Chapter 142 Life Of Five

"In business, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal profits."

Xu Ran muttered this line long after they had exited the gates of Birch City.

Even though he was forced to pay for the damages caused to the mansion, he had no hard feelings for Ikasa. How could he harbor a grudge for a man who had become his idol in just one short meeting?

If standing up to the He Family needed bravery, then to turn them into friends needed charisma. He had witnessed both aplenty from the man in question.

However, he was not impressed by those qualities alone. What made him worship Ikasa was the piece of paper in his hands!

"34 different types of Battle Techniques! 3 Cultivation Methods! Of them, one is even a High-Grade Cultivation manual!"

He whispered, reading through the list again and again. Not only did the list contain all the previous mid grade and lower techniques like the Gazelle Punch, Nutcracker Kick and Peek-A-Boo Defense, Ikasa had also added the recently drawn techniques to the list.

"Haymaker! An offensive mid grade technique.  Loose Motion! A mid grade movement technique…."

He had questioned the wisdom of naming the techniques as such, but his sales had proved him wrong. If people were willing to buy them despite these names, maybe the problem was he himself and his narrow-mindedness.

Looking in the direction of Ikasa's Villa, Xu Ran resolved.

"Brother Ikasa! I will surely spread the name of your manuals to every house in Ebony City!"

—-----

"Yan Xiao, you're striking the iron wrong! First, tap gently to check the density of the ore. Then start hammering with full swing at the portion that rings the most."

Gu Dan demonstrated his method of smelting the iron ore once again to the young lad. He was passionate and a  hard worker, but quick learning was not his forte.

Yan Xiao did as Gu Dan showed.  He lightly tapped the hammer on every inch of the large piece of metal ore.

Thunk! Tunk!

Gu Dan shook his head uong hearing the sounds. Yan Xiao's use of force was too uneven when tapping. It produced different sounds not because of the property of metal, but because his hammer was either striking harder at one portion or lightly glancing at another.

Yan Xiao did not give up. He persisted until he masterfully wielded the hammer.

Ton! Te! Ti!

His every strike brought out a different note from the raw unprocessed ore.  After trying for the 17th time, he could finally distinguish between the soft and dense parts of the ore.

He looked up at Gu Dan and saw a wide smile on his face. His efforts had paid off and he had mastered the first stage of Notes of Metal Hammering Technique!

"Good! Now you are ready to smelt the ore!"

Gu Dan clapped and led Yan Xiao to the furnace room.

"See those 10 pieces of ore?"

Yan Xiao nodded, his eyes shining.

"You can only leave after they are at least 90% pure."

"How should I distinguish their purity?"

Yan Xiao asked, scratching his head. He looked around for a device to measure the pureness of the ore.

Gu Dan held Yan Xiao's head and pointed to his ears.

"Use these. When the entire smelted bar only makes the 'Ton' sound signaling density, that's when you know that the bar is 90% pure."

The blacksmith stepped back and started the fire in the furnace. He took off his shirts and held an ore in his tongs.

"Now look closely at how I smelt the iron ore."

And thus, Gu Dan began to hammer his knowledge into Yan Xiao, smelting him into a fine blacksmith.

—-----

Grrr!

"Shh Moony! She will find us again if you make noise."

Pei Yuan shushed the grumbling fox as they sneaked from one pillar to another.

Yin Ying was 'training' Pei Yuan and Moony in the art of stealth. However, their training was suspiciously similar to playing hide and seek.

This time it was Pei Yuan and Moony's turn to hide while Ying Ying sought their traces in the limited open space of the Herb Garden's residences.

To win, the hidden ones had to reach the Honeygold Tree at the Center without getting detected by the seeker. After four attempts, Pei Yuan and Moony had still failed to win once.

"Ha! Caught you two buggers."

Yin Ying spoke, arriving behind the two like a ghost. Startled, Moony jumped behind another pillar and disappeared from everyone's site.

"Moony, you are not allowed to use your powers."

Yin Ying spoke in a stern voice causing the fox to reappear.

Grr Grr!

Moony grumbled, pointing one paw at Pei Yuan, as if saying the boy was the dead weight holding him behind.

Yin Ying ignored the fox and his antics. She lectured Pei Yuan on what he did wrong.

"The goal of this game is not only to reach the tree, but also to avoid your opponent. Just now, you were so taken in by the tree, that you forgot to track my movements. You didn't even notice when I sneaked up on you."

"Yes, mam. Now will you teach me how to wield a dagger?"

Yin Ying shook her head.

"I told you. I will only teach when you can either sneak past me or catch me before I reach the tree. And this is your last chance for today…."

Saying this, Yin Ying mixed into the numerous residents of the Herb Garden and disappeared from their view.

Pei Yuan let out a long frustrated sigh and began to look out for his opponent, trying to find her before she reached the tree.

—------

"How many more are left?"

A bored Feng Yan asked Hei Ying and Chu Qing the umpteenth time. He had enlisted their help to complete the task Ikasa had assigned him.

"Zhou Zhongli, age 21. Lives at Herb Garden with a wife and two mothers."

"Mu Sang, age 19. Lives at Herb Garden with disabled father."

As usual, Chu Qing and Hei Ying ignored Feng Yan and took down the information. These were the last ones left.

The two kids let the ink dry and carefully rolled the sheet. While Hei Ying obediently handed her sheet over, Chu Qing did not.

"Uncle, we are done. Where is the gold coin you promised?"

"You rascal! How dare you ask for compensation from your Uncle?"

Feng Yan scolded, making a grab for the sheet in Chu Qing's hands.

"Uncle, fair compensation is my right. If you don't pay me, I will…"

Chu Qing threatened but he could not come up with a suitable threat on the spot. Feng Yan mockingly asked.

"I will… what?"

The boy looked around and he immediately realized that he was holding the greatest threat in his hands!

"I will tear this list to pieces!"

Chu Qing declared with a smirk. Feng Yan's face changed at his threat.

'Tomorrow is the deadline to submit these lists… If he tears it up, I would be the only one who has not completed his task. I can't be embarrassed before Yin Ying…'

Feng Yan backed off and extremely reluctantly took out a gold coin from his sleeve.

"Damn that bastard Ikasa! What has he been teaching you kids?"

Feng Yan murmured as he tossed the gold coin at Chu Qing and received the list from his hands. He carefully kept away the lists in a wooden box under his bed.

As he got up from his kneeling position, he cracked his knuckles.

"Now let's talk about this remuneration thing okay? Don't you think I should be compensated for raising you in the slums? Should we calculate the amount?"

Chu Qing felt cold shivers go down his spine as he saw the devilish smile on Feng Yan's face.

"I am sorry, Uncle Feng…"

His pleas did not work. He looked at Hei Ying who was his last hope of getting out of this jam. But where was she? She had already left the room.

"Noooo! That is my last silver coin! Please spare it."

"Then what is clinking in your pants? Let me take a look…"

"That is really my last silver coin, Uncle!"

"Waahhh!"

Soon, Chu Qing's cries of agony resounded outside the room. Looking at the room she just exited,  Hei Ying shook her head.

"This is what happens when a greedy bastard meets a miser…."

—---

In a pot placed on the stove, jade- like bones of the Cloud Patterned Leopard were bouncing in the boiling soup. Besides the stove, a tall, thin youth stirred the pot while an eager little girl looked at the contents with shining eyes.

"Wow, brother Bu Fan! This soup smells so yummy!"

Luo Qiqi complimented the chef in Ikasa's Special Talents Programme. She smelled of a faint peppery aroma and fragrance of some herbs. Just smelling the aroma made her salivate.

Bu Fan slowly controlled the fire and simmered the soup for a few minutes before extinguishing the fire completely.

Seeing the soup was ready, the girl eagerly prepared her spoon and bowl. She begged with her eyes to be fed. When Bu Fan ignored her, she tried to persuade him.

"Brother Bu, Why don't I taste the soup?"

"No! This soup is made exclusively for Boss Ikasa and other Sense Trainers. You cannot have it, Qiqi."

Bu Fan rejected her. But when has rejection ever worked on teenagers?

Luo Qiqi sneaked to the pot without Bu Fan's notice and scooped the soup with a ladle and drank from it directly.

Her eyes widened and so did her mouth. She was ready to spit fire in the air. She yelled while trying to gulp the soup in her mouth.

"Thish ish shoo hot!"

She failed to swallow it and almost spit in the pot. She noticed Bu Fan arrive beside her, a frown on his face and his arms crossed across his chests.

She sheepishly smiled at him. Trying to act cute, she held her ears and said, "Shorry?"