Promoted to Brother

"Exactly five jin."

"After deducting the seventy-percent stall fee, that comes to fifteen hundred copper coins."

The assistant deftly weighed the fish and took out the money.

Xu Fan stood silently to one side, long accustomed to the usual trick of short-weighing. He would get it all back with interest later.

He had just put the money in his bag and was about to leave when Li Tieyi called out to him.

"Wait."

Li Tieyi suddenly spoke up, rose from his reclining chair, and blocked Xu Fan's path, sizing him up from head to toe:

"As I understand it, this is the fourth treasure fish you've caught, isn't it?"

There were plenty of treasure fish in the shallow waters of Peach Blossom Spring Lake now, but apart from Liang Chi, the other fishermen had caught one or two at most.

Some had only managed to get lucky and catch one by venturing into the waters where the shallows met the depths.

What gave this kid the ability to sell one every time he came?

Did he have the strength for it with that build?

"I did catch four treasure fish, and I paid the stall fee in full every time."

Xu Fan looked cautious, the very picture of a fisherman who didn't dare resist.

"You're on your own, and you have that kind of skill?"

Li Tieyi frowned, then recalled that Xu Fan seemed to have been there that day. His eyes narrowed at once:

"You happened to be here the day Lin Chu appeared, yet you didn't die at that bastard's hands."

Though it was humiliating to recall that day, at least he had saved his own life.

After all, the Wedding Robe Divine Art was strange and sinister. He would certainly have lost if they had kept fighting, so he had chosen to retreat.

That kid had seen the whole thing, and the thought instantly made him feel he had lost face.

"I suppose Lin Chu was afraid Master Qian would bring help, so he couldn't spare the time and fled for his life."

Xu Fan put on a look of relief.

He looked as though he really had been in grave danger and had escaped with his life by sheer luck.

"That makes some sense."

Li Tieyi nodded lightly.

But the next moment, his large hand shot out to grab him!

Xu Fan had been on guard. He raised a hand to block and stepped back several paces with the movement.

He was already weighing whether to kill Li Tieyi and hide in the Land of Wu for a while before coming back.

"Looks like it was a misunderstanding."

Li Tieyi's expression shifted. He stepped back and smiled:

"From now on, Little Xu, I'll make the decision to take only a fifty-percent cut of the treasure fish you sell."

His test had indeed revealed the truth.

Just as he had thought, how could someone keep catching treasure fish in the shallows without strength?

Here was another one who had gotten hold of a martial art from who knew where and secretly made something of himself through practice.

Their exchange just now had allowed him to gauge Xu Fan's Qi and Blood, which were not strong. Xu Fan had probably reached Qi and Blood perfection and undergone no more than one blood exchange.

"Then thank you, Master Li."

Xu Fan frowned inwardly, cupped his hands slightly, and turned to leave.

Though he didn't know what Li Tieyi was thinking, he didn't want to make a move now and make it known to everyone.

How could he keep a low profile and lie low then?

He still lacked the strength to be invincible under heaven and disregard those grandmaster experts.

If he was going to make a move, it would be best to do it at night.

"First Lin Chu, then Liang Chi, and now Xu Fan?"

Li Tieyi watched Xu Fan disappear around the street corner, murmuring with narrowed eyes.

"Master Li, are we really only taking fifty percent from him?"

The assistant beside him asked.

"If he lives long enough to come back."

The corners of Li Tieyi's mouth curled up slightly.

"Xu Fan, oh, Xu Fan, you want to hide and break through in secret, then wait for the day the fish market can't do anything to you. But how could you fool Master Qian's fiery eyes and golden pupils?"

"Heaven has eyes after all, letting me come across this fortuitous opportunity!"

A lucky kid who had stumbled upon a martial art left behind by someone from the past?

Could it be the Wedding Robe Divine Art again?

"Even if it isn't the Wedding Robe Divine Art, a Middle Vehicle martial art would be enough. Even a Lower Vehicle martial art would make the trip worthwhile."

Having failed to obtain the Wedding Robe Divine Art from Lin Chu last time, he hoped Xu Fan was cultivating this widely circulated martial art.

Who cared whether it was evil or whether it ate people?

Once he became a grandmaster, or even a great grandmaster, where under the vast heavens could he not go?

Strength was king!

"So it's called the Rosy Cloud Tavern."

Xu Fan arrived at the tavern whose name he hadn't known before. At last, he was no longer completely in the dark.

"I have my astonishing talent to thank for that!"

Last time, he had bought a copy of the Qin State Travelogue and had the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram record it. That had allowed him to understand the writing of this world, so he was no longer illiterate.

"Waiter, the usual!"

After entering the tavern, Xu Fan found a corner and sat down as usual.

The tavern waiter was already quite familiar with him, since he had spent a fair amount on each of his visits.

"Coming right up, Brother Xu. Just a moment."

Several familiar-looking fishermen in the tavern also chimed in with teasing remarks.

"Brother Xu, did you net another treasure fish?"

"Yeah, you stay away for ten days or half a month, but whenever you come, it's fine wine and meat. You really make us envious."

The speakers were Old Kong and Old Xu.

The two came to the Rosy Cloud Tavern every few days for a bowl of burning-knife liquor and a plate of fennel beans.

Sometimes, when they had a good catch, they would also have a bowl of noodles with tender meat, which counted as having both wine and meat.

"Have I been promoted to Brother now?"

Xu Fan smiled, knowing what the two had in mind. He tapped the table:

"Why don't you join me for some of this fine wine and meat?"

Li Tieyi's actions just now had clearly been a test.

In that case, he didn't need to keep everything so tightly hidden anymore.

I wanted to interact with them as an ordinary person, but all I got in return was oppression and exploitation.

I'm done pretending. I'm showing my hand.

I'm the only immortal cultivator in this world!

This was a good chance to ask the two men how to shed his lowborn status.

That way, he could enter the city later and ask about Emperor Flow Serum.

Yes, that was it.

It definitely wasn't so he could visit the pleasure houses in Yin Mountain Prefecture City and listen to songs.

Just look at him: in the months since he had transmigrated, he had kept himself pure and studied and trained diligently. Clearly, he was a man of noble character.

"Brother Xu is generous!"

"We two old men would be discourteous to refuse!"

Their eyes went wide as they stared at the wine and meat being brought over. Without any affected refusals, they came straight over and sat down.

"This old man hasn't had a taste of meat in days."

Old Man Kong wore ragged clothes, patched and mended, unwilling to replace them.

Unlike Old Xu, whose family had been fishermen for generations,

he had lost his farmland and fallen into the lowest ranks of lowborn commoners, with neither property nor occupation.

"Heh heh, who hasn't?"

Old Xu had a prominent drinker's nose, and his neck was always red. He had a strong craving for drink.

As soon as he sat down at the table, he couldn't help rubbing his hands. That plate of beef and the roast chicken were truly tempting.

"Eat."

Xu Fan tore off a chicken leg and gestured for them not to stand on ceremony.

"Brother Xu, whatever you want to ask, we won't hide a thing as long as we know it."

Old Kong poured wine for Xu Fan, then filled cups for Old Xu and himself before speaking with a smile.

He had studied for a few years in his youth and had also been through a low point in life, so he had seen both the warmth and coldness of human nature.

He knew Xu Fan must have something to ask if he was treating them to this meal.

"That's right. As long as I, Old Xu, know it, I'll make sure to explain it clearly to you, Brother Xu!"

"From now on, at Peach Blossom Spring Lake, whatever you need, Xu Fan, I, Old Xu, won't hesitate!"

Old Xu knew it too and likewise thumped his chest as he made his promise.

"With Brother Xu's abilities now, would he need help from an old fellow like you?"

Old Man Kong shook his head.

He picked up a piece of cooked beef and took a sip of yellow wine.

"We can talk about those things later. Let's eat first."

Xu Fan smiled and shook his head, Law Power flowing through his eyes as he discreetly surveyed the other people in the tavern.

Only after confirming that no one looked suspicious did he relax.