Everyone Flees!

"Did the academy master have something important to discuss with me?"

Hearing the cool, clear female voice outside, a flicker of surprise passed through Jiang Ye's aged eyes.

He asked no further questions. Slowly rising, he opened the battered wooden door and followed Liu Yiyi across the moonlit courtyard toward the study.

Inside the study, candlelight flickered, bathing the room's furnishings in a dim, yellow glow.

Liu Qingshi sat behind the desk, his expression grave, a weight that would not lift resting between his brows.

Beside him sat a mature woman of striking beauty, upright and composed. She was Liu Qingshi's wife, Huang Xiyu.

Her gaze lingered on Jiang Ye for a moment and flickered twice before she finally lowered her eyes, saying nothing.

"Academy master. Madam."

After entering, Jiang Ye bowed slightly and saluted them both.

"Old Jiang, sit."

Liu Qingshi raised a hand, indicating the chair beside him.

Once Jiang Ye was seated, Liu Qingshi took a deep breath and spoke with a solemn expression:

"I called you here so late because there's something important I need to tell you."

He paused, his gaze settling on Jiang Ye's face.

"You must have heard about Lushan County's city walls being breached this morning."

Jiang Ye nodded slightly. "I heard some of it from the Martial Academy disciples talking."

"Old Jiang, according to what I've learned, the rumors now spreading through the city are probably all true. The truth may even be more terrifying than that."

Liu Qingshi's expression grew graver than before as he continued:

"Su Chen, the head of the Su Family, came to discuss it with me this afternoon."

"He plans to move his entire family to Prefecture City before the unrest spreads to Anxi County."

"The Azure Sky Sect is stationed in Prefecture City. No matter how bad things get, they won't reach that place."

"I thought about it for a long time..."

"In the end, I decided to go to Prefecture City with the Su Family!"

As he finished speaking, a hint of reluctance flickered across Liu Qingshi's solemn face.

He had put down roots in Anxi County and founded Bluestone Martial Academy twenty years ago. Naturally, he was loath to leave so suddenly.

But for Liu Yiyi's future and his wife's safety, he had no choice but to go.

Otherwise, once the unrest arrived, even a Transformation Strength martial artist like him might not escape unscathed, much less be able to protect others.

"Prefecture City?!"

A look of shock flashed through Jiang Ye's aged eyes.

No wonder Liu Qingshi had summoned him so late at night. This truly was important.

At the same time, Jiang Ye felt a little touched. Liu Qingshi was clearly planning to take him to Prefecture City too, not leave him behind.

"Academy master, I'll follow your arrangements."

Jiang Ye lowered his head slightly.

"Good. Pack your things tomorrow. We'll set out early the morning after!"

Liu Qingshi said in a low voice.

"Yes."

Jiang Ye bowed again, then slowly left the study.

Back in the gatekeeper's quarters, he lit the oil lamp.

Jiang Ye sat on the edge of the hard bed, an unusually complex expression on his aged face.

He had lived in Anxi County for decades. Now that he had to leave so suddenly, he truly felt a little reluctant.

He lifted his eyes toward the window. Moonlight poured like water over the Martial Academy's gate, which he had opened for twenty years, and the bluestone path he had swept for twenty years.

"Sigh... Maybe I'll have a chance to come back someday."

Jiang Ye let out a soft sigh.

He shook his head slightly, gently casting off that trace of emotion.

What good was it to feel reluctant?

The threat of death hung overhead, that oppressive feeling like a sharp blade suspended at his throat. He could not afford to sink into pointless sorrow.

The journey to Prefecture City would be long. There was no guarantee it would be safe all the way.

After all, the dangers outside the city were no less than those within. There were refugees, bandits, and outlaws who had claimed the mountains as their own, everywhere.

Why didn't the county's residents flee when they learned the unrest was coming? Simply because the countryside was even more dangerous, and they couldn't get away.

This was a world that devoured people.

For ordinary people without strength, every step was nigh impossible.

"Before going to Prefecture City, I must break through to Transformation Strength."

A grave look flashed through Jiang Ye's eyes as he told himself.

Every bit more strength meant a little more confidence.

He reached into his robes, took out a Blood Replenishing Pill, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it slowly.

As the pill's scorching medicinal power spread through his body, he once again settled into the stance of the Five Animal Fist and began practicing.

Tiger Crouch, Deer Sprint, Bear Lean, Ape Climb, Bird Soar.

Each move flowed with his intent.

"Five Animal Fist proficiency +5!"

"Five Animal Fist proficiency +5!"

"Five Animal Fist proficiency +5..."

Time passed, though no one knew how long.

The scorching medicinal power within Jiang Ye's body gradually settled.

But the Bright Strength and Dark Strength, once sharply distinct, began to undergo a strange transformation.

They were no longer two forces surging against each other. Instead, like two rivers that had flowed on for ages, they finally began to merge at a point where their waters met.

Hard and soft, united!

Jiang Ye's movements changed with them, at once swift and slow, heavy and light.

The Tiger, Bear, Ape, Deer, and Bird forms gradually fused together.

The Tiger's ferocity took on the Bear's deep solidity; within the Bear's solidity lay the Ape's agility; the Ape's agility carried the Deer's lightness; and the Deer's lightness ultimately came together in the Bird's ethereal grace.

"Now!"

Jiang Ye suddenly opened his eyes.

His seventy-year-old eyes blazed with light, like two drawn blades.

His sinews and bones rang together, unleashing a series of muffled thunderclaps—crackling sounds that echoed without end through the cramped gatekeeper's quarters, making the window lattice tremble.

The thunder gradually died away.

Within his body, Bright Strength and Dark Strength had finally fused completely.

A wholly new force, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, began to flow through him.

Jiang Ye felt as if his body had become remarkably light and nimble.

He pushed open the door and stepped outside.

Beneath the moon, the courtyard lay empty and still, its plants and trees silent.

He bent down and picked up a withered yellow leaf from the ground.

It was dry and curled, so brittle it would crumble at a touch. It was light as air, without the slightest weight.

He gently pinched it between two fingers. At a thought, his newborn strength flowed soundlessly into the leaf like a trickling stream.

Then he flicked his finger.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle, like an arrow piercing the air, suddenly tore through the stillness of the night.

The withered yellow leaf, brittle enough to crumble at a touch, shot out like a dart forged from fine iron, tracing a path almost too fast for the eye to follow before burying itself in a bluestone ten paces away.

Pfft.

A soft sound.

The leaf had sunk into the stone right up to its stem, leaving only a short end exposed, trembling slightly.

Fine cracks spread across the stone from the stem like a spiderweb.

At the sight, a look of unrestrained satisfaction appeared in Jiang Ye's aged eyes.

Even falling flowers and plucked leaves could wound a man.

This was Transformation Strength!