A Prelude to Chaos!

"What... why did Sister come at a time like this...?"

Hearing the voice outside the door, Hu Tian grew even more flustered.

He had originally planned to leave Bluestone Martial Academy and join Extreme Fist Martial Arts Hall before telling his sister about it.

After all, he had mentioned Zhang Xu to her before, but she had taken an extreme dislike to Zhang Xu and repeatedly warned him not to get too close to wealthy young men who showed him inexplicable kindness.

So if Hu Li found out that he had listened to Zhang Xu's advice and left Bluestone Martial Academy, she most likely wouldn't agree.

"Since your sister is here, we might as well let her join us in discussing this."

Liu Qingshi's calm voice rang out.

He had met Hu Li a few times and knew that, to Hu Tian, she was like a mother to him.

Liu Qingshi opened the door and asked a disciple to bring Hu Li over.

Hu Li arrived quickly.

She had clearly run all the way there. Fine beads of sweat glistened on her temples, and her breathing had yet to settle. In her eyes, so much like Hu Tian's, lingered the joy and anticipation of seeing her younger brother.

She clutched a bundle tightly in her hands, carefully wrapped in several layers of coarse cloth. It held osmanthus cakes she had gone out of her way to buy that morning from a well-established shop in the south of the city. They had been her younger brother's favorite when he was little, but he had only ever gotten to taste one during the holidays.

But when she stepped into the study and met Liu Qingshi's eyes, calm as an ancient well, then saw Hu Tian's head bowed and his shoulders hunched, as if he were waiting for his sentence to be passed, her joy went out like a candle snuffed by a cold wind.

"Hall Master..." She didn't immediately question her younger brother. Instead, she first bowed respectfully to Liu Qingshi, then held out the bundle in her hands a little. Her voice was gentle, with the simple sincerity of a country girl. "I just bought these pastries in the south of the city. If you don't mind, please have a taste..."

Liu Qingshi gently waved her off, then told Hu Li that Hu Tian wanted to leave the Martial Academy.

"What?"

The bundle fell abruptly from Hu Li's hands.

"You want to leave the Martial Academy?"

She practically cried the words aloud, staring at Hu Tian in utter disbelief, as though she were seeing the younger brother she had raised with her own hands for the very first time.

"Sis... I have my reasons..." Hu Tian lowered his voice, not daring to look her in the eye.

"Is that 'big brother' you mentioned before, Zhang Xu, telling you what to do again?!"

Hu Li looked at Hu Tian with grief and outrage, her voice stern.

"I told you long ago: those people must have an ulterior motive for showing you kindness! You're too naïve. You don't even realize you're being used as someone's pawn!"

She understood the wickedness of this world better than Hu Tian did.

Hu Tian had told her before that Zhang Xu, the second young master of the Zhang Family, treated him like a younger brother. She hadn't believed it for a second.

Now he had even talked her younger brother into leaving the Martial Academy and betraying his master. What kind of decent person would do that?

"Hall Master, I'm truly sorry. Please just pretend my younger brother was talking nonsense..."

Hu Li turned and apologized to Liu Qingshi.

"I wasn't talking nonsense!" Hu Tian jerked his head up and blurted out.

He didn't know why he had suddenly become so agitated. It was just that all the words pent up in his heart had finally broken through the already fragile restraint of a young man.

"You always treat me like a child, as if I don't understand anything and have to listen to you about everything! But how much do you know about my situation at the Martial Academy? How much have you seen of how well Senior Brother Zhang Xu treats me? He's the second young master of the Zhang Family, yet he lowered himself to take me around, broaden my horizons, and help me build connections. What could he possibly want from me? My poverty? My rural background?"

The faster he spoke, the more convinced he became that he was right.

"I broke through to Bright Strength in half a month! How many people among the younger generation in all of Anxi County can do that? And what has the Martial Academy given me? Two bottles of Blood Replenishing Pills? Even Shi Lei, with his below-average bone structure, got a bottle! You call that special treatment? They're putting me on the same level as someone like him!"

"Extreme Fist Martial Arts Hall has two Transformation Strength martial artists overseeing it. Their Hall Master appreciates me and is willing to take me in as a disciple, provide me with a monthly supply of pills, and give me boundless prospects! Am I supposed to give up such a bright future just because you say, 'Don't let them use you as a pawn'?"

"Senior Brother Zhang Xu is my big brother. He won't hurt me!"

Hu Tian took a deep breath, looked at Liu Qingshi, and said firmly, "I've made up my mind. I'm leaving Bluestone Martial Academy!"

"Don't you dare!"

Hu Li practically roared those two words.

Her usually gentle face was now twisted by fury and grief. Her eyes reddened, but she stubbornly held back her tears.

She stared fixedly at Hu Tian and enunciated each word: "If you dare walk out that door today, then from now on... don't call me your sister!"

The words were unbearably harsh.

By the end, even her voice trembled despite her efforts to control it.

She understood better than Hu Tian how great a price one paid for leaving the Martial Academy and changing masters.

Seeing the anger on his sister's face, Hu Tian's heart tightened a little. But then he thought of the glorious future awaiting him after he joined Extreme Fist Martial Arts Hall, as well as Zhang Xu's promises, and the hesitation in his eyes turned to resolve.

He knew his sister was only saying that in anger.

She'd calm down soon enough.

Once he broke through to Dark Strength, or even reached Transformation Strength, and became someone of note in Anxi County, his sister would be overjoyed.

Then she would realize how wrong she had been to try to stop him today.

And he would prove he was right through his success.

"Sis, just you wait and see!"

As if he could already see himself basking in future glory, Hu Tian gave Hu Li a smug smile and turned to leave the study.

"Tian, you..."

Seeing that Hu Tian really dared to leave, Hu Li's body trembled violently. A trace of sorrow showed on her furious face.

For a moment, she even wondered whether she had been wrong to work herself to the bone saving money so she could send her younger brother to learn martial arts...

"Alas, never mind. Everyone has their own path."

Liu Qingshi sighed softly and offered Hu Li a few words of comfort.

At the same time, he watched Hu Tian's retreating figure, a faint glint flickering in his eyes. "So it was Extreme Fist Martial Arts Hall..."

The news of Hu Tian leaving the Martial Academy spread like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, setting off an uproar.

"Is it for real? Has Hu Tian gone crazy? He actually dared to leave the Martial Academy?"

"I heard he's already found somewhere else to go. Extreme Fist Martial Arts Hall..."

"Tsk. I guess people do climb to higher places, while water flows to lower ground."

"With that kid's talent, he'll probably get decent treatment even at Extreme Fist Martial Arts Hall."

"That may be so, but betraying your master is a grave taboo wherever you go. From now on, when people bring up Hu Tian, the first thing they'll say is probably, 'That guy who left Bluestone Martial Academy.'"

"Master Liu is too kind! He didn't even break one of his legs!"

"Whatever the case, that kid's reputation is ruined..."

Some sneered, some sighed, some watched coldly from the sidelines, and some secretly lamented his choice.

The gifted boy who had once made countless people envious by mastering the Seven-Day Fist Technique in seven days and breaking through to Bright Strength in half a month gradually ceased to be "Junior Brother Hu Tian" in people's talk. He became "that Hu Tian."

One word had made all the difference between heaven and earth.

Shi Lei stood at the edge of the inner courtyard's Martial Practice Field. After listening to the junior disciple beside him recount the news in a lowered voice, he remained silent for a long time.

He didn't look back at Hu Tian's now-empty spot in the training area. He merely withdrew his gaze and slowly reset his stance.

Sweat trickled down from his brow and splattered on the ground, spreading into a small dark patch.

He said nothing.

By the Martial Academy's main gate, Jiang Ye sat alone on the shiny little stool, taking in every word of the commotion inside.

His eyelids drooped, and a hidden glint of cold light flashed through his aged eyes. "No wonder he ran off so fast. He was in a hurry to get out of here."

However, the uproarious discussion did not last long.

A disciple from the Outer Courtyard came running in from outside, gasping for breath, his face deathly pale, as though he had seen something horrifying.

He rushed into the crowd, his voice wavering from the urgency.

"Something's wrong! Outside the city gates... there are a lot of refugees outside the city gates."

"Refugees from Lushan County..."

"They... they've fled here!"