Xu Guang showed no change in expression, but thought to himself.
Have I now become a Tributor of the Zhu Family?
Tributor is essentially another term for a Guest.
Zhu Fu finished arranging things, then looked at Xu Guang with a gentle smile and said, "Brother Xu, don't overthink it. Since you just joined our Zhu Family, for now, you will receive the same treatment as Tributor Liu and the others. Our Zhu Family will provide you with a hundred taels of silver each month."
"Additionally, regarding the matter between you and my daughter..."
Zhu Fu had already recognized Xu Guang's abilities. In these chaotic times, skilled people are valued everywhere. He still wanted to bind himself as closely to Xu Guang as possible.
By establishing the betrothal, he would have his second son learn the methods of taming Great Beasts, and Xu Guang would sincerely teach him.
Moreover, the betrothal is just that—whether the marriage happens or not is merely a matter of what he decides after his second son fully masters beast taming.
Xu Guang inwardly mocked.
What exactly does Zhu Fu's daughter look like? Why is he so eager to marry her off?
He hadn't considered the twists and turns in Zhu Fu's mind.
He was new here and genuinely had no intention of marrying soon.
"Thank you, sir, for your generous offer."
He displayed a look of trepidation.
"Xu Guang, coming from a humble background, concerning the matter of marrying Miss, I ask you to reconsider. I came here as a refugee, like a stray dog, and now I just want to save money, practice martial arts, and take control of my fate."
Despite listening to Xu Guang's words, Zhu Fu inwardly dismissed them.
Martial arts?
This kid wants to practice martial arts?
But is practicing martial arts that simple?
Let alone the money needed, martial arts training needs to start from childhood. Although Xu Guang isn't very old, he has already missed the best period for training. Even with money, his achievements will be limited.
But since he wishes to pull Xu Guang closer, these thoughts were not spoken aloud.
Instead, Zhu Fu smiled.
"So, you want to practice martial arts? Practicing martial arts is good. Zhenzhen is practicing martial arts at the Iron Armor Sect. If you practice martial arts, you two will have a common language."
"In that case, a month from now, the Iron Armor Sect will be accepting disciples. I will personally recommend you and secure a spot for you!"
Xu Guang was overjoyed and cupped his hands in a bow.
"Thank you, sir!"
...
Xu Guang hadn't expected that the path to martial arts was found so swiftly.
Especially to become an apprentice at the largest Martial Arts Sect in Qingshuo County—the Iron Armor Sect.
Naturally, Xu Guang was very happy about this.
"Brother Xu, how much longer will the dish need to be mixed?"
A voice came from behind.
A sturdy young man in his early twenties was vigorously mixing General Wei's lunch.
This person was called Zhu Cheng, Zhu Fu's second son, who was sent over to Xu Guang to learn the ways of taming elephants.
With such benefits from Zhu Fu—enhanced salary and honorable treatments, arranging martial arts training—naturally, there was something in it for him.
Xu Guang gladly accepted these terms.
General Wei was highly intelligent, having a golden finger. He made General Wei pretend to cooperate with Zhu Cheng a bit, to facilitate his 'learning.'
Fortunately, Zhu Cheng, despite being a young master of the Zhu Family, had a rather decent character, without the typical debauchery.
Originally, he was in charge of running the Zhu Family's courier stations in the city and their businesses outside Qingshuo County.
It was just that recently, the Zhu Family's businesses outside Qingshuo County had all come to a halt, leaving Zhu Cheng idle at home.
Xu Guang didn't know what trouble beset the Zhu Family's business and wasn't interested either.
His most important task now was to accumulate enough steps every day to quickly upgrade [Elephant Envoy] to Level 5, in preparation for his joining the Iron Armor Sect next month and undertaking the martial artist profession.
"Second Young Master, you being a Grade-entering Martial Artist, what is it like to practice martial arts?"
"Don't call me Second Young Master, you're not a servant, and who knows, you might become my brother-in-law someday, so call me Second Brother!"
In just two days, the two got along quite well. Zhu Cheng could clearly feel that Xu Guang had nothing to hide from him.
However, the ability Xu Guang had to tell at a glance whether General Wei had eaten enough was truly beyond his learning.
He was now certain that everything Xu Guang told the old man was true.
"Second Brother..." Xu Guang scratched his head.
Zhu Cheng chuckled, not hiding anything, "Practicing martial arts depends on perseverance. Especially the first three realms, laying the foundation is quite painful. You'll know when you go to the Iron Armor Sect next month."
After a pause, he commented, "The cultivation techniques of the Iron Armor Sect are probably the most painful to train, but they also yield the strongest combat power."
Xu Guang nodded. His daily chats with Zhu Cheng were currently his only source of insight into the Martial Dao.
The more he understood, the more he longed for it.
...
The Zhu Family.
"What? Someone from outside, a refugee, tamed a Great Beast?"
A hulking middle-aged man with a full beard abruptly stood up, looking sullen.
"Absolutely true, Young Master Zhu Cheng is already learning the beast taming methods from that person."
Zhu Huai glared viciously, suddenly recalling seeing his elder brother in great spirits this morning.
It seems the news was true.
"That kid can't be allowed to live. Go find Scarface Three, and find a way to get rid of him."
"Yes."
...
"Father, I didn't expect Second Uncle to do such a great thing, sacrificing so many businesses outside the county, but gained a future Seventh Grade combat power. I heard such Great Beasts are difficult to tame, generally, people can only obtain blood for alchemy, even the Northern Bandits probably didn't expect anyone to tame one."
Zhu Cheng, looking pleased, poured tea for his father, Zhu Fu, with a smile.
Seventh Grade combat power in Qingshuo County already constitutes supreme strength, and with General Wei's massive size and full Iron Armor, he already possesses the power to shake the county's balance.
In sieging, what kind of strong walls could withstand General Wei's impact?
"Hmph!" Mentioning his second brother, Zhu Fu was obviously dissatisfied.
"I don't want to talk about him. Tell me, how do you feel about Xu Guang?"
The Zhu Family had three branches; the first branch was naturally Zhu Fu's line, the second was Zhu Huai's, and the third branch only had two widows and three half-grown boys.
The feud between Zhu Fu and Zhu Huai had been long-standing.
Since the Great Zhou had descended into chaos, Zhu Huai had always been looking to ally with one of the three major forces in the county—the Wei Family—and unite other families in the county to conquer the remaining two forces, whereas Zhu Fu wished to stay neutral and play both sides.
Their feud deepened until last year when Zhu Huai unilaterally spent a fortune to order a young Kunlun Beast from the Thirty-Six Northern Bandits.
With such a notorious group like the Thirty-Six Giant Bandits of the Northern Lands, the Zhu Family had no intention of defaulting on the payment.
The Kunlun Beast was purchased from the Thirty-Six Giant Bandits under these nearly coercive terms.
Zhu Fu was actually quite troubled over how to deal with it.
Fortunately, Xu Guang appeared.
"From these past two days of observation, he's trustworthy."
Reflecting on his interactions with Xu Guang over the last two days, Zhu Cheng spoke fairly.
"And what do you think about the three realms of beast taming he mentioned, are they real?"
"His interactions with General Wei were never concealed from me. I don't consider myself a fool, but I truly don't understand how he can immediately tell what General Wei needs to eat. I can feel that under his care, General Wei's daily growth is astonishing."
Zhu Cheng forced a bitter smile.
Hearing this, Zhu Fu fell silent for a moment.
"In that case, get along with him well. If possible, let him meet with your sister a few times. Better yet, try to bring them together..."
"Kunlun is vast. There is more than one Giant Elephant like General Wei..."
Zhu Fu spoke with wandering eyes.
Zhu Cheng took a deep breath.
"Rest assured, Father."