The Martial Building was where the Four Seas Gang stored its martial arts.
That it was designated a "building" testified to the sheer wealth of martial arts kept within.
When Lu Changsheng stepped into the Martial Building and looked at the vast rows of bookshelves, he finally realized what it truly meant to be a great power.
Compared to any faction in Nanyang City, even the Blood Fiend Sect fell far short of the Four Seas Gang.
Its martial arts repository alone made that abundantly clear.
When assessing a faction's foundation, its collection of martial arts was an essential benchmark.
Lu Changsheng strolled through the aisles and flipped through some of the manuals.
Only the titles were displayed here, accompanied by brief descriptions of each secret manual's contents.
Only after confirming an exchange could one receive the actual martial arts manual from the martial artists guarding the building. Even then, manuals could not be taken outside; one could only cultivate them in the training rooms on the upper floors.
One either had to cultivate them to success right there or memorize them by rote.
In any case, nothing could be taken outside, nor could copies be transcribed.
If caught doing so, the Four Seas Gang would impose severe punishment.
After all, to any faction, martial arts were of paramount importance and could not be leaked lightly.
Lu Changsheng focused primarily on browsing martial skills.
To his surprise, he found numerous second-tier and third-tier martial skills.
He had already collected a substantial number of second- and third-tier martial skills before, and had thought he had mastered nearly all common types.
Yet seeing the selection here, they seemed virtually endless.
Lu Changsheng exchanged for fifty martial skills in one go, practically exhausting all his merits.
Most were second- and third-tier skills.
Although the building's guards found this somewhat peculiar, they did not pry.
When martial artists sought to create their own skills, they often read widely to refine their creations, so it was hardly unheard of.
After completing the exchange, Lu Changsheng went to a third-floor training room and began committing each martial skill to memory.
Even with Lu Changsheng's photographic memory, memorizing fifty martial skills was no easy feat.
After all, it was fifty whole skills.
It took Lu Changsheng two full shichen to memorize them all.
Once certain he would not forget, Lu Changsheng left the Martial Building.
Fifty martial skills sounded like a lot, but was not truly that much. With most being second-tier skills, even mastering all of them would only increase his comprehension by a little over a hundred points.
Whether that would push his comprehension to 1,000 points was still hard to say.
Still, with so many martial skills in the Four Seas Gang, as long as he continued to earn merits, the day would come when he could exchange for every single one they had.
Lu Changsheng returned to his consultation clinic and found a notice posted outside.
The notice had been issued by the Four Seas Gang.
Its contents called for the retrieval of an ore named Yunying ore mother.
Anyone who found this ore was required to turn it in to the gang, in exchange for an enormous amount of merits.
Naturally, it sparked widespread discussion.
"Yunying ore mother... That name sounds familiar."
Lu Changsheng felt as though he had seen the name somewhere.
Blessed with a photographic memory, he quickly recalled that he had seen the name "Yunying ore mother" at the Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary.
It was one of several wondrous items the sanctuary had announced that the Immortal Master required.
No wonder the Four Seas Gang attached such importance to it—Yunying ore mother had appeared.
With this wondrous item in hand, one could meet Immortal Master Shangyuan and gain his assistance.
That alone was an irresistible temptation.
Consider where the Four Seas Gang's Blood Exchange Pills came from: were they not concocted by Immortal Master Shangyuan?
That showed just how momentous a promise from Immortal Master Shangyuan was.
"Zhang Xuan, go inquire about the Yunying ore mother. The more details, the better."
"Right away, Physician."
Zhang Xuan went out to gather information, while Lu Yang helped Lu Changsheng maintain order in the clinic.
Nowadays, a great number of patients visited Lu Changsheng's clinic every day.
After a busy morning, a break finally came, and Zhang Xuan returned.
"Physician, I've found out what happened."
"The Yunying ore mother was apparently discovered on an overseas foreign merchant."
"That foreign merchant didn't realize its value, but someone spotted it, and he was secretly murdered."
"Once the secret leaked, various powerful experts began fighting over it. Now, no one knows where it ended up."
Lu Changsheng's interest was piqued. "An overseas foreign merchant? Where did he come from, specifically?"
"That's not clear, but they say he arrived in Zhanhai City on a ship belonging to the Ocean Commerce Guild."
Lu Changsheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
The Ocean Commerce Guild?
What a coincidence.
He happened to be a "distinguished guest" of the Ocean Commerce Guild, and even held a VIP token.
Only, he wondered whether Sophie was still in Zhanhai City.
That evening, Lu Changsheng returned to his quarters.
His mind still lingered on the Yunying ore mother.
If he obtained it, he could meet Immortal Master Shangyuan.
Then many of his questions could be answered.
To Lu Changsheng, this held no small appeal.
He wanted to understand whether an "Immortal Master" was what he thought it was.
'Never mind, I'll go ask at the Ocean Commerce Guild.'
Lu Changsheng glanced outside.
The night was pitch-black and quiet.
Lu Changsheng disguised himself and changed clothes, assuming the identity of Dao Twelve.
It was indeed time for "Dao Twelve" to reemerge in the jianghu; after all, a considerable time had passed since his disappearance.
Soon, Lu Changsheng slipped out of the Four Seas Gang without a sound.
Whoosh.
Stepping onto the street, a cool breeze brushed across his face.
Yet whether it was just his imagination or not, he felt as if numerous gazes were constantly watching him from the shadows.
It seemed countless martial artists lurked in Zhanhai City under the cover of night.
"All here for the Yunying ore mother? Quite lively, indeed."
Lu Changsheng felt a chill of caution.
He could even guess that countless experts were likely lying in wait along the roads leading to the Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary.
If anyone dared to carry the Yunying ore mother toward the sanctuary, they would probably be intercepted and slaughtered before they ever arrived.
However, Lu Changsheng was currently "Dao Twelve." He radiated an icy, menacing aura that warned strangers to stay away—clearly someone not to be crossed—so he encountered no trouble along the way.
Lu Changsheng arrived smoothly at the Ocean Commerce Guild.
Likely due to the Yunying ore mother affair, the guild was heavily guarded, with numerous guards patrolling the grounds.
Lu Changsheng produced his VIP token and was promptly welcomed inside.
"Is Miss Sophie still here?" Lu Changsheng asked.
"Miss Sophie is still here. Would you like to see her?"
"Yes. Tell her an old acquaintance, Dao Twelve, has arrived."
With that, a guild attendant went to announce him.
Before long, Sophie came trotting over to Lu Changsheng.
"Mister Dao, it really is you!"
"I tried searching for you a while back, but unfortunately couldn't find you anywhere."
Sophie seemed quite excited.
"Miss Sophie, I wasn't in Zhanhai City back then, and only recently returned."
"I heard someone brought Yunying ore mother through the Ocean Commerce Guild. As for the specifics, Miss Sophie should know best, shouldn't you?" Lu Changsheng asked directly.
Sophie let out a long sigh. "Know? How could I not know?"
"Because of this matter, many people in our Ocean Commerce Guild have already died."
"Those people of the jianghu have come over and over to interrogate us, killing at the slightest displeasure. The strongest our guild has are Refining Organs martial artists, with no Divine Strength martial artist holding the fort, which makes those jianghu figures all the more brazen."
Then, Sophie recounted the entire affair from beginning to end.
As it turned out, the foreign merchant carrying the Yunying ore mother had indeed arrived in Zhanhai City on an Ocean Commerce Guild ship, but he hadn't known the ore's value.
After it was accidentally noticed, the merchant was murdered, and the Yunying ore mother was stolen.
The matter was as simple as that.
Everything that followed had nothing to do with the Ocean Commerce Guild.
It was merely various martial artists and factions searching and slaughtering one another across Zhanhai City.
Yet martial artists continuously came knocking to intimidate, extort, or harass the guild, exhausting Sophie as she struggled to deal with them.
In the process, many guild members had been killed.
Lu Changsheng nodded. It appeared Sophie knew little more about the Yunying ore mother.
"By the way, Miss Sophie, do you know of Immortal Master Shangyuan?" Lu Changsheng asked.
"Immortal Master Shangyuan? Of course I do—the master of the Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary. He is said to possess miraculous, divine abilities. Even Divine Strength Realm martial artists dare not show the slightest arrogance before him."
"In my homeland, there are people similar to Immortal Master Shangyuan, though we call them Holy Ones. Every Holy One is a paramount figure, and they are exceedingly rare. It is said that becoming a Holy One requires a very rare talent—a talent found in only one in ten thousand!" Sophie said with utter seriousness.
"Holy Ones... talent... one in ten thousand..."
A sharp glint flashed in Lu Changsheng's eyes.
Whether Immortal Masters or Holy Ones, they seemed to be the same kind of people.
Needing innate talent was only natural; after all, both Immortal Masters and Holy Ones were extraordinarily scarce.
"Ah!"
"Guard team, hurry! Someone else is here!"
"They killed someone!"
Suddenly, an uproar erupted outside.
Sophie's expression changed; she guessed what was happening from the commotion.
"They're here again! How hateful!"
"Our Ocean Commerce Guild made it clear long ago that the Yunying ore mother has nothing to do with us! Why do people keep coming here to harass and kill us at whim? This is too much!"
Sophie's face flushed crimson with fury.
"Let's go take a look outside," Lu Changsheng said. Having asked what he wanted to know, he might as well go see. If he could lend a hand, he would.
After all, he had learned quite a bit from Sophie.
"Ah! Thank you, Mister Dao!"
Sophie caught his implication, and a smile instantly broke across her face.
The two of them stepped out of the building.
Outside the Ocean Commerce Guild, several masked martial artists clad in black were surrounded by a group of guards.
Yet the masked men showed not the slightest concern; instead, the guards were the ones trembling with tension.
A few corpses of guild guards already lay on the ground.
"Heh heh, who would've thought these foreign merchants were so weak? Crossing the oceans to do business, yet you never thought to hire real experts as guards?"
"I heard these foreign merchants were bragging a while ago that some Mister Dao had astonishing power and was a Divine Strength Realm martial artist. But where is this Mister Dao now?"
"Dao Twelve, right? I heard about him too. The Ocean Commerce Guild made it sound so real. A lot of martial artists were cautious before, not daring to cause trouble here for fear that Dao Twelve actually existed. But now the guild has been harassed to exhaustion by wave after wave of people, so where is this Dao Twelve?"
"The guild was definitely putting on a front! What Divine Strength Realm expert Dao Twelve?"
"We definitely don't stand a chance at the Yunying ore mother; even Divine Strength Realm martial artists are going all out to fight for it, let alone us. But we can certainly squeeze a tidy fortune out of this Ocean Commerce Guild!"
These martial artists hadn't come to ask about the Yunying ore mother at all.
They simply wanted to fish in troubled waters and reap a handsome profit off the guild.
After all, the guild had no powerful martial artists at the moment.
Even if there were Refining Organs martial artists, they weren't afraid.
After all, they were all Refining Organs martial artists themselves, and one of them was even at peak Refining Organs!
At that moment, Lu Changsheng and Sophie emerged outside.
Seeing these jianghu ruffians, Sophie flared with indignation and yelled, "Our Ocean Commerce Guild doesn't have the Yunying ore mother at all! We've explained this clearly already—why are you still relentlessly harassing us?"
"Heh, a foreign woman running the show? No wonder the Ocean Commerce Guild has fallen to this state. Whether the Yunying ore mother has anything to do with your guild isn't for you to say! We have to investigate it ourselves."
"Now, will you step aside and let us in, or do we slaughter our way inside?"
The masked men dispensed with pleasantries and laid out their ultimatum bluntly.
"You...!"
Sophie trembled with anger; these men were utterly unreasonable.
Yet she was powerless.
"Sophie, doing business in Zhanhai City means the Ocean Commerce Guild has effectively stepped into the jianghu,"
"I told you last time: you can reason in the jianghu, but only when you hold a blade in hand can you make others listen."
Lu Changsheng spoke up suddenly.
Clang!
In the next instant, the blade in Lu Changsheng's hand cleared its scabbard.
Instantly, a streak of blood-red blade light flashed across several zhang.
The blood-red blade light had no fancy flourishes; it was a simple, ordinary downward slash.
Yet beneath this single slash, the Refining Organs martial artists felt as though they were facing a colossal, surging wave.
In their vision, it seemed not to be a blade light, but an overwhelming tidal wave roaring down upon them.
At that moment, moving even a single muscle was an impossible luxury.
"Ah!"
They roared in terror.
Yet it was utterly futile.
Splurt!
The blood-red blade light struck. Though it was a single strike, it split into multiple rays as it reached them, slashing straight through their bodies.
The terrifying force cleaved every single one of them cleanly in two.
Across several zhang, an external release of qi and blood carried such terrifying might!
Silence.
The entire area surrounding the Ocean Commerce Guild fell dead silent.
Lu Changsheng sheathed his blade and glanced around.
Without question, countless prying eyes had been watching the guild from the shadows.
Now, every one of those gazes vanished in an instant, none daring to linger anywhere near the premises.
What kind of joke was this?
Could an ordinary martial artist execute a strike like that?
That was a Divine Strength Realm martial artist!
Killing multiple Refining Organs martial artists with a single slash from several zhang away—even among Divine Strength Realm martial artists, he was an exceptionally formidable presence!
Who would dare pry into the Ocean Commerce Guild now?
Evidently, none of them had any remaining doubts about the guild's prior claims.
Dao Twelve!
This was surely the return of Dao Twelve, the Divine Strength Realm powerhouse the Ocean Commerce Guild had spoken of!
"Dao Twelve has reappeared in the jianghu, slaying several Refining Organs martial artists with a single strike. Confirmed to be a Divine Strength martial artist. Do not provoke him."
"The Ocean Commerce Guild has Dao Twelve. Fall back!"
"From now on, no one is to provoke the Ocean Commerce Guild!"
Word that "Dao Twelve" had returned to the jianghu spread swiftly through the night.
Watching this unfold, Sophie was overcome with excitement.
"Mister Dao, once again, you've saved us!"
"It's settled. The Ocean Commerce Guild shouldn't face much trouble now. Miss Sophie, farewell."
Without lingering any longer, Lu Changsheng flickered into motion and vanished into the night.
Chapter 100