Cao Ci had previously brought his two newly accepted disciples through Palmprint Ferry into the Great Duan Dynasty. They passed through Yun Chuang Prefecture, and when the ferry docked, Cao Ci disembarked early and took them on a walking journey through the mountains and rivers. The Dou clan was the sky over this ancient great prefecture. As it happened, both of his senior sisters were here now, so Cao Ci wanted his two disciples to meet their elders from the same school. The Dou family's old patriarch was about to celebrate his ninetieth birthday. Cao Ci calculated the time and found they still had some to spare, so he intended to let Ji Jie and Bai Yu slowly temper their bodies along the way. Earlier, aboard the ferry, his identity had been recognized. Even though Cao Ci had shut his door to visitors, not to mention those knocking to pay calls, merely the people strolling through the corridor outside to "watch the excitement" had come in an unending stream. Cao Ci had found it unbearably vexing. He himself did not care, but his two disciples had long since become unsettled. Within just a few days, an unavoidable distance had sprung up between them and their master. They no longer had the state of mind they had when they had first met.
When they first boarded the ferry, their minds had been simple, lively, and unrestrained. Whatever Cao Ci taught, they practiced. The boxing intent on each of them became increasingly pure and nimble—a good sign. Once they roughly understood the weight carried by the name "Cao Ci," however, their boxing intent began to stagnate. The same stance and same punch they learned and practiced suddenly became incomparably heavy, as if every punch bore the weight of the words "Master Cao