Although the members of the Schools of Fist Intent and the Great Saber were standing together, the imperceptibly subtle distances between them allowed one to see that they were actually two parties. And because these two parties were standing within reach of each other, this let people know that the relationship between both sides was very close.
In addition, there were two men in the prime of their lives. The positions where they stood were a little further to the side. Their appearances somewhat resembled Tian Hang. They were his two older brothers, Tian Mu and Tian He.
Tian Hang disembarked first, and took the initiative to open the car door for Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng. The driver similarly got out of the car, and opened the remaining doors.
Immediately following this, five people stepped out.
Gu Zuo raised his eyes, and saw those people in front of the villa.
Everyone’s qi and blood was vigorous and exuberant. Not to say that their qi and blood formed tendrils of smoke, but anyone standing over there would feel a type of red-hot and blazing sensation. Clearly, their imposing auras were full of power and grandeur.
Under the probing of Gu Zuo’s psychic power, he quickly got a clear look at the strength of their realms.
According to this world’s ranking, all of those ancient martial artists who appeared to have relatively high seniority were at the Hidden Energy Stage. As for the richness and purity of their inner power, there were very large differences… If he used the other world’s ranking to convert, it was probably the difference between Bone Forging stage one and Bone Forging stage three?
For those who were a little younger, their strengths were mostly at the Surface Energy Stage like Tian Hang. There was also a small number who hadn’t even entered the Surface Energy Stage. They were still in the middle of tempering their physical bodies, and were putting a lot of effort into training their muscles and bones.
As for the Transformed Energy ancient martial artists, there were only two people.
It looked like they were the strongest individuals from the Schools of Fist Intent and the Great Saber. However, this didn’t necessarily mean that they were the headmasters. From this, it could be seen that breaking through the realms in this world was extraordinarily difficult.
Most of all, the higher one’s strength, the more numerous the internal injuries in their bodies, and the longer these injuries remained hidden. It was to the point that quite a few would have to rely on their qi and blood to support themselves, and their lifespans would be cut short.
Of course, Gu Zuo didn’t take the initiative to mention these topics. It was because the gazes of all those parties and troops had uniformly fallen onto his group of people.
Tian Hang hurriedly gave an introduction, and made way for Gu Zuo’s position: “This is Mister Gu.” Then, he emphatically introduced that handsome young man with the respected temperament, “And this powerful ancient martial artist is Mister Gongyi.”
Soon after, he paused before introducing Gu Qi and the grandfather and grandson of the Zhang Family in one breath. It was obvious that he didn’t treat these three people with the same amount of reverence and care as the first two.
Gu Zuo found that the members of those two schools harbored doubts about him — Yes, he didn’t look like he was really that old. On the Central Continent, it was too ordinary for a pharmacist of this age to refine Qi Generating Pills. However, in this world, Qi Generating Pills weren’t ordinary objects. They were classified as special medicaments of high-end skill. Normally, everyone believed that the older a pharmacist was, the more abundant their experience. However, it seemed that they had heard Tian Hang mention many things earlier. Granted that those high-status elders and headmasters were suspicious, they didn’t blatantly show it. Instead, they greeted Gu Zuo warmly and kindly.
&#k2014; Contrary to what one might expect, it was the younger and hot-blooded ancient martial artists who weren’t able to control their facial expressions very well. The low mutterings coming from their mouths were quickly stopped by the seniors beside them.
The headmaster of the School of Fist Intent was an old man whose hair and beard were white, but whose complexion was a healthy, ruddy color. The muscles over his body were bulging and full of strength. The headmaster of the School of the Great Saber was relatively slender, and his cheeks were slim. Just like the name of his school, he gave others a sharp feeling like the cutting edge of a blade.
The two wore smiling expressions, and said: “Mister Gu, Mister Gongyi, we presumptuously sought thee out. Please don’t take offense.”
Meanwhile, Tian Mu said: “Ladies and gentlemen, please come in. We have let our guests linger for too long outside. The Tian Family has been discourteous.”
Indeed, everyone didn’t have any intentions of braving the icy winds to exchange pleasantries at the gates, so they quickly went into the villa.
Someone had tidied up the villa long ago. Moreover, quite a few large tables had been set up in the side hall, and many heating stoves were lit beneath the tables to keep the place warm. Everything was fully prepared.
Tian Mu walked to the side hall with large strides, and pulled out the decoratively-carved, wooden chairs surrounding the frontmost table one by one. The disciples of the two schools also moved quickly.
Tian Hang said: “Mister Gu and these honorable sirs, please come this way.”
Undoubtedly, the Tian Family’s meaning was that everyone present was accustomed to conversing at the dining table. As for the seats arranged for Gu Zuo and the other honorable guests, it was at this side hall’s frontmost table, which could accommodate twenty people. However, the ones who could sit here were limited to only ten.
Naturally, it appeared very wide and spacious.
Don’t focus on how the Zhang Family’s grandfather and grandson pair had high statuses in Q City. If they were compared to the people here, they were of the lowest rung. Being arranged at this table was entirely thanks to Gu Zuo. The two Zhang Family leaders were well aware of this, and didn’t have any intentions of inserting themselves into the conversation at all. No matter how eagerly attentive the Tian Family was to Gu Zuo and the others, these two seemed like background props — No presence whatsoever.
Shortly thereafter, Tianheng pulled Gu Zuo along, Gu Zuo pulled Gu Qi along, and the three sat down. Following this were the three members of the Tian Family, the two headmasters, and the grandfather and grandson of the Zhang Family.
Under the gestures of each headmaster, the remaining disciples took their seats with a flourish of rustling fabric. In just a short while, this originally empty side hall had been completely filled to capacity with a crowd of people.
Gu Qi previously handled certain business affairs with Zhao Ji, but he had never seen this kind of spectacle before — However, having settled down with years of experience, his mental state wasn’t so easily shaken. As a result, he didn’t have any feelings of stage fright.
Even less had to be said about Gu Zuo and Tianheng.
As the one in charge of managing the Tian Family’s matters, Tian Mu first offered cups of wine to Gu Zuo and the others: “Isn’t it a joy for faraway friends to come together? We were lucky to have received Mister Gu’s help some time ago. Please accept this humble wine as an expression of our gratitude!”
Based on the mentality that the people present might be useful, Gu Zuo gave face, and raised his cup to toast: “You’re welcome. Cheers.”
The actions of these two people broke a certain type of impasse.
Off to the side, the two headmasters realized that Gu Zuo was precisely as Tian Hang said. He wasn’t hard to get along with. They promptly found the way to befriend the other party, and similarly raised their cups one after another.
After three rounds of drinks, everyone moved their chopsticks, and started eating the dishes. It was about the right time to discuss matters.
Tian Hang was of the younger generation, but here, he served as the facilitator. This time around, he took the initiative to start the discussion. He laughed, and refilled Gu Zuo’s cup of wine: “Mister Gu, regarding the Qi Generating Pills, I’ll have to leave this matter in thy hands.”
Gu Zuo showed a smiling expression: “I remember what you mentioned before. It’s still as I said. The more you guys can take out, the more I can sell… Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s without limits.”
As soon as the two said these words, even the ancient martial artist disciples eating and drinking on the other large tables perked their ears to carefully listen.
The headmaster of the School of Fist Intent and the headmaster of the School of the Great Saber exchanged glances. There was competitiveness in their eyes, but there was restraint, too.
They had naturally prepared lots of funds. It was just that they didn’t have any assurances about how many pills they could obtain. After all, there was still the small gathering of ancient martial artists later on. This Mister Gu would still keep some to a certain extent.
At the present time, it was better that they worked together to secure a few more pills ahead of time.
After that, the two headmasters turned their wrists. They each took out a bank card from an unknown place, and slowly pushed them towards Gu Zuo over the table.
The School of Fist Intent’s headmaster said: “This is a bank card with a simple pin number. Inside it is one hundred million yuan.”
The School of the Great Saber’s headmaster also said: “My school has likewise gathered the funds of one hundred million yuan.”
According to the price of four million yuan per pill, one hundred million yuan was equal to twenty-five pills. This amount looked like a lot, but in actuality, the number of ancient martial artists within their schools far exceeded this number. Moreover, who knew if there would be any more for sale when the inventory was used up? It was best to leave some more for the ancient martial artists in the future. Apart from this, there were several Hidden Energy powerhouses in the schools who were on the verge of breaking through, but had always fallen short at the final juncture. They could also draw support from these medicinal pills to make a breakthrough to the Transformed Energy Stage, which would increase the number of peak experts in the schools…
They disdained having less, but would never hate having more.
The one hundred million yuan was nothing more than to sound out the other party.
Gu Zuo promptly saw through their way of thinking, and smiled: “I trust in your financial abilities, but I think that you guys should be very clear about the shortcomings of the Qi Generating Pill.”
The headmasters of the Schools of Fist Intent and the Great Saber nodded their heads.
To be honest, it was precisely because of this shortcoming that they believed in it even more. Otherwise, if this type of medicinal pill improved one’s strength limitlessly, it would be too frightening and phony for the other party to bring out this many.
Gu Zuo changed his posture, and pretended to speak in a calm manner: “As of late, I have been carefully researching it, and now, I will emphasize the shortcomings again. Those who are the most suitable to take the Qi Generating Pills should be Hidden Energy ancient martial artists. They can completely digest the medicinal power and increase their strength. As for Surface Energy ancient martial artists, there will also be miraculous effects after taking the pills, but some of the medicinal power will be wasted…
He continued: “Perhaps, it would be a little better if they swallow half a pill. When one has reached the Transformed Energy Stage, how much they can improve will completely depend on luck. It’s not that the Qi Generating Pills don’t have any use to Transformed Energy ancient martial artists, but the usefulness certainly won’t be that obvious. Maybe it will only increase a year’s worth of inner power, or maybe even less.”
Speaking up to here, he turned around, and rummaged inside a small bag carried in Tianheng’s hands. He took out two medium-sized jade bottles, and placed them in front of himself, slightly to the left and right: “Each bottle has twenty-five pills.”
The headmasters of the Schools of Fist Intent and the Great Saber were almost itching to reach out and grab these two jade bottles:
“Mister Gu is generous.”
“These trifling shortcomings aren’t worth mentioning. Many thanks.”
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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