Inside Qingfeng Temple.
On the training grounds behind the main hall.
Rows of teenage boys in gray short coats stood in neat formation, holding short tree branches as they waited for the Daoist at the front to teach them Martial Arts.
"I am Mingxiu, the Skill Transmission Daoist in charge of teaching you the Basic Sword Technique." The Daoist had a face as handsome as jade, but his body was burly and imposing, creating the bizarre and contradictory impression of a scholar's head on a bear's body.
He wore a deep blue Daoist robe and held a long, thin iron sword. The blade was slender and shone like silver, looking quite expensive.
"Most of you come from poor families. You've paid to learn Martial Arts here so that when you encounter danger, you can run a little faster than everyone else. As you all know, when it comes to speed, the Martial Arts of our Qingfeng Temple are second to none in all of Xinyu Town! That's the main reason you've come to learn from us."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the twenty-four youths before him. His eyes lingered for a moment on two newcomers in a corner.
One of the two had a square face and a resolute gaze. The other had plain features and was completely unremarkable.
The latter was Lin Hui of the Lin Family, who had been here for a week.
During that week, Lin Hui hadn't started learning any Martial Arts. Instead, under Huishen's arrangements, he had only been doing basic physical conditioning chores, such as chopping firewood, fetching water, and carrying heavy objects.
After a week, Lin Hui could clearly feel that his stamina had improved quite a bit. Though his arms and legs were still sore, his spirits were at least much higher.
He had been staying in the large, communal dormitory during this time. Huishen had originally planned to arrange a private room for him, but Lin Hui had refused.
He didn't want to stand out from the group by acting differently; it would draw too much attention.
At that moment, he looked around at the others who had come to learn Martial Arts with him.
"Are there really this many people our age learning Martial Arts?" he asked, a little surprised.
"Of course. Who wouldn't want to learn how to run faster? Besides, it doesn't cost that much," the youth with the resolute gaze replied casually.
His name was Chen Zhishen, which couldn't help but make Lin Hui think of Lu Zhishen. However, his personality was the complete opposite of Lu Zhishen's.
The guy had incredibly strong willpower. Since he and Lin Hui lived in the same large dormitory with their mats right next to each other, they had become familiar. That was how Lin Hui knew that this guy got up to start training every day before the sun was fully up, just as the morning fog began to dissipate. Running, fetching water, chopping firewood—he did it all.
He even helped Lin Hui with a lot of his chores. Seeing that Chen Zhishen's family was poor, Lin Hui would secretly give him a third of his own food. After all, he had silver coins and dried rations from his family, so his circumstances were much better than his friend's. He didn't lack for that small amount.
Through these back-and-forth exchanges, the two quickly grew close.
"But don't be fooled by the number of people here. Many of them only come once every few days. They learn the techniques and go back to practice on their own. After all, they still have to work and earn money. The only ones who actually live here and train all day, like us, are about ten or so people."
"This big class is held three times a day, right? With over twenty people each time, that's seventy or eighty people in total, but all together there are only ten or so who live here?" Lin Hui raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I've been here longer than you, so I've seen it clearly. There are only about ten. Or maybe a dozen, I'm not good at math, so I can't count them all," Chen Zhishen replied in a low voice.
"Look at the three people standing at the front."
Lin Hui looked over and saw that although the three of them wore the same style of clothing as everyone else, the fine details and workmanship were clearly of much higher quality.
The trio consisted of two men and one woman. Judging by their skin, features, and the quality of their hair, it was obvious they came from well-off families.
"Those three are the best martial artists in the temple. The men are Senior Brother Chen Sui and Second Senior Brother Zhao Jiang'an. The woman is Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi. They are all direct descendants of the top families from the nearby towns."
"Chen Sui is from a distant branch of the Chen Family, and you know how powerful the Chen Family is. Zhao Jiang'an's Zhao Family runs the largest business in his hometown of Qimen Town. Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi's family is in the medicinal herb business; they supply all the herbs for seven or eight of the surrounding towns."
Chen Zhishen looked honest, but his ability to gather information was miles ahead of Lin Hui's.
"Then why would they come here to learn..." Lin Hui trailed off.
Qingfeng Temple was, after all, just a place to learn Outer Strength. Compared to the Three Greats of the Inner City, these three clearly had the ability to get in, so why...
"They were weeded out, of course," Chen Zhishen said, shaking his head and lowering his voice. "I don't know the specifics about the other two, but I heard that Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi's aptitude was just too poor. After being disappointed, she didn't want to just go in and coast by, so she decided to just learn some life-saving skills. In the future, she'll mainly help manage her family's business."
Lin Hui wanted to ask more, but at that moment, Daoist Mingxiu leaped onto the wooden platform, looking down on the crowd.
"The skills of our Qingfeng Temple aren't great for brawling, but when it comes to self-preservation, our reputation is well-known. Today, I will teach you the temple's Basic Sword Technique. It is also the prerequisite and foundation for learning the Light Body Technique. Its name is: the Seven-Section Quick Sword!"
"This Swordsmanship is primarily composed of seven techniques. The Sword Techniques require the coordinated use of all your body's muscles for training. It is mainly used to temper the body and is not for actual combat. Everyone, remember this well."
Next, Daoist Mingxiu began to explain and demonstrate the specific details of the Seven-Section Quick Sword.
Below, the crowd listened with rapt attention, and Lin Hui and Chen Zhishen also focused completely. After a week of hard labor, they had finally gotten to the martial arts instruction, and neither of them dared to miss a thing.
"...To be fast, the Sword Technique must primarily generate power from your footwork. Although you hold a sword in your hand, your real focus must be on your feet. To generate power while fleeing, you must push off with the balls of your feet and tense your calves. At the same time, you must swing your sword to make yourself a more dangerous target, thereby convincing any pursuer to give up on you and choose other, easier prey instead..."
Daoist Mingxiu's explanation was extremely detailed, and Lin Hui nodded frequently as he listened.
But he hadn't been listening for long.
Suddenly, a familiar, soft sound echoed in his mind.
HISS.
The Blood Seal!
The Blood Seal had activated again.
But this time was completely different from before. A line of small text had appeared out of thin air at the bottom of Lin Hui's vision.
'Seven-Section Quick Sword: A Basic Sword Technique of Qingfeng Temple. Upon reaching Great Success, grants the Special Effect—Light Body. Evolvable Branches: 2.'
'1—Nine-Section Swift Sword.'
'2—Qingfeng Swordsmanship.'
Both the Nine-Section Swift Sword and the Qingfeng Swordsmanship were official Martial Arts of Qingfeng Temple. Lin Hui had heard of them both and was shocked that he could actually evolve them from the Seven-Section Quick Sword alone.
'This Blood Seal is truly heaven-defying. But what's the use of evolving it directly? Don't tell me I'll automatically know it once the evolution is complete?'
Lin Hui shook his head internally.
He opened the evolution branches and, just as he expected, the time required was once again measured in years.
But suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
'Wait, since the evolution time is too long, why don't I just try to find something with a shorter evolution time?'
'The items I tried to evolve before all required years. But based on my observations, the smaller the object, the shorter the evolution time. If that's the case, what if I break it down even further...?'
At this thought, Lin Hui, who had been clueless for so long, finally grasped a new idea.
He stared intently at Daoist Mingxiu on the platform, forcing himself to concentrate and visualize the first technique of the Seven-Section Quick Sword—Rising High and Seeing Far.
Yes, that was his plan: to break the Swordsmanship down technique by technique and use the Blood Seal to evolve each one.
A minute later, just as he'd expected, it happened.
A new line of small, blood-red text appeared at the bottom of his vision.
'Seven-Section Quick Sword, First Stance: Rising High and Seeing Far. This technique is the foundation of the Seven-Section Quick Sword. Repeated practice to Great Success allows for rapid mastery of the third technique, 'Roaring Pine Tides.' Evolvable Branches: 1.'
Lin Hui quickly tapped on the number for the evolvable branch.
'1—Rising High and Seeing the Mountain.'
Without pausing, he tapped on "Rising High and Seeing the Mountain."
'Evolve Rising High and Seeing the Mountain?'
'Required Resources: One wooden sword, sixty days of stored stamina.'
'Time Required: Sixty days.'
Only sixty days! It really worked!
Lin Hui finally let out a sigh of relief. He knew that he had, at last, found the correct way to use the Blood Seal's power.
'Evolve Rising High and Seeing the Mountain?'
The Blood Seal's query appeared again.
'Yes!'
This time, Lin Hui didn't hesitate for a second, immediately choosing 'Yes'.
HISS.
Instantly, the Blood Seal on the back of his hand flashed with red light, its diamond shape transforming into a circle.
Everything fell silent.
And at that very moment, a sudden numbness spread through Lin Hui's body, and he felt a tiny bit of his stamina disappear.
It wasn't much, but he could clearly feel that a sliver of his stamina had been devoured by something.
By this time, Daoist Mingxiu on the platform had finished demonstrating all the Sword Techniques and was beginning to gesture for others to come forward with questions.
After the questions ended, he stepped down from the platform and began to quickly adjust the disciples' sword grips, stances, and footwork, one by one.
Lin Hui observed himself for a moment and confirmed that the Blood Seal's absorption of stamina had no adverse effects on him. Only then did he focus his full attention on Mingxiu's instruction to correct his own posture.
He couldn't rely solely on the Blood Seal. There were many things he still had to work hard on himself, otherwise...
After the Swordsmanship was taught, life quickly returned to the same old tedious, repetitive routine.
In the blink of an eye, two weeks had passed since Lin Hui arrived at Qingfeng Temple.
He had successfully learned the Seven-Section Quick Sword from Mingxiu, but he had only managed to swallow it whole. Lin Hui was completely fuzzy on many of the details.
Since everyone practiced in the same area, he observed, evaluated, and compared himself to the others based on his comprehension and memorization of the Sword Techniques.
Among the sixty-odd students at Qingfeng Temple, he was below average.
It took him a whole week to memorize the Seven-Section Quick Sword on his own, but some students had memorized the entire set perfectly in just two days.
It was purely a difference in talent.
But it didn't matter. He wasn't afraid of his average talent. As long as he studied and practiced diligently, he could always make up the difference.
So, Lin Hui began to follow Chen Zhishen's lead, increasing his daily training volume.
But...
"Junior Brother Lin, how is your mastery of the Seven-Section Quick Sword coming along?"
As evening fell, Lin Hui was doing some extra practice in a corner of the training grounds when Huishen, who had been guiding him all along, appeared at his side, smiling as he watched Lin Hui train hard.
"I've barely managed to memorize it. My aptitude isn't very good, so I can only make up for it with more practice," Lin Hui said with a hint of resignation, lowering the tree branch he was using as a wooden stick.
"Don't be in a rush. Martial Arts can't be mastered overnight. Your father is Steward Lin; you won't need to rely on these Light Body Techniques often in the future," Huishen said with a smile.
"You're right, Senior Brother, but I just want to master it for my own peace of mind," Lin Hui said, shaking his head. He stretched his joints and walked over to Huishen.
"What brings you here to find me today, Senior Brother?"
"Your father sent a letter. The Gate-Breaking Ghost in the Outer City has been caught. He wants you not to worry," Huishen said.
"The Gate-Breaking Ghost was caught?" Lin Hui was stunned.
"Yes. According to the public notice from the investigation, there was no Gate-Breaking Ghost. It was actually the hidden guards of two great families from the Inner City. They were investigating the whereabouts of some valuable item in the Outer City and were responsible for several tragic massacres. I told you before, this place is close to the No-Fog Zone. It's not so easy for a Gate-Breaking Ghost to get in," Huishen said, his smile fading.
"So what was the outcome?" Lin Hui asked, also breathing a sigh of relief.
"The outcome? What outcome?" Huishen also seemed taken aback.
"For those two great families," Lin Hui clarified.
"They were warned not to do it again. And they paid a bit of money to the victims' families," Huishen replied.
"That's it?" Lin Hui was dumbfounded.
"That's right. What more did you expect?" Huishen looked at him strangely.
"..." Lin Hui had originally thought the two great families would face a much harsher punishment, but in the end...
"By the way, Master Mingde asked me to come and ask you, have you ever eaten Wanfu Meat in your life?" Huishen continued.
"No... why?" Lin Hui searched his memory carefully and was sure he had never eaten it.
"Then don't ever eat it in the future. That stuff has powerful effects, but it's addictive," Huishen said, lowering his voice.
"Addictive..." Lin Hui's heart skipped a beat.
"Yes. And if you eat too much, it affects your mind. You'll spend all day just thinking about finding someone of the opposite sex to sleep with. Just be careful." With that, Huishen glanced around and quickly departed.
Leaving Lin Hui alone, his heart pounding with shock from the contents of that warning.
Wanfu Meat actually had such a secret?