Chapter 26: The Third Floor

"What's wrong? Not interested in the clan meeting?" Du Qian, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke in a low voice after glancing at Du Fei a few times.

"Uh, more or less..." Du Fei hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Do you know that there are thousands of Du family members, but how many can actually enter this hall for the clan meeting? Apart from the high-ranking members of the Du family, only a few others can. You're still so absent-minded, and you don't know how many people envy and resent your position!" Du Qian said with a sly smile.

"Hehe, what benefits does my position bring that everyone envies it!" Du Fei clapped his hands, showing some interest.

"That's because you don't know. For example, ordinary external branch members receive 20 gold coins per month, while internal branch members receive 200 gold coins per month. But if you have a position in the hall, you get at least this much per month..." As she spoke, Du Qian held up two fingers.

"Two thousand!"

The girl shook her head.

"Twenty thousand?"

"About that much. But if you need more, you can ask for more. For example, if you, Du Fei, asked for 100,000 gold coins, the head of the family would probably give it to you." Du Qian smiled faintly. "Do you know that in cultivation, besides innate talent and effort, external resources are also extremely important. For example, a pill made by an alchemist can replace months or even years of hard cultivation. Or some precious cultivation techniques and martial arts, which are hard to come by even for a fortune... Without money, how can you get these? And with these, your cultivation speed would be even more astonishing... In this sense, isn't your position envied and resented by countless people?"

"Uh..." Du Fei was momentarily taken aback. This theory seemed to make sense, but there seemed to be something off about it.

Seeing Du Fei's puzzled look, the girl laughed, "Pfft... Anyway, remember that this position is the foundation of your survival in the Du family... For example, if you really want to marry me in the future, without this position, you can only dream about it!"

She spoke as if it were someone else's matter, her expression unchanged, while Du Fei was stunned and then couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

Are all the core members of the Du family so abnormal?

"Also, do you know why Du Qing and the Third Elder have always been against you?" Du Qian pulled a strand of hair that had fallen over her ear, twirled it in her hand, and then asked mysteriously.

"Why!"

"The Third Elder's son is Du Xuanqing, who is also Du Qing's father... Back when your father, Du Tian, was still in the Du family, Du Xuanqing and your father competed for the core position in the clan competition. In the end, Du Xuanqing lost to your father by half a move and has been in decline ever since... Now that Du Qing has been crippled by you, I don't think the Third Elder can help but hate you!"

"I see..."

Hearing this, Du Fei also laughed bitterly. No matter what had happened before, even if he had known these things from the beginning, he would not have held back! To stand in this family, if you hold back and play the gentleman, you will be swallowed up, leaving no bones behind.

Seeing Du Fei's expression, Du Qian didn't say much more but smiled faintly. "If you have nothing to do in a while, come with me to the third floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion. Whether you want to cultivate techniques or choose martial arts, the third floor should be the best choice..."

Although it wasn't the first time, Du Fei was still stunned by the grandeur of the Martial Arts Pavilion when he stood in front of it again.

"Is it that impressive? Follow me!" Du Qian's gaze swept over Du Fei, and then she led the way.

In her heart, she was also quite puzzled. Although she was usually calm and indifferent to many things, she knew that with her identity and appearance, she had countless admirers in the Du family and even in the entire Bu Yue City. No matter what kind of man saw her, they would inevitably look at her a few more times. But this Du Fei, despite being her fiancé, didn't even bother to look at her more than once. Or was it true, as the rumors said, that he and his servant... Thinking about this, Du Qian also laughed bitterly in her heart. If Du Fei were like other men, even if the head of the family ordered it, she wouldn't necessarily interact with him much. But because of Du Fei's rather cold attitude, she had become somewhat interested.

"Behind here is the third floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion, which is the most important part of our Du family. Apart from the head of the family, the three elders, and the nine core members, no other high-ranking members can enter easily. And nothing inside can be taken out. Remember this!" Du Qian said casually and then pushed open the door to the third floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion.

Frowning slightly, Du Fei couldn't help but look to the side. Although he didn't see anyone, he could sense an extremely powerful aura hidden somewhere on the third floor, an aura that was no weaker than Du Zhen Tian. It seemed that the Du family placed great importance on this place, despite its outwardly relaxed appearance.

Thinking of this, Du Fei became even more interested in the third floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion. He took a deep breath and stepped into the door of the third floor.

As he entered, the ancient door behind him closed with a loud thud... "Phew..."

After a deep breath, Du Fei's eyes gradually adjusted to the indoor light. Following the dim light, he was slightly surprised to find that the third floor of the Martial Arts Pavilion was not a pavilion like the first and second floors, but more like a cave. If he hadn't just entered from the door, he would have thought he was in some cave.

On the ceiling, dozens of thumb-sized night pearls were embedded, slowly emitting a faint light, illuminating the entire space.

The space was circular, and everything could be seen at a glance.

In the center of the space was a rather ancient stone platform, on which dozens of jade boxes were sparsely placed, closed, making it impossible to see what was inside.

At Du Qian's indication, Du Fei slowly walked to the stone platform, glanced at it, and was still somewhat shocked.

"Ninth-grade cultivation technique, Xuan Yin Jue!"

"Ninth-grade cultivation technique, Earthquake Chapter!"

"Seventh-grade martial art, Cold Wind Unmoving Hand!"

"..."

Martial arts of the ninth grade are common, and eighth-grade martial arts, although less common, are still found in most families. However, seventh-grade martial arts are extremely precious, and the Du family having over a dozen of them could be considered a collection of hundreds of years.

Cultivation techniques are different from martial arts!

Cultivation techniques are far rarer than martial arts, so even ninth-grade cultivation techniques are extremely rare on the market. It was said that the Du family only had four cultivation techniques, three of which were ninth-grade, and the only eighth-grade technique had been lost.

Of course, Du Fei knew that this so-called loss was when his father left, taking the cultivation technique and related martial arts with him. Those things were probably now in the jade talisman hanging around his neck.

Thinking of this, Du Fei couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

"What, not interested in these things?" Du Qian casually opened a jade box and raised the scroll inside, which glowed faintly, and said calmly.

Du Fei smiled faintly and said, "Seventh-grade martial arts, without the strength of a ninth-grade martial artist, are basically useless. But for cultivation techniques, we only have a few in the Du family, so I can take my time to choose..."

"The best cultivation technique in the Du family is the Ice Heart Jue from the Yun Shui Du family. Although it's just a fragment, it's better than any of the techniques here. Unfortunately, the Ice Heart Jue is considered lost in our Du family... But you can take a look at the box." Du Qian pointed to a jade box casually and said.

Hearing this, Du Fei walked over with an unchanged expression, casually opened the jade box, and his expression changed slightly as he glanced inside.

In the jade box was a scroll!

"That thing is fake, you don't need to look at it!" Du Qian said faintly, sensing Du Fei's confusion.

Hearing this, Du Fei quickly grabbed the scroll, unfolded it, and his face twitched. The scroll was indeed blank, and the material of the scroll was clearly not recent, indicating that it was left by his father.

However, Du Fei couldn't quite understand how the cultivation techniques and martial arts, which should have been scrolls, ended up in the jade talisman.

But no matter which possibility, it was clear that his father had extraordinary means!

"Beep..."

"Detected missing parts of a damaged file, do you want to record them..."

Just as Du Fei was laughing bitterly, a cold electronic voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

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