Chapter 335: Realization

“Think I’m a fool?”

Wu Ming strode along the main road, the jade slip of the Observing Eye cradled in his arms, while silently musing in his heart.

“If it weren’t for this Spirit Eye technique aligning with the world’s rules, allowing my Celestial Eye ability to function fully, who in their right mind would buy this?”

Of course, this couldn’t be spoken aloud. Let others think he was just an easy mark.

After all, in the end, it remained to be seen who would truly profit and who would suffer loss.

Thinking thus, Wu Ming arrived at the luxurious district in the eastern part of the city.

The Dongfang Clan!

This clan was one of the powerful factions in Jushi City, renowned for taming wolf-type spirit beasts. The clan’s Grand Elder possessed a Hellish Wolf of the Warlord class, making him one of the top experts in Jushi City. This ensured the Dongfang Clan maintained a strong voice in the city’s leadership.

The Dongfang Clan’s mansion occupied a vast area, with two colossal Hellish Wolf sculptures standing at the entrance, displaying fierce and terrifying visages that inspired dread in onlookers.

Certainly, as a disgrace to the family, Dongfang Suoming had no qualification to enter through the main gate. He could only sneak in through the back door like a thief.

He had left during the night, but now it was early morning, the first rays of sunlight rising from the east, wisps of smoke rising here and there, and some diligent clan disciples and servants already up at dawn, building their strength and nurturing their spirit beasts.

Within the Dongfang Clan’s backyard lay an enormous training ground.

Inside this training ground were various facilities such as cultivation chambers, feeding chambers, and battle chambers, specifically designed to help novice spirit beast tamers train and grow.

As Wu Ming passed through the training ground, he could see young male and female spirit beast tamers proudly showing off their newly-contracted spirit beasts, their eyes filled with smugness.

He had no desire to cause trouble and quietly moved aside to avoid attention.

“Wait… isn’t that Dongfang Suoming?”

However, while he sought to avoid drawing attention, others did not reciprocate. A dark shadow flickered ahead, and several figures blocked his path.

The leader wore a mocking expression, beside him a Steel-claw Wolf with iron-like bones and sharp claws, growling ominously.

Wu Ming recognized this youth as Luo Geng, a servant of the Dongfang family. His father had been a loyal retainer of Dongfang Ba’s father for many years. Though lacking notable achievements, his long service had earned him a place in the family academy, where he successfully became a spirit beast tamer and even contracted an elite Steel-claw Wolf.

Compared to distant relatives, naturally the offspring of such long-serving private servants were considered more trustworthy.

Now Luo Geng’s face was filled with mockery: “Oh my… isn’t this the young master Dongfang? I heard you’ve also become a spirit beast tamer. Why don’t you summon your spirit beast so we can take a look…?”

His expression was sarcastic and derisive, seemingly trying to assert his superiority.

“Luo Geng… I know you were born a servant, and that you’ve always harbored some inferiority complex. Thus, you wish to climb the social ladder by stepping on me, a distant, disreputable illegitimate son, to satisfy your petty vanity?”

Wu Ming said calmly: “But I advise you not to go this far. Even if the masters’ circumstances have declined, they are still the masters. No matter what, I am still a member of the Dongfang Clan… Right now I’m standing here. Do you dare to release your Steel-claw Wolf to kill me? Hmm?”

At the end, his voice grew stern, his eyes flashing with sharpness as he stepped forward.

“I… I…”

Luo Geng backed away repeatedly. Of course, he dared not! If Dongfang Ba were present, he wouldn’t fear anything, but now he had only gathered a group of fellow servant-born youths. If things escalated, the crime of a servant bullying a master would be no small matter!

The larger the family, the more emphasis on hierarchical distinctions.

While Dongfang Ba’s bullying of Dongfang Suoming was trivial, for a servant like Luo Geng to dare to act so presumptuously, wouldn’t that mean tomorrow he might dare to bully the main family and even betray his ancestors? Therefore, such a precedent must not be set, and this trend must not be allowed to grow!

Thus, in large families, there was always a red line for servants’ behavior. Once crossed, the punishment was immediate execution with no hesitation whatsoever.

He was even more puzzled in his heart: “Strange… this bastard used to be so timid. Why is he so bold today?”

“What? Not daring? Then step aside! A good dog doesn’t block the way!”

Wu Ming strode forward proudly, his eyebrows raised and eyes cold.

Although these young men were all accompanied by Steel-claw Wolves or Frenzy Wolves, they now tightly restrained their beasts, not daring to command them forward. In an instant, they were completely overwhelmed by Wu Ming’s imposing aura and hastily stepped aside to make way for him.

“Brother Luo, what should we do?”

Watching Wu Ming’s figure fade into the distance, one of the servant-born youths asked unwillingly.

“Let him go for today!”

Luo Geng snorted coldly: “Relying on his master’s status, how arrogant can he be? Wait until tomorrow, I’ll bring Ba Young Master along. Let’s see what he has to say then?”

It was a grave crime for a servant to bully a master, but Dongfang Ba was the main branch of the Dongfang family. It was perfectly natural for him to bully a minor branch.

The elders are the leaders! If elders bully you, it’s considered teaching! Ear-to-ear instruction! The younger generation should obediently listen!

If Dongfang Ba took action, as long as he didn’t kill the person, there wouldn’t be any real problem.

“Dongfang Suoming! You’re nothing but a bastard! Today you dare to humiliate me like this!”

Luo Geng gazed in the direction Wu Ming had left, his eyes flashing with coldness and fury: “In the future, I will definitely make you pay!”

…

“That was close!”

After returning all the way to his small courtyard and closing the gate behind him, Wu Ming finally exhaled in relief.

His boldness and arrogance today were based solely on the fear in those servants’ hearts.

It was also because they had grown up and matured in their thinking that he dared to take such a risk.

Otherwise, if he had encountered some reckless youth who actually beat him up, it would have been a loss. Although the clan law would certainly not spare the attacker, his reputation would be completely ruined.

However, Luo Geng and others had already become spirit beast tamers, with bright futures ahead. Being mature for their age, they thought more and hesitated more at critical moments.

As events proved, he had made the right gamble!

“Just because I took one risk successfully doesn’t mean I can keep doing it…”

Wu Ming sighed: “The most important thing is still to enhance my own strength. Also, there’s the clan’s grand competition in a month… I have to say, the Dongfang family is indeed a big tree. If I want to continue relying on them, I can’t end up last place, or else I’ll be driven out of the family, losing everything…”

He recalled the background of Dongfang Suoming, which was indeed quite convoluted and extraordinary.

Dongfang Suoming’s father had originally been a legitimate heir of the Dongfang family. However, being young and impetuous, he had once rebelled against an arranged marriage by the family and stormed out, declaring he would sever all ties.

A few years later, he returned with an infant—that was Dongfang Suoming. As for the infant’s mother, he remained tight-lipped, never mentioning her at all.

After several more years, Dongfang Suoming’s father left home again, supposedly to search for his mother, but unfortunately, he never returned. For over a decade, there had been no news, and the Dongfang family presumed he was dead.

Although Dongfang Suoming inherited several properties from his father, being just a child, he knew nothing of managing them. Naturally, they were quickly divided up by his relatives.

It was only because they were still part of the same family and couldn’t be too blatant in their behavior that he was barely raised, though his treatment was far from good. This was evident from the fact that even a servant dared to bully him.

“Overall, this young Dongfang Suoming’s life has been a tragedy from beginning to end…”

Wu Ming gave a bitter smile and walked around the courtyard to take a look.

The courtyard was dilapidated, drafty from all sides, and on the verge of collapse. The grain jar was practically empty.

“A typical Dongfang family young master receives a monthly allowance of one hundred jin of pearl rice, thirty jin of meat, some vegetables and fruits, and one hundred spirit coins. There are additional provisions for spirit beast tamers… but now, clearly, this allowance has been embezzled… Human nature’s fickleness is no more than this… If it weren’t for this courtyard left by his father, it probably would have been taken away too…”

Wu Ming sighed: “No wonder Dongfang Suoming had thoughts of running away…”

He quickly found some dry rations and barely managed to fill his stomach—fortunately, the gray wolf had already eaten earlier. Otherwise, its terrifying daily appetite for several jin of meat would have left Wu Ming at a loss for where to get it.

After eating his fill, Wu Ming sat cross-legged on the bed: “Although there are many future treasures in my memories, treasures only belong to those with strength. Going now would only get me killed… I should focus on enhancing my strength first…”

Although he knew many future developments, to navigate skillfully and gain benefits, at minimum he needed to reach the level of a Battle Soldier.

Otherwise, with just a gray wolf in its juvenile stage, he probably wouldn’t get far out of Jushi City before being killed by all sorts of unpredictable dangers!

“The Observing Eye!”

At this moment, Wu Ming first took out the jade slip of the combat technique.

This jade slip was gray and unremarkable, covered with a layer of dust, clearly having been shelved for a long time and completely neglected.

“Even though its effect seems somewhat trivial, I’m not picky. As long as it can be used in conjunction with my Celestial Eye, it will suffice…”

Thinking thus, Wu Ming pressed the jade slip against his forehead. A powerful surge of spiritual energy poured forth, delicately infiltrating the jade slip’s interior like silk being drawn from a cocoon.

“This jade slip merely contains a single insight or perhaps a Daoist principle… Unless one possesses extraordinary talent, how difficult it would be to acquire the combat technique solely from a vague insight?”

Wu Ming’s spiritual energy threads intruded layer by layer, and he sighed again softly.

Of course, this formidable barrier that was extremely difficult for all spirit beast tamers was nothing to him.

With a Celestial Sage-level Yuan Shen, even though he couldn’t yet significantly affect the external world, when it came to pure spiritual energy, how terrifying was its strength?

With a solid foundation and powerful spiritual energy, deciphering the jade slip was naturally just a matter of flipping one’s palm.

Moreover, he had diligently cultivated the Daoist path and mastered the application of Yuan Shen power, which was essentially spiritual energy, far surpassing other spirit beast tamers.

If other spirit beast tamers had only a ten percent chance of comprehending a combat technique, for Wu Ming, it was over ninety percent certainty!

“Ah? This Observing Eye doesn’t seem as simple as it appears on the surface…”

As he delved deeper, Wu Ming immediately made a discovery!