First Hearing, Part 1 (Thanks to 1 Jia Yi Deng Yu San for the Alliance Leader reward)

"Let's not talk about that. Your Senior Sister Xiao's temper isn't very good. I'm having you follow her—you understand what I mean." Xiao Rong continued, "If she runs into any trouble, do your utmost to stop it. If you can't stop it, report to me at once."

Zhang Rongfang's expression did not change. He bowed.

"This disciple understands!"

"How many people are in your family?"

"This disciple is alone. I also had an elder sister, but we were separated long ago."

A trace of softness flashed through Xiao Rong's eyes.

"Then from now on, follow your Senior Sister Xiao properly and do your work well."

"Yes."

Zhang Rongfang bowed again.

"Now, Cong'er." Xiao Rong suddenly turned his head.

"This disciple is here." A robust reply immediately came from outside the loft window. It was a woman's voice.

Very soon, a dark, powerfully built woman with short hair, over six feet tall, entered through the door.

She wore a blue-and-white Daoist robe. What had originally been a roomy robe was stretched taut over her muscular frame.

"Master, do you need something?"

The woman clasped her fists and bowed.

Xiao Rong smiled and pointed at Zhang Rongfang.

"You will be the one to teach your new junior brother. Start with the Guanxu Skill. Once his constitution is sufficient, move on to the Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic."

"Yes."

The woman hastily agreed, then turned to Zhang Rongfang.

"Junior Brother, just call me Zhao Dacong. Come to Shangde Garden tomorrow morning. I'll first take a look at your qi, blood, tendons and bones."

"Zhang Rongfang greets Senior Sister. I hope for much guidance from you in the future."

Zhang Rongfang bowed again.

Although he had learned from Master Xiao Rong that the martial arts of this world seemed rather weak, not much different from reality in his previous life,

he still had his Attribute Special Ability, didn't he?

At that thought, wild ambition rose in Zhang Rongfang's heart.

Even the most ordinary martial arts—if he kept piling on attributes—might allow him to transcend the mundane.

"Alright, go tidy up first. Move into the Cultivation Disciples' quarters tonight. Cong'er, take your junior brother to change his identity plaque." Xiao Rong waved a hand, clearly dismissing them.

Zhang Rongfang and Zhao Dacong tactfully took their leave.

By then, Zhang Rongfang understood that his fate was temporarily tied to Xiao Qingying's.

...Within Shangde Garden of Qinghe Temple, in a pavilion hung on all four sides with leather Daoist paintings.

A handsome man with a high nose bridge and faintly exotic blood stood with his hands behind his back, admiring the hanging Daoist paintings.

"The earlier matter was discovered and failed. What exactly happened?" the man asked in an extremely low voice.

At his side, a young Daoist with an ordinary face slowly approached.

"Someone tipped them off. Xiao Rong must have noticed something in advance," the Daoist replied in the same low voice.

"Have you found out who it was?"

"No, there are no leads. But some time ago, Xiao Rong suddenly selected an ordinary servant and took him into the fold, promoting him to a Cultivation Disciple. It may very well be related to this matter," the Daoist answered.

"Forget it. Plan another attempt," the handsome man ordered.

"But can that side still be done?"

"It's fine. Xiao Qingying can be coaxed and fooled easily enough. Xiao Rong is indecisive. Let alone if he merely suspects me—even if he knows for certain it was me, as long as there's no evidence, with my father backing me, he won't dare do anything to me."

The handsome man smiled.

"Understood." The young Daoist nodded. "I'll go make arrangements at once."

"Go. As long as we forcefully take Xiao Qingying and turn raw rice into cooked rice, even if Xiao Rong doesn't want to stand with us, he won't have a choice."

The handsome man wore a confident expression.

He had already arranged it: he would invite Xiao Qingying out again, then arrange for someone to violate her. He would step in to save her, then pretend not to mind and magnanimously accept her.

With Xiao Qingying's innocence, wouldn't she then serve him with all her heart? Of course, the one to take Xiao Qingying could only be himself. As someone with a cleanliness obsession, he only needed to change his disguise, drug that foolish woman unconscious, and make her think it had been someone else. Everything would then fall into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

As for that little Daoist priest assigned to follow Xiao Qingying, an occasional accident during the outing—falling off a cliff—would take care of him.

He was merely a Fourth Class Man People with no family, no ties, and no background. To the people carrying out this operation, he was not worth mentioning.

...The next morning, the sky was barely light.

Shangde Garden, in the rear section of Qinghe Temple.

Shadows of trees swayed indistinctly through the garden, and the air was crisp and cold.

Quite a few Daoists had arrived early to do morning exercises.

On an open patch near a corner, Zhao Dacong had tied on leg wraps and stood with her arms crossed, watching a thin, dark-skinned man run endlessly along the small paths of Shangde Garden.

Lap after lap, he ran six full circuits. Seeing that the man was nearly exhausted to the point of dehydration and had no strength left,

Zhao Dacong finally raised a hand to stop him.

"That's enough. I have a rough understanding now."

The man slowly came to a stop, bent over and panted heavily. Sweat drenched his whole body. It was Zhang Rongfang, who had only recently been taken into Xiao Rong's fold.

"How was it, Senior Sister?"

"Not bad. You've got a good foundation. You didn't lack food or drink when you were young, did you?" Zhao Dacong smiled.

She had the sort of big plate face that looked chubby and somewhat guileless. Her accent was also somewhat different from ordinary people's; she was probably from elsewhere.

"Yes. When my parents were still around, life was fairly good." Zhang Rongfang nodded. These were all memories of his previous body.

"That's for the best. Now I'll teach you the Guanxu Skill."

Zhao Dacong grew serious.

"I asked around. Since you can read, that saves us a lot of trouble. There's no need to teach you literacy separately.

"The Guanxu Skill is the foundational Daoist method of our Great Dao Sect. If cultivated well, it can prolong one's years and extend one's life. It is an orthodox method of longevity.

"It emphasizes Refining Essence into Qi, circulating the Major and Minor Heavenly Cycles and the Twelve Meridians, condensing the Inner Core, and so on."

"Senior Sister, compared with the Guanxu Skill, I'm more interested in the Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic." Zhang Rongfang raised a hand. "Could you tell me what level martial arts experts actually reach? How strong are they?"

It was not that he was unwilling to accept it. But if he practiced the Guanxu Skill for decades, at most he would end up like those old men, struggling even to protect himself. In such circumstances, martial arts were naturally his first choice.

Zhao Dacong smiled knowingly.

"I asked Master the same question back then. Let me put it this way. Generally speaking, unless the difference is too great, someone empty-handed can't beat someone with a weapon, and someone in clothes can't beat someone in armor."

She paused.

"Martial arts follow either the hard or soft path. But whichever path you take, you need more than ten years of practice before you can be considered to have reached Minor Accomplishment.

"After that, when you travel outside, taking on three or four ordinary people alone is no problem. Against someone strong and powerful, as long as they don't know martial arts, you can still handle them. But if you encounter soldiers—three armed men facing you head-on—you won't last two exchanges."

"This..." The level of strength was entirely different from what Zhang Rongfang had imagined.

"And martial arts, martial arts—they are the Art of Combat and Killing. Even if you learn them, so what? In the world today, Great Ling's martial arts are at their greatest height in all the ages, sweeping across the four directions and leaving every nation trembling in fear.

"Therefore, most of the strongest martial arts experts gather in the military. They have endured countless battles, their real combat strength is the greatest, and compared to Jianghu experts, there are simply too many monsters there."

Zhao Dacong sighed. "So the main purpose of our martial arts practice is self-preservation and self-defense. What era is this? You're still thinking about fighting and killing?"

"..." Zhang Rongfang had no answer.

"Haven't you noticed that there aren't many Martial Cultivation Disciples in Qinghe Temple? That's the reason. Why has our Great Dao Sect flourished? Health Preservation and Longevity!" Zhao Dacong emphasized.

"Then who is the strongest in our Qinghe Temple? Could Senior Sister tell me?" Zhang Rongfang asked.

"The Palace Master is the strongest. By Imperial Court Rank, he is an expert drawing a Sixth Grade salary. But if it came to a real fight, he probably couldn't defeat a squad of ten soldiers head-on and could only run. After all, a squad of ten has at least three crossbowmen. Once they lock down the area, there's simply no way to fight."

At this point, Zhao Dacong seemed to feel that she had sounded disrespectful and hurriedly added, "Of course, our strength lies in the arts of longevity. The Palace Master's cultivation reaches heaven and earth itself. He is now an Inner Core master, and living past a hundred is no problem at all. He is far beyond ordinary soldiers."

Zhang Rongfang gained some understanding.

"Then, Senior Sister, what does this Sixth Grade Imperial Court Rank mean?"

"It's the salary grade the Great Ling Imperial Court gives to generals and expert fighters. Generally speaking, the stronger you are, the higher your grade and the better your salary and benefits.

"The Jianghu and common folk also roughly use this to distinguish high from low. But just listen and leave it at that. Since we aren't entering officialdom, it's too far removed from us. In the Jianghu, people mainly look at the Black List and Crimson List."

"The Black List and Crimson List?"

"The Black List is for highly skilled strongmen who have wanted notices and criminal records, people pursued by Great Ling. Later, it became a list. Before traveling, everyone memorizes it in advance, lest they encounter a vicious criminal and fail to recognize him, losing their lives for nothing."

"What about the Crimson List?"

"It is a separate, smaller list apart from the Black List. Those who make it onto it are all people of extreme skill and heinous criminal records. If many people on the Black List merely broke the law yet still retain some bottom line, then those on the Crimson List are mostly devoid of humanity—exceptionally vicious and cruel. Encountering one means immense danger."

Zhao Dacong explained carefully.

"Alright, enough nonsense. I'll first demonstrate the Guanxu Skill for you."

She cleared her throat and straightened her body.

"The Guanxu Skill places importance on using your mind to observe the void, emptying everything away and breathing naturally, using One Inhale Nine Exhales as the rhythm. At the same time, you must imagine your entire body melting and blending into all things around you..."

Zhang Rongfang immediately calmed his mind and listened carefully to her instruction.

Having shed his status as a Servant Disciple, he finally had much more free time each day.

As long as he attended Morning and Evening Classes on time, paid respects and greeted Master, and occasionally underwent a Progress Examination, there was practically nothing else to do.

Of course, he now had another task: follow Xiao Qingying, keep watch over her at all times, and ensure her safety.

Zhang Rongfang understood clearly that Master Xiao Rong had promoted him specifically so that he could better look after his daughter.

Therefore, before displaying his own potential, he had to do his Current Job well.

Very soon, Zhao Dacong led him through a full set of the Guanxu Skill, correcting his mistakes and pointing out its key principles.

It took more than an hour before it was finally over.

Only at the very end did Zhang Rongfang clearly see Zhao Dacong's attributes.

Or rather, only after being in close contact with her for a while had her attributes finally been fully collected.

Zhao Dacong—Life: 15-19. Skills: Returning Spring Purifying Time Talisman Classic: Third One Yuan Talisman, Fifth Hunyuan Talisman. Guanxu Skill.

Her Life was actually twice his. "One last question, Senior Sister Zhao. If your martial arts were ranked by grade, what grade would they be?" Zhang Rongfang asked at the end.

"Me?" Zhao Dacong thought for a moment. "I'm probably Second Grade. But in actual combat, I definitely can't compare to the experts in the Imperial Court. And actual combat isn't judged by grade alone. If a normal person strikes a vital point, even an expert above Sixth Grade will die. So grades are only a rough comparison.

"Martial arts strength is only one part of it. Much of the time, whether you win or lose still depends on the person. Because people—if their vital points are struck—they die."