Myriad Paths of the Dragon Emperor

The round-faced salesgirl flushed in excitement as she stuttered, “y-yes, we have Superior First Level spiritual weapons. Please give me a moment and I will retrieve them for you.”

The round-faced salesgirl dashed off to the back of the store right after she finished her sentence. She returned after a while with a few burly men bringing with them four to five spiritual weapons.

“Young Lord, these are the Superior First Level spiritual weapons. Please take a look, this one is the Aqua Fall Sword.”

The round-faced salesgirl took a long sword and unsheathed it.

The length of the sword was 1.5 meters, a fairly thin blade, with its body like a clear spring, emitting continuous puffs of water vapor.

“Good sword!” Lu Ming’s eyes sparkled.

Should there be a comparison between the Aqua Fall Sword and Lu Mei’s Light Breeze Sword, the latter would have felt like trash.

Despite that, Lu Ming shook his head since the properties of this sword did not fit his martial art techniques, and went on looking.

He browsed through a few more.

Clang!

The last one was named the Onyx Blade Sword, the body of the sword was a gleaming black, like it was made out of black jade, and there was a glimmer on both sides of the sword indicating its sharpness.

“This is it.”

There was a gleam in Lu Ming’s eyes as he asked, “shopkeeper, how much for this?”

“You have a good eye, Young Lord. This Onyx Blade Sword is a gem even within this collection of Superior First Level spiritual weapons, so I won’t give you an unreasonable price, just three thousand taels will do,” answered the round-faced salesgirl.

“Deal!” Lu Ming took out six silver notes worth five hundred taels each without hesitating and passed it to the round-faced salesgirl. It was the money taken from the Psammophic Pirates anyway, so Lu Ming did not mind at all.

At the side, Lu Bing’s face darkened. Lu Mei looked at the Light Breeze Sword she held in her hand, then glanced enviously at Lu Ming’s Onyx Blade Sword.

The round-faced salesgirl flushed with excitement. A deal worth three thousand taels of silver, how much commission would she earn?

The other salesgirls eyed the round-faced salesgirl wishfully with extreme regret in their hearts. If only they knew how loaded Lu Ming was, the round-faced salesgirl would have never stood a chance.

Wishful thinking remained wishful since it was too late. All they could do was to note to themselves to never judge a book by its cover again.

1

Lu Ming took his Onyx Blade Sword in one hand, and grabbed Qiu Yue’s hand in another. As he was passing by Lu Bing, Lu Ming looked at Lu Mei’s Light Breeze Sword and uttered, “This kind of trash is to your liking?”

When he was done, he walked out the door, guffawing as he went.

“Lu Ming!”

Lu Bing gritted his teeth so tightly his complexion became extremely distorted.

“Young Master, that was so satisfying. Lu Bing, and that Lu Mei have always looked down on us and now they have a taste of their own medicine.”

Outside of Celestial Army Pavilion, Qiu Yue chirped with excitement, waving her little fists in the air.

Lu Ming smiled. Truth to be told, he did not care about Lu Bing at all, his target was Lu Yao.

Walking along in the market, Qiu Yue took it all in with her eyes wide open.

Things sold in the market were on the expensive side, and since, throughout the years, Qiu Yue had not visited it often, it was only natural that she was very intrigued.

Lu Ming accompanied Qiu Yue for a while, then he passed Qiu Yue two hundred taels worth of silver notes saying, “Qiu Yue, use these to get some groceries and necessities. I have something I’ve got to do, so wait for me here when you’re done.”

“Young Master, what do I say if my Lady asks me where I got the money from?” asked Qiu Yue.

“Hmm, just tell mother that I found some spiritual grass outside the perimeters of the Mountain of Beasts and sold it for some money,” replied Lu Ming after giving it some thought.

Qiu Yue nodded and said, “alright then, Young Master, I’ll be on my way.”

Qiu Yue held on to the money and ran off joyfully to do some shopping.

Right after, Lu Ming found a secluded spot, changed into the black robe and bamboo hat, and went once more to the Elixir Hall.

He wanted to buy another batch of Dragon Tiger Pills, and some Health-replenishing Pills for Qiu Yue.

The one to serve him was, again, Mu Lan.

“Esteemed Guest, you’re here again?” said Mu Lan as she chuckled coyly upon the sight of Lu Ming.

“How did you know it was me? I haven’t even spoken yet,” said Lu Ming with his voice intentionally lowered.

Giggling, Mu Lan sashayed over toward Lu Ming and teased, “that’s because of your scent, I can always tell it was you by your scent.”

As she spoke, her delicate button nose sniffed the air around Lu Ming.

Heart pounding, Lu Ming was barely able to remain calm as he replied, “Hall Master Mu, I’m here today to buy Dragon Tiger Pills.”

Mu Lan gave Lu Ming a side-eye and said, “Esteemed Guest, what’s the rush, or don’t you wanna see me!”

“No, you’ve misunderstood, Hall Master Mu, I have something else I have to attend to.” Lu Ming hastily waved his hands. He really wanted to get out of here as soon as he could, since he cannot handle people like Mu Lan.

“Heh heh, alright then, how much are you looking to buy?” Mu Lan asked as she smiled alluringly.

“A hundred and twenty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills and thirty Health-replenishing Pills,” answered Lu Ming.

“What? That many?”

This time, both Mu Lan and her maidservant had the shock of their lives.

“Why? Hall Master Mu, does Elixir Hall not have that many?” Lu Ming frowned.

He needed to get more for the remaining two divine meridians, which we’re gonna be a lot harder to unlock.

Mu Lan cast a deep glance at Lu Ming, her smile reappeared and said, “we do, of course, we do. Xiao Ye, prepare the pills.”

Xiao Ye nodded and went out, and in a moment, she came back with a few boxes with her.

A hundred and twenty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills and thirty Health-replenishing Pills.

“Esteemed Guest, a hundred and twenty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills will cost thirty-two thousand four hundred taels after a ten percent discount, we’ll just take thirty-two thousand then. Additionally, the thirty Health-replenishing Pills are on the house, take them as a gift from me,” said Mu Lan.

“Thank you, Hall Master Mu.”

Lu Ming took the pills, paid, and after a cupped fist as a sign of courtesy and gratefulness, left Elixir Hall in a rush.

“My Lady, this person is so interesting! It’s only been a little more than ten days, and he’s already done with the Dragon Tiger Pills he bought the previous time? Or did he buy it for many people to use them together?”

After Lu Ming left, maidservant Xiao Ye asked curiously.

“I can’t say for sure, but I feel like his aura has gotten a lot stronger since the last time he came here, very interesting indeed. You stay here, I want to find out for myself which of Fiery City’s family’s handsome young lads that was?”

After the arrangement, Mu Lan whooshed out and was gone like the wind.

A distance from Elixir Hall, Lu Ming took off his black hat and robes in a secluded place, and kept it together with the Dragon Tiger Pills within the Supreme Shrine. He then headed to the place where he had agreed with Qiu Yue, found her, and went back together with her.

Unfortunately, they were stopped by Lu Bing and his two men in an empty alley.

Li Bing’s face was dark with emotions. He stared at Lu Ming and snarled, “you’ve finally decided to return, Lu Ming. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“W-what do you want?” Qiu Yue subconsciously hid Lu Ming behind her.

“Lu Ming, you trash,” sneered Lu Bing, “you dare humiliate me in front of so many people? You obviously don’t know what’s good for you. I’ll give you a chance. Give me all the money you have on you, kneel in front of the Lu Family Gate, and scream ‘I am trash’ three times and I’ll let you go.”

Lu Ming with a faint smile, agreed with him, “you ARE a piece of trash.”

“W-what did you just say? You dare insult me? I will change my name if I let you go without destroying your mouth,” roared Lu Bing.