His all-night impulse was doused by the news he received.
The next day, at first light, Huang Chun received a reply from Liu Xiong.
Liu Xiong was the man he'd asked for help. He was a section chief in the City Guard Department, and happened to oversee the area where Hong Ming lived.
The other man had tactfully refused him, citing reasons like "letting our own people handle our own affairs."
Huang Chun naturally understood what he meant. The City Guard Department and the Water Army belonged to different systems, and it was best to keep their boundaries clear.
But what puzzled him was, surely someone like Hong Ming wasn't important enough to make the other man take such a stance?
His confusion soon cleared when another piece of news arrived.
"Hong Ming broke through?!"
When he received the Water Army's latest roster of newly promoted full-fledged Water Soldiers, Huang Chun thought he must have read it wrong.
But even after checking again and again, the name Hong Ming still pricked his eyes like a steel needle.
At last, he resigned himself to reality, his expression shifting between light and dark.
Then he gritted his teeth and said, "Good, good, good! You really are the one I had my eye on. Hong Ming, you haven't let me down!"
The Preparatory Camp's training ground was completely different from the place where Hong Ming had practiced before. It was a vast martial arts field.
Neatly laid bluestone paved the ground, broad and level. Sturdy stone pillars stood around the perimeter, with heavy iron-sand bags hanging from them.
Various training equipment lined both sides, mainly blades and spears.
In the four corners, stone locks of various weights were arranged in neat rows.
Hong Ming arrived early. Only a handful of people were training in the field.
Some practiced their fists, while others held stances.
As expected, the boxing style was probably the Frost Sky Fist Hong Ming would be learning next.
He hadn't grasped its principles and couldn't make sense of it, so he turned his attention to the people practicing stances.
An amateur saw the spectacle; an expert saw the skill. At a glance, he could tell how deep their stance-work foundations were.
They were far beyond the Water Soldiers on the shore who had yet to develop Bright Force.
In terms of familiarity with the movements, he might not be inferior to them, but when it came to the finer points, he fell far short.
"Hey, Hong Ming, what are you doing here?"
As he watched, people began arriving one after another. Chen Yao and Wen Xin were among them.
When Chen Yao spotted Hong Ming, her face brightened, and she came over to greet him.
"You've developed Bright Force?"
Wen Xin answered for Hong Ming, sounding surprised.
She hadn't expected the fellow she'd written off as hopeless to actually leap into the ranks of martial artists.
Hong Ming didn't know Wen Xin, so he looked to Chen Yao for an explanation.
Chen Yao hurriedly introduced them. "Hong Ming, this is my friend, Wen Xin."
"Miss Wen." Hong Ming followed her lead and cupped his hands in greeting.
Wen Xin smiled in response.
"That fellow looks familiar. Hmm? It's him!"
Not far away, Wang Heng noticed the unfamiliar martial artist who had appeared on the training ground, and his gaze sharpened.
After only a few glances, he recognized Hong Ming. A flicker of surprise crossed his face.
He hadn't expected the man who used to row his boat to produce two martial artists!
That surprise quickly turned into a faint interest, which Zhou Min, standing beside him, keenly noticed.
She understood what Wang Heng was thinking and asked with a light laugh, "What, thinking of sponsoring him?"
"A little." Wang Heng made no effort to deny it. He really had been considering it.
He'd already regretted letting the Zhong Family snatch Qin Hao away. Now that Hong Ming had appeared as well, he didn't want to miss the chance.
But Zhou Min shook her head and reminded him, "I'd advise you not to waste your time on him. I've already looked into it. He has Low-Grade Bone Structure."
Her words doused Wang Heng like a bucket of cold water, instantly bringing him back to his senses.
Low-Grade Bone Structure?
Wang Heng pressed his lips together. The faint interest in his eyes as he looked at Hong Ming quickly faded.
He silently turned his gaze away, no longer interested in him.
"Hong Ming, your friend's here for you. Take your time catching up. We'll get going."
As Chen Yao chatted with Hong Ming, she spotted someone approaching and took the initiative to say goodbye.
After parting with her, Hong Ming turned to look at the friend she'd mentioned. It was none other than Qin Hao.
Qin Hao greeted him cheerfully. "Haha, Hong Ming, you really did make it!"
"Brother Hao." Hong Ming smiled too.
It was hard not to be happy at seeing an old friend in an unfamiliar place.
The two caught up like old friends reunited, feeling closer thanks to their shared backgrounds and past relationship.
As they chatted, Qin Hao took the opportunity to give Hong Ming a brief introduction to the Preparatory Camp.
The Preparatory Camp had far fewer Water Soldiers than the Training Camp, with fewer than a hundred in all. Yet they formed the reserve pool for the entire Qing Province Water Army Combat Department.
Strictly speaking, they were reserves for the various combat camps and already held half an official position.
Once they received the appropriate documents, they could report to a combat camp, take up their posts, and go on patrol or campaign.
"By the way, before you go to a combat camp, you can get support from various factions. You just got here, so I guess no one's approached you yet?"
As they talked, Qin Hao suddenly changed the subject, asking tentatively.
Hong Ming shook his head. "Not yet."
"Would you be interested in accepting the Zhong Family's support with me?" Qin Hao invited him.
Hong Ming's eyes flickered.
By now, he understood how important money and resources were to martial training.
They were essential, scarce resources that could make up for a lack of talent and let ordinary people cross the divide.
If he could get someone's support and access to enough cultivation resources, his path in martial arts would undoubtedly be much easier.
But he also knew that every gain came at a cost. Accepting this kind of support would inevitably mean making a sacrifice.
He needed to weigh whether the price was within what he could bear. He didn't rush to agree, instead asking what Qin Hao had in mind.
Qin Hao explained precisely. "It's like being a retainer. The relationship is equal, and you only lend a hand when needed—of course, only if it's within your ability."
He cared even more than Hong Ming about the potential consequences. He was willing to accept support, but not to be recruited.
The former left him free; the latter made him a household vassal, bound to obey every order.
"Then I'll be in your hands, Brother Hao," Hong Ming said, cupping his hands after a brief pause.
Qin Hao waved it off. "Wait here a moment. I'll explain the situation to Brother Zhong and introduce you."
With that, Qin Hao headed for the central part of the training ground, where the Brother Zhong he'd mentioned was waiting.
As he watched Qin Hao go, Hong Ming noticed another difference between the Preparatory Camp and the Training Camp.
If the Water Soldiers in the Training Camp were sharply divided by their backgrounds, then the Preparatory Camp was split into all kinds of circles, large and small.
Some circles resembled those in the Training Camp, but more often, commoners attached themselves to the children of wealthy families and nobles.
By contrast, commoners who managed to band together for warmth were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
After reflecting for a moment, Hong Ming turned his gaze away and looked around.
With more and more Water Soldiers gathering, his expression shifted. He used the opportunity to inspect their traits.
There were more traits than he'd expected. Calling it "a trait at every step" might have been an exaggeration, but traits commonly appeared within ten paces.
The traits' names, types, and grades varied. Most were ones Hong Ming had seen before.
There were Breathing and Exhalation traits, mostly Level One, with gold as the highest grade.
There were also aptitude traits. Most were Low-Grade Bone Structure, with only a handful of Average Aptitude.
So far, he'd found only three people with Average Aptitude. He knew two of them: Qin Hao and Wang Heng. The third was a stranger named Shen Lin.
Qin Hao had Above-Average Aptitude, Wang Heng had Average Aptitude, and Shen Lin had Low-Mid Bone Quality.
Hong Ming committed each of them to memory. They were all potential candidates for traits he could make permanent in the future.
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