Night was cool as water, the biting spring wind still carrying the last chill of winter.
Yuhe County town, Datong Ward.
Yang Jing sat on a chair in his room, while horse meat stewed in a clay pot in the corner.
He took out a letter, spread it flat on the table, and read it by the light of the oil lamp.
The letter had been brought by Yang Laosan, a traveling peddler from the village, at his family’s request and delivered to the martial school. Only now, after returning to the room he rented, did Yang Jing have time to read it.
Before long, Yang Jing had finished reading the contents of the letter, a faint look of surprise appearing on his face.
“The Ning family sent someone to our home?”
The letter said that this morning, the Ning family had sent their steward to his home, and had even gifted them an ox for plowing, their attitude extremely courteous.
The letter also said that the steward from the Ning Manor had mentioned him several times.
That was why his family had written to ask whether he knew what exactly had happened to make the Ning family’s attitude change so drastically.
“The Ning family’s information travels rather quickly.”
Yang Jing had already guessed why the Ning family had undergone such a great change.
Naturally, it was because he had broken through to Mingjin and become a martial artist who had entered jin.
Though, looking at Yuhe County as a whole, even a martial artist who had entered jin did not count for much, to the countryside and to those local rich men who could only lord it over their villages, the weight of such a martial artist was far greater.
With the Ning family’s power, they would not fear someone like Yang Jing, who had only just broken through to Mingjin, but they would certainly have some misgivings. Given that Master Ning’s temperament, he would naturally follow the principle of not making enemies if he could avoid it.
Yang Jing had long considered that he might one day run into the Ning family, so he had investigated as much as he could about them, and had gained quite a bit of understanding of the Ning family’s head, Ning Xuezhi.
Ning Xuezhi seemed overbearing in the way he handled matters, but on closer inspection, one would find that he was quite cautious and careful.
Those who had formed conflicts with the Ning family were basically ordinary farmers with no strength, background, or potential. As for those truly capable or influential, Ning Xuezhi would try his best to befriend them.
The reason Yang Jing had attacked Feng Lei two months ago instead of trying to kill Ning Xuezhi was not only because the Ning family, with its large household and extensive business, was not as easy to deal with as the solitary Feng Lei. It was also because Yang Jing had analyzed Ning Xuezhi’s character.
If Feng Lei was killed, Ning Xuezhi might not truly be willing to go to great lengths to avenge him.
Moreover, once Yang Jing broke through to the Mingjin realm, with Ning Xuezhi’s way of doing things, he would definitely not dare continue forcing his family.
Only, Yang Jing had not expected Ning Xuezhi to be so generous. To ease their relationship, he had actually sent the Yang family an ox outright.
Yang Jing pondered for a moment, then took out paper and brush and began writing a reply.
His grandfather and grandmother were honest folk, and in this letter, their words already carried a considerable sense of unease.
In his reply, Yang Jing stated plainly that he had broken through to Mingjin, so his family could be happy as well, and at the same time set their minds at ease.
Although he was still far from having the strength to stand out in the martial examination, for a farming household to produce a martial artist who had entered jin was already a major event capable of changing the family’s fate in the eyes of common people.
A moment later, Yang Jing put down the brush, folded the letter paper, and slipped it into an envelope, planning to have that Third Uncle from his village bring it back tomorrow.
After finishing all this, Yang Jing finally stood up and walked to the clay pot in the corner of the room, fishing out the cooked horse meat.
As he ate the horse meat, Yang Jing thought of bear meat.
Bear meat was the meat of a fierce beast, and its nourishing effect far surpassed the horse meat he was eating now. It was just that its price was likewise far beyond what horse meat could compare to. Yang Jing currently did not have that much money to buy fierce-beast meat.
“If I could eat fierce-beast meat every day, my martial progress could rise by another large margin, and the time needed to break through to Anjin would be greatly shortened as well,” Yang Jing thought to himself. “So right now, the most crucial thing is still silver.”
In this chaotic age, without silver, there were no resources. For an ordinary martial artist like him, a path of martial cultivation lacking resources could be said to be difficult at every step.
“I’ve broken through to Mingjin now, so I already have the qualifications to take a retainer post, but…”
Yang Jing sighed softly.
Since he had broken through to Mingjin, several families had come to invite him to take up such a post over the past two days.
Only, the conditions they offered were not particularly generous, basically seven or eight taels of silver each month.
For ordinary people, seven or eight taels of silver a month was definitely a large sum. In the countryside, even in previous years when land prices were high, seven or eight taels of silver would have been more than enough to buy one mu of good farmland.
Before Yang Jing broke through to Mingjin, his family had all but smashed pots and sold iron to support his martial training, and his monthly living expenses had only been a little over two taels.
If his family were told that someone was willing to spend seven or eight taels of silver a month to hire him, and that he would only need to exert himself occasionally, they would probably find it unimaginable.
But that was, in the end, only for ordinary people. Now that Yang Jing had successfully entered jin, he had already left the category of ordinary people behind and had truly become a martial artist.
According to the information Yang Jing had gathered, an ordinary Mingjin martial artist’s compensation for a retainer post should generally be around ten taels a month. Those with better innate talent were another matter entirely.
Yang Jing had not set his target for this compensation too high. Reaching the ordinary standard would be enough.
Only, up until now, no family had offered him a price that reached ten taels.
Yang Jing sighed helplessly.
In others’ eyes, he was probably truly someone whose potential had been exhausted. His value was lower than that of an ordinary Mingjin martial artist, so his monthly allowance was set somewhat lower as well.
“Tsk, tsk. I’m being looked down on when it comes to retainer posts. As for patronage, no one has paid any attention to me so far. Two days have already passed; it looks like there’s no hope.”
Yang Jing shook his head, but he was not discouraged. He had expected this from the beginning.
After breaking through to Mingjin, aside from taking a retainer post, there was also a chance of receiving patronage from some great clan or large shop.
Take the Sun Family Martial School, for example.
After a disciple broke through to Mingjin, if they displayed some potential, they might receive the favor of certain great clans, who would offer them patronage and form a favorable bond. In the future, if that disciple achieved success in martial arts, they would in turn repay and assist the patron.
The greater the potential one displayed, the more likely one was to be valued and sponsored by those great clans.
For example, Lin Yue, the genius disciple currently enjoying the greatest reputation in the Sun Family Martial School, had already received patronage from the Zhao family and the Qi family before breaking through to Mingjin.
Second Senior Brother Zhao Wenzheng and Third Senior Sister Qi Yun were respectively descendants of the Zhao family and the Qi family.
Generally speaking, because they were close and could act quickly, if a genius disciple appeared in the martial school or achieved a breakthrough, the descendants of the great clans within the same martial school would be the first to make contact and offer patronage. Outsiders would not get a turn.
Under normal circumstances, a disciple would basically only have one clan supporting them from behind. After all, these great clans also had complicated relationships, and even rifts, between them.
It was only because Lin Yue’s potential was simply too great that two great clans had chosen to sponsor him.
“Although no one is willing to sponsor me, I didn’t hold out much hope from the beginning. Since I had no hope, naturally there’s no disappointment either.” Yang Jing ate the horse meat in large mouthfuls, slowly pondering in his heart.
Others did not know he had the panel. They only felt that his potential was exhausted, and that his ability to break through to Mingjin relied entirely on luck.