Courtyard A

The daylight outside the cave pierced the morning mist. Chu Ning tucked the unripe Mysterious Sun Fruit into his embrace. Its skin was scalding hot like a branding iron, but it couldn't match the surging killing intent within his chest.

He licked his chapped lips and reached back, his hand brushing over the longbow on his back. Beast blood still clung to the bowstring, its foul odor un-dissipated.

"It's time to pay my debts," he murmured, his figure a phantom as he swept towards the precipice.

Below the precipice, a cold wind whipped snow pellets, and dozens of snow weasels scurried along the sheer cliff face.

They were pure white, with a touch of vermilion at the tips of their ears. Their fur gleamed faintly in the dim light.

The snow weasels had just caught the scent of blood, a warning to their pack. The moment their front paws dug into the rock crevices, a sharp whistling sound exploded from above.

"Swoosh—"

An iron arrow grazed its left ear, embedding itself in the rock wall, sending shards of rock flying. Its silver fur stood on end, and a terrified whimper escaped its throat.

It recognized the sound: three days ago, the strongest white-browed weasel in their pack had been pierced through the throat by such a whistle.

Run!

Instinct drove its four limbs into a mad dash, but the second whistle arrived. It abruptly pushed off the wall and flipped, watching in horror as an iron arrow pierced the spine of its comrade beside it.

Warm blood splattered on its nose. It scrambled towards a rock crevice like a mad creature, only to smell an even stronger scent of death.

The human's scent pressed down from above. He was hanging upside down from a protruding rock, his bowstring drawn taut like a crescent moon, the cold glint of the arrowhead reflecting in its pupils, which had shrunk to pinpricks.

Thwack! Thwack!

It darted to the right at the last second, only to hear the screams of its comrades behind it. Two snow weasels were impaled like bloody gourds, nailed to the spot where it had just been.

The rock crevice was within reach, and it burrowed in with all its might. In the darkness, it curled into a ball, trembling violently, the scattered cries of its pack echoing in its ears. The human's footsteps faded, but the whispers carried by the wind and snow sent a chill through its entire body:

"Forty-nine, fifty."

Chu Ning knelt on one knee, his palm stroking the snow weasel's silver-white fur, a treasure coveted by officials and nobles.

Suddenly, the Chaos Divine Order roared, as if ten thousand thunders exploded within his skull!

[Repayment condition met!]

Cold golden characters transformed into a molten lava torrent, gushing into his limbs and bones.

Chu Ning's pupils constricted. He saw himself in the pouring rain, standing on the edge of a cliff, arrows piercing the rain curtain, pinning a flying insect with outstretched wings into a rock crevice; he saw himself in a dense forest where the wind howled, an iron arrow cutting against the wind, splitting fallen leaves into powder without harming the leaves themselves; he saw himself under the moonlit night, eyes closed, drawing his bow, the candlelight a hundred paces away extinguished in response to the arrow's aim.

Each scene was accompanied by real pain: the burning sensation of the bowstring cutting into his palm, the bone-chilling shivers from the rain soaking him to the marrow, the blood splattering onto the arrowhead when his hand cracked from the recoil. Thousands of times of arduous training at the brink of exhaustion now transformed into boiling magma, surging and roaring through his meridians.

"Haa—"

A low growl escaped Chu Ning's throat. His tattered clothes exploded outwards, and bloody bow patterns appeared on his back.

His originally bloody palm healed at a visible speed, the new skin possessing a cold metallic sheen. The moment his five fingers gripped the bowstring.

"Zing!"

The bow itself let out a dragon-like hum.

The surrounding wind and snow suddenly froze. The falling snowflakes were crystal clear in his eyes, and he could even hear the beating of the snow weasels' hearts. His arrow-nocking hand was as steady as a rock. The arrowhead hadn't moved, but his internal energy had already carved a three-foot gully in the ground.

A gust of wind suddenly rose. The moment Chu Ning released the bowstring, the entire cliff tilted three inches with the arrow's momentum. The fleeing snow weasel pack scattered simultaneously, but the arrow remained unstained by blood, only embedding deeply into the rock wall. The arrow's tail vibrated, sending out a ring of air that cleared the accumulated snow within a thirty-meter radius.

Chu Ning stood with his bow lowered, closing his eyes to feel the power surging through his veins.

At this moment, he was no longer a mountain hunter.

He was the bow, he was the arrow, he was the Yama pulling souls from the depths of hell by the Chaos Divine Order!

The next day, Shen's Fur Shop.

Shen Yan leaned back in his armchair, his fingertips caressing the arrow holes on the snow weasel fur. His jade thumb ring reflected the candlelight. "Double kill with one arrow, Brother Chu. Your archery skills have likely reached the 'entry-level' rank."

Chu Ning remained silent, the silver pressing heavily into his embrace. The moment he tied the money bag tight, he seemed to hear Elder Sister's faint cough after drinking ginseng soup, and saw the newly pasted window paper of their dilapidated house trembling in the wind.

"Are you really not considering the Azure-Eyed Snow Fox?" Shen Yan suddenly leaned forward, his thumb ring tapping the desk. "The prefecture's bounty has increased to three thousand taels. I heard that beast's eyes..."

"Not interested." Chu Ning pushed open the door and stepped into the wind and snow. Shen Yan's low chuckle came from behind him: "Interesting."

As he turned the street corner, he suddenly stopped.

Three frozen beggar corpses were curled up at the base of the wall, thin snow covering their bruised and purple faces. Chu Ning took off his ragged robe and covered the bodies. His knuckles creaked as he gripped the wooden token.

The blood-stained bluestone steps of the Thunderclap Martial Hall snaked like a python. The half-broken finger stuck between the fangs of the two stone lions was already covered in frost.

The gatekeeper disciple, wrapped in fox fur, huddled in the guardhouse. Seeing Chu Ning's rough cloth clothes speckled with snow, he sneered, his breath puffing out in white mist: "The martial hall doesn't serve porridge. Go beg in the south of the city."

"To train." Chu Ning's voice was hoarse, like a whetstone.

"Train?" The disciple lifted the fox fur to expose half his face, his gaze sweeping over Chu Ning's frost-cracked straw sandals. "Cultivation is for the rich, don't embarrass yourself."

The money bag was slammed onto the counter, and three official silver ingots rolled out, their snowflake patterns clearly etched. The disciple's pupils constricted. The official silver was of extremely pure quality, ten taels of it worth fifteen taels on the market.

"Courtyard C, punch training at Mao Shi. Those who are late will have their hands chopped off." The disciple's Adam's apple bobbed, but he clutched the wooden token in his palm without handing it over. "However... for an extra five taels, you can attend Instructor Zhou's lecture, and for ten taels, you can enter Courtyard A's medicinal pool for body tempering."

Chu Ning's knuckles tapped the silver ingots on the counter. Blood seeped from his cracked tiger's mouth. "Courtyard A's medicinal pool, and an extra set of Bone Forging Powder."

The disciple abruptly stood up, not bothering to pick up his fallen fox fur. His voice trembled as he retrieved a gilded wooden token from a hidden compartment: "You, you should have said you were a distinguished guest earlier! Courtyard A, number seven, the medicinal pool opens daily at You Shi. This is the exchange token for the Bone Forging Powder..."

Chu Ning clenched the exchange token and turned, stepping through the martial hall's iron gate. The disciple's fawning and obsequious congratulations behind him were swallowed by the wind and snow, leaving only the faint jingle of the money bag.

Just past the screen wall, a punch wind slammed towards his face.

Chu Ning dodged to the side, only to see the scarred strongman grinning and closing in, his fist striking the ground like a heavy hammer.

"Courtyard C rules!" the strongman's fist boomed. "Newcomers have to take three of my punches!"

Bang!

The first punch hit his chest directly. Chu Ning staggered back, blood trickling from his lips.

The second punch was even more vicious, but he suddenly stepped forward, the hidden force of the Rough Stone Hardening Technique erupting, his skin showing rock-like patterns.

Crack!

Amidst the crisp sound of the strongman's finger bones breaking, Chu Ning had already grabbed his throat and forced him to his knees, his knee crushing the blue bricks. "For the third punch, I'll hit you."

The entire place fell silent. On the high platform, the black-robed instructor narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard, the trinket in his hand instantly crushed into powder.

"There's been a mistake!" a gate disciple, panting, rushed into the courtyard and grabbed the scarred strongman by the back of his collar. "This is a distinguished guest from Courtyard A, number seven!"

The wooden plaque was held high overhead, the gilded character for "A" dazzling in the snowy light.

The black-robed instructor finally stood up. He slowly descended the steps, and with each step, the blue bricks cracked in a spiderweb pattern. "Martial Hall rules: those who engage in private fights are banned from the medicinal pool for three days. Scram to the back mountain and fetch water!"

The scarred strongman acted as if he'd been granted a great pardon, scrambling and crawling out of the courtyard gate.

The instructor turned to examine Chu Ning, his gaze lingering for a moment on the taut muscles beneath his coarse cloth clothes. "The Courtyard A medicinal pool opens at the you hour. Since you've been admitted to Courtyard A, please follow me."