Thump thump thump!
The room door was suddenly knocked.
Immediately after, a tender, sharp voice came from outside the door: "Young Master, the Qi Replenishing and Yuan Nourishing Soup is ready. Should I bring it in for you?"
This voice was extremely familiar and recognizable.
A thin figure quickly appeared in Zhao Sheng's mind.
Zhao Xiaobao
His personal attendant. He had been by his side since he was eight years old, serving his daily needs.
"Come in!" According to his memory, Zhao Sheng responded steadily.
Then, he flipped off the bed, landing silently with no dust stirred, his body feeling incredibly light.
Zhao Sheng was very surprised; he hadn't expected the effect of "light as a swallow" to be so significant.
The door was pushed open, and Zhao Xiaobao walked in, holding a blue and white porcelain bowl with both hands.
After carefully placing the porcelain bowl on the table in the room, Zhao Xiaobao quickly walked in front of Zhao Sheng and respectfully asked: "Young Master, the medicine is ready. Do you have any other instructions?"
"Mm, it's nothing, you can go out first."
After Zhao Sheng finished speaking, he didn't drink the medicine. Instead, he walked to the dressing mirror. The mirror reflected a young man six feet tall, with red lips and white teeth, a high nose and phoenix eyes, and a heroic demeanor.
His appearance was very handsome! This was good.
It should be enough to charm a young lady from a cultivation family.
That's right!
Zhao Sheng's goal in this life was to marry one or even multiple women from cultivation families.
He swore to have as many children as possible. He didn't believe that he wouldn't eventually produce descendants with spiritual roots.
At this point, he had completely assimilated Zhao Zhiqin's memories. In those memories, the Zhao Family had not produced a single descendant with spiritual roots to this day.
With his descendants lacking potential, now only the Old Ancestor could personally intervene.
Zhao Xiaobao did not leave.
He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "Young Master, I just heard some bad news. I heard that Madam wants to cut down your food, clothing, and martial arts expenses. The Qi Replenishing and Yuan Nourishing Soup, which was originally given every three days, has been changed to every seven days."
Zhao Sheng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
The Madam Zhao Xiaobao spoke of referred to the First Madam, the legitimate wife of the Zhao Family Head. She not only controlled the daily expenses of the Zhao Family Fortress but also participated in the management of family industries and oversaw the accounts.
Zhao Sheng turned and walked to the table, sitting down, and at the same time asked: "Does Madam have any reason?"
Zhao Xiaobao whispered: "I heard that the family business recently lost a large sum of silver. Madam used the excuse of tight silver circulation and proactively reduced expenses for all branches. Our Third Branch was even reduced by twenty percent."
"Mm, since the family is short on silver, it's fine to temporarily cut down on expenses."
After speaking, Zhao Sheng picked up the porcelain bowl and tilted his head back, drinking the medicinal soup in one gulp.
The familiar bitter and sweet taste once again spread in his mouth, just like over a hundred years ago.
"Young Master, you don't know. The young masters and young ladies of the First Branch and Second Branch still get their Qi Replenishing and Yuan Nourishing Soup every three days; it hasn't been changed to seven days," Zhao Xiaobao couldn't help but mumble.
Hmm?!
Upon hearing this, Zhao Sheng immediately frowned.
From ancient times, scholars were poor, and martial artists were rich. Practicing martial arts consumed a lot, not only requiring a large amount of meat but also needing medicinal tonics to nourish the body.
One serving of Qi Replenishing and Yuan Nourishing Soup alone cost five taels of silver, and there were over twenty direct descendants of the Zhao Family practicing martial arts in this generation. This item alone cost the Zhao Family at least thirty thousand taels of silver a year.
Even though the Zhao Family was a large and prosperous family, it could only barely maintain itself under such enormous expenses.
Therefore, he could tolerate the reduction in expenses. But unfair treatment, he could not tolerate.
Zhao Sheng's mind raced, and he quickly had an idea.
"Xiaobao, go out and inquire about the recent situations of the young masters and young ladies of the other two branches? After you find out, come back and tell me."
Zhao Xiaobao nodded in affirmation, then quickly exited the room.
Once he was alone in the room, Zhao Sheng got up and walked to the bed, reaching out to take down the Hundred Refined Sword hanging on the headboard.
Clang!
The long sword was unsheathed, and a familiar sensation arose, just like his cherished sword "Floating Light" from a hundred years ago.
In fact, this Hundred Refined Sword was crafted exactly according to the form of "Floating Light." Both its weight and length were identical.
The true renowned sword "Floating Light" was worn at the waist of the Family Head, Zhao Hexing, as a family token.
Swish,
Zhao Sheng flicked his wrist, and a six-petal sword flower suddenly appeared.
As he performed the first stance of Floating Light Swordplay, "Plum Blossoms in Six Petals," a constantly flashing and moving figure instantly appeared in the room, and streaks of sword light emerged and vanished with his sword moves.
Gradually, the sword light in the room became denser, eventually gathering into a constantly moving ball of light. It completely enveloped him.
Half an hour later, Zhao Sheng, his back soaked with sweat, stopped moving.
He casually tossed the long sword in his hand. The next second, the Hundred Refined Sword miraculously reinserted itself into its scabbard.
Name: Zhao Zhiqin (Zhao Sheng)
Lifespan: 15/120
Physique: Hundred-Year Body (Mortal Grade), Light as a Swallow (Mortal Grade)
Talent: Dynamic Vision (Mortal Grade)
Skills: Floating Light Swordplay (Great Accomplishment), Cloud Dragon Three Transformations (Great Accomplishment), Azure Sea Tide Generation Skill (Beginner)
"Not bad, the feeling is still there."
Looking at the data on the page, Zhao Sheng nodded with satisfaction.
Although he had reincarnated, his lifelong experience in martial arts had not been forgotten.
After just a few dozen practice sessions, he had cultivated both Floating Light Swordplay and Cloud Dragon Three Transformations to the Great Accomplishment realm.
Once his body matured in a few years and his internal true qi reached minor accomplishment, he could easily re-cultivate several martial arts to their peak realms from his previous life.
...
The Zhao Clan of Nanyang had two important locations: one was the ancestral home in Nanyang City, and the other was the Zhao Mansion built one hundred and fifty years ago.
The Zhao Mansion was located thirty li outside Nanyang City, backed by mountains and facing water, with large areas of flat, cultivable land in front of the mansion.
The residential land alone covered nearly fifty mu, and with the thick, sturdy stone walls surrounding it and the eight five-zhang arrow towers protruding from the four corners, its appearance resembled a tightly defended fortress.
Therefore, it was also known as the Zhao Family Fortress.
Within the Zhao Family Fortress, halls and pavilions stood in abundance, and the population was dense, but nearly five mu of land in the southeast corner was left empty.
Here, the ground was covered with thick yellow earth, and the walls were lined with various training equipment such as sabers, spears, swords, axes, wooden stakes, and archery targets. This area was the Zhao Clan's martial arts training ground.
The next day, Zhao Sheng, dressed in white martial attire, walked into the training ground with the Hundred Refined Sword in one hand, looking relaxed.
At this time, shouts echoed continuously in the training ground, and several direct young masters and young ladies of the Zhao Clan had flushed faces, diligently practicing their swordplay.
Zhao Sheng saw this and smiled slightly.
He had come at just the right time!
He walked up to a handsome young man of about twenty years old and, smiling, said: "Third Brother, shall we spar a bit?"
The Third Brother's name was Zhao Zhijing, twenty-one years old this year, the legitimate son of the Family Head Zhao Hexing, and ranked third among the Zhao Clan's 'Zhi' generation.
He was the most skilled in martial arts among the few people in the training ground, naturally becoming Zhao Sheng's target for establishing his authority.
Zhao Zhijing put away his sword moves, turned to look at the newcomer, and immediately chuckled, teasing: "Oh, it's Little Ninth. What? Feeling restless, want your Third Brother to loosen you up?"
Zhao Zhijing didn't take Zhao Sheng seriously at all.
Leaving aside the six-year age difference between them, even purely in terms of cultivation, he was one of the two people in the current Zhao Clan generation who first entered the third-rate realm.
Little Ninth Zhao Zhiqin usually hadn't even mastered Floating Light Swordplay, so how could he be his opponent?