Entering the School

Leaving Ram City, the sun was slanting westward.

Li Beichen reckoned that by the time he returned to Clear Creek Village, dusk would be falling—not too early, not too late.

Halfway there, Li Beichen passed the secluded spot from that morning again. Those hooligans had actually brought people to lie in wait for him.

"Brother Bear, that's him! He smashed both of your little brother's wrist bones! You have to stand up for your brother!"

Li Beichen stopped the ox cart and watched the hooligan weep and wail to a burly, dark-faced man beside him.

He even threatened Li Beichen from time to time.

"Hey, kid! Brother Bear here has learned martial arts in Ram City. I'll definitely make you regret this."

"Looks like you didn't hurt enough this morning. You forgot already?"

Li Beichen jumped down from the ox cart. With a flip of his palm, a flying stone appeared in his hand.

At the sight of it, terror and pain surged into the hooligan's heart. He hurriedly hid behind this so-called Brother Bear.

"Brother Bear, watch out for the stone in that brat's hand! He throws them with deadly accuracy!"

Brother Bear wore a savage expression, advancing in great strides with an imposing air, as though he meant to seek justice for his brother.

But then he suddenly caught sight of a corner of the Like-Elephant Martial Hall disciple uniform Li Beichen had placed on the ox cart.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Brother over there, may I have a look at the clothes on your ox cart?"

"You mean this?"

Li Beichen raised the garment, and the four words Like-Elephant Martial Hall entered Brother Bear's sight.

In an instant, Brother Bear's expression changed drastically. He spun around and backhanded the hooligan across the face with a resounding slap.

Buzz! The hooligan was immediately stunned senseless.

"You dare block someone from the Like-Elephant Martial Hall, and you even dragged me into it? Are you looking to die?!"

"My lord, I was only passing by. I'll take my leave now!"

With that, Brother Bear hurriedly fled the scene.

The remaining hooligans looked at one another in dismay.

"Run!" one of the hooligans shouted. The next moment, everyone scattered in all directions, leaving only the hooligan with both broken wrists behind.

Li Beichen walked toward him step by step.

Every footfall seemed to land directly on his heart.

Splat.

The hooligan actually dropped to his knees on the spot, palms pressed together as he kowtowed repeatedly.

"Lord Martial Artist, spare me! This lowly one had lard smeared over his heart and failed to recognize Mount Tai. I offended you!"

A stench of urine drifted over. Li Beichen discovered that a puddle had formed beneath the hooligan.

He had been scared into pissing himself.

Li Beichen stopped and frowned.

"Scram!"

"I'll scram right away!"

To the hooligan, those words sounded like heavenly music. He scrambled away in a panic.

Li Beichen returned to the ox cart and looked at the utterly ordinary disciple uniform.

Only now did he truly understand what this skin meant.

It did not merely mean that he could learn martial arts. It also represented status.

Once one wore tiger skin, it became something extraordinary.

Of course, if he lost that skin, those he had offended in the past would come back to bite him tenfold, a hundredfold.

But Li Beichen had never wanted merely this skin.

In this era, what he wanted was for great power to belong to himself.

With his fist in hand, the world was his.

Unfettered and unbound.

That was what he pursued.

Clear Creek Village, western end of the village.

Wang Er's home.

"Brother Wang Er, I've tied the ox cart in your yard!"

"Alright! Stay for a meal!"

"No, I have things to do tomorrow. Brother Wang Er, how's business been lately?"

"Not bad..."

After returning the ox cart, Li Beichen chatted with Brother Wang Er a little longer.

He found that Wang Er had gradually recovered from his earlier unease.

Li Beichen smiled and waved before returning to his own thatched hut.

The next day, while the sky was still barely light, Li Beichen changed into the Like-Elephant Martial Hall disciple uniform and hurried toward Ram City through the morning mist.

It was the season for transplanting early rice seedlings, and the villagers of Clear Creek Village were also hurrying out to work.

When they saw Li Beichen in his fitted martial artist attire, they could not help but cry out in surprise.

"Little Brother Li, why does your outfit look so much like those martial artist lords who came to the village some time ago?"

"Could it be that you've gone to learn martial arts?"

A few villagers who had attended private school for a couple of years had sharp eyes and noticed the emblem on his clothing.

"Like-Elephant Martial Hall? Little Brother Li, this is incredible."

"When you've learned some real skills in the future, don't forget the village."

"You've got promise now!"

The villagers of Clear Creek Village knew that once one succeeded in martial arts, one would no longer need to scratch out a living from the soil. One could move into the city, ride spirited horses in fresh clothes, and change one's fate.

As for exactly how martial arts were learned, or what abilities one would gain from them, they did not know.

But that was already enough.

They knew that Li Beichen's fate might now be different from theirs.

Naturally, there were also petty people with ghostly schemes in their hearts, secretly cursing Li Beichen to waste all his money and achieve nothing.

But before such a thing happened, they would still be kind and amiable on the surface.

By the time Li Beichen reached Ram City's gate, the rising sun had just appeared, and morning clouds filled the sky.

After waiting another quarter of an hour, the guarding soldiers slowly pushed open the city gate.

The moment it opened, Li Beichen immediately surged into Ram City with the crowd.

Hurrying along, he half-ran all the way to the martial hall.

Yesterday, Li Beichen had only visited the reception hall of the Like-Elephant Martial Hall. Today, he was led behind it.

There stood a large courtyard roughly a hundred meters long and eighty meters wide.

It was filled with an array of training equipment—stone locks, millstones, wooden posts, and more.

By the time Li Beichen arrived, more than twenty people were already scattered throughout the courtyard.

Some practiced forms and punches, some honed their strength, and some sparred in pairs.

"Wait here for now and don't wander around. The latrine is that little room on the right. A senior brother will come out shortly to lead you in martial arts practice."

The man who had brought Li Beichen in gave him a few simple instructions, then returned to the front hall.

Li Beichen noticed a young man nearby who also wore a cotton disciple uniform, though his expression was somewhat awkward and restrained.

He guessed that the young man had also joined the Like-Elephant Martial Hall not long ago.

So he walked over.

"Brother, I'm Li Beichen. May I ask your honored name?"

"He Keji."

"Brother He, how long have you been at the Like-Elephant Martial Hall?"

"A little over half a month..."

The two chatted idly. He Keji was rather introverted; most of the time, Li Beichen asked questions while he answered.

Through their conversation, Li Beichen also learned some information about the Like-Elephant Martial Hall.

One could not see the hall master of the Like-Elephant Martial Hall every day.

Usually, several senior brothers from the Inner Courtyard took turns coming each day to teach the Outer Courtyard disciples, once in the morning and once in the evening.

As for the hall master, Meng Juxiang, he spent most of his time in the Inner Courtyard. Generally, he only came to the Outer Courtyard once every half month to instruct new disciples.

He Keji had been at the Like-Elephant Martial Hall for over half a month and had only seen the hall master once.

That was only because he was a new disciple and had been summoned alone.

In the future, unless he achieved something in his cultivation, it would be difficult for him to see the hall master alone again.

There was another benefit: the martial hall provided lunch.

As they spoke, an extremely burly, red-faced man pushed open the door from the Inner Courtyard and stepped out.

His hands were like cattail fans, his muscles bulged as though cast from iron, yet his skin possessed the sheen of white jade.