Chapter 1441: Zhang Jiang

As the foremost talented woman, with great fame and beautiful looks, she received many declarations of love every day, which annoyed her endlessly.

Therefore, she had publicly announced that anyone under thirty who could surpass her in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting would marry her without hesitation!

This was just an excuse to avoid harassment, since almost no one could surpass her...

Who would have thought that someone actually surpassed her in calligraphy and painting, and so easily!

"This person's character is not very good, and his speech is unpleasant, but... he has real talent. Marrying him wouldn't be bad..."

When others mentioned it, she couldn't help but have this thought.

"I wonder... if Master Zhang can play the zither?"

Unable to hold back any longer, she looked over.

"I know a little!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Although he was already an eight-star sound master, he still needed to keep a low profile.

"And... chess?"

"I know nothing about it!" Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had learned many professions, but had never studied chess; he was completely ignorant of it.

"Not knowing is fine, I can teach you... Would Master Zhang be willing to come to my Qingya Xiaozhu to study zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting together?"

Her pretty face flushed, Zhang Ziqing said.

Saying this was already a confession.

"Zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head: "These are just supplementary studies, casually learned for amusement. I only studied calligraphy and painting for less than two days. As for specialized study... forget it!"

He had come to slap the Zhang family in the face and force the little genius to appear; why would he have time to learn zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting?

Besides, reading a few books would suffice; why learn from her?

Hearing his refusal, Zhang Ziqing's expression soured, but then she showed disbelief: "You say you studied calligraphy and painting for less than two days in total?"

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan thought for a moment and nodded: "Adding up all the time, it should be less than..."

Learning calligraphy and painting was only for the master teacher examination; he hadn't spent much time. Each level took one shichen, and now that he had reached eight stars, it was only eight shichen. Even including reading, it shouldn't exceed two days...

Saying this wasn't bragging.

Well, not saying one day already suited his modest nature.

"In less than two days, you have such a profound understanding of calligraphy and painting?"

Zhang Ziqing didn't believe it.

"Since I've won, give me the bet..."

Too lazy to deal with her shock, Zhang Xuan looked at her.

Because of the top-grade spirit stone, he had agreed to the bet. Since he won, it was time to collect.

"The spirit stone..."

Only then remembering the bet, Zhang Ziqing smiled slightly: "You must have heard what that friend said earlier: if someone surpasses me in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, I will marry him... Now that you have far surpassed me in calligraphy and painting, as long as you are not weak in zither and chess... marriage is not impossible..."

At this point, her pretty face reddened.

For a girl to speak so plainly was quite bold.

But bearing the title of foremost talented woman, she was used to being aloof. Finally meeting someone who could truly surpass her, she couldn't help but have some thoughts.

"What, are you trying to renege on the debt and not pay me that top-grade spirit stone?"

Zhang Xuan's scalp tingled, his eyes wide with anger.

"Just a moment ago, when we made the bet, it was clearly agreed that if you lost, you'd pay. Now that you've actually lost, you don't dare admit it, and instead want to marry me... what a pipe dream!"

"Ah?"

Zhang Ziqing gritted her teeth.

"A loss is a loss. You must hand over a top-grade spirit stone!" Zhang Xuan said sternly. "Don't give me any nonsense. Trying to weasel out? No way!"

This time, he had come specifically to slap the Zhang family in the face and vent for Luo Ruoxi. If he brought another woman back, how could he ever show his face again?

"You..."

Zhang Ziqing was about to go mad.

After all this fuss, in his eyes, she wasn't even worth a single spirit stone...

The top talent of the Zhang family, worth less than a top-grade spirit stone... If word got out, she'd be a laughingstock!

"This... this... Zhang Xuan's taste... is truly peculiar!"

Zhang Wuchen's eyes went wide. It took him a while to squeeze out a sentence.

"Indeed, this is the first time I've seen someone reject Ziqing and... be so self-righteous about it!"

Elder Wuzhen was also utterly incredulous.

He had seen many impressive people, but even heroes have trouble resisting a beauty. This guy, though, had rejected a talented beauty like Zhang Ziqing, all for a top-grade spirit stone...

To be honest, if he actually married her, with her connections and abilities, wouldn't top-grade spirit stones be his for the asking?

"If I'm not mistaken, he doesn't want to have too much to do with the Zhang family."

After his exclamation, Zhang Wuchen also understood and couldn't help shaking his head.

Given his profound understanding of formations, spirit awakening, appraisal, and calligraphy, he was clearly extremely intelligent. How could he not understand Zhang Ziqing's intentions? Knowing that, he still said those words, obviously unwilling to get entangled with the Zhang family.

"Zhang Xuan, I am Zhang Jiang of the Zhang family. Dare to compete with me?"

Rejecting Zhang Ziqing angered the Zhang family's young talents. A young man leaped out from the crowd and landed before him.

"Compete in what?"

Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.

He had long noticed the younger generation of the Zhang family mingling in the crowd, deliberately picking a fight. Since he intended to stir things up anyway, it was best that they came to him.

"I have no particular expertise, but in beast taming, no one can match me. You insulted our family's talented lady. Dare to compete with me in beast taming?"

Zhang Jiang said.

"How do we compete?"

"Simple. Three years ago, the Zhang family captured a fierce sacred beast. To this day, no one has been able to tame it, myself included. If you can succeed, I'll admit your beast-taming skills surpass mine."

Zhang Jiang snorted.

"And if I can't tame it either?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

This guy was clearly setting a trap. If he himself couldn't tame it, it must be extremely difficult. If Zhang Xuan also failed, wouldn't he lose?

Though skilled in beast taming, his abilities were limited to beasts with dragon bloodline or those weaker than him. For higher-level sacred beasts, he had no good methods.

"I heard you can easily tame the spirit of a grand formation. What, now that you're asked to tame a sacred beast, you don't dare?"

Zhang Jiang curled his lips and looked at him. "I spent only three days with that sacred beast, and my affinity has already reached twenty-five. If you can surpass that within three days, even if you don't fully tame it, I'll admit you've bested me."

"Twenty-five?"

Seeing there were rules, Zhang Xuan nodded and then asked, "If... I tame this sacred beast, does it belong to me?"

He had to clarify this first. After all, it was their catch. If it would be his, he'd tame it; if not, forget it.

"Although this sacred beast was personally captured by the family head, who intended to tame it himself, if you succeed, you may take it away."

Zhang Jiang nodded, a flicker of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. "But... if you lose, I won't ask for a top-grade spirit stone. You just need to kneel and apologize to Ziqing, and then... get the hell out of the Zhang family!"