Three days later.
Jinglong District, Like-Elephant Martial Hall.
Li Beichen wore fine robes. Broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, with a solid chest, he stood tall as a pine, straight and sturdy.
Hall Master Meng Juxiang sat in a specially made grand chair. An ordinary chair could not contain his enormous frame.
Behind him stood Zhang Meng, Yuan Dazong, and six other Inner Courtyard disciples.
But to Li Beichen, even seated, Meng Juxiang was taller than Fang Meiqin and Han Fengqi, and about as tall as the other disciples.
Only Zhang Meng, the eldest senior brother, stood a head taller.
The martial artists of the Like-Elephant Martial Hall who had attained rank, whether men or women, were all exceptionally burly.
The deeper their mastery, the larger their muscles.
Among them, Li Beichen had the smallest build.
As for He Keji and the other Outer Courtyard disciples, they could only watch from the sidelines.
Under their envious gazes, Li Beichen stepped forward.
He took the tea Xiao Wu had brought over, bowed, and offered it to Meng Juxiang.
"Master, please have some tea!"
Meng Juxiang accepted the tea Li Beichen had offered and drained it in one gulp.
Then he raised Li Beichen's arm high.
"From this day on, Li Beichen is my, Meng Juxiang's, seventh disciple!"
"Good!"
Senior Brother Zhang Meng led the applause.
The other disciples joined in, cheering.
The rules in a martial arts hall were simple.
And with that, Li Beichen's apprenticeship ceremony was complete.
Ordinarily, he would have needed to pay five hundred taels a year in tuition to join the Inner Courtyard, but Meng Juxiang waived the fee for his first year.
In return, Li Beichen had taken several wolves he'd killed earlier, had a craftsman turn their pelts into wolf-fur cloaks, and presented them to Meng Juxiang.
Aside from the Strange Pig meat, they were the most precious things he owned.
After the ceremony, Li Beichen followed Meng Juxiang to the rear courtyard.
They passed through a covered walkway and pushed open a wooden door. Beyond it lay a courtyard Li Beichen had never seen before.
Only today had he realized that, besides the Outer Courtyard and Inner Courtyard, the Like-Elephant Martial Hall had another, smaller courtyard tucked inside.
Within it stood just one building, with red brick walls and green tiles.
Meng Juxiang opened the door and stepped inside.
"Come in."
"Yes, Master."
Inside, wisps of incense smoke curled through the air.
A Bronze Elephant was enshrined on an altar.
"Li Beichen, do you remember the opportunity I told you about?"
Meng Juxiang lit three sticks of incense, placed them before the Bronze Elephant, then turned to Li Beichen.
"This disciple remembers."
"To live freely in this world, you have to be strong—stronger than everyone else. Only then do you have the right to live."
"Ram City is a small place. No true dragon can emerge from here."
"The opportunity I'm offering you is a chance to see a much wider world. But the more opportunities there are, the more bloodshed and turmoil you'll face."
"Li Beichen, are you willing to go and test yourself?"
Li Beichen hadn't expected the opportunity Meng Juxiang had spoken of to be this.
Without the slightest hesitation, he met Meng Juxiang's gaze and answered with firm resolve.
"This disciple is willing!"
"Good!"
Meng Juxiang produced an Elephant-Shaped Bronze Talisman from behind him and handed it to Li Beichen.
"Li Beichen, my martial arts come from the great Jiangnan sect, the Giant Elephant Sect. Though I live in Ram City, I can still recommend talented people to the sect."
"When spring comes next year, you can travel with me to Dongting Lake. With this Bronze Talisman and my recommendation, you can join the great sect and study profound martial arts."
"As for how far you'll go in the future, that will depend on your own fortune."
"Until then, just follow me and train."
Li Beichen fought back his excitement and accepted the talisman.
He hadn't expected his master to have such connections. With Meng Juxiang's recommendation, he could leap from a martial arts hall straight into a great sect.
No wonder Yuan Dazong had been so concerned about what Meng Juxiang had told him.
So this was what it had all been about.
"This disciple thanks you, Master!"
"Train hard. If you can't reach the Eighth Rank before spring next year, I'll take back this opportunity."
"The Bronze Talisman is only proof of eligibility. Without my personal recommendation, the Giant Elephant Sect won't accept you."
"I see."
The excitement in Li Beichen's heart settled at once. Now he understood.
No wonder Meng Juxiang had handed him the token so readily. Without Meng Juxiang's recommendation, it was just a piece of scrap metal—a carrot dangling in front of him. He could only claim it by truly meeting the requirements.
But that was only natural. If anyone could join a great sect just by picking up a Bronze Talisman, the sect would be like a sieve, leaking from every hole.
"Master, is the Giant Elephant Fist I'm training in now a martial art of the Giant Elephant Sect?"
"That's right! The Giant Elephant Fist is an introductory art of the Giant Elephant Sect. Only by mastering this foundational martial art can you build the strength to advance to the middle three ranks, or even beyond, to the upper three ranks!"
Li Beichen nodded, then seized the chance to ask another question that had been on his mind.
"Master, I heard Senior Brother say the Giant Elephant Fist belongs to External Martial Arts. If there are external arts, are there internal arts as well? Are there other paths in the Nine Grades of martial cultivation?"
"Very well. Since you've asked, I'll tell you about the martial arts of this world."
"Come, sit."
Meng Juxiang sat on a cushion beneath the Bronze Elephant, and Li Beichen sat cross-legged beside him.
"The most common martial arts in the world are External Martial Arts. You temper the body and enter the martial path, progressing from the outside in until you achieve a Vajra body without a single flaw."
"Nine out of ten martial artists in the jianghu follow this path."
"It's easy to learn, and the requirements for talent are low."
"In the Giant Elephant Sect, only External Martial Arts can take you to the upper three ranks."
As he spoke, Meng Juxiang suddenly pointed to the terrifying scar on his face.
"This scar was left by an External Martial Arts expert. He's probably reached the Fourth Rank by now."
"Master..."
Li Beichen opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
"That's all ancient history. It's not worth mentioning."
Meng Juxiang smiled unconcernedly and returned to the subject.
"External Martial Arts are easy to learn, but Internal Martial Arts are hard to come by. Only a small number of martial artists are qualified to practice them."
"Internal Martial Arts refine essence into qi; they're also known as true-qi martial arts."
"Not only are the manuals precious, but they also demand great natural talent. Those with narrow, blocked meridians can't practice Internal Martial Arts. I've roamed the jianghu for years, yet I've rarely encountered an Internal School expert."
"The Giant Elephant Sect has a few Internal Martial Arts manuals, but they only let you reach the middle three ranks. They're also closely guarded secrets, taught only to a tiny number of core disciples."
Li Beichen thought Meng Juxiang had finished, but Meng Juxiang's gaze turned distant, and he continued in an unhurried voice.
"There's another path of cultivation, rarer than rare. It focuses on the spirit."
He paused.
"In ancient times, this method was also called cultivating the Dao, or cultivating the spirit."
"Spiritual martial arts? Cultivating the Dao?!"
Li Beichen's eyes narrowed.
"Master, have you seen it?"
"Back when I was still in the Giant Elephant Sect, I once joined my seniors on a campaign. A flying sword came down from the azure heavens and beheaded a Third Rank Marrow-Refining grandmaster with a single strike. After crushing the enemy sect, it shot into the sky and vanished into the azure heavens."
"I saw the sword, but not its wielder. Only later did I learn it had belonged to a martial artist who had attained great mastery of the spirit."
"But, Beichen, treat these as nothing more than jianghu tales. Such spirit-cultivating martial artists are exceedingly rare in the real world. Even if one crossed your path, you wouldn't recognize them."
Only then did Li Beichen glimpse the true nature of the jianghu: it was this mysterious and unfathomable.
"External Martial Arts temper the body, Internal Martial Arts cultivate qi, and spiritual martial arts cultivate the spirit. So that's how it is."
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