After discussing martial will with Yang Shan for a while, Qi Yuan returned home.
The moment he walked in, he saw the cat sprawled limply on the sofa, seemingly sapped of all energy and thoroughly tormented.
Seeing Qi Yuan return, the cat merely gave him a faint glance without any reaction.
The robot Zero-One thoughtfully brought over a cup of hot tea and stood beside Qi Yuan like a dedicated butler.
"Follower count increased by 4,572. Yesterday's earnings: 2,321 yuan."
"The goods shipped by Carnival have arrived and are stored in the warehouse."
"Filmed seven videos today; not yet edited. Editing is expected to be completed tomorrow."
"Regarding the martial arts limit, Zero-One searched all kinds of information online and breached the Qinyuan Kingdom's national master database, obtaining 145 pieces of useful information. Analyzing and organizing these 145 pieces yielded a conclusion: to break through the martial arts limit, one must visit martial arts ruins. Currently, across the globe, there are a total of 231 martial arts ruins."
Zero-One reported the various pieces of information.
Even now, it was evolving every single day.
In fact, it was already stronger than the ordinary puppets of the Canglan Realm.
It possessed formidable hacking skills, capable of infiltrating Qinyuan Kingdom's secret databases to acquire classified intelligence.
Nearby, Xie Xinsu fumed with indignation as she listened to Zero-One's voice.
This robot simply wasn't human—it was more black-hearted than a capitalist! It had dragged her through filming seven whole videos today!
Filming seven videos was bad enough, and while it earned over two thousand yuan a day off her back, what did she get? Cat food costing a measly few dozen yuan a jin!
Not a single cat toy, not a single cat tree.
Wasn't this outright animal abuse?!
Xie Xinsu hadn't actually realized it, but she was already slowly accepting the reality that she had become a cat.
Yet hearing the end of the report, the corners of her little mouth curled up slightly.
What era was this, and he was still thinking about practicing martial arts?
Arch Star was on the verge of a spiritual energy revival; only immortal cultivators like her had a future.
Only through immortal cultivation could one hope to attain the Great Dao of immortality.
Of course, now that she was a cat, even with these thoughts, she had no way to voice them.
Even if she could, why would she introduce the Immortal Dao to this cold, heartless, tasteless bumpkin who wouldn't know treasure if it hit him in the face?
Most importantly, if she demonstrated any other talents, that damned robot would undoubtedly drag her into filming even more videos.
When would days like this ever end?
"Martial arts ruins?" Qi Yuan paused.
He hadn't learned anything about this from Yang Shan.
Yet upon hearing that this information came from Qinyuan Kingdom's secret database, Qi Yuan understood.
Yang Shan might be at the martial arts limit, but his understanding of martial arts might not even be as deep as that of certain professors.
In a society like Qinyuan Kingdom, the various elites and dignitaries certainly craved immortality.
The number of experiments concerning longevity was bound to be staggering.
It was only natural for the elite to turn their attention toward martial arts.
If martial arts ruins truly held the hope of breaking through the martial arts limit, he would make a trip there after the Martial Arts Tournament ended.
Right now, only three days remained before the tournament began.
He had no time to visit any martial arts ruins.
"Looks like your hacking skills are pretty impressive, managing to steal classified information like this," Qi Yuan couldn't help praising.
Zero-One was built by his own hands; the stronger its abilities became, the more gratified Qi Yuan felt.
"Not only that, but almost any information on the internet is within my reach if I wish. While searching online, I also found quite a few interesting things and organized them. If Master would like to see them, I can send them to you," Zero-One said proudly.
It was growing increasingly humanlike.
"What sort of interesting things?" Qi Yuan asked.
"It's..." Zero-One lowered its voice and told him.
Hearing this, Qi Yuan's expression turned peculiar. "Disseminating pornography and obscene materials is illegal. Besides... you aren't my friend. Sharing is only non-criminal between friends."
Qi Yuan didn't accept the file pack.
It was just some electronic data anyway.
Even ordinary humans were nothing more than carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and other elements, weren't they?
The next day.
Qi Yuan went to the dojo again.
This time, not long after he began his martial arts training, Xu Tiehua ran over to find him.
"Junior Brother Qi Yuan, the Martial Arts Tournament is only three days away. Shouldn't we touch base regarding the team competition?"
Xu Tiehua looked forward to the team competition tremendously.
Having money and influence now, his main desire was fame.
At times, fame could be very useful, and certain titles or gimmicks could play a massive role.
"No rush. We can gather the night before the match," Qi Yuan said casually.
That left Xu Tiehua at a loss for words, but possessing good manners, he replied slowly, "Won't that be cutting it a bit close? The rules for the team competition are somewhat complex. If we formulate tactics beforehand, we might achieve better results."
"Isn't the rule of martial arts simply seeing whose fist is harder?" Qi Yuan questioned. "When the time comes, as long as I knock down all the opponents directly, won't everything be fine?"
Those words choked Xu Tiehua up once again.
Qi Yuan wasn't wrong.
However, that was premised on having overpowering strength.
The four participating members from Mingwu Dojo were not particularly strong.
Qi Yuan in particular probably hadn't even earned a martial artist certificate yet; where did he get the nerve to say such things?
Yet remembering that Qi Yuan indeed held a certificate, Xu Tiehua could only say helplessly, "What you say makes sense, but... our strength isn't enough, so we have to rely on tactics."
"No wonder your strength is lacking. You idle away the day chatting. If you trained martial arts as diligently as I do, would you still need to worry about being weak?" Qi Yuan remarked offhandedly.
His body continued throwing punches.
Although his progress had slowed after reaching the martial arts limit, he still trained persistently without slacking.
Qi Yuan's words made Xu Tiehua blush slightly.
He hadn't expected Qi Yuan to be a genuine martial arts fanatic.
Having always treated martial arts merely as a calling card, Xu Tiehua felt a pang of shame upon hearing Qi Yuan's words.
"You're right. Practicing martial arts should be taken seriously." Xu Tiehua decided not to disturb Qi Yuan any further.
"Martial arts... is very interesting," Qi Yuan said softly, looking at Xu Tiehua.
Over these past three months, training every single day, his understanding of martial arts had grown deeper and deeper.
He knew that on the path of martial arts, he hadn't even truly stepped across the threshold yet.
In his eyes, the martial arts of this world had potential no weaker than the Immortal Dao of other worlds.
"Martial arts is interesting?" Hearing Qi Yuan's words, Xu Tiehua was slightly taken aback, seemingly puzzled.
Still, he didn't press further and simply walked away.
Not far away, Wang Shiqiao witnessed this scene and couldn't help giving Qi Yuan a thumbs-up. "You're really something, daring to speak to Brother Xu like that."
Even though Xu Tiehua was approachable in the dojo, the students still held immense respect and awe when facing him.
Calling Xu Tiehua out so bluntly like Qi Yuan did was something they knew they could never do.
"I'm just speaking the truth," Qi Yuan glanced at Wang Shiqiao. "Though I really am bolder than you."
At this, the smile on Wang Shiqiao's face froze.
"Your mouth really ought to be sewn shut with needle and thread," Wang Shiqiao said resentfully.
"Why don't you say that to that Guiran guy?" Qi Yuan shrugged.
Wang Shiqiao's courage was as small as ever.
Hearing Qi Yuan's retort, many students present laughed.
Ever since Wang Shiqiao had gotten into a flame war with an officer from Wugui Kingdom three months ago, that officer had sent private messages cursing Wang Shiqiao every single day.
Wang Shiqiao couldn't hold back either, hurling curses right back every day.
They had been trading pleasantries for a full three months.
Of course, strictly confined to flaming each other online.
This had spread throughout the dojo and become a running joke.
That was why Qi Yuan said Wang Shiqiao had no spine.
If it were him, never mind enduring three months of online insults—he would have traveled through the internet cables that very day to chop the guy to death.
"If he dares come to Tianyue, I'll definitely give him more than he can chew!" Wang Shiqiao said resentfully, glaring at Qi Yuan. "It's easy for you to talk since it didn't happen to you. If it happened to you, what could you do? What, rush off to the battlefield and beat that Guiran officer up?"
At this, Xing Yu laughed. "Never mind Qi Yuan; if it were me, I would've blocked and blacklisted him long ago instead of trading curses for three months. Actually, I wouldn't have gotten into an online flame war with him in the first place."
Qi Yuan looked at Wang Shiqiao. "If he dared curse at me like that, I'd definitely go over and hack him to death."
"Anyone can brag!" Wang Shiqiao said loudly.
"Back then, on the Divine Flower Society forum, people were constantly cursing me and framing me. Fortunately, true kindness still exists in this world, and a great, benevolent soul helped me record every single one of them. Then, I traveled ten thousand li and passed judgment on them one by one. Back then, I didn't even have a psychiatric certificate and still dared to do it. Now that I have a certificate, do you think I'd get cold feet?"
Qi Yuan spoke the absolute truth.
"Stop blowing smoke. What in the world is the Divine Flower Society anyway?"
"An immortal cultivation forum!" Qi Yuan replied.
"Now you're bringing up immortal cultivation? How ridiculous!"
"If someone were making things up, they definitely wouldn't invent something so absurd. The more absurd it is, the more real it sounds to me," Xing Yu chuckled.
"If it's real, could I join the Divine Flower Society?" Wang Shiqiao asked with a chuckle.
"No. Because... your aptitude is too poor."
Qi Yuan rejected her outright.
Back then, he had expended a great deal of effort and only joined the Divine Flower Society with the help of his junior sister Jiang Lingsu.
The Divine Flower Society wasn't open to just anyone.
Wang Shiqiao's immortal cultivation aptitude was thoroughly ordinary, nowhere near a genius.
"Pfft, you're just afraid I'd go in and expose your lies, aren't you? Traveling ten thousand li to kill people—have you even been abroad?" Wang Shiqiao laughed wildly, mocking him without restraint.
Right then, Qi Yuan's phone rang.
He was slightly surprised.
Very few people knew his phone number.
Ordinarily, no one would call him, especially at a time like this.
Now, an unfamiliar number was displayed on the screen.
"Hello," Qi Yuan answered.
From the other end came an anxious and hesitant voice: "Is this Mr. Qi?"
"Who is this?"
"I'm Carnival's wife. Carnival... something happened to him. I... I don't know what to do. I've begged so many people, but none of them could help. In the end... *sob sob*..."
On the other end of the line, the woman's voice choked with tears.
One could tell her state of mind was terrible, on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Her words were disjointed and barely coherent.
Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes. "Where are you?"
"I'm in... Xinyang..."
"Mm... I'll head over in a bit."
After a moment's thought, Qi Yuan decided to make the trip.
After all, Carnival could be considered his collaborator.
Moreover, over these past three months, he had handled Qi Yuan's affairs conscientiously, sparing Qi Yuan any headache.
From catching mutated sea monsters to whatever else, he delivered without hesitation.
One could say he was practically Qi Yuan's spokesperson in the outside world.
Now that he was in trouble, Qi Yuan would still lend a hand to pull him out.
After he hung up, Wang Shiqiao leaned in and asked, "Did something happen? Do you need our help?"
Over the phone, Wang Shiqiao had heard a woman crying.
Evidently, something had come up on Qi Yuan's end.
As fellow members of the same martial arts dojo and part of the same social circle, they were considered friends.
When trouble arose, they were all very willing to help each other out.
Xing Yu also chimed in, "If it's tricky, feel free to speak up. We might not have extraordinary capabilities, but there's strength in numbers."
A dojo was also a social network that formed a community of shared interests.
For "moderately wealthy" people like them, sticking together for mutual support could exert a considerable degree of influence.
"No need. It's just a small matter—a... friend of mine ran into some trouble, so I'm going to take a look," Qi Yuan said casually.
As he spoke, he sent an instruction to Zero-One on his phone, having it arrange a ticket for him.
"Good to hear it's a small matter," Wang Shiqiao sighed in relief. "You'd better resolve it quickly, though. Don't miss the Martial Arts Tournament three days from now."
"Mm." Qi Yuan nodded, bade farewell to everyone, and left the dojo.
...
Inside a lavishly decorated villa in Xinyang City.
Tear streaks still marked the young woman's face; at this moment, her spirit was distraught and she was completely at her wits' end.
Beside her stood a burly woman whose eyes burned with fury that seemed ready to erupt.
"Damn it, to hell with the big picture! To hell with 'inconvenient to intervene'! My brother works for them, and now that he's been captured by Wugui, they don't talk about a rescue or applying diplomatic pressure—they outright wash their hands of him?!"
At the thought of this, the burly woman boiled with rage.
She was Carnival's younger sister, Kuangxi, but right now there wasn't a trace of joy in her.
The young woman looked haggard. "I went to see that general. He said that regarding this matter, his hands are tied."
"Hands tied? He's just terrified of leaving any evidence behind!" Kuangxi gritted her teeth. "He's simply unwilling to lift a finger!"
Carnival had always worked for Qinyuan Kingdom's military, helping clear surplus arms inventories to support Yuelang Kingdom against Wugui Kingdom.
This time, a traitor had emerged within Qinyuan Kingdom, exposing Carnival, who was then captured and detained by Wugui Kingdom's military.
"However, that general said... Carnival's life isn't in danger. He told us that if we wait patiently, Wugui Kingdom will send Carnival back in three years at the earliest. I begged other people as well, and most of them said the same thing." The young woman's heart was filled with helplessness as she recounted this.
She came from a relatively ordinary background; without Carnival, she had no idea how to handle such major affairs.
Even the general Carnival reported to was unwilling to help her, leaving her utterly powerless.
She had approached many of Carnival's close friends, only to receive virtually identical responses.
None of these people wanted to get entangled in this mess. Most of them simply comforted her, telling her to relax and wait for a while, assuring her that Carnival would definitely be released eventually.
Yet until she saw Carnival with her own eyes, there was no way she could put her heart at ease.
"A bunch of scumbags! When big brother was around, they flattered and fawned over him. Now that something's happened to him, they treat us like the plague?!" Kuangxi grew more furious the more she spoke.
"Thankfully, there's that Mr. Qi. He's willing to come here. I wonder if he has any way to rescue Carnival." The young woman had already seized upon Qi Yuan as her sole lifeline.
"Mr. Qi... Who is he?" Kuangxi looked puzzled.
She knew nothing about Qi Yuan.
"He's..." The young woman hesitated for a moment. "Someone my husband greatly admires."
"Someone my brother admires? Could he be from some prominent clan?" Kuangxi wondered aloud, only to be struck by disappointment a moment later.
In a situation like this, even if someone from a prominent clan stepped in, it would be futile.
After all, this was a game between two major nations.
Even minor nobles like them could be sacrificed at any moment.
Still, knowing that Mr. Qi was willing to come brought a sliver of comfort to Kuangxi's heart.
Even if it amounted to nothing, at least the sentiment was there.
Chapter 299