I Can See Your Combat Power

I can’t be bothered to consider Fang Han’s petty schemes, they are nothing more than childish tricks.

Yet, I have to admire the Tang Clan’s injury medicine, it’s so potent it puts others in a league of its own. A deep knife wound like Fang Han’s, which was bone-deep, was already scarring and healing after only one day. He could already get out of bed and move around.

And the first thing he did when he could get out of bed was to practice

cultivating.

This confirmed Tang Luo’s suspicion that Fang Han was staging his own drama

just to stay in the Martial Hall.

How foolish, Tang Luo thought to himself, looking at Fang Han with a calm expression.

His priority now was to open the Star Pavilion. As for Fang Han’s petty schemes, he could let him be.

Having made up his mind, Tang Luo decided Fang Han was not someone he could entrust important matters to.

The reconstructed shop was finally completed, unveiling its mystery to the people of Xiling.

A new building rose from the ground. The main structure was 17 meters tall with a 4-meter high base symbolizing the ancient city walls, divided into two levels.

There were thirty-six steps leading up to the base, corresponding to the thirty-six heavenly stars.

Above the base, the main pavilion followed the “two above, five hidden formula. From the outside, it looked like a two-story building with a corridor, but the inside had five levels, comprising two obvious levels and three hidden ones. There were seventy-two cultivation chambers inside.

All the tiles of the new building were made of blue glazed tiles. The roof ridge decoration was specially made and stood 1.5 meters high. The eaves tiles and drip tiles were also custom-made. The eaves tiles bore the words “Infinite Starry Sky”, while the drip tiles featured a “bright moon” pattern.

At the highest point of the main pavilion hung a black-based, gold-edged plaque with the words “Star Pavilion”, written in a style that unfurled like a drifting cloud and sprang like a startled dragon. It was personally inscribed by Xiling’s renowned Mr. Huang Ting.

After forty days, the Star Pavilion was finally finished, bringing the pinnacle of martial arts within reach.

Tang Luo stood by the railings on the second floor, taking in the view of the distant clouds. He stretched out his hand and clenched his fist in determination.

Next up, it was the manager Hua’s turn to show the people of Xiling how the

Star Pavilion operated.

Downstairs, amidst the bustling lion and dragon dances and jubilant firecracker explosions – the most basic practice for every grand opening – was a crowd that filled the whole street.

Above the base of the platform were the staff of the Star Pavilion.

Aji stood with a wide grin on his face, looking at the crowd. He was wearing a long gown woven from golden silk, which exuded a sense of wealth and grandeur.

Tu Tong stood next to Aji, clad in a suit of armor, his fierce demeanor in plain view, unmasked by the armor. His scarred face gave him a menacing look that few dared to meet.

Several lads stood behind them, holding stacks of leaflets.

The crowd across the base of the Star Pavilion had grown to a thousand or more, and Tang Luo, from his view on the second floor, noted that more people were still joining from afar.

After a while, the lion and dragon dances ended, and the firecrackers had gone quiet, leaving only a ground of red bits from the firecracker wrappings.

Judging the time to be right, Aji cleared his throat and began to speak, “Dear fellow townsmen!”

“I am Hua, in charge of the Star Pavilion. Today is the day we officially open on

Linfu Street.”

“From now on, the Pavilion and all of you are neighbors.”

“I hope you will not hesitate to give your advice.”

“Besides, many of you may not yet know what business we deal in. I’ve prepared some leaflets to better inform you all.”

With a clap of his hand, the lads holding leaflets began to descend the steps, handing out the leaflets to the crowd.

As the white papers, each carrying printed messages, were distributed, the recipients could hardly believe their eyes.

If the words were to be believed, all this grandeur of the Star Pavilion was actually a charity organization?

The leaflets read, “Star Pavilion is offering numerous positions. Applicants should be at least from the Mortal Realm. Daily wage: ten gold coins. Limited positions, first come first served.”

People given the leaflets looked at each other in disbelief, unable to believe that they were in a situation akin to pies falling from the sky.

With a wage of ten gold a day, that would amount to three hundred gold a month.

The requirement was simply to be above the Mortal Realm. It was as good as there being no requirement at all.

Even the most foolish person, if they are able to surpass the Foundation Building stages and reach the Mortal Realm, it is almost inevitable. Considering a bustling diverse location like the West City, out of every ten adults above the age of twenty, at least five or six would have reached the

Mortal Realm.

Everyone on the continent practiced martial arts. Even though some ordinary people only practiced cultivation methods and not martial techniques, their fighting capability was even lower than that of a well-trained commoner. However, the actual cultivation was concrete, and the flyer did not specify the need for martial techniques.

Such a warrior could only find work with similar treatments as ordinary people with an income of about twenty to thirty gold per month. The opportunity at hand, ten gold a day, even if it only lasted for two days, was worth a month’s income.

After all, not everyone was gifted in combat. Many people practiced cultivation solely for keeping their bodies healthy and avoiding injuries and sickness. Thus, faced with such a job opportunity, the ordinary people became excited. The earliest few young men who obtained the flyer had already stepped onto the stairs of the Star Pavilion.

“Master Hua, Master Hua, I want to apply.”

“Master Hua, how many openings are there?”

People whose hearts were stirred crowded in front of Hua Ji with obsequious smiles on their faces, trying to win his favor as they inquired.

After asking a few questions, Hua Ji picked three people from the crowd in front of him.

He then loudly announced to the still-observant crowd: “Today’s selections for the Star Pavilion have been made. The pavilion will open tomorrow at nine a.m., so please be early.”

With that, he led the three inside the main pavilion. Those who were not chosen wanted to question why, but the fierce look from Tu Tong who was standing nearby, silenced them.

The opening of the pavilion was done hurriedly, and its closing was inexplicably abrupt too.

As the big door of the Star Pavilion gradually closed, the new building of the

Star Pavilion remained an enigma to people.

-What kind of shop is this?” Wu Qi, the owner of the Cuiyun Building, was utterly confused. The other shopkeepers beside him also shook their heads indicating their lack of understanding about this place.

Hua Ji led the three of them into the main pavilion, seeing it was lavishly decorated with a splendid main hall. Looking up, they saw an arched caisson ceiling decorated at the top. The entire Star Pavilion was surprisingly open in the center, and from the second floor, one could see several rooms with number plates hanging at the doors.

The plaques on the doors were marked with names such as Earth Bravery, Earth Evil, Earth Hero, among others, named after the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends.

It was richly decorated and filled with an air of nobility. The three young men felt fear, their fists clenched, unsure where to place their hands.

“Don’t be nervous.” Hua Ji comforted them.

“A boy will take you to change clothes later.”

“Then, he will guide you into the cultivation chamber. You will then perform thirty-six cycles of cultivation with the items in the chamber and immediately guide the absorbed spiritual energy into these items.”

“Do you understand?”

The three of them paid careful attention, and immediately replied:

“Understood, Manager Hua.”

“Hmm, very good.” Hua Ji nodded, and then said: “Come, you three come and register first.”

“LU Yuanlong is it? You will go to the number one Earth Bravery room later.”

“Bi Pengcheng, you will go to the second Earth Evil room.”

“Qiu Weibo, you will go to the number three Earth Hero room.”

As Hua Ji allocated the rooms, each of them was brought to the changing rooms by the boy in turn.

In the dome of the Star Pavilion, there was a dark room, a cultivation room prepared by Tang Luo for himself, named “Gou Chen”.

Which means, to preside over the stars and managing the secular conflicts. Tang Luo sat cross-legged in the meditation room, his heart filled with satisfaction which made him want to bellow in delight.

He converted 897 of his 1084.6 spiritual points into three “star sons” and placed them in the Earth Bravery, Earth Evil, Earth Hero rooms.

This was the real reason why the Star Pavilion needed three people a day. After these three people had completed thirty-six cycles of cultivation, they would bring Tang Luo a daily profit of exactly nine units of spiritual energy.

By cultivating himself, Tang Luo could have an income of six spiritual power points a day. In this way, he would have a daily increase of fifteen spiritual power points, not even counting the 2.1 he would get from Fang Han, meaning he could condense a Mortal Star every fifteen days.

He could now condense nine Mortal Stars, and three Transcendent Mortal Stars This means when he has condensed all nine stars, the daily income of spiritual power from the Mortal Stars would exceed 27 points, even without his own cultivation.

If he himself cultivated, he would have thirty-three points a day.

What’s the concept of this? It meant that the amount of spiritual energy Tang Luo could condense in a year was over ten thousand points. Only three years were needed for him to become a top-notch expert in the Fierce Realm.

“Forgive me for being blunt, the people here are all trash!” Tang Luo’s eyes were full of contempt.

The peak of martial arts now seemed to him to be a smooth and easy path. From this day forward, he was the master of the Star Pavilion!