Volume 1: Martial World Chapter 50: The Etiquette of the Xu Family

  Zhang Gui was hit by Ye Wen's consecutive palm strikes and hastily retreated several steps, spitting out blood. This scene made it clear to anyone that the outcome of the fight had already been decided.

  The result still surprised many people.

  "Zhang Zhi actually got beaten to the point of vomiting blood in less than twenty moves? The leader of Shu Shan Sect is really too formidable!" Some people who had some understanding of Zhang Gui's martial arts skills were shocked and didn't know what to say. Among them, many who originally supported Zhengquanmen secretly wondered whether they should quickly sever ties with Zhengquanmen and curry favor with Shushanmen.

  The current situation is clear even to a blind man, the Zhengquanmen and Shushanpai have completely fallen out with each other. It's uncertain which day the two factions will engage in a fierce battle, and if they get involved at that time, it would be an unprovoked disaster for them.

  If it were in the past, they would be delighted to stand on the side of Zhengquan Gate and teach Shushan Sect a lesson, and take advantage of the situation. However, looking at it now, Shushan Sect is likely to wipe out Zhengquan Gate in one move.

  Although they did not know the strength of others in Shu Shan Sect except for the sect leader, even if there was only Ye Wen, it brought them great pressure - the deterrent force generated by a real master is especially obvious in the struggle between Jianghu schools.

  If Ye Wen and Zhang Gui fought for a while, they would probably continue to stand firmly on the side of Zhengquan Gate, because Shushan Sect was weak after all, as long as someone held down Ye Wen, others might not be able to get away.

  Under the current situation, Shi Cui, one of the four major executives of Zhengquanmen, was knocked unconscious by Ye Wen with just a few punches. Zhang Gui, who had the best martial arts skills among the four executives, couldn't last twenty moves and was beaten until he spat blood and lost his ability to fight again. Meanwhile, Ye Wen stood proudly with his hands behind his back, without any sign of fatigue, as if he could easily take on another match.

  With such skills, it's likely that he could be considered invincible on Book Mountain. Some well-informed individuals even whispered: "Even the current number one master of Book Mountain, Wang Shu, the leader of Zhengquan Gate, doesn't have martial arts this powerful!" At least Wang Shu couldn't defeat Zhang Gui within twenty moves and make him spit blood in defeat.

  Although Ye Wen didn't know what these people were thinking, judging from the expressions of those around him, the intimidating effect he had originally wanted to achieve was actually quite good now. This made Ye Wen, who had thought that his recent efforts had been a bit too much, feel slightly relieved.

  "It seems that this Guizhang is quite famous on Book Mountain, I used nearly twenty moves to defeat him and achieved such a good effect!"

  He raised his eyes to look at the tarpaulin again, only to see the man standing in place, adjusting his breathing, and then, with a huge pain churning in his chest, he made a fist at Ye Wen: "Ye Zhangmen's good kung fu, I admit defeat! Now that our two factions are both on this Book Mountain, we can't help but get closer. Let's meet again another day!" He was also straightforward, losing is just losing, there's nothing wrong with admitting it. After speaking, he took the Zhengquan Gate disciples and left the main hall, presumably returning directly to the Zhengquan Gate residence.

  Ye Wen wasn't worried that this guy would die halfway, one reason being that although his current internal energy could hurt people, it was very difficult to directly kill someone with a foundation in internal energy. Those few palm strikes he made earlier at most would make Zhang Gui suffer for ten days or half a month, and as long as he took good care of himself, he wouldn't have any trouble recovering and there wouldn't be any lingering harm.

  After all, he practiced the bright and upright Quanzhen Heart Method, not some evil and poisonous inner work, and there was no harmful dark energy.

  He saw the Zhengquan Gate crowd leave the grand hall, Ye Wen secretly let out a breath: "Today's pass is considered over, Shushan Sect has also taken its first step! As for the matter with Zhengquan Gate? Wait until I'm done with this busy period before cleaning up!"

  The most urgent thing at the moment is to complete the ceremony of accepting disciples. Although many people in the audience are constantly praising him, saying things like "Ye Zhangmen has great kung fu!", "Ye Zhangmen is the number one master on Shu Shan!", "Ye Zhangmen, please accept me as your disciple...", Ye Wen smiled and responded to each of them, then said: "The ceremony of my sect is not yet complete, everyone please wait a moment, after I finish the ceremony of accepting disciples, I will get close to you all again!"

  Everyone responded: "Well said! Well said!" and then returned to their original positions, quietly observing the ceremony.

  After that, there was not much to say. Yue Ning and Zhou Ziruo took turns performing the ceremony of paying respects to their masters, and then they also paid homage to the ancestors of the Shu Mountain Sect. This grand ceremony was thus concluded, and at the same time, it was decided that Yue Ning would be the eldest senior brother, while Zhou Ziruo would be the junior sister. As for Xu Xian, he was a seventh-generation disciple, and as the junior brother of Ye Wen and Ning Ruxue, there was no doubt about this point, nor did anyone present find anything strange about it.

  Even if Xuhui is older, he naturally has to be ranked last since he entered the latest. If he were to rank first despite entering late, it would only confuse people and make them wonder what influence the Xu family had exerted.

  The ceremony had just ended, and the crowd came forward to congratulate him. Among them were also people who went to congratulate Yue Hang with a familiar tone. The head of the Yue family's guards also smiled and thanked each one. Today, he saw Ye Wen's skills, and was even more convinced that sending his son to Shu Shan Sect was the best decision.

  Just as everyone was congratulating each other, another shout came from the gate: "Xu, the manager of Xu's family in Shushan County, has arrived with a gift!"

  This sudden voice instantly made the entire hall quiet, and everyone present looked at each other, guessing why the Xu family came so late. The ceremony had already ended when they arrived, had they forgotten the time?

  Only Ye Wen knew what was going on. He glanced at Xun Xian, whose face had changed color, and secretly smiled wryly before standing still in his original position, waiting for the Xu family steward to arrive.

  Soon, a man walked into the hall. The one who came in was only an old man of about fifty years old. He wore a long shirt, although not expensive, but he looked extraordinary. Although he was just a manager of the Xu family, people did not dare to underestimate him.

  An old man came before Xuan, clasped his fists and said: "I am Xu Hai, the manager of the Xu family. I have been sent by the elderly lady to offer congratulations on your admission into Mount Shu's sect."

  Ye Wen stole a glance at Xue Xian, saw Xue Xian's complex expression, and knew that this old man was indeed from the Xue family: "It seems there's no need to pretend to be a member of the Xue family to cause trouble?"

  Thinking of this, Ye Wen politely said to Xu Hai: "Mr. Xu is polite! Since you've come, please take a seat!" As the old man represented the Xu family, Ye Wen naturally had to entertain him properly.

  Xu Lao only refused to take a seat, and replied: "A humble person like me, how can I sit with the master? This old man has come this time just to present congratulations, Master Ye accepts the gift and this old man can return to report back!"

  Ye Wen nodded, knowing that these big families had many rules and didn't say much more. He just didn't expect Old Lady Xu to be so fond of her son, sending gifts as soon as she knew Xu Xian's whereabouts? He guessed that the old lady was afraid he wouldn't live well after leaving home, so she used this excuse to send some extra wealth.

  Just as Ye Wen was guessing what Old Lady Xu would give to her son, Xu Hai took out a thin scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Ye Wen: "This is the gift list, please take a look, Master Ye!"

  Ye Wen caught it and opened it to take a look. As soon as he opened it, he almost bit his tongue off: "Ah, my god!"

  All he saw was a thin volume with numerous items listed densely on it, and Ye Wen's eyes were already blurred just by glancing at it casually.

  5,000 taels of silver, 1,000 bolts of cloth, 1,000 catties of fine grain rice, 1,000 catties of fine flour, and no account is taken of chicken, duck, fish, meat, eggs and the like!

  Miscellaneous servants 10 people, guards 10 people, maidservants 4 people.

  In addition, 100 taels of gold and a number of pearl, agate and jade ornaments were also given. If it weren't for the old lady preparing them for her future daughter-in-law, they would have been found out to be from the Shu Shan Sect's female disciples. Ye Wen estimated that this was the most likely possibility, after all, it wasn't difficult to investigate who was by his side, and one could find out with just a little inquiry.

  According to the cognition of these big families, it's likely that they need to make some concessions and give their own son a good beating before things can get better. So, the old lady directly sent over a pile of stuff, not even saying it was for her own son but rather directly giving it to her own sect. This is equivalent to indirectly helping Xu Xian bribe his senior brother and sister.

  Sneaked a peek and didn't know what to do, Ning Yuxue looked at herself with an inexplicable expression, Ye Wen was very curious about what kind of expression this little girl would have if she saw this gift list.

  He took a deep breath, and although Ye Wen's expression changed, it wasn't obvious, so the people around him just saw him open the gift list and then freeze there. Others thought he was just looking at the list, but only Ning Ruxue, who was relatively close and slightly familiar with him, noticed that he had been startled. So although Ye Wen was startled in his heart, on the surface, he didn't lose his composure.

  Then handed the gift list to Ning Ruxue and gave it directly to Ning Ruxue.

  Xu Hai saw the young Ye Zhangmen, saw so many treasures and yet remained unmoved, his expression unchanged, and in his heart he secretly praised him, thinking that his family's young master joining this sect wasn't a bad thing for the Xu family.

  "There are many gifts waiting outside the hall, would Master Ye like to inspect them personally?"

  Ye Wen waved his hand: "No need!" Then he said to Ning Ruxue, who was also startled by the contents of the gift list: "Trouble my sister, go and get Xu's people to send things to the back, okay?" He didn't give any further instructions, believing that his sister knew what to do.

  Ning Ruxue nodded, then looked at Xu Xian with a strange expression, took the gift list and walked out of the main hall, completely unaware that just now when she was looking at the gift list, several people had also gathered around her, relying on their good eyesight to roughly see what was on it. Then turned around and described it to the person next to him.

  "Ah? The Shu Shan Sect has made their move!"

  "Alas... why didn't I get a disciple like Master Xu?"

  "You? Your little thatched cottage of a sect thinks it can take in a disciple like Young Master Xu? Dream on!"

  "They've given so many gifts when sending off their apprentice, I'm afraid that in the future, the Xu family will always be supporting the Shu Shan Sect!"

  This sentence has almost become a consensus among everyone, and all factions believe that after the Xu family's support, the development momentum of their faction will exceed their own expected rapidness.

  But these people didn't know that after Ning Ruxue left the main hall, Old Man Xu Hai whispered to Ye Wen and said: "Palace Master Ye, may I have a word with you?"

  Ye Wen nodded and then led Xu Hai to the back of the hall - this was just a corner behind the main hall, which was quite secluded, and others couldn't see what happened here.

  The two stood still, and Xu Hai didn't wait for Ye Wen to ask, directly saying: "I have one last big gift, but it needs Master Ye to personally inspect!"

  Ye Wen was curious, but didn't ask, and just waited for the old man to reveal the answer.

  Xu Hai looked around, making sure no one was watching, before pulling out a cloth package from his bosom and respectfully handing it to Ye Wen: "This is the item, please, Master Ye, inspect it personally!"

  Tickets, tickets, I want tickets!