Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1445
The young appraiser sighed. Taking out a dark red monocle from his pocket and putting it on his right eye, he observed what Zhao Zhenwu had offered for half a second, before he casually said, "The title deed is unacceptable. The saber, three thousand. The medals, two thousand. Five thousand crystal coins in total. Are you pawning them or not?"
"Two thousand?"
Zhao Zhenwu was completely shocked. Then he burst into fury and shoved the medals to the young appraiser's face vehemently. "Watch carefully. Open your eyes and watch carefully! One level-two Divine Cauldron Medal, one level-two Blue Sky Medal, one level-three Blackstar Medal. It's the Blackstar Medal! I traded my eye and my arm for the Blackstar Medal, and you are telling me that it's only worth two thousand? Two thousand?"
"Divine Cauldron and Blue Sky are five hundred apiece, and level-three Blackstar is a thousand. That's the market price now."
The young appraiser was untouched. "A lot of generals like you have come to the capital in the recent half of the year. They lack everything but medals. Now that there are too many of them, it is only natural that they grow cheap. Yesterday, a general pawned a level-two Blackstar Medal for two thousand and five hundred coins. It is already fair enough to give you a thousand for your level-three Blackstar Medal. In a few days, it will only become cheaper. Chances are that you won't even get eight hundred!"
Two thousand and five hundred, a thousand, eight hundred.
They were cheap because there were too many of them!
Zhao Zhenwu felt that his head was exploding. His ears hummed hard, and the level-three Blackstar Medal was enlarging nonstop. The stars on the background of the medal seemed to have turned into the starships of the Covenant Alliance, throwing thousands of heavy crystal bombs on his team and himself, blowing all of them into smithereens.
"Pa!"
His eyes bloodshot, Zhao Zhenwu drew the mini storm bolter from his waist and slammed it down on the counter before he realized what he was doing.
"This is the general's special gun. How much is it worth?"
He roared. He then dug out his artificial left eye brutally and slammed it down on the counter too.
"This is the artificial eye of a vice-admiral of the Imperium. How much is it worth?"
He then tore off his artificial arm and tossed it at the young appraiser.
"This is my arm. How much is it worth? Tell me! How much is it?"
He seemed to be back to the glorious years when he was a space pirate. His disobedience and violence completely released, he dashed to the top of the counter, meaning to grab the appraiser by the collar.
But out of his expectation, the seemingly empty counter was protected by powerful defense rune arrays in between the customer and the appraiser. Hardly had he extended his hand when dozens of electric arcs shot out from the counter and blew him out to the ground.
Before he had the chance to scream, the two daunting guards had already lunged close and beat him hard with the short sticks that were surrounded by electric arcs, forcing him to throw out his screams.
"This is outrageous!"
Zhao Zhenwu's lunacy all turned into poignance. He roared in devastation, "I shed blood in the frontline, I made contributions to the Imperium, I am a legitimate vice-admiral of the Imperium and a commander of a fleet!"
"Vice-admiral?"
While the two guards beat him hard, one of them grinned hideously and said, "Old fart, do you know where you are? The capital! If you throw a brick to the street, you may smash ten sect leaders and eight generals!"
"I'll kill you!"
Zhao Zhenwu groped for his Seven Star Jade Cutting Saber. But then, he recalled that his familial saber was still on the counter and that it already couldn't perform the function of automatic defense due to the lack of crystals. So, he could only wail aloud, "Wait for it. Just wait until I get my strength back… I am a vice-admiral!"
Chapter 2264: You Can Only Forgive Her... |
Zhao Zhenwu was drowned by the storm of fists and electric sticks again. Sparks were flying before his eyes like a volcano eruption, and he was seeing all kinds of illusions in his trance. He felt that he was back to the battlefields of bombs and bodies.
His old brothers all turned into creepy ghosts and extended their skinny hands at him while they shouted desperately, "Commander? Where is the fortune that you promised? Boss, where is the gigantic fortune?"
Zhao Zhenwu shrieked and cramped hard.
The two guards beat him for a while more before they dragged his feet and threw him out of the pawnshop into a gutter on the dark street.
Clang! Clang!
His artificial eye, artificial arm, medals, title deed, and familial saber were all tossed out by the guards onto his body coldly.
Such things were anything but unusual in the thirty-sixth district or any other underground district in the capital in the recent half of the year.
There were even a bunch of scoundrels who lurked in front of the pawnshops every day, preparing for their shameless business.
The moment they saw that Zhao Zhenwu was thrown out, a large batch of scoundrels crowded forward. While shouting "somebody, help him", they searched his body crazily.
Zhao Zhenwu was already half dead because of the beating. The world was swirling before his eyes. How could he have the strength to defend himself?
He tried to defend his medals, title deed, and saber, but somebody hit his head hard, and he immediately passed out.
Five minutes later, when he woke up again, he felt coldness to the bones. Even the general's uniform on his body had been entirely taken away. The medals, the title deed, and the saber were gone too. The only things left were a few scoundrels at the door of the pawnshop who were picking their teeth while grimacing at him.
Zhao Zhenwu's blood was completely frozen.
He felt that the air in the entire world had been pumped away. He was unable to catch his breath at all, and his heart was aching nonstop.
"My medals! My title deed! My saber!"
He cried and groped in the gutter, only to find an artificial eyeball that had been broken and a squeaky metal arm.
Waving his left arm with his right hand, he moved to the scoundrels like a zombie.
"Somebody stole your things and ran that way."
The scoundrels laughed in no fear. Some even grimaced and pointed at the depths of the dilapidated alleys.
Zhao Zhenwu thought for a moment and turned around, trying to enter the pawnshop again.
The scoundrels moved forward and carried him out of the street together. Somebody leaned close to his ear and said with stinky air from their mouth, "Forget it. Consider the loss of your treasures a price for your life. Do you know to whom the 'East Mountain Pawnshop' belongs? The Dongfang family! If you make a fuss again, it is more than easy to kill a surplus general like you and throw you into the furnace of the energy factory than to butcher a dog!"
Zhao Zhenwu was kicked out of the street.
He felt that the bones all over his body were constricting, and his back couldn't help but bend.
Looking at the entrance of the street that was as dark as the mouth of a man-eating beast, Zhao Zhenwu was stunned for a long time but did not have the guts to argue with them anymore. It was the Dongfang family's property!
Like a ghost, Zhao Zhenwu wandered in the thirty-sixth district. In his trance, he did not even know how he returned home.
The Royal Seminar For Advanced Generals at least provided four-bed dormitories for them, no matter how ragged they were.
But he was not all by himself. He still had a wife and a son to feed.
Zhao Zhenwu was born a privateer, or a space pirate, and he had killed too many people and made too many enemies in the business when he was in his hometown. Now that he was out to fight the war, there was naturally no reason to leave his wife and child behind to be butchered by other people.
While he fought in the frontline, his wife and his son had been renting a house in the capital. His wife was also from a family of Immortal Cultivators with a long history, and she was used to the extravagant lifestyle. She had been living in an advanced neighborhood in the capital and spending tons of money every year.
A few years back, when he still had his troops, he naturally had various sources to make money and transfer it back to the capital to feed his wife and his son. At that time, Zhao Zhenwu was very confident before his wife, and he was the unquestionable man of the family.
Even if he looked for another woman outside, it was still what his job needed. His wife did not dare to ask anything about it.
Now that he had lost everything, and his strength had hit rock bottom because of the heavy wounds, nothing about Zhao Zhenwu could be hard anymore!
He hadn't got his medical fees yet, and his son was about to enter the critical moment of awakening the spiritual root, which required tremendous resources. However, he was so destitute that he had even lost his medals, his saber, and his title deed… Zhao Zhenwu wandered before his house for more than half an hour but still did not know how he could explain it to his wife. He was almost of a mind to kill himself.
Suddenly, he heard his wife's giggle from the house.
This was not the advanced neighborhood that his wife rented earlier but just a regular slum in the thirty-sixth district. How could there be any sound-blocking rune array? Zhao Zhenwu bulged his eyes and stuck his ears to the wall, listening carefully. His jaw hit the ground before he knew it.
Huala!
Right then, the door opened, and a tall, fancy-looking man walked out of his house.
Zhao Zhenwu felt that his skull now weighed ten thousand tons and was pressing his head into the ground.
Countless voices were shouting in his heart, but his body seemed to have been emptied, and he could not even lift his finger.
The man saw him too, and he was quite embarrassed. After a cough, for some reason, the man went close and patted his shoulder, before he swaggered away.
He patted my shoulder.
In his dizziness, Zhao Zhenwu thought to himself, F*ck him! He dared to pat my shoulder!
"Aya."
His wife's voice came over unemotionally. "Why are you here? You didn't go to the seminar today?"
Zhao Zhenwu's blood was erupting out. He raised his hand high and meant to slap his wife, but his wrist was caught by her before he could touch her.
His wife was also an Immortal Cultivator, but she was a culture-type one. Naturally, she was no match for him in the past. But now, she easily dragged him into the room and threw him onto the messy bed.
As if suffering an electric shock, Zhao Zhenwu jumped to his feet and looked at the bed that was in a mess like it was a viper's nest.
"Is… Is he…"
Zhao Zhenwu's face was furious, but his voice was filled with tears as he asked, "Is he that 'Dongfang' guy?"
"Yes. He is Dongfang Ye, my current boss."
His wife admitted frankly. Combing her hair carefully, she said in peace, "Old Zhao, I did not know how to explain it to you before. Now that you have run into us today, let's just talk about now. There is no need to burst into a fury, which will only hurt your body. Your health should be your primary concern right now.
"As for me, I do not have time to quarrel with you either, because I'll be moving to the 'Cloud Sun District' too. I'm gathering my stuff right now. There is no need to make a scene. After all, when you enjoyed yourself outside before, I never fought you, right?"
The Cloud Sun District was a community of Immortal Cultivators on the ground that was within the reach of the sun. The house that Zhao Zhenwu rented for his wife and his son was exactly in an advanced neighborhood in the Cloud Sun District.
Naturally, the environment and the rental cost of the place were incomparable for the "thirty-sixth district" that did not even have a name.
After a long daze, Zhao Zhenwu asked, "How long has it been?"
His wife smiled. "Does it matter?"
Zhao Zhenwu fell silent. Then he struggled to say, "Why?"
His wife sighed and took out a golden, glittering card from her pocket. Putting into Zhao Zhenwu's pocket carefully, she said, "The wounds you suffered in the frontline are too heavy. If you can't find enough Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to treat yourself, the levels you have lost will never be recovered. There are a hundred thousand crystal coins in the card. Use them to treat your wounds first. If they are not enough, I will give you some money every month later. Cultivation is what matters most for every Immortal Cultivator. In any case, try to recover your strength first."
Zhao Zhenwu's face almost turned green. He grabbed the card hard, meaning to throw it at his wife's face, but he somehow thought to himself, The three medals that I earned with my life are only worth two thousand coins, but my wife… A hundred thousand? A hundred thousand!
"Also, you don't need to worry about Ah Xiao's spiritual root. I've taken care of everything."
His wife continued, "Rest assured. Ah Xiao has great gifts. With the investment of abundant resources, he will certainly grow into an Immortal Cultivator stronger than you."
Zhao Zhenwu felt like crying. He opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say. His throat constricted for a long time before he finally said, "You are taking Ah Xiao away with you?"
His wife smiled. "I'm not taking him to another world but just back to the 'Cloud Sun District'. He lived there and was used to everything there, and he has been complaining about the filth and stink of the thirty-sixth district and asking me to find a way to move back to the Cloud Sun District!
"In any case, his surname is Zhao, and you are his father. What are you worried about?"
Looking at his empty sleeve, Zhao Zhenwu lowered his head helplessly. "I—I—I…"
"I don't want to do this. I really don't."
His wife sighed and said gloomily, "I never left you when so many things happened to our family. After all, we have been a couple for so many years. I hoped that you could think of a solution as the man of the family. But half a year has passed, and you are as helpless as half a year ago.
"If men can't come up with a solution, women have to step up and see what we can do. I know that the wives of a lot of senior officers in your seminar show up often in the entertainment places. Why? To support the family, of course!
"Today, if you insist that I do not leave with Dongfang Ye, I won't, but where will your medical fees be tomorrow, where is the money for us two to keep our current level the day after tomorrow, and where is the money to help our son awaken his spiritual root the day after that?
"Are you going to be happy when I have to dance in the clubs like the wives of your 'classmates'?"
His wife's words couldn't have been more true.
Rendered speechless, Zhao Zhenwu moaned and collapsed to the ground.
Chapter 2265: Things Are Getting Huge! |
When Zhao Zhenwu woke up again, his wife had already left. The small house was already cleaned up without any trace of her and their son at all.
Zhao Zhenwu sat on the bed in a daze for a long time. For some reason, he touched the pistol on his waist.
His medals and his saber had all been stolen, but nobody wanted his pistol that was a standard weapon for generals. Perhaps the gun was as worthless as the generals in the capital right now, was it?
Zhao Zhenwu took out the mini storm bolter and touched it carefully next to his thigh. The light reflected from the barrel somewhat boasted weird attraction, alluring him to open his mouth and put the gun into it…
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Somebody knocked on the door.
Zhao Zhenwu shuddered and threw the pistol far away as if he had an electric shock. Calming himself down, he asked, "Who is it?"
"Old Zhao, it's me."
A familiar voice said sullenly from outside.
He opened his door, only to discover that it was He Peng, his fellow general in the Seminar of Generals.
When the Immortal Cultivators were absolutely confident about themselves, they would naturally compete with each other openly and in secret.
But when they were in a battlefield fighting on the same planet or even in the same trench, they sometimes could also become best friends.
It was especially so when they had all been heavily wounded and pushed into the fire pit that was the Seminar of Generals. There was nothing in them that could be taken advantage of anymore. So, their friendship was rather pure!
Immortal Cultivators were human beings too, and they could be quite loyal sometimes. This guy, He Peng, had similar experiences to Zhao Zhenwu. The two of them were good friends when they were still on the battlefield and now even closer comrades in the desperate situation.
Zhao Zhenwu was rather anxious to see He Peng, thinking that the man had learned the conflicts between him and his wife and came to offer consolation.
However, his good brother looked too devastated for that. Frowning, he asked, "What happened?"
He Peng sighed heavily and shook his head, "Zhou Lifu is dead. His death was quite miserable."
"What?"
Zhao Zhenwu was greatly shocked.
Zhao Lifu was also their fellow in the Seminar of Generals. He was a notorious, brutal man at the peripheral worlds in the first quadrant since decades ago.
The man used to be a gladiator and had a high Cultivation. It was said that he had a glorious accomplishment of thirty-five consecutive victories. In his peak, he once reached the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage and was known as "Ghost Butcher"!
In the Seminar of Generals, Zhou Lifu was also a very famous student. The man was outspoken and had a lot of friends. He was more or less a central person of all the students.
It never occurred to Zhao Zhenwu that he would die so abruptly.
"Old Zhou was different from you and me. I am all by myself and do not have any concerns. You have a wife and a child, which is not very burdensome. But Old Zhou had five sons, and all of them had shown talents in training. They all needed abundant resources for their growth."
