Chapter 85: The National Producers (3 more)

Fang Yu scratched his head.He could take off, and Li Qianxuan’s role was indispensable.

Without Li Qianxuan’s initial capital and the martial hall recommendation letter, Fang Yu’s development speed would definitely not have been so fast.

To set him aside and directly approach his elder brother, Lord Li Baizhen, did seem somewhat unethical.

When someone has given you their heart and soul to help you, and you kick them to the curb once your martial arts are accomplished—it’s indefensible.

But this matter was not within Fang Yu’s control.

Even Lord Li Baizhen himself couldn’t intervene; it was a direct order from those above.

"It seems Qian Xuan, you have some objections to joining under my name," Lord Li Baizhen seemed to have discerned something and smiled, "No matter, I’ll talk to him later. It’s a minor issue."

Fang Yu nodded slightly.

Li Qianxuan had a lot of respect for his elder brother Li Baizhen, and with him mediating, the problem should not be a big one.

"Come, I will take you to meet a few more people...right, are you still registered as a disciple of the outside martial hall?"

"Yes, I am from the Yuan corporal..."

Lord Li Baizhen waved his hand, "Retire from that martial hall before the end of the month."

Fang Yu was stunned.

"I still want to continue learning martial arts from the hall master."

"What real martial arts can you learn from a martial hall? If you don’t enter the core of the martial hall, your martial arts progress will be stuck for life."

That’s not true; Yuan Hongxin teaches so efficiently.

However, upon reflection, Fang Yu considered that he had only started for a few days and learned three martial arts techniques, which probably didn’t raise too much concern for others.

But if he learned too many, Yuan Hongxin would inevitably start having thoughts.

Both the Foolish Underworld and the martial halls vie for people; eventually, it would come down to choosing one over the other.

Seeing Fang Yu hesitating, Lord Li Baizhen said.

"You don’t have to feel it’s a pity."

"In the Foolish Underworld’s Martial Hall, the martial arts available are not only more numerous than those outside, but they also come with complete sets of progression paths."

"From low to high ranks, most cultivation techniques have traces to follow, progressing steadily, without gaps."

"And in terms of quality and quantity, they far surpass any martial hall, or to put it another way, the Foolish Underworld is the largest martial hall."

"If you continue practicing in an outside martial hall, you will eventually be hindered by incomplete Martial Arts Secret Manuals, causing you to be stuck at a certain level for life, unable to make any progress."

"This is a necessary tactic of the martial halls; they are not running charities after all."

"They accept disciples not to help you achieve success and join other forces, but to bind you firmly to the martial hall."

Fang Yu understood Lord Li Baizhen’s point.

Martial halls were, in essence, independent forces.

No different from groups like the Black Tiger Gang, except they appeared more unified and positive due to their front of being a martial hall.

And the Foolish Underworld was a power as well, moreover, the largest government force.

Joining the Foolish Underworld meant not wavering between the Underworld and martial halls, not trying to be on good terms with both.

This was also why Li Qianxuan initially had him pick Yuan corporal martial hall—one of the reasons was to facilitate an easy exit, a clean break.

In the future, if he met someone from the Yuan corporal martial hall, old friendships might remain, but his stance had to be firmly with the Foolish Underworld without any hesitation.

Fang Yu was indeed interested in the martial arts of the Yuan corporal martial hall.

Anyway, it was still early before the month’s end; he could just look for an opportunity to learn more martial arts from Yuan Hongxin before taking off.

With the player panel in hand, activating it was just a matter of flipping a switch.

Learning proficiency +1 without having to formally join, he could simply pilfer the martial arts techniques.

What remained was to slowly level up; he didn’t need anyone’s guidance for that, leveling up would solve all troubles.

Having come to this realization, Fang Yu was no longer troubled about whether to retire from the martial hall.

By this time, the two of them had arrived at a large courtyard.

Fang Yu found it familiar—it was the same quad allotted for public housing by the Foolish Underworld.

"This is my residence, and also one of the Foolish Underworld’s benefits."

"As long as you are employed for one day, you can spend a small amount of Silver Tael to live in a house like this one."

"You can bring over your family and friends and ensure their safety."

"If you were to die in the line of duty one day, and you purchased ’protection’ with your merits, you could relocate your family to another dwelling."

"Though not within the Foolish Underworld’s territories, it’s still a recognized residential area for relatives of the Underworld and will be patrolled and secured."

Joining the Foolish Underworld came with various benefits.

Family members could immediately receive safety protection, and with a bit of money, one could live in a larger house.

Even if you died one day, if you bought insurance, your family could continue to enjoy a certain level of official protection.

There’s nothing to argue about; all your worries about the future are clearly arranged, it’s up to you to work hard or not.

Frankly, Fang Yu was tempted.

Every day when he went out, his second sister was alone at home.

A frail woman, she would have no power to resist if anything happened.

And what Fang Yu has been stirring up lately is getting more and more outrageous.

If I could arrange for my second sister to stay here...

Fang Yu’s thoughts suddenly paused, as the image of his second sister crying with tears streaming down like pearls on a rainy night flashed through his mind.

Forget it, she wouldn’t leave that rundown house in Sweet Flower Lane.

"Come in, come in."

As he invited Fang Yu inside, Li Baizhen had already arranged for people to stand in line as if they had been waiting for a long time.

Fang Yu glanced over and saw there were more than thirty people.

Fang Yu: ...

Fang Yu: !!!

Why are you here!!

The look that had just swept past immediately snapped back to someone.

Only then did Fang Yu notice, in the corner where a row of people stood, there was an incredibly familiar face.

"What’s the matter, Diao Deyi?"

Curious about Fang Yu’s reaction, Li Baizhen approached.

Swoosh—

At that moment, Fang Yu felt the gaze of that person suddenly sharpen, piercingly sharp.

His body tensed slightly.

Gulp.

Fang Yu swallowed.

Should I... expose this guy right here?

For a while, Fang Yu’s mind was filled with intense internal conflict.

Finally.

He put on a natural smile and waved at Yue Guang.

"It’s nothing, just saw an acquaintance."

Yue Guang clearly did not expect Fang Yu to wave to him, hesitated for a moment, then also smiled and waved back.

"Him? Yue Guang? You know each other?"

"This guy is quite skilled. A few days ago, he came here to help out, so I did a background check, found it clean, and trustworthy, so I took him in."

"How do you know each other? Could it be..."

Li Baizhen had a bad premonition cross his mind.

Fang Yu then grinned and said.

"Brother Yue Guang used to be one of Lord Li Qianxuan’s close generals."

Well, this is a bit awkward.

I’d just taken Diao Deyi under my wing and now I’m snatching away someone else’s right-hand man.

This doesn’t seem quite right.

As an elder brother, you can’t do this.

Fortunately, gathering these people together wasn’t for a simple meeting, but there was another purpose.

If things went smoothly, he could still give this man back to his younger brother.

"Alright, quiet down everyone, let me introduce our new leader of the ten households, Diao Deyi!"

Clap clap clap.

The crowd applauded.

Fang Yu scanned the audience once more, highlighting the key figures.

Fang Yu: ...

Deep breath.

He stepped forward.

"Hello, everyone, I am the newly appointed captain of the ten households, Diao Deyi, under the command of Lord Li Baizhen. Please look after me from now on."

A gathering with five demons, what a feast, huh?