A Second Entry?

Clouds drifted lazily across the sky.

An incense stick's worth of time later.

Aside from the dean, Wang Fugui, four more people had joined Shen Zhou.

Among them was an old man with a tobacco pipe, the martial artist Ji Honggang.

A gentle, refined woman holding an embroidered silk fan, the sword cultivator Li Taohua.

And a gloomy-looking man with a scruffy beard, the saber cultivator Ouyang Zhen.

The last was Bai Feizhan, a white-robed physician in his twenties with a fair, handsome face who looked completely out of place here.

Together, these five made up the entire staff of White Deer Academy.

Looking at the five people whose temperaments seemed at odds with their professions, Shen Zhou's eyelids twitched again and again.

He had the feeling that Qin Mingyue had paid five actors to put on a show for him.

This was way too unserious!

Meanwhile, Qin Mingyue had already handed a packet of silver to Dean Wang Fugui. The moment he saw the money, his face broke into a broad smile, and he promised once more, "Don't worry. As long as they come to White Deer Academy and stick with their studies, I guarantee they'll learn something!"

Qin Mingyue smiled. She didn't really care whether Shen Zhou learned anything.

In fact, there was something she didn't quite understand. He had already won the Taixuan Sword's recognition, so why was he still looking for people outside to teach him cultivation?

Could it be that he hasn't fully earned the Sword Spirit's recognition?

A strange glint flickered in Qin Mingyue's eyes. Then she turned to Shen Zhou and explained, "I've paid six months' tuition for you. Study here for now. If you're not satisfied later, you can withdraw at any time. Ancestor Qin also said she could come teach you personally whenever she wanted. That's entirely up to you, family head."

Shen Zhou ignored Qin Mingyue calling him "family head." He merely eyed Ji Honggang and the others suspiciously. "Can these people really teach us?"

He hadn't spoken loudly, but Wang Fugui still heard him.

Afraid of losing the business, Wang Fugui hurriedly shot Ji Honggang a look and called out, "Old Ji, come on, show the students what we can do. Don't let them think we're frauds."

Ji Honggang impatiently took a puff of his pipe. "If you want to learn, learn. If not, get lost. Who has time to put on a monkey show for them?"

Wang Fugui panicked and hurried over to plead with him in a low voice. "Old Ji, we had a deal. I handle recruitment, you handle teaching. You can't undermine me and slack off now.

"See that pretty young woman? She's from the Qin Family. She's got money.

"If these people stick around, your disciples won't have to worry about the money for medicinal ingredients to temper their bodies anymore.

"Even if you don't care about the academy, you should at least think about them."

A penny could bring a hero to his knees.

Ji Honggang didn't want to bend his back for a single measure of rice, but the situation was stronger than he was.

White Deer Academy was obscure and broke to begin with. Body cultivation was also the most expensive path, and they only took in children from ordinary families. Little by little, that had brought the academy to its present state.

With Wang Fugui chattering away beside him, Ji Honggang's expression fell. In the end, he reluctantly called over his shoulder, "Tan Tong, come out and show them."

At his words, a burly young man stepped out from among the children who had been practicing behind them.

Tan Tong wasn't tall and looked to be sixteen or seventeen. He had plain, honest features. His body didn't look particularly remarkable at first glance, but the muscles beneath his clothes were solid as piled stone, and his blood and qi were thick and brimming with vitality.

Even from a distance, Shen Zhou could sense the vigorous, surging life force within him.

It was a sign that his body cultivation had made some progress.

After stepping forward, Tan Tong walked straight to a large boulder beside the Training Ground.

The boulder was about the size of a bucket and made of hard stone.

But when Tan Tong reached it, he didn't hesitate. He lifted it with both hands and smashed his forehead into it.

The boulder cracked apart with a loud bang.

Tan Tong's forehead reddened and swelled before their eyes.

Shen Zhou and A Dai sucked in sharp breaths at the sight.

So this was body cultivation?

That was way too brutal!

Ji Honggang seemed not to have expected his disciple to demonstrate like that. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he muttered, "That fool's too earnest. I told him to demonstrate with his fist. Who told him to use his head..."

Looking at Tan Tong, whose face was flushed red, Shen Zhou couldn't help asking, "Does it hurt?"

Tan Tong paused, then answered honestly, "Yes."

"If it hurts, why don't you yell?"

"I can take it!"

"..."

Shen Zhou froze.

Had this kid cultivated himself stupid?

Would I turn out like this if I practiced body cultivation?

Maybe I should think twice before taking it up.

Li Taohua, Ouyang Zhen, and the others couldn't help laughing. Ji Honggang's old face reddened, and he barked, "You brat, you know it hurts? That means you haven't trained enough. Go on, get back to it. From now on, bang your head against rocks every day. When it stops hurting, then you can move on to something else."

Tan Tong obediently answered and stepped back.

Wang Fugui promptly stepped in to smooth things over. "Haha... That was just a little demonstration from one of our students. It doesn't represent our teachers' true abilities. Once you officially become their disciples, I'm sure you'll see what they can do. Now, who wants to learn what? You can choose your own teacher."

Shen Zhou was still hesitating, but A Dai made up his mind first. He said to Shen Zhou, "Boss Zhou, since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. Ancestor Qin sent us here to learn martial arts, so this place can't be that bad. I'm willing to give it a try. If it really doesn't work out, we can always leave later."

With that, he walked over to the saber cultivator Ouyang Zhen, then bowed deeply and respectfully, his manner sincere.

Ouyang Zhen didn't say much. He looked A Dai over, saw that his attitude was good, and nodded. "All right. You'll learn the saber from me."

After hearing A Dai's words, Shen Zhou settled down too. He also figured Old Madam Qin wouldn't be so bored as to recommend a bunch of fancy showpieces just to amuse him.

Then he said to Xi Mei, "Xi Mei, you go too. Didn't you want to learn the sword?"

Xi Mei nodded and timidly walked up to Li Taohua. She copied A Dai's actions, bowed respectfully, and said, "Hello, teacher."

Li Taohua seemed to like Xi Mei. She bent down and gently patted her on the head. Then, without saying a word, she took Xi Mei's hand and led her toward the manor.

Xi Mei looked back three times as she walked away, waving reluctantly to Shen Zhou.

Next it was San Mazi's turn. His gaze shifted between the three who remained—Dean Wang Fugui, Ji Honggang, and Bai Feizhan—before he scratched his head and said, "Boss, I don't know what I should learn either. How about you choose for me?"

Before Shen Zhou could answer, the young Bai Feizhan stepped forward with a smile. "Since you don't know what to learn, why not start with medicine? I happen to be short an apprentice. I can show you some herbs and teach you a little about treating illnesses. Think of it as learning a trade. That way, you'll never go hungry."

San Mazi figured that learning medicine without having to train hard in martial arts didn't sound too bad, so he agreed.

At last, it was Shen Zhou's turn. He wanted to cultivate his body, so it seemed his only option was the old man with the pipe, Ji Honggang.

Shen Zhou had never quite trusted Old Man Ji, so he asked cautiously, "Old man, after I start learning martial arts from you, will I have to bang my head against rocks too?"

Who knew whether Ji Honggang simply didn't like Shen Zhou, but he immediately snorted. "Bang your head against rocks? Dream on. That's advanced stuff. You're a beginner, and you want to start by banging your head against rocks? You'd smash your skull in. Starting tomorrow, you'll practice your punches and horse stance with those boys."

Shen Zhou was stunned.

What the heck? Banging your head against rocks counted as advanced training?

Did I have any future if I trained under him?

Good thing I snatched a copy of the Wild Desolate Art from the Xu Family earlier. If this doesn't work, I'll try practicing it once I've laid a solid foundation. Whatever else, it's got to be better than Old Man Ji's "Head-Banging Technique."

The sun rose over the horizon, and the early morning light was faint.

In the slightly damp morning air, a group of youths practiced their punches again on the manor's central patch of yellow earth.

The boys grunted as they struck, their punches forceful, filling the tranquil little village with vibrant life.

Shen Zhou stood at the back of the line, feet planted in a horse stance, fists clenched. Following the others' grunts, he too threw punch after punch.

At first, it felt quite easy. But after half an hour of the same movements, his feet began to ache, and he could no longer straighten his arms.

Still, Shen Zhou had one good quality: once he set his mind on something, he would charge straight down that road to the bitter end.

So he gritted his teeth and kept training with the others without a word.

Old Man Ji, who had been quietly watching him from the side, was a little surprised.

Body cultivation was the most grueling path in martial arts. If you weren't tough enough to endure hardship, then it was better not to take that path in the first place.

He had told Shen Zhou to practice his horse stance and punches with the children first to test his mettle. He hadn't expected that Shen Zhou, who seemed so unserious on the outside, could actually endure hardship.

Hopefully it isn't just a burst of enthusiasm. Let's see how long he can keep it up.

Old Man Ji then closed his eyes and went back to dozing.

Outside the crowd, Qin Mingyue was also sitting cross-legged and cultivating. She had said she would stay by Shen Zhou's side, and it seemed she hadn't been speaking idly.

As for why Qin Mingyue was doing this, no one but her knew.

Shen Zhou also suspected her reasons for following him weren't entirely pure, but he had no proof for the moment, so he could only let it be.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.

One afternoon, on the yellow-earth Training Ground.

Everyone else had dispersed to rest, but one figure was still throwing punches over and over again, training with great diligence and effort.

That person was none other than Shen Zhou.

Over this period, he had proved through his actions that he could endure hardship and stick with things.

It should have been something worth celebrating, but unfortunately...

He's diligent, all right, but he's a blockhead.

Watching Shen Zhou practice from afar, Old Man Ji couldn't help sighing.

According to him, a genius practicing his set of punches could awaken his blood and qi in three days, smoothly crossing the threshold into the Coagulation First Realm.

Someone with slightly lesser aptitude would take five days.

Someone with ordinary aptitude would take seven.

Someone with poor aptitude would take ten.

As for someone who still hadn't awakened their blood and qi after half a month, "poor" didn't even begin to describe them. They were like a thousand-year-old iron tree that would never bloom.

Even if Shen Zhou managed to enter the realm, cultivating further would be fraught with difficulties.

Old Man Ji had even tried to persuade Shen Zhou to give up martial arts and study medicine instead.

But Shen Zhou refused to believe it and insisted on carrying on.

In fact, he had no choice but to persevere. If he wanted to withstand the Entry's outburst, body cultivation was his only option. He had to train, whether he could make it work or not. There was no other way.

He had even tried the Wild Desolate Art he'd stolen, but it turned out that he couldn't cultivate it until he had condensed his blood and qi. Shen Zhou had nearly spat blood over that.

Was this some kind of damned Möbius strip?

To practice the cultivation art, he first had to condense his blood and qi; to condense his blood and qi, he had to practice the cultivation art...

At its root, the problem was that the Entry had made things harder for him.

The Entry had helped him cleanse his meridians and marrow. Though it had improved his physique and natural constitution, it had also made it harder for him to awaken his blood and qi.

Wasn't that why he had failed the Flying Bird Academy test in the first place?

Shen Zhou gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe I can't awaken it!"

Thud, thud, thud...

On the yellow earth, Shen Zhou's punches grew stronger and stronger, one after another.

The sky was growing dark. Just as he was about to stop and continue again tomorrow—

Suddenly, a wisp of faint red mist drifted from the surface of his body.

Shen Zhou stared blankly for a moment, then burst with joy. "Blood and qi? I awakened my blood and qi? I finally awakened it!"

As he reveled in his excitement, a golden prompt window suddenly popped up above his head, displaying a line of text.

[Entry Reward: Daily Enlightenment (White).]

Shen Zhou's pupils contracted. "A... second Entry?"