Chapter 218: The Talents List of Zhou County

“Another new master in the Ranking List of Young Masters!” Their innocent eyes blinking, the Martial Club’s disciples were both curious and excited. They kept chatting like a group of sparrows.

Although the world was large, not every new version of the Ranking List of Young Masters had newcomers listed, especially newcomers that they had never heard of before!

“Gentleman sword? It sounds like a chivalrous swordsman.”

“Of course, the first time he met Hua Lun, he offered to help him. He walked to the mountain at night without fear of Luo Denomination. He deserves the reputation.”

“If Jianghu is full of these noble men like Young Master Meng, then that would be quite good!”

Meng Qi, in the white robes of a scholar, listened to their conversations but wanted to die. He found that he still could not accept the nickname of “Gentleman Sword”. Compared with Reckless Monk and Thunder Blade Furious Monk, it sounded much less terrifying.

Meanwhile, he was confused. Why did the Six Fan School not recognize me? Why did they note “needs to be confirmed” and “may be a fake name”? What’s thei r real goal?

Well, anyway, I do not intend to use the identity of the Gentleman Sword!

After scanning the latter part of the Ranking List of Young Masters, he found that the death of Flowers-spreading Fairy had not caused too many changes to the list. Thus, he packed up and was ready to leave.

Just then, the Club Principal instructed his disciples to put up a thick stack of papers on the wall facing the door.

“Talents List of Zhou County?” Meng Qi slowed down. Since he had opened his Eye Apertures, he could see the words clearly even though they were small and distant.

As he read, he found that it was a list of local masters and their legends edited by the Six Fan School of Jun City. There was no ranking. Instead, it only introduced the masters’ name, background, Kung Fu and most outstanding successes. Comments about them were added in the end of each description. They were all famous in Zhou County.

“It’s truly the biggest city in the southeast. Their branch of the Six Fan School is so special that they even publish a local talent list…” Meng Qi praised. He had passed Xiliang, Three Mountains and Four Waters and Xuanwu City along the way, but he had never seen such a list in Zhou County.

Three Mountains and Four Waters was small, so it was reasonable that it did not have its own list. The main roads of the Western Regions and the Great Jin Dynasty converged in Xiliang and all kinds of people passed Xiliang, so it was hard to collect all the information. Aside from that, people here were tough and fierce. Among them, there were numerous horse bandits. A wrong comment might trigger a fight. Thus, it didn’t have one either. Nobody in Xuanwu City, within the momentum range of Zhen Wu Sect was willing to have one like the Ranking List of Young Masters.

He glanced through it but did not read it carefully, because it was too much.

Suddenly, he was surprised to see “his” name again:

“Name: Tang Jing.”

“Age: 26.”

“Identity: The legitimate son of the Tang family in Yi City, ranking second.”

“Nicknames: Thunderclapping Bully Knife, Ghost-faced Knife, Childe Tang.”

“Kung Fu: With Six Apertures opened, his bladesmanship has entered the court, and he has just learnt strong and tough essence. Aside from his family’s “River-splitting Bladesmanship”, he is also good at many bladesmanships.”

“Reason for listing: He killed Nine Apertures Master Tang Shu with one blade; when besieged by Iron Hand Devilman and Joy Devilman, he turned the situation and killed Iron Hand Devilman.”

“Comment: Jin Jinxian, Club Principal of Sun-scorching Martial Club said, his bladesmanship can not be underestimated and he can defeat Seven or Eight Apertures Masters. But he was not sure about killing Nine Apertures Masters. Tang Shu was the elder of the Tang family. Inquired by Potential Master and girdled by his family, he is unlikely to defend. He might even just defend subconsciously. The besiege was a chaos and not a single body could be found. The only witness Tang Ren did not see how Tang Jing killed Iron Hand Devilman. It remains a mystery. Maybe Iron Hand Devilman was injured by precious weapons.”

“Huang Yuanba, the Deacon Elder of the Huang Family in Yedu: He was brave after feeling ashamed. A fault confessed is half redressed. When Tang Jing was in his twenties, he had only opened Two Apertures and had not even acquired the basic skill of bladesmanship. After the humiliation, he went out to travel for around three years and endured all kinds of troubles. Now he has opened Six Apertures and his bladesmanship has entered the court. He could easily kill a demon and is not afraid of Nine Apertures Masters at all. He is a perfect model for descendants.”

“Wang Zai, ‘Right-guarding Sword’: The blade of Tang Jing is violent and powerful like thunder. It absorbs all the surrounding airflow and vitality and destroys everything. He fully understands the toughness of Knife Dao. He ranks in the top five among the swordsmen who have enlightened the Apertures. Were it not for its normal records, he would be listed at least at the end of the Ranking List of Young Masters. It’s a pity that his reputation does not match with his strength.”

Wang Zai is kind of just and objective… Meng Qi was a little complacent and changed his impression of Wang Zai. The name he called me was much better than Reckless Monk, Thunder Blade Furious Monk or Gentleman Sword!

But why am I still described as a fierce and tough man instead of a cold, cool and handsome young man… Meng Qi grudged. Should I exchange for “Heavenly Fairy” to save my face in the future?

Meng Qi gritted his teeth and then left shaking. Suddenly, an exclamation came from behind.

“Our Club Principal was listed!”

Puzzled, Meng Qi turned around. Following their eyes and figures, he saw the words at the end of the list,

“Name: He Ye.”

“Age: 62.”

Identity: Club Principal of Qingfeng Martial Club, the Disciple of Tide-rising Sect.”

“Nickname: Tide-listening Sword.”

“Kung Fu: He has opened Six Apertures and is good at 49 moves of Tide-listening Swordsmanship and 18 moves of Frenzy Sword Arts.”

“Reason for being listed: He is a benevolent elder who charges little for teaching. He treats everyone equally. Every year, his Disciples are chosen by sects and aristocratic families. Three Disciples are likely to win in this year’s competition between Martial Clubs.”

The following comments were basically praise of his kindness and his easy-going personality. A few comments were about his excellent method of teaching Disciples.

Meng Qi was idle, and he read it through with interest. He did not know what the contest between the Martial Clubs was. Neither did he care about it. Thus, he let it go immediately and headed to Yi City.

…

“What? You are going to be a Manager of Yedu?” Meng Qi looked at Qi Zhengyan in surprise.

Qi Zhengyan said without any expression, “Yes, my sect is sending me to be the manager of food, oil and salt branches in Yedu.”

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“Is it degradation in disguise?” Meng Qi frowned. It seemed like a promotion for he was being sent to the prosperous Yedu but it wasn’t any better than his current status as a duke.

Qi Zhengyan nodded. “Yedu is the capital city of Jun City. Aside from an Elder in charge of general affairs, there are many Deacons and over 20 managers.”

“Why is Huanhua Swords Sect doing this?” Meng Qi was confused.

Qi Zhengyan slowly said, “I did make great contributions. But I involve too many feelings in my decisions. Even though I was right, I could not control one place alone anymore.”

Not a single sect had chosen to designate land to a selfish Disciple. But as long as he did not violate the disciplines or damage the benefits of his sect, he would still be awarded. But he would be strictly supervised.

Meng Qi nodded. “It was because of me.”

Meng Qi had changed his identity. He was now a scholar travelling to Yedu.

“Never mind. It was my own choice. We should put the death task as our priority.” Qi Zhengyan was never regretful or angry. “Now I can have regular matches with you.”

“Yes, but be careful of being tracked.” Meng Qi was not so regretful and warned him.

The world is amazing. I will meet Senior Brother Qi in Yedu again.

For the following six months, Meng Qi lived alone and focused on his practice. From time to time, he had a match with Qi Zhengyan and consolidated what he had learnt before. His sixth level of Golden Bell Shield was almost consummated, and he began to concentrate the Aperture points related to the Mouth Aperture. Moreover, he began to concentrate his Eye Apertures of Eight Nine Mysteries and got better eyesight. It became twice as strong as his previous eyesight.

He had laid a strong foundation of Nine Strategies Beyond the Swords with the strong Purple Thunder Force. Also, he mastered changes of “Violent Thunder Shocking the Sky”. If he learnt the Gist of Trueness of Thunderclap later, his move could reach the level of the Exterior.

Meng Qi was not worried. Other people, like Tang Ren, needed to spend decades accomplishing the primary level of bladesmanship and understanding Thunderclap’s Gist of Trueness. But Meng Qi had the partial impartation of “Nine Annihilation at Heavenly Nights” and he understood much of it due to his efforts day and night. Although it was a little different from the Knife Intent that “Violent Thunder Shocking the Sky” required, they were similar for they were both Thunder God skills. They could narrowly match with each other. Facing such an urgent Death Task, they did not have much time to consider it.

The only bottleneck was the lack of progress of Meng Qi’s “Outline of Heavenly Knife”. Aside from the four Essences of Knife Dao, he had only acquired the new momentum of “Cloud-churning Knife” which turned clouds and rains based on the user’s strength!

Meng Qi clearly knew that it was due to his lack of knowledge of bladesmanship. Thus, it was hard for him to comprehend a new one by analogy. Only by observing numerous bladesmanships could he fully acquire Outline of Heavenly Knife.

No wonder Sword Washing Pavilion demands Disciples to observe different sword arts to build up their swordwill … Meng Qi felt that the big sects really were worthy of their names. Thus, he planned to practice “Coldwind Knife Technique” which he had seldom practiced before and learn its Essence of Knife Dao.

“Ah, above the ‘Outline of Heavenly Knife’ is Nine Moves of Asking Heaven. Although I am unable to exchange for that, I can buy a ” Asking Heaven” to study…” Meng Qi locked the door and headed to the shop.

The world was strange. Meng Qi had read many poems in the last world, that were here. Moreover, the signatures were all the original authors’.

However, since the ages they passed down were too far away, no one could tell who the original authors were and what their backgrounds were.

Of course, there were many poems whose origins and popularity were well-known.

It was close to the new year when it started to freeze. But there were numerous passers-by who hurried to do New Year’s shopping.

In loose clothes, Meng Qi hid his hands in his sleeves and walked towards the book shop. He glanced at the alley.

“What should I eat? The goat soup in Wealth-bringing Alley or the oil nuts in Peaches Street?” Meng Qi was thinking about his lunch.

Yedu had many delicious foods, all of which suited Meng Qi’s taste. After his hard practice, he did not bother to go a long way to search every “Unrecognized Pearl” to taste. He would be quite satisfied once he found anything new.

It was a pity that Qi Zhengyan was unwilling to spend his energy and time on food, so Meng Qi often acted alone. Meng Qi would think of Ruan Yushu every time he went out alone. If Ruan Yushu were here, she would have definitely followed him.

After buying “Asking Heaven”, Meng Qi planned to eat oil nuts. Upon arriving at the stall, he heard some greetings.

“Hello, teacher Su.”

“Hi, good to see you again.”

Near the stall were several Disciples of the Green Peak Martial Club. They lived in the opposite yard and often met Meng Qi near the door and in the food stalls. As time went by, they saw that Meng Qi was a scholar, so they would ask the meanings of words in scripts from time to time. So they called him teacher.

Meng Qi nodded with a smile. “The Spring Festival is coming. Are you still coming here?”

A little girl with big eyes said with a sad face, “Master said that we should never stop practicing, even for a single day. What’s more, after the festival, there is the contest between Martial Clubs. We want to stand out and be chosen by big sects or aristocratic families.”

“Tianhe, you’ve only learnt Kung Fu for one year. Don’t be so hurried.” Meng Qi understood well the thoughts of a normal child who wanted to ease the family’s burden.

Qu Tianhe said with a smile, “Teacher Su, I was just saying. Right now, anyone in the Martial Club could defeat me.”

After some greetings, Meng Qi, who was using the name “Su Meng” returned to his own yard with a bag of oil nuts. When he passed by the Green Peak Martial Club, he heard someone crying.

He raised his head and saw it was his familiar, He Mu, a Disciple of the Martial Club. He twitched his mouth and asked, “Why are you crying?”

He Mu was fourteen years old and he had been learning Kung Fu for four years. He had accomplished the primary level of Qi-cultivation and was keen about sword art. He often asked Meng Qi questions about new words that he did not understand in the sword scripts.

He Mu wiped his eyes and pretended to be strong. “I wasn’t crying!”

“Hei, did you lose a competition?” Meng Qi looked at the scar left by a wooden sword on the back of his hand.

He Mu quickly hid his right hand behind his back and said, “I was just distracted. You don’t understand.”

“Who says so? I’m a master in the Martial Artists Community!” Meng Qi said with a half smile.

He Mu seemed to want to find a person to pour out all his sadness. Hearing Meng Qi’s words, he did not take it seriously but sadly said, “The contest between the Martial Clubs is coming, but I was defeated by my fifth senior brother seven times… Our strengths are not so different. So why did I lose?! I, I think that Master He is disappointed with me.”

Meng Qi tabbed his left hand with “Asking Heaven” in his right hand, and asked with interest, “How did you lose? Show me.”