Chapter 100.1: Dao Shi'er Reappears in Jianghu; the Saber Slashed and Split in Two! (I)

The Four Seas Gang stored its martial arts manuals in the Martial Pavilion. The fact that it was called a "pavilion" proved to everyone that it had a huge variety of martial arts manuals inside.

When Lu Changsheng stepped into the Martial Pavilion and looked at the rows upon rows of shelves, he finally understood what it meant to be a major force.

Compared to the forces in Nanyang City, even the Blood Fiend Sect fell far short of the Four Seas Gang. He could tell simply by looking at the collection of martial arts alone. The depth of a force's foundation was measured in the number of martial arts in its possession.

Lu Changsheng walked around casually and flipped through the lists. Only the titles and brief introductions to the contents of the manuals were listed there. The martial arts manual would only be handed over by the guard once the exchange was formally confirmed. Until then, they could not be taken out.

Furthermore, cultivation was only allowed in the practice rooms on the upper floors. The martial artist would either cultivate it successfully or memorize it by rote. In any case, it could neither be taken out nor jotted down. If such a violation were discovered, one would suffer extreme punishment from the Four Seas Gang.

After all, martial arts were of paramount importance and could not be allowed to leak out.

Lu Changsheng focused his attention on martial techniques. To his surprise, there were still many second-tier and third-tier martial techniques available.

He had already collected quite a number of second-tier and third-tier martial techniques and had thought that he had more or less exhausted what could be found at those tiers. Yet upon closer inspection, there were lots of them.

Lu Changsheng exchanged fifty martial techniques at once and almost exhausted all of his merits. Most of them were second-tier and third-tier martial techniques. The guards of the Martial Pavilion found this somewhat unusual, but they did not question him. After all, martial artists who wished to create their own techniques often studied a wide range of martial techniques, so this was hardly rare.

After completing the exchange, Lu Changsheng went to the practice rooms on the third floor and began committing each technique to memory. Even with his photographic memory, memorizing fifty martial techniques was not easy.

After all, there were fifty of them!

It took a full four hours before Lu Changsheng memorized them all. After confirming that he hadn't forgotten the details, he left the Martial Pavilion. Fifty martial techniques didn't sound like a lot; most of them were second-tier martial techniques, so perfecting all of them would only increase his Perception by a little over a hundred points.

Whether his Perception could reach a thousand points remained uncertain.

However, the Four Seas Gang possessed an immense number of martial techniques. As long as Lu Changsheng continued to earn merit, he would eventually be able to acquire every martial technique the gang possessed.

Lu Changsheng returned to the consultation room and found notices posted outside. They were issued by the Four Seas Gang. The notices announced a search for a type of ore known as Alum Core Ore. Anyone who discovered such an ore had to hand it over to the Four Seas Gang, and they would receive an enormous amount of merit in return. This immediately stirred widespread discussion.

Alum Core Ore. That name sounds very familiar...

Lu Changsheng felt that he had seen the name somewhere before. With his photographic memory, he quickly recalled that he had seen it at the Shangyuan Daoist Court.

It was one of the rare items publicly listed by the Shangyuan Daoist Court as Immortal Master Shangyuan's visitation requirements. No wonder the Four Seas Gang had placed such importance on it. With such a rare item, they could gain an audience with the Immortal Master Shangyuan and receive his assistance.

This alone was an overwhelming temptation. Just think about where the Four Seas Gang's Blood Replacement Pills came from. Were they not refined by the Immortal Master Shangyuan? That alone was enough to show the weight of a single promise from him.

"Zhang Xuan, go find out more information about that Alum Core Ore. The more detailed the information, the better," Lu Changsheng instructed.

"Yes, Physician," Zhang Xuan replied.

Zhang Xuan went out to gather information, while Lu Yang helped Lu Changsheng maintain order in the consultation room. Lu Changsheng's consultation room welcomed many patients every day.

After a busy morning, Zhang Xuan finally returned during the break.

"Physician, I've looked into it. The Alum Core Ore supposedly came from an overseas merchant. He didn't even realize what he was carrying before someone discovered it and killed him in secret.

"When the incident was exposed, experts from every direction scrambled for it, and its whereabouts are unknown at the moment."

Lu Changsheng's heart stirred. "An overseas merchant? More specifically, where was that merchant from?"

"I'm not sure. However, it is said that he arrived in Zhanhai City aboard a ship belonging to the Far Ocean Merchant Association."

Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly. The Far Ocean Merchant Association? What a coincidence. He was a distinguished guest of the Far Ocean Merchant Association and even possessed an Esteemed Guest token. He just did not know whether Sophie was still in Zhanhai City.

That night, Lu Changsheng returned to his room. He was still thinking about the Alum Core Ore. Once he obtained it, he would be able to meet Immortal Master Shangyuan, and many of his doubts could be answered. This was indeed a huge temptation for him.

He wanted to know whether an immortal master was truly as he had imagined.

Enough. I'm going to ask around at the Far Ocean Merchant Association.

Lu Changsheng glanced outside. The night was deep and silent. He then disguised himself as Dao Shi'er. Dao Shi'er truly ought to reappear in the jianghu by now, as it had been a very long time since his last appearance in public.