Chapter 112: Luoyang
Luoyang, located in Yu Province, is the heartland of the Nine Provinces.
It was already August, and the streets were wide, with willow trees on both sides almost drooping to the ground. The hot summer wind blew, and the willow branches brushed against people’s faces, making them irritable.
In the eastern city’s slave market, Guan Shan sat cross-legged on the ground, a straw sign stuck in his hair, indicating that he was being sold.
The person selling him was himself.
Selling oneself was not uncommon in the slave market.
Some people, driven to desperation, sold themselves into servitude just to survive.
Others sold themselves to bury their father or mother.
But people like Guan Shan were rare.
Because he was a strong man, a strong man whose Blood and Qi Barrier had already been completed. Once his Essence and Spirit Barrier was complete, he would become a See the Truth martial artist.
In the Jianghu, a See the Truth martial artist was considered a Jianghu person, able to make a living anywhere. There was no need to debase oneself by selling oneself.
If all else failed, one could always open an ice shop or something. It wouldn’t lead to starvation.
But Guan Shan insisted on selling himself. His reason was simple: he wanted to continue practicing martial arts.
There were no major sects in Luoyang willing to take him in, and ordinary small sects couldn’t afford to support him. As for gangs, he simply looked down upon them.
However, the reality was far from what he had imagined.
He helplessly watched a circle of chattering women before him. They were all wealthy wives from Luoyang City.
“Young man~ come with me! I own a whole street, enough to support you!” A woman, about forty years old and slightly plump, said to Guan Shan, who was sitting on the ground, her eyes shining.
For the past few days, she had heard from her good sisters that a rare gem had arrived in the eastern city’s slave market!
“Don’t listen to her, come with me! I’ll divorce my good-for-nothing husband as soon as I get back, and you can be the head of the household. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for us to be a loving couple?” Another woman, in her thirties and quite attractive, said to Guan Shan, batting her eyelashes.
“And me! And me, who doesn’t know the reputation of my Li Family in Luoyang City! Come home with me, and I’ll find you any martial arts manual you want to practice…”
“I have a family heirloom martial art, 《Cushion Heart Sutra》 , that I can cultivate together with my husband…”
“Bah! He’s mine, how can you call him your husband?”
“That’s right, that’s right! You shameless hussy!”
Three women make a play, so what about a bunch of women?
It’s a disaster!
Guan Shan watched as the women, all dressed in silk and satin, adorned with jewels and jade ornaments, started fighting amongst themselves.
He moved his body back slightly to avoid getting splattered with blood when they started brawling.
These women were all from prominent families in the city, even more domineering than ordinary gang leaders.
The wooden sign he had personally written, with its crooked characters, “Selling myself, as long as I can practice martial arts,” was trampled into the dirt by the throng of chattering women.
Practicing martial arts was truly difficult!
At this moment, he saw a person squatting down, carefully pulling the wooden sign out of the dirt, and then muttering, “Treasure from Yi, can silk bundle martial arts!”
“It’s ‘Selling myself, as long as I can practice martial arts’!” Guan Shan corrected him.
Where the hell did this illiterate come from?
He sized up the person.
This person was not tall, a little shorter than him, wearing a black robe without any gold or jade decorations. The edges of the robe were somewhat worn. His clothes were dusty, but his face and hands were clean.
This was an expert!
He was ordinary-looking, except for his eyes, which were quite clear, unlike the eyes of any person Guan Shan had ever seen.
Behind him, he carried a package and a long, wrapped object, which looked like a weapon.
He must be a martial artist from out of town.
Guan Shan made this judgment in his mind.
Shi Feizhe looked at the wooden sign speechlessly. The characters were incredibly difficult to recognize.
He had written “Sell” to look almost like “Treasure” and “Practice” to look almost like “Silk bundle.”
✿✿✿
Who the hell could recognize that!
He looked at the strong man in front of him, over six feet tall, with a bare upper body covered in bronze, muscular muscles.
Those exaggerated pectoral muscles made Shi Feizhe lament that this damn world didn’t have protein powder!
Coupled with his handsome, Fu Cheng-like features and curly hair, it was no wonder there were so many people gathered here.
“Why are you selling yourself?” Shi Feizhe asked.
Based on his understanding of this world, practicing martial arts was the only way to gain power.
A True Realm expert was roughly equivalent to a high-ranking official in a prefecture-level city.
Zhoutian was roughly equivalent to the director of a certain bureau.
Qi Sea was roughly equivalent to the section chief of a certain bureau.
See the Truth was equivalent to a staff member or something.
This person in front of him was almost at the See the Truth level, so he must be at least a college student.
A college student selling himself into servitude… well, it made sense.
“I want to practice martial arts! I want to become the number one expert under heaven!” Guan Shan said seriously.
“Huh?” Shi Feizhe was taken aback.
He had been in the Jianghu for so long, and this was the first time he had heard someone say they practiced martial arts to become the number one expert under heaven, especially a weakling.
“I want to become the number one expert under heaven!” Guan Shan repeated seriously!
“Oh~ but you’re almost thirty now, and you haven’t even reached the See the Truth Barrier!” Shi Feizhe said.
After the age of thirty-five, a martial artist’s blood and Qi would decline, making it difficult to reach the See the Truth level.
“I’m twenty-eight this year, and I have one hundred and twenty-one years until I’m one hundred and forty-nine. One hundred and twenty-one years to do one thing, it should be possible!” Guan Shan said seriously.
He truly believed this.
There was always someone who was the number one expert under heaven, so why couldn’t it be him?
“Your courage is commendable, and your ambition is lofty!” Shi Feizhe gave him a thumbs-up and said, “In that case, I’ll buy you! Because I plan to open a martial arts academy in the future, so that everyone can practice martial arts without it being so difficult!”
Guan Shan looked at Shi Feizhe carefully and said, “Are you sick?”
“? Do you have medicine?” Shi Feizhe rolled his eyes at him and said, “I didn’t even say you were sick!”
“My goal is definitely achievable, so I’m not sick!” Guan Shan shook his head and said, “But you… Forget it, never mind.”
“…”
Damn it, you’re being so picky, no wonder you’re surrounded by rich women!
You’re not selling yourself, you’re clearly looking for a sect!
However, this kind of pure martial artist was exactly what Shi Feizhe needed for his martial arts academy.
There were too many people in the Jianghu chasing fame and fortune, and too few who purely practiced martial arts.
“I see that your blood and Qi are abundant, so you don’t have a good visualization method, right?” Shi Feizhe said, looking at Guan Shan’s overflowing blood and Qi, but lacking True Qi.
“Yes!” Guan Shan nodded, admitting it frankly.
There was no need to hide it; anyone with a discerning eye could see his situation.
“What are you visualizing now?” Shi Feizhe asked.
Guan Shan didn’t want to say it at first, but seeing Shi Feizhe wave his hand and cut off the surrounding noise, he knew he had underestimated him.
“It’s the Six-Winged Angel!”
“Huh? What the hell is that?” Shi Feizhe was stunned; he hadn’t expected such a thing to exist in the Jianghu.
The main reason for the madness in the Jianghu is that practicing martial arts can lead to power. Going crazy from practicing the wrong martial arts is a wrong outcome, but not the cause. （If practicing martial arts could make you a local leader, then the readers must be even crazier than the author. ）
