Three days slipped by in the blink of an eye.
Guangling Commandery, Qinghe County.
A month had passed since the New Year. Even though life in Qinghe County had always moved at a leisurely pace, the thick festive atmosphere that had once filled the county was now slowly fading.
One shop, restaurant, and martial arts school after another had opened for business along the streets.
At the Lin Family Martial Arts School, on a patch of open ground packed hard with yellow earth.
A burly man stood with his hands behind his back, loudly lecturing the dozen or so newly enrolled disciples on the training ground:
"What matters most on the Martial Dao Path? Talent? Resources? Wrong! What matters most is hard work."
"Take my son, Lin Yi. He started training with me when he was six. Even then, he practiced his stances for two shichen every day and trained with the saber for three."
"Once he got a little older, he increased the time he spent training each day by leaps and bounds. That's how he achieved what he has at just fourteen."
"But most of you little brats are already over eight, and you've only been practicing your stances for a few ke and you're already complaining that you're tired."
"If you keep this up, how will you ever cross the threshold of the Martial Dao? How will you become Ninth-Rank Martial Artists?"
"Zhou Yi, you little brat, what are you laughing at? I'm talking about you. Straighten your back!"
"And Li Yao, you little rascal, don't you dare slack off behind my back. Otherwise, I'll make you stand for another half shichen today!"
Lin Haichuan patrolled among the children on the training ground, sometimes shouting at them and sometimes correcting their postures.
Just like that, noon arrived.