A Different Path

Dusk was falling when Cui Hao had just left the martial school and was stopped by an old man.

"Xiao Haozi, it's me, your grandpa."

After sizing up the old man, Cui Hao asked indifferently, "What is it?"

"Your eldest uncle said you bought two packets of Qi and Blood Powder today. Can you spare one packet for Cui Huo? He's a core disciple of Qingsong Martial School... He can't cultivate without Qi and Blood Powder... We've borrowed everything we could... You..."

Cui Hao's eyelid twitched.

One packet of Qi and Blood Powder cost two taels of silver. It wasn't extravagantly expensive, but it wasn't cheap either.

Yet this was a cultivation resource. The old man actually wanted to sever Cui Hao's martial path for the sake of another grandson!!

Suppressing the urge to kick the other man to death, Cui Hao said flatly, "Grandpa, it's cold outside. Go home early."

Leaving those words behind, Cui Hao strode away.

That night, a knocking sound rang out beyond the courtyard. Bang! Bang!

"Who is it?"

"Brother Cui, we're under Zhou Menglong."

Cui Hao opened the courtyard gate and looked at the three men he had stripped naked before. "What is it?"

The big-nosed young man at the front said, "Brother Cui, Zhou Menglong has disappeared. We want to follow you."

"You can't even support yourselves. I can't support you too. Get lost!"

"Brother Cui, you don't have to do anything. The three of us can extort silver from the villagers," the big-nosed man hurriedly explained. "You know martial arts. You only need to protect us."

"Idiots!" Cui Hao cursed furiously. "There are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this world. If you want to die, go die, but don't drag me into it!"

Bang! Cui Hao slammed the courtyard gate shut.

Staring at the trembling door ring, the three men remained silent for a long while before deciding to seek refuge with the Wusheng Sect.

That same night, inside the City Garrison.

Fan Xin, the City Garrison commander who was obsessed with martial arts, ignored politics, never held court, never handled finances, and almost never showed himself, studied the documents in his hands with a strange expression.

"Xiaohu," Fan Xin asked his guard, "Qingyuan City has three great lineages within the city."

"There's the River Gang in East City, the Blade Gang in the south, and the Thief Gang in the west. But the north..." Fan Xin's tone was puzzled. "Why is it completely empty?"

"This..." The guard called Xiaohu didn't know either. "Perhaps the feng shui in the north is bad and unfavorable to the development of gangs, so there aren't any gangs there."

The corner of Fan Xin's mouth twitched. He was 'stupid,' and even his subordinate was stupid. "Go investigate. I suspect there's an expert in the north."

Xiaohu acknowledged the order.

There were gangs in the north of the city. It was just that they had all been wiped out by someone as soon as they began to sprout, so they never had the chance to develop.

The next day, as usual, Cui Hao bade farewell to his wife and went to the martial school with Lin Da.

When they arrived, he discovered that most of the people who usually came early had not shown up today.

"Brother Hao, why hasn't Senior Brother Jiang Jie come?" Lin Da asked strangely. "He's always earlier than us."

"He went to deal with the gangs. Don't worry about them. Practice martial arts!"

Lin Da acknowledged him, warmed up, mounted the stance posts, practiced the Broken Fist, and trained his footwork, again and again.

The Broken Fist had many variations. When practicing it, one focused on softening force before releasing it with hardness, tempering it into muscle memory, and ultimately reaching the realm where the stance arrived with the fist and force was released with every step.

After striking the Broken Fist seven times in succession, steam rose around Cui Hao despite the bitter cold. Faint popping sounds came from his muscles and bones, while his entire body ached fiercely.

"Brother Hao." Lin Da handed him a sweat towel. "Wipe your face."

Cui Hao left the plum-blossom posts, accepted the towel, and asked Lin Da, "Do you want to try breaking through?"

Lin Da hesitated for a moment before nodding heavily. "I'll risk it!"

If he failed his first attempt at breaking through, he would basically have no chance afterward. But the two-month deadline was fast approaching. He might as well take advantage of the sparse crowd today, calm his mind, and fight for it.

After sweeping a glance over the hazy morning surroundings, Lin Da assumed the Broken Fist's opening stance. He began slowly, then sped up, soon entering a selfless state.

He struck the five major moves again and again. Lin Da felt his strength draining away, and every part of his body was in unbearable pain, but he continued to persevere.

It wasn't until a ray of morning sunlight crossed the courtyard wall and shone upon him that popping sounds rang from Lin Da's fists.

This was the sign of entering Mortal Martial.

After striking three more times to let his qi and blood stretch out, Lin Da, drenched in sweat, opened his eyes and looked at Cui Hao. Grinning, he said weakly, "Brother Hao, I did it!"

"Junior Brother Lin." The senior sister came over and presented him with a packet of Qi and Blood Powder. "Congratulations. Keep up the good work."

Lin Da accepted the Qi and Blood Powder and cupped his fists. "Thank you, Senior Sister."

Xu Liqing looked toward Cui Hao. "You keep up the good work too."

Cui Hao cupped his fists in salute.

After Xu Liqing left, Cui Hao looked at Lin Da. "I'll help you get familiar with how to circulate force."

Lin Da thanked him, raised his hands into position, and the two began trading blows with a series of thuds.

That evening, Old Man Lin brought gifts and Lin Da to Cui Hao's home. At the courtyard gate, he prostrated himself and bowed.

"Brother Hao," Old Man Lin said, overflowing with gratitude, "if you hadn't guided Lin Da all this time, fed him moves, and encouraged him, he probably wouldn't have entered Mortal Martial. Our whole family thanks you!"

Before he had finished speaking, Old Man Lin and Lin Da knocked their heads against the ground. Bang! Bang!

They kowtowed twice, and cold mud stuck to their foreheads.

Cui Hao promptly helped them up. "Uncle Lin, don't do this. I'm his senior brother. It's only natural for me to guide my junior brother."

"Lin Da said that none of the senior brothers at the martial school would teach him. Only you taught him personally, hand by hand."

Looking at Old Man Lin, then at the moved Lin Da, Cui Hao thought of the dark and thin Sun Cheng, as well as Liu Yan, with her muscular body and little-girl face. Should I make them kowtow twice too??

The peaceful days continued for a week before the panel refreshed.

[Stealth: Minor Mastery (5/600)]

[Effects: Scent -10, Light as a Swallow +10, Shadow Utilization +10]

After encountering the Striped Tiger again, Cui Hao was confident he could escape more calmly and more quickly.

His stance-training cultivation progressed steadily.

[Broken Fist Stance Cultivation: Minor Mastery (346/600)]

He had 214 progress points available.

Added together, the two values were only forty progress points short of allowing him to enter the Major Mastery realm of Mortal Martial!

The trouble before him was that he had used up all his Qi and Blood Powder. The copper coins and loose silver in his home totaled only three taels... If he bought Qi and Blood Powder, there would be a problem with eating.

He couldn't go without food. He would enter the mountains!

Hunt! Gather herbs! Both would grant progress points.

[Gathering: Initial Stage (75/100)]

"Brother Hao..." Lin Da asked with concern as he chewed on dry rations. "What are you thinking about?"

After entering Mortal Martial, Lin Da had become much more cheerful and lively. Cui Hao was just about to joke with him when a wail suddenly came from the entrance. "Something's happened! Junior Brother Li He is dead!"

At those words, Cui Hao and Lin Da sprang up from the ground together, put away their dry rations, and looked toward the martial school's entrance.

More people streamed in behind them, carrying a wooden board. A person lay atop it.

The martial school boiled over!

The corpse was placed in the middle of the front courtyard. A senior brother who knew the details said sadly, "Junior Brother Li was ambushed by gang members. A knife pierced straight into the back of his heart!"

Xu Liqing, who had not participated in the gang-clearing mission, hurried forward and crouched to examine Li He's injuries. There was a bloody hole in his back.

Someone in the crowd whispered, "Senior Brother Li was an expert at Minor Mastery in Mortal Martial, and he had practiced the Broken Fist to perfection. How could he have been ambushed from behind!?"

Another disciple said, "You don't understand. Practicing martial arts and killing people are two different things. Luckily, we haven't entered Mortal Martial. Otherwise, we would have gone too, and we would have ended up lying flat on a board as well."

"Looking at it that way, Senior Brother Cui really was clever."

Cui Hao: "..."

Another wooden board was hurriedly carried in, while someone shouted in mourning, "Senior Brother Wang is dead!"

Wang Nian was dead?

Thud! The wooden board was set down.

Taking a closer look at the bloodless face, he realized it was another Senior Brother Wang, not Wang Nian...

His face had been sprinkled with lime powder, his chest had been stabbed into a bloody cavern, and his neck had also been stabbed once. He was thoroughly dead.

Xu Dian came from the rear courtyard to the front courtyard. Standing before the two corpses, he stared at Li He's body for a long time without saying a word.

Amid the crowd, Cui Hao was also looking at Li He's corpse. He had been a genius, yet he had died halfway along the road. To Cui Hao, it was a warning.