Body Tempering IV (Thanks to Alliance Leader Lan Die's Wings)

Left alone, Lin Hui sat in the courtyard, watching the dim sky, an inexplicable sense of calm settling in his heart.

He had not been sitting long before the courtyard gate was knocked on again.

Knock, knock, knock.

He rose and went to open it.

Outside stood Brother Huang and the other man who had just left, along with a lean, scar-faced woman.

"Brother Lin, this is the protection fee your family paid before. We've brought it all back, not a cent missing. And this is a small token of apology. We didn't get the full picture before—sorry, sorry." Brother Huang handed over a small pouch of coins, with a bag of kumquats in his other hand.

The kumquat harvest had been poor lately, driving up their price. They were considered rather expensive fruit.

"Mm. I'll take the money, but the kumquats..." Lin Hui took the coin pouch, but before he could finish, the other party forcibly stuffed the bag into his hands.

"Take them, take them. We were the ones who broke the rules first. This is an apology. Please be lenient with us at the martial hall, Brother. Be lenient," Brother Huang said humbly.

He was just an ordinary gang member. If those Body Tempering Martial Artists set their sights on him, and someone clubbed him to death in a dark alley one day, that would truly be the end of him.

So this bag of kumquats had actually been bought out of his own pocket as an apology. Afterward, he might even have to take extra care of the Lin Family to make up for it.

"Fine. I won't spread this around. We'll call it settled." Lin Hui put away the kumquats. "Anything else?"

"No, nothing. This is my younger sister. She'll be patrolling around here in the future too, so I brought her over to put a face to the name." Brother Huang patted the scar-faced woman beside him on the back, speaking politely.

"Mm. If there's nothing else, go on back. I won't see you out." Lin Hui had no desire to waste words on these low-ranking gang members. He understood how people like them survived, but while he understood those who bullied the weak and feared the strong, he had no wish to befriend them.

"All right, all right. Then we won't disturb you any longer." Brother Huang nodded repeatedly.

The courtyard gate closed softly.

Carrying the kumquats and holding the coin pouch, Lin Hui turned around to see his mother standing in the doorway of the inner room, looking over at him.

He raised the coin pouch and kumquats toward her.

"It's fine. The Wood Flower Gang came to return the money and offer an apology."

At his words, his mother Yao Shan's expression immediately relaxed, before her gaze fell upon the coin pouch and kumquats.

Those people from the Wood Flower Gang had actually come to return the money... Only now, when she truly saw the money before her, did she tangibly realize the real impact that her son becoming a formal disciple had brought upon the family.

It was not some vague, intangible thing, but influence that could truly be turned into money and benefits.

Looking at her son Lin Hui standing in the courtyard, Yao Shan suddenly felt that their family, once supported only by her husband with great difficulty and on the verge of collapse, had gained another pillar.

This pillar was not thick, but it had helped her husband steady the roof that had been swaying and ready to fall, allowing this family to continue sheltering her from wind and rain.

Lin Hui stayed home for three days.

He also met with people from the Fortune Peace Gang. They sensibly returned half of the protection fee as well. Since there was no one from Qingfeng Temple in their gang, getting half back was already not bad.

This brought quite a bit of cash flow back to the family.

Seen off by his parents, Lin Hui returned to Qingfeng Temple and first went to see Daoist Ming De.

After all, Ming De had arranged for him to enter the temple in the first place, so after reaching Body Tempering, he naturally had to pay him a visit.

Ming De's room lay on the outer side of Qingfeng Temple, in a small courtyard with its own gate.

He did not live within the temple, but had set up his own courtyard right beside it.

When Lin Hui arrived, he was clutching a handful of dry rice and scattering it to feed the chickens.

A flock of plump yellow chickens, so fat they waddled as they walked, rolled and scurried wildly through the courtyard like pale-yellow balls.

"Disciple Lin Hui pays respects to Ming De Zhenren." Lin Hui stood outside the courtyard and saluted him through the fence.

"Oh, it's you. Is your father well?" Having scattered all the rice, Ming De looked up at Lin Hui.

"Oh? You've finally broken through to Body Tempering? Not bad, not bad."

A smile appeared on his face.

"Thanks to Zhenren's blessings, he is well. This disciple only broke through by luck," Lin Hui said in a deep voice.

"Breaking through at your age and in this amount of time isn't bad. But the next stage is when the real gap begins to open. Have you thought about how you'll make money? You can't earn much by staying at Qingfeng Temple all the time," Ming De said casually.

"Not yet." Lin Hui froze, then shook his head.

Ming De opened the gate and let him in, turning toward the inner room as he spoke.

"With you breaking through Body Tempering, Old Lin can finally relax a little. He's stubborn as a mule—wouldn't accept my help no matter what. Now things are better. You brat are at least somewhat useful now."

"Thank you for looking after us, Zhenren." Lin Hui spoke sincerely once more.

From those words alone, he understood that Ming De Zhenren had been keeping an eye on his family's situation all along. It was only because of personal obligations that his father had been unwilling to let him help.

"Why be so polite? Your father helped me plenty back then too. Come, sit." Ming De found two stools, one for each of them, and they sat down beside the table in the inner room.

"Since you don't have any plans, how about I arrange something for you?" He seemed to have prepared for this long ago.

"Please tell me, Zhenren." Lin Hui hurriedly said.

"Because you have a contract with the temple, you can't go work for the major households. But the temple has always cooperated with the town yamen. They need people from us, together with those from other martial halls, to form an auxiliary security patrol team and work with the yamen constables to patrol the surrounding area. The main duties are catching bandits and thieves, and joining in the hunt for the occasional ferocious beast or monster that strays out of the Mist Zone. Of course, for the latter, you'll only be acting as lookouts, so don't worry."

Ming De paused, then continued.

"The work will still count under your Qingfeng Temple contract. Aside from the temple's share, you'll receive an additional ten thousand a month, with food and lodging provided. Most importantly, we martial artists always need real combat. You can't train yourself into an expert by shutting yourself away and practicing bitterly."

"I'm willing!" Lin Hui agreed without hesitation.

What a joke. Aside from the wages from the temple, he could earn another ten thousand a month. This was absolutely a cushy posting. Though it was somewhat dangerous, just as Mingde had said, martial training would eventually have to face real combat.

"Good. I'll submit your name later. Next, you'll need to practice the Nine Section Fast Sword more. You'll be facing real combat out there. Also..."

He rose and went to a wooden cabinet in the corner. Opening it, he took out a silver-black sword over a meter long, its grip wrapped in anti-slip cloth.

"This was prepared for you." He placed the sword before Lin Hui.

"A top-grade piece from Cloud Pine Pavilion. Take good care of it—it'll last you a long time. Remember to maintain it and sharpen it regularly."

"This... is too valuable!" Lin Hui was startled. Real weapons were expensive to begin with; even the cheapest metal weapon cost over ten thousand. And this was from Cloud Pine Pavilion.

Cloud Pine Pavilion was a famous weapon shop in the inner city. Its weapons were of excellent quality, and so were their prices. By that reckoning, this sword was probably worth over a hundred thousand!

He hurriedly stood and tried to refuse it.

"Why are you panicking? Consider it lent to you. Pay me back once you start making more money." Mingde said indifferently. "Enough with the fuss. This sword is useless sitting here with me, and it'll only rust. Take it as helping me maintain it. A house will fall into disrepair if no one lives in it for too long, let alone a weapon."

Without giving him any room to argue, he insisted that Lin Hui take the sword, then gave him further guidance on the essentials of practicing the Nine Section Fast Sword.

The two talked for over ten minutes before Lin Hui finally rose to take his leave.

Only after Lin Hui had completely departed and gone far away did a long-haired girl emerge from the bedroom.

"Dad, it was just a favor from ages ago. Did you really have to invest so much in it? That kid isn't some genius, and he doesn't have much potential for the future either. Is it worth it?"

The girl resembled Mingde by perhaps half. Her features were pretty and delicate; clearly, the other half came from her mother.

Her figure was full and shapely, especially her long, rounded legs. Below her slim waist, her curves were taut and lifted, and even her pale green robes could not conceal the mature contours of her body.

"Wei Wei, Lin Shunhe helped me through a difficult time back then. Now that I wish to repay him, he refuses to accept it, so I can only repay it through his son. That is also the outcome he wanted." Mingde said calmly.

"But there's no need to throw so much money at it, is there?" His daughter Wei Wei said helplessly. "There's no way this will ever pay off. It's all money thrown into the water."

"This is my principle in life!" Mingde's voice rose slightly. "Wei Wei, remember this: in this world, there are always some things that cannot be measured with money."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Hearing that same old argument, Wei Wei rolled her eyes speechlessly. Still, she did not argue with her father any further.

Because this was far from the first time. Mingde's support for his friends had already placed no small burden on the family. Yet no matter what they said, it was useless.

*

*

*

Lin Hui returned to his residence and saw that it was still early. Night had not yet fallen and the mist had not risen, so he took his wooden sword and went to the practice ground in the front courtyard.

He intended to formally begin learning the Nine Section Fast Sword.

As for the Blood Seal, it had already begun evolving that dead insect egg.

Its evolutionary direction was a month's worth of Sealing Array toxin.

Just one month. He could afford to wait.

When he arrived at the front courtyard, the practice ground was divided into ten sections, most of which were occupied.

Only the area near the front gate was unoccupied, perhaps because people constantly came and went there, making it too disruptive.

Lin Hui carried his sword over and claimed that section. Standing still at its center, he slowly began practicing the Seven Section Fast Sword.

Not far behind him was senior brother Chen Sui.

In another section to the side was the genius Huang Shan. The two had clearly been practicing for some time already.

When Chen Sui saw Lin Hui arrive, he was not affected in the slightest and continued practicing the Clear Sword with meticulous precision.

Huang Shan, however, remembered Lin Hui somewhat. It was entirely because Chen Chong had groped her backside back then, and Lin Hui had also gotten into a minor conflict with Chen Chong because of his friend.

She had seen the matter involving Chen Zhishen from afar at the time.

Since both of them had conflicts with Chen Chong, they had that point in common.

Now, watching Lin Hui practice his sword, she saw the Seven Section Fast Sword unfold in a seamless flow like drifting clouds and running water, carrying an indescribable nimbleness.

Huang Shan's eyes immediately lit up. For some reason, she felt that Lin Hui seemed to be practicing even better than she was.

After watching several times, she saw Lin Hui go to learn the Nine Section Fast Sword from Ming Xiu, the Taoist instructor on duty.

Lin Hui quickly learned the first few moves of the Nine Section Fast Sword. But when he returned and practiced them repeatedly, none of his earlier brilliance remained. He moved slowly and clumsily, like a child dancing.

Huang Shan quickly lost interest.

The days passed one after another.

Lin Hui soon received the town yamen patrol position Mingde had mentioned. Besides him, four others would also be going on patrol.

Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and Chen Chong were all among them.

The final person was senior brother Chen Sui, who would lead the team.

Clearly, in this group, senior brother had earned his place through strength; Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren through talent; while he and Chen Chong had gotten in through connections.

Lin Hui understood this clearly.

Without the Blood Seal, his progress in the Nine Section Fast Sword was extremely slow. Yet he was not worried in the slightest.

Because his Body Tempering progress was completely maxed out every day. Each day, he could feel his body becoming more and more agile.

Until two days before they were due to set out on patrol.

Lin Hui finally waited for the Blood Seal's special effect on the Seven Section Fast Sword to activate.