"Old Master Jiang!" Old Master Jiang roared, raising his hand and slapping his son across the face.
Jiang Xilin was completely stunned by the blow. Clutching his face, he stammered, "Dad! Don't be mad, I'm leaving right now! Don't be mad!"
With that, he covered his face and hurried away!
Only Old Master Jiang was left behind, muttering to himself.
...
Meanwhile, Li Daofeng had been brought by Shang Wanqiu to an underground trading market!
Yet he was thoroughly displeased, because Shang Wanqiu seemed far too familiar with this place! Along the way, many people greeted her and then cast a very peculiar look in his direction.
They scanned him up and down, taking him in completely—a feeling that reminded him of his college days. Every weekend, luxury cars driven by wealthy older women would linger outside the campus gates, and the way those women looked at certain male students was exactly like this.
Later on, he found out that they were scouting for kept men!
So the way these people were looking at him now must mean they thought he was Eighth Senior Sister's kept boytoy.
That sort of feeling was deeply humiliating, to say the least!
Even though Li Daofeng had been an idiot in the past, serving as a live-in son-in-law and playing the part of a bootlicking dog without coming to a good end, nowadays he was a proud, upright man who pissed standing up. How could he be treated this way?
"Eighth Senior Sister! Can you please stop linking your arm through mine?" Li Daofeng finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Heh! What's wrong? Does being mistaken for your senior sister's toyboy bruise your ego?" Shang Wanqiu teased with a playful smile, still keeping her arm firmly linked through his.
At once, the dynamic shifted entirely!
"Is this better now? How about you're the one keeping your senior sister, how does that sound?" Shang Wanqiu pressed against Li Daofeng's arm and gave it a coquettish shake.
Instantly, a lethal sensation stirred, making Li Daofeng's little brother want to act up again.
Just as Li Daofeng was feeling utterly tormented all over, a loud laugh suddenly echoed from ahead.
"Little Demongirl! Long time no see! Running out of supplies again?"
Li Daofeng followed the voice and saw a middle-aged old man wearing a Daoist robe, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and a pair of extremely grimy white flip-flops on his feet. The man cut a thoroughly slovenly figure.
This outfit made Li Daofeng's mind wander completely off-topic! He felt that having that Daoist robe worn by such a man was an insult to all Daoists.
"Old Crap-nose! If you dare call me Little Demongirl again, I'll pluck out every last one of your beard hairs!" Shang Wanqiu said with a trace of anger.
While they were talking, the Slovenly Taoist had already approached the two of them. His tiny eyes looked Li Daofeng up and down, and after a moment, his expression turned dead serious as he said:
"You've kept a toyboy? And he's brand new and unused—you've got quite the romantic blessing, Little Demongirl!"
Hearing this, Li Daofeng almost failed to hold himself back from kicking the guy. Seeing the Slovenly Taoist look so solemn just now, he had actually thought the man had some genuine skills and was reading his physiognomy or something.
Who would have thought this son of a bitch would suddenly drop such an infuriating remark?
Did he, Li Daofeng, really look that much like a kept boytoy? Dammit, couldn't he just be a little bit handsome?!
"Get lost! What boytoy? This is my man!" Shang Wanqiu domineeringly defended her junior brother.
"Aiyo! I had no idea! Our Little Demongirl has finally found someone worthy of her eyes! No way, this old Daoist needs to take a closer look!" With a look of utter shock, the Slovenly Taoist shifted his gaze back to Li Daofeng.
"Tsk tsk tsk! Not bad! Not bad at all! Quite a fine young fellow!" The Slovenly Taoist clicked his tongue, offering a barrage of critique.
"Little friend! Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! This poor Daoist is the thirty-sixth generation successor of Xuan Dongzi, Xuan Dongzi pays his respects. Since it's our first meeting, please accept this small token, don't disdain it—this is something a little brother like you can make good use of!"
The Slovenly Taoist introduced himself with a deadpan expression, while fishing a small bottle out of his pocket. Prominently printed on it were a few small characters: "Tathagata's Great Buddha Staff".
Just reading the name told anyone that this was definitely no wholesome item.
"Here, little brother! Take it! Good stuff! Absolutely genuine and top-notch!" Before Li Daofeng could even speak, Xuan Dongzi grabbed Li Daofeng's hand with his greasy paw and tried to force the little bottle into it.
"Old Crap-nose, take your filthy things away! If you dare corrupt my man, I swear I'll beat you to death!" Shang Wanqiu slapped Li Daofeng's hand back and pulled it away, looking thoroughly disgusted.
Li Daofeng was truly speechless. What kind of people did Eighth Senior Sister hang around with? This Slovenly Taoist was handing out this kind of medicine the very first time he met someone—dammit, the man was quite a talent.
And judging by his name alone, Li Daofeng could tell this fellow was no good.
Claiming to be Xuan Dongzi's thirty-sixth generation successor, Xuan Dongzi.
What the hell! Was there some special significance to this "Xuan Dongzi thirty-sixth"?
Otherwise, back on the mountain, when that old lecher of a Master was caught reading illustrated colored books, he had always claimed they were the "Thirty-Six Techniques of Xuan Dongzi"!
Now this Slovenly Taoist opened his mouth and claimed to be the thirty-sixth generation successor of Xuan Dongzi. What on earth was this Xuan Dongzi anyway?
"Heh heh heh! Habit, just a habit! Pardon me, pardon me! Occupational hazard!" Xuan Dongzi plastered on a fawning smile.
"Hurry up and get that soft armor made of black gold silkworm silk that you showed me last time! I'm taking it today!" Shang Wanqiu said crossly.
"You're taking it? For real? Hahaha, I told you so! That soft armor suits you best, especially the pattern right across the chest—given your size, wearing it on your body is guaranteed to look stunning! Come on, let's go try it on right now, I'll put it on you with my own hands!"
Xuan Dongzi instantly perked up, his face breaking into a lewd expression!
Especially those tiny eyes of his—he was a living, breathing wolf in sheep's clothing.
"If you're looking for a death wish, just say so! I wouldn't touch your filthy things, and I don't need them anyway—I'm buying it for my junior brother!" Shang Wanqiu's pretty face flushed red as she gritted her teeth in anger.
Li Daofeng had remained silent all along, observing the exchange between the two. He could tell they were very familiar with each other; otherwise, they wouldn't act like this.
"You're putting it on him? Sigh..." The moment he heard it was for Li Daofeng, Xuan Dongzi instantly lost interest and even put on a disappointed look.
"Hurry up! My junior brother wearing it will showcase its true value even better!"
"What value does a man wearing it have? After all that talk, it turns out he's not your man, just your junior brother!" Xuan Dongzi said, looking quite reluctant.
"What's wrong with him being my junior brother? He is both my junior brother and my man. If you dare slight him, I'll make you wish you were never born!" Shang Wanqiu's teeth itched with rage; this slovenly old Daoist was truly no good.
"Junior brother is a man, man is a junior brother... This is so confusing..."
Muttering lawlessly to himself, Xuan Dongzi led the two of them into his shop.
This trading post was set up inside a dilapidated underground mall. There were many storefronts here; the ones outside displayed quite conventional goods, but inside the shops, all sorts of bizarre and eccentric items were arrayed.
Ancient texts, medicinal herbs, funerary objects excavated from ancient tombs!
Ancient calligraphy and paintings, literati antiques, and even women—both barbarian boys and young maidens—along with firearms, ammunition, precious swords, and long spears. You name it, they had it; if you could think of it, there was nothing you wouldn't see here.
Following Xuan Dongzi into the shop, the Daoist emerged from an inner room carrying a box, which he handed over to Shang Wanqiu.
"Here you go. I gave it to you last time, but you thought it looked ugly and refused to take it no matter what! Now you've come looking for it yourself! And you're even giving it to your junior-brother-slash-man! Women, oh women—watch out for getting swindled out of both your money and your virtue!" Xuan Dongzi said with a pointed insinuation.
Hearing this, Li Daofeng felt a remark rising in his chest that he simply had to spit out. Not only did he look like a kept boytoy, but now he apparently looked like a scumbag playboy too!
How could he possibly endure this? Even for the sake of Eighth Senior Sister, he couldn't let it slide.
"Please mind your language! For Eighth Senior Sister's sake, I won't argue with you, but if you dare insult me again, I'll make you know what the price is!" Li Daofeng said coldly.
"Ooh-hoo! Got a temper, do we? And you'll let me know the price! Kid, your tone is quite big!" Xuan Dongzi squinted at Li Daofeng, his tone dripping with utter disdain.
"You can try it!" Li Daofeng said in a deep voice.
"Let's try it then! Come on, kid, I'll try it right now. What can you possibly do to this old Daoist?" Xuan Dongzi said, moving forward as if to shove Li Daofeng.
How could Li Daofeng tolerate him? He had already been putting up with this guy for a long time! Seeing Xuan Dongzi make a move, he raised his leg and kicked straight out!
Applying thirty percent of his strength, he landed a heavy blow squarely on Xuan Dongzi's chest.
"Augh... What the fuck..." Amidst a miserable scream, Xuan Dongzi was sent flying by Li Daofeng's kick right into the inner room.
"Aiya! Lawless ancestors of the Dao, you're killing this old Daoist with pain!" Inside the inner chamber, Xuan Dongzi wailed and howled like a ghost.
A moment later, Xuan Dongzi walked out wincing and baring his teeth, clutching his chest as he complained: "Little Demongirl! Why didn't you stop your man! You've nearly killed old Daoist with pain!"
"Hmph! Old Crap-nose! My junior brother has already shown mercy, otherwise you'd already be meeting the King of Hell right now! Cut the crap and tell me how much! I'm taking this precious armor for my junior brother!" Shang Wanqiu said with schadenfreude.
"This is a priceless treasure! This armor is woven from thousand-year-old black gold silkworm silk, unearthed from a millennial ancient tomb. Wear it on your body, and you'll be impervious to blades and spears, warm in winter and cool in summer! Furthermore, it allows practitioners to center their minds and calm their spirits—in short, it has countless benefits!"
"And what's more, this precious armor has another very important function! I guarantee you'll love it when you hear it. I don't tell just anyone, but today we share a fateful connection with this little brother, so I'll share this vital secret of the armor with you! Consider it destiny!" Xuan Dongzi assumed a mysterious, somewhat lewd expression, instantly arousing the interest of both Shang Wanqiu and Li Daofeng.
"I once wore this armor for a few days, and I discovered that it genuinely enhances *that* ability! Tell me, isn't that miraculous?" Xuan Dongzi said lewdly.
"You absolute pervert! Old Crap-nose, if you dare talk nonsense again, I'll make you know what permanent kidney deficiency feels like!" Shang Wanqiu shouted fiercely, her face flushed red.
"Heh heh heh! Everything I said is true! You two can go back and try—"
Xuan Dongzi still wanted to speak, but the moment he caught Li Daofeng's murderous glare, he gave a sheepish laugh and didn't dare say another word.
"Ahem! Now that the features have been introduced, let's talk price. Although we're very old acquaintances, as the saying goes, even close brothers settle accounts clearly! In light of this little brother here, I'll give you a twenty-percentage discount on the price I quoted you last time!" Xuan Dongzi put on the face of an unscrupulous merchant.
"Unscrupulous merchant! Fine! Since I'm buying things for my junior brother, I won't haggle! We'll go with that price, but I want a thousand throwing daggers of the kind I use!" Shang Wanqiu said.
"My ass! Little Demongirl, you really dare ask! Every single one of those throwing daggers requires an immense amount of manpower and material resources to forge. Besides, the primary material used for them is extraterrestrial meteoric iron, which is extraordinarily hard to come by, you know! You open your mouth and ask for a thousand—why don't you just go rob a bank!"
Xuan Dongzi made an exaggerated face as he spoke, counting on his fingers while doing so, his expression a dead-ringer for a crooked merchant being bled dry.
"Stop right there! I don't want to hear any of this! Aside from those items, you also need to forge one thousand silver needles for my junior brother! The material must be the exact same as my throwing daggers!" Shang Wanqiu declared with her usual tyranny.
"Just kill me now!" Xuan Dongzi dropped flat onto his backside, looking utterly ready to give up on life.
Li Daofeng was also finding it a bit hard to watch. He had seen Eighth Senior Sister Shang Wanqiu's throwing daggers once; the material was truly worth a king's ransom. Even a single tiny dagger like that, if presented to someone with a discerning eye, would undoubtedly be considered a priceless treasure.
For Shang Wanqiu to ask for a thousand of them straight off the bat—not to mention anything else, just the raw material alone would cost an astronomical sum.
"Eighth Senior Sister! One hundred silver needles will be more than enough for me! To me, needles of any material are all the same. Honestly, I only carry silver needles for convenience; whether I have them or not doesn't make much difference to me!"
Li Daofeng wasn't boasting when he said this. With his current level of cultivation, killing someone with a plucked flower or a falling leaf was no different from killing them with a silver needle. As long as he wanted someone dead, flicking a single droplet of water could take their life.
Hearing Li Daofeng's words, before Shang Wanqiu could say anything, Xuan Dongzi immediately bristled, speaking in a sarcastic tone:
"Aiyo! Look at how full of yourself you are! Young man, this old Daoist admits you're formidable, but can you stop bragging for a minute?! Do you have any idea what kind of material I use to forge those throwing daggers? Weapons made from that stuff can shatter the protective vital energy of Heaven-grade masters! And you're still standing here bragging to this old Daoist? Aren't you afraid the wind will flash your tongue!"
"See that, Junior Brother? This old scruffy-beard doesn't appreciate your kindness at all! And here you were, feeling sorry for him!" Shang Wanqiu laughed.
"My mistake then. Let's stick to what Senior Sister said—one thousand it is!"
Li Daofeng truly had never seen anyone so eager to play the masochist.
"God-damned kid! Are you trying to take advantage of my distress or what? One hundred max, not a single one more!" Xuan Dongzi cried out as if in physical pain.
Shang Wanqiu completely ignored him. She picked up the box containing the black gold silkworm silk armor, linked her arm through Li Daofeng's, and said, "I'll come back in three days to pick up the items, and we'll settle the bill all at once. Let's go!"
"No... You can't do this! If you do this, this old Daoist is going to piss blood from losses!" Xuan Dongzi chased after them, shouting loudly.
"Don't leave, you can't fleece a man of the cloth like this! You can't! Come back! Don't leave! This old Daoist refuses to do this business, this is too bullying, come back..."
Xuan Dongzi chased after Li Daofeng and Shang Wanqiu, wailing as he shouted, but the two of them completely ignored the unscrupulous old Daoist. They quickened their pace and vanished into the crowd.
"Ah... Adulterers and fornicators, you couple of scoundrels! It was bad enough that this old Daoist gave you the Tathagata's Great Buddha Staff so you two scoundrels could enjoy matrimonial bliss, and yet you go and fleece this old Daoist like this, you wicked pair! This old Daoist curses the man to become impotent and the woman to dry up, bah... Meeting you two is the worst stroke of bad luck this old Daoist has had in eight lifetimes!"
Sitting flat on the ground, Xuan Dongzi pounded his chest, wailed, cursed, and hurled every ugly insult he could think of.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Li Daofeng and Shang Wanqiu turned a deaf ear to it all and walked straight out of the underground trading market.
"Senior Sister! This armor is indeed a fine piece of rare treasure; that old Daoist wasn't lying! But I have no use for it, you should wear it instead!" On their way back, Li Daofeng opened the armor box and inspected it closely.
During his eight years on the mountain, his late, eccentric Master had taught him a vast and miscellaneous assortment of subjects, including antique appraisal. Whether it was heavenly treasures, cultural artifacts, or divine armor and weapons, as long as it passed through this pair of eyes, he would know its true quality at a glance.
This black gold silkworm silk armor was a rare and precious item indeed. From the perspective of practitioners at their level, it could no longer be considered a mortal object!
The armor possessed a special energy that rendered it impervious to blades and spears while helping people center their minds and calm their spirits. Beyond that, he also sensed a wave of scorching heat emanating from the armor.
The moment he felt this warmth, an inexplicable dryness surged within his body, making his mouth feel parched and stirring up the urge for a woman.
Damn this biological reaction!
Li Daofeng hurriedly circulated a thread of true qi to expel this lingering aura, which finally made him feel somewhat better.
Yet he was now fully convinced that what that unscrupulous old Daoist Xuan Dongzi had said was true—this armor really could enhance certain aspects of performance!
"What do you mean, no use for it? The Northwest Marquis is dead! The people behind him will definitely come looking, probably within these next few days. We should keep a low profile and stay out of the storm for now. Once the old crap-nose finishes forging the throwing daggers I need, we won't have to fear them anymore!"
"However, during this period, you must still wear this armor on your body just in case! You are Taixu's precious treasure, and Eighth Senior Sister cannot afford for anything to happen to you!"
"Don't worry, though. With Senior Sister here, there aren't many people in this world who can hurt you! Eighth Senior Sister has spent many years in Taixu, and I didn't spend them practicing for nothing. Rest assured!" Shang Wanqiu comforted him.
"Senior Sister! I'm not worried. I should be able to handle those people!"
Li Daofeng was quite moved; the feeling of being cared for was truly wonderful. Actually, what he wanted to say was that he no longer feared anyone at all.
Yet the words stopped at his lips, and he didn't voice them.
"Handle them my ass! With Senior Sister here, do you think I'd let you go fight the battles?" Shang Wanqiu remained as domineering as ever.
"These next few days, stay at home and take the time to cure little Huang's illness. Senior Sister really didn't expect that old lecher of a Master would actually pass down the medical arts to you! I just wonder how much of it you've managed to learn. If you've managed to grasp even thirty percent of Master's medical skills, you can already be invincible in the medical world!"
"Oh, right, Junior Brother! How did you manage to get down the mountain? How many trials did you pass for your descent exam?" Shang Wanqiu asked.
"I... I was chased down the mountain by Master!" Li Daofeng didn't know how to answer, because he hadn't taken any descent trial at all.
"Haha! No way! Junior Brother, are you that dense? Did Master realize he couldn't teach you anymore and chase you down the mountain instead? Hahaha, but it's fine, don't be discouraged, there's no shame in that!" Shang Wanqiu leaped to her own conclusions, picturing Li Daofeng as thoroughly weak.
Li Daofeng pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling even more at a loss for how to respond. If he told her that he was an absolute freak of nature who had mastered all of Master's skills and even surpassed his teacher—that he was chased down simply because Master had nothing left to teach him—she would be devastated by the blow.
Forget it! Better not to say anything. True masters were always lonely!
Thinking this to himself, Li Daofeng decided to drop the explanation entirely.
"Junior Brother! Since you're down the mountain now, you need to adapt to life down here! You should find something to do, otherwise it gets terribly boring! Besides, you need to find something that makes money—you know as well as I do that without money, it's hard to take a single step in this world!"
"Think about it! What do you like to do? Senior Sister will set it up for you!" Shang Wanqiu smiled.
Li Daofeng pondered this and felt it made sense; living in this world, if a person didn't find a purpose, they might truly fail to get by.
Although he wasn't short of money—the purple card the old man gave him allowed him to spend freely anywhere in the world—having a proper occupation was still a good thing.
"Senior Sister! Apart from knowing a bit of martial arts and some medical skills, I don't know how to do anything else! Although I went to college before, eight years of life on the mountain made me completely out of touch with society. Honestly, I really don't know how to do anything else now," Li Daofeng said with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
Society was developing far too rapidly; eight years could eliminate plenty of elites, let alone a mere college dropout like him.
"It doesn't matter! What you know how to do, others don't. How about we open a medical clinic for you? That way you can arrange your own hours and it fits your specialty!" Shang Wanqiu suggested with a smile.
"We can talk about that later! We're here, Senior Sister!" Li Daofeng deftly changed the subject.
Actually, it wasn't that he didn't want to open a clinic; it was simply that he didn't want to be tied down to some tiny medical practice right now. There was a vast and magnificent world out there that he hadn't even looked at yet.
In the past, he lacked both the ability and the opportunity; now that he had both wealth and power, it would be a waste not to go out and see the world.
Even that old lecher of a Master had told him when he left the mountain that traveling extensively across the land would benefit his cultivation.
"Let's go inside! Later on, we'll hire some servants so this villa has people to manage it, and you can just enjoy life, Junior Brother. Once you cure little Huang's illness, Senior Sister will play matchmaker for you two and arrange your wedding night, so you can carry your beauty home!"