Time flies in the practice of martial arts, and before long, Sheng Tian City had entered winter, with snowflakes falling like goose feathers. During this period, the entire imperial city had been stirred up by the antics of the Star Snatcher.
With the encouragement of the prince's residence, all the major Martial Halls in the city, along with several underground factions, sprang into action. Even some common folk joined in the hunt for the thief who had stolen the prince's four-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng. However, the outcome was naturally evident; without even a clear description of the thief's appearance, how could they easily capture such a bold and audacious thief?
Meanwhile, Li Qing had not been idle. He exchanged some exquisite jade he had brought from the Eternal Night World for silver coins. He then rented a blacksmith shop on a street in the outer city, spending quite a bit of silver, but fortunately, all the necessary paperwork was in order, sparing him the trouble of visiting the government office.
Thus, Li Qing became the owner of the blacksmith shop, helping others with their ironwork daily while also spending time selling some weapons he had forged himself.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In the blacksmith shop he rented, Li Qing was seriously and meticulously hammering a dark red iron block, treating it as if it were a work of art. Outside the shop, due to the high temperatures of the forge, there was no snow accumulation in front of Li Qing's blacksmith shop; instead, it was warm and dry.
Qi Kang leaned against a doorpost, sitting on the ground, his gaze wandering as he looked at the snowy scene outside.
Clang!
With the final strike of Li Qing's hammer, a kitchen knife had taken shape.
Qi Kang timely spoke up, "Master, don't forget about the banquet at Qingshan Martial Hall tonight. The old master has recently had a son and has been overjoyed these past few days."
Li Qing retracted the stance of the Ancient Hammer Technique, immersing the kitchen knife in water. The high temperature caused sparks to fly from the water's surface, and a thick white steam rose vigorously.
Once the kitchen knife had cooled down, Li Qing let out a gentle breath and said to Qi Kang, "You go sharpen this knife, then deliver it to Widow Wang's house."
After renting the blacksmith shop, Qi Kang had naturally become Li Qing's apprentice, but what he was taught was not martial arts; it was merely the craft of blacksmithing.
Having gained a long lifespan, Li Qing finally understood why Master Bodhi had not allowed Wukong to publicly claim him as his disciple. It was out of concern that the disciple might attract trouble; if a powerful figure were to come after him, the master would not be able to escape either.
Thus, Li Qing only taught the craft of blacksmithing, completely refraining from passing on any martial arts knowledge.
In the evening, as night fell, Li Qing led Qi Kang to the only Martial Hall on this street, Qingshan Martial Hall. The elderly master of the school indeed possessed some skills, being a master who had cultivated external strength. However, in Sheng Tian City, this was not particularly noteworthy. The true renowned schools were the three major Martial Halls of Sheng Tian City!
They were: Hongfeng Martial Hall, Feiyun Martial Hall, and Jinjia Martial Hall!
The masters of these three schools were all internal strength experts, their martial arts prowess not to be underestimated, and they had numerous external strength experts under their command, far surpassing what Qingshan Martial Hall could compare to.
In addition, there was a powerful underground force in the city that could not be overlooked, the Jiulian Sect! This sect's influence spread across a significant portion of the Maple Kingdom and had ambiguous ties with the court, allowing it to establish a foothold in Sheng Tian as well.
All of this information was gathered by Qi Kang alone.
One must admit that Qi Kang's abilities were quite impressive; he not only helped gather information but also assisted in the blacksmith shop, performing both tasks flawlessly, making Li Qing feel somewhat embarrassed and contemplate whether he should give him a raise.
Of course, the diligent and selfless Qi Kang had never mentioned anything about a pay raise; his greatest aspiration was to have Li Qing impart martial arts to him.
As they walked through the street, the two finally arrived at the entrance of Qingshan Martial Hall.
At a glance, they could see the elderly master, who had recently had a son, standing at the door to welcome guests, his smile radiant with joy.
"Hahaha, Master Li, come in and take a seat!" Master Xu Qingshan greeted Li Qing with a cupped fist gesture, embodying the demeanor of a martial artist.
Seeing this, Li Qing casually took out a gift and, while congratulating him, slipped the gift money into Xu Qingshan's hands.
"Congratulations, Master Qingshan!" Li Qing said with a smile.
Xu Qingshan accepted the gift money, and feeling its weight, his smile grew even broader, though he feigned modesty, saying, "Hahaha, you are too polite, Master Li. Come in, come in!"
In Sheng Tian City, doing business not only required paying taxes to the government but also secretly paying protection fees to these Martial Halls. Whenever one encountered troublesome matters that the government was unwilling to address, they could generally seek help from these schools.
After paying the protection fee, there would typically be no thugs causing trouble, allowing one to conduct business in peace.
The entire underground force of Sheng Tian City was essentially monopolized by the three major Martial Halls and the Jiulian Sect. Small schools like Qingshan Martial Hall had no choice but to collect fees, as opening a Martial Hall here required the approval of the three major schools, and they had to pay a portion of their earnings to them regularly.
Even the government turned a blind eye to such matters, maintaining a tacit approval.
Qingshan Martial Hall was under the jurisdiction of Feiyun Martial Hall, and every year, Qingshan Martial Hall had to hand over a significant portion of the fees collected from various merchants on the street to Feiyun Martial Hall.
The division of territory had long since reached a balance; in the vast Sheng Tian City, half belonged to the Jiulian Sect, while the other half was divided among the three major Martial Halls.
It was said that long ago, before the territories were clearly delineated, the three major schools and the Jiulian Sect had engaged in fierce battles, with nightly clashes occurring outside the city. Even the internal strength experts of the major factions frequently clashed.
However, ultimately, with the intervention of the court, such fierce battles gradually subsided, leading to the formation of the current structure.
As the saying goes, "Rice is expensive in Sheng Tian, and living here is not easy." There are many reasons behind this.
Martial Halls collected regular fees from merchants, who had no choice but to raise prices on the goods they sold, recouping that portion of money from the common folk.
This is the nature of the martial world.
When Qi Kang first learned about these underhanded dealings, he was like an indignant youth, secretly cursing the court's incompetence and the greed of these martial arts factions countless times.
Naturally, he also developed a hatred for small schools like Qingshan Martial Hall, wishing he could master martial arts and become an unparalleled expert, sweeping away these factions that exploited the common people.
To this, Li Qing merely smiled and did not inform Qi Kang that the actions of the three major schools and the Jiulian Sect were likely sanctioned by the court.
He simply let Qi Kang vent his frustrations in private, while at least maintaining an appearance of restraint in public.
(End of Chapter)