0169 The Powder-and-Rouge Young Master (Third Update)

It was unknown what the old cow had said to the others, but soon, the people at the guesthouse became even more enthusiastic toward Jiang Feng and his companions.

Although they insisted on not drinking alcohol, a lavish feast of fine foods was still prepared to entertain them.

Every aspect of their daily living was tended to with meticulous care, and the hosts proactively introduced them to the recent conditions of Caigui City.

Caigui City was located in the east-central part of the Zhu Tian Kingdom, with Mount Yuguang situated nearby.

Mount Yuguang was abundantly rich in feather-iron ore. The metal extracted from this stone possessed exceptional toughness while remaining as light as a feather. Most precious of all, it exhibited superb compatibility with Ming force, making it an invaluable material for crafting high-grade defensive armor.

Driven by the feather-iron ore trade, Caigui City had grown exceptionally prosperous, and its local Association of Artifact Masters was relatively powerful as a result. It housed one resident third-tier artifact master, six second-tier artifact masters, and countless first-tier and unranked practitioners.

Bai Guo found this quite interesting and remarked, "Since that's the case, we must definitely go take a look when we have the time."

Jiang Feng thought for a moment and said, "There is no time like the present. Since we are free right now, why don't we go right away?"

It was currently the dusk of the twenty-fourth day of August. Shops in large cities generally closed quite late, mostly staying open until the hour of You at midnight. Setting out after dinner would indeed be a good choice.

Teng Zhi and Hong Cheng were also eager to test the waters in this new city, so the guesthouse dispatched a young man named Zeng Tao to serve as their guide, and the group set off together.

Zeng Tao was a guesthouse attendant and a native of Caigui City. He was intimately familiar with every single street, alley, and person of importance in the city.

Lively by nature, he introduced the layout: "The city is divided into five districts. Right now, we are in the Southern Commercial District. The western side is where the wealthy live, while the Martial Cultivators' Club and the Artifact Masters' Association are both located in the northern district."

He quickly gave a general overview of the entire city, with the Northern District being the most noteworthy area.

Aside from official organizations like the Martial Cultivators' Club and the Artifact Masters' Association, the most prominent features were the numerous martial arts dojos.

Some of these dojos hired renowned masters to teach, while others provided excellent training facilities. Candidates like Jiang Feng and his friends would do well to obtain a training pass in advance so they would have a proper place to practice martial arts.

This suggestion fell right in line with Jiang Feng's wishes.

Earlier today, Ye Xiao had taught him a new martial art technique, but he had stopped after practicing for only a short while. Although the guesthouse wasn't small, it wasn't built for martial cultivators and lacked even a regular martial arts practice ground.

He was just pondering whether to leave the city to find a quiet spot when he heard Zeng Tao's words.

The companions exchanged glances and said in unison, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go right now!"

Zeng Tao hailed a city carriage, handed over a silver coin, and instructed the driver to take them to the Northern District.

Jiang Feng clicked his tongue slightly in astonishment. A single cross-city trip cost a full silver coin; the cost of living in Caigui City was remarkably high!

He patted his pocket with a trace of quiet anxiety. Before departing, Hua Su had given him endless instructions about many things, yet she had completely forgotten about travel funds. During his recent battles in Taicang City, he had simply had no opportunity to go out and hunt Ming beasts to earn money. At present, he only had forty-seven silver coins left on him, which was nowhere near enough to sustain a life in Caigui City.

The atmosphere in the Northern District of Caigui City was completely different. The decorative carvings on the buildings were greatly reduced, replaced mostly by clean lines and a simple, grand aesthetic. Compared to the painted beams and carved rafters of the Southern District, Jiang Feng actually preferred this style.

As he was looking around, a sudden fluctuation of Ming force erupted nearby. He turned back with a guarded look and immediately heard the sound of rushing wind as a figure flew through the air, crashing heavily against a wall. The wall shuddered, and several square blocks tumbled from the top, leaving a distinct indentation.

A street brawl?

The surrounding pedestrians walked past with unblinking eyes and indifferent expressions. Clearly, such incidents happened frequently enough that they had grown entirely used to them.

The person who had taken the blow crawled out from the rubble, groaning in pain, bleeding from the nose, and looking thoroughly wretched. A group of youths approached, accompanied by a large retinue of attendants, and one of them shouted, "You think you can just run after bumping into my young master?"

The beaten man trembled and stammered, "I—I'm sorry. I was rushing to get some medicine and didn't, didn't pay attention..."

Another attendant stepped forward and kicked him to the ground. "Bow three times or take a beating—choose for yourself!"

The man hesitated for a moment. Gritting his teeth, he knelt down and kowtowed heavily three times, his forehead instantly splitting open and bleeding. The youths burst into uproarious laughter. "You've got some sincerity after all! Fine, we'll let you go!"

Picking up his package of medicine, the man clutched his forehead and fled in a panic.

The attendants cast a sweeping glance around, glared fiercely at Jiang Feng and his group, and then swaggered away, escorting their master.

Jiang Feng and the others all frowned. Teng Zhi's face darkened as he asked, "Who are these people? How can they be so arrogant right in front of the Martial Cultivators' Club?"

Zeng Tao explained, "Those are some of Caigui City's notorious pampered young scions; you can often see them around this area. They hail from several major aristocratic families with formidable backing, and ordinary people wouldn't dare provoke them."

Teng Zhi said with a look of disgust, "Just as expected of people from aristocratic families, running around dressed in such flashy, gaudy clothes!"

Hong Cheng added, "Did you see that? They even had rouge and powder smeared on their faces!"

The entire group, including Bai Guo, simultaneously wore expressions of disgust.

Zeng Tao remarked, "I wouldn't know about other places, but in Caigui City, these young scions of aristocratic families consider pale, refined elegance to be the standard of beauty. They usually apply cosmetics before heading out. The rouge and powder shops in the East City make more money catering to them than they do off ordinary maidens and young wives!"

Hong Cheng muttered under his breath, "Can these people even be considered martial cultivators..."

Bai Guo said with disdain, "When I disguise myself in men's clothing, I don't even wear powder!"

This unpleasant episode was merely an aside, however, and it did not dampen their subsequent mood.

Zeng Tao led them to tour several reputable shops nearby, and Jiang Feng and Bai Guo each purchased some artifact-crafting materials.

Neither of them bought ready-made armor. As Hong Cheng stepped out of the shop, he patted Jiang Feng's shoulder and smiled, "I'm counting on you to make mine!"

Jiang Feng smiled and nodded. "Of course!"

Teng Zhi didn't speak, but his expression conveyed the exact same sentiment.

"Hah!" A cold sneer suddenly came from nearby. A horse-faced man in his thirties rudely looked Jiang Feng up and down and scoffed, "You're not even a first-tier artifact master, yet you dare make such empty promises!"

Teng Zhi cast a cold glance at him and retorted unceremoniously, "We trust him. Is that any of your business?"

The horse-faced man gave them a disdainful look and strode into the shop.

Bai Guo explained, "What he said isn't entirely unreasonable. When artifact masters first start out, their success rate is extremely low, and it is rare for them to produce complete finished products..."

Hong Cheng smiled, though his words were hardly polite. "I've heard Teacher Fang mention this before. But what does that have to do with us, or with Jiang Feng? Did anyone ask him to flap his jaws?"

The two of them patted Jiang Feng's back one after the other, sharing a tacit understanding and a smile.

Bai Guo rolled her eyes and murmured, "The trust between men..."

After finishing their tour of the shops, Zeng Tao led them to the martial arts dojos to process their membership cards.

Caigui City was indeed much larger than Taicang City, and its scale in terms of martial cultivation was far more apparent. This entire street was lined with martial arts dojos, the most conspicuous of which were the two located at the head of the street. Facing each other from opposite sides, they possessed a majestic momentum and a palpable air of rivalry.

Zeng Tao introduced, "These are the two largest martial arts dojos in Caigui City: Yongcai and Guixin. They are properties of the Huang family and the Gong family, respectively. The Huang and Gong families have deep-seated conflicts, and these two dojos are also hostile to each other, frequently challenging one another on their turf. However, the instructors they hire are also the finest in the entire city."

The companions exchanged glances, and Jiang Feng asked, "Aside from these two, are there any others you can recommend? We don't need exceptionally great martial arts masters; as long as the facilities are complete and we can cultivate in peace, that's enough."

Zeng Tao scratched his head. "Then there's only the Tieshan Martial Dojo..."

Before he could finish speaking, someone abruptly stepped up from the side and shouted, "You want to enroll? Why not come to our Guixin Dojo? Our Guixin is the premier martial arts dojo in Caigui City, and our instructors are Yangming martial artists!"

Sure enough, the characters 'Guixin Martial Dojo' were printed across his garments. He reached out and grabbed Hong Cheng's arm, as if attempting to drag him straight into the Guixin premises.

Before Hong Cheng could react, another person thrust themselves into the fray from the side, grabbing his other arm. "Hah! The premier martial arts dojo in Caigui City is obviously our Yongcai! Our instructors are also Yangming martial artists, and our facilities are the best in Caigui City! Those turtle descendants from Guixin have tried to challenge us several times, only to be beaten back with their tails between their legs!"

The representative from Guixin retorted sharply, "Bullshit! What use are a bunch of mediocre talents like you? In most cases, it's still our Guixin that wins!"

Hong Cheng was caught with both arms firmly seized on either side. Standing right in the middle, the two began shouting insults at one another, tossing around terms like "turtle descendants" and "mediocre talents" without interruption. Clearly, this was already an old game between them.

With both sides showering him with spittle from opposite directions, Hong Cheng helplessly shook his arms free and said, "Apologies, our time is tight, and we've already decided to go to the Tieshan Martial Dojo!"

In truth, they had not decided anything at all; Hong Cheng was simply eager to extricate himself and had grabbed at a random excuse.

Yet the moment those two heard his words, they fell abruptly silent. After a brief pause, they suddenly burst into boisterous laughter.

"Tieshan? Hahaha, they actually want to go to Tieshan?!"

"Are you trying to waste your time or your money? That place called Tieshan is an antique from eight years ago—it's nothing more than a scam designed to con people out of their cash!"

"Rubbish, you guys are the ones running a scam!"

A sharp, youthful female shout suddenly rang out, and a petite, curvaceous girl jumped out. She wore a yellow headband tied around her head, and her cheeks and chest puffed out with anger, making her look both fierce and adorable.

Glaring fiercely at the two men, she snapped, "Our Tieshan's history goes back much further than both of your places! We've produced two provincial examination top scorers and three Shenming martial sovereigns! If you've got the guts, let's compare records!"

Jiang Feng and the others exchanged glances. Such credentials were genuinely impressive.

Yet the two men still sneered with utter disdain. "Little girl with the surname Tie, why don't you tell us how many years ago that happened? Were you even born yet?"

The girl's eyes reddened, but her expression remained as fierce as a lioness protecting her cubs. She growled viciously, "Even so, you have no right to slander us! We at Tieshan are earnest in training true martial cultivators; it is definitely not some scam to cheat people of their money!"

As she roared, a flash of golden light erupted across her body, and the floorboards beneath her feet suddenly split open with a jagged crack.

Jiang Feng and the others were collectively startled—

Ming force projecting outward—the hallmark of a Yangming martial warrior! She looked so young; was she even twenty years old yet?

She had already reached the Yangming realm! (To be continued...)