Chapter 27

The Jade Fish turned back into a crude carving made of inferior white jade, but Bai Lang still remembered how lifelike and beautiful it had looked when it came to life. "Should I throw it away?" Bai Lang thought for a moment, then tucked it into his robe after all. That was when he noticed that the clothes he was wearing were the same "ancient-style" outfit he'd had on before he crossed over. Naturally, his PPK pistol, which he'd had on him, was gone too.

"So this is how it blocks 'modern' firearms?" Bai Lang chuckled. His body was still that of the fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy he'd been before crossing over, though his martial arts training made him look closer to seventeen or eighteen. As he breathed in and out, the inner force of his Golden Bell Shield circulated on its own, and a rumbling like a tiger's purr accompanied his breathing.

"Ha! I actually brought all the martial arts I trained in back with me!" Bai Lang was overjoyed. He immediately decided it was best to keep the Jade Fish. "Time has stopped at the moment I crossed over." He'd reached this conclusion after going outside and taking a look. The idlers hadn't shown the slightest surprise at seeing him, so it seemed he hadn't been gone for years.

During the years he'd spent across the other world, he'd used up the little jar of medicinal ointment he'd brought with him. So Bai Lang rummaged through his room, found the ointment issued by the Changle Gang, rubbed a layer over himself, and began building up his strength. To his delight, as he trained, he discovered that the second stage of his Golden Bell Shield was beginning to loosen. As his inner force coursed through him, it seemed ready to surge into the meridians again.

Only then did Bai Lang suddenly remember something important: he needed to write down the Golden Bell Shield manual as quickly as possible. The original manual hadn't crossed over with him, of course, but fortunately, he'd memorized the whole thing, including all the diagrams. Still, a good memory was no substitute for putting pen to paper, so it would be best to write it all down right away.

As for whether someone might steal it and expose him? Bai Lang scoffed. I'm just a nobody who managed to become the head enforcer among the gang's hired thugs. Is anyone really going to pay special attention to me and try to find out what opportunity I came across? Hahahahaha. In truth, the Changle Gang didn't think much of members like him, the rank-and-file who were there to wave the flag and shout.

The ones who actually handled the gang's business, fought over territory, and took care of other important matters were talented people like Mo Di, who had caught the attention of their superiors. They were taken on as disciples by Elders of the gang and taught all kinds of Divine Skill Ultimate Arts. Those were the people with real prospects in the gang. Bai Lang knew that, without some extraordinary opportunity, he'd be lucky to work his way up to deputy Incense Master over the course of his life.

So the gang had given him two common manuals at the start and provided him with bruise ointment every month. That was already fairly generous treatment for members like them. Besides, he received a monthly stipend and could earn a little extra on the side, making his life perhaps better than that of ordinary folk. They also received what was called "contribution points" each month. Once they'd saved up enough, they could exchange them for other martial arts manuals or pills at the hall of one of the gang's Elders who taught martial arts.

But now Bai Lang had trained in the Golden Bell Shield and opened his Lesser Heavenly Cycle. That already put him half a step ahead of the other members in his class. Opening the Lesser Heavenly Cycle at his age was a decent achievement. If he kept training hard and advanced his martial arts, he might even have a shot at becoming an Incense Master or deputy helmsman of a branch. But when he thought of Mo Di, Bai Lang could only smile wryly. Mo Di had reached Bai Lang's current starting point years ago.

Just how powerful was Mo Di now? Bai Lang couldn't guess, and he didn't intend to try. In any case, he was definitely much stronger than Bai Lang was now. For the moment, Bai Lang's task was to train hard without drawing attention, and try to break through to the second and third stages of the Golden Bell Shield. He was quite confident he could do it. After all, three stages made up one major stage, and he felt he could handle this first major stage.

As for reaching the sixth stage, that would probably be enough to enter the ranks of Xiantian Masters. Bai Lang felt that only then would he truly understand the mysteries of martial arts in this world. Perhaps I'll only learn what the masters of the world are really like once I start reaching that level myself.

As a hired thug, Bai Lang had fairly good access to information, but ordinary people didn't know much about the news that involved the upper echelons of the martial world. For example, Bai Lang only knew that there were the Heaven Earth Human Rankings and that his Gang Leader's name seemed to be listed on the Human Ranking. He didn't know the details; he'd usually focused on training and hadn't gone out of his way to ask.

It seemed he'd come across an opportunity of his own. Maybe he really did have a future after all.

The Golden Bell Shield's breakthrough requirements involved opening the meridians. The second stage required opening the Twelve Primary Meridians, allowing inner force to circulate endlessly through them. It was best to open the Eight Extraordinary Meridians as well, one by one, but there was no need to connect the Ren and Du Meridians. Doing that would already mean stepping halfway into the Xiantian realm.

So what Bai Lang needed now was to keep building up his inner force—the more profound, the better. The Golden Bell Shield didn't seem to be the best choice for accumulating inner force. It was excellent at making inner force powerful and robust, and that was just as useful in a fight, but it wasn't quite as good for pure inner-force cultivation and the cultivation of body and life.

If Bai Lang remembered all that nonsense correctly, the Golden Bell Shield cultivated the body's essence and blood, while the Yi Jin Jing was what cultivated true qi. But he didn't have that manual, and, well, the Golden Bell Shield's approach of cultivating a breath of true qi from the outside in suited him better anyway. At least, I can't be worse than Hong Qigong, right? That was Bai Lang's current confidence.

But Hong Qigong had the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, and his martial arts insight was probably far beyond Bai Lang's. Bai Lang's current fighting style consisted of the Thirty-two Forms Long Fist and the Tiger Form True Intent he'd derived from the Fist Manual. He didn't really have any famous ultimate art to his name. Should I learn a weapon style? What kind of weapon would suit me? Bai Lang felt that relying entirely on his fists and feet probably wouldn't do. He ought to learn at least one weapon style.

But there were so many weapons, and the eighteen types were only a small fraction of them. Long spears and halberds, swords and sabers, staffs and clubs—which one should I learn? Bai Lang felt he ought to think it over carefully, but he soon realized this was nothing more than idle speculation. He wanted to learn swordsmanship, but who would teach him? Where could he get a sword manual? The same went for spears, lances, and halberds. There was nowhere he could learn them anytime soon. Trying to work one out on his own would probably just waste time retracing a path others had taken long ago.

Every style of swordsmanship had its own ideas and principles. He might be able to figure out a single signature move on his own, but grasping sword intent would be incredibly difficult. Saber techniques, by comparison, were simpler, with a lower barrier to entry: all he needed to do was chop and thrust. He could learn the principles behind a complete saber style later.

Could I think of a sword as a double-edged saber? Bai Lang wondered. It wasn't an unreasonable idea. At least, the Western greatswords and bastard swords he knew about were basically both swords and sabers.