Chapter Ninety-Two: The Clone of a Promise

Lu Yan stared with full concentration, waiting a full two hours before hurriedly adding the second medicinal ingredient and then pouring in a ladle of clear water.

But half an hour later, the color of the beast meat had instead grown somewhat pallid.

Lu Yan sighed. It had failed.

This meant that the blood poison in the beast meat had not only shown no sign of being removed, but had instead been sealed even deeper, making it all the harder to dispel.

After careful reflection, he realized that he had misjudged the heat, and that had caused this outcome.

“Watching Shen Yinuo cook, it seemed so easy, as if everything flowed naturally. Only when it was my turn to cook did I discover how many subtleties there are inside.”

Lu Yan shook his head with a wry smile.

Still, he was not anxious.

Learning the martial kitchen arts was merely something to practice in his spare time between training sessions. Even if he could not master it, that was no great matter; in any case, he would hire others to do the cooking in the future.

Of course, if he could master it himself, that would be best. No one ever complained of having too many skills.

After exhaling slowly, Lu Yan went to the training room. He ate a piece of dried martial food, then took up his stance and began cultivating the Vajra Indestructible Art.

After fusing into a first-rate martial art, the scripture automatically merged the forms of the nine second-rate martial arts and evolved a new method of cultivation, thirty-six forms in all, deeply engraved in his mind.

Moreover, he had the feeling that if he were willing to spend some time, he could draw out the essence of the Vajra Indestructible Art, turn it into a divine-intent diagram, and make it the inheritance foundation of a marquis-level martial clan.

But Lu Yan had no intention of passing on the Vajra Indestructible Art for now, so naturally he would not waste the effort to draw it.

After running through the Vajra Indestructible Art several times in succession, the dried martial food he had eaten had been fully digested. Feeling the blood and qi within him grow a trace stronger, Lu Yan returned once more to the martial kitchen, ready to try a second time.

As for the martial food energy absorbed by the scripture, it was used to improve the Body-Shifting Art.

The second attempt also failed.

But compared to the previous one, there had been a little progress; the time had lasted longer.

Thus, in between training sessions, Lu Yan kept trying again and again. Gradually, he became more and more familiar with the cooking steps for the One-Word Promise Lizard Meat, and little by little the earlier steps began to come effortlessly.

A month later, Lu Yan finally succeeded in cooking a portion of One-Word Promise Lizard Meat.

Although its quality and flavor were nowhere near what Shen Yinuo could make, it had unquestionably succeeded.

Because, upon the scripture at last condensed a clone.

The words above the clone’s head read: Martial Kitchen Clone, One-Word Promise Lizard Meat, Just Grasping the Basics 1 Percent.

Lu Yan was overjoyed.

At last, he had succeeded.

Without delay, Lu Yan ate the portion of martial food. The energy was absorbed by the scripture, and the progress of the One-Word Promise Lizard Meat rose rapidly.

Lu Yan discovered that the difficulty of improving the martial kitchen clone was greater than that of a second-rate martial art. The amount of martial food consumed was about three times that of a second-rate martial art, roughly equal to the Body-Shifting Art.

But no matter how much energy it required, it was still incomparably faster than training it himself.

Lu Yan’s spirits soared, and he continued cooking.

This time, he was clearly more familiar than before, but because he was too excited, he failed again.

He continued. This time he succeeded, and after eating it, the progress of the One-Word Promise Lizard Meat rose a little more, as though he had already spent a month in desperate practice.

Just as he was about to continue cooking, there came a knock at the door.

When he opened it and stepped outside, he saw Li Quan.

“Hall Master, recently some people have been spreading rumors outside, saying that the martial arts taught by our school are fake, not second-rate martial arts at all, only the lowest third-rate kind, passing off trash as treasure and deceiving apprentices.”

Li Quan reported, his expression somewhat unsightly.

“Have you found out who is spreading the rumors?” Lu Yan asked, his face calm, as if unsurprised.

He had long anticipated this.

The tuition had been set at only two-thirds of the price charged by other martial schools; naturally, that had cut into their profits. It would be strange if those schools simply swallowed it.

“We found out. It is the Red Sand Martial School on Upper Creek Street and the Black Blade Martial School on Flowing Water Street,” Li Quan said.

Lu Yan’s martial school was called the Three Absolutes Martial School.

What were the three absolutes? Sword, palm, and leg.

The Three Absolutes Martial School was on Upper Creek Street, not far from the Red Sand Martial School.

And Flowing Water Street was adjacent to Upper Creek Street.

By teaching martial arts at a low price, the Three Absolutes Martial School was the first to alarm the two nearby schools, and they now wanted to use this method to make people afraid to come learn there.

“Hall Master, if this continues and no one comes to learn martial arts, should we make a move and teach them a lesson?” Li Quan asked.

“No rush, no rush. Let them jump around a little longer,” Lu Yan said.

Li Quan’s eyes rolled, and suddenly they lit up. “Hall Master, do you intend to let them make a bigger fuss, draw more attention, and then strike, seizing the chance to spread our name?”

“Haha, Old Li, your mind is getting sharper and sharper. Talking to smart people is easy.”

Lu Yan laughed and patted Li Quan on the shoulder.

“You flatter me, Hall Master. You are the one who plots like a strategist, with deep foresight. This subordinate is not fit to be mentioned alongside you, not even by a ten-thousandth,” Li Quan said, bowing respectfully.

“Hahahaha.”

Lu Yan laughed aloud.

Seeing that the Three Absolutes Martial School still had no reaction, the disciples of the Red Sand Martial School and the Black Blade Martial School grew even more unrestrained.

“What Three Absolutes Martial School? They call it the three absolutes, but it’s all fake. It’s hard enough for ordinary people to master even one martial art, yet they dare call themselves the Three Absolutes? Just boasting.”

“Arrogant talk. Despicable.”

“The fees are so low, there’s definitely no real skill there. They’re probably just trying to swindle people once and run.”

“Going to the Three Absolutes Martial School to learn martial arts? Isn’t that foolish? You’ll be cheated out of everything.”

They wandered through the streets and alleyways, loudly spreading such talk in crowded places. Some even ran to the vicinity of the Three Absolutes Martial School, tugging at its disciples and urging them to go demand refunds from the school.

Little by little, the matter spread among the nearby common folk.

Seeing that the Three Absolutes Martial School had remained silent and had not retaliated, they became even more certain that the school had no real ability and was indeed deceiving people.

Even those apprentices who had already joined began to waver.

Some secretly discussed asking for their money back and giving up martial training.

Most of them no longer worked as diligently either. They came late and left early each day, and when they trained, they did so listlessly, without much enthusiasm.

Among them, there was one apprentice who drew Lu Yan’s attention.

The apprentice’s name was Wen Yuan, fourteen years old, about the same age as Lu Yan had been when he first arrived in this world.

He was rather refined in appearance, with sword-like brows and lips that were always pressed together, a look of stubborn resolve set between his brows.

Among all the apprentices, only he remained unmoved. He came to the martial school early each day and trained meticulously, unaffected by the rumors.

Wen Yuan.

Lu Yan silently remembered the name.

As for the laborers, they had no particular reaction.

They had no money to train in martial arts. To them, even if the Three Absolutes Martial School only taught third-rate martial arts, they would still cling to it tightly. It was their chance to change their fate.

At the Red Sand Martial School, within a waterside pavilion, two figures sat facing each other over tea.

One wore a scarlet training uniform with rolled-up sleeves, exposing thick, muscular arms. His flesh seemed bound together in cords of steel.

Most distinctive were his palms, faintly reddish, like heated irons.

This man was the hall master of the Red Sand Martial School, known in the martial world as the Red Sand Flying Wolf, Duan Shenfei.

The other wore a black robe and carried an iron blade on his back. He was the hall master of the Black Blade Martial School, One Blade Severing Souls, Liu Zong.

“What reaction has that Three Absolutes Martial School shown?” Liu Zong asked first.

Duan Shenfei lifted his tea and took a sip, smiling. “What other reaction could there be? The same as before—none at all.”

“So it seems the hall master of that Three Absolutes Martial School doesn’t amount to much,” Liu Zong said.

“Even if he did have some real ability, so what? Would he dare come to our doors and pick a fight? Behind us stands the alliance of thirteen martial schools. His low-price teaching doesn’t only affect the two of us; it also touches the interests of the other schools. How could they tolerate him?”

“As long as we keep up our current methods, the common people will not believe him, and no one will go there to learn martial arts. In time, he will have no choice but to close his doors.”

Duan Shenfei wore the look of one who held everything in his grasp, brimming with confidence.

“Brother Duan speaks truly. I was overthinking it,” Liu Zong said.

Day by day, the rumors grew more and more intense.

On this day, at last, three apprentices could not bear it any longer. They came together to ask Lu Yan for a refund.

“Refund it.”

Lu Yan agreed very readily.

After all, they had only learned a little skin-deep theory, a martial art still at the stage of groping for the threshold. It did not matter.

After receiving their money, the three left joyfully, even quietly calling to the other apprentices and urging them to do the same.

The other apprentices hesitated.

Lu Yan gathered Wang Lin, Li Quan, Zhang Jun, and the others to discuss the matter.

“Spread the word: lower the tuition again. Thirty-two taels for third-rate martial arts, and one hundred fifty taels for second-rate martial arts.”

A slight change came over the faces of the others.

“Hall Master, in the current situation, if we keep lowering the price, it will only make us seem guilty and confirm the other side’s rumors. It may make it even harder for anyone to come learn martial arts,” Wang Lin said worriedly.

“That’s where you come in. If anyone comes to spread rumors again, break their legs, tie them up and parade them as a warning. Charge them with spreading slander and damaging the reputation of the Three Absolutes Martial School,” Lu Yan said.

“So we’re finally making a move?” Wang Lin and the other two all stirred with excitement.

The End of Chapter 130