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nHearing Zhang Youde’s words, Chen Yiming suddenly realized that he had made a mistake in his plan.

nHe had originally planned to stay in the Mantis Snake Sword School and completely unearth the potential of the Mantis Snake Sword Technique to reach the same level as the school’s head.

nNow, if he only relied on the position of a core disciple, he would be stuck at the level of nine transformations, facing the predicament of not being able to learn the rest of the technique. Only by being recognized as a potential successor of the martial arts school could he be taught the missing parts to allow him to break through to the warrior realm. Those who displayed the potential of a genius below the level of the third transformation were similar to the high school students in his previous world. Even the top scorer of the college entrance examination was not such a big deal, and was quickly forgotten. Once he reached the level of the sixth transformation and displayed the potential of a genius, he would be like a young doctor with a certain amount of fame. He would start to attract a lot of attention.

nAs for the level of nine transformations, as long as he successfully broke through to the warrior realm, he would become a rising power. It would be similar to a famous scientist in their field of expertise in his previous world. If he was not careful, he might be assassinated by a foreign power. In the future, unless he was willing to expose himself, he had to think of ways to find a technique that could allow him to break through to the warrior realm. “What should we do?” Chen Yiming asked with interest.

nWorking with Zhang Youde did not mean he wanted to involve himself in the competition for the swordsmanship technique. Instead, the incident with the Li clan had attracted many sword masters, so Chen Yiming wanted to take the opportunity to find out his true combat strength by fighting them. “Since you’re interested, if you are free, we can go straight to the Li clan and see the situation for ourselves,” Zhang Youde suggested.

nChen Yiming nodded. Zhang Youde called the waiter to settle the bill, and the two of them set

noff.

nSoon, Zhang Youde brought Chen Yiming to the Li clan’s estate.

n“Look, that’s the Li clan’s manor,” Zhang Youde said as he pointed to a spot not far away.

nChen Yiming looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a group of two or three-story buildings.

n“Isn’t this a terrace house?” he thought to himself.

nThe manor was about ten mu wide, and the overall design was in a traditional style. Several guards were stationed at the entrance.

n“Take a look at those people over there.” Zhang Youde pointed in another direction.

nSeveral people clad in leather armor and equipped with sharp weapons were brazenly observing the situation near the Li clan.

n“The shops on the street near the manor are mostly controlled by the Li clan,” Zhang Youde explained.

nChen Yiming glanced at the shops nearby and realized that most of them were open for business. Clearly, due to the Li clan’s presence, this area could still operate normally. “What is our goal?” Chen Yiming asked quietly. “Houses, shops, companies. Do any of these hold particular interest for you?” Zhang Youde asked Chen Yiming instead of answering his question directly.

nChen Yiming fell silent as he analyzed the situation in his heart.

nHe thought for nearly a minute.

n“We should probably go for the shops. It’s best if they are in the city center,” Chen Yiming said.

nThe shops in the city center were generally not affected by any incidents unless it was serious enough to affect the entire East Lake City.

n“We might not be able to get the shops in the city center, since our actual strength is not that much. We are only making use of the reputation of the faction backing us, so I can only try my best,” Zhang Youde said seriously.

nZhang Youde then brought Chen Yiming around the manor. Chen Yiming took note of the situation nearby as he walked past each place.

n“Around 6 pm tonight, the Li clan will hold a banquet to discuss the division of assets. Do you want to join me and attend it together?” Zhang Youde asked.

nChen Yiming glanced at the time. It was almost 5 pm. “How about we meet here at 5:30 pm? I’ll go home first,” Chen Yiming suggested.

nHe planned to buy a new set of clothes first, so that he could use them when he had the chance.

n“Alright, let’s meet up at 5:30 pm. I’ll get someone to inquire about the Li clan’s businesses.” Zhang Youde nodded.

nAfter separating from Zhang Youde, Chen Yiming went home first. He told his family that he had something to do that night and asked them to have dinner without him. Then, he rushed to the central business district and bought a black suit.

nAt 6 pm, in the main hall of the manor, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and tasteful porcelain decorations were placed in every corner. The wooden flooring was made entirely from high-quality wood.

nLi Tiancheng looked at the people gathered in the courtyard with a dark expression.

nHe was the eldest son of Li Changhe, who had undergone seven transformations and recently died in an accident. He was originally the top candidate for the next clan head. Who knew that on his first day as the clan head, he would have to lose most of the clan’s businesses?

nChen Yiming and Zhang Youde were chatting quietly in a corner.

n“Junior Brother Chen, I’ve already told the Li clan about the shops that I’ve chosen. In principle, they agreed to it. The venue is near the Mantis Snake Sword School headquarters, but there are only a few of them. There are only three in total,” Zhang Youde whispered. “Three shops? That’s fine too. I have no objections,” Chen Yiming replied.

n“Why are there so many people this time? No matter how many properties the Li clan has, they can’t give them out to so many people,” Chen Yiming asked quietly.

nNearly a hundred people were in the hall. The hall, which was originally large enough to host a performance, seemed a little packed. They did not even dare to speak too loudly for fear that others would hear them.

nZhang Youde pointed at his third uncle, Zhang Ziyi, and said, “There are probably more than ten factions. Many of them brought the junior members to observe the situation. My clan is one of them.”

n“Will the Li clan be able to protect their sword technique by giving out most of their businesses?” Chen Yiming asked.

nTaking advantage of this opportunity, he wanted to learn some insider information from Zhang Youde.

n“Of course not. Giving out most of their businesses would only earn the support of over ten medium-sized martial arts clans, allowing their clan to have a stable footing among those at the level of three or five transformations.

nAs for their incomplete sword technique, the Li clan plans to hand it over to Zheng Qiming of the Zheng clan from the south of the city, in exchange for the protection of the Zheng clan,” Zhang Youde continued.

nThe Zheng clan was one of the seven big martial arts clans in East Lake City. They had an expert from the warrior realm and many others who had undergone nine transformations. Every one or two generations, new warriors would emerge to ensure the continuation of the clan.

n“In that case, they have found a backer and also determined the allocation of their businesses. There’s nothing much to see.” Chen Yiming was a little disappointed.

nHe had thought that it would be like what he read in the novels whereby a competition would first be held and the order of selecting from the businesses would be determined by the victor, until the distribution was completed.

n“The distribution of the assets has basically been settled. There might still be a good show to watch later,” Zhang Youde said as he chuckled.

n“What show?”

n“Even if the martial arts technique is incomplete, it still has a possibility of being used as a reference. There will always be some martial artists stuck in the disciple realm who are willing to make a move even if they risk offending the Zheng clan.

nYou have to know that after breaking through to the seventh or eighth transformation, one needs to consider the problem of breaking through to the warrior realm. It will be too late to spend time searching for it after the ninth transformation.” Zhang Youde informed him.

nIn the path of cultivation, there was an age limit for every realm. In the disciple realm, nine transformations would only slow down the aging and weakening of the body. If one exceeded the golden age for cultivation, there was almost no chance of breaking through to a higher realm.

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