Chapter 072 – Fusion of Martial Power (1)
“Once the character is framed, kneel in the corridor for half an hour and really think about what mistake you’ve made.”
Just when Xu Ke thought this matter was over, Jiang Pengji suddenly added this remark, freezing him in place.
Xu Ke held the paper tightly, still showing signs of displeasure, but maintained a low posture. “Understood.”
Ta Xue, standing nearby, wore an expression that seemed to say she was used to this.
Xu Ke indeed performed outstandingly at today’s Elegant Gathering, thoroughly putting those noble youths in their place, but what good did it do?
“This should be a lesson; don’t go thinking you’re invincible and causing trouble for the Young Master.” Once outside the study, Ta Xue walked up to Xu Ke, raising her eyebrows slightly, showing a serious demeanor. “Any noble present today could easily take your life.”
Xu Ke pressed his lips together, lowering his voice as he replied indignantly, “They were aiming for the Young Master anyway; it’s a pity they fell short…”
Ta Xue frowned, coldly retorting, “Your earlier actions—were they to protect the Young Master from humiliation, or merely to seek glory for yourself? We both know the truth; there’s no need for excuses. There are many ways to protect the Young Master, yet you chose the worst one. Had you not provoked them, that Zheng Young Master wouldn’t have been humiliated by a mere underling…”
Xu Ke was stared down by Ta Xue’s sharp gaze, a wave of guilt suddenly swelling in his heart.
She was right; he indeed could have found a way to smooth this over without humiliating Liu Lanting or causing a loss of face for those young masters. So why did he insist on doing it this way? Ultimately, Xu Ke just could not accept his current identity.
He turned his face away, avoiding Ta Xue’s gaze, who merely smiled coldly and said, “If you pride yourself on being well-read and lofty, do you even know what it means to die for your master’s disgrace?”
In this era, the noble class had the right to maintain private soldiers and retainers, which was one of the key reasons for their elevated status and ability to threaten imperial authority. The Liu family, to which Liu Lanting belonged, wasn’t the top-tier noble house, but in Hejian County, it was far from insignificant.
Not to mention that Liu Zhi’s reputation in Dongqing was at its peak, making even the current Official Master both fond and wary of him.
Xu Ke had indeed slapped those noble youths in the face, earning some point for Jiang Pengji, but also gaining more hatred and resentment.
From the perspective of a “subject,” Xu Ke’s earlier actions were indeed foolish and ultimately caused Jiang Pengji to step in and save him from a dire situation. If it were a slightly ineffectual Young Master, Xu Ke would have definitely dug his own grave today.
Thinking back on it, his face turned pale, his cheek with medicated ointment subtly throbbing with pain.
Ta Xue and Xu Ke each had their own thoughts, but their mindset was ultimately constrained by the era they lived in.
In truth, Jiang Pengji’s punishment of Xu Ke kneeling wasn’t so deep; she simply thought Xu Ke was a reckless child who needed a lesson.
If she didn’t properly discipline him, wouldn’t he just think he could get away with anything?
Not every Young Master had her incredible skills to rescue the beautiful in distress.
Such reckless behavior, if it were in the Seventh Legion, wouldn’t be something that could be smoothed over with just an hour of kneeling.
Only a complete hellish training regimen along with personal martial training from the legion commander for several days could possibly teach him a lesson.
The youth being spirited was one thing, but they must not truly go crazy; they still needed proper restraint.
After shutting off the live stream, Jiang Pengji gazed thoughtfully at the plans she had set.
“The training for those house servants in Zhuangzi can be prioritized, let’s find Xu Ke some tasks to refine his temper.”
Even if she knew there was beautiful jade within that stone, if she didn’t carefully polish and extract it, one careless move could ruin that jade.
Jiang Pengji still hoped to have Xu Ke manage accounts in the future.
Lost in thought, she glanced at the popularity points on her live stream system account.
These past few days of streaming, the room was always full, with an endless line of viewers outside, and with scattered rewards, the accumulated popularity points were quite impressive. According to the contract, the final points earned had to be split with the system.
Overall, Jiang Pengji’s account currently had 10,034 popularity points.
She had later studied the contract provided by the system; as a first-level anchor, the initial room limit was 3,000 viewers. To increase the limit, she needed to upgrade; a second-level anchor had a limit of 10,000 but required 100,000 popularity points.
100,000 seemed like a lot, but based on the current speed of live streaming, upgrading was quite achievable.
The difficulty arose in subsequent upgrades, which would require exponentially more points each time.
This was like a bottomless pit, not to mention the “tempting” goods available in the marketplace.
With a system like this, all she could think of was three words—buy, buy, buy!
For an average person, they might already be itching to spend their points as soon as they had them, even thinking of other ways to earn points—if the audience limit couldn’t be increased for now, then focus on getting existing viewers to cough up some money.
Such behavior, Jiang Pengji despised.
Because she understood a crucial truth: there’s no free lunch in the world; behind a free meal must be unknown traps.
One shouldn’t cross the red line, for once it’s crossed, it’s like getting hooked on drugs, leading to a second and third time.
Opening the character attribute panel, she stared at the information displayed in a daze.
【Name: Jiang Pengji (Liu Xi, courtesy name Lanting, also known as Liu Lanting, Basic Martial Power 5 points, Fusion Martial Power +30)】
【Gender: Female (disguised as male, replacing deceased older brother Liu Lanting)】
【Age: 41 (12), born on the Flower Festival of the third year of Tianwu】
【Background: Second son of the Hejian Liu family (legitimate eldest daughter), formerly betrothed to the second daughter of the Hejian Wei family, Wei Jingxian (now disengaged)】
【Special Skills: Six Arts of the Gentleman’s Studies (beginner), Combat (expert), Reasoning and Analysis (expert), other abilities (tentative)】
【Attributes: Charm Value (hidden 25 points), Appearance Value (75 points)】
【Channel: Live Stream (activated), Anchor Level 1】
The reasoning and analysis skill went from tentative to expert, and the hidden charm value increased from 21 to 25.
However, all these were of little use to her; her gaze remained fixed on one point—Fusion Martial Power +30.
Relying on mountains can lead to collapse, relying on people can lead to abandonment; the only thing one can rely on is oneself.
Jiang Pengji narrowed her eyes, saying, “System, when you bound with me before, I heard an electronic sound indicating the fusion process was temporarily halted due to insufficient host points, resulting in a final fusion of only 0.3%…”
The system quickly replied, “Yes, due to insufficient points, further fusion was not possible.”
The so-called Fusion Martial Power was essentially the soul converting the martial power data from its previous life and merging it into the current body, which was one of the host’s advantages—winning at the starting line.
How good was Jiang Pengji’s physical quality in her past life? Those cold numbers couldn’t showcase it.
Jiang Pengji asked, “Can I now spend points from my account to continue the fusion?”
