Chapter 47: The Winds Are Changing
In the end, Madam Wei threw down the broom and fled with her face covered.
She truly had no face left to show anyone.
Normally, Ah Ming would have left the house by this time. Why was he still at home today?
Ah, this was beyond embarrassing.
Chen Ming smiled faintly and said to Old Li, “Just throw her out. Keep up appearances.”
Old Li immediately straightened his back. “Yes, Second Young Master.”
Chen Ming left the house, got into the carriage, and quickly disappeared from sight.
——
At the Wu’s Martial School, Chen Ming walked through the main gate carrying a jug of wine. He saw two teenagers, one chubby and one skinny, cleaning up, and asked, “Where’s Master Liu?”
The two youths respectfully replied, “Master is inside, waiting for you.”
These two were Master Liu’s disciples.
The large martial school had only these two students left. It could be said it was on the verge of shutting down.
“Sir, we’re about to head out. When you leave, just close the main gate for us.”
“Alright.”
Chen Ming knew they were heading out for part-time work.
Since the school couldn’t recruit any students, there was no income.
These two were orphans, and the martial school was basically their home.
Usually, they earned some money by doing odd jobs outside.
That was how the three of them managed to avoid starving to death.
Ever since learning about their situation, Chen Ming would bring wine and roasted chicken or duck every time he visited.
“So fragrant… Is this marinated pork knuckle from Fuju Pavilion?”
Just as Chen Ming stepped into the back courtyard, he heard the sound of someone gulping and laughed. “Master Liu, your nose is truly sharp.”
Master Liu was a gray-haired old man with a scruffy beard and an unkempt appearance, looking like a slovenly elder.
In fact, he was just in his early fifties, about the same age as Shangguan Hong.
Chen Ming took out the wine and marinated pork knuckle and placed them on the stone table. Master Liu immediately reached out, grabbed the food, and began eating. Grease covered his beard, but he didn’t care one bit.
Before long, the large plate of pork knuckle had vanished into his stomach.
Licking his fingers, he still seemed unsatisfied and commented, “When it comes to marinated meat, no one beats Wang Liji in Jiangzhou City. If you ever go there, you must try it.”
Chen Ming replied, “To receive such praise from Master Liu, I definitely won’t miss it.”
Master Liu picked up the wine cup, took a sip, and lazily asked, “Alright, what do you want to know today?”
He never ate Chen Ming’s offerings for free. Every time he finished eating, he would answer a few of Chen Ming’s questions as a return.
And truth be told, he really did know quite a lot.
Chen Ming asked, “Does Master know anything about Zheng Longwang and Lord Honghai?”
Master Liu paused mid-drink and gave him a strange look. “What, you want to go join them too?”
“Master jests. I just heard the two pirate factions are at war, so I got curious.”
“They’re fighting again? Makes sense. In the Eastern Sea, there’s only room for one king.”
Master Liu took another sip of wine before continuing, “Zheng Longwang was the adopted son of the previous Pirate King. Thirty years ago, they were wiped out by the Sea-Calming King. Zheng Longwang retreated with the remnants of their forces to the deep sea. Once the Sea-Calming King left, they came back to stir up trouble again.”
“Zheng Longwang practiced the ‘Ocean-Overturning Divine Art.’ Ten years ago, he had already reached Third Grade. Under him are nine adopted sons, each one a Fourth or Fifth Grade martial artist. He commands over a thousand ships, effectively controlling the southern maritime route. Every merchant ship heading south must pay him a tax. Those who pay can hang a special flag and pass freely. Those who don’t get raided.”
“Just from this alone, Zheng Longwang earns millions in profits every year.”
After a drink to moisten his throat, Master Liu went on, “As for this Lord Honghai, he’s quite the mystery. No one knows where he came from. He suddenly rose to power ten years ago, wiping out several pirate groups and quickly becoming the second most powerful pirate lord after Zheng Longwang. He took control of the eastern maritime route. Over the past few years, he fought Zheng Longwang several times and even had the upper hand each time.”
“It’s said Lord Honghai is a Second Grade expert. Under him are five great generals, all Fourth Grade powerhouses, commanding over six hundred ships. However, his foundation is weak, and his wealth doesn’t compare to Zheng Longwang’s. The two sides still have room to fight it out.”
At this moment, a sharp glint appeared in the usually murky eyes of Master Liu.
At last, he showed a bit of the bearing of a martial school master.
Chen Ming gave a slight cough and said, “I just heard a piece of news—Zheng Longwang was killed by Lord Honghai. Now, the entire Eastern Sea belongs to him.”
“What?!”
Master Liu exclaimed in disbelief, almost yanking out his beard in shock. “T-That’s impossible!”
By his estimation, it would be at least another ten years before the two could settle the score.
Zheng Longwang was a cunning man. Knowing he couldn’t win against Lord Honghai, he would surely avoid direct confrontation. With the vastness of the sea, if he focused on evasion, Lord Honghai would have a hard time catching him.
“Where did you hear this from?”
“Six Doors.”
That did it.
Master Liu couldn’t doubt it now.
If the information came from Six Doors, it was most likely true.
He suddenly chuckled. “Now that this has happened, those seven maritime merchants are probably going to have a headache. The Sea-Calming King is gone—who knows if the court can produce another one like him.”
Chen Ming nodded.
Now that the sea route had become a monopoly, it was entirely dictated by Lord Honghai.
No matter how harsh the rules he set, if one wanted to profit from maritime transport, they’d have no choice but to hold their nose and accept it.
This Qingfeng City… it was truly about to undergo a major change.
The two of them continued discussing this matter for a long time.
Around noon, Chunxiang and Xiaxiang brought over food.
The two men chatted as they ate.
In the afternoon, they had another sparring session.
【You have defeated an LV30 enemy and gained 200 experience points.】
Chen Ming wasn’t surprised to see this prompt.
Indeed, this Master Liu was at Seventh Grade.
He had been going easy on him and hadn’t shown his real strength at all.
Master Liu sighed. “Sigh, next time you want to learn some martial arts, just ask me. Don’t keep tormenting this old body of mine. You always want to have a spar—my bones are nearly falling apart.”
Chen Ming naturally disagreed. “That’s not right, Master. I’ve always believed in unifying knowledge and action. If I learn a saber technique, I must apply it in actual combat. Otherwise, it’s just empty form. So, whenever I get the chance, I want to spar with every martial artist I meet.”
Master Liu froze.
The wine he was pouring spilled without him even noticing.
After a moment, he let out a sigh. “What a fine ‘unifying knowledge and action.’ If only I had understood this principle in my younger years…”
As he spoke, he laughed at himself. “No wonder you’ve honed your saber techniques to this level. You’re a true martial fanatic.”
With that, he tilted his head back and downed his drink.
Half an hour later, when the sky was beginning to darken, Chen Ming stood up to take his leave.
“Young man.”
Master Liu, now slightly drunk, suddenly called out to him. His bleary eyes opened and he said, “You’d best not let others know what cultivation method you’re practicing, or it could bring trouble.”
“What do you mean, Master?”
Chen Ming wanted to ask more, but the old man had already slumped onto the table, snoring loudly.
Though doubt lingered in his heart, seeing Master Liu in that state, Chen Ming couldn’t ask further and simply left.
“Was he talking about the Three Suns Body Tempering technique?”
After cultivating it to the fourth layer, he could already sense how unique this technique was. His frequent victories over stronger opponents weren’t just due to superior saber skills.
This cultivation method gave him strength beyond others in his realm, superior endurance, and explosive power.
His physical strength now rivaled that of opponents five levels above him.
This was definitely no ordinary cultivation method.