(Not So) Friendly Sparr (2)

Throughout the morning and part of the afternoon, it was possible to hear laughter coming from a building with an abandoned and decaying appearance. Inside the building, four people were talking while drinking and eating rice cakes.

"So, you're telling me that they suddenly appeared a hundred years ago and soon became one of the most powerful families in Jianshang?" Long Ming asked with interest as he watched Pan Chang.

"That's right, I don't really know the details. But they are definitely not a simple family, and I even doubt that they could be even more powerful than many clans in the kingdom," Pan Chang replied after biting into his rice cake.

At that moment, they were talking about the Xie family, because since that night, when he was suddenly saved by Xie Meng Fei, he has felt that there was something strange with this family.

"Hmm, by the way, what do you know about Xie Meng Fei?" Long Ming then asked.

"Not much. She rarely leaves the house, and when I do, it's only to visit her family's residence, or to participate in one of these aristocratic parties. From what we know, she doesn't have much influence in the Wu family or the Xie family, but it doesn't seem like it's due to family conflicts, but rather a lack of interest," Pan Chang answered honestly.

"It seems like she doesn't have much interest in political disputes or things like that," Han Feng, another of the men who lived in that building, added.

"...Oh! But I know something interesting about the family's young master, Xie Mei. It seems that she was Fei Lu's fiancée, back when he was still respected, but a few years after that tragedy she came to the residence of the Fei and requested a divorce. I'm not really sure about the reason for this sudden decision, but it seems that she only managed to convince her family to ask for a divorce after carrying out a mission; or something like that," Dai Xin, the youngest there, he spoke suddenly.

"Oh? But wouldn't that affect the relationship between the two families?" Long Ming asked curiously.

"The only link between the two families was this engagement, in fact. So, after the divorce there weren't many repercussions on both sides. With the exception of Fei Lu who felt offended by this," Pan Chang stated.

This information greatly intrigued Long Ming, who felt that there was something important happening with these relationships, mainly because it involved the Xie family. They then continued to talk, mainly about the cultivator families of Jianshang, but at some point they also started to discuss the recent events in the city, as well as intrigues that were currently unfolding.

After a few more hours, Long Ming got up and said goodbye to them.

"It was a good conversation, but now I have to say goodbye," he said.

"Really? Why don't you stay a little longer? I have a bottle we can open," Pan Chang offered, as he was really enjoying this conversation.

"No, unfortunately it won't be possible. Tomorrow I will participate in a meeting between the young masters of these cultivating families," he revealed while keeping an empty bottle inside his sleeve.

"Oh! You're going to participate in this get-together, are you?" Pan Chang asked, quite shocked by this information. He already knew that Long Ming was a guest of the Wu family, however, he did not expect that he would participate in this meeting, as it is something of considerable prestige in the city and even many children of merchants need to pay a lot of money to be able to participate.

"...Long Ming, be very careful with Lin Wan, the young master of the Lin family," Pan Chang stated, his extremely serious eyes were sober, as if all the intoxication from the drink had disappeared.

"Really? Why, old man?" Long Ming questioned, his eyes also regaining sobriety.

"I still don't know the details, but it seems that he is not simple. A few weeks ago, a carriage from the Lin clan came here, and I theorize that it has to do with Lin Wan. Furthermore, the Lin family has a complex relationship with Gao Ting, and this relationship may end up having an impact on you," he said. Long Ming sat quietly, absorbing this information, then remembering something Gao Ting had said some time ago. With a resolve, he nodded in agreement and returned to the Wu residence.

About ten minutes later, Long Ming arrived near the entrance of the Wu residence, just in time to notice a person arguing with the doormen. Curious, he walked more slowly, and discreetly, towards the gate, to listen more carefully to the discussion.

"I want to talk to Wu Yuying, why don't you let me in? Do you want to offend my He family? Or are you afraid that I will discover something?" Upon hearing these words, Long Ming already understood what was happening. He smiled mockingly as he noticed, firsthand, a young master trying to enter the Wu residence to ask for Wu Yuying's hand in marriage. It was something he hadn't expected to witness, even though she had complained about it several times.

"Young master He, please understand. We are just following our orders. Only those who have a family token, or have been requested by the patriarch, can enter. Unfortunately, you have neither. If you wish, we can try to notify the patriarch of your request to enter; but we will only be able to notify you of your decision in a week," one of the doormen spoke nervously, fearing to anger this young master. Even though the Wu family didn't mind angering such passion-driven youths, the same couldn't be said for their employees, who could easily be intimidated by these young masters.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Obviously you won't do that! Look, I just want to ask her to accompany me to the get-together tomorrow, is that a crime?" the young man said in an exaggerated and dramatic manner. Long Ming had the impression that this young man regarded this as the greatest humiliation of his entire life.

While they were discussing, Long Ming arrived at the gate and waved to the gatekeepers who, after greeting him, opened the gate.

Long Ming directly entered the gate, ignoring that young man. The young man seemed to get even more irritated by this and said: "Why can he enter and I can't? Does this commoner happen to have a better lineage than mine? HAHA! That's impossible!"

Upon hearing the words of this ignorant and arrogant young man, Long Ming suddenly stopped and began to reflect, then, after thinking for a while, he took out his fan from his sleeve and turned around: "and you, who would it be?"

"Don't you know who I am? Ha! I'm He Jun, the young master of the great He family!" He Jun stated arrogantly. Long Ming watched quietly, as he recalled everything he knew about this family. After a brief reflection he was able to understand, approximately, the reason for his arrogance. The He family was a prestigious family in the city.

Descendant of the general who conquered the entire territory of Jianshang and nearby cities, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the He family would be the legitimate owners of that region. However, when the Lin family decided to live in Jianshang City, all the authority passed directly to the Lins and, therefore, the

 He family ended up being demoted to second place. But this demotion was a very recent event, happening in the last generation, so it was logical that their descendants still did not understand that they were no longer that powerful.

"I understand, and what can you do, He Jun, to prevent me from entering the Wu residence? If you can't even convince the patriarch to allow you to enter, do you believe you could get me expelled? If you need to discuss with these humble gatekeepers, do you believe that you are capable of being taken seriously by Wu Qinlao and the elders?" After each word, Long Ming felt He Jun becoming even more shrunken, frustrated and depressed.

Seeing such sadness and frustration coming from such an arrogant and, at the same time, naive young man was depressing for Long Ming. And at one point, he even seemed pathetic.

"You are the guest of the Wu, correct? The one who is said to be Wu Yuying's lover! Do you happen to come from an important family? Well, I highly doubt that! I'm sure I'm someone much better than you and I deserve even more marry her!" He Jun spoke, his eyes burning with anger, envy and frustration.

"Maybe. But how will you prove it?" Long Ming questioned, covering the lower part of his face with his fan.

"I challenge you to a duel! And then I will prove to her that I am much better than you," He Jun stated while pointing his finger at Long Ming.

Watching him, Long Ming felt even more disgusted as he found him unpleasantly pathetic.

However, he nodded slightly and said, "Okay, we can hold this duel tomorrow at the gathering that will take place. What do you think? But since you will win Wu Yuying's heart if you win, I also want some reward if I win. What can you offer?"

"I will give you a lower yellow grade technique if you win. But don't think that will be possible!" With these words He Jun left that place, and Long Ming walked towards his room again.

After several minutes, Long Ming entered his room and began studying for a few hours. When it was evening, a maid came to his room to deliver a bowl of food, and after eating, Long Ming began to train in the courtyard.

After half an hour of training, he suddenly stopped his training and took out a book from his spatial ring, as well as ink and a brush. Then he started to write a few more things in the book, until he felt he had finished all its contents, so he closed it and wrote on its cover: Mad Dog's footwork.

Looking at the title, Long Ming felt a mixture of pride and satisfaction, as by placing the title he finally finished his footwork.

There was no way for Long Ming to know how good his footwork would be when compared to other footwork. However, compared to those he had on hand, mainly the three yellow-grade ones (one he had purchased at that auction, and the other two he had obtained from the Azure swordsman's tomb), Long Ming estimated that this footwork of his was a level up. Although, it was not possible for him to know whether this would mean being at the intermediate or higher stage of the yellow grade; but, at the very least, it was in the lower grade of the yellow grade.

Of course, this is in terms of quality. After all, from what he knew, the grade of manuals and techniques also involved other parameters than just their quality, for example, yellow grade manuals normally require the use of Qi. therefore, in this sense, his footwork (for now) would not be of yellow grade, as he logically was not able to utilize Qi at this point.

'Adding this footwork with my twinblade combat skills and resonance I should be at the strongest level of the half-step stage; and who knows, maybe I wouldn't be able to face someone at the early stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, albeit someone weak or inexperienced,' Long Ming guessed through pure guesswork. Although he wasn't sure how accurate this assumption would be, he now knew that at the very least, he should be able to face that assassin without being so incapacitated and, most importantly, without the possibility of dying from her self-explosion. And he should also be able to defeat Zhi Hua much easier.