Time seemed to sprout wings and fly by. Li Yuan settled into Class A Courtyard Number One, and in the blink of an eye, seven or eight days had passed.
At dusk that day, he had just finished a medicinal bath, his blood and qi flowing vigorously, when a knock sounded at the door. The visitor was Instructor Chen, the man at Master Shi Liefeng's side who always wore a stern expression.
"The Master wants to see you." Instructor Chen was brief. His eyes swept over Li Yuan, as if trying to discern something beneath his newly changed, still rather shabby coarse-cloth clothes.
Li Yuan knew exactly what was going on. What was bound to come would come sooner or later. He nodded without asking anything and followed Instructor Chen out.
Shi Lie Feng wasn't in his imposing main hall. Instead, he was in a secluded pavilion on the mountain behind the martial hall. A stream flowed beside it, its burbling waters making the surroundings feel even quieter.
Shi Lie Feng stood by the pavilion with his hands behind his back, gazing at the stream. He didn't turn around when he heard footsteps.
After bringing Li Yuan there, Instructor Chen silently withdrew to a distance to stand guard.
"You're here." Shi Lie Feng's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a heavy weight that made the air in the pavilion feel almost still.
Li Yuan stood outside the pavilion and bowed slightly. "Master."
Only then did Shi Lie Feng slowly turn around. His eyes were like knives, scraping over Li Yuan's face and body. He didn't speak right away, merely sizing him up from head to toe before finally fixing his gaze on Li Yuan's unnaturally calm eyes.
"Li Yuan," he said slowly, each word landing with weight. "Back when you were in Class C Room, I heard even Stance Training was a struggle for you."
Li Yuan didn't answer, waiting for him to continue.
"It's only been half a month." Shi Lie Feng took a step forward, drawing closer to Li Yuan. The oppressive aura of a powerful man rushed over him. "Tell me, what happened?"
Li Yuan raised his eyes and met Shi Lie Feng's scrutinizing gaze without flinching. His face showed little expression, though the corners of his mouth seemed to tighten ever so slightly, as if he had remembered something unpleasant.
"Master," he said, his voice a little hoarse, carrying a gravity rare in someone his age, "when a person is on the brink of death, sometimes they see things differently."
He paused, as though searching for the words, or perhaps reliving the memory. "On the Altar, that thing burrowed into my body. It was cold—chill seeped from the gaps between my bones. I just felt... I couldn't go on like that anymore."
His words were half-true and half-false, but the lingering fear and struggle in his voice struck just the right note.
Shi Lie Feng's brow twitched almost imperceptibly, but he didn't interrupt.
"After I came back," Li Yuan continued, speaking unhurriedly, "it was as if something in me... had opened up. When I practiced the Iron Body Technique, my blood and qi flowed especially smoothly, and I had more strength." He raised a hand and pointed to his head. "Up here, too—I feel a lot clearer."
He attributed it all to an "epiphany between life and death" and a "special constitution," remaining vague about what made it so special.
Shi Lie Feng stared at him for a long while without saying a word. Only the rush of the stream broke the silence in the pavilion. As an old hand, he naturally didn't believe the whole story. Talk of something "opening up" or a "special constitution" was too flimsy. This kid definitely had a secret—a big one.
But he couldn't see through him.
Li Yuan simply stood there, back straight, gaze open and honest, yet carrying the careful wariness of someone who had just clawed his way up from the bottom. His blood and qi were vigorous, but that was all. Shi Lie Feng couldn't sense any strange aura or fluctuations from anything external.
"That punch of yours," Shi Lie Feng suddenly said, changing the subject. His voice was low and measured. "Its force was strange. It wasn't something a beginner in the Iron Body Technique could produce."
Li Yuan's heart tightened. He knew this was the real point. He lowered his eyes to his hands, their knuckles sharply defined and marked with faint scars. "At the time... I wasn't thinking that much. I just felt like I had a fire trapped inside me. If I didn't let it out, I would've exploded. I poured all my strength into that one spot. Only after I hit did I realize my arm hardly felt like my own."
His words painted him as someone driven into a corner, who had erupted through sheer ferocity and instinct.
Shi Lie Feng's eyes flickered. He seemed to have experienced something like that once or twice in his youth. When pushed to the brink, a person could unleash unimaginable strength.
Silence spread once more.
After a long while, Shi Lie Feng finally breathed out softly, and the pressure he exuded eased somewhat.
"I've heard some rumors about the Li Family." He changed the subject again, his gaze sharp. "You and them—fallen out?"
"Yes." Li Yuan answered decisively. "They don't treat me as one of their own, so there's no reason for me to keep clinging to them."
"Mm." Shi Lie Feng gave a noncommittal response, then turned his back to look at the stream again. "The matter with the wooden dummy ends here. Since you've entered Class A Room, you're one of the Blustering Wind Martial Hall's people. Train well. Don't waste this opportunity, and don't... bring trouble to the martial hall."
His last words carried a note of warning.
"Understood, Master." Li Yuan bowed.
"Go." Shi Lie Feng waved a hand.
Li Yuan said nothing more and turned to leave. His steps were steady as he descended the stone stairs from the mountain, one by one.
Only after Li Yuan's figure disappeared into the dusk did Instructor Chen silently appear outside the pavilion.
"Master, what do you think...?"
Shi Lie Feng gazed at the stream, his eyes deep. "If we can't get to the bottom of it, leave it for now. Even a fine piece of iron has to be held in our hands first, to see what kind of implement we can forge from it."
He paused, his voice dropping as if speaking to himself. "The Li Family... the Netherworld Cult... The waters in Black Mountain City are getting murkier by the day. Having one more person who can fight isn't a bad thing."
Instructor Chen lowered his head. "Understood."
Shi Lie Feng said nothing more. He simply watched the burbling stream, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Li Yuan returned to his small courtyard, shut the door, and leaned against the cold door panel. Only then did he let out a quiet breath. At some point, a small patch of sweat had soaked through the back of his clothes.
Dealing with an old fox like Shi Lie Feng was more exhausting than fighting ten rounds with an idiot like Zhao Hu.
He walked into the courtyard and lifted the massive stone lock. Feeling the solid strength in his flexing muscles, his gaze grew firm once more.
The crisis had passed for now. But the Master's suspicions wouldn't disappear completely, and the threats from the Li Family and the Netherworld Cult still hung over him like swords suspended above his head.
He needed to get faster, stronger!
The muscles in the arm gripping the stone lock drew tight like twisted steel cables.
"Crimson Sun" grew faintly hot in his qi sea, as if answering his resolve.
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