After returning to the village, Long Ming bid farewell to all the residents and handed some gold coins to the village chief and the woman who had taken care of him when he was injured. As he was about to leave the village, however, he suddenly remembered that girl, who unfortunately wasn't present in the village at that moment. For some reason, he felt a need to give her a gift, so he took a blank book (which he always carries with him for taking notes) and wrote down some of his insights on footwork.

Finally, he wrote on the cover: "Manual for Good Footwork," a rather simple and basic name, worthy of its content, and handed the book to Xiao Wu's mother to deliver to the girl in the future. With that done, the pair bid farewell one last time to the villagers and walked towards Jianshang, the city where Gao Ting's friend's family lived.

One week later.

In a city known for commerce, called Yu Zhen, a pair of a young man and an old man walked through the streets of the city.

The young man, who appeared to be seventeen years old, wore expensive and luxurious clothes, made of black fabric with golden adornments, accentuating his luxury. His long black hair was also tied in a ponytail, with two strands loose and precisely falling under his cheeks. Everything about him exuded an air of luxury and majesty, as if he were a prince walking the streets of his kingdom. He was Long Ming.

In total contrast, the man following him wore a set of simple and cheap clothes, his short hair was gray, with clear signs of baldness. His face bore several marks left by age, and his eyes carried a certain dissatisfaction, especially when he looked at the young man beside him. He was Gao Ting.

"Brat, did you turn into a playboy as soon as she died?" Gao Ting asked sarcastically and sharply to Long Ming, mainly looking at the sword he carried at his waist, which the old man knew very well was merely a decoration.

"What are you talking about, old man? I'm not that kind of bastard. I'm just enjoying the money I inherited from that place. Besides, I like to dress well, clean, and, above all, smell good," Long Ming retorted, glancing at the old man's clothes, which were dusty and stained.

"Bastard..."

The two continued walking through the city until they reached near a stable, with several horses on display. All the horses were two meters tall, with robust muscles and a healthy appearance.

"I think this is it," Long Ming said as he examined those horses.

"If you're looking for the best horses in the city, then it's definitely here, young master," the seller of that stable quickly ran towards the pair, his eyes gleaming with greed as he noticed Long Ming's luxurious clothes and youthful face.

"Is it really? And how much does it cost to have one of the best horses in this city?" Long Ming asked the seller and began to follow him, while the seller tried to captivate him with his charisma to sell one of the horses at a high price.

"See this horse here, young master. It is a specimen of the Pingyong breed, a breed known for being brave and loyal. He is quite healthy and young, only 22 years old, and can travel up to 400 kilometers in a day's journey," the seller said, pointing to a horse that, no matter how much Long Ming looked at it, was a skinny and old horse.

"And how much is it worth?"
"Normally, I would charge nine silver coins for this horse. But I feel that our meeting was predestined by fate, and you are destined to acquire this horse. So, for only this single reason, I will do it for only five silver coins, young master," the seller said with a frighteningly confident look. As if he himself believed in his own lies.

"Five silver coins? For a horse that only travels 400 kilometers in a day? Young lad, are you trying to deceive this young master?" Long Ming said, taking a fan from inside his sleeve and covering part of his face. Gao Ting observed this series of actions astonished.
"N-n-no, I would never dare to do such a thing, young master. If you are unsatisfied with this horse, I can show you others, please, follow me," the seller said hurriedly as he walked to another part of the stable.
In that place, there was a horse of dark color with a white crest, its eyes were red, and upon noticing the trio approaching, it snorted noticeably in dissatisfaction.
"This is a horse of the Rexie breed, he is ten years old and was trained by a renowned horse trainer in the city. He is extremely agile and loyal, capable of traveling up to 700 kilometers in a day's journey. He is worth two gold coins, young master," replied the young seller.
"Two gold coins? It seems like a fair price, that is, if he really is as good as you say. But how can I trust your word when you first introduced me to a humble skinny and old horse instead of this horse here? And what if you're also deceiving me? Will you take responsibility for this act of lying?" he spoke, his sharp eyes fixed on the seller's face, staring so deeply that he seemed capable of seeing even his soul.
"I-I-I would never dare to deceive you, young master. I swear!" the seller said hastily, feeling a chill run down his spine with Long Ming's gaze.
"I wish to believe you, boy. Truly. But my trust is costly. So I will pay you one gold coin for this horse, assuming that you have bought my trust," Long Ming replied, still staring even more deeply at the seller.
Faced with those threatening eyes, the poor seller could not reflect on Long Ming's logic and only accepted his offer. In the end, Long Ming left the stable with that black horse and the first horse shown, paying a total of 1 gold coin and 5 silver coins.
The city of Jianshang was a considerable distance away, and it would take many months if they were to go on foot. So they decided to buy two horses to speed up the journey, although it would still take a few weeks.
They left the city riding the two horses and began to ride north.
"... Why did you buy that old and cheap horse for me, when you kept that expensive and fast horse for yourself?" suddenly, Gao Ting asked indignantly as he observed Long Ming on top of that Rexie breed horse, while he got the humble Pingyong breed horse.
"I gave you a horse for free, old man. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth!" Long Ming replied jokingly, while laughing lightly.
Gao Ting glanced at him, observing his expression that seemed carefree and joyful. Then he let out a silent sigh, relieved that he was returning to his old self.
A few days later, as they rode through a plain, Long Ming suddenly stopped his horse and looked into the distance. Intrigued by his sudden attitude, Gao Ting asked, "What's wrong, brat?"
"Five hundred meters to the left, it seems like two groups are about to start fighting," he replied, still staring at that place. From what he could see, a group of six men, mounted on horses, blocked the path of a carriage.

"Do you wish to intervene, boy? Don't forget we're running away from trouble, so don't try to bring problems with us. Especially since I need that guy's goodwill, and he won't accept hosting me if I bring along a bunch of enemies," Gao Ting advised. He knew that Long Ming was someone who liked to help others, but it wasn't always feasible.

"I know, old man. Anyway, we can't know the reason for the fight. So I just want to observe. Honestly, this whole trip, without much action, is boring me," Long Ming replied. At this moment, he noticed a man stepping out of the carriage; even from a distance, he seemed dignified and walked imposingly towards the adversaries.

Shortly after, following a possible conversation, the man drew his sword and made a horizontal cut.

In the next instant, Long Ming's eyes widened in disbelief as he saw the heads of all the enemies falling to the ground.

"Damn," he muttered unconsciously.

"What happened, boy?" Gao Ting asked when he noticed Long Ming's incredulous expression.

"A guy just decapitated almost ten people with a simple sword movement. And it was from a distance!" Long Ming explained, still staring at the scene.

"What? Are you trying to lie to me, boy? To do that, you should at least be in the Foundation Establishment realm!" Long Ming was intrigued by Gao Ting's knowledge about this, but didn't find it too strange. Since they were going to visit a family of cultivators, it was natural that Gao Ting knew some things about the path of cultivation.

"I trust my vision..." Long Ming fell silent when he noticed the man looking at him. They began to stare at each other, as if the half-kilometer distance didn't exist.

After long seconds, the man averted his gaze and entered the carriage, so Long Ming also looked away and, along with Gao Ting, resumed riding towards their destination.

During the night, while Long Ming cooked a rabbit, they began to talk about the curious encounter they had with those two groups.

"Hm, maybe it could be a young master from some clan heading to Jianshang," Gao Ting commented.

"A clan, huh? Old man, is Jianshang a powerful city?" Long Ming suddenly asked, upon hearing Gao Ting's hypothesis. During this journey, curiously, Long Ming never bothered to ask about Jianshang, imagining it to be a deadly city, but with some families of cultivators. However, upon hearing Gao Ting's hypothesis, he changed his mind.

To be considered a 'family of cultivators,' it is enough for that family to possess some cultivation method. And although cultivation methods are rare, to the point that only notably rich cities could offer such methods (and often they would be of poor quality), it wasn't so rare as to be inaccessible to common people. They would just have to be lucky enough to have a pavilion in their cities and save up enough money to buy one. Long Ming, for example, if he had children, could be considered the leader of a family of cultivators; of course, despite this, it would be a weak family and in the lower class among the other families.

But the same couldn't be said for a clan of cultivators. As far as Long Ming remembered, to be considered a cultivation clan, they must be able to elevate all their members (those with talent, at least) to a considerable level of cultivation. In short, this means having access to pills, quality weapons, spiritual stones, quality food, techniques, cultivation manuals, etc.

"Powerful? Well, I wouldn't use that word. But it is controlled by a branched family of the Lin Clan," Gao Ting replied after thinking for a few seconds. Long Ming was shocked by his response, but after some contemplation, he understood what Gao Ting meant.

For Jianshang to be controlled by a branched family of the Lin Clan means it is controlled by a blood member of the Lin Clan. Although the connection to the Lin Clan brought prestige and potentially resources, this did not mean that Jianshang was controlled by an important member or supported by the clan. In short, the Lin Clan was present only in name and did not provide any tangible benefits to the city.

"Was that carriage perhaps from some member of the Lin Clan? Hmm, maybe the Lin family of Jianshang has given birth to a talent that even the clan is interested in..." the young man began to fantasize about the purposes of that image, even devising plots about arranged marriages, talentless people opposing the heavens, and other clichés from stories he had read during his life.

"Don't think too much about it, boy; you might end up attracting those problems to yourself. Besides, it's none of our business," Gao Ting interrupted Long Ming's fantasies, fearing that by thinking too much about it, he might end up attracting those things to himself. Even though, on a general scale, it wasn't that impressive, it would still be completely beyond their capabilities.