The chivalrous spirit is fickle

"Don't worry, you have great talent, and you will be able to do it in no time."

Hearing this, Shen Yue's eyes flashed, she smiled sweetly, and asked curiously.

"Master, am I very talented? How would I rank among the people you know?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Gu thought about it seriously and then spoke honestly.

"Your talent in cultivation is one in a million, even among all the people I have met."

"You can also be ranked in the top 100."

"..."

Shen Yue, who was originally full of expectations, suddenly looked dejected and muttered indignantly.

"Master, you really don't know how to praise people."

Shi Gu was a little surprised. In his opinion, this was already a very high evaluation. In this world of martial arts, with its ups and downs, what is most lacking is genius. It is already a rare thing to be able to squeeze into the top 100.

Hey, hey, hey.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door. It was the guest that Shi Gu mentioned. Seeing this, Shen Yue hurriedly put away the wooden sword and put it aside.

Shi Gu had no intention of opening the door, he just shouted towards the gate of the yard.

"Come in by yourselves, the door is not locked."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened and two graceful figures walked in slowly. One of them was wearing a red dress, with skin as white as snow, delicate eyebrows and eyes, and she was not very old. It was Zhu Yin from Akamon.

The other person was a charming "young woman" holding an oil-paper umbrella and smiling peacefully. She was Zhu Yin's master.

The "young woman" saluted with her fists, strode over, and spoke to Shi Gu in a voice as soft as water.

"Brother Shi, how are you?"

While Shi Gu clasped his fists in return, he quickly glanced at the two of them, then frowned and asked the "young woman" who had come to him.

"No, you come to a house without gifts?"

The young woman covered her mouth when she heard that, her beautiful eyes rolling as she smiled.

"Brother Shi, you are really joking. You are not an ordinary person, and you are not short of money. Why do you need those empty gifts?"

Shi Gu's eyelids twitched, and he turned to look at Shen Yue, who could eat a cow in one meal. However, Shen Yue seemed to have expected this, and turned her head away guiltily, not daring to meet Shi Gu's eyes.

He is really short of money now, otherwise he really can't afford to support his gluttonous apprentice.

Shi Gu naturally would not talk about these things with the beautiful woman in front of him. After a few simple greetings, he asked the beautiful woman to sit down and started chatting casually.

On the other side, perhaps because they were of similar age, Shen Yue and Zhu Yin got together, talked and laughed, and quickly became familiar with each other.

When Shi Gu looked over during a break in chatting, he saw Shen Yue demonstrating how she was hit on the forehead by the blade. Zhu Yin, who was standing next to her, was listening happily. She was no longer cold and looked like a carefree girl, smiling at Shen Yue like a flower.

Shi Gu smiled knowingly, turned to look at the beautiful woman holding an oil-paper umbrella, and asked casually.

"Speaking of which, I have always wondered, Zhu Yin is the only woman in your Akamon, so what kind of martial arts does she practice?"

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman did not intend to hide her feelings and answered directly.

"Yin'er practices a different set of skills, but they are actually from the same lineage as ours. As long as she is willing, she can follow the same path as us."

"Same path?"

Akamon’s way… to take yang and replenish yang.

Shi Gu was a little stunned, and his eyes became strange. He lowered his voice and asked.

"You mean... taking yang to replenish yin?"

The beautiful woman chuckled when she heard this.

"No, it's about taking yin to replenish yin."

Shi Gu's breath caught when he heard this. He immediately sat up straight and spoke in a deep voice to the beautiful woman.

"…Tell your apprentice to stay away from my apprentice."

Hearing this, the beautiful woman reached out and pressed her hand against Shigu's, looking charmingly at him and speaking softly.

"Brother Shi, don't worry. Yin'er doesn't like this path, and I won't let her go that way."

Facing the beautiful woman's soft and misty eyes, Shi Gu shuddered suddenly, quickly pulled his hand out, and said angrily.

"Stay the fuck away from me!"

Chapter 52: Arena Competition One Year Later

"Brother Shi, do you still remember Zong Mingfu?"

After chatting for a while, the beautiful woman mentioned Zong Mingfu seemingly unintentionally. Shi Gu remained calm, gently shaking the folding fan in his hand and replied.

"I remember. Why did you suddenly ask about Zong Mingfu? Did something happen?"

The beautiful woman gave Shi Gu a seductive look, pinched his fingers together as if she wanted to deliberately annoy Shi Gu, covered her mouth with her hands and chuckled, and threw a coquettish look at Shi Gu.

"Brother Shi, you are so bad."

"Given the friendship between you and me, why do you have to act dumb? But I'm not here to ask about the feud between you and Zong Ming."

Shi Gu was startled when he heard this, and looked at the beautiful woman with some surprise. The decline of Zong Ming Mansion was already inevitable. If he was not here to inquire about the grudge between him and Shen Zhongyi, why would he bring it up specifically?

Could it be that there have been some changes in Zongming Mansion?

"Brother Shi, do you think that Zongming Prefecture is destined to decline and that the tree will fall and the barbarians will scatter?"

Shi Gu frowned slightly, lowered his voice, no longer concealing anything, and spoke slowly.

"Is it not?"

The demon clan of the Moluo Sect must have a way to restore Shen Zhongyi's cultivation, but they would never do such a thing.

To those monsters, Shen Zhongyi is just a chess piece on the table, and he can be replaced by another person at any time. Even the entire Zongming Mansion can be discarded at any time.

They would never spend so much effort to repair his body just for a chess piece.

The beautiful woman also lowered her voice, stopped teasing, and spoke slowly.

"In fact, everyone in the martial arts world thinks this way, believing that Zong Mingfu will never be able to turn things around."

"But just three days ago, when all the rumored treasures had been found and everyone was supposed to sit down to discuss the division of Zongming Mansion, a young spearman with white hair suddenly stood up."

"The gunman is at the peak of the eighth-grade martial realm, which is already the realm of a first-rate master, but he is not a match for so many sects. However, the gunman claims that he has a dragon rock and a phoenix branch in his hands."

Hearing this, Shi Gu's pupils trembled and the corners of his eyes twitched uncontrollably.

The Dragon Rock Stone and the Phoenix Branch can be said to be rare treasures. He has been searching for them for many years and indeed has a palm-sized piece of Dragon Rock Stone in his hand, but he has never been able to find the Phoenix Branch.

The beautiful woman patted her chest lightly, as if she was doubting the truth of the news, while she continued speaking.

"Brother Shi, you also understand."

"This Dragon Rock is such a rare treasure for a ninth-rank master who wants to transform into a demon. Although the Dragon Rock in that person's hand is only the size of a fingernail and has many impurities, it is enough to drive people crazy."

The beautiful woman did not mention the phoenix branch, but focused on the dragon rock. However, he did not know that to Shi Gu, the phoenix branch was much more valuable than the dragon rock.

However, the value of dragon rock with impurities will be greatly reduced.

Shi Gu remained calm, also made a surprised expression, and spoke softly.

"That's Dragon Rock, but since it has impurities, those ninth-rank masters probably won't be interested in it."

"But doesn't the mysterious gunman know the principle of not showing off your wealth? Or has he just had enough of living?"

The beautiful woman shook her head slightly, with a look of confusion on her face.

"That gunman is not stupid. There are so many sects present. If they start fighting, it will be a bloody storm."

"Because of this, the sects present did not dare to move, and the gunman took the opportunity to propose a condition."

"He said that a piece of dragon rock or a piece of phoenix branch could not be divided among all the people present, and no matter how it was divided, it would not convince everyone."

"So, he decided to have a competition in the ring, and whoever wins will get the Dragon Rock and Phoenix Branch."

"Those sects were worried, and after hearing this proposal, they nodded happily and agreed to it."

"The competition will be held in Huiyin City one year from now, and the winner will be decided."

"At the same time, no sect is allowed to cause trouble to Zong Mingfu again within this year."

Shi Gu's brows were furrowed deeper and deeper. This Shen Zhongyi was definitely not worth a piece of Dragon Rock stone. What on earth were those demons of the Moluo Cult thinking?

Or is there some secret hidden in Zong Ming Mansion?

"Brother Shi, you must have fought with those people before. Who do you think that gunman who suddenly jumped out is?"

Shi Gu had no intention of hiding anything and spoke frankly.

"It's the Mara Cult."

Hearing this, the beautiful woman widened her eyes in surprise, took a breath, and then said in astonishment.

"The Moruo Cult? Haven't those lunatics given up on reviving Moruo?"

Shi Gu crossed his legs and sneered.

"If those crazy people knew how to give up, there wouldn't have been no ninth-grade martial arts masters in all these years."

The beautiful woman nodded in agreement, then let out a long sigh and smiled.

"I thought there was a big demon behind the Zong Ming Mansion, but I didn't expect it to be the crazy people of the Mo Luo Sect."

"By the way, Brother Shi, are you interested in the competition in a year? If you win, you can get the Dragon Rock."

Shi Gu raised his eyes to look at Shen Yue who was chatting and laughing with Zhu Yin, his eyes blurred, and he spoke softly.

"Of course there are. As a master, I don't have any use for those things, but I still have to get some good things for my apprentice."

Seeing this, the beautiful woman also looked at Shen Yue and the other person not far away, but the one she was looking at was Zhu Yin, who was laughing like an ordinary girl at the moment. Her eyes softened and she let out a long sigh.

It turned out that my apprentice shouldn't stay in a place like Akamon.

She should be chatting and playing with other girls of her own age, just like she is doing now, instead of getting involved in the bloody fights in the martial arts world.

"Come to think of it, did you come to me today just to tell me the news about Zong Mingfu?"

Shi Gu withdrew his gaze, turned to the beautiful woman and asked softly. The beautiful woman smiled gently, no longer as charming as before, and replied softly like an ordinary woman.

"I am a dying man, and before I die I must ask my foolish disciple to consider something."

"It's just that I'm too incompetent and can't do anything great. I can only make more good connections."

"At least so she can have some helpers in the future."

Having said this, the beautiful woman slightly turned sideways, bowed towards Shi Gu, and spoke softly.

"Brother Shi, if my disciple has any difficulties in the future, I hope you can take care of him."

Shi Gu sighed, nodded slightly, accepted the favor, and spoke slowly.

"I will. As long as I am alive and your apprentice does not do anything harmful, I will keep her safe."

Hearing this, the beautiful woman breathed a sigh of relief and almost collapsed in her chair.

Her health has been getting worse and worse. It won’t be long before she will completely turn into an oil-paper umbrella and become one of Akamon’s heritage.

"Come to think of it, you and I have known each other for so many years, but I still don't know your real name."

"Tell me, what's your name?"

The beautiful woman chuckled and then spoke slowly.

"There's nothing to hide about this. When I was abandoned by my parents, there was actually a piece of paper with my name written on it inside my swaddling clothes."

"Liu Shi."

"My master later thought that this name was not nice enough, so he gave me a new name."

"what name?"

"Liu Erdan."

"No... your master's aesthetic taste is really fucking evil."

Chapter 53: A Business