen, is he worth this much?"

Lu Li's eyes shifted slightly, but his expression did not change in the slightest.

Shen Gangfu smiled and nodded, neither joy nor sorrow visible in his eyes.

"What is there to be worth or not worth? Half a month ago, I took him as my personal disciple. When a disciple is in trouble, what master could stand by and do nothing?"

"Uncle Shen truly is as chivalrous and tenderhearted as ever..."

Having received the answer she expected, Lin Lanyi sat down again with her hands behind her back and smiled as if merely making casual conversation.

"I do indeed possess a method to improve one's Root Bone. However... Lu Li must promise to do one thing for me in the future."

Lin Lanyi's ready agreement caught both master and disciple by surprise.

Shen Gangfu was somewhat astonished.

As far as he knew, throughout Blackwater City, Pang Shilang was the only person publicly known to possess a method for improving Root Bone.

Before coming to the escort agency, he had not even been certain that Lin Lanyi truly had one. He had merely come to try his luck, never expecting the secret rumor he had heard ten years ago to be true.

The Lin Family had indeed found a method to improve Root Bone.

It did not matter if he owed such an enormous favor, but why did Lanyi need a favor from Lu Li? Looking at it this way... could it be that Lin Lanyi thought highly of his disciple as well?

In silence, Shen Gangfu turned to glance at Lu Li.

Lu Li understood and hurriedly asked, "May I ask what the young mistress needs me to do?"

Lu Li did not expect Lin Lanyi to give any answer. In the eyes of outsiders, what use could a martial artist whose Gate-Breaking had failed possibly have?

At his words, Lin Lanyi remained perfectly composed. Thoughtfulness flickered in her eyes, and without looking again at either of their expressions, she blurted out:

"When the time comes, I will inform you master and disciple."

Shen Gangfu gave a slight nod.

Lu Li's thoughts raced. He had not expected Lin Lanyi to truly have something requiring both him and his master to do. It was probably no small matter, but since she was unwilling to say now, it would not be appropriate for him to press further.

Still.

It was better to obtain the method to improve his Root Bone first.

With that same smile from before, Lin Lanyi withdrew her left palm and placed it behind her back as well, then continued:

"You two must not pass this method on to anyone else."

Once she received their definite answers from their faces, a slender figure silently drew close to Lu Li's side before he could react.

She turned slightly, lowered her jade-like neck, and brought her cherry lips close to Lu Li's ear...

The smile on Lu Li's face gradually vanished, replaced by stunned disbelief.

Lin Lanyi's breath was light, drifting thread by thread into Lu Li's ear. She kept her voice extremely low, so only he could hear it clearly. Her soft, sweet whisper stood in stark contrast to her usual heroic yet cool bearing.

Her voice was close, soft, and faintly ticklish as it brushed past his ear...

Lu Li's heart stalled slightly, because a faint fragrance followed close behind.

...It was not the rich, vulgar scent of rouge and powder, but an elegant fragrance, as though she had long been steeped in the scent of books and lightly perfumed with herbs and plants—so faint it was nearly traceless...

Lu Li's body instinctively tensed for an instant. At such close range, the fragrance seeped into his nose, cool, gentle, and refined, making his heart pound. It felt like the clean, distant breeze carrying white sandalwood through a courtyard after rain.

After speaking, Lin Lanyi returned to her seat.

Lu Li hurriedly recited the method she had given him several more times in his heart, until he had memorized it perfectly, without missing a single word.

"The two main ingredients alone will probably cost no less than twenty thousand taels. Come find me once you have gathered the silver. I have channels to obtain the medicine. Remember, do not seek the medicine yourselves..." Lin Lanyi instructed, staring at Lu Li's face.

Lu Li and Shen Gangfu nodded in agreement. Then Lin Lanyi lifted her tea to see them out.

After returning to the martial hall.

Shen Gangfu went back to the rear courtyard alone.

Not long after, Lu Li also returned to the rear courtyard's training room. He needed to calm down. The discussions about him in the front courtyard had not stopped, and they were making him restless.

Twenty thousand taels!

Lu Li's thoughts raced. To him now, that was undoubtedly an astronomical sum. His monthly wages serving at the Road Division office amounted to only six taels of silver.

Moreover, the Vermilion Sand Powder he needed next for Skin Tempering was equally urgent.

One portion of Vermilion Sand Powder cost a thousand taels of silver.

In the short term.

There was simply no way he could gather so much silver. Yet improving his Root Bone and obtaining Vermilion Sand Powder were both equally vital matters to him.

Although his master had told him on the way back that he would help think of a solution.

How much could his master contribute toward such an enormous sum?

Besides, he already owed his master many kindnesses. He truly did not wish for his master to exhaust himself worrying on his behalf as well.

Very soon,

Lu Li made his decision. His Skin Tempering progress could not fall behind. He planned to start fighting on the Deathmatch Arena tonight.

According to Zhao Kuo, simply stepping onto the platform earned five taels of silver. If he fought ten matches in a night, that would be fifty taels.

Night fell like ink. Lu Li returned to Lu Residence, changed out of his martial hall training clothes, and put on the dark short jacket he had prepared long ago.

With a thought, he sank into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Disguise Technique": Minor Accomplishment (168/1200)

Half a month ago, he had begun secretly studying various appearances and makeup techniques. The Celebratory Cloud Lamp had indeed classified it as the Disguise Technique. Ever since, he had spent an additional hour every night diligently practicing it, and it had now reached Minor Accomplishment.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lu Li had transformed into an old man past fifty, with a thick black beard and deep ravines carved across his face.

But this was only the first layer of disguise.

For safety's sake, beneath this appearance lay another disguise: that of a middle-aged man who had just passed thirty.

With his preparations nearly complete.

He secretly slipped out through the back gate, detoured through the back street of City God Temple, then wound through several more turns before quietly arriving at Pleasure Lane on North Gate Avenue.

Night had deepened, yet Pleasure Lane was brilliantly lit.

This was the most prosperous night street in Blackwater City's Outer City, where wine shops, gambling dens, brothels...

Aided by the directions, Lu Li came to a large courtyard at the end of the lane.

A cold wind in the alley mixed with the stench of sweat, alcohol, and pleasure houses rushed at him. High walls on both sides blocked the moonlight, leaving only several swaying red lanterns for illumination. The shadows were dim, flickering between light and dark.

Two trained fighters stood guard at the courtyard gate, short blades in hand and vicious looks in their eyes. Seeing Lu Li approach, they repeatedly sized him up from head to toe without asking a word.

Lu Li's expression remained calm as he coldly spat out four words:

"I fight. I take silver."