Practice

Time passed quickly. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye since Liu Tian had visited Gayn Manor to admire the antiques.

Nothing major had happened during those three months. But every time Liu Tian went out for his morning run, he could clearly see that tensions between the two gangs in the city were growing more intense. They had started fighting in earnest, and were using things they normally wouldn't.

Knives, guns, even homemade Molotov cocktails and rocket launchers. You could say they'd brought out everything except tanks.

For some reason, though, even as their fierce clashes began to seriously affect public safety, the authorities showed no sign of responding. It was as if, so long as the gangs didn't attack ordinary people on a large scale or invade designated areas, the authorities simply pretended the two sides weren't at war.

Of course, the Hundred Flowers Kingdom wasn't doing nothing. It was obvious that in some places, the police officers who had once patrolled the streets had been replaced by well-trained soldiers armed to the teeth. Noble private troops, rarely seen before, had also appeared at the various estates, with large numbers of people coming and going every day.

Taking advantage of this wave of change, some of the newly unemployed had joined forces and opened small mobile stalls, giving the steadily falling employment rate a slight boost.

Gang warfare, industries in decline, a surge in the transient population—and amid this bleak, blood-chilling atmosphere, summer vacation arrived.

For climatic reasons, this world had twelve months in a year, each with thirty days, for a total of 360 days.

Rose Academy's summer vacation was exceptionally long. It lasted two and a half months, from July to the middle of September.

During this period, students from wealthy families either hosted banquets and balls to build connections for the future, or interned at their family businesses to prepare for the day they would take charge. Those without money in the family returned to their country estates to enjoy a pleasant summer vacation.

A few, however, would immerse themselves in their studies or take jobs—specifically, those engrossed in academic pursuits or admitted on the strength of their grades.

Though his family wasn't short on money, Liu Tian had once been more or less obsessed with studying martial arts, and that hadn't changed.

Thanks to Tia Gayn taking care of everything, Liu Tian no longer had to worry about collecting antiques. As a result, his days had become extremely routine.

Training, resting, training, resting. The two activities cycled endlessly.

His life followed a three-point route between school, his home, and Tian Dao's home, with the occasional trip to Gayn Manor.

During this time, Liu Tian had worked hard to polish his foundations and confirm his talent for martial arts.

Damn it! What the hell am I training for? Let's see how far my efforts can take me!

He could no longer stand the painfully slow progress. Even with a renowned master like Tian Dao teaching him, he hadn't managed to learn Head Severing Path—a simple technique for gathering strength and breaking through in an instant—even after three months. That had given Liu Tian a pretty good idea of his own talent.

So, in the dead of night, staring at the sixteen points on his panel, Liu Tian finally couldn't take it anymore.

I've been working this hard, and you're still keeping me at Level 5? You think my talent's a joke?

Give me more! Give me all you've got!

As five Origin Points vanished, Liu Tian suddenly felt as though he had trained tirelessly at Heavenly Martial Killing Dao for two full years, without food, drink, or sleep, yet still full of energy. At last, he had completely mastered Head Severing Path. His physical abilities had surged along with it, carrying him to the threshold of becoming a Fighter.

Next, according to Tian Dao's instruction, all Liu Tian had to do was keep training methodically and push his physical abilities to their limits. Then, when the opportunity came, he would understand his true nature, unite his mind, energy, and spirit, and use his spirit to nourish his body and break through its inherent limits. That would reveal his battle crest and let him enter the realm of Fighters.

Once Liu Tian became a Fighter, Tian Dao would have taught him everything he could about Heavenly Martial Killing Dao. From then on, he would have to find his own path.

After all, the word "Fighter" implied establishing one's own school and founding one's own path.

No matter how they reached that level, all Fighters had broken through the human body's limits in at least one area, making them capable of founding their own schools and teaching disciples in their own style.

There were strong and weak Fighters. Each person had different physical limits, and the number of areas in which they broke through those limits varied. The strongest might be able to kill the weakest, who had broken through in only one area, with a single move. But in the end, they all belonged to the same realm.

Beyond that lay the King of the Century, a figure so mysterious he appeared only in ancient records. No one knew whether he was real or just a boast.

After Liu Tian told Tian Dao he had completely mastered Head Severing Path, Tian Dao stopped asking him to train together at set times each day. He also became busy, though no one knew what kept him occupied, and he would sometimes disappear for a while.

With Tian Dao so short on time, the Heavenly Dao Courtyard—once filled with children coming and going to practice martial arts—was temporarily placed in Liu Tian's hands.

"It's just teaching a bunch of kids the basics. It won't take long. It'll give you a chance to reflect on your own foundations by teaching others. If you don't want to teach, or something comes up, you can just dismiss them."

That was what Tian Dao had said.

But Liu Tian considered that Tian Dao had been teaching the neighborhood children martial arts in this courtyard for nearly ten years. He was on vacation, had nothing else to do, and with things so unsettled lately, the courtyard was safer than being home alone. So he didn't dismiss the children just yet. Instead, he continued holding practice sessions on schedule every day.

He had even added someone to their ranks: Alice Gain, who was older than the children and thus their senior sister, but had started learning later and was therefore their junior.

Today was another peaceful training session.

The children performed the basic fist routine, their movements steady and precise, their formation neat.

Neither Tian Dao nor Liu Tian intended to teach them Heavenly Martial Killing Dao—or even a thoroughly weakened version of Heavenly Martial Fist. They certainly weren't going to teach it to a group of children whose values and outlook on life had yet to take shape.

Unlike adults, children who practiced Heavenly Martial Killing Dao from a young age—with its emphasis on Killing Intent and Dominating Thought—could easily have their values twisted. Even if they later became Fighters, they might never learn to control their Killing Intent and Dominating Thought.

By then, after all, those things would have seeped into their blood and occupied their thoughts, becoming an inseparable part of them.

People couldn't control things they weren't aware of. They would simply think it was only natural to let their Killing Intent and Dominating Thought control them—to follow those urges, kill whoever they wanted, and screw whoever they wanted.

Of course, it was possible that teaching the art from childhood, combined with exceptional talent, might allow someone to surpass even the current Tian Dao, just as Bai Cinan had.

But charging headlong down the path of Heavenly Martial Killing Dao without ever turning back—was that really a good thing for a person, for someone with all the emotions and desires that came with being human?

Tian Dao had no answer. So, aside from a few exceptions he hadn't thought of, he had never taught Heavenly Martial Killing Dao to anyone other than Bai Cinan and Liu Tian.

Liu Tian simply thought it was a bad idea, so he had no intention of teaching Heavenly Martial Killing Dao to the children.

"Piglet, your stance is wrong!" Even while letting his mind wander and dividing his attention, Liu Tian could still spot mistakes in the children's movements. Being just one step away from becoming a Fighter gave him that kind of ability.

"Every movement in the basic fist routine has to be correct." Liu Tian gently adjusted Piglet's posture. "Master and I tailored the routine to each of your bodies. It's suited to you individually, so even a single mistake could cause problems down the line."

As he gently instructed them, Liu Tian felt his mind growing calmer. Even his Killing Intent and Dominating Thought, which had roared incessantly since his breakthrough, were gradually coming under control. Perhaps that was why Tian Dao had asked him to teach the children.

"Thud! Clunk!" A faint sound of something heavy hitting the ground came from nearby. Liu Tian's ears twitched. Frowning slightly, he headed toward the training ground.

What had Alice smashed this time?