章 79: Infiltration (1)
"Success! Success again! Yes!"
"This is great. If from today onwards I can upgrade my stuff into my current limit, +13, won't that be great?" Zhang Wu Ji looked at the stack of treasures confidently without bothering about the Ashes of Failure all around him.
Including his own Longfeng Jade Ruler, Manuals, and Pills, Zhang Wu Ji destroyed almost all precious treasures in his hand to contain his excitement in upgrading them. Of course, his rate of success was too far away from calling it as confident. But the failure did not leave a burden in his mind, but instead, they become an obsession.
Then, it was a lucky thing his Grain of Sapphire did not end up as a sacrificial tribute for his failure, if not, wonder when will his mind calm down.
Again and again, he upgraded them without any hint of worries. The destruction of his wealth can be said as outrageous. At this moment, Zhang Wu Ji can be declared as broke. But then, among the Ashes of Failures he made, one managed to pass.
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Rumor of Four Phases +10
-Ability Acquired: Allow the user to combine four books of different phases to create one better quality book.
-Limitation: Top-Grade Tier 1 Manual only.
-Durability: 17/17
-Special (+5): Manual results from the combination will be enhanced by 15%. If Top-Grade Manual is created, increase 10% more.
-Special (+10): Phase-Less Manual can be set with one when paid with Inner Qi. Rates are (5,000-Shao Yang/Shao Yin) and (25,000-Tai Yang/Tai Yin)
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"The upgrade completely changed the item description and quality! Does this mean that from now onwards, all my effort will upgrade the treasure's quality drastically?" Zhang Wu Ji wishes he can immediately obtain the answer straight away instead of guessing. After all, guessing is his worst trait that should not even be mentioned.
As he suddenly went out, his attendants waiting outside was shocked by his appearance. Although he wasn't supposed to be clean in the first place, his feature filled with filthy dust and ashes aren't something great to look at. His appearance puzzled all eight attendants at that moment.
"How can Master Senior cover by so many ashes? Did he burn something inside the room?" everything thinks about the same point at that moment. As the attentive twins among the eight attendants, Zhao Xiao Hua with Liu Yanni quickly went to prepare some water for their master's bath and left the matter of cleaning the room to the others.
"Master, leave the matter of cleaning the room to us." the recovered Tang Yuan, Bai Hei Tie, and Zhang Ya Pin went inside the room to begin their cleaning process. This left Li Jing, Li Yin, and Li Tong outside awaiting for Zhang Wu Ji's next instruction.
"Li Jing, what is the financial situation of our Seven Star Apprentice Hall?" Zhang Wu Ji questioned the eldest of the three Li brothers.
"Reporting to Master, our financial situation is in a very stable condition. From the recent report, we have a total of 1.2 Million Qi Sensing Pills in our stash available for investment or spendings." Li Jing reported the number of profits alone that were kept inside of the Apprentice Hall's Treasure Vault.
"Good. Use the excess money to purchase as many books as you can. I want you to collect books of every kind, range varies from profession or cultivation. Don't bother with their quality, what I want is quantity, understand?" Zhang Wu Ji gave Li Jing an instruction to follow. With a wave of his hand, he passed a Qiyue Flying Sword for the disciple to complete his task.
"Li Yin, you will visit the Miner's Villages on my behalf and procure as many raw materials you could. Like usual, quantity is more important than quality, so bring back as much as you can." he passed another Qiyue Flying Sword at Li Yin the moment he finishes with his instruction.
"Li Tong, order the production for Xuan Paper to increase. I will have an increase in demand for the Double Xuan Papers. And also, bring all the firestones into my room. Plus, bring... Anyway, increase all the production in our Apprentice Hall!" he finishes his instruction and activates his own Qiyue Flying Sword to travel somewhere.
"Third brother, your luck is better than the two of us..." the other two teased their youngest brother before leaving the small courtyard. When the two girls took the water back, they found out that their master left the Apprentice Hall.
"As usual, he's busy until he can stay still for a short while. Tell the people from the Construction Department to build another water irrigation channel outside of our master's bedroom. Arrange them to construct a hot water bath for our master that ready anytime he wanted." Zhao Xiao Hua instructed Liu Yanni to deliver the message.
And before the night comes, hundreds constructor came with tools and building materials to start their renovation progress. The previously two-room structure with a small garden outside quickly received their makeover into a proper Courtyard suitable for the Master Senior's accommodation.
In their mind, everyone was thinking something similar as they renovate the whole place.
"How can the Founder of Apprentice Hall lived in such a pitiful accommodation!"
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After leaving the vicinity of the Wen Wu City, Zhang Wu Ji activates the Iron Kong-Que and fly past the Orchid Mountain. When he saw the much more bustling road filled with different caravans and wagons with several items for trade, Zhang Wu Ji know that he'd arrived at the Wen Qing City.
"So, let us see, what is so good related to the Wen Qing City which was said to be excellent in their production in Medicine, Pill, and Textile. I hope I can see lots of new stuff here and not be disappointed by the capability of the Wen Qing City Lord." he entered the city from above the sky.
Without paying an entrance fee nor registering himself with the guards in the entrance, Zhang Wu Ji is literally an unregistered immigrant inside of this city. He explores their streets crowded with merchants and private shoppers while impressed by the quality of the item they sold.
"Not bad. If one of the Apprentice Hall's sub-office is established here, I'm sure we're going to get rich because of their purchasing power. Let's see, what kind of good pills you guys got there..." Zhang Wu Ji considered the move of establishing another Apprentice Hall here. He went into another store with many pills in their table for a look.
He scrolled across most of the available selections of the pills before preparing to leave. When one of the shop's attendant saw his attitude, he stopped Zhang Wu Ji from going. By surrounding the customer with a group of 1 staff and 5 guards, they suspected Zhang Wu Ji to appear here for the sake of causing them trouble.
"This friend. I am just scrolling the pills and found nothing that I fancy. Is that not allowed?" Zhang Wu Ji expressed his intention to only window shop and not looking for trouble. And this is especially important, based on his fame at this crucial period of time.
"You don't seem like somebody with knowledge of pills. Are you one of the bandits that are trying to keep a check on our valuables so you can strike us at night?" the staff tries to pull Zhang Wu Ji deeper into the hole of blame he dug intentionally.
"Oh? It seems that proficiency in pills can be discerned from a look. If in that case, you don't resemble a proper worker either. Are you one of the bandits that try to check the store's operational steps before you guys spent less time to rob at night?" Zhang Wu Ji turned the blame around and pointed back on the staff.
"How dare you accuse me! I am one of the ten staffs that work the longest inside this Qingxue Pill Pavilion! Who in this Wen Qing City do not know my identity, Tang Bo?" he announced his name and also background loudly to challenge Zhang Wu Ji.
"Who are you? Explain yourself." Tang Bo pointed at Zhang Wu Ji's face as he questioned the background of the youth before him. The situation soon grab the attention from the public and shoppers inside of the store, making everybody staring at them.
"I am Zhang Wu Ji, Master Senior Ninth of Seven Star Sect and also the founder of Apprentice Hall in Wen Wu City," with the Apprentice Hall Founder Plate and Master Senior Ninth Plate in hand, he answered the question flawlessly.
The crowd becomes silenced when Zhang Wu Ji took the two piece of engraved plates for the staff to inspect. Furthermore, the owner of the store immediately came down from the second floor's staircase to greet the Master Senior standing before Tang Bo.
"F*ck Off!" a slap came from the owner and sent Tang Bo aside to kiss the ground. Coming closer to Zhang Wu Ji and inspect the two nameplates to confirm their authenticity, he greets the Master Senior immediately after he identified the two nameplates.
"Hehehe, Master Senior Ninth, how can you not make an announcement of your arrival? If this old man knows you're coming for a visit, I will definitely prepare a private room for you to inspect our merchandise. Would Master Senior mind give this humble store one more chance to redeem himself from all these mistakes?" the owner quickly bowed. For the sake of not leaving his store with a poor impression, he convinced Zhang Wu Ji to give his store another chance.
Instead of leaving without a word, Zhang Wu Ji decided to look further. With the relationship between the Wen Wu, Wen Qing, and Wen Yang City, it was exposed that Wen Qing City is secretly funding the Lan Shan Clan to supports the Orchid Bandits. Which means, based on this reason alone, a direct subjugation of the city without prior warning is not unacceptable.
But still, Zhang Wu Ji wanted to know more about this matter to prevent bloodshed. It might be necessary for them to reclaim the ownership of Wen Qing City, but not through a battle between themselves as the residents of Seven Star County.
"Master Senior, please take a look at all these High-Quality Pills, we spent many efforts to procure the best quality medicinal plants to concoct them." the owner opened the private table he used to store his own medicinal pills and wind the mechanical wheel to deploy the table into a taller inspection counter.
"The effort to forge these pills must be unimaginable." Zhang Wu Ji praised the owner of the Qingxue Pill Pavilion for his collection of eight different type of pills. Each of them is stored in a proper Jade Box along with an extremely precious piece of textile believed to preserve and enhance the medicinal properties of the pill further.
[Malachite Armor Pill x 2]
[Nutrition Pill x 20]
[Purple Majestic Pill x 2]
[Taixia Pill x 20]
[Yantai Pill x 20]
[Scarlet Dissection Pill x 10]
[Qi Accumulating Pill x 50]
[Bee Nectar Pill x 10]
"Good pills. Although not all of them is at their best quality, their standard exceeds most of their competitors if I compared this collection against the others." Zhang Wu Ji praised the owner of Qingxue Pill Pavilion for obtaining these precious pills in his list of sellable items.
"Owner, can this junior ask you something?" Zhang Wu Ji initiated a conversation in the middle of inspecting the Medicinal Pills.
"Master Senior, please ask. If this old man can answer your questions, I will make sure to help as much as I can." the owner answered his question, but in that moment of speech, Zhang Wu Ji noticed some discomfort in between of his reply. He caught the appearance of three suspicious individuals soon and waited for them.
"Master Senior Zhang?" one of the three individuals tried to confirm his identity once more. The remaining two individuals blocked the exit from the two windows, afraid that Zhang Wu Ji may escape.
"Yes, I am. Since you know my name, why bother to block the routes for me to escape? If I really wanted to get out from here, I'm afraid with the three of you, it is impossible to stop me," Zhang Wu Ji questioned them as he answered the question. As he finishes his words, he raised his hand casually and pressed his hand on the owner's shoulder.
"Owner, I will come back to purchase the pill from you. Do you mind answering my question first?" Zhang Wu Ji calmly said as he gave out a smile. Ignoring the three cautious individuals, Zhang Wu Ji stares straight on the Owner of Qingxue Pill Pavilion and wait for his reply.
"Ye... Yes!" he replied.
"Do you know about the Golden Wolf Syndicate existence?" Zhang Wu Ji starts to read his question out. When the Owner of Qingxue Pill Pavilion heard his question, sweat in the size of a bead flows down from his forehead. His palm turns wet, and his heart becomes much more nervous.
"I... I... Know about them... Master Senior, please expect no answer from this old man as he still has two wives, six kids, and hundred and thirty-two attendants to feed. This old man is ashamed of his inability to answer the question..." the owner of Qingxue Pavilion kneeled and lowered his head.
"That's fine. The owner, please do not feel too bad about it. I wonder can these three brothers relay my word to the Golden Wolf Syndicate? Tell them, the Wen Wu City will soon swallow the Wen Qing City, and if the members of the Golden Wolf Syndicate aren't willing to surrender, then please expect blood to flow." Zhang Wu Ji smiled as he speaks the word he wanted them to hear.
Taking a few steps closer to the one taking guard on the staircase, Zhang Wu Ji delivered a palm attack on the mysterious individual, causing him to dodge the attack immediately. But in that instant, Zhang Wu Ji vanished from their sight and escaped.
"Capture him!" loud bellows echoes through the staircase into the lower floor, where another three mysterious individuals quickly tried to search for the Master Senior. But one side charging into the Qingxue Pill Pavilion and another hurrying down the staircase, both side caught nothing related to Zhang Wu Ji.
"Where did he goes? Did you three caught anything?" the person that talked with Zhang Wu Ji earlier lost his temper and started to shout at the other five individuals. As none of them managed to capture the target, they're forced to return empty-handed. What they did not realize is tailing them behind is the Master Senior Ninth they're looking for.
After making a few turns around the maze-like paths, Zhang Wu Ji and the others reach a study twin door that was guarded by six guards at both left and right of the door. Paying his attention to how they open the door, Zhang Wu Ji deduces that no traps are hidden around the doors, which means it is safe for him to go inside while in stealth mode.
As he maintained his stealth status, Zhang Wu Ji hiddenly steals the weapon of the guards to cause a small disturbance. Seeing all the weaponry are made by the Golden Wolf Syndicate, Zhang Wu Ji's suspicion on their overall strength is much more different from how they look is accurately on the point.
"Hey, where are your weapons! You, You, all of you!" the one that seems to be the leader of the guards lectured the others for not having their weapons in their waist, but when all of them pointed at him as well, their face turned dark.
"Where did all our weapon go?" everybody is asking the same question at this moment. With six guards remained outside, the others went through the gate, unknown that a stealthy silhouette followed them and entered the vicinity.
"Not bad at all..." Zhang Wu Ji explored the outer courtyard surrounding the core building. As there was another twin door blocking his entrance from the inner courtyard, he was left with no choices but explore what he can for now. Luckily, Zhang Wu Ji did not waste his upgrade on the Wooden Universal Plate in hand, else it will be pointless for him to sneak inside this building.
Robbing most of the precious stuff as he goes, Zhang Wu Ji clears their building one after another, leaving them with only empty chairs and tables without a single useful item within. After covering the whole outer courtyard with his solo robbery, Zhang Wu Ji returned to the entrance for Inner Courtyard, and wait for people to come and report about the treasure vanished mysteriously.
But out of his expectation, nobody came forward. He did not imagine that after so many belonging is stolen, nobody actually turns up to report the incidents. What's more, during his robbing spree, Zhang Wu Ji did not meet with any precious materials, where it only means one thing...
The outer courtyard and inner courtyard is differentiated. The people he met earlier might be people from inner courtyard because none of the precious item he stole worth too much. Plus, he did not find any storage vaults, blacksmithing room, pill making hall, and other professions building, which means that this outer area is probably for members not directly related with their operation.
Before he decided to call this infiltration off, the door into the inner courtyard is opened from inside. Unexpected to him, the one walking out from inside is exactly the person that talked to him moments ago! But where are the others?
"Since the opportunity gave me the chances to get in, why shouldn't I follow their invitation and went in for a look?" Zhang Wu Ji smiled and quickly enter through the gap. The mysterious individual felt a mild breeze of wind brushed his side, but without seeing anything around him, he ignored it and left.
Inside the Inner Courtyard.
"Oh gosh! I love my decision to come in here! Seems like my Wooden Universal Plate is going to have a difficult time taking in all of these treasures!" Zhang Wu Ji smiled. It was like a pile of gold thrown aside in the open waiting for him to rob!
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[Author's Note]
Well, I have done one chapter again. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I have to let everyone know that the 24 chaps mass release for 3rd December is going to be canceled. In exchange for that, I am going to do my best to release more chapters in a week as compensation.
クリエイターの想い 
yungsern87
yungsern87 Please Check the author's note at the end of the chapter.
If it's possible for me, I will add as many chapters in exchange for all the delay I've made. Unfortunately, the mass release on 3rd dec is going to be canceled due to certain reason with the WN approval on featuring me again.
Still, I am thankful for everyone's support. Shall we see if we can get into the top 100 again this week? It's might be a little far, but I hope daily chapters for you all will make it work out.
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