A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

In this era, sectarianism was still very important. The fact that Song Jin'ao could not accept Zheng Xuan as his personal disciple meant that he might not be able to teach Zheng Xuan some of his sect's most secret techniques.

This is a rule of the sect, upheld by generations. Some people even cannot teach their own children, such as the much-criticized practice of passing on the teachings to sons but not daughters.

Think about it, in order to strictly abide by the rules, even one's own daughter must be kept a secret and cannot be taught, let alone a disciple who is only nominally a disciple?

Song Jin'ao didn't say this explicitly, but Li Jitong understood that Song Jin'ao meant that if Zheng Xuan didn't become his personal disciple, he couldn't teach Zheng Xuan his two special skills.

Just like Zheng Xuanruo, if he wasn't his last disciple, he wouldn't be qualified to see the portrait of his ancestor.

However, Li Jitong also knew that one cannot become fat in one bite. He could not teach the ultimate moves, but he could teach the basic techniques. As long as the foundation was solid, wouldn't the so-called ultimate moves be evolved from that foundation?

Therefore, Li Jitong decided to first have Song Jin'ao lay the foundation for Zheng Xuan.

Li Jitong's reason for having this idea was that he had been thinking about it for a long time. Zheng Xuan's talent was obvious to all. He was a natural corpse retriever, and he could easily inherit the River God Sect's legacy.

However, the River God Sect's lineage is incomplete. Back then, because of the Tartars entering the pass, the River God Sect was split up. One part followed Koxinga to Taiwan, while the other part stayed behind. This resulted in the River God Sect's lineage being missing a piece here.

Afterwards, because the Tartars were a foreign tribe that entered the pass, they were wary of the Han people at all times and persecuted them. First, they carried out literary inquisitions, which burned away the integrity of scholars. From then on, it was difficult for any scholar to be ranked above the third rank, thus locking in the upper limit of the scholarly ranks.

Later, they persecuted Han Chinese martial artists, carrying out a nationwide crackdown. The most famous example was the arrest of members of the Heaven and Earth Society, who were labeled as traitors and their lineage was severed.

After nearly two hundred years of persecution, many of the cultivation sequences in China are now incomplete. For example, the corpse retriever sequence of their River God Sect only has detailed cultivation methods up to sequence seven.

Li Jitong could see Zheng Xuan's talent. Given enough time, he would definitely be able to enter Sequence Seven soon, at which point he would have no further path to advancement.

Li Jitong couldn't bear to see a genius like Zheng Xuan waste half his life without any way to advance, so he wanted Song Jin'ao to pass on his martial arts sequence to Zheng Xuan.

The martial arts sequence is one of the two strongest sequences among the 360 ​​professions, with a relatively broad prospect. Moreover, he had inquired about Song Jin'ao's inheritance from the side and it seemed that it could reach sequence six.

Li Jitong thought that Zheng Xuan had exceptional talent in the Corpse Retriever sequence. If he cultivated to the seventh sequence in the future and there was no further way to advance, he could use the Martial Arts sequence to improve. Once his realm was higher and his vision was broader, he might be able to give back to the Corpse Retriever sequence, or even find the lost inheritance of the Corpse Retriever sequence.

It's like how it's difficult for a farmer to buy a car worth 200,000 yuan, but if you rise to a higher level and become a company boss, that car might not be so difficult for you.

Only by standing tall can you have a broad perspective.

Li Jitong and Song Jin'ao had agreed that if Zheng Xuan wanted to become Song Jin'ao's disciple, he could first become a nominal disciple. However, when Song Jin'ao was laying the foundation, he could not use the things passed down to the outer sect to fool Zheng Xuan. He must teach him the real stuff.

Song Jin'ao readily agreed, and Wen Mofang, seeing that the two had reached a good agreement, couldn't help but say, "Seeing that you two brothers have taken on such a talented disciple, I am really itching to do so. If it weren't for my poor health and the fact that I didn't learn combat techniques, I would have already passed on all my medical skills to Zheng Xuan."

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong laughed and said, "Physician Wen is joking."

Song Jin'ao said, "Haha, Doctor Wen, if you want to teach him, you have to see if his child is willing to learn. These days, a good successor is hard to find!"

The three of them couldn't help but laugh as they talked. After they finished laughing, they rowed for another half an hour and met the people from Shandong who came to pick up Wen Mofang. They changed boats on the river, and Song Jin'ao said that he was going to Shandong to buy some medicinal herbs needed for martial arts training. He also went to Shandong with Doctor Wen.

Only Li Jitong rowed back to Tianjin alone.

When he arrived in Tianjin, it was already dawn. As soon as he got home, he saw Zheng Xuan waiting for him at home, with a pile of silver dollars on the table.

"Master!"

Zheng Xuan stood up. Li Jitong looked exhausted, but he didn't say anything when he saw Zheng Xuan.

Just then, a door nearby opened, and Zhou Xun, still half-asleep, walked out, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He saw Li Jitong and said, "Master, you're up so early! What do you want for breakfast?"

Li Jitong looked at Zheng Xuan, who hadn't slept all night, and then at his eldest disciple Zhou Xun, who did nothing but eat and sleep, and his anger flared up.

"Eat my ass!"

After saying that, he closed the door. Looking at his master like this, Zhou Xun scratched the back of his head: "Did you eat gunpowder so early in the morning?"

"I don't understand," Zhou Xun thought, and went to open the door. He then saw that Feng Nianjiao was already outside. This young lady came every morning to make breakfast for Zhou Xun and his father, since Zhou Xun was terrible at cooking.

Inside the room, Li Jitong looked at Zheng Xuan with a stern face, while Zheng Xuan stood there as if he were being reprimanded.

"Master, I was wrong."

Zheng Xuan bowed his head and apologized.

Li Jitong looked at Zheng Xuan and said, "You're wrong? You're wrong? Wasn't the Great Rainbow Bridge a heroic place?"

Zheng Xuan lowered his head and remained silent. Li Jitong looked at Zheng Xuan. He didn't really want to scold Zheng Xuan, but he was still afraid when he thought about what happened yesterday. Zheng Xuan was his last disciple, no different from his own son. What would he do if something had happened yesterday? What would the River God Sect do?

Zheng Xuan understood and apologized repeatedly. Li Jitong quickly calmed down and looked at Zheng Xuan, saying, "You brat, if you dare to show off again, don't acknowledge me as your master."

"Yes, yes."

Zheng Xuan repeatedly agreed, and Li Jitong said, "I understand what you just said. Handing over the child's body is only a temporary measure. As for this money, you can't keep it, or it will cause trouble. I'll go find your uncle and hand over the money to the county magistrate, and then everything will be fine."

"Thank you, Master."

Zheng Xuan expressed his gratitude, and Li Jitong said, "Well, that's settled for this time. Next time something happens, if I tell you to leave, you absolutely cannot stay and try to be a hero, understand?"

Zheng Xuan immediately agreed.

At this moment, Li Jitong said, "By the way, the other day I saw you inquiring about the martial arts sequence with that bastard Zhou Xun. I'll help you find a master, your guarantor, Song Jin'ao. He's a seventh-level martial arts master."

"If I asked you to be his nominal disciple, to learn martial arts and build a foundation, would you be willing?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan's eyes lit up. The opportunity had come true, so he quickly agreed: "I'm willing."