My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Jiang Li was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Then why did you come all the way from Jiangsu to Guangdong?"

Uncle Jiu said unhappily, "It was all for the sake of pursuing that glimmer of destiny. I traveled all over the country in the past, and I was not willing to give up any chance to get it."

Then he sighed and said, "But in the end, it's all in vain."

Jiang Li didn't know how to comfort him after hearing this, so he just said, "Master, you now have the support of the great tree of Maoshan. When you return this time, you can immediately build a Taoist temple and become the master of it. You are a winner in life anyway."

Uncle Jiu just shook his head without commenting, but did not continue the conversation. Instead, he said to Jiang Li, "Let's not talk about these useless things. You should think about what Maoshan requires, so as not to be too busy and confused when the time comes."

Jiang Li couldn't help but ask curiously, "Can I choose the secret technique by myself?"

Uncle Jiu rolled his eyes at Jiang Li and said, "That's a nice thought. If you want to obtain the sect's secrets, you need to make contributions. Otherwise, why do you think I brought these two spirit beasts? It was to get some blood for the elders to make pills."

Jiang Li nodded and said, "I see. But how much blood can these two spirit beasts take? It shouldn't be able to exchange for many things, skills and secrets, right?"

"Do we have anything else to hand over to the sect?"

Uncle Jiu shook his head and said, "Although I traveled a lot in my early years, I didn't have many opportunities. Now, apart from the "Spirit Controlling Technique" you exchanged from the mountain god, the few martial arts secrets you wrote, and the books on your views on Western science, I don't have anything else to show for myself."

Jiang Li fell into deep thought upon hearing this, but did not notice that Uncle Jiu looked a little unnatural, as if he was hiding something.

After a long while, Jiang Li looked up and asked Uncle Jiu, "Master, in your early years, you traveled all over the country. Have you ever come across any cultivators' trading markets?"

Uncle Jiu frowned, thought for a while and said, "I did meet a few, but since I didn't have anything to show for it at the time, I didn't make many transactions."

Jiang Li immediately became interested and said, "Master, do you remember if there is such a market along the way? If there is, we might as well go and have a look. Maybe we can trade for some useful things."

Uncle Jiu pondered for a while after hearing this, and then relaxed his brows and said, "About 500 miles to the southeast, there is a large forest swamp with countless strange beasts and poisonous insects. There are also many swamps hidden under dead leaves. However, because of the rich resources, there are still casual cultivators who enter them to look for opportunities."

"I went there on purpose when I passed by. A market spontaneously formed there, specializing in trading various spellcasting materials and rare medicinal herbs."

Jiang Li was immediately delighted when he heard this and thought, "Isn't this a trade fair for the cultivation world? I can't miss it no matter what."

Seeing Jiang Li's happy face, Uncle Jiu couldn't help but said worriedly, "It's a pity that there are all kinds of people there and it's not convenient. If you want to go there, you will have to take a detour of three or four days."

Jiang Li smiled and said, "Master, don't worry. Although my skills are not deep, I should be able to protect myself. Besides, we are going here to collect resources and increase the foundation for your founding of your sect."

"So we have to go this time. It will take at least half a month to get there. It doesn't matter if we take a detour now. It just means we have to walk a few more days."

Uncle Jiu shook his head, looked at Jiang Li and said, "I'm not worried about your steady personality. Instead, I'm worried about your troublesome brothers and sisters. They are neither good at literature nor martial arts, but they are always in a hurry. I don't know what kind of trouble they will cause if they go there."

Jiang Li was speechless after hearing what his master said. He couldn't help but think to himself, "When I watched the movie, I found that these guys are the legendary troublemakers. There will definitely be trouble with them around. This is indeed a problem."

But he changed his mind and said to Uncle Jiu, "Master, what you said makes sense, but we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. At worst, we can just lock them in the carriage and prevent them from causing trouble."

Uncle Jiu nodded and said, "That's the only way. With what I have now, it's wishful thinking to establish a branch of Maoshan. It seems that we must go this time."

Seeing that Uncle Jiu had figured it out, Jiang Li flattered him on the spot, saying, "Master is wise. With such a wise and powerful leader like Master, our Maoshan branch will surely prosper."

Uncle Jiu suppressed his smile and yelled, "Stop talking nonsense, you traitor! If anyone hears me, they will think I am betraying my master!"

Jiang Li saw that Uncle Jiu was not sincere but did not point it out. He just smiled and said, "My disciple was just talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."

Seeing that there was a way out, Uncle Jiu went down the slope and explained the matter. Then he stuck his head out of the car window and explained to others that he would make a trip to the trading market to purchase supplies for practice.

...

Seven days passed in a flash. As the group of four carriages had been taking the main road, they had been following the original route for the first few days. Two days later, they turned east and headed towards the market.

That day, the group finally arrived at their destination at a leisurely pace. After Uncle Jiu repeatedly emphasized, the four dishonest apprentices were left in an inn to guard the carriage.

Jiang Li knew that they would not be able to stay still, so he ordered the two gunmen in front of them, "Watch my four junior brothers. If they dare to run around, shoot and break their legs."

When these words were spoken, not only the fellow disciples but even Uncle Jiu were extremely surprised. However, after receiving the hint from Jiang Li's eyes, he turned around and left without saying a word.

These swindlers immediately became obedient and no longer had any evil thoughts, while Jiang Li and Uncle Jiu went to the market to look for bargains.

After asking, we learned that this place was called Dengxianji. It was initially formed by independent cultivators who went into the mountains to try their luck. Later, as more and more people came, it attracted some mortals to open shops and purchase some rare furs and medicinal materials, and then it gradually took on the appearance of a market town.

Therefore, the architectural style here is relatively simple, with most of the houses being made of wood or stone. The streets are narrow and bustling with people coming and going, making it quite lively.

The master and his disciple strolled around in Dengxianji and found that the main trading items here were some very low-level cultivation resources, such as herbs, minerals, and the flesh, skin, fur, and bones of wild beasts.

Of course, there were also some people setting up stalls, selling some broken books, homemade medicines and so on.

Although these items are not of high value, they are very important to those unconventional practitioners who have no inheritance.

Because they need these resources and social occasions to increase their knowledge and improve their cultivation. If they are lucky, they may even get some incomplete cultivation techniques and spells.

In addition, there are some small shops in Dengxianji, which mainly sell some items needed for daily life of practitioners, such as basic elixirs, talismans, magical instruments, etc.

Of course, these shops are not large in scale and the quality of goods is relatively low, but their advantage is that the variety is relatively complete and can meet the basic needs of those uninitiated practitioners.

Generally speaking, Dengxianji is an important gathering place for practitioners within a hundred miles. The atmosphere of practice here is quite strong, and all kinds of righteous and villainous people and even mortals will come here to exchange their knowledge and experiences.

After Jiang Li and Uncle Jiu strolled around the market for a while, he looked at the market and couldn't help but sigh, "There are so many people running around in such a remote place. It really proves the saying that people die for money and birds die for food."

Uncle Jiu said, "Don't be sentimental, let's go and see if there is anything useful!"