"How troublesome could one man be? Surely my esteemed Wind and Snow Hall can afford to support him?"
Zhao Fengxue was displeased. Wang Hao's talent was monstrous, after all. Naturally, someone so monstrous had to be won over with a gentle hand, and they also had to demonstrate the strength of Blood Wind Hall's foundations.
Wasn't this wretched girl undermining him by contradicting him now?
"Hall Master, I'm a practical man. When I carry out missions in the future, I won't ask for any payment. Just let me have one of the finest banquets at the Drunken Immortal Tower each time. Would that be all right?"
Wang Hao fixed his dead fish eyes on Zhao Fengrou. He didn't care whether someone who dared ruin his good fortune was a woman.
Zhao Fengrou's face nearly turned green when she heard that.
What a joke! This fellow had just eaten 110,000 taels' worth of food at her restaurant. A few more visits like that would bankrupt her.
Besides, Zhao Fengxue was her father. Could she really go and collect the bill from him afterward?
Wouldn't she end up footing the bill for it all?
And another thing, wasn't he threatening her?
He was definitely threatening her!
Before Zhao Fengrou could speak, Zhao Fengxue gave a magnanimous wave and declared with extravagant generosity, "There's no need to go to the Drunken Immortal Tower. I hired the cook at Blood Wind Hall from there. I'll just have Li Dazui prepare a banquet for you when the time comes."
Zhao Fengxue agreed readily. After all, payment for missions from Blood Robe Tower headquarters started at a thousand taels, while even the finest banquet at the Drunken Immortal Tower cost only a thousand taels, and its actual cost was just four or five hundred.
If he used a banquet in place of payment, he would be the one profiting in the end!
Naturally, he wouldn't turn down such a good deal.
Zhao Fengrou gave her father a peculiar look, then looked at Wang Hao, who was staring straight at her with his dead fish eyes. She opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.
Her father had yet to be beaten up by society!
But never mind. Better a fellow Daoist die than this poor Daoist. She would let her father deal with this walking pitfall!
She hoped her father wouldn't be angered to death when he saw the bill at the end-of-year accounting.
"Father, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave!"
Zhao Fengrou sighed, took her leave of her father, and turned to go.
"Hall Master, your subordinate requests leave!"
Seeing that Zhao Fengrou had finally left, Wang Hao breathed a sigh of relief. He took his leave of Zhao Fengxue, picked up Little Erha, who was still whimpering from being overstuffed, along with a bundle containing several articles of clothing, and followed the young man called Nine Five Two Seven away.
"Something feels strange!"
Zhao Fengxue glanced at Wang Hao and his daughter as they departed. He kept feeling that something was wrong, but for the moment he couldn't figure out what.
Unable to make sense of it, he stopped thinking about it. He raised his right hand and looked at the bead of blood seeping from the tip of his index finger, then exclaimed sincerely, "That boy really is a monster!"
The sword mark had been left in the final exchange. The boy's greatsword had pierced an opening in his Sword Qi, leaving this tiny wound on his fingertip.
Although he had just used less than half a tenth of his strength and the Sword Qi he had condensed wasn't particularly powerful, it was still Sword Qi unique to Grandmaster-level experts!
It was the product of Acquired True Qi fused with Sword Intent, yet a boy who had only just broken through to Second-rate cultivation had cleaved it apart.
Even allowing for his carelessness, that was still remarkable.
But all the better. With such a monstrous talent, Blood Wind Hall would have a successor.
As long as the boy passed the tests of character and loyalty in the time ahead, he wouldn't mind grooming him to become the next master of Blood Wind Hall.
Poor Zhao Fengxue had no idea that the person he had taken a fancy to was a walking pitfall through and through. If he really made him master of Blood Wind Hall, the entire hall would probably be eaten into bankruptcy.
Leaving aside Zhao Fengxue's plans, Wang Hao, meanwhile, struck up a conversation with the fellow called Nine Five Two Seven.
"Is Nine Five Two Seven your code name? Does everyone in the Blood Robe Tower use only numbers as code names?"
Wang Hao was quite curious about Nine Five Two Seven's code name. After all, the number had a legendary quality to it.
Unfortunately, Nine Five Two Seven was a man of few words. No matter what Wang Hao asked, he remained silent, looking like a cold and aloof male god.
After asking a few questions without getting a response, Wang Hao had no choice but to give up.
The two continued in silence and soon arrived at a pavilion bearing the inscription "Martial Repository Pavilion."
It was an institution shared throughout the Blood Robe Tower. It was responsible for recording the files of every assassin and also stored many martial arts manuals collected by the Blood Robe Tower over the past century.
Assassins could exchange their merits at the Martial Repository Pavilion for martial arts manuals of the corresponding level to cultivate.
When Wang Hao entered the first-floor hall of the Martial Repository Pavilion, he discovered that another person was registering. He was a vicious brute with a face full of coarse flesh and a savage appearance; all he lacked were the words "bad guy" carved on his face.
"This is his information. Grade-A aptitude, with authorization for one First-Rate martial art."
Nine Five Two Seven spoke indifferently. He took Wang Hao's information, which had been prepared beforehand, from his sleeve and handed it to the old man seated in the main seat of the hall for registration.
Grade-A aptitude was an assessment of Wang Hao, the highest aptitude grade in the Blood Robe Tower. It meant he had the potential to become a Super-First-Rate expert.
Authorization for one First-Rate martial art was a benefit granted for such aptitude. After all, people with good talent were bound to have some privileges, and in a certain sense, that was also a kind of fairness.
But someone felt it was unfair.
The coarse-faced brute said indignantly, "Why the hell do I only get authorization for a Second-rate martial art, while this kid gets a First-Rate one right away? I won't accept it!"
"If you won't accept it, just kill him and take it."
The old man in charge of registration spoke without looking up. He picked up his brush to prepare Wang Hao's file and wrote the five digits 10087 in the code-name field at the top, using Arabic numerals, indicating that this would be Wang Hao's number from now on.
"Wait, why 10087? Can't you make it 10086?"
The code name 10087 bothered Wang Hao. He would have accepted any other number, but being just one number off really annoyed him.
After all, in this other world, it would be nice to have a familiar code name.
"He's 10086. If you like the code name, just kill him and take it."
Once again, the old man spoke without looking up, his tone as indifferent as ever. Clearly, he was accustomed to conflicts of this kind.
Wang Hao and the brute looked at each other. Wang Hao merely frowned, while the brute was filled with killing intent.
Although Second-rate and First-Rate martial arts differed by only one grade, the difference in their actual power was considerable.
Even if one cultivated a Second-rate martial art to its peak, one could at most become a First-Rate expert. A First-Rate martial art, however, offered a chance to cultivate to the Super-First-Rate realm.
As a member of an assassin organization like the Blood Robe Tower, he would inevitably walk the edge of life and death in the future. If he possessed a more powerful martial art, his chances of survival would undoubtedly be much greater.
He was determined to get authorization for that First-Rate martial art!
"Were you jailed for violating women?"
Wang Hao looked at the brute's forehead, where the conspicuous character "rape" was tattooed. It was a mark the authorities tattooed on certain criminals convicted of violating women, and it was difficult to remove.
"What? You want some too? I don't mind playing with you."
The brute gave a strange chuckle as he looked Wang Hao's body up and down and licked his lips, appearing tempted.
The sight thoroughly disgusted Wang Hao. He hadn't expected to meet someone who went for both men and women today.
"How many women have you defiled?"
Wang Hao pressed him coldly, a chilling murderous intent gradually growing in his heart.
"You talk too much. Die!"
The brute was growing impatient. With a savage shout, he curled his fingers into a claw and lunged at Wang Hao. He was using the Eagle Claw Technique, a Third-Rate martial art widespread in the martial world, and judging by the look of it, he had cultivated it to the pinnacle.
Although it was only a Third-Rate martial art, cultivating it to the pinnacle was already impressive. No wonder he had been able to join the Blood Robe Tower.
Unfortunately for the brute, before his claw could reach Wang Hao, a flash of sword light sent his entire right arm flying. At the same time, Wang Hao asked again.
"How many women have you defiled?"
"Ah! You..."
The pain of losing his arm made the brute howl. He looked in terror at Wang Hao, who held the greatsword.
Only then did he realize that this man's strength was extraordinary and that he was no match for him.
Realizing he was in trouble, the brute chose not to fight head-on and turned to flee.
Unfortunately, as soon as he turned, another flash of sword light severed his right leg. His heavy body fell to the ground, and he let out another piercing howl.
"How many women have you defiled?"
Wang Hao asked again. Seeing that the brute still wouldn't answer, he swung his sword twice more, then asked again.
"How many women have you defiled?"
"Five! I fucked five women and three men! Please stop cutting me, sir! Treat me like a fart and let me go!"
Seeing Wang Hao about to swing his sword again, the brute hurriedly endured the agony of having all four limbs severed and begged for mercy.
"Five? Then there's still one cut left!"
Wang Hao nodded in understanding, then swung his sword beneath the brute and severed his third leg.
"Ah!"
With his greatest vital point as a man severed on top of the agony of losing all four limbs, the brute let out a scream and fainted from the pain.
"Pah! I hate people who commit rape and other crimes most in this life. Well, being gay doesn't count!"
Wang Hao spat at the brute and spoke in disgust.
The brute was actually quite strong, an expert on the same level as Wang Heihu. Before his breakthrough, Wang Hao would have had to put in some effort to defeat him, but his strength had increased greatly when he broke through during his fight with Zhao Fengxue.
With the advantage of his weapon as well, someone of this caliber couldn't even withstand one move from him!
"The code name 10086 and his authorization for a Second-rate martial art can be mine now, right?"
Wang Hao turned to the old man in charge of registration, but before the old man could speak, 9527, who had stood silently to one side, suddenly said coldly, "There's one final procedure."
As he spoke, a flash of sword light swept across the neck of the unconscious brute. His body twitched, and he soon stopped breathing.
"The Blood Robe Tower doesn't forbid internal fighting, but once a fight starts, the outcome is either your death or your opponent's. There is no third choice."
9527 slowly sheathed his longsword and explained indifferently. It was the longest speech he had made since appearing.
"What if they both die together?"
Wang Hao was a little fed up with this show-off and casually shot back.
9527 gave Wang Hao an indifferent glance and turned to leave.
"Someone will come to arrange your accommodations. You have one month to adjust. After that, you'll set out on a mission."
"What a show-off!"
Wang Hao grumbled in annoyance.
The old man soon finished creating Wang Hao's file and even used a brush to paint a lifelike portrait of him.
It was the first time Wang Hao had seen that an ink brush could produce the effect of a sketch. The portrait was ninety-five percent like him; the man's painting skills were simply incredible.
"This is your identity token from now on. These are the catalogs and introductions for First-Rate and Second-rate martial arts. Tell me when you've made your choices."
Having completed the file, the old man got up, took a token engraved with the five digits 10086 from the brute, and tossed it to Wang Hao. He also brought out two thick books from the table.
They contained the catalogs and introductions for First-Rate and Second-rate martial arts respectively.
"I thought I'd get to pick them out from the bookshelves myself!"
Wang Hao opened the catalog of First-Rate martial arts and couldn't help grumbling.
In those novels, protagonists who came to places like the Martial Repository Pavilion always chose slowly from the shelves themselves. He had previously hoped to rely on the boost True Spirit Sword Intent gave his memory to memorize a few extra martial arts manuals.
Now it seemed that was impossible. Clearly, they were guarding against that too!
After all, although people with photographic memories were uncommon these days, they did exist, and some could even achieve the same ability through special training.
The Blood Robe Tower wasn't stupid, so naturally it wouldn't leave such a loophole.
Wang Hao began carefully reading through the catalog of First-Rate martial arts. Before long, he spotted an immensely famous, world-shocking divine art whose name resounded throughout the martial world, but which shouldn't have appeared at this level.