A leisurely life in the world of cultivation

Chapter 72 One Against Two? Li Laosi, impressive! (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader, please vote!)
"Haven't you changed your mind yet?"

Inside a guest room on the third floor of the Dream Pavilion, several silver candles illuminated the room. Granny Jin glanced at Chu Mengjun, who was sitting dignifiedly to the side, and sighed as she asked.

Chu Mengjun shook her head slightly, her expression somewhat forlorn, and said, "Mother-in-law, I want to try again. Otherwise, how can I be content?"

She was truly only one step away from breaking through the upper three levels.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, she dared to build her brothel opposite the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, not only because of the sentimental poem by the talented scholar from Jiangnan, but also because she was better than Qi Erniang!

Unfortunately, the old woman received a fine piece of music, which deprived her of the opportunity to launch a further attack.

Granny Jin earnestly advised, "The second young master wants to take you as a concubine, and you'll have a chance to break through your limitations. You might even get a Breakthrough Pill that allows you to leap to the top in one step. Isn't that better than struggling alone?"
"If the Upper Three Passes were so easy to enter, the Ye family's twin dragons of Shangqing Palace wouldn't have fallen to such a state. When Ye Yun traveled the world, he was so charismatic; countless families and sects were captivated by him, all believing that within twenty years, he would become one of the leading figures among heroes. With the *Shangqing Zixiao Sword Technique* in his hands, he would have suppressed an entire generation, making them unable to raise their heads. And what was the result?"

After a long silence, Chu Mengjun said softly, "Mother, I didn't strive for wealth and status; I just wanted to be able to control my own destiny. What's the point of becoming the Second Young Master's concubine if I've already achieved this?"

She refused to submit to anyone and traveled all the way from the far south to avoid trouble, didn't she?
Her status as a courtesan doesn't matter; as long as she doesn't agree, no one can force her to do anything.

But if she becomes a concubine, she'll become someone else's plaything...

Wouldn't all her hard work and dedication throughout her life have become a joke?
She never expected that even her mother-in-law, who had taught her martial arts since childhood, would be persuaded by that man and come to convince her.

Seeing that she was unmoved by reason, Granny Jin didn't know what to say for a moment, so she could only put the matter aside for now. Her old eyes became serious, and she said, "That boy has an eerie quality about him. I always feel that he is hiding a lot of things. Maybe he has a great opportunity. I see that you have a good relationship with him. Haven't you noticed anything?"

Chu Mengjun smiled upon hearing this and said, "Mother-in-law, you can't just treat him as a sixteen-year-old boy. He's not only on good terms with me, but he's also on good terms with Qi Erniang. That's not all; even that old woman, Feng Biwu, now treats him differently. You know what kind of person Biwu Jun is. Because of her beauty, countless libertines in the martial arts world have died at her hands."

However, he is still highly regarded now.

Not to mention, Li Silang has Situ Qingyue behind him. Even among the twenty-four Silver-Ranked Officers of the Imperial Punishment Bureau, her martial arts skills rank among the top three, making her the most likely candidate to break into the Gold-Ranked Officer position. With such a peerless figure behind us, there's little we can do. Let alone us, even the Prince of Jin's mansion sent five eunuchs, who all left calling him brother.

This is what the martial arts world is all about.

It's not simply a matter of who has the harder fist or the sharper sword; whoever has the better sword has the final say.

Even if the other party is just a nobody, if you can't afford to offend the people behind them, then you can't afford to offend them either.

Only those who are unburdened and carefree, who don't care about the future, can act with such swift and decisive vengeance.

Don't you see, even the most outstanding figures in the Eight Sects still have to wear the title of Mountain and Forest Envoy and be at the beck and call of the imperial court?

And didn't Granny Jin herself work for the Jiangxi merchants?

A mere second son of a low-ranking official was enough to make her act as an intermediary...

Granny Jin naturally understood the importance of the matter, but the words "fate to the immortals" were also deeply engraved in her heart.

When despair strikes one day, this person may still find a way out...

In that case, there's no need to report certain speculative matters.

Within Qingzhou City, there were several others who shared similar thoughts…

……

"Luckily, the e-visa went smoothly after spending a little money! Should I book Air China or China Eastern?"

When Li Weizhou received Xiao Rui's call, he was dancing gracefully on a row of plum blossom stakes he had nailed himself. Standing on one stake like a golden rooster, he asked curiously, "Which flight still has a story?"

Xiao Rui's laughter came through the phone: "Air China is serious, their business class seats are separate. China Eastern is a bit more unconventional, you can lie down with two seats together."

"..."

Li Weizhou exhaled a sigh of relief and gritted his teeth, asking, "Do you have first class, the kind with a bedroom?"

"Hahaha!"

After laughing, Xiao Rui got down to business: "Forget about China Eastern, we have to transfer in Chang'an, which takes thirteen hours. Let's go with Air China, CA451. It's a regular flight, half the time, only seven hours. We depart at 6:20 pm tomorrow and arrive in Dubai at 10 pm tonight."

Li Weizhou hummed in agreement and then asked, "What about flying from Dubai to Kyiv?"

Xiao Rui said, "Then we'll take Emirates Airlines. We'll stay at the hotel for one night, and the flight is at 9:20 the next morning, arriving at 2:10 noon, which is almost six hours. Is there any other problem?"

Li Weizhou naturally didn't have one, but Xiao Rui said, "That's settled then, I've booked the tickets. Jiajia will come to see us off tomorrow, and after lunch she'll take us to the airport. Bye."

After hanging up the phone, Li Weizhou continued practicing with complete focus.

Xu Li and her brother Xu Qiang are very capable. Now, their four dried pig blood powder factories are operating together, and they are steadily earning nearly 1.2 million liters of pig blood every day.

If this amount of blood is calculated per person, it is equivalent to slaughtering a large city of 240,000 people every day.

If Li Weizhou hadn't been preparing for a business trip to Kyiv, he would have continued collecting pig blood, and the number would have been even more staggering.

He felt that the bloodshot eye in his mind had never been so vast since its birth!
Although he didn't know if he would ever be full, or if it would bring any more miracles, Li Weizhou was already quite content. Figures flashed past in the villa courtyard, their speed increasing.

Li Weizhou always felt that although his physical constitution wasn't great when practicing stance training, without the extraordinary encounter with the Blood Eye, he probably wouldn't have much hope, and even taking a medicinal bath would be difficult.

But he seems to have a great talent for practicing martial arts.

He didn't know how long it took others to practice the Seven Star Steps martial art, but he found it easy to master.

Including the "Shangqing Crescent Moon Sword Technique," if we only imitate the moves, Li Weizhou mastered it to a high degree of proficiency in just two days.

Others might have to figure out the coordination and application of acupoint strength step by step, but for Li Weizhou, as long as the acupoints are opened enough, mastering the skill is a natural process.

Is he a genius in terms of technique?
Who knows? When it comes to the talent for learning and copying, who can compare to us?
Several baskets were placed in the courtyard. Li Weizhou nimbly leaped from the plum blossom stakes onto a basket, first balancing on both sides, and then ran along the edge of the basket...

Although everyone in Daqian said that the Seven Star Steps was the simplest movement technique, a beginner-level one, Li Weizhou had also seen Qi Erniang and Ye Wangchen's advanced movement techniques when they fought, which were indeed so fast that they were hard to see.

But Li Weizhou still preferred "Seven Star Steps," feeling as if he were a star, soaring through the universe.

The seven forms are: Tian Shu Treads the Mountain, Xuan Guang Swims the Dragon, Tian Ji Pierces the Clouds, Tian Quan Flashes the Shadow, Yu Heng Controls the Wind, Kai Yang Breaks the Abyss, and Yao Guang Traces the Shadow.

It seems simple, but by combining the seven styles in pairs, in groups of three, and so on, there are 13,739 different combinations of moves.

This is assuming no two variations are repeated; if each variation could be reused, the possibilities would be endless!

Footwork techniques can, of course, be reused.

Therefore, Li Weizhou believed that as his own skills improved, the potential of this "Seven Star Steps" technique was limitless.

It is considered a low-level movement technique perhaps because it is easy to learn and does not require high acupoints when first practicing.

However, with complex combinations, the difficulty of practice increases continuously, and the requirements for acupoints also increase.

But by the time he masters it, most people in the martial arts world will probably no longer recognize that he's using the Seven Star Steps...

Li Weizhou was addicted to running, feeling as if he were riding the wind, somewhat like he was in the ocean.

He really misses the sea. He'll go back and hunt down another batch of deep-sea monsters. I wonder if he'll be reluctant to leave the sea then...

As Li Weizhou nimbly leaped and bounded across the courtyard like a parkour enthusiast, his mind raced with wildly imaginative thoughts.

Even when I'm alone, I don't feel lonely...

……

"Saburo!"

"Saburo!"

Early in the morning, the gate of the Li family's house on Shiqiao Street was pounded with loud knocking.

The doorman was terrified and ran out to open the door without even putting on his shoes. Li Chang'an didn't have time to respond to the doorman's greeting and ran inside while shouting.

Li Weizhou put away the nail board inside the house, glanced down at the bloodstains all over his body, and expressionlessly put on his clothes before going out.

It feels like the training of "Golden Bell Cover" is about getting hit and injured in advance, so that you become immune when others hit you again.

The beatings and injuries didn't disappear; they were just endured earlier.

Fortunately, after torturing himself for an hour, Li Weizhou could feel a significant improvement. His mood recovered, and he pushed open the door, saying, "Second Brother, what are you yelling about?"

Li Chang'an stood there panting, his face still showing excitement. He wasn't as handsome as Li Weizhou, with his thin eyebrows and narrow eyes, unlike Li Weizhou's bright phoenix eyes. For women, Li Weizhou, with his clean appearance and behavior, coupled with those phoenix eyes, could easily capture their hearts.

Therefore, Li Weizhou was able to thrive in both brothels, while Li Chang'an could only afford to pay money to hire girls...

Li Chang'an said irritably, "Don't be ungrateful! I've come to bring you good news!"

Li Weizhou raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "What brings you joy?"

Li Chang'an grinned again, then noticed that Xi Mei and Xiao Dong, along with the other maids, had also come out of the west wing. He shouted, "Come on, come on, Xi Mei too, everyone come on! Si Lang is back! The Princess is back too, and there's also a general's daughter... Hurry up, let's go home and talk. The whole family is waiting for you, stop dawdling!"

Li Weizhou's eyes lit up upon hearing this: Wow, they're finally back.

And, one leading two?

Li Laosi, you're something else!
……

(End of this chapter)