151 A World of Martial Arts Practitioners and the Jianghu (2/2)

”You are going to have to ask Brother Feng for that,” Zhang Dashan said. Then, he shouted at Feng Wuhen, who was eating barbecue by the door, ”Brother Feng, come over here for a minute. Old Xiao wants to ask you about Zhang Donghai.”

”Okay!”

Feng Wuhen put down the skewered meat and ran over like a gust of wind. He wiped away the grease on his mouth and reported to Xiao Luo, ”As per your instructions, Brother Feng, we took Zhang Donghai and his family to the airport and did not leave until we saw them board the plane.”

”Did you see any suspicious people following you?” Xiao Luo asked again.

Feng Wuhen shook his head. ”No, and the Little Five were all secretly overseeing the situation all the time. We didn't discover anyone else suspicious.”

”Alright, you may go,” replied Xiao Luo.

”Brother Xiao, come and enjoy the barbecue with us. We bought too much food,” entreated Feng Wuhen.

”Heck, it is very shameful to waste food. Let me help solve this problem.”

Zhang Dashan rolled up his sleeves and prepared to dig in. With one hand on Feng Wuhen's shoulder, he walked over to the food. They ate, drank, munched on the meat, and bragged to each other. Their rough laughter and shouts rang out in the vast space of the top floor.

Xiao Luo inhaled deeply, turned to look the outside, and stood fast against the wind. In this rural part of Jiangcheng, the night seemed extremely quiet.

This time, other than the fact that Luo's Workshop had won a complete victory, the outcome was rather fruitful for him as well. His points in the system had surged by 200 thousand points, all because of the trial. He had been an indirect influence, and the system had automatically identified and collected his points. As the hearing had been live-streamed on various significant platforms, many people were affected by it, earning him 200 thousand points.

He was much closer to the 500 thousand points required for obtaining the life-extension ability!

Furthermore, the system had unlocked a high-level shop. To his surprise, Xiao Luo discovered that the shop sold the various martial arts abilities commonly seen in wuxia television shows, such as Yijin Jing [1], the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, and Wave-like Subtle Steps, and so on. The points required to redeem them were much more than those needed to redeem the Constitution of King of Mercenaries. For example, to redeem Yijin Jing, he would need to spend a surprisingly high amount of 100 thousand points.

”System, how can this be?” Xiao Luo was puzzled.

”Ding! The Constitution of King of Mercenaries changes the exterior conditions of the body, while the Yijin Jing is a high-level martial arts ability that increases one's inner power. Once redeemed, the host obtains an extraordinary amount of inner fortitude. Be it power, speed, or endurance. All of these attributes are permanently strengthened.”

”So, both of them are for increasing one's capabilities. But one is internal, while the other is external?”

”Ding! Correct!”

”Why does the Constitution of King of Mercenaries require only 1000 points while Yijin Jing requires 100 thousand points?”

This was what puzzled Xiao Luo the most. Wasn't the difference between 1000 and 100 thousand too big? If one went by the rule that the more expensive something was, the better it was, didn't that mean that Yijin Jing was much more powerful than the Constitution of King of Mercenaries?

”Ding! Even 100 people with the Constitution of King of Mercenaries would be no match for someone who has obtained the top level of the martial art of Yijin Jing!” The system's emotionless voice rang out in his mind.

Xiao Luo inhaled deeply. He'd thought the Constitution of King of Mercenaries was already powerful enough, and he hadn't expected that something even more powerful even existed. Since the system had the martial arts known as Yijin Jing, did that mean that there were a bunch of martial arts practitioners loose somewhere in the world? A wuxia Jianghu [2]?

”It seems that the world is quite interesting, after all!”

After his initial shock wore off, instead of being worried, Xiao Luo was filled with anticipation for this new world he was entering. A world of martial arts practitioners, jianghu, would indeed suffice in bringing out one's passions.

[1] A martial arts technique that translates as ”The Classics of Tendon Changing.”

[2] A concept in wuxia novels. Essentially, a society where martial arts practitioners live and are governed by their own rules and a strict code of honor.