Martial Saint with Passives

Jiang Che’s feelings were rather complicated.

’I never thought I’d become a prominent figure myself!’

’It seems that battle with Gu Qingxuan truly made a name for me!’

Then, he looked at the next entry.

Tenth place, Fang Muye!

’This...’

Seeing this ranking, Jiang Che couldn’t help but frown.

’This Four Seas Tower actually ranked me ahead of Fang Muye?’

’This is just too much...’

’That guy Fang Muye was already hostile toward me. Now...’

’He’ll probably hate me even more!’

However, Jiang Che wasn’t particularly scared.

He carefully recalled the duel between Fang Muye and Gu Qingxuan that day.

In an instant, he had it all figured out.

’With that kid’s strength, I’m completely confident I can beat him, even without my Transformation!’

With that, he put down the small paper, thought no more of it, and began to cultivate.

...

Meanwhile, inside the chief disciple’s residence at Liufeng Courtyard.

"SLAM!"

Fang Muye slammed the copy of the Cangzhou Wind and Cloud Chronicles in his hand onto the ground. His handsome face twisted in anger, veins bulging on his forehead, making him look utterly ferocious!

"Jiang Che!!" He squeezed the two words through his gritted teeth, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.

...

News that Jiang Che was ranked ninth on the Hidden Dragon List—placing him above Fang Muye after having only narrowly lost to Gu Qingxuan—quickly spread throughout Cangzhou Prefecture with the publication of the small paper.

For a time, everyone from the Jianghu Sects and Noble and Wealthy Families to even the major merchants was discussing this young genius who had burst onto the scene.

The great merchants in the city, in particular, tried everything they could, sending people to his door with lavish gifts in the hope of hiring Jiang Che as their own Tributor.

Once again, Jiang Che’s doorstep became as crowded as a marketplace.

However, Jiang Che politely declined every one of the merchants’ invitations.

He had abundant resources now and saw no need to divert his energy to such mundane affairs.

Unable to secure his services, those merchants started asking around and discovered that the only business for which Jiang Che served as a Tributor was a place called "Yin’s Cloth Shop."

And so, these people set their sights on Yin’s Cloth Shop.

...

Cangzhou Prefecture, the Upper City.

Inside a spacious, yet somewhat dated, courtyard residence.

A middle-aged man with small eyes and a chubby face was staring at the Cangzhou Wind and Cloud Chronicles in his hands, his expression one of utter panic.

His lips trembled as he muttered to himself:

"Ninth on the Hidden Dragon List... It’s over... It’s all over now!"

Just then, a woman of about thirty walked out from an inner room. She was dressed in silks and satins, adorned with dazzling jewels, yet her features were sharp and had a slightly mean cast.

She asked impatiently, "Shichang, what are you muttering about now?"

These two were none other than Yin Yingying’s cousin, Wang Xiufen, and her husband, Zhu Shichang.

Looking as if he’d seen a ghost, Zhu Shichang grabbed his wife’s hand, his voice cracking. "Xiufen, do you remember that Tributor your uncle’s family hired? That kid named Jiang Che?"

"I remember. What about him?" Of course Wang Xiufen remembered.

Just thinking about that day at the Yin Family, how she and her husband had so confidently belittled Jiang Che, only to be brutally proven wrong by the fact that he’d returned successful from a single-handed rescue, made her face burn with shame. It was utterly mortifying.

Zhu Shichang handed her the small paper, his voice trembling. "You... you see for yourself. This Jiang Che... he made it onto Cangzhou Prefecture’s Hidden Dragon List. Ranked ninth..."

"The Hidden Dragon List? What’s that?" Wang Xiufen asked in confusion as she took the paper.

Once she saw his name and rank on the list, along with the detailed description of how he had narrowly lost to Gu Qingxuan at the Cloud Tier Inquiry Conference, the paper slipped from her hand and fluttered to the ground.

"We’re doomed!"

The color drained from her face in an instant as she let out a piercing shriek. "Th-this is impossible! How could he be that powerful?!"

"Shichang, what do we do? What do we do now?" Wang Xiufen was in a complete panic. "Never mind us—even your entire Zhu Family is nothing in the face of a person like him! If he decides to hold a grudge against us..."

"What else can we do?!" Zhu Shichang gritted his teeth, his expression a mixture of pained reluctance and grim resolve. "Go! Immediately! Go beg your uncle! Ask him to put in a good word for us with Jiang Che, for family’s sake! Otherwise, we’re both doomed!"

"But... I can’t do that! It would be so humiliating..."

"Humiliating?!" Zhu Shichang suddenly raised his voice. "What’s more important, your face or your life?!"

...

Meanwhile, in the Upper City, at the Zhu Family compound.

As one of the Eight Families of the Upper City, second only to the three great Noble Families, the Zhu Family residence was extraordinarily grand.

The Patriarch, Zhu Yongrui, was currently beaming as he received a visitor: Boss Liu, a rice merchant with considerable influence throughout Cangzhou Prefecture.

This Boss Liu, like many other wealthy merchants in the city, wanted to hire Jiang Che as a Tributor but lamented his lack of an entryway.

After learning that Yin’s Cloth Shop—the only business for which Jiang Che served as a Tributor—was refusing all visitors, he began asking around. Through various inquiries, he discovered the tenuous family connection between the Yin Family and the Zhu Family, and so he had come knocking.

"Patriarch Zhu," Boss Liu said with a smile, clasping his hands. "I hear a young man of your esteemed household is married to the niece of Boss Yin from Yin’s Cloth Shop? I wonder if you could perhaps help build a bridge, to make an introduction?"

Upon hearing this, an idea sparked in Zhu Yongrui’s mind, and his smile grew even wider. "Oh? Boss Liu must be speaking of Zhu Shichang’s wife, Wang Xiufen, correct? That is indeed the case! There’s no time to lose. I’ll take you to find Shichang right away!"

Although Zhu Shichang was merely from a side branch of the family, Zhu Yongrui naturally wouldn’t expose this fact to an outsider.

Soon, Zhu Yongrui led Boss Liu to Zhu Shichang’s courtyard residence.

At that very moment, Zhu Shichang and his wife were preparing to go to the Yin Family to offer a humble apology.