The terms were so generous, they were practically outrageous. Zhao Rui was almost tempted to accept.

Unfortunately, his ambitions lay elsewhere, and he didn’t want to waste his energy teaching disciples.

So, naturally, he refused them all.

The next day, Zhao Rui was drinking tea with Qin Rui at the entrance of his rented Martial Arts Hall. Qin Rui had brought the tea from home. Supposedly—ahem—she had plucked each leaf from the tea tree with her mouth.

As she said this, she had also licked her lips, whether intentionally or not.

"Senior Sister, you don’t have bad breath, do you?"

Zhao Rui’s one sentence shattered her composure, and she never brought up the matter of a maiden plucking tea leaves again.

Just as the two were drinking tea and chatting idly, a middle-aged man approached. He was dressed in a dark purple Tang suit, his slightly long hair combed back, giving him a rather sharp appearance.

Following behind him were two young men in their twenties.

The trio walked straight toward Zhao Rui.

When they drew near, the middle-aged man looked at Zhao Rui and smiled. "Young man, are you the owner of this Martial Arts Hall?"

Zhao Rui briefly sized up the newcomers and nodded. "I am. And you are?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the hall master of Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall," the middle-aged man said with a smile. "My surname is Nie, given name Sheng."

"Oh, a pleasure. Is there something you need, Director Nie?"

At this, Zhao Rui stood up and shook the man’s hand.

"There is a small matter I’d like to discuss with you. Perhaps we could..."

Nie Sheng glanced around, gesturing for them to find a more private place to talk.

"Ah, sorry about that. I don’t have an office, just a single classroom, and it’s occupied. We can talk here."

Zhao Rui said casually. He had, in fact, only rented a single classroom since he didn’t plan on staying open for long.

Nie Sheng’s expression faltered for a moment, but he quickly smiled. "You’re quite the free spirit, young man. In that case, I’ll be blunt."

"You may not know this, young man, but in our Martial Arts Hall circles, there are certain standards for accepting students... A Grandmaster does not teach ordinary students directly..."

"What you’re doing disrupts the market... I’m a few years your senior, so forgive me for being blunt. Don’t take it the wrong way."

After listening to Nie Sheng, it dawned on Zhao Rui. He finally understood why the man had sought him out.

Apparently, by being a Grandmaster who personally taught students, he had broken the unwritten rules of the industry.

In large, established Martial Arts Halls, a Grandmaster would never personally instruct ordinary students.

They only taught Inner Disciples. Once accepted, such a disciple would represent the Martial Arts Hall and the Grandmaster himself whenever they were out in the world.

For a Grandmaster like Zhao Rui to teach any student who walked in, and to do it all himself...

...was a clear violation of the rules.

"So, Hall Master Nie, what is it you want?"

Zhao Rui asked.

"I’m here to ask you to stop your current teaching model. As long as you don’t teach personally, we won’t interfere with your other business practices. We can even interact more and exchange ideas in the future."

Nie Sheng said with a faint smile.

"We?"

Zhao Rui asked, curious.

"I’m not representing myself, nor am I representing Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall. I am here on behalf of the Lixia District—Martial Alliance!"

Nie Sheng heavily emphasized the last two words.

"The Martial Alliance?"

Zhao Rui froze for a second. ’Sure enough, wherever there are people, there’s a Jianghu. And wherever there’s a Jianghu, there are interest groups.’

’The martial arts halls have actually formed their own alliance.’

"Oh? Even the Martial Arts Association doesn’t have the right to interfere with how people teach their classes, do they?"

A look flashed in Zhao Rui’s eyes like a meteor striking the sea, churning up colossal waves.

"The Martial Arts Association doesn’t meddle in such things, of course. However, our Martial Alliance was formed to maintain order in our profession. If someone refuses to abide by the rules, we’ll have no choice but to force them out of the district."

Noticing Zhao Rui’s clear disagreement, Nie Sheng’s tone turned hostile.

"Oh! Your Martial Arts Hall accepts challenges, I presume?"

Zhao Rui asked suddenly.

"...?"

Nie Sheng was stunned for a moment before he understood. "Fine," he said coldly. "You youngsters certainly have nerve. We’ll be waiting for you at our hall!"

"It’s not that I particularly want to come to your place," Zhao Rui said mildly. "It’s just that I don’t have the space here."

’I was just wondering where I could find an excuse to challenge a master, and now one has delivered himself to my doorstep!’

’You’re the ones stopping me from running my hall. I’m not the one starting trouble here!’

Hearing this, Nie Sheng snorted. He thought Zhao Rui was deliberately mocking him. With a wave of his arm, he declared, "I will be waiting for your visit!"

With that, he turned and stalked away, his face livid.

After they had gone, Qin Rui looked at Zhao Rui, concerned. "Why did you have to provoke him? If they won’t let you operate here, we can just set up a training room at school. I doubt they would dare to mess with the school’s Martial Arts Team!"

"Hey, not bad! That little head of yours is working,"

Zhao Rui beamed, then chuckled. "But there’s no need. This is a perfect opportunity for me to see what these old-timer Grandmaster Realm experts are really like!"

"Don’t try to be a hero. I’ll go with you when you go."

"It’s fine!"

Zhao Rui smiled and said a few words to reassure Senior Sister Qin.

That afternoon, not long after Qin Rui had left, Zhao Rui received a call from Miao Miaomiao.

It turned out Qin Rui was still worried, so she had told Miao Miaomiao everything, hoping she could talk some sense into him.

"Do you need my dad to step in?"

"No. Do you all have so little faith in me?"

Zhao Rui politely declined Miao Miaomiao’s offer. ’I’m going there to copy their Cultivation Techniques,’ he thought. ’If the Martial Arts Association steps in, how the hell am I supposed to fight?’

That evening, inside Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall, Nie Sheng and four others sat around an Eight Immortals table, drinking and feasting heartily.

"Young people today truly don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. I tried to reason with him nicely, out of respect for his status as a Grandmaster, but he refused to appreciate the gesture!"

After three rounds of drinks, Nie Sheng complained resentfully.

"Brother Nie, why waste your anger on him?" a white-templed old man next to him said, stroking his beard. "I wager he won’t dare show his face. He’s all bark and no bite."

"I don’t understand what he’s trying to gain from this," a middle-aged woman at the head of the table said, frowning in confusion. "Logically speaking, for him to reach the Grandmaster Realm at such a young age, his future should be limitless. There’s no reason for him to stoop to teaching these students... I heard his fee is only a thousand yuan. He can’t be making much from that!"

"Qiao Si Niang is right. I find it strange, too. And the fact that he challenged Brother Nie on his own initiative is simply baffling."

"Could the Martial Arts Association be planning something? I heard the Court has been making major moves lately, something related to us Grandmasters!"

"Surely not!"

His words captured everyone’s attention, and they began to discuss the possibility with furrowed brows.

Just as the group was struggling to make sense of Zhao Rui’s actions, a disciple rushed in from outside the hall and addressed Nie Sheng.

"Master, there’s someone at the gate. He says he has an appointment with you."

"An appointment with me?"

Nie Sheng was taken aback. "I don’t recall having an appointment with anyone at this hour."

"It couldn’t be that Zhao Rui kid, could it?"

the middle-aged woman said, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"Let’s go take a look!"

A cold glint flashed in Nie Sheng’s eyes. He slapped his hands on the table, rose to his feet, and strode outside.

The other four exchanged a look and followed.

When they reached the entrance of the Martial Arts Hall, Nie Sheng took one look and his temper exploded.

"You punk! You actually came to challenge my hall! Good! Excellent!"

Nie Sheng was so furious he laughed. He had never met a young man with such blatant disrespect for his seniors.

’At your age, how profound could your Power possibly be?’

"Looks like I’ve come at a bad time! I thought your Martial Arts Hall would be empty by now."

Zhao Rui said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I’ll come back another day!"

With that, he turned to leave.

"My Yongsheng Martial Arts Hall is not a place you can come and go as you please!"

Nie Sheng’s figure shot forward. A pair of hands as thick as bear paws whistled through the air as he struck at Zhao Rui.

Seeing this, Zhao Rui halted his retreat and executed a move, Sealing and Closing, to neutralize the palm strike, which was brimming with dense True Qi.

At the same time, a system notification sounded in his mind: "Replicable Cultivation Technique discovered: Red Gold Wind Chasing Palm! Replicate?"

’Replicate!’

Zhao Rui was ecstatic. ’To find a replicable Martial Art in the very first fight... My luck is pretty good!’

When Nie Sheng saw how easily Zhao Rui had blocked his two-palm strike—an attack containing seventy percent of his Power—he knew this was no ordinary opponent.

He instantly shed his disdain. A jolt of Inner Strength coursed through him as his True Qi completed a Grand Circulation, instantly burning away the alcohol in his system. Mustering a hundred percent of his Force, he charged at Zhao Rui.

"Why don’t we take this inside!"

Seeing that the entrance was far from secluded, Zhao Rui executed a feint and then used the Cloud Ladder Leaping Technique, vaulting over the front wall and into the courtyard.

"Such nerve!"

Enraged, Nie Sheng moved like a swallow darting through the woods, shooting straight through the main gate corridor and into the hall.

The two fought their way across the courtyard, and in no time, they reached the Martial Arts Arena.

"This kid’s Power is incredibly profound. He’s actually on par with Hall Master Nie!"

The four who had followed watched the duel with grave expressions. After a moment, the old man with the salt-and-pepper hair frowned and spoke.

"As the saying goes, only a fierce dragon dares to cross the river. He’s certainly got some real skill."

The middle-aged woman nodded, then suddenly turned to a disciple beside her. "Go and close the main gate. The rest of you stand guard outside. No one is to be allowed in."