Ranking

An incense stick's time passed quickly.

Jiang Ping followed the crowd as a hundred sturdy young men marched in a grand procession toward the Outer Courtyard.

They soon arrived at the Training Ground. A large sign ahead bore the character "Martial," while weapon racks stood on either side, displaying all manner of weapons.

The dining hall was to the left of the Training Ground, connected to it and very close by.

At that moment, Head Escort Liang was already standing at the entrance to the dining hall, with an escort holding a Yellow Booklet beside him.

Only then did Jiang Ping realize that this Head Escort had likely been responsible for everything—from recruiting and selecting people to training them now.

"Silence! Line up properly!"

The escort holding the Yellow Booklet stepped forward and barked out a command. Once everyone had quieted down and lined up, he pointed at Head Escort Liang and introduced him. "This is Head Escort Liang of our Four Seas Escort Agency, an Eighth Rank Skin Refining martial artist. For the next half year, he will be responsible for teaching all of you."

"Gasp! Eighth Rank!"

"I heard that once someone becomes a Ninth Grade Blood Cultivation martial artist, plenty of Gentry and Wealthy Clans scramble to invite them into their households as retainers, rewarding them with heaps of silver every month. If I became Eighth Rank, never mind glory and riches—I could at least live happily for the rest of my life."

"What are you dreaming about? Eighth Rank? Let's first get through the Nourishing Life Technique assessment. Do you think becoming a martial artist is that easy?"

"..."

"Silence!"

Seeing the whispers about to turn into a clamor, the escort suddenly shouted again. Everyone immediately fell quiet.

The escort turned to Head Escort Liang.

"Chief, shall we begin right away?"

"Mm." Liang Sheng nodded.

The escort then opened the roster and addressed the crowd. "Whoever is called, step forward."

"Zhang San."

As soon as the words fell, a dark-skinned young man stepped out from the crowd.

"Come here. Stand before me," Head Escort Liang said. Zhang San immediately approached, stopping only when he was called to a halt at a distance of one chi.

"Punch my chest with all your strength. Remember, you only get one chance."

Liang Sheng pointed to the right side of his chest.

"What's this for?"

All the young men were filled with doubt.

"Hurry up. People are waiting behind you. Just use all your strength—don't worry about anything else," the escort urged when he saw Zhang San hesitating.

Hearing that, Zhang San could only take a deep breath. He clenched his right hand into a fist, veins bulging.

The next moment, his fist shot toward the Head Escort's chest. A dull bang rang out.

Yet Liang Sheng did not budge in the slightest. He spoke coldly, "142 jin."

The escort beside him hurriedly recorded it with his brush, then called out the second name.

A muscular young man immediately stepped forward.

By then, everyone understood that the Head Escort was testing their Fist Force.

"We haven't even come into contact with the Nourishing Life Technique yet. What's the point of this test? I heard that martial artists who have just begun Blood Cultivation can strike with over a thousand jin of force," someone murmured.

"Of course it has a purpose. The Head Escort is recording our initial Fist Force. Once we begin practicing the Nourishing Life Technique, it'll be easier to understand our growth trajectory."

"So that's how it is."

"Li Si, 145 jin!"

At that moment, the Second Person's Fist Force test result was announced.

"Wang Wu, 150 jin."

"Zhao Liu, 140 jin."

"..."

As time passed, one sturdy young man after another had their initial Fist Force tested.

Standing amid the crowd, Jiang Ping came to a small conclusion.

Everyone's Fist Force generally fluctuated between 140 and 150 jin.

But that conclusion was quickly shattered. A seven-chi-tall young man struck with 183 jin of force, causing everyone to raise their brows.

That level could not be called anything but formidable.

"Sun Qi—he's from our dormitory and we're quite close," a rather thin young man said proudly.

"Jiang Ping!"

A young man with considerable heroic spirit stepped out from the crowd.

Jiang Ping had not expected his turn to come so quickly.

He walked up to Liang Sheng, took a slight breath, and threw a full-force punch.

Jiang Ping was also curious about how much Fist Force he had.

"155 jin."

The Head Escort's words drew a relatively mild response. Among those tested earlier, this counted as above average. Several people had come close to it, but compared with the young man who had struck with over 180 jin of force, it was like a small witch before a great witch.

"But this person's looks are the most top-notch among us," said a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked young man, staring at Jiang Ping's face with envy in his eyes.

The crowd instantly fell silent. The scene seemed to become quiet all at once, and no one responded to the young man. Only after Jiang Ping slipped back into the crowd did that deathly, oppressive atmosphere disperse.

"Luo Tiegen, 150 jin."

After Jiang Ping came Luo Tiegen from the same dormitory, along with the fellow villagers who had come with him. Their Fist Force was also around 150 jin.

"Qian Dele, 170!"

"This is the Second Person far above the average. He looks only six chi tall, about the same as us, yet his Fist Force is so high."

Someone looked at the smug Qian Dele in disbelief.

"Maybe this is what it means to be endowed by Heaven," Qian Dele's old friend said, proud of his friend.

"***, 180 jin."

Before long, the second person with Fist Force above 180 appeared. He too was extremely burly, standing seven chi tall.

But by the time the testing ended, no third person had appeared.

Even Fifth Place had only managed 158 jin.

"Alright, the test is over. Go into the dining hall and eat," the escort responsible for recording said as he closed the booklet.

"Hm?"

Everyone looked utterly puzzled.

That was it? They were not going to practice the Nourishing Life Technique?

"You need to eat your fill before you have the strength to practice. The real training should be after the meal," someone guessed.

"Who cares? Just listen to the escort. Time to eat, time to eat!"

Hearing that they could eat, some people could no longer wait to rush into the dining hall. Jiang Ping was among them.

He had only eaten a bowl of noodles last night, and his stomach had long been growling.

Entering the dining hall, Jiang Ping easily found the Staff Meal meant for newcomers like them.

Because the serving window had the four words "Newcomer Exclusive" written above it.

"There's meat—a huge bowl of meat!"

As the first person received his meal, everyone's eyes went wide, and they could not help crying out in delight.

They normally did hard labor and lived frugally. They would only bring themselves to eat meat once every seven or eight days, while some were willing to eat it only once every month or two.

Yet their first "staff" meal at the Escort Agency had meat—and a huge bowl of it at that. Under normal circumstances, that would have been as much meat as they ate in an entire year.

The dining hall erupted at once. The crowd that had initially been scattered and leisurely began lining up, and some who could not wait even tried to cut in line.

"Brother, we're from the same dormitory. Let us take two spots, yeah?"

Someone approached Jiang Ping.

After all, he was among the first batch to enter the dining hall and stood near the front of the line.

Jiang Ping glanced at the man, speechless inside.

How could someone even cut in line just to get food? Was he in such a hurry? Was he rushing to take the Graduate School Entrance Exam?

And getting food would not take much time. Why was he in such a rush?

But before Jiang Ping could respond, a familiar shout rang out.

"Follow the rules and line up properly!"

It was Escort Huang, the one responsible for recording. He walked in and saw several people arguing over cutting in line. Frowning, he said, "Why are you acting like starving ghosts reincarnated? Wait a little longer—it won't kill you."

Qian Dele and his old friend, who had wanted Jiang Ping to give up his spots, looked disappointed and could only leave dejectedly.

A moment later.

After receiving his food, Jiang Ping found an empty table and picked up his chopsticks.

He first tasted a piece of meat and found it was beef, and quite delicious at that. He immediately began wolfing it down with white rice.

Before he had eaten for long, Luo Tiegen from the same dormitory and his two fellow villagers came over carrying bowls and joined Jiang Ping at the table.

After exchanging a few pleasantries and introductions, the four lowered their heads and focused on eating.

With such a huge bowl of meat, who had the mood to chat?

The noisy dining hall was filled with the scent of beef.

As everyone ate the delicious food, they felt incomparably satisfied.

Many even resolved to stay at the Escort Agency.

But just as they were halfway through their meal, a capable, sharp-eyed middle-aged man walked in through the entrance.

The somewhat noisy dining hall instantly fell silent.

The newcomer was naturally Liang Sheng, Head Escort Liang, who was responsible for teaching them.

"Keep eating. Don't mind me," Liang Sheng said.

At his words, everyone continued eating. However, they discovered that this Head Escort was not here for a meal as they had expected.

Instead, he made a round through the dining hall before speaking in a clear voice.

"Since you have come to our Four Seas Escort Agency, you should all understand, more or less, that our agency needs powerful escorts, not hired hands for odd jobs."

"So before you become escorts, the agency will do its utmost to train you into becoming strong enough to meet the requirements for escort missions."

"And if you wish to become strong, the Martial Dao is the road—a Wide Avenue."

"However, since our agency has chosen to train you for free, we naturally cannot teach you the famous Stance Techniques that Martial Arts Halls use. Thus, the foundation on which you can become strong is the Nourishing Life Technique unique to our agency."

Everyone nodded. Of course they knew the Nourishing Life Technique could not compare to Stance Techniques.

But practicing Stance Techniques required silver, and they were poor. How could they have so much money to enter a Martial Arts Hall and train?

They had come to the Escort Agency precisely because they valued its free training. Many simply wanted to become escorts and improve their lives.

"However, you need not belittle yourselves. Once cultivated to Great Accomplishment, the Nourishing Life Technique can also make you martial artists."

"Moreover, the cultivation of the Nourishing Life Technique and Stance Techniques shares one crucial common point. Do you know what it is?"

"Talent?"

"Maintaining pure yang?"

"Before turning thirty."

"..."

The crowd voiced their own guesses according to their understanding.

Liang Sheng shook his head slightly. "None of those are quite right."

"It's simple: eating!"

"Eating?"

Jiang Ping immediately lowered his head to look at the food he was eating, a faint guess rising within him.

Most people, however, looked toward the Head Escort with puzzled eyes.

Liang Sheng explained, "That's right—eating. You all know that the Initial Realm is Blood Cultivation, cultivating one's own qi and blood within. This strength comes from oneself and must be excavated bit by bit."

"But we are constantly consuming ourselves. If you only train and do not eat, not only will you fail to train successfully, you will also damage your body, because the human body has a limited supply of qi and blood."

"At that point, you need to borrow from external things to replenish your own qi and blood. That is what I mean by eating."

"Yet eating is also highly particular. As everyone knows, the human body has the ability to recover by itself. Coupled with eating and sleeping every day, that can also be considered a way of replenishing qi and blood."

"For example, most of you feel exhausted after a day of hard labor, but after eating a meal and sleeping, you wake the next day still feeling quite energetic."

"Yet this method is only suitable for working. Once you practice martial arts, rice and flour alone, casually supplemented with some meat and vegetables, will no longer do."

"You need specific foods to complement your training. Only then can you practice well and achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Can you guess what kind of food that would be?"

"Beef?" Qian Dele ventured. When he received a nod from the Head Escort, he looked quite pleased.

"That's right. Beef is a food highly suitable for martial artists. Even those Martial Arts Halls in Yang City use beef as food to complement their disciples' martial training."

Liang Sheng spoke slowly, then continued.

"Therefore, the food you are eating today is specially provided for people who practice martial arts."

"After you finish eating, I will teach you the Nourishing Life Technique and let you officially come into contact with the Martial Dao."

At those words, everyone grew expectant.

Whether they were mules or horses would depend on the Nourishing Life Technique.

"However!"

Head Escort Liang suddenly changed his tone and added, "There is another rather important matter I must explain in advance."

"Our Escort Agency greatly cherishes those it trains who are exceptionally outstanding. Some may even have the opportunity to gain the Chief's favor and be accepted as his disciples."

"The Chief!"

The young men's hearts surged. The Chief of the Four Seas Escort Agency was rumored to be a Sixth Grade martial artist, someone who had nearly become a successful Martial Examination candidate. In all of Yang City, his strength could rank among the Top Five.

If they could gain his favor and become his disciples, it would practically be ascending to the heavens in a single step.

"Silence!" Seeing the dining hall become restless again, Head Escort Huang could not help shouting.

Once things had quieted down, Head Escort Liang continued, "Just as I said, the outstanding will receive special care. From now on, the Top Five in each Fist Force test will receive greater consideration."

"Sun Qi!"

"Qian Dele!"

"Liu Wensheng!"

"Zhao Lusi!"

"..."

As the five people whose names had been called stepped forward, Head Escort Liang nodded and said, "You are this time's Top Five. By custom, your beef portions will be doubled at every meal for three days."

With that, Escort Huang brought out the five bowls of beef already prepared at the serving window and handed them to the five people one by one.

"Don't underestimate that extra bowl of meat. Once you begin training in martial arts, you'll understand how much this meat helps on the path of Martial Dao."

Escort Huang swept his gaze around the room and chuckled.

"Smells amazing!" Qian Dele took a bite of his extra reward meat and could not help exclaiming.

Though he seemed to be praising the beef, quite a few people felt that the man was showing off his ranking.

Most, however, were filled with envy.

The escorts had already mentioned that food was an important part of martial training. If those five truly got to keep eating extra meat, the gap between them would likely widen in the future.

Jiang Ping also felt somewhat regretful. His Fist Force had been only three jin below Fifth Place, putting him around eighth.

"You needn't be nervous either. The Fist Force test is held once every three days. If anyone manages to stand out through the Nourishing Life Technique three days from now, they can receive the same treatment."

Seeing the longing in everyone's eyes, Head Escort Liang smiled as he spoke.

"A test every three days! This is both a reward for cultivating the outstanding and the beginning of our competition."

Jiang Ping felt a sense of urgency.

"Alright, I've said all I needed to say. Continue eating. Gather at the Training Ground outside in twenty minutes."

After saying that, Head Escort Liang walked out of the dining hall, with Escort Huang respectfully following behind him.