Tracking! Wind Stabilizing Posture

"Xiaoyue, don't panic. Do you have anything your sister kept close to her? Let me divine her whereabouts."

The tall-crowned man in a Daoist robe sat cross-legged nearby and asked blandly, his expression as still as an ancient well, as though nothing in the world could disturb him.

This man was the Ming Ge Fang Qiuyue had mentioned—Li Ziming.

"Yes."

Fang Qiuyue removed a Hairpin from her hair and handed it to Li Ziming.

Li Ziming suddenly let out an "Ow."

"What's wrong?" Fang Qiuyue asked nervously. "Did something happen to my sister?"

"No. Your Hairpin pricked me," Li Ziming said flatly.

Fang Qiuyue: "..."

"At a time like this, Ming Ge, you're still joking around," Fang Qiuyue said reproachfully.

Li Ziming's expression remained indifferent. "I'm not joking. Stand guard for me. I'll divine it for you now."

Whoosh!

With a flick of his sleeve, he tossed a row of Turtle Shells of varying sizes onto the ground, arranging them into a circle where a snake's mouth swallowed its tail.

Then, he placed the Hairpin inside the circle and began muttering an incantation.

"Drip your blood onto the Hairpin."

"Mm." Fang Qiuyue did as instructed.

Li Ziming gave a low shout. "The blood of close kin can trace a trail. Go!"

Chirp!

With a sharp cry, the Hairpin began spinning wildly.

Suddenly.

Clang!

The Hairpin split into two and snapped!

Fang Qiuyue's heart jolted. She cried, "What happened? Why did the Hairpin break? Our late mother left this to my sister and me. You have to compensate me..."

"Let's not talk about compensation yet."

Li Ziming shook his head and sighed. "A cherished object breaking without warning is an ill omen. Your sister has likely encountered calamity."

Fang Qiuyue flew into a rage. "Nonsense! My sister is blessed by fortune itself. Nothing could possibly happen to her! You must have divined it wrong!"

"I could not possibly have divined it wrong. Rather than waste time arguing with me, why not let me divine where your sister encountered trouble?"

Li Ziming completely ignored Fang Qiuyue's anger and spoke as blandly as ever.

"Divine it!"

Fang Qiuyue gritted her teeth.

Though her belly was full of fury, when facing this dead-faced Li Ziming, she could only swallow it helplessly.

"I gave you one free divination today. Even brothers must settle accounts clearly, so you'll have to pay extra for this one."

Li Ziming raised one finger as he spoke. "For the sake of our friendship, I'll let you run a tab. You owe me one Evil Spirit. Deliver it within three months."

Fang Qiuyue snapped, "Fine, I owe you! Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!"

"As you command."

Li Ziming grasped the broken tail of the Hairpin and crushed it fiercely in his hand. The Hairpin tail turned into powder.

He poured the powder into the Turtle Shell circle, placed the Hairpin head atop it, then formed Sword Fingers with both hands and pressed them together as he muttered an incantation.

Suddenly, his Sword Fingers pointed at the Hairpin head, and he shouted, "Go!"

Whoosh!

The Hairpin head abruptly twisted around and pointed toward Fang Qiuyue.

"What!?"

Fang Qiuyue erupted in fury. "What does this mean? Are you saying I harmed my sister?"

"Not at all. It means your sister met with trouble in your direction. Rest for today. Tomorrow, I'll accompany you along this path, and we'll surely find traces of your sister."

"Why not leave now? With your strength, are you afraid of the dark?" Fang Qiuyue provoked him.

Li Ziming ignored her provocation. Lying down on a straw mat, he said blandly, "Of course I'm not afraid. I'm merely tired. Don't disturb my sleep, or I won't accompany you tomorrow."

"You!"

Fang Qiuyue was beside herself with rage, but before this man who was impervious to both oil and salt, she could only stew in silent resentment.

She, Fang Qiuyue, had been with so many men. Which one had not answered her every request? They had feared she would melt if they held her in their palms. Even if she told them to die, they had done so without a word of complaint.

Yet this Li Ziming did not cherish her in the slightest. He was always haggling with her, and asking him to do anything was harder than climbing to the heavens.

If those obedient fools had not all died, she would rather die than seek out that bastard Li Ziming.

Li Ziming had no idea what Fang Qiuyue was thinking.

By then, he had already drifted into dreamland and had even begun snoring.

Jin City.

Led by Tie Feng, Zhang Lingshan met the Herb Gathering Guard named Wu Zheng.

"You want me to break the leg technique apart and teach it to you separately? Teach you the Stance Skill first?"

After hearing Zhang Lingshan's request, Wu Zheng answered readily, "Fine. But you must pay me twenty taels first, then write me an IOU for thirty taels, to be repaid within one month. Tie Feng will guarantee it. If he can't repay it, I'll come after you. If you can't repay it, I'll go after your father!"

Tie Feng's face turned slightly pale. He had not expected that simply acting as an intermediary would drag him into this.

But he trusted Zhang Lingshan's character, and Zhang Lingshan had saved his father's life. Even if they had to shoulder all fifty taels, it would be nothing.

So he nodded heavily. "Fine. But you must guarantee that once you receive the thirty taels afterward, you'll teach the remaining leg technique as well."

"Of course. That's what we agreed upon."

Once the three had settled the matter.

They found an elderly scribe in the Feng Family and had him draw up a written contract. Both sides signed and pressed their fingerprints.

Then Wu Zheng stopped wasting words, returned to the courtyard, and taught Zhang Lingshan the Stance Skill.

This Stance Skill was called the Wind Stabilizing Posture.

True to its name, its core lay in the word "stabilize."

Its movements were intricate and ever-changing, but the feet never moved, like willow branches brushing in the wind.

Willow leaves were battered and willow catkins scattered through the air, yet the roots clutched the earth tightly, utterly unmoving.

"This stance emphasizes actual combat. Once you can remain rooted in place no matter how your opponent attacks, using only the rest of your body to evade and counterattack, you'll have mastered it. So you'd best find a sparring partner. You'll get twice the result with half the effort."

Wu Zheng spoke earnestly, then smiled.

Zhang Lingshan asked, "Could I hire you as my sparring partner?"

"Of course. But that's charged separately—twenty taels for twenty shichen of sparring." Wu Zheng's smile grew even brighter.

Zhang Lingshan suddenly understood.

So this was where he had been waiting for him.

No wonder he had taught it so readily. Given the value of the Wind Stabilizing Posture, twenty taels was not expensive—it was even somewhat cheap.

But this art was far harder to cultivate than the Righteous Yang Posture.

If he did not have Panel energy and Stat Points, he truly might have fallen into Wu Zheng's pit and paid him money.

"Too expensive."

Zhang Lingshan shook his head.

Wu Zheng made a gesture of invitation. "Then be on your way. If you wish to come back and hire me as a sparring partner later, you're welcome anytime."

He was in no rush. He believed that once Zhang Lingshan experienced the difficulty of cultivating the Wind Stabilizing Posture, he would come running over to pay him and beg him to serve as a sparring partner.

When Wu Zheng had cultivated this Stance Skill back then, not only had his master sparred with him wholeheartedly and guided him, he had also needed specially formulated medicinal liquid to nourish his body. Otherwise, after training for a while, his calves could not endure it.

Even so, it had taken him a full three years to finally master this Stance Skill.

This showed just how difficult the Wind Stabilizing Posture was.

In short, Wu Zheng was certain to make this money!