What?
He Bi was startled, thinking he had misheard. But Cui Yao was a man of swift, decisive action. Before the former had even finished staring blankly, the latter had completed the test in a few quick motions. A trace of surprise flickered in his eyes as he confirmed:
"It is indeed the Sensing Qi realm."
In this corner of the training ground, it was as though water had suddenly boiled over. Voices surged and churned as the workers whispered among themselves—"an inn worker," "just him," "his younger brother is in the Chief Escort's residence," "some important person must have helped him."
The noisy voices washed over him. Cui Yao frowned.
"Anyone who refuses to accept this, step forward. I can test you too."
The crowd instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter.
"Being good at martial arts is skill. Having someone behind you to support you is also skill."
"If others can do it, you should think about how you yourselves can do it too."
"What use is all this sour-grape talk?"
With a thunderous roar, the workers immediately became mute as cold cicadas, like rabbits before a fierce tiger, not daring even to lift their heads.
Cui Yao snorted coldly and told them to resume training. Only then did he turn around, look at the unruffled Li Cunxiao, and give a slight nod.
The Cui brothers had both come from the military. Only later, through a twist of fate, had they joined Zhang Lishi's service.
Because of this, both men were blunt and straightforward—or, put less kindly, simple and rough.
He could not be bothered with whether someone had pulled strings or taken tonics. Where in this world was there so much fairness?
Those young masters and misses of the inner city paid to study martial arts without having to work. Why did no one go yell at them?
Besides, Cui Yao knew the Li brothers' background. Their luck had simply arrived, and the Chief Escort had casually taken them in. Other than that, what extra care had they received?
"I have watched you train every day. With your build, half a month was more or less right."
Cui Yao said only that much. Without waiting for a reply, he led the two of them toward the other side of the training ground, where other escorts naturally filled their places.
He Bi came back to his senses then. He looked at Li Cunxiao, wanting to say something, but seeing Cui Yao's back ahead of them, he held it in.
On the other side of the training ground, there were more than half as many people as in the group practicing Horse Stance. Around twenty people had paired off to exchange moves in sparring practice.
So-called forms were, put plainly, formulas produced by summarizing and refining methods for dealing with different situations.
However the opponent attacked or defended, I had corresponding methods to break through, defend, or deceive.
When forms were broken apart, they became individual moves. Footwork combined with hand movements became movement techniques and moving stances.
Moving stances combined with moves became combat methods.
In legends and tales, peerless generals often fought for three days and three nights. But in reality, an ordinary person would be gasping for breath after less than ten minutes of fighting.
Qin Yu and Run Dong had sensed their Blood Essence, and their physical qualities in every aspect already surpassed those of ordinary grown men. Yet after training for two quarters of an hour, they too were panting heavily, their movements beginning to slow.
Just then, Qin Yu seemed to see something and suddenly lost focus. Run Dong could not pull back his fist in time, and it slammed into Qin Yu's chest with a thud. Caught unprepared, Qin Yu immediately dropped onto his backside.
"Qin Yu, what are you spacing out for?"
"Look, look over there! It's them—they've broken through to Sensing Qi too!"
"Them?"
Run Dong was initially confused. But when he turned and saw his two roommates approaching, his expression instantly stiffened.
Thinking of the small smugness he had felt that morning, he did not know whether he should congratulate them or do something else.
Fortunately, Cui Yao and the other two did not notice any of this.
After bringing the two to the side of the sparring group, Cui Yao began explaining.
"The depth to which a martial art is practiced is commonly described as beginner, minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, and perfection."
"For our escort agency's Tiger Form Fist, Sensing Qi means beginner level, Subduing Qi means minor accomplishment, while major accomplishment and perfection are both in the realm of Strengthening Qi."
"You two have already entered the Tiger Form Fist and can sense Blood Essence. The next step is to mobilize and manipulate blood essence."
"Next, I will teach you the moving stances and combat methods known as the Tiger Form Eight Styles."
"When you can train until power reaches the four extremities and Qi follows the heart's command, your Tiger Form Fist will count as major accomplishment."
Then Cui Yao began personally teaching the two of them, explaining in detail how to rise and sink their bodies while holding stances, how to shift their feet, and which movement techniques should accompany which moves.
The moving stances of Tiger Form Fist required one to take root upon landing, with steps neither floating nor power drifting away. When placing a foot, the front and rear feet had to be distinct yet close together—light and nimble as a magpie alighting, majestic as a tiger crouching upon the ground, agile and clever as a cat.
As for the hand techniques, there were eight moves in total:
Tiger Pounce, Tiger Push, Tiger Brace, Tiger Claw, Tiger Hug Head, Tiger Leap Mountain, Tiger Swish Tail, Tiger Stomp Claw.
The names were plain and unadorned, but when truly performed, every move was vicious, each strike aimed straight at vital points. Li Cunxiao and He Bi, watching Cui Yao demonstrate, felt chills run down their backs.
Once Cui Yao finished demonstrating and left, the two stepped forward. They saw that the old wooden post wrapped in cowhide now bore several finger holes and fist marks.
With a light blow, fine wood dust, delicate as flour, fell in a soft rustle.
"So fierce?"
Li Cunxiao was clicking his tongue in amazement when He Bi beside him shook his head.
"What is this? I heard from my father that during an escort job, a horse was startled. Escort Cui stopped a carriage loaded with a thousand jin of goods with one hand. The horse's neck snapped on the spot, and it died!"
A thousand jin with one hand? Was that not half a ton of force?
Li Cunxiao's heart burned at the thought. Just as he wanted to take the chance to ask about realms beyond Blood Essence, Qin Yu somehow appeared beside them with a grin.
"Brother Li, Brother He, you broke through to Sensing Qi too?"
Without waiting for anyone to ask, he began voluntarily sharing his experience from the past two days of training.
How much of what he said was experience and how much was true did not matter. In any case, he quickly closed the distance between himself and the two again.
Run Dong, however, stood awkwardly to the side. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately closed it again.
When the grueling morning training finally ended and it was time to drink the medicinal soup, Li Cunxiao swallowed a mouthful and could clearly feel that its heat was stronger than what he had drunk while practicing Horse Stance.
Not only that, when it came time to work, those workers who had sensed Blood Essence were clearly assigned much less work.
Moreover, he heard from others that if there was nothing else to do after finishing work, the escorts would occasionally turn a blind eye if they went out for a while.
Clearly, even as Reserve Escorts, their treatment had already diverged from that of ordinary workers.
What surprised him was that when Li Cunxiao returned to the room after finishing work, he found He Bi, who would normally have left the escort agency long ago at this hour, waiting by the door.
He went straight to the point.
"Brother Li, did you also eat Demon Meat to break through to Sensing Qi?"
Seeing He Bi lean close and ask in a low voice, Li Cunxiao thought, Also?
He had been worrying about finding a way to obtain Demon Meat. He had not expected it to deliver itself to his door.
"Brother He, you must be joking. My pockets are empty—where would I get the money to buy Demon Meat?"
He Bi understood at once and smiled, wearing an expression that said, "I understand."
"Brother Li need not worry. Escort Cui will not concern himself with such matters. I came here only to make a friend."
"This is not a convenient place to talk. Would you honor me by moving to an inn?"
Before you continue