Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

Chapter 107 Courage of a Reckless Man

Ye Ci followed Steward Chen to get the medicine and listened to his detailed explanation before she understood the whole story.

He recalled the group of scholars who had been discussing matters at length in the Wenyuan Pavilion, and the gentleman named Wei Ting, for whom Meng Zhaoting had died standing up for him.

Ye Ci was initially pleased with Zhang Guan's arrival, because Zhang Guan was in the shadows while the enemy was in the open, giving him the upper hand.

But now I always feel a little uncomfortable.

According to the original plan, Duan Wu would definitely die before leaving, and he would also definitely assassinate Zhang Guan once. If he failed, he would flee thousands of miles away.

But hearing that these intellectuals were shot dead in the street, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

Some people are truly fearless!

"The young lady tried to persuade them, but they wouldn't listen."

Manager Chen sighed, "The people from the escort agency are dead, but Jiang Ding'an and his men escaped. They'll come back for revenge sooner or later—"

"Manager Chen, you two Grandmasters of Internal Energy were injured by Duan Wu alone?"

Ye Ci changed the subject, wanting to know just how many experts were around Zhang Guan.

Logically speaking, when he returned from the frontier, the court allowed him to bring only a few people with him, let alone all the experts. Most of his troops were just ordinary soldiers, and Duan Wu was definitely one of the best among his confidants.

But neither Senior Brother Jiang nor Huang Guoshu were a match for them. When Wang Ya and Steward Chen rescued them, they were both injured.

"Yes."

"Could he be a 'Budding Elixir' cultivator?"

"Transforming strength".

Manager Chen nodded seriously: "This person has an extremely strong physical body and has also mastered a domineering palm technique. The key is that his moves are both domineering and unpredictable, which is obviously a very superior fighting style. His internal energy cultivation should also be superior, and it should be more advanced than the stance training we have been practicing since childhood."

"Fortunately, Wang Ya and I were well prepared and launched a surprise attack from the shadows; otherwise, we would have been no match for that person."

Ye Ci nodded, then asked, "Besides Duan Wu, how strong is Zhang Guan?"

"Zhang Guan is also at the Transformation Realm, but there are differences between Transformation Realm practitioners. He killed Chong Yue in one move today, so his strength is beyond question. He should be more than one level stronger than Duan Wu."

"He was accompanied by Song Rongyi today. Miss Shen had previously asked around and found out that he was a Core Formation cultivator."

"There is another one named Fang Yelan who also possesses the Dan (a type of immortality cultivation).

"The power of the Dan-embracing stage is ten levels, each level stronger than the last. We do not know how many levels this master has reached, so we dare not test him."

He sighed again, "Wang Ya and I were careless today. We thought we only needed to be wary of Song Rongyi, but who knew that Duan Wu would be so powerful."

Ye Ci silently noted down this information and saw Steward Chen out the door.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and the news gradually spread, along with some new information.

One version of the story is that Wei Ting did not die, but his tongue was cut out and he was stripped naked and paraded through the streets for three days.

This move was intended to set an example, but more so to destroy his spirit. It is said that he went mad on the first day and crawled on the road like a dog in the following days.

Therefore, no scholar in the county dared to speak out against it.

Secondly, there was the matter of raiding martial arts schools. Initially, the general did not allow martial arts instructors to teach.

When the news spread, the local militia almost went wild.

It should be noted that in addition to the three major martial arts schools, there are many smaller martial arts schools and some old martial arts masters who teach at home in the county. They may not have as many disciples as the three major martial arts schools, but they are not unknown figures either.

This has eradicated the roots of martial arts practitioners in Songjiang County.

Soon, news spread the next day that the general had changed his mind.

It is said that, at the urging of Fang Yelan and Song Rongyi, it was decided to hold a martial arts competition in the county, and only martial arts schools with excellent results in the competition would be qualified to teach students.

This move eased tensions between Zhang Guan and the local militia.

Therefore, the warrior also rested.

******

As dawn breaks and the east gradually turns white, the first light of day appears.

Ye Ci got up early and practiced martial arts in the courtyard.

I had only been practicing for a short while when I suddenly heard light footsteps.

The moonlight outside the courtyard was faint as Shen Yixi walked slowly towards the courtyard.

She wore a moon-white embroidered orchid dress, which accentuated her slender and graceful figure.

The morning light falls between her eyebrows and eyes, making her complexion beautiful and her features gentle, like a delicate fragrance blooming in the morning, elegant and bright.

"Offering of leaves".

Ye Ci was slightly taken aback, not expecting that Shen Yixi would take the initiative to come over so early in the morning.

"Miss Shen, I wanted to come to see you, but Steward Chen said you've been very busy lately."

Shen Yixi nodded: "It is very busy. We need to raise 200,000 taels of silver for Zhang Guan and cooperate with the old man to sell the family's properties to the five major families. We also need to make sure that they do not communicate with each other. It takes some tricks."

Ye Ci heard the words "Zhang Guan," but these days, he had heard the word "general" more often.

"I'm a little tired. I'd like to borrow the place where Ye is enshrined to have a cup of hot tea."

Shen Yixi rubbed her slightly dark circles and went into the kitchen in the outer courtyard on her own. There was hot water on the stove that the servants had prepared the night before, and she skillfully adjusted the fire to make it a little brighter.

I plan to boil the water a little.

Ye Ci stepped forward to help, but was blocked by the girl.

Shen Yixi smiled faintly: "I can do the work."

Ye Ci was too embarrassed to say anything more, so he stood beside her and watched the girl resting her chin on her hand, quietly squatting on the ground.

"The Shen family sold off a lot of assets at a low price, which reduced their financial strength. However, they also have businesses outside the county. My father and I have been discussing and arranging things, and we have almost finished. In the future, the Shen family will have the opportunity to make a comeback."

"The old man said he would do everything he could to support your martial arts training. Now that you have reached the Transformation Realm, I'm afraid the Shen family may not be able to support you. I hope that Elder Ye will not look down on you in the future and can protect the old man."

Ye Ci shook his head: "Miss, you are too kind. Since I have promised Master Shen, I will not abandon him."

Shen Yixi lowered her eyes and gently stirred the firewood in the stove: "Zhang Guan previously said he would give the Shen family a month, but the Shen family's sale of assets like this can't be kept secret. I converted all the family assets into official banknotes or bank notes from the three major merchant houses, also to avoid attracting attention. However, the old man has to leave in the next few days."

It was thoughtful of them to exchange it for silver notes. Ye Ci knew that if the money were packed into dozens of large boxes, it would probably be intercepted by Zhang Guan before he even left the house.

"You go first. If I can sell some more later, I will ask a trustworthy person to deliver the silver notes to you."

She suddenly scoffed, "If my father hadn't also wanted these properties and worked so hard to raise them, I probably wouldn't have been able to scrape together so much money in such a short time. These families are ridiculous, all of them are still trying to bargain with me. But I suppose once the rebel army enters the city, these things won't belong to them anymore."

"You've made contact with them?"

Ye Ci asked.

When Shen Yixi saw that the water had boiled, she wanted to get the kettle, but Ye Ci beat her to it.

The two men carried the kettle into the main hall.

As the first rays of dawn shone, they cast indistinct shadows of the two figures.

Shen Yixi stood beside him, tilted her head, and asked, "Lord Ye, do you know why I used to dislike martial artists?"

Why?

Once inside, Ye Ci made tea for her and casually asked her something.

Shen Yixi said softly, "A man's courage comes quickly and goes quickly."

"After Jiang Ding'an escaped, Zhang Guan found the Panshi Martial Arts School. He wanted to see if all the students in this school had a rebellious streak. Your junior brother, Xiao Hua, stepped forward and later—became a disciple of Zhang Guan."