With the situation laid bare, Li Shun spoke plainly: "Inner Door Disciples are considered the academy's true people. They no longer pay tuition and can choose to work for the academy's enterprises, receiving a monthly salary, medicinal soup, and Desolate Beast meat."
"Like Senior Brother Gao Zheng and Senior Brother Zhou Hui?" In all his time there, Su Yan had only seen a handful of Inner Door Disciples, such as Zhou Hui, Gao Zheng, and Ma Shengming. Now it seemed that the reason he saw so few was not that there were so few who entered the Inner Door, but that they were all occupied elsewhere. For a martial academy to constantly expand, it could not rely solely on tuition. Cultivating students into members of their own network was a key source of strength.
"Teaching is one of the Inner Door Disciples' duties, but not all of them. The Golden Ape Martial Academy has businesses in Yun Cang Town, Cloud Ridge Mountain, and White Reed Lake, but we don't know about them since we're not in the Inner Door."
Dian Jing spoke with a deep voice: "If you enter the Inner Door, you have enough resources and don't have to spend all your family's savings on martial arts. We, the mountainfolk and lake-dwellers, are different from the city's wealthy families. They have money; even without finding a path to success, they can sustain their training. We cannot. The academy is our best route. Even if we fail, leaving the Inner Door allows us to find work elsewhere."
That was true but promises alone were not enough. Su Yan glanced at both of them: "Senior Brothers, you want to show off your skills in the sparring match. Tell me how you want me to help you."
Li Shun's eyes lit up, thinking Su Yan had agreed: "Those city wastrels and rich boys are treacherous. If there's a sparring match, they will surely bribe people to continuously challenge me and Dian Jing to drain our energy. We ask that you first take the stage and hold them off for a while."
Hearing this, Su Yan sneered inwardly. Draining their energy? Wouldn't he be draining his energy if he went up first? Dian Jing looked conflicted, but in this crucial moment, he couldn't afford to be the good guy.
Su Yan smiled without speaking. Li Shun thought he was worried about the opponents, so he advised: "Don't worry, Junior Brother. There are only five Outer Door Disciples at Great Accomplishment in Skin Refining." He counted them off: "Me and Dian Jing, Ma Xiaodong (the city butcher's son), Li Ying (the Li Family cloth merchant's second son), and Liu Yinglong (the Liu Family grain dealer's second son). Only five of us are at Great Accomplishment. We're all focused on entering the Inner Door and won't strike unnecessarily."
"If we enter the Inner Door first, we will surely look out for you, Junior Brother. After the Winter Tax, we will definitely help you connect with people and arrange a path to success for your own sparring match." Li Shun finally laid out his chips.
However, Su Yan's expression was calm: "Is that all?"
Li Shun was taken aback and annoyed. He had approached others besides Su Yan and couldn't believe his refusal. But Su Yan had killed a tiger. Even if he was only at Minor Accomplishment, he was likely a top-tier fighter.
Martial artists build courage alongside strength. If they lacked the courage for life-and-death combat, they would be weak against a true opponent. The few at Great Accomplishment, despite their different backgrounds, had all built their skills through years of sparring. They were brave enough to fight, but some of the Skin Refining subordinates in their cliques might not be. Therefore, Su Yan, a proven fighter, was highly valued at the moment.
"Junior Brother, you are at most at Minor Accomplishment in Skin Refining. Your chances of winning the sparring match are slim. If you help us both become Inner Door Disciples first, forget the mountainfolk and lake-dwellers making you their leader, we will personally help your martial arts training..."
"Senior Brother, I can't swallow that promise." Su Yan interrupted Li Shun. He wanted help but wouldn't even offer a single tael of silver. He was too stingy and calculating.
Su Yan abruptly stood up and walked toward the tavern exit without hesitation.
Li Shun's face changed. He jumped up, knocking the wine cups to the floor with a clatter.
"Su Yan, what is the meaning of this? You are only at Minor Accomplishment in Skin Refining. This plan is for your own good!"
"You really are at Great Accomplishment in Skin Refining! Your face must be thicker than Yun Cang Town's wall."
Li Shun's face turned ashen, but then he heard Su Yan's voice from the distance: "You spent a year in the outer courtyard and a year in the middle courtyard just to reach Great Accomplishment. I reached Minor Accomplishment in half a month. Now, guess what realm I'll be in half a month from now?"
The voice was arrogant, and Li Shun's expression changed dramatically. He clenched his fist, looking as if he wanted to give chase, but Dian Jing restrained him: "Li Shun!"
Dian Jing thought Li Shun had gone too far, but he was also involved, so he didn't feel he had the moral high ground to criticize.
"Pah! He's just a lucky bastard! If he didn't have his Treasure Plant, he wouldn't be anywhere near this level! He's ungrateful! Let's see how he fares in the sparring match without anyone's help."
The Tianfeng Weapon Shop was an old, influential establishment in Yun Cang Town, famous for forging high-quality weapons for two to three hundred years. While they made common tools, those were merely practice pieces for the apprentices. Their true business was the Sharp-Tools used by martial artists. Having a razor-sharp edge was merely the basic requirement for a Sharp-Tool. More advanced Sharp-Tools possessed special effects, such as resonating with blood energy or channeling primal energy, allowing martial artists to unleash greater power—this was their core expertise.
Su Yan walked down the main street of Yun Cang Town, then headed east onto a wide road. Before he even got close, he could hear the constant clang of hammering. A broad storefront appeared in front of him, where apprentices and smiths were gathered around a furnace, swinging their hammers. Shelves and walls were covered with various weapons: sleek long swords, curved willow-leaf sabers, long-handled steel spears, and heavy, single-edged axes. All the ironware here was weaponry, without a single piece of farm equipment visible—all sharp, radiating a chilling cold light.
Su Yan walked in, and an apprentice clerk approached him.
"Welcome, customer. What weapon are you looking for?"
"How much for a fine steel net?"
The clerk was momentarily stunned by the unusual request: "That's certainly not a common item."
"Does the Tianfeng Weapon Shop do not have one?" Su Yan frowned slightly.
The clerk quickly replied: "No, that's not it. Someone from White Reed Lake placed an order for some fine steel netting a few days ago to catch Treasure Fish, so we made some iron wire fishing nets. Do you think this would be suitable?"
The clerk presented an iron wire fishing net to Su Yan. Su Yan was truly surprised. The iron wire net was a dark, dull metal color, about four or five square meters in size—likely a smaller net pieced together from leftover material. Although woven from metal wire, it didn't feel stiff; it was as flexible as heavy cloth, weighing only seven or eight jin, allowing the user complete control. This level of forging skill was extraordinary, explaining why this single weapon shop had thrived in Yun Cang Town for two or three hundred years.
"What is the price?"
The clerk's eyes lit up with a smile. Besides the lake-dwellers who needed it to catch powerful Treasure Fish, this item wasn't of much use to others. A buyer was a welcome sight.
"This iron wire fishing net is four or five square meters, priced at 15 taels of silver."
So expensive! This net was more costly than a hardwood bow. Wouldn't the buyers suffer a huge loss if they couldn't catch a Treasure Fish?
Though Su Yan felt a pang for his wallet, he recalled the Velvet Fire Scorpion Bug (绒火蝎虫). The iron wire net was a necessity. Using an ordinary fishing net would risk losing the bug, and he might never get another chance to capture it.
"Wrap it up for me." Su Yan took out the silver and bought the net.
He had originally planned to buy a new long bow, but now he was temporarily short of funds. He still needed to buy medicine from the Hundred Herb Hall and Desolate Beast meat from the butcher shop. He wasn't sure if he had enough left.