Just as expected!
When Meng Yuan saw Nie Yannian driving people away, the stone in his heart finally fell.
The youths whose names had been called finally understood. They had slackened in training, thinking they could keep muddling along, but Nie Yannian had actually eliminated them.
"Master Nie, Master Nie..."
Seeing that his chance to learn martial arts was gone, Liu He panicked. He dropped to his knees, shuffled forward on them, hugged Nie Yannian's leg, and pleaded, "Master Nie, please keep me! I'll definitely train properly!"
Tears and snot streamed down his face. He was terrified, clearly someone upon whom his parents had pinned great hopes.
The others whose names had been called also dropped to their knees, knocking their heads against the ground and begging for mercy.
Nie Yannian remained amiable. Smiling, he said, "If a person wants to climb higher, there are only reading and martial training. You people can't make it through reading, so martial training is your only path. For us martial artists, either you have outstanding talent or you are diligent and hardworking. You have neither, so what the hell are you learning for? All you think about is slacking off and cutting corners, without a shred of self-discipline. Can you endure training through the dog days of summer and the bitterest days of winter?"
"I can, I can! I'll change! I'll definitely change!" Liu He slammed his head against the ground again and again, crying as he begged, "Master Nie, please, for my father's sake, give me another chance!"
"It's precisely for your father's sake that I've said this much to you. A person has to fulfill himself. Neither your bones nor your temperament are suited for martial arts. There's no reason to waste your time." Nie Yannian still wore a gentle smile. "In any case, with your father around, whether you go work at a farmstead or do something else, even become a rabbit master, you won't starve."
Seeing that Nie Yannian's tone was mild but that he had no intention of changing his mind, Liu He collapsed onto the ground.
"Get lost, and hurry up! Stop muddling through your days, or be careful that your days muddle through you." Though Nie Yannian was cursing them, his tone sounded almost encouraging.
Seeing that even Liu He's pleas were useless, all the named boys and girls began to cry. Dejected and dispirited, they returned to the dormitories to collect their bundles, then dawdled as they left.
Liu He stood at the Training Field gate with vacant eyes. He stopped and looked back at those who remained. Hu Qian looked as ordinary as ever, as though she had long known this day would come. Wu Changsheng and Zhao Tie Niu could not suppress the joy on their faces, while Meng Yuan was expressionless. He did not even mock Liu He after his victory, nor could he be bothered to spare him a glance.
"If you want glory before others, you must suffer behind them. This principle is the same in every trade. From now on, what you train and learn will be ten times harder and ten times more exhausting than it is now."
Nie Yannian swept his gaze over those who remained, pointed at Liu He by the Training Field gate, and asked, "Anyone want to switch places with him?"
No one answered.
"Good, every one of you is good!" Nie Yannian was deeply gratified. Smiling, he stepped forward, patting the boys on the shoulders and the girls on the heads. After praising them each in turn, he continued, "Today is the fifteenth of the first month. The Princess Consort has sent meat. At noon today, you can eat your fill!"
The Training Field meals had never lacked oil or fat, but these youths had never truly eaten great chunks of meat. Hearing Nie Yannian's words, they all began smacking their lips.
"However, before noon arrives, I'll teach everyone a breathing method." As he spoke, Nie Yannian lowered his stance, setting his feet level and shoulder-width apart, rather like a horse stance.
"This is the Embracing Stake Nourishing Essence Art. Keep your body upright and your waist and spine straight. Relax your shoulders and let them sink. Hold your hands in a circle before your chest, as though embracing a plump young lady."
Nie Yannian spoke extremely slowly. Once the youths had assumed the same posture, he continued, "Exhale long and inhale short. Keep your body steady and your heart still. Imagine yourself amid mountain wilderness and forests, or in some wondrous place among flowers, then sense the changes within your own body."
Then his arms moved lightly, as though he were kneading a great ball.
After completing the full set of movements, Nie Yannian taught it twice more before ending the exercise.
This so-called Embracing Stake Nourishing Essence Art was not difficult to learn. The movements were simple. The most important points were the rhythm of breathing, calming the heart, and visualization.
"I know you're wondering why I'm teaching this damned Nourishing Essence Art instead of real combat methods."
With his hands behind his back, Nie Yannian said word by word, "Let me tell you, on the martial path, relaxation and tension must complement each other. Everyone has been diligently cultivating and bitterly training lately, tempering strength and stamina. That is tension. Then what is relaxation? Nourishing qi and nourishing the heart is relaxation. Calming the heart and calming the qi is relaxation. This Embracing Stake Nourishing Essence Art is relaxation."
He casually corrected several students' movements while continuing, "One relaxation and one tension, one opening and one closing, one fast and one slow—this is the method for advancing in martial arts. You entered the path late, and only this can help open the Opening Acupoints within your bodies."
"Master Nie, what are Opening Acupoints?" Wu Changsheng boldly asked. It was also what all the students wanted to know.
"You'll know when the time comes." Nie Yannian smiled.
"What happens after the Opening Acupoints are opened?" Meng Yuan asked as well.
"Opening the Opening Acupoints means entering a rank. Only then do you truly set foot upon the martial path." Nie Yannian smiled with narrowed eyes. "At that point, the sky is high and the sea is vast, with boundless wondrous uses!"
"What does entering a rank mean?" Tie Niu asked blankly.
Yet Nie Yannian was clearly neither a qualified teacher nor a patient one. Annoyed, he said, "Questions, questions, questions. When you marry a wife, do you need to come ask me first how to sleep with her?"
"Master Nie, would you teach me?" Tie Niu asked.
"Hiss..." Seeing that the boy did not understand the dirty joke at all, Nie Yannian could not help sucking in a cold breath. He bared his teeth, smiled helplessly, and said, "We'll talk about entering a rank after you open your Opening Acupoints. From now on, perform the Embracing Stake Nourishing Essence Art once each morning, noon, and evening. Do it once whenever you're tired or weary as well. If you feel any discomfort, or if some part of your body feels warm, come tell me."
"Rest this afternoon. Those who want to go find their mothers and nurse can go, and those who want to sleep can sleep. Just don't visit brothels! Tomorrow, we'll get serious!" Nie Yannian neither explained what Opening Acupoints were nor mentioned their wondrous uses after being opened. After rambling on for a few sentences, he patted his butt and left.
Everyone practiced a few more times before it was time to eat.
Today, the kitchen had freshly braised beef and a whole basket of steaming buns.
Cattle were used for farming, and the Kingdom of Qing strictly forbade slaughtering them. Even killing sick or injured cattle had to be reported to the authorities. Thus, ordinary households rarely got to eat beef.
"Don't fight over it!" Meng Yuan shouted, putting on a righteous look. He grabbed a bun first, tore open a slit, stuffed several large pieces of beef dripping with hot oil inside, and handed it to Tie Niu.
"Big Brother, you're so good!" Tie Niu took it and bit off more than half in one mouthful, nearly moved to tears. "It's so fragrant!"
Meng Yuan had long since started salivating too. He hurriedly took a hot bun and filled it with beef, ignoring the expectation in Hu Qian's eyes as he stuffed it into his own mouth.
It had been so long since he had eaten meat in great mouthfuls. The feeling was simply impossible to stop once it began.
After wolfing down one bun, threads of nourishment were intercepted by the essence fire, several times better than eating cabbage and tofu!
"My first time eating beef..." Since arriving in this world, Meng Yuan had truly never tasted such delicious meat before. He devoured seven meat-filled buns in one go before finally finding the time to sigh.
"Big Brother, you forgot. You've eaten bull testicles before. Burp..." Tie Niu corrected him.
"..." Hearing that, Meng Yuan could not help thinking of the little girl at the ranch. He wondered how she was doing.
He had to work harder. He did not seek to make some grand name for himself; at the very least, he had to let Old Man Jiang and Jiang Tang live comfortable lives!
With that thought, Meng Yuan stuffed more food into his mouth.
Gorging oneself was not something martial artists approved of, but they were all teenagers without much restraint. Once they began eating, there was no end to it, and every one of them ate until their bellies were round.
Even Hu Qian rubbed her stomach with a satisfied look.
There had been twenty-seven students in total. Sixteen had been driven away, leaving only eleven: six boys and five girls.
For those who remained, today was a day of great joy. After eating their fill, they sat in the dining hall telling jokes and chatting, chattering away as they happily compared who could eat the most and who was the strongest.
In the end, Meng Yuan was judged the biggest eater, while Tie Niu had the greatest strength.
When they were about to judge who was the prettiest, Hu Qian pulled a long face and said martial artists did not judge beauty or ugliness, so there was no need to choose some flower queen.
In truth, she was the prettiest among the female students.
Hu Qian said no more and walked straight out of the Training Field.
The other students had been cooped up for too long as well. Those with family in the city went home to visit them, while those without family went out to get some fresh air.
Meng Yuan had no mind to wander around, because after eating all that beef, the essence fire had already enveloped his entire body.
Moreover, it was no longer growing stronger. It had clearly reached its limit and was already complete.
Meng Yuan sensed that with a single thought, the energy contained within the essence fire would return to him in some manner.
He simply had no idea what would happen then.
He returned to the dormitory with Tie Niu. Tie Niu began preparing to wash clothes. "Big Brother, why does your outfit have another hole in it?"
As the two were tidying their things, Hu Qian and a female student came to the dormitory. "Meng Yuan, Tie Niu, someone is looking for you two!"
Before you continue