Sun-Moon Prosperity

"You've got some nerve."

The corner of Cao Jinxing's eye twitched. "You dared to steal from an imperial estate, and you dare to tell me about it... can't you tell what I am?"

"A four-clawed flying fish. An Embroidered Uniform Guard from the Northern Pacification Office."

Lu Kunlun smiled. "But you probably don't have time to catch thieves right now, brother. Why not let me 'make amends through meritorious service'?"

He rubbed his hands, looking excited. "Just hearing that I can slaughter the Yan Family's people makes my hands itch. Please, you have to let me help!"

Cao Jinxing asked, "You have a grudge against the Yan Family?"

Lu Kunlun said, "You must be joking, brother. What decent person anywhere under heaven doesn't have a grudge against them?"

"..."

Cao Jinxing could not help taking a proper look at him.

Lu Kunlun asked, "Well?"

Cao Jinxing smiled too. "I couldn't ask for more."

"Hahaha!"

Lu Kunlun laughed heartily. "May I ask your name, brother? To think I never knew the Northern Pacification Office had someone like you. What a loss!"

Even Lu Bing, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, showed Yan Song some deference. Who would have thought someone under him would dare curse the Yan Family's people, then butcher Opera House assassins like chickens and dogs? What a talent!

"Cao Jinxing, Northern Pacification Office."

"A fine name!"

Lu Kunlun gave him repeated thumbs-ups. With how readily Cao Jinxing had agreed, Lu Kunlun could have praised his name without batting an eye even if he had been called Li Dogscraps.

Lu Kunlun said, "With the two of us working together, those ten remaining men are nothing to fear. I know a great place to fight, drink, and finish them off while we're at it. The only question is whether you dare go, brother."

Cao Jinxing asked, "Where?"

Lu Kunlun pointed toward the center of Baoyang Commandery's main city and waggled his eyebrows. "The Sun-Moon Prosperity Restaurant. Zhao Wenhua, that Yan Family lackey, owns a share in it. It rakes in money every day, and it's quite grand. We can drink on his turf, smash the place up, and kill the Opera House's people while we're at it. Several birds with one stone."

Kill their people and tear down their restaurant too!

Just how deep did this grudge run?

Even Cao Jinxing was stunned. "Aren't you afraid they'll coordinate an attack from inside and out?"

"If you were an ordinary man, brother, I really wouldn't dare go. But you're an Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Lu Kunlun smiled. "It's the finest restaurant in all of Baoyang Commandery. Officials heading to the capital usually stop there first to seek favors through Zhao Wenhua. With so many eyes around, once you show yourself, they won't dare act. Instead, they'll be desperate to distance themselves and help you deal with the attackers. What's that called? Dogs biting dogs!"

"Interesting..."

Cao Jinxing could not help smiling. "You're a shrewd man, Brother Lu. I admire that."

"Then..."

Lu Kunlun looked eager. "Shall we?"

Cao Jinxing nodded at once. "Let's go!"

"That's the spirit!"

The more Lu Kunlun looked at Cao Jinxing, the more he liked him. "I'll lead the way. Keep up, brother!"

He leaped up, using the Beggar Gang's supreme movement technique, Hundred-Mile Moon-Gazing, and shot into the sky with the sinuous grace of a dragon.

He must be a direct-line disciple of the Beggar Gang. Everything he's learned is among the finest martial arts from Junshan on Dongting Lake. His background is anything but ordinary...

Thinking this, Cao Jinxing leaped onto his horse, pulled the reins, and sent it galloping.

The two entered Baoyang Commandery's main city one after the other and arrived outside the Sun-Moon Prosperity Restaurant.

It was just as Lu Kunlun had said: magnificent and imposing, with bustling crowds and every bit as lively as the capital's famous restaurants.

Cao Jinxing dismounted and pulled back his cloak, revealing the splendid Flying Fish Uniform beneath his black outer clothing. With an imposing bearing, he led Lu Kunlun inside.

"Oh! Lord Company Commander!"

The attendant at the entrance brightened. With Zhao Wenhua behind them, they had no need to bow and scrape before sixth-rank officials, and they could still overcharge them as usual. But there was one exception.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Northern Pacification Office.

Quite apart from the fact that their commander, Lu Bing, was the emperor's childhood friend, deeply trusted and at the height of his power, their title as "the emperor's personal troops" alone forced everyone dealing with them to tread carefully.

"This way, Lord Company Commander. What would you like to eat?"

The attendant eagerly led Cao Jinxing toward the private rooms upstairs.

"No need."

Cao Jinxing waved a hand. "The main hall on the ground floor will do. I like a lively atmosphere."

"Certainly!"

The attendant called out and changed course, leading him toward an empty table in the middle of the hall. As for Lu Kunlun behind him, he was ignored-even if he had reeked instead of being clean, no one would have dared object.

The two sat down.

The low-ranking officials and traveling merchants around them cast curious looks their way. An Embroidered Uniform Guard paired with a beggar was a rare sight.

Cao Jinxing set down the box he carried behind his waist. "Bring us a table of food and wine. Good food, good wine. Someone will pay later."

"Understood."

The attendant was sharp. He instinctively assumed someone was treating an Embroidered Uniform Guard, in which case money would certainly be no object.

Besides, this restaurant belonged to Zhao Wenhua, Yan Song's adopted son and the fourth-rank right assistant commissioner of the Office of Transmission. Who would dare refuse to pay?

Before long, fine food and wine filled the table.

Cao Jinxing said, "It'll take them a while to get here. Let's eat first. Brother Lu, please."

"Please."

Lu Kunlun practically drooled at the spread of fine dishes. Better yet, the wine they brought really was good.

Although it could not compare to thirty-year-aged Huadiao, it was still premium Maotai rarely seen on the market.

He poured himself a large bowl and drained it, sighing in satisfaction. "Good wine! Come on, drink!"

Cao Jinxing raised his bowl. Their bowls clinked in midair, and both drank them dry.

Enjoying his drink, Lu Kunlun began to talk. "Your martial arts are quite varied, brother. Very much in the Pacification Commission's style. Heavenly Sword-Linked Finger isn't a sect's martial art, is it?"

"No."

Cao Jinxing nodded. "It was created by Huiming, the 'Ghost Monk,' an expelled Shaolin disciple. It abandoned Shaolin's upright approach and became sinister instead, so it isn't an orthodox martial art. I only learned it for fun because it was powerful enough."

"Impressive!"

Lu Kunlun said, "To produce that kind of power just by practicing it casually-I'm impressed. Was the other one Cloud-Discharging Palm? I've been looking for that martial art for ages."

"Oh?"

Cao Jinxing was puzzled. "What were you looking for it for?"

Lu Kunlun said, "My master said it's a very special martial art, one that isn't confined by its grade. In the hands of a strong practitioner, it's enough to dominate the world. A weak one can't bring out any of its power. It was only classified as sixth grade because there are too many mediocre people! It works along similar lines to our Dragon-Subduing Palm, so there's a great deal we could learn from it."

"I see."

Cao Jinxing nodded. "Easy enough. The Pacification Commission has no explicit rule against passing it on. Once we're done here, I'll write out a copy from memory for you."

He spoke casually, then tipped his head back and drank another bowl of wine.

Lu Kunlun froze. "Brother, this is a spirit martial art..."

Who possessed a supreme technique without keeping it hidden, terrified that someone else would learn about it?

If it spread, others would not even have to practice it. Simply understanding it would let them work out ways to counter it.

Know yourself and your enemy, and you would never lose a battle!

Yet Cao Jinxing seemed entirely unconcerned.

Cao Jinxing said, "A true master can defeat everyone under heaven with a single set of Arhat Fist. It's normal for a technique to have flaws. Once you've understood it thoroughly, the next move covers the previous move's opening. With every move working that way, the whole becomes seamless, and naturally there's nothing to exploit."

"..."

Holy shit!

Lu Kunlun was so startled that he forgot to drink the wine at his lips. That idea had always circulated in the martial world, but actually achieving it was another matter entirely.

It required extraordinary comprehension and cultivation to the point of returning to simplicity. He thought he had already rated Cao Jinxing highly, but he had never imagined Cao Jinxing could speak of it so casually.

This was no man given to empty boasts. If he dared say it and act on it, he clearly had no fear of someone learning Cloud-Discharging Palm to counter him!

He had already mastered its essence!

No wonder he killed Soul-Seeking Dog so easily, even though they were both at the Xiantian level. He'd thoroughly grasped his martial arts, which was why their power far surpassed everyone else's!

How was that possible?

How old was he?

Many people spent their entire lives studying a single martial art without reaching such a realm. Yet he had achieved it with every one of his...

"I was wondering why your strength was so strange..."

Lu Kunlun exclaimed in admiration, "Even the Thieves' Gate's seventh-grade Lightning Movement Step was that powerful. So that's why... I thought you'd eaten some heavenly treasure that improved your constitution."

"Heavenly treasures aren't so easy to come by."

That was the one thing Cao Jinxing had no desire for.

The price of obtaining Spirit Cat Snow Glaze had been making an enemy of Windcloud Manor and nearly dying together with Zhang Chengfeng, who had been holding Heavenly Thunder Bombs!

The price of obtaining Snow Soul had been a fight with the White Dragon Gu. Eight of his ribs had broken on the spot, leaving him gravely injured and nearly killed by it!

My luck is too poor. I'm staying out of that.

Cao Jinxing now knew his own limits very well.

"Not necessarily."

Lu Kunlun gave a mysterious smile. "Otherwise, why do you think I came all this way from Junshan?"

"Hmm?"

Cao Jinxing was slightly startled, his wine cup pausing in midair.

"What do you mean?"