Frankly speaking, in the innermost depths of his heart, Junior Leopard detested Zhu Ba for his vulgar, rude, brutal, greedy, and obscene disposition. All of the defects that men possessed seemed to be present in him.
If others had possessed those defects, Junior Leopard would pay little attention to them.
Yet much to Junior Leopard's surprise, he found that this Zhu Ba was endowed with a special one, the heaven-sent bloodline that ordinary people did not have.
This was as special as Junior Leopard's Fiery Eyes. With the ancient bloodline, Zhu Ba enjoyed the Divine Sense of this ancient bloodline. However, Zhu Ba seldom knew this point and still believed that Junior Leopard regarded him with special respect on account of his excellent aptitude and sincere attitude.
When Junior Leopard began to know his Fiery Eyes, he was apt to notice the aspect of the heaven-sent bloodline. Over these years, he had read quite a few books, thus, he somewhat understood the heaven-sent bloodline in this world. In other words, the Divine Sense of the heaven-sent bloodline was similar to the Bloodline Limit in cartoons. Only when existing in a specific clan could it be passed down in the form of a bloodline. So could the Fiery Eyes. So could the Thunder Spirit Body of the Lei Family of Tian Long Taoism. So could Zhu Ba's inborn Divine Sense, though his talent had not awakened.
There were a few people with the heaven-sent bloodline, but among which, very few people were able to wake the power of the bloodline up.
Few families had the ability to activate the heaven-sent bloodline from generation to generation, like the Lei Family of Tian Long Taoism. There were two families with this ability in the entire Jin. Although the range extended to the whole world, there were only about 10 families with this ability. As for most of the other people, it was impossible to know this ability, let alone to wake it up.
Like Zhu Ba, he did not even know that he had possessed the heaven-sent bloodline. Yet as time elapsed, on the condition that his power of the heaven-sent bloodline was not activated, the power lingering over people would be weaker and weaker and doomed to disappear forever finally.
Zhu Ba himself was ignorant of his innate bloodline, while Junior Leopard noticed Zhu Ba's abnormity through his Fiery Eyes.
Zhu Ba was an exceedingly rude fellow. He often visited Junior Leopard before the doorkeepers had told Junior Leopard. Instead, he always intruded into the cortile directly. On one occasion, Junior Leopard was practicing his own Fiery Eyes when that guy intruded there directly. At that very time, with Fiery Eyes fully open, Junior Leopard found that Zhu Ba's eyes concealed a sort of magical strength.
Much to Junior Leopard's surprise, he found that the strength of his Fiery Eyes exerted a dramatic effect on himself.
"Greed! Extreme greed!"
In that instant, an idea occurred to him that he wanted to engulf the strength of Zhu Ba's eyes. It was a strong possessiveness and most primitive greed.
This greed came from the true intention, without a trace of restraint. However, according to Junior Leopard's disposition, he could not resist this greed from his innermost heart. But what he could do, in accordance with its natural tendency, was to rob Zhu Ba's strength in the safest and most unremarkable way.
Therefore, Junior Leopard's attitude towards Zhu Ba was different from others. He even dispersed news that Zhu Ba, with his high aptitude, satisfied him, so he would give a priority in cultivating Zhu Ba. Although there was nothing to do, he still asked Zhu Ba to come here and viewed Zhu Ba's progress of martial arts. In fact, exactly like that, each time he left Zhu Ba alone, Junior Leopard would inspect his progress of martial arts.
He defeated River Heart Island and captured everything of Broken Dragon Beach, naturally including the way of Cross Training Diamond Body on which Li Sanbao depended to run wild in the Luo River. After Junior Leopard kept Zhu Ba, Junior Leopard acted as a teacher to teach his disciple; he taught him this method and answered all questions he had met during the course of the practice.
Hence, among people who practiced Cross Training Diamond Body in River Heart Island, Zhu Ba was the one who most quickly improved. Now, in the Water Camp, Zhu Ba's martial arts ranked second only to Junior Leopard, or in other words, he became the first expert aside from Zhou Bao.
For this reason, others were jealous of him.
Young as Junior Leopard was, everyone knew that he was endowed with the talent for martial arts. Furthermore, he came from an honorable family with the cultivation of Level Four at a very early age. How dreadful his combat capability was! By virtue of his rate of growth, he had a great potential to ascend into the phase of Level Seven.
For those rash people of the navy, being conducted by Junior Leopard to learn skills was an extremely lucky thing.
Therefore, never did anybody question that Junior Leopard was too young to teach others to learn martial arts skills. All of the navy people wished that Junior Leopard would take a fancy to them and give them some directions.
Ordinary soldiers had little opportunity to contact Junior Leopard. Though they met Junior Leopard, they dared not to seek advice from him. As for Wang Cheng and other elders, they were too senior to pull down their face and ask for advice. Naturally, in their eyes, Zhu Ba was a lucky dog.
Yet this lucky guy did not always cherish this hard-earned opportunity. Every time after he came back he would complain that the requirements of Commander were too particular and he could not bear it. Then he enumerated the tasks that Junior Leopard assigned for him and he did not understand what Junior Leopard talked about. Every time after hearing that, someone else would be extremely jealous and have the desire to kick and kill him.
Consequently, when Junior Leopard embarrassed Zhu Ba in public, they would take pleasure in his misfortune and never intercede for him.
Although Zhu Ba was rude and a scoundrel, he was still smart. He knew that when Junior Leopard put him in an important position, he would gain great benefits. Even if he often complained, he did his utmost to safeguard Junior Leopard's interests. It was OK that he complained about Junior Leopard, but if someone else was bitching about Junior Leopard in front of him, he must be the first one to rush forward and beat this "someone else".
"Your Excellency, the tasks you assigned have been completed!" Following Junior Leopard to the backyard, Zhu Ba showed an ingratiating smile on his face and narrowed his eyes into a slit. "Are there any good things to teach me?"
"It is a good thing indeed! Don't mention it to others!" Junior Leopard laughed and said, holding a parcel from the house, "These medicinal herbs are used to purify the body during the bath. They are of no use to me. Take them away! There are enough for you to use four times, which will bring a great advantage to enhance your physical strength!"
"This—!"
Zhu Ba suddenly froze there, staring at the parcel in Junior Leopard's hands, with his eyes fixed and his mouth open. For a long time, he raised his head and just looked up. Much to Junior Leopard's astonishment, tears flooded Zhu Ba's eyes.
Then he uttered a weird scream and knelt down suddenly.
"Your, Your Excellency...!" Zhu Ba uttered in a quivery and excited voice, looking at Junior Leopard with a vague and passionate look. "You are like a second parent to me. I am unable to make any recompense, but I will not hesitate to spare all efforts to do everything for you in the future!"
"Er—!" Junior Leopard felt a sudden shudder. Shaking his head a few times, he intended to stretch his hands and help him up, but he felt a sense of a chill when extending his hands.
"Er, that, in fact it is nothing. You possess the highest talent to practice martial arts, so you are most hopeful to have a bright future in martial arts skills. Of course I think highly of you. The higher your martial arts is, the stronger my strength will be. Furthermore, it is unhelpful for me to use these medicinal herbs. You are the only one who deserves them. Therefore, don't say something useless! Just practice martial arts hard. The important thing is to improve your strength!"
"Yeah! I will try my best to practice and I certainly won't let you down!" Zhu Ba exclaimed. Due to his excitement, his voice trembled.
"Alright! Don't speak so loudly. If you speak a bit louder, you will be heard by all of the people in the Water Army Camp!"
"Well!" Zhu Ba's face remained still for a while and he lowered his head. Taking the parcel from Junior Leopard, he bent himself to bow and left silently.
"This guy is really a promising person with great potential! But I don't know that after I deprive his strength whether he will be still alive or not!" After a few deep breaths, Junior Leopard removed his uncomfortable feeling, looking in the direction of the door with a cold smile.
The Bone-Forging Pills and Tendon-Changing Pills he had made were enough to deal with his cultivation ascending into the Tendon-Changing Realm. There even were pills remaining. Therefore, these medicinal herbs were useless to Junior Leopard. These could be sold in exchange for a big sum of money, but Junior Leopard did not care about money now.
He held the lifeblood of Jiang City's water transport. Meanwhile, he colluded and exchanged the needed goods mutually with the water bandit of the Luo River, plus the goods yard at River Heart Island. Certainly, his fortune was rolling in from all sides. What he lacked now was strength, not money.
A Level Four expert!
He could do what he wanted to do in most of the places of this world. However, for Junior Leopard, it was far from enough. He was in danger and had the highest vigilance because of his troublesome bloodline.
It stood to reason that, as a Level Four expert, what he should do was to go around to gain bigger fame and hone his techniques in Jianghu at his current age. Only in this way, could his strength be improved. But now, he stayed in Jiang City to intently manage his own influence, which made a portion of the people surprised and feel regret. However, regardless of their surprise and regret, Junior Leopard's decision could not be influenced.
He also wanted to leave home. However, after he refined the second External Elixir, he evidently felt that the strength of the second External Elixir was absorbed by his eyes, which made his eyes unstable. With excitement and overexertion, his Fiery Eyes would automatically open out of his control. Under this circumstance, if Junior Leopard fought with others in Jianghu, he believed that very soon all the people would know of the fact that he owned Fiery Eyes. Thus, he would have to prepare to be chased by everyone!
Hence, he chose to remain dormant in Jiang City, a small area at a good geographical location, where he managed his own influence as he stabilized his eyes. After solving the problem of his eyes, then he would fight with others for fame!
Frankly speaking, in the innermost depths of his heart, Junior Leopard detested Zhu Ba for his vulgar, rude, brutal, greedy, and obscene disposition. All of the defects that men possessed seemed to be present in him.
If others had possessed those defects, Junior Leopard would pay little attention to them.
Yet much to Junior Leopard's surprise, he found that this Zhu Ba was endowed with a special one, the heaven-sent bloodline that ordinary people did not have.
This was as special as Junior Leopard's Fiery Eyes. With the ancient bloodline, Zhu Ba enjoyed the Divine Sense of this ancient bloodline. However, Zhu Ba seldom knew this point and still believed that Junior Leopard regarded him with special respect on account of his excellent aptitude and sincere attitude.
When Junior Leopard began to know his Fiery Eyes, he was apt to notice the aspect of the heaven-sent bloodline. Over these years, he had read quite a few books, thus, he somewhat understood the heaven-sent bloodline in this world. In other words, the Divine Sense of the heaven-sent bloodline was similar to the Bloodline Limit in cartoons. Only when existing in a specific clan could it be passed down in the form of a bloodline. So could the Fiery Eyes. So could the Thunder Spirit Body of the Lei Family of Tian Long Taoism. So could Zhu Ba's inborn Divine Sense, though his talent had not awakened.
There were a few people with the heaven-sent bloodline, but among which, very few people were able to wake the power of the bloodline up.
Few families had the ability to activate the heaven-sent bloodline from generation to generation, like the Lei Family of Tian Long Taoism. There were two families with this ability in the entire Jin. Although the range extended to the whole world, there were only about 10 families with this ability. As for most of the other people, it was impossible to know this ability, let alone to wake it up.
Like Zhu Ba, he did not even know that he had possessed the heaven-sent bloodline. Yet as time elapsed, on the condition that his power of the heaven-sent bloodline was not activated, the power lingering over people would be weaker and weaker and doomed to disappear forever finally.
Zhu Ba himself was ignorant of his innate bloodline, while Junior Leopard noticed Zhu Ba's abnormity through his Fiery Eyes.
Zhu Ba was an exceedingly rude fellow. He often visited Junior Leopard before the doorkeepers had told Junior Leopard. Instead, he always intruded into the cortile directly. On one occasion, Junior Leopard was practicing his own Fiery Eyes when that guy intruded there directly. At that very time, with Fiery Eyes fully open, Junior Leopard found that Zhu Ba's eyes concealed a sort of magical strength.
Much to Junior Leopard's surprise, he found that the strength of his Fiery Eyes exerted a dramatic effect on himself.
"Greed! Extreme greed!"
In that instant, an idea occurred to him that he wanted to engulf the strength of Zhu Ba's eyes. It was a strong possessiveness and most primitive greed.
This greed came from the true intention, without a trace of restraint. However, according to Junior Leopard's disposition, he could not resist this greed from his innermost heart. But what he could do, in accordance with its natural tendency, was to rob Zhu Ba's strength in the safest and most unremarkable way.
Therefore, Junior Leopard's attitude towards Zhu Ba was different from others. He even dispersed news that Zhu Ba, with his high aptitude, satisfied him, so he would give a priority in cultivating Zhu Ba. Although there was nothing to do, he still asked Zhu Ba to come here and viewed Zhu Ba's progress of martial arts. In fact, exactly like that, each time he left Zhu Ba alone, Junior Leopard would inspect his progress of martial arts.
He defeated River Heart Island and captured everything of Broken Dragon Beach, naturally including the way of Cross Training Diamond Body on which Li Sanbao depended to run wild in the Luo River. After Junior Leopard kept Zhu Ba, Junior Leopard acted as a teacher to teach his disciple; he taught him this method and answered all questions he had met during the course of the practice.
Hence, among people who practiced Cross Training Diamond Body in River Heart Island, Zhu Ba was the one who most quickly improved. Now, in the Water Camp, Zhu Ba's martial arts ranked second only to Junior Leopard, or in other words, he became the first expert aside from Zhou Bao.
For this reason, others were jealous of him.
Young as Junior Leopard was, everyone knew that he was endowed with the talent for martial arts. Furthermore, he came from an honorable family with the cultivation of Level Four at a very early age. How dreadful his combat capability was! By virtue of his rate of growth, he had a great potential to ascend into the phase of Level Seven.
For those rash people of the navy, being conducted by Junior Leopard to learn skills was an extremely lucky thing.
Therefore, never did anybody question that Junior Leopard was too young to teach others to learn martial arts skills. All of the navy people wished that Junior Leopard would take a fancy to them and give them some directions.
Ordinary soldiers had little opportunity to contact Junior Leopard. Though they met Junior Leopard, they dared not to seek advice from him. As for Wang Cheng and other elders, they were too senior to pull down their face and ask for advice. Naturally, in their eyes, Zhu Ba was a lucky dog.
Yet this lucky guy did not always cherish this hard-earned opportunity. Every time after he came back he would complain that the requirements of Commander were too particular and he could not bear it. Then he enumerated the tasks that Junior Leopard assigned for him and he did not understand what Junior Leopard talked about. Every time after hearing that, someone else would be extremely jealous and have the desire to kick and kill him.
Consequently, when Junior Leopard embarrassed Zhu Ba in public, they would take pleasure in his misfortune and never intercede for him.
Although Zhu Ba was rude and a scoundrel, he was still smart. He knew that when Junior Leopard put him in an important position, he would gain great benefits. Even if he often complained, he did his utmost to safeguard Junior Leopard's interests. It was OK that he complained about Junior Leopard, but if someone else was bitching about Junior Leopard in front of him, he must be the first one to rush forward and beat this "someone else".
"Your Excellency, the tasks you assigned have been completed!" Following Junior Leopard to the backyard, Zhu Ba showed an ingratiating smile on his face and narrowed his eyes into a slit. "Are there any good things to teach me?"
"It is a good thing indeed! Don't mention it to others!" Junior Leopard laughed and said, holding a parcel from the house, "These medicinal herbs are used to purify the body during the bath. They are of no use to me. Take them away! There are enough for you to use four times, which will bring a great advantage to enhance your physical strength!"
"This—!"
Zhu Ba suddenly froze there, staring at the parcel in Junior Leopard's hands, with his eyes fixed and his mouth open. For a long time, he raised his head and just looked up. Much to Junior Leopard's astonishment, tears flooded Zhu Ba's eyes.
Then he uttered a weird scream and knelt down suddenly.
"Your, Your Excellency...!" Zhu Ba uttered in a quivery and excited voice, looking at Junior Leopard with a vague and passionate look. "You are like a second parent to me. I am unable to make any recompense, but I will not hesitate to spare all efforts to do everything for you in the future!"
"Er—!" Junior Leopard felt a sudden shudder. Shaking his head a few times, he intended to stretch his hands and help him up, but he felt a sense of a chill when extending his hands.
"Er, that, in fact it is nothing. You possess the highest talent to practice martial arts, so you are most hopeful to have a bright future in martial arts skills. Of course I think highly of you. The higher your martial arts is, the stronger my strength will be. Furthermore, it is unhelpful for me to use these medicinal herbs. You are the only one who deserves them. Therefore, don't say something useless! Just practice martial arts hard. The important thing is to improve your strength!"
"Yeah! I will try my best to practice and I certainly won't let you down!" Zhu Ba exclaimed. Due to his excitement, his voice trembled.
"Alright! Don't speak so loudly. If you speak a bit louder, you will be heard by all of the people in the Water Army Camp!"
"Well!" Zhu Ba's face remained still for a while and he lowered his head. Taking the parcel from Junior Leopard, he bent himself to bow and left silently.
"This guy is really a promising person with great potential! But I don't know that after I deprive his strength whether he will be still alive or not!" After a few deep breaths, Junior Leopard removed his uncomfortable feeling, looking in the direction of the door with a cold smile.
The Bone-Forging Pills and Tendon-Changing Pills he had made were enough to deal with his cultivation ascending into the Tendon-Changing Realm. There even were pills remaining. Therefore, these medicinal herbs were useless to Junior Leopard. These could be sold in exchange for a big sum of money, but Junior Leopard did not care about money now.
He held the lifeblood of Jiang City's water transport. Meanwhile, he colluded and exchanged the needed goods mutually with the water bandit of the Luo River, plus the goods yard at River Heart Island. Certainly, his fortune was rolling in from all sides. What he lacked now was strength, not money.
A Level Four expert!
He could do what he wanted to do in most of the places of this world. However, for Junior Leopard, it was far from enough. He was in danger and had the highest vigilance because of his troublesome bloodline.
It stood to reason that, as a Level Four expert, what he should do was to go around to gain bigger fame and hone his techniques in Jianghu at his current age. Only in this way, could his strength be improved. But now, he stayed in Jiang City to intently manage his own influence, which made a portion of the people surprised and feel regret. However, regardless of their surprise and regret, Junior Leopard's decision could not be influenced.
He also wanted to leave home. However, after he refined the second External Elixir, he evidently felt that the strength of the second External Elixir was absorbed by his eyes, which made his eyes unstable. With excitement and overexertion, his Fiery Eyes would automatically open out of his control. Under this circumstance, if Junior Leopard fought with others in Jianghu, he believed that very soon all the people would know of the fact that he owned Fiery Eyes. Thus, he would have to prepare to be chased by everyone!
Hence, he chose to remain dormant in Jiang City, a small area at a good geographical location, where he managed his own influence as he stabilized his eyes. After solving the problem of his eyes, then he would fight with others for fame!
