Chapter 1: The Miserable Transmigration

  Jiang Xia suddenly spoke up, and almost everyone in the room focused their attention on him.

  Zhang Yong smiled and looked at Jiang Xia, saying: "What? Does Brother Jiang know the origin of this thing?"

  Jiang Xia was somewhat excited, he nodded and said: "This thing is called Blue Glaze Lamp, it was a burial object of Li Hong, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. In those years, Li Hong, the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, died suddenly in Luoyang at the age of 24, after his death, this lamp was buried with him in the 'Crown Prince's Tomb' of Gongling Mausoleum. I have long wanted to see this thing, but I didn't expect to see it here."

  "Good!" Zhang Yong exclaimed. "Brother Jiang is indeed knowledgeable and has a good memory, this lamp is exactly what you said it was - a blue glaze lamp. This lamp was stolen from the Mausoleum by a group of grave robbers and eventually ended up in my hands. I don't have much use for it, so I brought it out for everyone to appreciate. Brother Jiang, the market price of this lamp is around 8,000 taels of silver, do you want the silver or the lamp?"

  "Eight thousand taels of silver?" The others present were shocked, they had not expected this ceramic lamp to be so valuable. But thinking about it being a burial item for the son of Emperor Gaozong, the price was reasonable.

  Actually, the people present didn't know that this lamp was guessed by Jiang Xia. If it were someone else who had guessed it, Zhang Yong would have paid at most 4,000 taels of silver to buy it back. The reason he offered double the price was because he wanted to win over Jiang Xia.

  In Zhang Yong's view, Jiang Xia has three values. The first is that he can use this to gain the emperor's favor, the second is that he can have one more helper, and the third is that he can plant a nail beside Liu Jin. Among the three values, the last one is what Zhang Yong values most.

  Contrary to Zhang Yong's expectations, Jiang Xia almost without thinking opened his mouth and said: "Thank you, Brother Zhang, for your concern. I want that lamp."

  "Oh?" Zhang Yong was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said: "Alright, since brother likes it, I'll have someone wrap it up in a brocade box for you right away. You can take it with you when you leave the manor later."

  "Thanks, Brother Zhang." Jiang Xia made a fist and bowed towards Zhang Yong.

  Zhang Yong waved his hand and smiled, telling Jiang Xia not to be polite. Jiang Xia chose the lamp but not the silver, which made Zhang Yong happy too. Although the blue glaze lamp was precious, it wasn't of much use to Zhang Yong. In comparison, the eight thousand taels of silver were more valuable. Now that Jiang Xia had chosen the lamp, Zhang Yong had gained a favor and also saved some money, so he was very pleased.

  However, Zhang Yong did not know that Jiang Xia wanted the blue glaze lamp so much not because it was precious, but because there was a secret hidden inside.

  This blue glaze lamp was made at what time, by whom, Jiang Xia couldn't say clearly. However, he had met a person in the later generations, whose name was "Zero" and was recognized as the world's number one killer in the killing world. And there were two reasons why he was so fierce: one was that he would use an ancient martial art sword technique called "One Sword to Break the Void".

  The swordsmanship has only one move, but its power is mighty and its changes are subtle and unpredictable. Since this sword move was made, no one has ever withstood it. In addition to this, "Zero" rose to the first killer throne because he also mastered a very mysterious light body step method.

  So the light body step method is not referring to those high-flying light skills, thousands of years of internal classics have been passed down through generations, but Jiang Xia has never seen anything that can fly several meters high, hundreds or even thousands of meters in mid-air. If Jiang Xia's guess is correct, then those high-flying light skills are just people's conjectures and fabrications. The real light skill is actually the light body step method.

  The effect of this light body step method is roughly divided into two types. One is to dodge, relying on the mysterious steps to avoid the enemy's attack during combat, and often attacking the enemy can achieve twice the result with half the effort. The second is to escape, practicing well in light body step method can make the body light and agile, and the running speed will be faster. A true master of light body step method would make people like Bolt or Usain look weak.

  The sword move "一剑破虚" came from who knows where, but the agile footwork of "零" was still clear in Jiang Xia's mind. The name of this light body skill is called 《八步赶蝉》, a comprehensive upper-level light body step that combines attack, dodge and escape. Who created it earliest is unknown, but the secret recipe of this step was hidden at the bottom of the blue glaze lamp, recorded on a yellow oil paper.

  At first, Jiang Xia had deceived "Zero" into being his bodyguard for a year. During that year, "Zero" taught Jiang Xia many killing techniques and knowledge, but the only thing he refused to teach him was this set of Eight Steps to Catch Cicadas.

  According to "Zero"'s words, he was able to escape unscathed thanks to his mastery of the "Eight Steps of the Cicada". If there were a second person who knew this set of steps, then he would be unable to escape from that person's hands. For an assassin, this is equivalent to putting one's life in someone else's hands. Therefore, although Jiang Xia and "Zero" had already become friends at that time, he was still unable to learn the light body step method from "Zero".

  So now seeing the blue glaze lamp again, Jiang Xia would be so excited.

  After the blue glaze lamp returned to Jiang Xia, Zhang Yong began to show off his collection. To say that Zhang Yong took out a lot of treasures this time, more than 100 pieces, big and small. Among them, there were many precious items, which made Jiang Xia sigh that Zhang Yong was quite wealthy and generous.

  Everyone present, except for Jiang Xia, gained something, and almost no one left empty-handed. Among them, Jiang Xia also discovered a small secret, as several people with poor eyesight mistook fake treasures for real ones and fabricated their origins.

  But Zhang Yong said they were right and even spent several thousand taels of silver to buy back those treasures.

  Jiang Xia guessed that those people must have come from a mysterious background, and Zhang Yong had an ulterior motive to bribe them. Unexpectedly, the ancient people's bribery was so subtle, Jiang Xia secretly admired it.

  He was satisfied with the blue glaze lamp, and afterwards he rarely took action. With his knowledge, Jiang Xia could tell the history of every treasure that Zhang Yong brought out. However, it was clear that everyone who attended this appraisal conference today was not an ordinary person, and Jiang Xia did not want to show off too much.

  The last treasure was displayed, and Zhang Yong announced the end of the appraisal meeting.

  Of course, everyone couldn't just disperse like that. After Zhang Yong clapped his hands, the servants immediately brought up wine and dishes. Having looked at the treasures for half a day, everyone was also getting a bit hungry. At this moment, eating and drinking again, appreciating the songstress's dance, and then leaving would be perfect. If they were still in high spirits and took a liking to one of the songstresses, they could even take her away with them, or stay overnight at Zhang's estate, which wouldn't be a problem either.

  In the officialdom, pulling parties and factions is not as portrayed in later generations' films and TVs. A high-ranking official can't arbitrarily order people below to come and go at will, while those below still enjoy it. To put it bluntly, everyone is an official appointed by the imperial court, and all big bosses are the current emperor. You may be a first-rank official, but so what? Although I, as a sixth-rank official, have to pay respects when seeing you, I can still pretend to obey while secretly disobeying, making excuses in many ways.

  In the imperial court, there are many factions. You can join other factions if you want to. Therefore, those who truly form cliques for personal gain will not arbitrarily shout at and intimidate lower-ranking officials, but rather will often give them benefits, so that when they know following themselves is a good life, they can make others die for them. So today, the people who came to the appraisal meeting are not in a higher position than Zhang Yong, but Zhang Yong has gone to great lengths to arrange them well, with the purpose of winning them over and making them his own people.

  The wine and dishes before the appraisal meeting were all abalone, sea cucumber, fish and meat, but at the end, there were some nourishing dishes such as bird's nest and snow scallops. From a distance, Jiang Xia smelled her favorite snow fungus stewed with deer antler, which was a great tonic. Men who ate it would become stronger, women who ate it would become more beautiful, and if both men and women ate it... they might need to change their bedsheets the next day.

  Although Jiang Xia is proficient in Yu Nu Xin Jing, it doesn't need to be supplemented, but eating this kind of thing will never have any bad effects.

  Just as the snow fungus stewed deer antler had just been served, Jiang Xia immediately took a bowl to scoop up the soup. Having scooped two ladles, Jiang Xia suddenly stopped moving her hand, and her eyebrows furrowed instantly.

  Killing aura!

  Jiang Xia subconsciously turned his head and cast a glance at Zhang Yong's side.

  Only one servant was seen carrying a bowl of soup to Zhang Yong's side, just as he was about to put the soup down, he suddenly threw the soup and tea tray together at Zhang Yong, then there was a flash of white light, a shiny dagger stabbed straight into Zhang Yong's chest.

  Zhang Yong reacted extremely quickly, first dodging to the side to avoid the bowl of soup, then using his right hand to slap away the assassin's hand holding the dagger, and immediately following up with a palm strike to the chest of that assassin.

  The assassin flew out with a single stab and fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

  At the same time, his hat fell off, and a head of black long hair came down. Jiang Xia looked at it suddenly stunned, this assassin was so familiar... Ah, what's familiar, it was actually recognizable, wasn't it that cruel as a mother tiger-like Cui Ruxue?

  Everything that just happened was too fast, from throwing the soup to making a move to being knocked back, all of this happened in the blink of an eye.

  Although Jiang Xia had observed Zhang Yong's deep breathing and stable lower body, she had guessed that he must have martial arts skills, and his skills were not low. However, she did not expect Zhang Yong's martial arts to be so high, Cui Ruxue suddenly launched a surprise attack, not only failed to hurt Zhang Yong in the slightest, but was also hit by him with one move and suffered internal injuries.

  It seems that Cui Ruxue is no match for Zhang Yong. Even if she wants to escape from the Zhang Mansion, it's as difficult as ascending to heaven.

  Save her? Or not save her? This is a question. But this question only flashed through Jiang Xia's mind and already had an answer, Jiang Xia sighed in his heart, good-looking people are easily softhearted, especially men like me who are stunningly handsome, my heart is as soft as cotton candy.

  Cui Ruxiang, a carp leaped from the ground and turned over, her eyes looking at Zhang Yong also clearly feared, I'm afraid she didn't expect Zhang Yong to have such powerful martial arts. Of course, she also didn't recognize that her own martial arts were just some three-legged cat kung fu.

  Zhang Yongzheng was about to make a move to take down Cui Ruxue, but at this moment Jiang Xia suddenly shouted: "Female thief, how dare you! You actually dared to hurt my big brother, I'll fight it out with you."