"Master!" the eight of them called him the moment Zhang Wu Ji wakes up from his slumber. But instead of asking for a reason they gathered beside him, Zhang Wu Ji places more importance at the condition of the peddler.
But at the same time, the peddler made his way to the side of Zhang Wu Ji's bed using two crutches. Looking at how he moves, Zhang Wu Ji felt a hint of sorry to this merchant. Did his ability to save a person from this tragic life is not enough for him to support this man to walk again?
"Master Senior, please do not put everything deep inside your heart. My misfortune did not happen because of you. It was my own greediness that produced the disaster that ruins my life." while Zhang Wu Ji is blaming on himself, the peddler came forward to soothe his heart.
"Mister, no matter what, mister is somebody that treated Wu Ji with respect. It was an honor for me to do so much for you." Zhang Wu Ji replied to his words. In his mind, this merchant has brought him many wondrous treasures.
Although he stills pays for the merchandise, Zhang Wu Ji treated this man as a benefactor that provides him with the resources vital for him to stands at this position today. Furthermore, the merchant did not fail to surprise him with his merchandise each time.
"Master Senior, with this words, this peddler can die without regrets. But may I be daring to ask Master Senior to consider something that might be interesting for you?" the peddler was made to smile from hearing his words. And before he forgets about it, he requested Zhang Wu Ji to hear him out.
"Mister, please go ahead and let this junior know about it." Zhang Wu Ji waved his hand at Tang Yuan. As the most understanding one in the bunch, Tang Yuan immediately understand his master's order.
"Get mister a chair." that's what Tang Yuan received from the way he looks and how he moved his hand. Immediately, Tang Yuan returned to a taller chair that allows the mister to sits at the same height like Zhang Wu Ji. In a way, this allowed the mister to retain some pride as an elder to the Master Senior.
"This peddler knows a location that might be a tomb belonged to a deceased Inner Qi King. Because the existence of an Inner Qi King is rare in this Upper Southern State, I am betting that except myself, nobody found this tomb yet." he shared. But as soon as he finishes the opening, his expression turned sour.
"Mister... Are you fine to continue?" Zhang Wu Ji asked.
"I'm fine. The reason I am a little disappointed is that the map and a treasure similar to a key is snatched by the people from the Crystalline Pavilion! This is also why I am fallen to such a state." the peddler shared the reason for his misfortune to everyone here.
"Map? Key... Don't tell me..." Zhang Wu Ji eyeball almost pop out from his eye socket when he heard about the treasure that might be hidden inside of his Wooden Universal Plates. Without further ado, he took the plates out and emptied them before everybody present.
"Wow! Master, where did the treasure comes from? If I guessed correctly, they worth at least 500 to 600 Million Gold Coins!" Li Jing is the most experience inside of this room after the peddler, where he immediately made a rough guess the moment he the stack of treasures that took out a quarter of the space inside the room.
"This elder, the worth 835 Million Gold Coins. If Master Senior willing to process some of the metal, they might reach the value of 850 Million Gold Coins." the peddler immediately gives out the exact value of the treasures before them.
"Hahaha, Master Peddler estimation is more accurate than this elder. Only with this fact alone, it worth my utmost respect." Li Jing cupped his hands together and bowed at the peddler. But after that, all their attention is paid on the two treasure in the Senior Master's hand.
"Aren't that the key and the map! Master Senior, tell this peddler... Did you clean the Vault belonged to the Crystalline Pavilion?" the peddler gives out his rough guess. With his word came out, the view of everyone present in the room is focused on Zhang Wu Ji.
"You can take that as a yes." Zhang Wu Ji replied with a smile on his face. After that, it was replaced with a facial expression full of satisfaction.
"Master is a thief!" at this moment, the eight of them thought about the same word in their mind.
"Ah, no wonder. This made our work easier now. But we will need to went through another obstacle next." the peddler smiled in satisfaction. With a yes as the answer, how happy is him to hear about the news Crystalline Pavilion's Vault is emptied by the culprit sitting in front of him.
In fact, the treasure that carries the ten strands of Soldier Qi inside is the key in his hand. This treasure is the reason why the Vice Pavilion Master able to catch up with where he escaped. While the two treasures in his hand, Zhang Wu Ji took the liberty to read their description.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Map of Unknown Inner Qi King
-Usage: Leading the way for an outsider to the location where this tomb erected. Accuracy is at 89%.
-Location: Border of Seven Star County and Crystalline River County, 300 kilometers north from Wen Yang City.
-Durability: 14/14
-Special: This map is personally drawn by Merchant Feng Ming. Unless it was deciphered by the UPGRADE System, only Merchant Feng Ming understands the content.
-
19th King's Remnant Key to the Tomb of King Jiang Nan He
-Usage: Acting as the authentication of an entrance ticket into the tomb. The key can be only used once a year, and there is only twenty keys is made throughout the time King Jiang Nan He waits for his death.
-Limitation: Only cultivator below Full Inner Qi Warrior qualified to enter the tomb. Each Key can only transfer two cultivators at most.
-Durability; ONE TIME USAGE ONLY!
-
"King Jiang Nan He. His name is a little too meaningful, don't you think?" Zhang Wu Ji speaks in his mind as if he was conversing with the UPGRADE System.
"Master Senior, if you wish, this peddler can decipher my map for you. All I hope if the exploration is a success then can Master Senior allow this peddler to feast his eyes with the treasures you took from the tomb?" the peddler only hopes he can see what is inside the tomb.
"I can decipher it myself, mister. No worries. Based on how it was drawn, I guess the location is most likely somewhere between the Seven Star County and Crystalline River County." Zhang Wu Ji simply replied to the peddler with the answer given by his UPGRADE System.
"Master Senior, how amazing is your talent to deciphered my map in one look. Even the Crystalline Pavilion Master keep bothering me because they failed to decipher this map." the peddler praised Zhang Wu Ji for his talent. But except Lady Meng Ran and Liang Tian, who knows that this talented youth is actually a direction blind!
He can actually be lost inside a city for the sake of searching for an Inn!
"Is there anything can this peddler do? I can try to work as a cashier if its fine with you." the peddler wishes that he wasn't treated like a cripple and stated his intention in becoming a part of the Apprentice Hall's member.
"Of course, mister. Li Jing! Is there a good position that our mister can do here? Pick him a good one that comes with some people capable of helping him in those menial tasks!" Zhang Wu Ji answered the peddler before turning to Li Jing for his suggestion.
"Dear master. Based on Mister's skill in accurately calculating the worth of treasures you brought back from the Crystalline Pavilion, Li Jing suggest that we appoint him as our Vault Elder!" Li Jing immediately found a suitable position that most likely fancied by the peddler.
And at the same time, won't the existence of a Vault Elder like him can control the majority of the income and expenses, bookkeeping and allocation, and most importantly, the number of profit they can expect from a proper master merchant.
"Ah? Vault Elder? This position is a little too sensitive for somebody new like me, how about..." the peddler immediately rejected such an important position as he was unconfident with himself. It was due to his status as a cripple and also because he's yet to be an influential member that received the respect from others.
"Mister, that position is yours. Although trust and support from others may seem necessary for that position, I'm confident that you will overcome all these insignificant thoughts from the others. Please accept the post as our Apprentice Hall's Vault Elder." Zhang Wu Ji said with his look filled with confidence in his every word.
"Hah... This Vault Elder Feng Ming greets Master Senior and fellow attendants here." he reluctantly accepted the position Zhang Wu Ji throws at him. After some arrangement, the new Vault Elder Feng Ming is taken to his new quarter with a male and female servant to attend to his daily needs and mobility.
"Master, do you have any instruction to each of us?" Tang Yuan asked as he was the eldest brother among the eight of them, but Zhang Wu Ji went straight to a different topic instead.
"Meng Ran, if you're here, why not come in?"
"How can you still caught me with this Willow Impression Plate is activated?" Meng Ran appeared right at the entrance of his door, intending to try and see how sensitive is the Master Senior against his surrounding and the changes.
Actually, Zhang Wu Ji did not notice that, but with the Natural Energy evading where she stands, it naturally formed a human figure space as they ignore that spot. And with her keep moving around, the body figure revealed into a female about her size, which made him guessed it's her.
"Let us return to the relevant discussion. Li Jing, Li Yin, Li Tong. Come Forth to my side." Zhang Wu Ji gets everyone to pay attention to every word with the three elder standing right in front of him.
"Master..." they await his instruction.
"This is my new edition of Blacksmithing Technique, the [1st-Tier Blacksmithing Compendium] that record most of the Smelting and Forging technique for the whole 1st-Tier Ironwork Knowledge. As my three disciples, this is what the three of you entitled to get." he handed each of them with a book between 500 pages thick. Inside each of the books is numerous way of Blacksmithing and Smelting Technique.
But the most valuable part is the three Compendium Art that was included inside, which increase their ability in Smelting, Firing, and Forging. With the existence of the three techniques in this compendium, the possibility for them to easily obtain the qualification of a 1st-Tier Peak Spirit Blacksmith is higher than others.
"Tang Yuan, Zhao Xiao Hua, Bai Hei Tie, Zhang Ya Pin, Liu Yanni, come forward." after the three of them retreated, Zhang Wu Ji called for the others next to come forth for their rewards. In this period of time, most of his responsibility is taken cared by the five of them, where it earned all of them some compensation from their master.
When Zhang Wu Ji looks at the five of them, their cultivation is expectedly faster than most of the other people in their Inner Qi Fighter Tier. As the strongest again between the five of them, Tang Yuan is now at 8th Stage of Inner Qi Fighter, with Zhao Xiao Hua, Bai Hei Tie, Zhang Ya Pin at their 6th Stage of Inner Qi Fighter. As for Liu Yanni, her cultivation remained at 4th Stage of Inner Qi Fighter after such a long period of refinement.
Smiling at the five of them, he took out six copy of the same Cultivation Technique before them and added a remark.
"Aren't you coming along for your part of Cultivation Technique?" Zhang Wu Ji stares at Meng Ran that stands not too far from him. When she heard his remark, something came into her mind.
"What? Even I got a part of this? What could he give me for me to push my 9th Stage of Inner Qi Fighter cultivation forward?" she narrowed her eyes but still stepping forward to the group of five.
-
-
-
-
-
[Author's Note]
Alright! My dear readers, please forgive me to plot against all of you. It seems like his advancement is going to be delayed until he rummages the tomb. What do you think he will get there?
And as a fulfillment to a few of my dear readers, here comes your expectation for Tomb Exploration! But what will happen as the key in his hand is the nineteenth key? Look forward to your next chapter, where ZWJ is going to do what he's best!
Still, what is it?