Chapter Ninety-Seven: Taking a Master

After the emperor finished speaking, he waited for Yang Wenhao and Yi Xiaochuan to answer.

Yi Xiaochuan cupped his hands and said, “Please forgive this commoner’s bold words. If it had not been for Your Majesty that day, we would still have drawn our blades to save you.”

“Haha.” The emperor nodded and said, “Good. You are indeed subjects of my Great Qin. Come, today there is no Qin emperor, only the charioteer from that day.”

After a round of drinking, Yang Wenhao and Yi Xiaochuan took their leave of the imperial palace.

Just as they emerged, Li Si called out from behind to Yang Wenhao, “Sir Yang, please wait.”

By the time Li Si caught up, Yi Xiaochuan smiled faintly at Yang Wenhao. “I’ll wait for you at the tavern.”

After Yi Xiaochuan left, Yang Wenhao asked Li Si, “What else do you need from me, Lord Li?”

“Yun’er, come out,” Li Si called unexpectedly.

From within the nearby trees stepped a girl of fifteen or sixteen, none other than Li Lingyun.

Yang Wenhao said nothing. He merely watched, for he knew Li Si would explain.

Li Si cupped his hands. “Sir Yang, it is like this. My daughter Yun’er has adored martial arts since childhood, and the skills she has now were all learned from others. Yet those teachers can no longer teach her. I had intended to search for another master for her in a few days, but unexpectedly I happened to meet Sir Yang.”

“You mean for me to be your daughter’s martial arts teacher?” Yang Wenhao was no fool; such plain words were easy enough to understand.

“Exactly.” Li Si nodded. Before Yang Wenhao could respond, Li Lingyun had already brought over a wooden box.

Li Si took the box and handed it into Yang Wenhao’s hands. “I heard that Sir Yang has been collecting spiritual herbs. Coincidentally, a thousand-year wild ginseng was obtained some days ago, so I am presenting it to Sir Yang as a token of apprenticeship.”

“A thousand-year wild ginseng!” A flash of surprise crossed Yang Wenhao’s face.

He had used thousand-year wild mountain ginseng before, but its effects had been somewhat lacking. If he could refine a thousand-year wild ginseng, then he could leap directly into the second stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.

This would be of immense benefit to him. It was exactly the kind of thing he had been longing for, yet had never been able to collect. And now Li Si was actually offering this thousand-year wild ginseng to him as an apprentice gift, which left him quite astonished.

Li Si had served as prime minister of Great Qin for decades, and naturally understood people to some degree, along with the skill of reading expressions.

He caught the surprise and longing in Yang Wenhao’s eyes very clearly.

Li Si hurriedly signaled to Li Lingyun beside him.

Li Lingyun was no fool. Since it had all been arranged in advance, she raised her delicate fist and bowed before Yang Wenhao. “Your disciple, Li Lingyun, pays respects to Master.”

Seeing this, Yang Wenhao still hesitated a little. After all, taking on a disciple was not something he was eager to do.

It was not that he did not want to, but rather that his own strength was not high. Perhaps in others’ eyes, his power might already count as that of a grandmaster, but Yang Wenhao knew that sooner or later he might end up entering some world of gods and demons. With his current strength, being beaten senseless by others would not be surprising at all.

Seeing that Yang Wenhao was still wavering, Li Si signaled to Li Lingyun once more.

Li Lingyun bowed again. “Please accept your disciple’s apprenticeship gift, Master.”

“Sir Yang, please accept it,” Li Si said.

In the end, Yang Wenhao yielded. The allure of this thousand-year wild ginseng was simply too great. Most importantly, such a thing was precious and rare; even if it existed, there was no guarantee he could obtain it.

“Since this is your apprenticeship gift, then your master will accept it. Come to Water-Moon Grotto Heaven tomorrow,” Yang Wenhao said.

At this, Li Si and Li Lingyun were both overjoyed.

“Why don’t you hurry and thank Sir Yang,” Li Si said.

Li Lingyun smiled, revealing her two tiny tiger teeth, making her look especially adorable. “Yun’er thanks Master.”

“Then I shall not disturb Sir Yang any further.” Li Si cupped his hands, then left with Li Lingyun.

Looking at the wooden box in his hands, Yang Wenhao sighed. “Does this count as yielding to the powerful?”

No one answered him. The answer was probably known only to Yang Wenhao himself.

Back at Water-Moon Grotto Heaven, Yi Xiaochuan came over and grinned. “Heh, tell me, what did Li Si want with you?”

“His daughter wants to take me as her master,” Yang Wenhao said.

Yi Xiaochuan froze, then said, “You mean the little girl you had working for you before?”

“Right.” Yang Wenhao nodded.

“I can’t tell, I really thought I had a decent way with women, but I didn’t expect yours to be just as good,” Yi Xiaochuan said with a laugh. “That girl looks young, but she’s probably about your age.”

“What do you mean, about my age?” Yang Wenhao said unhappily.

“Well, she’s only a few years off at most,” Yi Xiaochuan replied. “Still, she’s clearly a fine beauty in the making. Who knows—one day she might become a peerless enchantress.”

“Even if she’s beautiful, she still can’t compare to your Yu Shu,” Yang Wenhao shot back.

That single remark left Yi Xiaochuan utterly speechless.

“I can’t talk to you. Let’s drink,” Yi Xiaochuan said, too lazy to argue further, and lifted the wine jar to pour for Yang Wenhao.

After the two drank heartily for a while, Yang Wenhao returned to his own chamber.

Once inside, he took out the thousand-year wild ginseng Li Si had given him that day.

As soon as he opened the wooden box, a rich, fragrant aroma drifted out.

A thing like ginseng is extremely demanding in where it grows, and a thousand-year wild ginseng is even more so, having absorbed no small amount of the essence of heaven and earth.

“This breakthrough to the second stage of Foundation Establishment depends on you.”

Yang Wenhao could not consume it all at once yet. As with the thousand-year wild mountain ginseng and the hundred-year fleeceflower root before, he had taken them in several portions.

If he tried to swallow it in one go, he had no desire to go courting death.

This thousand-year wild ginseng had to be divided into eighty-one portions. For ordinary people, only one portion could be taken in a day, but Yang Wenhao was no ordinary man.

He could take three portions in a single day. In that case, it would take twenty-seven days for him to fully refine the thousand-year wild ginseng. In other words, in about a month he would be able to finish refining it, and then, with the aid of other spiritual medicines, he could leap into the second stage of Foundation Establishment.

Breaking through a level in a month, and doing so consecutively, was already quite gratifying.

Moreover, refining the thousand-year wild ginseng would not leave him worried about his realm becoming unstable from advancing too quickly. That was the great merit of the ginseng itself.

That very day, Yang Wenhao divided the thousand-year wild ginseng into twenty-seven portions and took one each day.

The next day, Li Lingyun indeed came as promised to Water-Moon Grotto Heaven to look for Yang Wenhao.

Treasure noticed that Li Lingyun had come again and assumed she had returned to do free labor, only to be reprimanded without mercy by her. This also counted as settling the grudge from some time ago.

Treasure had originally wanted Yang Wenhao to stand up for him, but to his surprise, after learning of it, Yang Wenhao merely smiled and did not blame Li Lingyun at all.

Yet compared with when Li Si had been present before, Li Lingyun now seemed to have returned to normal.

The End