C1 Young master fool

"Finally, the Du Family is finally recruiting guards."

"Du Family recruits twenty guards below sixteen years old and have a strong body."

"The guards of Du Family will be paid ten xuan coins for their wages per month. While the captain of the guards will be paid fifty xuan coins, and this is much higher than other families."

"The Du Family's recruiting for guards, this will be a good opportunity. If one can be accepted to be a guard of Du Family, they may have the chance to learn Du Family's martial skills. Until then would they be the most outstanding among all. Guard recruitment by Du Family is totally a rare opportunity."

At the bustling street side of the Stone City, a few big men dressed in tight-fitting shirts stuck a large red scroll of notice on the city wall. Then, a large group of figures started to gathered around the city walls immediately and start whispering to each other.

The most powerful looking man among all the big men was riding a fine horse, standing out as a leader. With an oppressive look, he looked at the gathering crowd and said: "Tomorrow morning, our Du Family will start to recruit guards. As long as you can fight with juniors of the main branch of Du Family and endure three moves, you will be able to be a guard. And if anyone can defeat or make a draw with one of the disciples of the main branch of Du Family, you will be recruited as a captain. There will be only twenty slots available, first come first served."

The sharp eyes of the burly man on the fine horse revealed a kind of pride and arrogance. The reputation of the Du Family was definitely not ordinary among the entire Stone City, and as a member of the Du Family, he also possessed a pride that was beyond ordinary.

After all the words were told, all the few men behind the big man jumped onto their horses and stood behind the leader. Their movements were neat and orderly as they left.

"The one riding the Ferghana Dragon Horse in front is the vice commander of Du Family, Du Qi. Rumor says that he has already reached the level of Innate Stage."

"It would be great if I could also get into the Innate Stage, then inside the Stone City, it's not a problem to do anything I want. Let's see who will still dare show off around me in the future."

"You better go pray and beg to God to let you pass the test to be the guard of Du Family tomorrow. Although the younger generation of Du Family are all young, they are all extremely strong, and I am afraid not many people can endure three moves from them. Innate Stage? Dream about it. That kind of level is not something everyone can reach."

"Hehe, tomorrow I will be a guard of Du Family."

In the crowd, there was a man with a scum face and slightly dark skin, he smiled mysteriously towards some of the guys. He lowered his voice as he said to them: "I'll secretly tell you guys, as long as you can become the captain of the guards, you'll be able to train in some of the Du Family's cultivation techniques or martial skills. Until then, it's not impossible to completely become a member of the Du Family."

"Hei Zi, aren't you lying to us? The captain of the guards can cultivate techniques and martial skills of Du Family?" The group of men beside him immediately become shocked, as envy and jealousy filled their eyes.

The man called Hei Zi patted his chest and guaranteed them, saying, "A distant relative of mine is someone from Du Family, how could I lie to you?"

"You actually have a relative that belongs to the Du Family? You must have a place." When the surrounding people heard this, they immediately revealed looks of envy for Hei Zi.

When the news of the Du Family recruiting for guards spread, it immediately attracted the attention of countless people. As a large clan that had just emerged in the Stone City, with strong power over these years, it became one of the Five Great Clans of the Stone City, and had the potential to continue becoming stronger. Of course, its movements attracted the attention of everyone in the city.

At dusk, thick layers of clouds shrouded the sky above the Stone City. The sun near the horizon was like a ball of fire that was about to be extinguished, shining streaks of red light through the gaps in the clouds before descending upon the mountains.

The Stone City was close to the Barbarian Beast Mountain Range, and because it was located at the border of the empire, Demon Beasts frequently appeared. Good and evil people of different religions and thoughts mixed up, making all people raised in Stone City cultivate martial arts and were quite good at it. Especially the Five Great Clans, who were considered to be martial cultivating families.

"Deng! Deng!"

A few fine horses raised their hooves and kicked up a cloud of dust along the way. Their imposing manner was extraordinary. The leading one who rode a fine horse was the Du Family Protection Squadron's Vice Commander, Du Qi.

A big fellow behind Du Qi raised his head slightly and looked at the sky before smiling at the people on the horses beside him. He said, "The Thirteenth day, let's bet that the fool is still around or not. How about five Xuan Coins for one?"

"That fool seems to be getting more and more foolish lately. I'm afraid he's still around. I bet he's still around."

"It's already the thirteenth day, that fool should be gone. The longest record was only ten days, I bet he's gone."

Five Xuan Coins were the wages of an ordinary guard for half a month, but these big men were very interested. It seemed like it wasn't the first time such a bet was made. They all took out five Xuan Coins and handed them over to the first big man.

"Be careful, all of you. Although that person is not favored within the clan and his actions are quite strange, don't blame me for not warning you guys, that young master of the Du Family is your master after all. If one day you all be punished because of this, I won't be able to protect you."

On the Ferghana Horse, Du Qi glared at these big men with a rather strict expression.

The big guy, who had just started jeering, was also somewhat terrified under Du Qi's sharp gaze. His eyes flickered, then laughed embarrassedly and said, "Vice Commander, the entire Du Family, and even the entire Stone City is now calling him a fool behind his back. Moreover, he was originally useless and foolish, so it shouldn't be a problem for us to call him that behind his back."

"Even if that's the case, master is still master after all. No matter how foolish and useless he is, he still retains the blood of Du Family. All of you need to be clear about your own position, otherwise, you're bound to suffer great losses in the future." Du Qi glared fiercely at those men.

"Understood, Vice Commander."

Those men trembled in embarrassment as they nodded their heads. They definitely understood what the Vice Commander said.

When Du Qi saw this, his expression eased up a little. He turned around and shot a glance at the first big fellow who had started jeering just now as he said, "Five Xuan Coins, right? I would give five more Xuan Coins. I bet that guy is still holding on right there."

"Haha, the Vice Commander is betting too."

When those big men saw what just happened, the tense atmosphere immediately dissipated by quite a bit. They urged their horses to gallop faster, wanting to know if the one from Du Family was still there after all.

The house of the Du Family, one of the five greatest families of Stone City, was a grand and imposing building. There was a barren mountain right before the Du Family's main gate, located before the Du Family’s house, making it really eye-catching.

That place was extremely strange. All year round, not a single strap of grass grows, not a single bird fell, and not a single snake, bug, or ant came close. It was just like a dead land, to the point where people of Du Family thought that it was unlucky and tended to avoid it.

It's said that originally the main gate of the Du Family was facing the hillside, but because of that ominous place, ten years ago, the Du Family then moved the main gate to the front.

From that time onwards, the Du Family, a third-rate clan, started to rise greatly and this caused people to believe that the Barren Mountain was an ominous place so that no one dared to approach it.

The Barren mountain was like a land of death. Not a single blade of grass grew, and everything was wasted. There was only sand and rocks on the ground.

On top of the Barren mountain, there was half a stone tablet standing. The remaining half of the stone tablet should have been buried within the barren mountain.

Half of the tablet was displayed on the Barren mountain. It looked extremely huge, around three feet tall. That whole thing is mottled. No one knows how many years this stone tablet had been existing. At the very least, no one within the current Du Family knew how long this stone tablet had existed for, and rumors said that it had always been there since the ancestors.

Perhaps it was because of its age, the surface of the stone had many small, intricate cracks.

No one from the Du Family was interested in the stone tablet, and since this stone tablet was located on an unknown mountain, no one cared about it at all.

It was said that there had been experts inspecting the stone tablet in the past at the Du Family. It was completely an ordinary stone tablet, without anything special about it.

The only thing that was special about the stone tablet was about a storm ten years ago.

The well-known young master Du Shaofu of Du Family was in a daze in front of the stone tablet, and a bolt of dry lightning struck the stone tablet. The stone tablet turned out fine, but Du Shaofu, who was struck by the lightning in front of the stone tablet, fell into a deep slumber for three days and three nights.

"Damn, that idiot is actually still here. This is already the thirteenth day."

"After losing another half a month of wages, the rest of this month will be quite tough. When the time comes, lend me some of your living expenses for emergencies."

As the sun was setting in the west, in front of the Du Family gate, several robust men were looking at a skinny young man standing in front of the stone tablet in the distance.

Those who won would be happy, but the losers who had lost five xuan coins were definitely not happy.

Who would have thought that the person who the entire Du Family calls a fool would actually break the record again?

"Let's go, it's getting dark soon. Tomorrow, there will be many young masters and young ladies who will go to the guard recruitment test and try their luck. There can't be any mistakes."

In reality, recruiting guards tomorrow was also a small practice for the juniors of Du Family, killing two birds with one stone. It was just that at this time, the person on top of the mountain was also the Young Master of Du Family, but tomorrow's practice had nothing to do with him at all. In fact, it might even be forever unrelated to him. He is a young master too, but there was difference.

"That fool is still standing there. Thirteen days have passed, right? He's getting more and more foolish."

"I heard that a lot of doctors had come to cure that fool, but none of them had any effect. There's really no cure."

Outside the Du Family, many of the servants and maids who passed by were too busy to look at the barren mountain ahead, and their gazes were filled with some regret and lament. He was a noble born, who could think that he should become a fool like that.

The sky was getting darker and dusk was gradually passing by. The sun was setting in the west and the place was still faintly red. As the last of the afterglow vanished, the sky and earth also became dark.

A purple-robed youth was sitting cross-legged before the stone tablet. He looked to be around 15 or 16 years old, and on his slightly immature face, he seemed to have gained a bit more resolution and determination compared to his peers. His eyes closed, and his eyebrows were as thick as a sword.

The young man was called Du Shaofu, and his appearance was not bad. It would be hard for people not from the Stone City to imagine why he would be called a fool.

In the deep blue night sky, stars gradually appeared. A crescent moon was in the depths of the sky, like a curved blade emitting a bright white light.

In the deep night, the entire Du Family were in a deep slumber, no one would pay attention to the youth on the Barren mountain.

The ancient stone tablet stood upright under the cover of the moonlight, appearing exceptionally strange.

Boom!

Abruptly, the originally complicated cracks on the ancient stone tablet began to faintly light. The cracks continued to spread and the entire mountain gently swayed. No one saw this. Otherwise, they would be extremely shocked.

"Crack crack."

Finally, the cracks on the ancient monument that had stood up for countless years started to get bigger, the light inside the cracks became brighter and brighter, becoming a screen of light enveloping Du Shaofu's body, and then the entire stone monument started to crack, becoming a pile of crushed stone and powder on top of a mountain.

"Sizzle sizzle!"

Following the disappearance of the light screen, Du Shaofu, who was standing in front of the monument, suddenly opened his eyes. Two rays of light shot out from his eyes, like lightning in the night, and an ancient Qi swept out from his thin body, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

"Hu!"

A light smile appeared on Du Shaofu's face as he exhaled a mouthful of impure air. He let out a long sigh and said, "In ten years, I finally comprehended the first move!"