Qi

Yang Zhen strode with the bearing of a dragon and the presence of a tiger, exuding an aura of authority without anger. A sweep of his tiger-like eyes silenced the courtyard instantly.

"You," Yang Zhen pointed at the formal disciples, his voice like a booming bell, rattling the roof tiles, "hurry and fetch the horses. Head to the training grounds outside the city. Today, I will test your martial arts."

The group of youths scattered. Qin Sang, still dazed, was pulled by his arm by a tall, thin youth. "Little brother, why don't you ride with me? My name is Huang Chen. What should I call you, brother?"

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

"The training grounds are outside the city. We need to ride the escort agency's horses to get there."

The Wuwei Escort Agency was located in the south of Three Witches City, and the training grounds were built just outside the south city. Qin Sang didn't know how to ride, so Huang Chen took him.

The two rode side by side, galloping towards the city outskirts. As they reached the south city gate, they saw a troop of resplendent, armored soldiers standing at attention. They guarded the gate, preventing any civilians from passing, and a large crowd was blocked.

Everyone had no choice but to lead their horses and walk. After asking around, they learned that King Zhenshui was going to Baoguo Temple to offer incense and pray for the Holy Emperor. His procession had already left the royal palace.

Baoguo Temple was located on Luoma Mountain, west of Three Witches City, about fifteen li away. However, the south gate was the main entrance, and for such an important sacrificial event, they had to depart from the south gate.

They squeezed into the crowd and waited patiently for a while. Then, they heard the sound of gongs and drums leading the way. Soon, King Zhenshui's procession came from the inner city, guarded by elite soldiers on both sides. The dozen or so exquisite carriages in the middle were covered with thick curtains, so no one knew what the person inside looked like.

Qin Sang was curious and stood on tiptoe to peer.

The luxurious procession exited the city gates. The sides of the main road were crowded with makeshift shelters for the disaster victims.

At this moment, Qin Sang noticed that the backs of the guards' cloth armor in the Prince's procession all bore the character '镇' (Zhen). The color, style, and even the font were exactly the same as the characters on Bai Jianglan's group. The only difference was that Bai Jianglan and his group were wearing short robes that day, with the character '东' (Dong) written on their backs.

Seeing this, Qin Sang's heart stirred. He sidled closer to Huang Chen to inquire.

Huang Chen, without any suspicion, whispered, "Brother Qin, you don't know. They aren't ordinary soldiers; they are the Prince's personal guards. According to the Great Sui's ancestral system, a Prince can independently form a contingent of five hundred guards, considered the Prince's private army. These Prince's guards are either selected from the army or recruited from the martial arts world. They are all elites with high martial arts skills. They usually guard the royal palace, and only when the Prince, a Prince's son, or a Princess travels do they escort them. Not only King Zhenshui but other Princes also have similar personal guards. Those you saw before should be Prince Dongyang's personal guards."

Qin Sang pondered this.

He remembered hearing from the Water Monkey that day that the Great Sui had eight Princes, and indeed, one of them was King Dongyang, the current Emperor's full brother. The Water Monkey, though seemingly carefree, was actually very tight-lipped and hadn't revealed any secrets.

Bai Jianglan was the leader of Prince Dongyang's personal guards, a higher position than Qin Sang had imagined. That mysterious young lady was likely either the Prince's lover or his daughter.

After the Prince's procession passed, the crowd was allowed to proceed. After exiting the city and riding for a short distance, they turned off the main road onto a small path that wound into the mountains. They arrived at a mountain villa, which Huang Chen said was also property of the escort agency.

There was a large, flat training ground within the villa.

The young disciples lined up on the training ground. Yang Zhen separated them. There were three others like Qin Sang who only learned one martial art, so they stood together.

Yang Zhen finished testing his disciples first, telling them to practice on their own, then walked over to teach the four of them martial arts.

The other three had practical experience, while Qin Sang was the weakest. He felt that Yang Zhen wasn't particularly focused on him.

However, the money wasn't spent in vain. Yang Zhen truly lived up to his excellent reputation. He taught the "Tiger Subduing Long Fist" diligently and told Qin Sang that he could come every day until he mastered it.

In one day, Qin Sang learned the last seven stances of the complete "Tiger Subduing Long Fist" from Yang Zhen.

To his surprise, the first three stances of "Tiger Subduing Long Fist" taught by Yang Zhen were very different from those taught by Bai Jianglan. The moves were the same, but Yang Zhen's instruction lacked many of the crucial details that Bai Jianglan had provided.

These details had a significant impact on the power of the moves.

Qin Sang, having practiced the first three stances for so many days, felt this difference even more profoundly.

Yang Zhen had an excellent reputation, and for such a common martial art, he wouldn't hold back. Therefore, the difference must lie in themselves.

It was said that Yang Zhen's martial arts ranked in the top ten in Three Witches City. He wondered if Yang Zhen possessed Inner Force. Could Bai Jianglan be a top master?

Regardless, he had spent the money, and he had to continue learning the martial art. He planned to use Bai Jianglan's guidance on the first three stances to try and comprehend the remaining seven.

The distance from Green Goat Temple to the Wuwei Escort Agency's mountain villa wasn't far. Qin Sang went to learn martial arts every day and then taught Mingyue when he returned. Soon, he mastered "Tiger Subduing Long Fist."

However, he still frequently visited the mountain villa, listened to Yang Zhen's disciples discuss their martial arts insights, heard many martial arts anecdotes from them, and also learned to ride horses and shoot arrows.

It was the third month of spring, with blooming flowers and flying orioles.

In previous years of famine, disaster victims would have returned to their hometowns to sow seeds by this time. However, this year, it was heard that the rebellion in the north was intensifying, with smoke signals rising everywhere, and disaster victims were still migrating south in an endless stream.

Man-made disasters were even worse than natural disasters.

There was no progress with the "Netherworld Scripture." Even though Qin Sang repeatedly told himself to be patient, he couldn't sit still. He could only attribute it to his lack of effort and began meditating and cultivating all night, almost to the point of madness.

During the day, he still had to practice boxing, recite scriptures, and help the old Taoist priest. This way, he was almost constantly on the go. Fortunately, meditation and cultivation could also restore his energy, so he didn't feel tired.

Moonlight streamed into the stone house. Qin Sang stared blankly out the window. The moon was like a wheel in the desolate night sky. A meteor streaked across, falling beyond the distant mountains, into the boundless world.

After six months of effort and nearly four months of sitting in meditation, the Qi mentioned in the scripture finally appeared in his body!

The greatest fear for a person is not perseverance, but persevering without hope.

But when the reward truly arrives, you know that all the effort was worth it.

When he could finally feel that trace of cool Qi, Qin Sang felt as if he were in a dream.

That 'Qi' was as thin as a strand of hair. It was like a mischievous child, darting around in his Dantian. Qin Sang tried to 'catch' it and feel it carefully, but found it impossible.

The "Netherworld Scripture" stated that one could only 'internalize' after breaking through the second level of the cultivation method. Now, the only thing he could do was to activate that Qi and guide it into his meridians, carefully circulating it along the cultivation route.

After a few cycles, without any unexpected issues, Qin Sang relaxed. Just as he was about to clear his mind and cultivate with full focus, a terrifying, sharp pain suddenly erupted within his meridians.

Qin Sang's entire body trembled. He suddenly curled into a ball, letting out a pained groan. His clothes were immediately soaked with cold sweat.