Chapter 8 Third-class Master

Chapter 8 – Third-class Master

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As Li Mu’s glare stayed on Huang Wei, even he felt a bit faint of heart.

He had never seen such a county magistrate before. Not only were his words vulgar but his manner was completely overbearing.

“Good, very good. My Lord, you indeed have the majesty of a great official. Haha, I will remember this. But, My Lord, this is Alabaster County and I’m afraid that you might not be able to keep your promise, haha…” As Huang Wei regained his composure he no longer disguised his emotions. He coldly smiled and said tauntingly, “I will pass on Lord’s words to my master and not omit a single one. I hope that in the future, Lord will remember the words that you have spoken, hehe…then, I shall bid my farewells.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

After taking two steps, Huang Wei felt that he hadn’t spoken his fill. He turned his head and said with a contemptuous smirk, “Allow me to give Lord a piece of advice. Lord has just arrived at Alabaster County so it's possible that you don’t know just how deeply ingrained our Divine Herb Hall is in the county. You should do your best to find out as much information as you can in the next three days, otherwise I fear that Lord won’t even have time to regret.”

Then, Huang Wei swaggered away.

The little shopkeeper actually dared to be so arrogant in the court room of the County Administrative Hall. From this one could see just how rampant and domineering this Divine Herb Hall and the Divine Orchard Gang behind them must be in the wider Alabaster County City.

Li Mu stared at Huang Wei’s back. He had several moments where he wanted to run up and slap that Huang Wei’s mouth rotten, but he finally endured it.

He knew that after taking office he had secluded himself in the county hall for 20 some days, and because of this he had been regarded as some soft fruit.

How could he let this be?

It seemed he really needed to expose his fangs.

He had to find a chance to let these natives of an alien planet experience just how warm the regards from Earth could be.

But now was not the time to worry about this. Three days from now, he would deal with them altogether.

But before then, there were some matters that Li Mu needed to clarify.

“Men, bring Zheng Li and Kin’er to the medical hall to recover.”

The woman and her daughter were helped up by the county guards.

“Rest assured. After three days, I will give you due justice.” Li Mu comforted the widow and child.

Zhang Li and Little Kin left as they uttered words of thanks.

In the darkest times of their lives as they drowned in despair, they finally saw a glimmer of hope and justice.

“In today’s court session, how come there were only you six here?” Li Mu returned to his official seat and looked at the four remaining county guards. He had thought it was a bit strange when he first walked in. When he previously spoke with Qing Feng about various things he had learned that there should be around a hundred county guards in the County Administrative Hall, so how come there were only six people here today? Where was everyone else?

“Uh, that is...”

“This…”

The four county guards hesitated.

“You speak.” Li Mu pointed towards the county guard that first spoke. “What is your name?”

This county guard was very young; he looked to be around 20 years of age. He was tall and built like a rock with sharp and strong features. As Li Mu pointed a figure at him his complexion suddenly changed. His voice faltered, “This subordinate’s name is Zhang Ru…the other people have likely…all been sent out…I’m not too sure about the reason either…”

From the man’s reaction alone, Li Mu could tell that the truth absolutely wasn’t so simple.

However, thinking about it some more, he waved his hand in response, indicating for everyone to leave.

There wasn’t much information he could obtain from these small county guards.

These county guards seemed as if they were all granted pardons from death. They immediately retreated.

“Young Master, someone is trying to undermine you and ruin your foundation.” The little girl attendant Ming Yue indignantly muttered.

At this time, the young attendant Qing Feng finished recording Li Mu’s first court case. He laid down his brush and stood up, worry in his voice and on his face, “Ming Yue is right for once. The atmosphere has been strange in the administrative center these past several days…”

Ming Yue was happy for a moment, her large eyes smiling until they turned to crescents. But then, she realized the meaning behind Qing Feng’s words and her ears began to twitch. She looked at Qing Feng, “For once? Then, are you saying I was wrong before?”

Qing Feng, “…”

“It just occurred to me that I have yet to wash Young Master’s underwear. I should head back to do the laundry first…” Qing Feng turned and left.

Ming Yue jumped up. “Hey, don’t leave, tell me what you meant first!”

Li Mu rubbed his forehead.

Just where did the Li Mu that fell off the cliff find these two ridiculous attendants?

This was the first time that Li Mu had held court, but he didn’t feel good upon finishing it. He didn’t feel any of the joy he thought he would from playing the part.

The main reason was that after Li Mu thought about matters a bit more earnestly, he decided that he needed to take more initiative to integrate himself into this world. At the very least, he should brush ways with the martial arts world or even collide with it. Although the old conman had said that his safety should come first, there was no such thing as absolute safety on the road of martial arts.

It was impossible for a skilled sailor to be born on the surface of calm lakes. Only by sailing through wild storms could a true captain be forged.

Li Mu needed his martial arts cultivation to reach a degree at which he could break out of this planet’s shackles within 20 years.

To do that, he needed to fight.

As he thought through all these things, his thoughts became far clearer.

He returned to the back county hall and continued to train.

…………

Early the next day, Li Mu summoned county guard Chief Captain Ma Junmo to better understand some things.

“Greetings, My Lord.”

Ma Junmo was a tall and burly man with a trimmed beard and a square face. He wore flexible black armor and a circular red guard hat. A heavy saber hung in a sheath at his waist and he exuded an obvious strength and momentum. As one of the three county heads of Alabaster County, he was clearly considerably powerful. At the very least, Li Mu felt that this person was a little stronger than the leader of those six Bloodmoon Gang warriors that had tried to kill him when he first arrived.

“Chief Captain Ma, there is no need to be so polite. Please, sit.” Li Mu gestured towards a chair to the side. He asked, “The reason I asked Chief Captain Ma to come here today is because there are some matters related to the martial world that I wish to consult you about.”

“Matters of the martial world?” Ma Junmo was startled. This young county magistrate had been evading him for a period of time already and had finally called him in for an audience, but instead of speaking about county matters, he wanted to ask about the martial arts world?

Li Mu nodded. “I hear Chief Captain Ma also comes from a faction background?”

Ma Junmo was a martial artist and had a stoic and quiet personality. He said, “I come from the Alabaster Faction.”

“Alabaster Faction?”

“Yes, they are located in the Alabaster Mountains. Among the hundreds and thousands of sects in the empire, the Alabaster Faction is ranked 99th. Even in the entire continent, they are a ninth-grade sect. 10 years ago I was lucky enough to obtain the guidance of an outer court Elder of the Alabaster Faction. I was received as his secret disciple and taught all the martial arts I now know.” Ma Junmo honestly said.

In fact, the reason that he was able to become the county guard chief captain of Alabaster County was not only because he received the recognition of the previous county magistrate but also because he had the status of an outer court disciple of the Alabaster Faction. In the surrounding several thousands of miles, the Alabaster Faction was extremely famous and they had a deep impact on the area.

“Ninth-grade sect?” Li Mu muttered, thoughtful. “Sects are also divided into grades?”

Ma Junmo thought that this young county magistrate had devoted all of his time to studying scholarly texts and thus didn’t know even the most general knowledge of the martial arts world. He nodded, replying, “Yes, the three great empires and nine divine sects rule the world together. But outside the nine divine sects, there are also tens of thousands of large and small ones that litter the land. Thousands of years ago, there was once an ancient sage who divided up the continent and brought about order. Sects cannot directly rule the secular world and they also need to be graded. Once graded, sects receive special privileges to stand above the secular world and the disciples of these sects are also not completely bound by secular laws either…”

Li Mu didn’t speak. He calmly listened to Ma Junmo’s explanation.

He understood that this world was in fact not the same as ancient Earth.

In this world, martial arts strength could be used to control countries and decide their destiny. There were tens of thousands of sects and they were omnipresent through the world, seeping into every nook and cranny of the world.

The three great empires of the continent were Western Qin, Northern Song, and Southern Chu. These three empires ruled side by side, dominating the common secular world. But, many of those officials, ministers, and military officers all had sect backgrounds. Even many of the royal family members of the three great empires possessed long legacies of martial arts inheritances.

“The nine great divine sects, what are they?”

“Lord doesn’t know of them?” Ma Junmo was surprised. Beneath the vast canopy of heaven, it was excusable if one didn’t know the names of the emperors of the three great empires. But, to not know of the nine great divine sects that had ruled the world for thousands of years, that was actually strange.

Li Mu said in all seriousness, “Yes. Well, it’s like this. I fell down a cliff a while ago and hit my head.”

Ma Junmo was skeptical of this reasoning but he still replied, “The nine great sects are Hidden Flower Temple, Bluestate Mountain’s Bluestate Dao Palace, Divine Solar Hall, Heavenly Monster Mansion, Knowledge Academy, Graymark School, the Great Prairie Primal Wolf Divine Palace, Deep South Vast River, as well as my Western Qin Empire’s destiny-stabilizing sect, Sealed Mountain Meadow.”

Li Mu nodded. Afraid that he would arouse Ma Junmo’s suspicions, he decided not to ask for further details. He changed the topic, saying, “I am just a scholar so I don’t have much understanding of the realms of martial arts cultivation. Chief Captain Ma, what boundaries is martial arts divided into? Do martial artists of different strengths have different titles?”

This time, Ma Junmo wasn’t suspicious. He patiently explained, “Martial arts cultivation is indeed separated into different boundaries. When an ordinary, strong and healthy individual trains in some cultivation methods they can increase their strength and augment their blood vitality. They would be slightly stronger than the average person. When combined with some commonly known martial arts, such a person could defeat several other ordinary unarmed people. Once they achieve a thousand jins of strength, this would be called the Strength Unity realm. In the martial arts world, this is a beginning-level master. Beyond that, if they manage to successfully open their inner energy and take control of their inner energy, then that would be the Energy Unity realm. This could be called a third-class master. And further beyond that, if one can fuse their strength and energy together, this is called the Concept Unity realm. That is a second-class master of the martial arts world…”

Upon reaching here, Ma Junmo no longer continued speaking.

Li Mu listened with relish. Hearing Ma Junmo stop, he immediately asked, “and what is above Concept Unity? What boundary is there? What type of powerhouse would be considered a first-class master?”

Ma Junmo forced a smile. “This subordinate’s martial talent is slow and lacking. In the past, what my master taught me was only some basic foundation techniques. As for what realms lay above the Concept Unity realm, I don’t really have much understanding into them. And as for a genuine first-class master, besides my master from the past, I fear there is not one in Alabaster County City. At the very least, I have never seen one before.”

“Which boundary is Chief Captain Ma in?” Li Mu asked.

Ma Junmo didn’t conceal anything. “This subordinate’s martial talent isn’t amazing at all. After diligently training for 10 years, I have only entered the Energy Unity realm.”

“Wow, that’s very strong.” Li Mu commented, his words not matching with his thoughts.

He nodded thoughtfully.

The pressure and feeling that Ma Junmo gave off weren’t particularly strong. Li Mu was confident he could wound him with a single punch.

In other words, his current combat strength was stronger than that of an Energy Unity realm martial artist. He could be considered a third-class master.

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