Fish-Dragon Nine-Turn Art

"Brother Tang, I have nothing with which to repay you, so please accept this cultivation art.

Back then, I passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi, with a fairly high ranking at that.

I was originally assigned to a provincial post as a seventh-rank Company Commander, but later, I offended someone while saving a woman.

She was also the one who gave me this cultivation art. It plunged my official career into a desperate predicament, and today, you were the one who opened a way out, Brother Tang.

So I'm giving it to you, to untie the knot that has weighed on my heart for years.

This art is called the 'Fish-Dragon Nine-Turn Art.' Master the first turn, and you can leap half a zhang high. Master the second, and you can leap a full zhang...

At the ninth turn, you'll be like a carp leaping through the Dragon Gate, soaring into the sky." Yang Yun took out a book and handed it over.

"Does that mean you can actually fly?" Tang Wen asked.

"Of course not, but once you reach the pinnacle of the ninth level, leaping a dozen zhang should be no trouble.

At that point, you leap to your highest point, then spread both arms and glide like a fish-dragon spreading its wings.

A single step can carry you dozens of meters. This is an inner cultivation method that improves lightness skills-a rare treasure indeed," Yang Yun said.

"Its grade must be quite high," Tang Wen said with a nod.

"Upper grade earth rank. When that woman gave it to me, she also told me this.

It can only be passed on to benefactors, not to children, parents, or siblings.

So over these past few years, I've practiced it myself, but never taught it to anyone else.

You are my benefactor, Tang Wen, so you meet that condition perfectly. Passing it on to you won't violate my obligations," Yang Yun said.

"Which turn have you reached, Brother Yang?" Tang Wen asked curiously.

"Only the third. I can leap onto the second floor of a building, and covering seven or eight meters in one step is no trouble.

But my progress hasn't been fast. I've practiced for five full years.

Come, Brother Tang, let me explain it to you properly.

Even if you don't know martial arts, practicing this method will make you as light as a swallow. It'll always come in handy for escaping danger," Yang Yun said.

Tang Wen found this rather strange. He clearly possessed mid-eighth-rank strength, so why couldn't martial artists like Yang Yun tell that he had practiced martial arts?

It was quite difficult for a martial artist to determine another person's cultivation realm. Unless the other person revealed their aura during a fight, making an assessment was difficult. When they were standing still, judging their strength was extremely hard.

However, one could still sense the aura around someone and use it to determine whether they were a martial artist.

Of course, some experts could conceal their aura so perfectly that it was extremely difficult to recognize them as martial artists.

But his cultivation was lower than Yang Yun's. Why couldn't Yang Yun tell?

Could the great landlord space have a function that concealed my aura?

Thus, apart from Li Quan, who knew he had practiced martial arts, no one else knew-not Tang Jun, Zhao Du, or even Zhan Dongwen and the others.

Qiao Xiao knew a little, since Tang Wen had stunned him with his crossbow that day.

But Qiao Xiao had no idea how strong he was, either. He probably assumed Tang Wen was merely a good shot.

That evening, Tang Wen and Yang Yun accompanied Zhang Hongjiang straight to the Nightfall Pavilion. They waited in a private room for a full hour before Kang Qingfeng finally arrived.

"Deputy Director Kang Qingfeng." Zhang Hongjiang greeted him as soon as he entered.

"Deputy Director?" Kang Qingfeng glanced around and noticed that Tang Wen was there too. He gave a snort, and the tall, slender woman following him immediately said, "Lord Zhang, you should address him as Branch Master Kang."

"You've been promoted, Lord Kang? Forgive my discourtesy." Taken aback, Zhang Hongjiang hurriedly cupped his hands.

"Heh, nothing's settled yet. I was just planning to visit you about establishing a Six Fan Sub-Helm in Yanling Commandery, Lord Zhang." Kang Qingfeng smiled, then pointed to the woman behind him. "This is Miss Yu Hong, Deputy Branch Master of the Yanling Sub-Helm."

"Deputy Branch Master Yu." Zhang Hongjiang cupped his hands in greeting.

"You're too courteous, Lord Zhang." Yu Hong nodded. Both of them were exceedingly arrogant.

They behaved that way even toward a Principal Fourth Rank Commandery Governor like Zhang Hongjiang.

In terms of rank, even if Kang Qingfeng became Branch Master of the Yanling Sub-Helm,

he would only hold Principal Fifth Rank. Yu Hong ranked even lower, at Principal Sixth Rank, on the same level as Yanling Commandery's Assistant Prefect.

However, members of the Six Fan Gate had always carried their eyes above their heads, looking down somewhat on local officials.

Local officials were also quite wary of them, afraid of being framed. Thus, whenever they arrived, they were usually greeted with smiling faces.

This only fanned their arrogance, making them act as though no one else mattered.

"And who is this?" Kang Qingfeng suddenly asked, looking at Tang Wen.

He knew Constable Yang. In fact, he had already looked into Tang Wen in secret; now, he was deliberately pretending not to know him.

"Lord Tang Wen, newly ennobled as Count of Yanling in our Yanling Commandery," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"My lord Count, heh, I've long heard of you!" Kang Qingfeng smiled without so much as bending at the waist, openly displaying his disdain.

"I've only just arrived from Liangzhou and have been tucked away on remote Su Mei Island, so I haven't yet had the chance to pay you a visit, Lord Kang. Forgive my discourtesy," Tang Wen said.

"Su Mei Island? Isn't that a deserted island?" Kang Qingfeng said in a pompous official tone.

"The Count is building waterworks, hoping to restore Su Mei Island to the prosperity it enjoyed decades ago," Constable Yang interjected.

"Why build waterworks in a place where birds won't even shit? You could throw silver into it without raising a single bubble. My lord Count, you really should stop wasting your efforts," Kang Qingfeng sneered.

"However desolate that island may be, it's still the Tang family's private property, inherited from our ancestors. I have to take care of it. Otherwise, people will say there's no one left in the Tang family," Tang Wen said.

"Is there anyone left in the Tang family?" Kang Qingfeng grew increasingly brazen. Even Zhang Hongjiang, seated beside them, frowned.

"Are you suggesting that I, Tang Wen, am not a person, Lord Kang?" Tang Wen's temper was beginning to rise as well.

"I suppose you count as one," Kang Qingfeng said.

"Hehehe, of course the Count counts as a person." Yu Hong laughed loudly.

"You two, my title of Count was bestowed by the Imperial Clan.

I stand with the royal family. If you say that I, Tang Wen, am not a person, then neither is the Imperial Clan.

Heh, Lord Zhang, if word of this reached the Imperial Clan Court, I imagine things would become quite interesting," Tang Wen said with a cold smile.

"All right, all right, dinner is served. Lord Kang, please take the seat of honor." Zhang Hongjiang gestured toward the head seat, trying to smooth things over.

"Hmph!" Kang Qingfeng flicked aside his official robe and settled into the seat of honor with a swagger.

Although Zhang Hongjiang concealed his feelings expertly, Tang Wen could see that the human qi above his head was almost turning into a roaring tiger.

After a few cups of wine, Zhang Hongjiang said, "By the way, Lord Kang, there's a man named Qiao Xiao whom you previously instructed us to detain in my office's jail. What exactly did he do?"

"My lord Count, what do you say he did?" Kang Qingfeng asked Tang Wen in a snide tone.

"He's a servant of my Tang family and has always followed the rules. What crime could he have committed?

From what I've heard, it was merely a minor scuffle.

I don't understand. Why would a dignified Six Fan Sub-Helm Branch Master like you have him arrested, Lord Kang?" Tang Wen asked.

"A minor scuffle? He drew a blade on me! That constitutes an open attack on a disciple of the Six Fan Gate, punishable by death under the law!

However, I am a merciful man. The Yanling Commandery branch of the Six Fan Gate is currently being established, and we still need a site.

I heard that you recently purchased a property, my lord Count, called the Thousand-Leaf Workshop.

I've inspected it myself. It's quite good, just right for housing our Six Fan Sub-Helm.

Of course, this is all for official business, and we can't let you suffer a loss. How does a hundred and fifty thousand taels sound?" Kang Qingfeng asked with a cold smile.

"I just bought it for three hundred thousand," Tang Wen replied.

"You overpaid. Someone fleeced you. It's only worth a hundred and fifty thousand taels. If you agree, my lord, I'll arrange for someone to come sign the contract," Kang Qingfeng said imperiously.

"Agree? How am I supposed to agree?" Tang Wen asked.

"Heh, you don't have to. I plan to interrogate Qiao Xiao tonight and proceed according to the rules. When the time comes, you need only come collect his corpse, my lord," Kang Qingfeng said with a cold smile.

"Heh, my lord, this is for the imperial court's business.

The Six Fan Gate has chosen the Thousand-Leaf Workshop. What are your intentions in refusing to hand it over?

If this is reported to our superiors, you might not even get the hundred and fifty thousand taels-and you'll end up eating prison food," Yu Hong threatened.

"The Six Fan Sub-Helm doesn't need such a large property, does it? Why not set aside a portion for you? You wouldn't have to pay a coin. We could treat it as a donation from the Count and convert it into military merits. How does that sound?" Zhang Hongjiang said.

"Forty or fifty mu should be enough," Constable Yang agreed.

"A hundred mu. That can be converted into military merits," Kang Qingfeng said.

"How would those merits be calculated? How many would I get?" Tang Wen asked.

"At land prices here in Yanling City, a hundred mu should fetch two hundred thousand taels. We'll count it as two thousand military merits," Zhang Hongjiang said.

"Lord Zhang, he only paid three hundred thousand taels for the entire property.

The Thousand-Leaf Workshop covers nearly three hundred mu, so that can only count as thirty percent-one thousand military merits.

We can't falsify military merits. If our superiors investigate, we'll all have more trouble than we can stomach," Kang Qingfeng said, making things difficult again.

"What do you think, my lord?" Zhang Hongjiang asked.