What a lucky world!

Chapter 39: Eighth-Rank Opportunity: Cold Dragon Kills Spring!
"Brother Mu, I'm sorry for being rude just now. Thank you for saving me." Shi Yansheng first bowed to Zhang Mu.

Zhang Mu waved his hands and said, "They are just a few ruffians. I can handle them."

Shi Yansheng shook his head: "Of course you can handle it, but... you can only help temporarily, not forever!"

"Once you're gone, those hooligans will vent their anger on Chunjie. He'll be asked to pay back his money tomorrow just like he did today."

"Why bother?"

"Dad!" Shi Chunjie said defiantly, "So what? If they come again, I'll fight them to the death!"

"How dare you!" Shi Yansheng stamped his feet and said, "Let alone if they kill you, even if they cripple you, what will I do? What will happen to our Shi family? How will I explain this to my ancestors..."

"Son, be patient for now. When I pass the imperial examination this autumn and achieve fame, I'm sure they won't dare to provoke you."

"Take a test, take a test. I'm already sixteen, and you're still..." Shi Chunjie was halfway through his words when he realized something was wrong. He stopped and thought for a moment before saying, "Then what about Blacksmith Li?"

"This..." Shi Yansheng was suddenly choked. He rummaged in his sleeves with trembling hands, and finally pulled out a dozen copper coins. He asked again, "How much...?"

Shi Chunjie lowered his head: "Three taels of silver."

"Three taels!" Shi Yansheng was shocked. "What kind of knife costs three taels of silver?"

"That's a broadsword made of fine steel," Shi Chunjie explained. "Master Zheng Daniu has agreed to take me in as his disciple and teach me martial arts. That's my gift."

"I begged Blacksmith Li for a long time before he was willing to make me a knife. I give him the money I earn every month."

"My wages were originally only ten or three taels."

"I'd like to give you one ounce first, and with the remaining three ounces I'd like to buy you some more writing brushes and ink."

Listening to the conversation between the father and son, Zhang Mu was not in a hurry to leave and just stood there.

"Dad, I'm going to ask Blacksmith Li for a month's grace. I won't take the knife for now..."

"No!" Shi Yansheng waved his hand. "Blacksmith Li treated you with sincerity, so you should return the favor! Since we've already agreed on a date, how can we just break it so easily..."

"Even if it's just one or two ounces of silver, maybe they need it urgently."

"That's what I taught you since you were little. Keep your word!"

"Besides, since you've become Brother Zheng's disciple, how can you not offer him a gift of tuition?"

"What should we do? Where can we get the silver now?" Shi Chunjie thought for a moment and found a hatchet in the yard. "I'll go fight them..."

Shi Yansheng grabbed Shi Chunjie and saw Zhang Mu still standing at the door with bitterness.

Shi Yansheng's expression changed again and again. Finally, he sighed, walked up to Zhang Mu, and bowed, "Brother Mu, is your suggestion still effective?"

It seems that Shi Yansheng is about to make a decision that goes against his ancestors.

Zhang Mu naturally wouldn't mock anything at this time, he just nodded and said: "It will work naturally."

"Dad, what's your suggestion?" Shi Chunjie asked.

Shi Yansheng glanced at Shi Chunjie and sighed again, "Forget it. If I pass the things on to you, I'm afraid they'll be gone."

After saying that, Shi Chunjie turned and walked into the room. After a moment, he came out holding a small wooden box and handed it to Zhang Mu: "Brother Mu, take a look..."

Zhang Mu took the wooden box and opened it. He saw a thin booklet inside. After flipping through a few pages, he found that the handwriting on it was a little blurred.

"Dad, this isn't..." Shi Chunjie was about to speak when he was kicked by Shi Yansheng.

Seeing this, Zhang Mu smiled. He did not rush to take the wooden box. Instead, he took out three ten-liang silver notes from his arms and handed them to Shi Yansheng.

Shi Yansheng took a look at the banknotes and shook his head quickly: "Too much, too much..."

Zhang Mu was stunned: "Didn't we agree on thirty taels just now?"

"Just now, I refused to sell, so you raised the price to thirty taels," Shi Yansheng said seriously. "How can a gentleman accept such arbitrary price increases? Isn't this no different from a profit-seeking businessman?"

"To me, this book is a family heirloom, so it's naturally precious. But to others, aside from being a little older, it's worthless."

"Shi, you are so shameless. Please give me a price."

"About three or two."

"It's enough for me to pay Blacksmith Li."

"That way, when I meet my ancestors in the future, I can explain that these ancestral items were not sold for profit, but to exchange for a promise to keep for my descendants."

"This promise is worth a thousand gold."

Zhang Mu was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes, and he stuffed the thirty taels of silver note into Shi Yansheng's hand.

"Mr. Shi, I won't lie to you. This ancient book is definitely worth more than thirty taels. I took advantage of you this time."

"Don't refuse. Chunjie will definitely need blood and energy to start his martial arts journey. This money can be of great help."

After hearing Zhang Mu's words, Shi Yansheng hesitated for a moment, then looked at Shi Chunjie standing beside him. Finally, he nodded solemnly, put away the three banknotes, and bowed to Zhang Mu again: "Thank you."

Zhang Mu then reached out to take the wooden box, placed it in his arms, and bowed to say goodbye. He took only two steps before stopping and saying to Shi Chunjie, "Study hard from Master Zheng. Even our escort chief, Song, praised his skills."

"When you become a qualified escort, you can come to the escort agency to find me again. I will try to recommend you to be an escort officer."

Hearing Zhang Mu's words, Shi Chunjie nodded repeatedly. Even Shi Yansheng finally showed a smile on his face and looked at his son kindly.

……

After leaving the Shi family, Zhang Mu did not return to the escort agency, but found a remote place in the inner city and lit a bonfire.

Looking at the bonfire burning, Zhang Mu took out the booklet.

According to the description in the Tianji List, Li Ping accidentally dropped the booklet into the furnace, which led to his obtaining the eighth-grade opportunity.

Zhang Mu did not hesitate and threw the booklet into the fire.

Weird things happen.

After the booklet entered the fire, it did not burn immediately, but instead flashed a few rays of light blue light, protecting the booklet.

After about a minute, the blue light slowly dissipated under the burning flames, and then the booklet began to burn.

But when the booklet began to burn, a white page of paper emerged from the ashes. Zhang Mu quickly put away the fire and took out the white paper.

The white paper feels cold to the touch, like a piece of ice, yet as thin as a cicada's wing, as if it were woven from a special silk.

Zhang Mu looked intently at the white paper and saw a few words written on it:

"I am Shi Jingya, born and raised in Hanbing Valley. I am the closed disciple of the thirteenth generation master of Hanbing Valley."

"Great Luck is ruthless, straddling the martial arts world with all his might, destroying all sects in the world. My Ice Valley will also be destroyed in this battle."

"Today is the day of my death. I will go to the underworld. I will see you again, Master, and all my fellow brothers and sisters."

"I have only one regret."

"I only have the spirit of one move of the Frost Spear Technique, the most powerful skill in the Ice Valley, and I cannot pass on the full technique to future generations."

"The imperial court is currently arresting members of the sect, so I have hidden this move in a secret method within the ice silkworm silk. I hope someone with a destiny will obtain it and restore the sharp edge of our Ice Valley."

Zhang Mu held the white silk paper, motionless.

Finished?

There are only a few paragraphs on the white silk paper, and nothing else.

No, man... then what?

Where is Lingshuang's spear technique, one move?

Zhang Mu turned the white silk paper over and over several times, and there was indeed nothing else on it.

"Missing pages?" Zhang Mu hesitated. "Isn't this the original copy?"

Zhang Mu ran to the campfire again and dug around to make sure there was nothing left.

Zhang Mu looked at the white silk paper again and thought about it.

This unique skill of Zhengu sounds very advanced.

And as mentioned above, only the soul of one move was obtained, and the complete book could not be passed down.

The word "soul" is very spiritual.

In my previous life, I had to use my spiritual consciousness to read these advanced texts in the online novels I read.

The problem is, there is no cultivation of immortals in this world. The Heavenly Secret List is in one's mind, so one can check it with the soul, but how can one read this white silk paper?
Suddenly, Zhang Mu thought of another thing!
Innate martial luck!

Try it!

Zhang Mu quickly activated his innate martial energy and sent it towards the white silk paper, but the innate martial energy could not leave his body at all, and the white silk paper had no reaction at all.

Zhang Mu curled his lips.

That doesn’t make sense. The Tianji Ranking shows that Li Ping got it.

Now that I have tried the innate martial luck, let’s try the internal energy.

This time, Zhang Mu mobilized his internal energy and let it slowly flow to his fingertips. At this moment, the white silk paper suddenly generated a suction force, absorbing all the internal energy on Zhang Mu's fingertips.

There is a play!

Before Zhang Mu could react, his eyes blurred and an old man with white hair and a youthful face appeared in front of him.

The old man held a spear in his hand and whispered, "Spring has returned to the earth, but I want winter to return."

"Look carefully, this move is: Cold Dragon Kills Spring!"

Then, Zhang Mu saw the old man suddenly thrust out the spear in his hand, like a dragon emerging from the sea. It was obviously just an ordinary thrust, but it seemed to contain countless changes. At the moment of the thrust, Zhang Mu seemed to see not the old man thrusting out the spear, but the old man riding a giant frost dragon and crashing into his opponent. In an instant, the sky was cold and winter was coming again.

The picture disappeared and Zhang Mu woke up in shock. He felt a lot of information emerging in his mind, and the white silk paper in his hand melted like a piece of ice in his hand.

"The ultimate skill to protect the valley!"

At this moment, Zhang Mu finally understood why only one move could be rated as an eighth-grade opportunity on the Tianji List.

Zhang Mu intuitively felt that as long as he mastered this move, there would be no need for deduction from the Tianji List, and the initial power would be stronger than the Three Talents Sword Technique he currently mastered.

There is no way. The higher the level of martial arts, the higher the initial value.

It’s like if you only learned one move of the Six Meridians Divine Sword, it would be enough to wield sword against a large number of martial arts masters.

If the martial arts Zhang Mu learned in the escort agency still made him stay at the level of martial arts, then this move of Lingshuang's spear technique was almost like a fairy-tale technique.

Of course, Zhang Mu also understood that a shot like the one in the picture was definitely not something he could perform, even with the deduction of the Tianji Ranking, because the strength of the person performing it was vastly different.

The old man's strength has probably reached the legendary master level.

However, even such people, who possess such martial arts, can only hide their identities in the end. Even the way to pass on their skills has to be through such a destined person. So how powerful is the force to defeat them!
Zhang Mu let out a long breath and suppressed the surging emotions in his heart.

This world is more wonderful than you can imagine.

Fortunately, he has the Tianji Ranking.

Fortunately, this body of his is only seventeen years old.

He still has enough capital.

"I usually focus on the Three Talents Sword Technique. I also need to practice the Cold Dragon Killing Spring move. Although it's only one move, it can be used as a killing move." Zhang Mu made a plan in his mind, but felt a little regretful. "It would be better if the Tianji List was updated sooner. Then I can try out the power of the Cold Dragon Killing Spring move."

However, just as Zhang Mu finished muttering in his heart, his expression became strange the next moment.

Because the Tianji Ranking, which had been silent in my mind for two days, had moved.

A message emerged in Zhang Mu's mind——

[The Tianji Ranking will be calculated based on the location of the leader. Shall we begin?]

　For new readers, please check out the "Reading and Winning" event. The details and how to participate are in the book review section's operations officer's post. The winner will receive a ninth-level opportunity: a 5 RMB red envelope...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)