Chapter 103 World Three [17]

Signing up for the martial arts conference was not difficult at all for Luo Yuezhu, and getting information was almost the same.

Where there is a market, there is demand. Those smart people have long ago made a so-called top 100 list, listing the ones that most people think are stronger.

The level of detail in the list varies depending on the selling price. A list with only the name costs one tael of silver, while a list with general information such as name, age, and sect costs ten taels of silver.

On the basis of ten taels of silver, after adding their usual weapons and moves, battle records against enemies, and a rough estimate of their internal strength, the price increased tenfold. Such a list would cost one hundred taels of silver.

One hundred taels of silver is a huge sum of money for ordinary people. It can buy a small courtyard in a relatively remote county town.

Luo Yuezhu naturally had no shortage of this money. Whether it was the silver given to her by her own master or the profit from the shop managed by Xiaomu, she could easily take out ten thousand taels of silver.

But even though she was rich, Luo Yuezhu did not intend to be a sucker. Instead, she dressed herself as low-key as possible and appeared in busy restaurants and teahouses, gathering information while observing whether there was anyone who could raise money together to buy the list of names priced at one hundred taels of silver.

After three days of waiting, Luo Yuezhu actually ran into a group of people.

Their internal strength has been cultivated for about 20 to 30 years. They look exhausted and must have come from far away to participate in the martial arts conference.

There were six people in the group, two women and four men. The two women seemed to be squeezed into one room, while the other four men slept on an ordinary bunk bed. I don't know if it was because they came late and there was no room for them, or because they were short of money.

After getting a general understanding of the situation, Luo Yuezhu took the initiative and, under the pretext of sharing a table for dinner, tentatively put forward her own suggestions.

"You should have come here for the martial arts conference, right? I wonder what you think of the top 100 list that almost everyone has a copy of?" Luo Yuezhu asked.

Luo Yuezhu, who is almost 1.7 meters tall, is wearing a light blue cross-collared robe. Her headdress is a simple hairpin, and her belt is tied with a purse and a long sword. This is the most common outfit on the street nowadays.

"To be able to compile information on so many people, there must be someone behind the Top 100 list, otherwise the Wulin Alliance will definitely not sit idly by." One of the female knights was the first to speak out.

"If possible, I would also like to buy one, but the one that costs ten taels of silver is tasteless, and the one that costs a hundred years of silver is a bit too expensive." said another female knight.

After chatting about this topic for a few sentences, Luo Yuezhu offered her own opinion, "If one person buys one, it's really not worth it, but if five or six people buy it together, it will only cost less than twenty taels of silver."

"For example, if I buy it with a few others, we only need to contribute fifty taels of silver each." Luo Yuezhu gave an example.

"That won't work. There are six of us here, and you are alone. If both parties pay fifty taels each, it would be too unfair to you." said the female knight who spoke first.

"Then should we find some other people who want to buy the top 100 list and buy it together?" Luo Yuezhu suggested. "I have a good memory. After I get it, I only need to look at it three times and I'll almost remember it. I can leave the list to others."

"This method is not impossible. We just need to ask more people on the street. There will definitely be someone willing to do it." One of the men agreed with Luo Yuezhu's statement.

One hundred taels of silver is not a lot of money for people in the martial arts world. After all, the cost of their weapons starts at dozens of taels.

But as I said, having money doesn't mean they are willing to be taken advantage of. After strolling around the street together, they actually found two groups of people who needed detailed information on the top 100 list.

It is worth mentioning that one of the group was the sturdy men who wanted to buy the last upper house at a high price.

The sturdy man seemed to recognize Luo Yuezhu. He felt quite embarrassed when he looked at her and took the initiative to introduce his name.

"Shi Lei offended you a lot in the past few days. Please forgive me, lady." Shi Lei said a little embarrassedly.

He really had no ill intentions at the time; he simply wanted to take better care of his junior sister.

In fact, he did so. At least half of the silver he brought was spent on his junior sister, and half of the remaining half was used on his junior brother who had a bad temper.

This resulted in the money Shi Lei brought being insufficient, so he had no choice but to buy a booklet of the top 100 list with more people.

Everyone was short of money, so after sitting down and talking for a while, they quickly agreed on a price.

Since Luo Yuezhu only needed to take a look, she only had to pay ten taels of silver. After receiving the item, she could read it for two hours.

As for the other three groups, they each paid thirty taels of silver, bought the booklet, and then copied the contents separately to complete the reproduction of the top 100 list as soon as possible.

Seeing this, Luo Yuezhu gave them an idea, saying that they could make a few more copies and sell them at a relatively lower price.

"This method has been thought of a long time ago. The person who created the Top 100 list deliberately marked each page to make it difficult to forge. Without this mark, there would be no guarantee that the contents of the Top 100 list are true or false."

Shi Lei said as he copied, "Many people have tried to fabricate stories after seeing how popular the Top 100 list was. But they were quickly discovered. If the Wulin Alliance hadn't arrived in time, the forgers would have been beaten to death."

After Shi Lei's explanation, Luo Yuezhu finally understood the situation.

There are indeed people who are willing to sell the exact same top 100 list at a low price, but there are scammers who take advantage of the situation, so those people would rather spend a little more money than buy a fake one.

Theoretically, if you keep the transcribed copy for yourself after completing the transcription and sell the original copy, you can make a lot of money back.

But people's hearts are unpredictable. Even if they can get a lot of silver by selling the original, those people are unwilling to spend a hundred taels of silver to buy something for eighty taels.

Letting others take advantage of twenty taels of silver is like cutting yourself twenty times, and you must be extremely reluctant to do it.

Luo Yuezhu could understand these people's thoughts, but no matter how she thought about it, she felt that selling it was the only way to truly reduce losses.

"Just like you said, people's hearts are unpredictable. Some people just can't stand seeing others do well. They will think that the twenty taels of silver they lost will be made back by the other party, who may even be able to sell it for ninety taels, which would make their loss even greater."

After hearing the confusion and puzzlement of his little apprentice, Jing Ke gave a brief explanation.

"You have written down all the information on the top 100 list. Have you heard any news about the Right Protector?" Jing Ke asked.

Luo Yuezhu shook her head. "Yangzhou is the headquarters of the Wulin Alliance after all. The Demon Cult members shouldn't be here so early. I don't think they intend to abide by the rules set by the Wulin Alliance and honestly sign up for the Wulin Conference."

"Really? Then what do you think the right protector will do?" Jing Ke asked.

"If I were a member of the Demon Cult, I would definitely show up when the top ten or even the champion are decided. Defeating someone who's been carefully selected would be far more surprising than advancing step by step," Luo Yuezhu analyzed. "If the Demon Cult's plan succeeds, the Wulin Alliance's reputation will plummet."

Luo Yuezhu concluded: "So I don't need to specifically look for the whereabouts of the Right Protector. As long as I capture the leader, I will definitely fight him."

Jing Ke nodded, agreeing with his apprentice's statement, "So what is your next plan?"

"I want to spar with you, Master, or I want you to put some pressure on me, and it would be best if I could experience the feeling of failure." Luo Yuezhu said seriously.

To defeat all the contestants and become the champion, one not only needs sufficient strength, but also the mentality of not underestimating the enemy.

Luo Yuezhu was not sure if she could manage not to underestimate her opponent in every battle, but she knew very well that after experiencing failure, she would definitely become more cautious and discover her own shortcomings.

Jing Ke did not agree immediately after hearing this. Although she has always been strict with her little disciple, she has never really fought with her little disciple. They basically just let each other win in their exchanges.

However, what the young apprentice said makes sense. The best way to make a person calm down quickly is to let her taste the feeling of failure.

"Okay, but if you are defeated by me, remember not to cry." Jing Ke said, deciding to fulfill his little disciple's wish.

"Master, don't worry, I'm already an adult." Luo Yuezhu said with a firm look in his eyes.

-

There are so many people coming and going in Yangzhou City that it is definitely impossible to let go and compete with each other.

So Jing Ke decided to have a practice session with his little disciple in a bamboo forest in the suburbs where there were few people. Jing Ke usually used a long sword, and his little disciple also used a long sword.

There are ways to release water, and there are ways to neither release water nor be waterproof.

After making sure that his young disciple was about to feel defeated, Jing Ke did not hold back and used 70% of his strength in sword strike, forcing his young disciple to defend himself in a desperate manner, with his clothes being cut by the sword from time to time.

After only a hundred moves, the sword in the young disciple's hand was ruthlessly shaken away by Jing Ke. If Jing Ke had not released his internal force in time, the young disciple would most likely have to take another blow.

"Master, you are so strong." Luo Yuezhu said, looking at her master with sparkling eyes.

It seemed that she had miscalculated a little. After being defeated by her own master, she did not feel any sense of frustration at all, but only pride.

He is worthy of being my master, he is so amazing.

My master should be so powerful, he should be able to defeat me in no time.

"Hmm, do you want to try again?" Jing Ke raised his eyebrows. How come the little disciple was not discouraged at all? This didn't seem like a loser at all.

"Yes! Master, wait for me to calm down for a moment!" Luo Yuezhu said, and quickly retrieved the flying sword.

After resting for about a quarter of an hour, Luo Yuezhu became full of energy again and tried harder to deal with the attacks from his master.

Lost? No problem, just try again!

Lost your weapon again? No problem, just try again!

In this way, Luo Yuezhu improved at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just ten days, he went from being defeated within a hundred moves to being able to withstand a full two hundred moves.

Jing Ke was also surprised at the speed of his little apprentice's progress, and even began to wonder if he would have helped his little apprentice grow faster if he had started this kind of teaching earlier.

However, this thought only flashed through Jing Ke's mind. The little apprentice was growing very fast, and there was no need to let her experience the feeling of failure every day.

I want to raise a confident and free-spirited apprentice, not a fighting machine. There is no need to turn the apprentice into a taut bowstring.

-

And so, after ten days of intense fighting, the preliminary round of the martial arts conference arrived.

The venue for the martial arts conference is very large, but the competition format is very simple, which is a ring match.

The first round lasts for seven days, with a total of one hundred arenas. Each person can challenge once a day, and the champion has a quarter of an hour's rest after completing each challenge.

This rule was somewhat unfair to the ring master, but being a ring master was an opportunity to make a name for oneself. If one wasn't ranked among the top 100, it would be better to step out and defend the ring early, perhaps earning a chance to become famous.

After hearing the specific rules of the competition, Luo Yuezhu knew very well that the most time-saving and labor-saving approach was to challenge a ring master on the seventh day and then easily win the preliminary round.

But Luo Yuezhu's goal is to be the champion. If she can't even withstand seven days of round-robin competition, how can she compete for the first place?

So after the competition officially started, Luo Yuezhu chose an arena and became the arena master, ready to guard it for seven days in a row.

Luo Yuezhu did not reveal the name of Tianyan Sect, but only said that her master had secluded herself from the world and no longer cared about the affairs of the martial arts world, so everyone should just treat her as a casual cultivator.

It was more than four years ago that Mr. Luo and his family of eighteen died, so for most people, the name Luo Yuezhu is very unfamiliar, which is very consistent with her self-described experience.

He has been living in seclusion in his master's sect. This time he heard that there was a martial arts conference, so he came out to join in the fun.

But for those who have been paying attention to Jing Ke, the name Luo Yuezhu seems particularly familiar.

Whether it is the top leaders of the Wulin Alliance or the Demon Sect, they all know that Luo Yuezhu is Jing Ke’s disciple and that she is very likely to be the next leader of the Tianyan Sect.

So some people hidden in the audience began to pay attention to Luo Yuezhu, focusing on studying her every move, especially her martial arts moves.

"See? This is the foundation of Tianyan Sect. In less than five years, they can cultivate such a genius." Yin Honglian couldn't help but sigh and glanced at Ye Wenxin who was sitting next to her.

Ever since the two of them agreed to Jing Ke's condition, Yin Honglian and Ye Wenxin have been at odds with each other, and they have been running into each other too often.

After fighting with each other a few times, both sides had a deeper understanding of each other's character and gradually became good friends.

Of course, this friend is only in private.

When serving as the right protector of the Demon Cult, Yin Honglian would still carry out the tasks assigned by the leader, causing trouble for the Wulin Alliance.

Similarly, when Ye Wenxin, as the leader of the Suzaku Hall, met Yin Honglian, he would also draw his sword without hesitation and fight with the opponent's long whip.

"Tianyan Sect was once the undisputed number one in the world. The fact that it has not disappeared until now is enough to illustrate its profound foundation." Ye Wenxin said in a calm tone.

"However, Luo Yuezhu's character and talent are both good. If she meets a good master, she can become famous in the martial arts world in time."

Yin Honglian remained noncommittal. "Miss Ye, if I'm not mistaken, this martial arts conference should be your master's attempt to pave the way for you, right?"

"Anyone under forty can participate. This rule excludes many sect leaders and elders." Yin Honglian said, "The Tongwulin Conference will make you an honorary elder. After a period of time, your master will slowly transfer the power to you."

Ye Wenxin did not deny it, which was a disguised way of acquiescing.

Yin Honglian smiled upon seeing this, "So, do you think you are Luo Yuezhu's opponent?"

"That person just now should be the twelfth person to be defeated today, right? Such a long time has passed, and the little girl's face is not red and she's not out of breath. It seems that she didn't use up much internal energy."

Yin Honglian was just there to watch the fun, after all, her mission this time was to prevent Ye Wenxin from becoming the leader of the martial arts conference.

When necessary, she would appear to interfere with the other party's victory.

But from the looks of it now, Luo Yuezhu is also aiming for the top spot, so it seems like I can finally take a break.