Chapter 126 – Zhang Guanyu Moves
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Lin Ming smiled and shook his head, “Brother Liao flatters me. It is only because I have a fierce master that I have such achievements. That’s right, since Zhu Yan has left Sky Fortune City, then what happened to Lan Yunyue? Did she leave with him?”
Although he already had nothing to do with Lan Yunyue, Lin Ming still inquired. Zhu Yan might have gone crazy by now; he might take out his anger on Lan Yunyue.
Liao Wenyuan smiled and said, “Brother Lin, feel relieved that Lan Yunyue is all right. But, she has already withdrawn herself from the Seven Profound Martial House. Presently she is still within Sky Fortune City. His Highness the Crown Prince has already sent some people to secretly protect her.”
“Oh? Lan Yunyue has left school…” Lin Ming was a little stunned. The Crown Prince was really very thoughtful; he had even taken Lan Yunyue into account. There truly was a substantial advantage in joining a major power. There were a lot of matters that he didn’t need to worry about; there were naturally people that would help manage them.
Liao Wenyuan said, “That’s about everything I have to say. I will walk first. Brother Lin please continue whatever it was you were doing.”
“Mm. Thank you Brother Liao.”
“Haha, that’s what I should be doing.”
As he bid farewell to Liao Wenyuan, Lin Ming continued to walk to the Inscription Association. In order to buy the materials he needed, it was actually a bad idea to only rely on the Crown Prince. He had to look for another way.
‘If I can draw up an inscription symbol that even the Houtian martial artists of the Sky Fortune Kingdom will want, then I can have the Houtian martial artists help me look. That way, it would be possible to find the materials I need in a shorter period of time…’
This was the plan that Lin Ming had thought of before, and was the only means he could think of.
With the improvement in Lin Ming’s inscription technique, he might just be barely able to create an inscription symbol that would move the heart of a Houtian stage martial artist. But this method would draw a bit too much publicity.
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Inscription Association –
“Mister Lin!” A pleasantly surprised Wang Yuhan said after seeing Lin Ming. She had already been waiting in the Inscription room for some time.
“Miss Wang, I’m very embarrassed. There was a small matter so I was delayed.” Because he had entered into space within the Magic Cube, Lin Ming’s soul force consumption was extremely fierce that night, and he didn’t wake up early like he usually did. Then after that he went to the Violent Wind Tunnel to practice, and time had dragged on a bit too long.
“There are already quite a few visitors waiting.” Wang Yuhan said as she pointed towards the hall.
Lin Ming looked. In the hall, there were already 7 or 8 people who were patiently waiting there. Usually at this time, there would only be 2 or 3 people.
The last time, Lin Ming had repeatedly gone through requests. No matter whether it was repairing an inscription symbol or drawing one up, he managed to smoothly complete the task each time. And what was most pleasantly surprising to the martial artists was that the inscription symbols Lin Ming had drawn up had a much better effect than a normal inscription master!
Usually to achieve this affect, only a few of the top inscription masters of Sky Fortune Kingdom, like Wang Xuanji, were able to do so.
But what kind of character was Wang Xuanji? Most people simply could not move him. Even if they wanted him to, his price was not something that most martial artists could afford to pay.
But Lin Ming’s price for work was very cheap. His service wasn’t actually much worse compared to those top level inscription masters. As a result, many visitors had come because they had learned this.
“I heard that the guest inscription master is in his teens. I don’t know whether this rumor is true though.” A visitor thoughtlessly said. Today he had brought a medium-grade human-step treasure. He had already had this treasure for over half a year, but hadn’t found an appropriate inscription symbol. He did not even bother glancing at common inscription symbols, but the price for the top tier inscription symbols were just too high and not to his liking. He cultivated cold attribute true essence, and therefore wanted an inscription symbol that matched his true essence attribute.
And then yesterday, he had overheard that a new guest inscription master had come to the Inscription Association and drawn up an ‘Icefrost Guard’ inscription symbol. After being placed on, the armor had actually changed to an icy blue color. That was why before the dawn had even risen, he had lined up here and had already waited most of the day till now. However, he wasn’t even the slightest bit impatient. The earlier he came, the earlier in line he would be, and he might be the first one that the inscription master helped. The first inscription symbol that an inscription master made was the best. This was because at that time their soul force and true essence were at their most abundant state, and it was also easier to obtain the best result. As the day dragged on, the chances of getting the best possible result would decrease.
“It’s true, when my friend came; he saw with his own eyes that the inscription master was just a youth.”
“What’s wrong with the world? Is inscription technique not difficult to learn? He’s already at this level, in a few years him surpassing Wang Xuanji would be as simple as eating a meal or drinking water.”
“The children these days are becoming increasingly fierce. A few years ago there was Qin Xingxuan, and half a month ago there was a Lin Ming. Now, there’s also an inscription genius. Where did this boy come from, why have I never heard of him before?”
“He shouldn’t be someone from the Sky Fortune Kingdom. Our Sky Fortune Kingdom’s inscription technique isn’t that amazing. In certain places in the mainland, there are families who engage in special occupations. For instance, array master families, alchemist families, inscription master families, refiner families, and so forth. These families have already inherited legacies of over a thousand years, and they are much more formidable than the Sky Fortune Kingdom. They would screen the soul talent of each generation’s outstanding descendants, and have a pair of a high-talent male and female marry. The child they give birth to would have the possibility of having a high-grade soul talent. Gradually, in these families, even having a fifth-grade soul talent isn’t strange. In addition to their glorious and long history and the many inheritances and legacies that they have accumulated, their level of inscription technique must be many times more formidable than the average inscription master.”
A knowledgeable old man slowly said this as he stroked his beard. The truth was that nothing he said was a secret. Not only were there families with particular professions, but martial arts were the same. There were martial arts families with grandiose histories that had existed since ancient times. For instance, of the Seven Profound Marital House’s current core disciples, besides Qin Xingxuan, the rest had come from martial cultivation families. Lin Ming was thought to be such a person by them.
As the group of people was talking, a young receptionist lady came over, and politely told them, “The guest inscription master has arrived. Everyone has been waiting for a long time. We may begin now.”
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Allied Trade Association, Sky Fortune City Headquarters –
In a luxurious room in the midst of a renovation, Zhang Guanyu reclined on a bed. In his hand he held a delicate eggshell-like porcelain bowl that was threaded with fine gold slivers. In the small golden bowl was a creamy liquid.
This thick and fragrant liquid was milk. But it was not goat’s milk or sheep’s milk or something like that, but was a woman’s breast milk.
In most nobles’ mansions, they raised a number of wet nurses. These wet nurses would squeeze out their breast milk and the nobles would enjoy this delicacy. Human breast milk was considered to be the most nutritious of all milks. Whether a baby grew well had much to do with breast milk, and how long they were on breast milk before they were weaned off. Because of this, it was popular within the aristocrats of Sky Fortune Kingdom to raise wet nurses in their mansions.
Normally, the women that had the occupation of a wet nurse, were those that had just had a child, or their child had died, or they were sold off. Most of these women came from the countryside, and usually only the women with poor appearances would come and be a wet nurse to help out with their family’s expenses.
The saying was that a woman with big buttocks would easily give birth. Therefore, the women that were able to squeeze enough breast milk were usually somewhat plump. In addition, they had mostly been doing farm work in the countryside since they were children. Their skin had already been thoroughly exposed to sun and rain, and was rough. Most were not attractive.
Zhang Guanyu, this person, had very loose lips. He felt that this kind of woman wet nurse seriously affected his ‘appetite’. Therefore the wet nurses he raised had to be pretty and beautiful women beyond all else. These kinds of beauty were usually the concubines of other wealthy individuals. Their age was usually 20 or so, and their looks were charming and pleasant.
The Allied Trade Association had a huge influence. Some respected families would offer their concubines on their own volition in order to flatter Zhang Guanyu. But, there were also some that were compelled by Zhang Guanyu. In those cases the families would have to obediently offer up their concubines. As for the children that these concubines had given birth to, the families could only have their own wet nurses replace them.
Some concubines were in delicate health, and their breast milk was scarce. However, this didn’t matter to Zhang Guanyu. In fact, Zhang Guanyu liked this kind; he felt that such breast milk was the sweetest, as well as the most rare and precious.
Sometimes, a concubine that Zhang Guanyu had an appetite for would be directly sent to his harem. Zhang Guanyu had an interest in all the various flavors of beautiful women; even a person’s wife was no exception.
“Have you found her?” Zhang Guanyu lazily asked, slowly sipping on his bowl of breast milk.
“Informing the young master, we have found her.” The one speaking was a middle-aged man of over 40 years old. His breath was long and his heartbeat was powerful; he was at the Viscera Training stage.
“Mm. We shall go.” Zhang Guanyu said and tossed down the rest of the breast milk in the bowl. He excitedly licked his lips; his appearance quite fierce at this moment.
“Young master… to do this, is…” The middle-aged man hesitated.
“Mm? Are you afraid to offend Lin Ming?”
“Young Master, Lin Ming has already risen to a core disciple’s status within the Seven Profound Martial House. If he continues to rise in the future, and becomes a Seven Profound Envoy or the Martial House Master, if we have offended such a person, it would be very difficult to manage…”
“Your meaning is, I should lie down with both hands tied, and let him step on me? And even befriend Lin Ming? Is that right?” Zhang Guanyu’s voice suddenly cooled.
The middle-aged man hurriedly said, “Young Master, this subordinate does not mean that.”
“Humph! The Seven Profound Martial House has pushed me to stand against Lin Ming, it is impossible for me to live in peace with him! Do you want me to admit defeat? Even if I admit defeat, do you think Lin Ming will receive my kindness? The Seven Profound Martial House wants me to be Lin Ming’s stepping stone, but what they do not know is I am not a stepping stone! I am a caltrop! Whoever steps on me will die!”
Zhang Guanyu’s heart of martial arts was an arrogant heart. He could understand that some people were stronger than him from the start, but he could not bear to see a young man compared to him, and chase after him and then surpass him! Not only that, but Lin Ming was younger than him by five years!
Because Lin Ming had stolen his thunder, he had already become extremely unhappy. Not only that, but the fight in four months would definitely attract the attention of everyone within the Sky Fortune Kingdom. If he lost in that situation, it would be a shameful disgrace. Zhang Guanyu’s arrogant heart could not accept such a matter.
The truth was, Zhang Guanyu had complete confidence in winning the match four months from now. But even if he won, he felt that Lin Ming would eventually surpass him. At that time, Lin Ming would challenge him again to defeat him. In this way, the result would still be the same!
Zhang Guanyu had a premonition that once he was defeated by Lin Ming someday, then he would forever be surpassed by Lin Ming, and would be unable to stand up from this catastrophic failure!
This would frustrate his arrogant heart. This knot, he would never be able to untie! And that was because he could never surmount Lin Ming again!
Zhang Guanyu absolutely did not want to see that ever happen.