Qi

Yang Zhen strode with the bearing of a dragon and tiger, imposing without anger. His tiger eyes swept across the yard, and silence fell so deep one could hear a pin drop.

"You!" Yang Zhen pointed at the formal disciples, his voice booming like a great bell, making the roof tiles tremble. "Go lead out the horses. We're heading to the training grounds outside the city. Today, I'll test your Martial Arts."

The youths scattered in a hubbub. Qin Sang was still bewildered when a tall, lanky boy grabbed his arm. "Little brother, ride with me. My name is Huang Chen. What should I call you?"

Huang Chen was the oldest among them. Seeing the others pairing off as well, Qin Sang followed him. "My name is Qin Sang. Brother Huang, where are we going?"

"The martial training grounds are outside the city. We'll have to ride the escort agency's horses there."

The Wuwei Escort Agency was in the southern district of Three Witches City, and the training grounds had been built beyond the southern city walls. Qin Sang could not ride, so Huang Chen took him along.

The two horses galloped side by side toward the city outskirts. Yet upon reaching the southern gate, they found a squad of armored government troops standing in solemn formation. The soldiers had sealed off the gate, forbidding civilians from passing, and a great crowd had been blocked there.

They could only lead their horses and walk. After asking around, they learned that King Zhenshui was heading to Baoguo Temple that day to burn incense and pray for the Holy Emperor's blessings. His procession had already left the royal residence.

Baoguo Temple stood on Luoma Mountain, west of Three Witches City, fifteen li from the city. However, the southern gate was the main gate, and an important sacrificial rite like this had to depart through it.

They squeezed into the crowd and waited patiently for a while. Then came the sound of gongs and drums clearing the way. Before long, King Zhenshui's procession rolled out from the inner city, elite soldiers guarding it before and behind. More than ten exquisite carriages stood in the middle, concealed behind heavy curtains; no one knew what the people inside looked like.

Curious, Qin Sang stood on tiptoe to look.

The lavish procession left the city gates, while the roadsides were crammed with the makeshift huts of disaster victims.

Only then did Qin Sang notice that the cloth armor worn by the guards of the prince's carriage bore the character "Zhen" on their backs. The color, style, even the calligraphy, were exactly the same as the characters on Bai Jianglan and the others' clothes. The only difference was that Bai Jianglan and the others had worn short jackets that day, with "Dong" written on their backs.

At the sight, Qin Sang's heart stirred. He turned sideways and asked Huang Chen about it.

Without suspecting anything, Huang Chen lowered his voice. "Brother Qin, you may not know this, but they aren't ordinary government troops. They are the Prince's personal guards. By the ancestral laws of Great Sui, a prince may establish five hundred personal guards, effectively his private army. These guards are either selected from the military or recruited from wandering heroes of the martial world. Every one of them is an elite with formidable Martial Arts. They normally protect the royal residence, and only escort the prince, his sons, or the County Princess when they travel. It isn't only King Zhenshui who has such guards; the other princes do as well. Those people you saw before should have been Prince Dongyang's personal guards."

Qin Sang fell into thought.

That day, Water Monkey had told him that Great Sui had eight princes, and one of them was indeed King Dongyang, the current emperor's full brother. Water Monkey seemed careless and outspoken, but his mouth was tightly sealed; he had not leaked a shred of confidential information.

Bai Jianglan was actually the commander of King Dongyang's personal guards, his status even higher than Qin Sang had imagined. As for that mysterious young lady, she was likely either the prince's lover or his daughter.

Once the prince's procession had passed, the crowd was allowed through. After leaving the city, they galloped for a short while before turning from the main road onto a smaller path into the mountains. There, they reached a manor. Huang Chen said it was also an asset of the escort agency.

Within the manor lay a vast, level training ground.

The youths lined up on the field. Yang Zhen separated them into groups. Besides Qin Sang, there were three others like him who were learning only one skill, and the four of them stood together.

Yang Zhen first tested the disciples, told them to practice on their own, then came over to teach the four of them Martial Arts.

The other three already had some foundation. Qin Sang was the weakest, and he felt that Yang Zhen was not especially attentive toward him either.

Still, the silver had not been spent for nothing. Yang Zhen truly lived up to his fine reputation. When teaching the Tiger Subduing Long Fist, he was meticulous and conscientious. He also told Qin Sang that he could come every day until he had mastered it.

In a single day, Qin Sang learned the final seven forms of the complete Tiger Subduing Long Fist from Yang Zhen.

What surprised him was that Yang Zhen's teaching of the first three forms differed greatly from Bai Jianglan's. The moves themselves were the same, but Yang Zhen lacked far too many details compared with Bai Jianglan.

Yet it was precisely those details that greatly affected the power of the techniques.

Especially since Qin Sang had practiced the first three forms for so many days, he felt the difference all the more deeply.

Yang Zhen had an excellent reputation. He would not stoop to withholding secrets in such an ordinary fist art. Then the difference must lie in the two men themselves.

They said Yang Zhen's martial prowess could rank among the top ten in Three Witches City. Did he possess Inner Force? Could Bai Jianglan be a top-tier expert?

No matter what, he had spent the silver, so he had to continue learning the fist art. Based on Bai Jianglan's guidance in the first three forms, he planned to try and figure out the remaining seven himself.

The Wuwei Escort Agency's manor was not far from Green Goat Temple. Qin Sang went there every day to learn Martial Arts, then returned to teach Mingyue. Before long, he had mastered the Tiger Subduing Long Fist.

Still, he often went to the manor to listen to Yang Zhen's disciples exchange insights on martial arts. From them, he also heard many tales from the martial world and learned to ride horses and shoot arrows.

In the third month of spring, grass grew and orioles flew.

In previous disaster years, by this season the victims would already have returned home to sow their fields. But this year, word spread that the northern rebellion was growing ever fiercer, beacon fires rising on all sides, and disaster victims were still flowing south in an unbroken stream.

Man-made calamities were worse than Heavenly Calamity.

The Netherworld Scripture had shown no progress. No matter how Qin Sang repeatedly convinced himself to be patient, he could no longer sit still. He could only blame himself for not working hard enough, so he began meditating and cultivating night after night, nearly driven mad.

During the day, he still had to practice boxing, recite scriptures, and help the old Daoist. As a result, he was almost constantly on the move from dawn to dusk. Fortunately, meditation and cultivation could restore his energy as well, so he did not find it exhausting.

Moonlight streamed into the stone room. Qin Sang stared blankly outside. The bright moon hung round as a wheel, and a shooting star crossed the barren, silent night sky, falling beyond the distant mountains into the boundless, vast world.

After six months of effort and nearly four months of sitting in desolate meditation, the qi described in the scripture had finally appeared within his body!

What people feared most was not perseverance, but persevering without seeing any hope.

Yet when the harvest truly arrived, one knew that every effort had been worthwhile.

When he truly sensed that faint thread of cool qi, Qin Sang felt as though he were dreaming.

That qi was no thicker than a strand of hair. Like a mischievous child, it darted wildly about his dantian. Qin Sang tried to "catch" it and examine it carefully, only to find that he could not do so at all.

The Netherworld Scripture said that only after breaking through to the second level could one "look inward." For now, the only thing he could do was urge that qi into his meridians and cautiously circulate it along the route described by the technique.

After several cycles, nothing unexpected happened, and Qin Sang relaxed. Just as he was about to calm his mind and cultivate with all his strength, a terrifying pain suddenly tore through his meridians.

Qin Sang's whole body shook. He abruptly curled into a ball and let out a pained, low roar. His clothes were immediately drenched through with cold sweat.