Beggars and the Minor Heavenly Cycle

Jiang Ding closed his eyes and nurtured the twelfth of the Twelve Meridians, the Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, occasionally mixing in training for the Minor Breath Concealment Technique. His aura was like stone, like wood.

Suddenly, he frowned.

After thinking for a little while, he lightly tapped his feet and reached the courtyard wall. Then, in several strides, he traveled silently over the eaves in various places like a noiseless bird.

"Wuwu..."

In a corner somewhere, the scar-faced brute Liu Qi tightly covered a small, filthy beggar child's mouth with a handkerchief. Moments later, the child's body went limp as mud, and he was tossed onto the ground.

"Enough. Move him onto the carriage." Liu Qi snorted coldly and said to the two men behind him, "Whenever I have you do something, it's either this mistake or that omission!"

"Yes, Brother Qi!"

The two burly men nodded and bowed, swiftly carrying the beggar child onto the carriage.

The curtain was lifted, revealing beggar children in their teens scattered haphazardly throughout the carriage compartment.

"Hurry up. The gang leader wants them urgently. Damn it, where are we supposed to find so many beggar children..." Liu Qi wiped his hands in disgust. Just as he was about to do something, his expression changed drastically.

At some point, a youth in green robes had appeared not far away, silently watching him.

His hand rested on the sword hilt.

Thud!

"Spare my life, young hero!"

Liu Qi dropped to his knees, his body shaking uncontrollably. He could not help recalling the sight from that day: the wolf guard's head hitting the ground, blood spurting everywhere.

"Tell me."

Jiang Ding took a light breath, calming down a little of the icy killing intent within him.

"The Wild Wolf Gang has lofty ambitions. It hasn't even been that long, and you've already entered the business of abducting children. Your future is boundless."

He had never liked involving himself in the slaughter and conflicts of the natives.

Yet seeing boys and girls his own age—and even younger than himself—fall into such a miserable fate, he still could not bear it.

"This..."

Liu Qi glanced around. The two burly men understood at once and immediately ran far away, looking ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.

"Young Master, I don't want to do something so utterly devoid of conscience either. It was an order from above."

Liu Qi wore a bitter expression. "It was an order from the Zheng Family. They want our Wild Wolf Gang to offer fifty virgin boys and girls under twenty years old. Otherwise... our Wild Wolf Gang won't be able to withstand it."

That was, of course, a lie. To these gang members, abducting children was no different from collecting protection fees.

What conscience could those who roamed the jianghu possibly have?

"Why? What are they for?"

The coldness in Jiang Ding's heart deepened, but the education he had received made him trace every matter to its source and solve the problem at its root.

"Maybe they're training dead soldiers? Raising eunuch slaves? Or perhaps harvesting lives and carving bodies to cultivate some evil art?" Liu Qi's face twisted bitterly. "How could small fry like us know what great figures like the Zheng Family are thinking?"

The Zheng Family.

Killing intent brewed in Jiang Ding's heart, yet he had no choice but to bury it.

The Zheng Family was related by marriage to the Eastern Spirit Marquis Manor. If he made a move against them, it would very likely draw the garrison troops and ruin the currently flourishing situation in one stroke.

Forget it. Forget it.

I'm only a high school student. My talent and strength are poor, I'm clumsy and useless—what right do I have to settle grievances as I please?

"I can't manage the other places."

Jiang Ding said in a low voice, "On Rotten Plank Street and in the surrounding several blocks, this must never happen again. Otherwise, Long Shi, you, and anyone else involved will repay it with your lives."

"Yes, yes, yes! Rest assured."

Liu Qi nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at grain, regardless of whether he could actually do it.

"It had better be so."

The indifferent voice came from somewhere. Liu Qi raised his head and looked around, but the figure had already vanished.

Back in the small courtyard, Jiang Ding felt somewhat gloomy and summoned Huang Deyou.

"How many beggars are there near our shop who were forced into it, rather than being the sort who love idleness and hate work?" Jiang Ding asked.

"Boss, you mean..."

Huang Deyou was startled. Considering Jiang Ding's recent conduct, aside from those who took the initiative to provoke him, he was almost harmless to everyone and even took the initiative to consider others.

While feeling admiration in his heart, he advised, "Boss, it's best not to do this. These beggars are the government's responsibility. We can't handle it, and once we get involved, there'll be endless trouble."

"All the beggars in the city might come to us."

"That's what you should be thinking about!" Jiang Ding said indifferently. "Go do it. Investigate the number of beggars on Rotten Plank Street and the nearby streets. Find a way to let them eat their fill. Don't simply hand out porridge—find them work to do, teach them one or two survival skills, and so on. I'll allocate silver to you."

"And also... stop any more beggars from entering the area around Rotten Plank Street. Have Long Shi deal with it."

"Boss, you are truly righteous!"

Huang Deyou bowed deeply and said nothing more about the difficulties.

Ninety-nine percent of matters in this world could be resolved as long as one was willing to spend silver.

"Go."

Jiang Ding sat in his chair, one hand resting on the sword hilt as he continued using inner force to nourish and temper the Foot Lesser Yin Kidney Meridian, the twelfth of the Twelve Meridians.

At a certain moment, a faint sound like mountains collapsing and seas roaring drifted in from beyond the heavens. All the inner force throughout his body froze in place, then suddenly turned violent, surging toward a point at the center.

In his lower-left abdomen, the inner force began to rotate—slowly at first, then faster, then gradually slowing again. The inner force coursing through all Twelve Meridians poured into this place, then flowed out from it, circulating throughout his body.

The Dantian Qi Sea had formed!

Jiang Ding felt the inner force between the Twelve Meridians become a single whole. Even if he ignored it, it could circulate on its own, and the speed at which inner qi was generated had increased by at least double!

He drew his sword.

Clang!

A bright streak of sword light flashed past, then returned to the Sword Sheath.

"The speed and quality of my inner force have both improved slightly."

Jiang Ding caught a bright yellow fallen leaf in his hand. With a slight press of his thumb and forefinger, he split it into two identical thin pieces, allowing them to flutter down to the ground.

Then, With a Thought, his inner force formed a complex true-qi structure among the Twelve Meridians. His entire presence swiftly vanished without a trace, becoming like earth and stone.

"The difficulty of using the Minor Breath Concealment Technique has decreased. I should be able to reach the proficient level within a week."

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

This was the "Minor Heavenly Cycle" realm of Immortal Sect Eaglet Inner Qi!

The Twelve Meridians had undergone preliminary tempering and formed a unified cycle, bringing a minor qualitative transformation in every aspect.

Besides this, he could now temper and nourish twenty fine meridians each day, doubling his previous efficiency.

"My next stage of cultivation is to continue tempering the tiny branch meridians of the Twelve Meridians, accommodating more inner force, Step by Step returning from the acquired to the innate. The Next one realm is the 'Lesser Heavenly Cycle'—each of the Twelve Meridians must have one hundred tiny branch meridians tempered, for a total of twelve hundred."

"With the Hundred Essence Qi Transforming Pill every day, along with the Purple Jade Qi Generating Pill distributed by the school, I can temper twenty tiny meridians a day under these conditions..."

Jiang Ding calculated briefly.

"Fifty-four days. It will probably take about two months to reach the 'Lesser Heavenly Cycle' realm."

This speed was quite good.

He could undoubtedly be called a genius. Before the college entrance examination, he had hope of reaching Inner Qi Great Accomplishment and completing the twenty thousand tiny branch meridians of the Twelve Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians required for Great Accomplishment.

However, there was still a vast distance between that and the one hundred and eight thousand meridians throughout the human body required for Young Eagle Innate.

"Two paths."

Jiang Ding's gaze was profound. Naturally, he would not be satisfied with this.

"First, raise my comprehension of the cultivation method to Great Accomplishment or even Perfection; the tempering speed will increase dramatically. Second, obtain the 'Blue Gold Potion'!"