Elite Disciples

Qi Zhengyang remembered clearly that a year ago, as soon as Li Yuan arrived in Jiujiang Commandery, he had sought out the martial arts school. He had fallen before Qi Zhengyang and pleaded for the school to take him in.

Li Yuan had been covered in blood and looked utterly bedraggled, but his gaze had been resolute. The look on his face said he would never give up if he could not learn martial arts. Qi Zhengyang had been deeply moved and accepted Li Yuan.

But Li Yuan had been nearly twenty already. For someone beginning martial arts training, that age was somewhat too old.

Of all those aspiring to walk the path of martial arts, who did not begin training from a young age? For Li Yuan to start learning martial arts at such an age was already considered late.

After entering the martial arts school, Li Yuan trained with exceptional diligence. He quickly got the hang of the Cinnabar Palm taught to him and performed it with convincing form.

His progress in martial arts was equally swift. In just one year, he had nearly completed Body Tempering and was about to meet the standard for cultivating inner force.

To achieve this much within a single year, Li Yuan had displayed more than enough talent for martial arts. His outstanding performance had also, without Qi Zhengyang realizing it, gradually overturned the prejudice he had always held toward Li Yuan.

And today, Li Yuan came before him and calmly said, "School Master, I have broken through to the Inner Force Realm."

This delighted Qi Zhengyang greatly.

"Good!"

"You have done very well!"

After the martial arts school lost one True Qi Realm martial artist and two Inner Force Realm martial artists, its strength had been severely weakened. This had left Qi Zhengyang terribly anxious. Now that a new Inner Force Realm martial artist had emerged, Qi Zhengyang's gaze upon Li Yuan was full of gratification.

He became increasingly pleased with Li Yuan. Perhaps Li Yuan's talent for martial arts was even greater than he had imagined!

"Li Yuan, you have not disappointed me. It seems accepting you back then was the right decision."

Facing the school master's praise, Li Yuan remained humble. "It is all thanks to the school master's guidance."

Qi Zhengyang nodded in satisfaction. "Since you have advanced to the Inner Force Realm, there are some things I must tell you."

As Qi Zhengyang slowly explained, Li Yuan gained a clearer understanding of the martial arts school's situation.

Zhengyang Martial Arts School had more than two hundred disciples. The overwhelming majority were ordinary disciples at the Body Tempering Realm. Including Li Yuan, there were only seven disciples who possessed inner force. These Inner Force Realm disciples were all elite disciples of the school, and their status was utterly different from that of ordinary disciples.

Body Tempering Realm martial artists possessed powerful physiques and were proficient in methods of combat. They were already formidable to ordinary people, but before sinister beings, they were not worth mentioning.

Not to mention those incorporeal Ghosts, even when facing the weakest Evil Creatures, Body Tempering Realm martial artists could not deal with them effectively. Escaping with their lives would already be a blessing beyond measure.

Elite disciples who had mastered inner force were different. This extraordinary power could effectively harm Evil Creatures, and every elite disciple was a valuable fighting force for the martial arts school!

As long as one advanced to the Inner Force Realm, elite disciples no longer needed to pay monthly dues. They could even receive a substantial share of the martial arts school's profits.

Yes, running a martial arts school came with no small amount of profit.

The organizations and powers in Jiujiang Commandery capable of killing Demons each had their own areas to guard. Take the Mu Family, which had run into trouble two days ago. They were responsible for an important trade route between Jiujiang Commandery and Jinlan Commandery.

The Mu Family could be considered a prominent household in Jiujiang Commandery. Their family had trained quite a few powerful martial artists, and from time to time, they also spent heavily to hire outside martial artists to take part in operating and maintaining that trade route.

Having poured in such enormous effort and paid such a price, the Mu Family could obtain ten percent of the profits generated by that trade route.

Do not underestimate that ten percent.

That trade route brought in astonishing revenue every year. Even just ten percent of it was enough to support the enormous Mu Family.

It was not just trade routes. Important mineral veins, medicinal fields, and workshops were all guarded by various powers. Zhengyang Martial Arts School was no exception.

What Zhengyang Martial Arts School was responsible for guarding were three villages outside Jiujiang Commandery City: Chen Family Village, Zhang Family Village, and Hongshan Village.

The villagers farmed and produced grain, fruits, and vegetables. Zhengyang Martial Arts School guarded the three villages and protected the villagers' safety, receiving ten percent of the yearly proceeds from those villages. It was not a small sum.

But the martial arts school had just suffered a great upheaval. One True Qi Realm martial artist and two Inner Force Realm martial artists had died, costing it nearly half its fighting strength. In such circumstances, the school likely no longer had the ability to properly safeguard all three villages.

Perhaps after some time, they would have to cede one of the villages to another power. This gave Qi Zhengyang a terrible headache.

And just when things were already so awkward and miserable, another mess had to arise!

Just moments ago, a villager from Chen Family Village had come to report bad news.

Two hunters in the village had gone missing!

These days, if someone went missing, they were more or less as good as dead.

But the villagers had searched for an entire day without finding anything. They did not know whether the two hunters had encountered wild beasts or Evil Creatures in the mountains.

Because they did not know what had happened to the two hunters, the villagers were uneasy. Everyone's heart hung heavy with worry, so they sent someone into the city to find Zhengyang Martial Arts School, hoping the school would dispatch disciples to investigate the matter in the village.

Ordinary disciples were not up to a task like this. If sinister beings truly were responsible, elite disciples had to be sent.

But the martial arts school was short-handed at the moment. Qi Zhengyang had just been worrying over whom to send to deal with this matter when Li Yuan happened to come looking for him.

Wasn't this perfect timing?

"Perfect. There is something here that needs you to handle."

Qi Zhengyang explained the changes in Chen Family Village to Li Yuan, and Li Yuan did not refuse.

"It is no matter. Leave this to me."

Qi Zhengyang smiled and nodded. He was increasingly satisfied with this disciple.

"Very good. But you have only just broken through to the Inner Force Realm and still lack experience. I will not have you handle this matter alone. I will arrange for several others to go with you."

Qi Zhengyang then summoned several more disciples and had them depart with Li Yuan for Chen Family Village. Among them was even an Inner Force Realm elite disciple, Wu Si'an.

Wu Si'an was also an old hand at the martial arts school and possessed considerable strength. Among the school's disciples, his strength ranked within the top three.

When Wu Si'an learned that Li Yuan had also broken through to the Inner Force Realm, he was greatly surprised. He then warmly offered Li Yuan several words of congratulations.

Once everyone had arrived, Qi Zhengyang gave them some instructions. He told Wu Si'an to look after and guide Li Yuan, who had only just broken through, before letting them leave.

There were six disciples in total on this trip. Besides Li Yuan and Wu Si'an, the two elite disciples, there were four ordinary disciples. Although Body Tempering Realm martial artists could not be of much use when fighting Evil Creatures, they could still run errands and lend a hand.

The six disciples mounted six swift horses, quickly left the city, and hurried toward Chen Family Village.

Chen Family Village was not far from Jiujiang Commandery City, only twenty li away. On horseback, it took merely a quarter of an hour to reach it.

Wu Si'an had a lively temperament. Along the way, he took the initiative to speak with Li Yuan, and the two soon began chatting.

Within the martial arts school, ordinary disciples and elite disciples were practically part of two separate circles. The gap in strength between them was too great for much interaction. After some casual conversation, Li Yuan came to understand Wu Si'an's circumstances.

Like Li Yuan's family, Wu Si'an's family was a merchant household. However, the Wu Family's business was far larger than the Li Family's. The Wu Family alone owned several sizable shops in Jiujiang Commandery City.

Not only was the Wu Family's wealth much greater than that of our Li Family, their minds were much more shrewd as well.

If one sat atop mountains of gold and jade but lacked the strength to protect them, how could that do?

Therefore, the Wu Family had arranged for Wu Si'an to enter Zhengyang Martial Arts School early on. They figured that even if Wu Si'an failed to make anything of himself in martial arts, it would not matter. As long as someone from the family studied under Qi Zhengyang, anyone coveting the Wu Family's wealth and wishing to harbor crooked intentions would have to show some restraint.

A True Qi Realm martial artist was no insignificant figure. Having Qi Zhengyang's tiger skin displayed before them was still somewhat useful. For that reason, the benefits the Wu Family privately gave Qi Zhengyang every year had never been few.

But the Wu Family had not expected Wu Si'an to be so promising. After entering the martial arts school, he completed Body Tempering after several years of training and successfully condensed inner force!

Afterward, his strength advanced by leaps and bounds. His inner force became increasingly robust, and his strength steadily ranked among the top three disciples in the martial arts school. Qi Zhengyang valued him greatly.

After learning of Wu Si'an's circumstances, a trace of bitterness could not help rising in Li Yuan's heart. The experiences of his former self had been the exact opposite of Wu Si'an's. Both came from merchant families, yet his family had only sought contentment with modest wealth and had never thought to plan for strength.

But without strength... where could safety come from?

In the great upheaval, both his parents had also passed away.

As thoughts swirled through Li Yuan's mind, rows of houses faintly appeared at the far end of the road ahead. Several wisps of cooking smoke could also be seen curling into the air.

Wu Si'an's tone sharpened as he immediately reminded them.

"Chen Family Village is ahead. Prepare to enter the village."