Courage and Prowess

Courage and Prowess: "Practicing martial arts?"

Lu Quan'an frowned.

"Why had he started practicing martial arts again?" He had just been about to scold him, but then he thought of the other young masters who went out seeking pleasure and amusement. Compared to them, Lu Sheng's actions were ultimately far more ambitious.

The reprimand reached his lips, but he sighed again.

"If you want to practice martial arts, go learn properly from Uncle Zhao. Don't blindly train by yourself. It's easy to get hurt."

He shook his head and turned to leave. Halfway to the door, he paused again.

"As for the pharmacy, take whatever medicinal ingredients you need. I'll give you a monthly allowance of two thousand taels."

With that, he strode away.

Second Mother, Liu Cuiyu, gently wiped Lu Sheng's sweat with a towel.

"Your father is just softhearted."

She let out a long sigh.

"The Old Man of the Xu Family was his sworn brother. Now that something like this had happened, he was grieving too.

"It's a good thing that you want to practice martial arts, but others start building their foundations from childhood. At your age, it was ultimately a little late."

She went on and on about something, but Lu Sheng did not take it all in.

All his attention was focused on the Black Tiger Saber Technique he had just acquired.

"How wondrous."

Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly. On the surface, he was listening to Second Mother speak, but in truth, he was sensing the state of his own body.

He flexed the muscles in his arm.

"The muscles in my arms are still the same, but that sense of mastery, that feeling with the saber as if I had trained for countless years—it's simply..."

He tried flexing the muscles in his legs again.

The muscles in his legs were clearly able to exert force far more easily than before.

He could distinctly feel his strength racing upward from his feet, all the way to his waist, then to his arms.

The Black Tiger Saber Technique described this smooth transmission of force in great detail.

This was called Power Through.

"According to what the saber technique said... ordinary martial artists all had methods to mobilize most of the strength in their bodies.

"Being able to mobilize fifty percent of one's full strength already made one skilled. Mobilizing eighty percent allowed one to enter the so-called Power Through Realm."

Lu Sheng weighed it in his heart. Based on some of this body's original memories, he had once heard Uncle Zhao and several other martial arts masters discuss this.

The Power Through Realm was more or less among the very best levels in Nine Links City.

Being able to gather one's strength and unleash it all at once—at such a realm, even an ordinary person could bring forth terrifying strength and speed far beyond that of normal men with a single saber strike.

"Uncle Zhao was in the Power Through Realm."

Lu Sheng sighed inwardly. The Modifier's effect had not been discounted in the slightest, and a huge stone in his heart finally came crashing down.

"Unfortunately, the Modifier seemed to consume some sort of combined essence, vitality, and spirit. Altering it once—not even with one of those legendary cultivation methods possessing inner force or inner qi, but merely an ordinary external saber technique—had nearly left me drained of qi and blood, gravely ill in bed."

Lu Sheng faintly began to understand the essence of the Modifier.

This thing seemed to be an adjuster, capable of engraving experience, memories, instincts, and martial arts into the body.

But such adjustments required energy, and what it consumed seemed to be his essence, vitality, and spirit.

Moreover, adjusting bodily memories and the like was not something that could be achieved in one stroke.

"The body is like a pile of materials. The Modifier probably uses those materials to lay down a new foundation atop the original one.

"It can't alter muscle strength, bone strength, and the like out of thin air."

Lu Sheng arrived at this conjecture.

Over the following days, the changes in his body also confirmed it.

From the very first day, his body slowly began to recover. At the same time, firm muscles gradually grew in his arms, legs, chest, and back.

Lu Sheng also clearly felt that his sense of pain had become duller. Thick calluses gradually formed on the skin of his palms.

His appetite grew larger and larger as well.

To avoid standing out, he secretly went out every day to eat extra meals.

At home, he ate four meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a late-night snack.

Outside, he ate another portion equal to what he ate at home.

After seven days, Lu Sheng's entire body had subtly become sturdier, and his figure was no longer as frail as before.

He had long since returned the saber technique manual intact to Uncle Zhao.

Uncle Zhao had heard that he had fallen ill and taken to bed. When he accepted the saber technique, he did nothing but shake his head and sigh, no longer asking about saber practice.

Lu Sheng guessed that he thought Lu Sheng had carelessly tried practicing the saber and injured himself as a result.

Uncle Zhao's thoughts were indeed much the same.

Originally, he had been waiting for Lu Sheng to come seek answers after failing to grasp the saber technique, but in the blink of an eye, he heard that Young Master Lu Sheng had been injured and confined to bed.

Later, Lu Sheng returned the manual to him and stopped asking about the Black Tiger Saber.

Thus, he assumed Lu Sheng had lost interest and given up.

Other than sighing, Uncle Zhao said nothing about it.

Everything returned to the way it had been.

Life at the Lu Estate seemed not to have been greatly affected by the Xu Family.

The younger generation continued going on spring outings, drinking flower wine, listening to music, riding horses, and attending poetry gatherings and flower gatherings. Nine Links City was not large, but neither was it small; it had every sort of amusement one could want.

The older generation attended one gathering after another from time to time and went to the city yamen for consultations.

Lu Quan'an also threw himself into the merchant association and his business all day long.

Everyone seemed to have forgotten the Xu Family massacre and resumed living exactly as they had before.

Only two people were different from before.

One was Lu Yiyi. Without her fiancé, without the man she loved, she washed her face with tears every day and grew increasingly haggard.

The other was Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng had become even fonder of going out.

He did not go out for amusement or music, but instead found an empty patch of woodland outside the city.

There, he began trying to practice the Black Tiger Saber Technique by himself.

Black Wind Ridge lay southwest of Nine Links City.

The wind howled. It was nighttime.

Lu Sheng picked up a Pu Dao from the Blacksmith Shop in the city and headed in that direction.

He did not intend to reach Black Wind Ridge. He merely planned to find an opportunity along the way to test his saber.

He had obtained the Black Tiger Saber Technique through the Modifier, and he did not intend to reveal it. It could serve as one of his trump cards.

To outsiders, he was merely an ordinary rich young master without the strength to truss a chicken.

Under such a mistaken impression, should any danger ever target him, this skill would become his greatest reliance for turning the tables.

Of course, that was assuming the Black Tiger Saber Technique experience in his body was truly useful.

Lu Sheng did not know Black Wind Ridge's exact location, nor how far it was from Nine Links City.

Nine Links City had no curfew, and its gates remained open at night. He wore thick clothing alone, lowered his head to hide his face, changed into plain attire, and used some women's face powder to alter his appearance slightly.

At once, he became an ordinary traveler no one recognized.

Taking advantage of the night, Lu Sheng left the city and looked into the distance.

The pitch-black wilderness and barren mountains resembled slumbering beasts, silently lurking beneath the moonlight.

His heart also beat a little uneasily.

But to conceal himself, and to test just how powerful the Black Tiger Saber Technique was,

he stood at the city gate and still mustered his courage to walk toward Black Wind Ridge.

Clink, clink, clink. Caravans and merchant convoys returning at night were entering the city along the main road.

The bells hanging from the carts and horses swayed and rang in the wind, their chimes drifting far into the night breeze.

Lu Sheng had left through a side gate.

The city gates of Nine Links City were strange. Not only did they remain open at night, but there were quite a few of them. The city walls looked tall and sturdy, yet in reality they leaked wind everywhere and could not provide any real protection.

"Arriving at night again today?"

"Isn't that so? It was pitch-black at night, and one of the wheels twisted while we were traveling. What rotten luck."

The voices of the caravan leader and the city guard officer drifted from far down the main road by the central gate.

Lu Sheng stood on a small path leading southwest, far narrower than the main carriage road.

Only two torches burned atop the city wall by the pitch-black side gate. Their dim light spilled down, illuminating only about half a meter in front of him.

"It really is ancient times." Lu Sheng sighed inwardly.

Looking around, all three directions ahead were shrouded in darkness. Only Nine Links City behind him still had firelight.

"No flashlights, no electric lights. The ancient wilderness was simply a paradise for wild animals to hunt."

He hesitated slightly, but the Black Tiger Saber Technique experience surging through his body kept his fear from growing too great.

Because the Black Tiger Saber mental method contained ways to deal with such dark surroundings.

Or rather, black tigers themselves were expert hunters in the dark. The Black Tiger Saber Technique placed considerable emphasis on listening to the wind to discern one's surroundings, and it did not fear such an environment.

He tightened his belt, gripped the Pu Dao, and quickened his pace down the trail toward Black Wind Ridge.

After walking several hundred meters along the path, he took out a flint from the cloth pouch at his waist, then removed the small torch he had prepared earlier from his back.

He placed one piece of flint against the torch head and struck the two stones together hard.

Crack.

Sparks scattered over the torch head.

The red sparks began as tiny points, then quickly spread over the entire torch head.

At last, there was light in the darkness.

Lu Sheng looked back. The lights of Nine Links City had already become very faint.

Holding the torch, he slowly continued forward.

"According to the hunter, a wild wolf often appeared on this road at night. Let's see how lucky I am."

He did not dare truly go to Black Wind Ridge. Knowing that this world very likely had ghosts and monsters, he naturally did not dare stray too far from the city.

If he had not searched for many ways in the city and found nowhere suitable to test his own strength, he would not have come here alone to try his luck.

After walking a little farther, he soon noticed traces on the ground.

The tracks of the wild wolf that old hunter had mentioned.

Several oval droppings, white like pottery clay.

Lu Sheng picked up a stone and poked at the droppings.

The stuff had already dried in the wind and hardened. When he smashed it apart, fragments resembling fingernails were revealed inside.

"This is the place. This pile of droppings should be from a few days ago. According to the old hunter, he saw that old wolf here yesterday. It should be nearby."

With one hand holding the torch, Lu Sheng slowly drew the Pu Dao from behind his waist with the other.

The Pu Dao was a type of saber born from the combination of weapon and farming tool, with a very long handle.

The handle of Lu Sheng's saber was as long as its blade. Remove the blade, and it could be used as a farmer's pole. It was somewhat like a smaller guandao.

Holding it in one hand felt a little awkward.

So he simply wedged the torch into a crack between some rocks nearby.

This area was all Boulder Field, filled with jagged strange rocks and hardly any trees, so he was not afraid of starting a fire.

After setting the torch in place, Lu Sheng carefully took out a paper packet from his Waist Pouch. Inside was a piece of fresh pork he had cut that afternoon.

He slowly unfolded the oil paper and placed it on the ground.

Blood still clung to the surface of the meat, and its fishy scent quickly drifted away on the wind.

Carrying his saber, Lu Sheng moved back a short distance and crouched behind a large boulder to wait.

The wind was somewhat cold.

Lu Sheng stood sideways, pressed against a white boulder taller than a man, and watched the piece of meat.

Time slowly passed.

Woo... Soon, a faint sound drifted through the wind. It seemed like the wind itself, yet also like the whimpering of some animal.

Whoosh! A black shadow suddenly pounced from the side. Reflected in the torchlight were a pair of glowing green eyes.

The black shadow was incredibly fast. In an instant, it pounced upon the meat, seized it in its jaws, and fled.

Joy rose in Lu Sheng's heart, and he was about to move.

Suddenly, his back tensed.

A cold gust struck the center of his back.

Lu Sheng's eyes widened. Gripping the Pu Dao, he spun around and slashed horizontally.