Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

"Junior, I am grateful for your teaching!"

The old eunuch's words made Qiao Rui feel ashamed, but also suddenly enlightened, as if he had been enlightened.

Seeing that Qiao Rui was a teachable boy, the old eunuch's haggard face finally softened.

"Scholars often say 'If you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world'. In fact, warriors like us should also do the same."

The old eunuch took a sip of tea, his old face showing enjoyment. The tea brewed with the cold pond water was sweet and fragrant, with a lingering aftertaste.

Putting down the teacup, he continued, "When martial artists have low martial arts skills, it is understandable that they only want to protect their families and themselves. But when your martial arts skills reach a certain level, you should not only care about the small piece of land in front of you, but also care about the world and serve the country and the people!"

"For the country and the people?" Qiao Rui's heart was moved, thinking of the great hero Guo Juxia, and suddenly a sense of pride arose, "How to do it specifically, please tell me, senior, but if you tell me, I will do my best!"

The old eunuch said so much to me, I'm afraid he has something to tell me, otherwise, he wouldn't let me wander around the world casually, waiting for evil and vicious people to run into him, right?

"Haha, no hurry, no hurry!" The old eunuch narrowed his eyes and smiled, "It's good to always have a chivalrous heart. If something big happens, you must remember to serve the country and the people!"

"Junior will remember this!" Qiao Rui stood up and bowed again.

The old eunuch nodded, a look of relief flashed across his face. He didn't know what he was thinking about, but he suddenly became a little bored. He waved his hand to signal Qiao Rui to sit down, and then he stopped talking. He slowly picked up the teacup and drank water, but his eyes were fixed on the rushing waterfall, as if he was feeling sad.

Seeing this, Qiao Rui didn't want to disturb them, so he could only accompany them silently. Apart from the sound of the waterfall, the stone platform was quite quiet. The view here was wide, and one could overlook the Yulong Valley and see Longxing City in the distance. With the aroma of tea wafting in the air, it was really relaxing to sit and watch the clouds roll by.

"My surname is Gu, and my common name is Gu Hongming..."

After an unknown amount of time, the old eunuch's voice sounded faintly.

Gu? Qiao Rui's heart moved, and he suddenly remembered his master's instructions not to associate with people with the surname Gu or Murong. Looking at the old eunuch's haggard and senile appearance, he might be a person of the same era as his master. Could it be...

The old eunuch regained his composure and looked at Qiao Rui strangely, "Your aura is suddenly fluctuating violently, is there something wrong?"

"No!" Qiao Rui smiled awkwardly, trying to hide his surprise. This old eunuch had such a keen sense. His mind raced, and he said, "I just remembered that the royal family's surname was Gu, and I heard the name of the late emperor, Emperor Gengshi, Gu Hongwu..."

"Yes, I am the late emperor's younger brother!" The old eunuch nodded and looked at the waterfall again.

Seeing that the old eunuch did not insist on the matter, Qiao Rui felt relieved. However, he thought again, since he was a direct descendant of the royal family, how could he become a eunuch?

"Back then, I was obsessed with practicing martial arts, and I practiced so hard that I hurt my essence. So I simply cut off my strength with a knife and practiced the 'Sunflower Magic' instead. After I mastered it, I was called 'Sunflower Eunuch' and became the shadow of the late emperor, secretly serving him."

"Until the late emperor died suddenly... I was heartbroken, but I had no choice but to guard this last legacy for him. But now, I have to hand it over..."

The old eunuch's tone revealed an irrepressible sadness and reluctance. The setting sun of winter shone through the waterfall and onto his old face, which was covered with ridges and valleys. It flickered and seemed to have no warmth at all.

He suddenly turned his head and stared at Qiao Rui. A sharp light burst out of his turbid eyes, and a cold and violent aura rolled towards Qiao Rui like a storm.

"I'll leave the Yulong Courtyard to you, so you must guard it well. If you make any mistakes, don't blame me for being merciless!"

The old eunuch, Gu Hongming, had a haggard face as if he was about to die, but at this moment his eyes were cold and his voice was sharp and shrill, like an evil ghost demanding death, extremely terrifying.

Faced with the old eunuch's sudden change of face and attack, Qiao Ruixin moved freely and followed his energy. The mellow and long-lasting momentum rose steadily and protected his body tightly.

He did not fight back, just like a reef standing in the sea, silently enduring the impact of the huge waves, one after another.

The old eunuch's clothes moved without wind, his white hair fluttered, the teacup on the stone table vibrated, and the tea flowed everywhere.

In the silence, there seems to be a storm.

After a moment of stalemate, Qiao Rui suddenly felt the pressure relieved, and with a light sigh, it seemed that the waves receded, the wind stopped, the clouds disappeared, and the rain stopped.

The old eunuch said in a hoarse voice: "Take care of yourself and don't let her... down!" After that, he jumped off the stone platform and left quickly.

"Don't let others down?"

Watching the old eunuch leave, Qiao Rui muttered to himself, who did I disappoint? Who had expectations of me?

Smiling bitterly and shaking his head, he stood up, looked around, and then walked towards the cave.

At first he was not in a position to check in front of others, but now that the old eunuch had left and he was about to take over the place, of course he had to check it out thoroughly.

The cave is not big and seems to be formed naturally. It is more than two meters deep, about ten meters high and ten meters wide. There is only a stone bed, which looks a bit empty.

I guess this is just a place for the old eunuch to stay? It's simple and clean, and there's nothing secret about it.

After looking around again, Qiao Rui exited the cave and jumped off the stone platform.

"We have to find Uncle Yu to handle the transaction and finalize this matter. There are still many things to do before and after the New Year."

Qiao Rui jumped on his horse and galloped back to the city.

Lao Yu had been waiting for a long time, and Qiao Rui did not want to be polite. They both wanted to complete the transaction as soon as possible, so the handover was extremely quick, and special matters were handled promptly, with Lao Yu following up the whole process.

After getting the title deed to Yulong Valley, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that there were no unnecessary complications.

Qiao Rui followed Lao Yu's advice and bought a large piece of fertile land outside the valley, in order to recruit migrant tenants to rent the land after the New Year.

Qiao Rui was extremely busy in the following days. As the New Year was approaching, he returned to Qiaojiazhai in Wohu Mountain and brought his grandfather back to the city to celebrate the New Year.

The old man originally wanted Qiao Rui to celebrate the New Year in Qiaojiazhai, but he also knew that Tian Jing had just given birth to a daughter and it was not suitable for her to go out, so the whole family stayed in the city.

He also heard that Liu Xinyue had given birth to a great-grandson for his family. The old man was so happy that he was grinning from ear to ear. It was really good that Qiao Rui had a son and a daughter. With Qiao Yunlei officially marrying into the Qiao family, the family could be considered prosperous.

Work resumed shortly after the New Year. There were many complicated things to do. The fertile fields needed to be cultivated by recruiting migrant tenants. The large Yulong Courtyard also needed maids and slaves to do daily cleaning and maintenance. In addition, the barracks vacated after the withdrawal of Qiu Xiong's guards and other independent courtyards all needed to be rebuilt and repaired by craftsmen to accommodate the people of the Qiaojiazhai clan who had moved in.

The thought made him feel overwhelmed, so Qiao Rui simply went to a pawnshop and hired a butler at a high price. The butler was said to have worked for an official before, and was very tactful in welcoming and seeing off guests, with good eyesight and skills. However, his master's family fell from power not long ago, and he lost his job as a result. So he registered as a butler in the pawnshop again, and that's when he met Qiao Rui.

After pushing all the chores to the butler Old Tang, Qiao Rui finally got time to work. He found Chen Nian and asked him to help find some guards to replace Qiu Xiong's guards.

In fact, Qiao Rui sent letters to Shaolin and Huashan at the end of the year, asking whether the two sects had disciples who had mastered their skills and were willing to come down the mountain to work as guards at Yulong Villa. They would accept first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate disciples, and the salary would be 20% to 30% higher than the market price. However, it has been a short time and he has not received a reply from the two sects yet.