Chapter 370: Chapter 372: The Foreign Martial Artist

“So, the fact that the Duke Federation hasn’t fallen is simply inconceivable…”

Through the vision of the Spirit Monster, Qin Muye saw that the young man collected the protection money, skimmed a bit off the top, and then handed it over to the Gang Leader. The Gang Leader took a large portion of the sum and gave it to the Patrol, who then collected protection money from various street factions before sending half of it upwards, creating a large pyramid structure.

And at the very tip of this pyramid, the Governor sat doing nothing and yet received the largest share.

“Wait, something’s not quite right.” Qin Muye categorized the data collected by the Spirit Monster and discovered something interesting.

It turned out that the hoodlum was skipping over some people and not charging them protection money.

This made no sense, bullies targeting the weak while avoiding the strong was the norm, but those people didn’t look tough at all; they seemed more like ordinary folks.

“This is a lead, I need to investigate.”

Afterward, Qin Muye, of course, sent his Spirit Monsters to investigate.

Tian Qi had already settled the entire Endless Abyss, and naturally, the dark hands were arranged to deploy various Spirit Monster Spies deep into the entire Duke Federation for investigation.

Intelligence was very important, so naturally, he couldn’t afford to be sloppy.

Now, just because the big data hadn’t been established yet, Qin Muye had to take matters into his own hands.

“It’s not just ‘Mass Extinction Engines’ and ‘The Five Malpractices and Three Deficiencies’ that make a Talent good.” Qin Muye couldn’t help but feel the difference between temporary Skills and other temporary Skills.

For temporary Skills like these two, Qin Muye didn’t dare let his subordinates help him; one wrong move and they might suffer the effects, perhaps even causing his own territory to violently perish.

The investigation quickly yielded results; the households that weren’t charged protection money all had one thing in common: someone in the family was an official disciple of the Turtle Martial Arts School.

The information about Turtle Martial Arts School was soon collected by the Spirit Monsters and delivered to Qin Muye.

“Oh, I didn’t expect there to be some real talent and learning here.”

The head of the Turtle Martial Arts School had the power of Rank 4, the True Disciples were Rank 3, the official disciples were Rank 2, and the rest were novice disciples, with only about Rank 1 power.

This ladder-like structure naturally led to a disparity in numbers: there was only one person at Rank 4–the head of the school–five True Disciples at Rank 3, and dozens of official disciples, all carefully selected. There were hundreds of novice disciples who are considered extracurricular and had to pay money every month just to learn martial arts without any benefits.

Once someone became an official disciple, the school would help arrange work for them, usually as leaders of big gangs or guards for the Great Shang, without charging them. However, if they wanted to cultivate resources or further guidance and Martial Arts training, they had to pay.

For True Disciples, things were different: the school covered all resources and even paid money for Cultivation Techniques, as they were the heirs apparent and naturally received different treatment.

“So, is this ‘Secret Martial,’ or just plain ‘Martial’?” According to the feedback from big data, it seemed that these Martial Artists didn’t utilize external Energy but instead focused on internal strength for improvement.

That’s right, those who practice martial arts called themselves Martial Artists.

So, Qin Muye suspected that Secret and Martial were two different systems–the former utilizing the energy from the environment and the latter focusing on self-cultivation.

They represented two entirely different developmental paths.

“Should I infiltrate Turtle Martial Arts School?” Qin Muye thought it might be worth a try but then quickly rejected the idea.

Why bother infiltrating? Was he that idle?

If he wanted anything, he could just get a Spirit Monster to… just take it.

The strongest head of the school was only Rank 4, while Spirit Monsters were Rank 6. Even the Spirit Monsters dedicated to farming could easily beat them; why bother going in person?

What was his status now? Did he need to do these things?

Soon a Spirit Monster took on the task. Infiltrating was only a matter of a day or two, and at most three to five days would be enough to completely clean out everything within the Turtle Martial Arts School.

“But there’s something strange; the Patrol in charge of my street area is also Rank 4?”

Looking at the big data report, Qin Muye felt there might be a problem.

Firstly, there were only five Rank 4s in this entire city: one was the head of Turtle Martial Arts School, one was the true controller of a financial tycoon, another was an old slave brought by the Governor, one was the chief of local Patrols, and the last one was the Patrol in charge of his area.

Looking at the previous four individuals, they all held high positions; even the old servant of the Governor was well-fed and well-cared for. In other words, as soon as this Patrol revealed his identity, all the major forces would attempt to woo him.

But why would he condescend to the position of an ordinary Patrol?

And it’s not about playing the fool to catch the wise. Martial Artists need a considerable amount of resources to become stronger. Without resources, direct training could at the least damage the body, or at worst, result in sudden death.

Just relying on the measly income from his Patrol status, he probably couldn’t even afford a single medicinal brew.

The man was only middle-aged, which still counts as young among Martial Artists. Such behavior is tantamount to cutting off his own path.

What’s more significant is that his situation doesn’t look like he’s giving up. He exercises his body daily and consumes various precious medicinal brews and pills, etc.

That’s quite peculiar, never mind where the funds come from; this is no way to scrape by, sooner or later he’ll have nothing left to eat.

If he really wanted to scrape by, why be a Patrol at all? Wouldn’t it be more suitable to work as a Scribe in the Government?

“Intelligence analysis suggests that it’s very likely there is something in this street block that he needs?”

“This… could very well be, and it must be something quite valuable.”

Qin Muye looked at the latest guesses sent by the intelligence department, which were based on the most probable analysis given by the think tank.

Of course, it doesn’t rule out the possibility that he is indeed just scraping by.

“Could it have something to do with me?” Qin Muye’s mind suddenly diverged in this direction.

After all, he was the only protagonist around here. If it’s not to set him up, then who?

It’s just that the other party probably hasn’t found him yet. But now he only had annoying negative temporary Skills left on him, and his legitimate Main Character Aura had vanished, so he probably wouldn’t be able to hide for much longer.

“Better wait for him to come to me. Although he’s keeping a low profile, he hasn’t offended me; it wouldn’t be nice to just slaughter him rashly,” Qin Muye decided not to act impulsively. Although the man might pose a threat to him, at least he hadn’t shown any malicious intent with a cold flash in his eyes.

If he ended up mistakenly killing a good person… never mind that. If a Patrol dies in this street block, things will definitely get chaotic, and that would affect his easy-going days.

Just as he was pondering, a figure walked in: “Boss, a bottle of soda, please.”

Qin Muye narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. What a guy, his stature was like a little Giant, blocking the sunlight at the door.

“10 cents.” Qin Muye took out a bottle of soda, casually put a straw in it, and handed it over.

The man pulled out a wallet from his big coat, which looked incredibly small in his fan-sized hand, creating a strong sense of contrast.

He took out a coin and placed it on the counter, then took a big gulp of the soda, finishing it off almost as fast as a dragon drinking water.

“It’d be even better if this was ice-cold,” he complained about the room-temperature soda.

“This is just a small shop; we don’t have those kinds of facilities,” Qin Muye responded leisurely.

“May I inquire, wasn’t there a martial arts school nearby?” the man asked.

Qin Muye’s eyebrows rose slightly: “Of course, I know. Pan Gui Martial School, quite famous around here, the location is roughly here…”

This customer was playing by the rules, making a purchase before asking questions, albeit a small one, but at least it wasn’t freeloading.

“Thanks for the directions, boss. Give me two bags of bread, too; I need to fill my stomach,” he said, pointing at two large bags of bread nearby.

“Alright, today I’ve met a big spender. That’ll be one dollar,” Qin Muye handed over the two bags of bread, which had quite a substantial weight to them.

The man didn’t say much, clearly not short on money. He casually took out another somewhat larger coin and placed it on the counter, then left the snack shop.

“Interesting, a Martial Artist just come from out of town, strength of 4th rank, a Talent indeed,” Qin Muye couldn’t help but smack his lips: “He’s not going to challenge the school, is he?”

This man was also a Martial Artist, not very old, only about twenty-five or twenty-six, but his strength was on par with the established 4th rankers of the area.

Talents are present everywhere, and Qin Muye wasn’t a Talent; he was more like a cheater. But he had seen true Talents. Although this guy was talented, compared to Ji Shan, there was still a massive gap.

Apart from the innate difference, there was also a gap in resources and Profession. A Martial Artist’s Profession could at most be at the Rare Level, nowhere near the Epic level, and the resources were worlds apart. Ji Shan was nurtured by Qin Muye, who had the financial power of a rich father. How could he have less money than Qin Muye?

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