Outdoor Training

Outside Zhuqi County, at a cliff more than ten miles away, Herbalist Wang carried two bundles of rope and swiftly climbed the sheer rock face. From above, he tossed down a thick rope and a thin one, letting his apprentices climb up.

Yang Yicheng looked up at the steep cliff towering two or three hundred zhang before him. He swallowed hard, eyes wide with shock.

"Good heavens, why is it so high? If I fall, won't I end up a meat pie?"

Feng Xiao nudged him, grinning. "Hurry up, senior brother. You're the eldest apprentice, so you have to lead the way in everything. Master's waiting up there! If you don't get moving, he'll come down and beat someone."

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying were resting beneath a shady little tree, secretly watching the three of them.

Ye Qin, however, was sitting on a patch of grass not far away, recovering his strength. He silently thought about the final month of their wilderness survival training. Once this month of training was over, they would officially follow the Herb Gathering Artisans into the mountains to gather herbs.

On the first day of wilderness survival training, their master had given them a brutal welcome, making them run fifty laps around the outskirts of Zhuqi County. They had nearly run their bones to pieces. Fortunately, all five of them came from common families—blacksmiths, farmers, hunters, and weavers—and had grown up enduring hardship. They had also already completed a full five months of basic stance training. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to withstand such intense training.

After fifty laps, all four of them besides Ye Qin collapsed, even Feng Xiao, whose lightness skill was the best. The inner cultivation method Ye Qin practiced, Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, displayed its extraordinary power for the first time. His stamina and endurance had already far surpassed those of Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying.

Fortunately, they got plenty of rice every day, along with a few pieces of fragrant, tender meat. After just one night's rest, they had recovered their strength.

Over the next three to five days, their tasks grew more grueling by the day.

They went from running through wild mountains and fields to swimming and paddling across river valleys, then climbing old mountains and burrowing through dense forests, leaving them covered in cuts and bruises. They were only scrapes, though; they dabbed on some medicinal herbs to stop the bleeding, and it was no great hindrance.

For the next three to five days, they were made to poke hornets' nests and giant anthills, wade into muddy ditches to catch and kill leeches, capture scorpions and centipedes, drive away mosquitoes in the wilderness, catch mountain rats, and eat poisonous snakes. They ended up covered in red welts and itching like mad. They dug traps and killed wild animals, and only stopped once they had played with every kind of bug, ant, and beast.

Today, after making them run thirty laps outside the county, Herbalist Wang brought them to this towering, steep cliff and had all five climb it. One careless slip could leave them dead—or at least badly injured. Fortunately, Herbalist Wang had no intention of getting them killed and had brought ropes.

Ye Qin wasn't afraid of hardship or exhaustion.

As soon as he finished running, he found a patch of grass and sat down to meditate, restoring his strength and qi.

Egged on by Feng Xiao, Yang Yicheng was the first to start climbing.

To be safe, he tied the thinner rope around his waist, then grabbed the thick rope and began climbing.

Knots had been tied along the thick rope, making it easier to grip.

Even so, he strained with all his might, using both hands and feet, and managed to climb only a hundred or so zhang before hanging halfway up the cliff, unable to go up or down. He had not an ounce of strength left and couldn't move. Climbing consumed far more strength than running on level ground. By the time he got farther up, even his fingers had gone numb and wouldn't move.

The external martial art he practiced, Tiger Fist, was powerful but lacked staying power. If he hadn't already run thirty laps, he might have had another three parts of strength left to climb with.

"Master, let me down! I'm not climbing anymore!"

Yang Yicheng burst into tears.

Herbalist Wang sat atop the cliff, watching coldly without the slightest reaction.

Three hours.

Yang Yicheng was left hanging halfway up the cliff for a full three hours. He cried for a while, stopped for a while, rested until he had caught his breath, then kept climbing. If he didn't climb, he could only hang there until he died.

From the blazing midday sun until almost dusk, Yang Yicheng finally climbed to the top and collapsed on the rocks.

Herbalist Wang gave an unhappy snort.

"Useless. You've trained for five months, and it still took you half a day to climb a mountain!"

Ye Qin, Feng Xiao, and the others just stared up at Yang Yicheng, hanging there for three hours. Their hearts turned cold. If they were the ones left dangling halfway up the cliff, they couldn't count on their master lifting a finger to save them.

"Second senior brother, your turn!"

Feng Xiao nervously nudged Ye Qin.

Ye Qin hesitated, then took a large steamed bun from his robes and tore off half to eat before beginning his climb. They had eaten breakfast, but now it was nearly dusk and they hadn't had anything since. If he didn't eat first, he wouldn't have the strength to climb.

Feng Xiao spotted the bun in Ye Qin's hand and cried out in surprise.

"Whoa, second senior brother, you secretly brought a bun from breakfast! You knew we wouldn't get lunch. How devious—your foresight is amazing. This junior brother truly admires you!" As he spoke, he even gave an exaggerated bow.

Ye Qin was amused and exasperated, but didn't bother answering. He hadn't brought the bun because he'd known there would be no lunch. It was simply a habit he'd picked up lately: he always carried something to eat, just to feel at ease.

First, he tied the thin rope firmly around his waist, then took hold of the thick rope and began climbing without rushing. Having seen how Yang Yicheng had suffered, he was extremely cautious, trying to conserve every last bit of strength.

In the time it took to burn half an incense stick, he climbed over a hundred zhang.

Ye Qin already felt himself faltering. His hands and feet were going numb, and his body was growing heavy. He couldn't help thinking that something was wrong.

The higher you climbed, the more strength it took, the exertion doubling as you went.

He stopped at once and began circulating the qi in his dantian. Soon, a thread of warmth flowed through his meridians and limbs, gradually easing his body and making the numbness fade.

This was another benefit Ye Qin had discovered since practicing the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra. No matter how exhausted he was, circulating the technique quickly eased his fatigue.

Ye Qin continued climbing. Whenever the numbness began to set in, he stopped to circulate his internal qi. Higher up, he had to do this after every dozen or so zhang.

After three quarters of an hour, Ye Qin climbed to the top, panting. An hour consisted of eight quarters, so three quarters was less than half an hour.

Herbalist Wang's eyebrows lifted slightly. He hadn't expected Ye Qin to reach the top so quickly—seven or eight times faster than Yang Yicheng. He gave an indifferent "Hmm," then waved for him to move aside.

Ye Qin couldn't tell whether Herbalist Wang was satisfied or not, so he obediently stepped aside. He noticed Yang Yicheng lying on the ground, limp and listless. After a moment's thought, he winked at Yang Yicheng, took the remaining half of the bun from his robes, and tossed it to him.

Yang Yicheng gratefully caught the bun. With his back to Herbalist Wang, he wolfed down the half bun. He was starving.

Next was Feng Xiao.

Feng Xiao's Cloud Ladder Leap was the lightness skill best suited to climbing. With a single leap, he could rise more than a zhang, so he covered the first hundred zhang very quickly—much faster than Ye Qin.

But after the first hundred zhang, his speed slowed dramatically. Feng Xiao was already running out of strength. The farther up he went, the harder it became, and he could no longer use his lightness skill. He had to climb with both hands and feet.

It took Feng Xiao about half an hour to reach the top of the cliff. Without even wiping the sweat from his forehead, he hurried over to Herbalist Wang, cupped his hands, bowed, and said with a grin, "Master, how did I do? I didn't disgrace you, did I?"

"Hmph. You practice lightness skills and you're still this slow? When you can climb faster than Ye Qin, then you can say you haven't disgraced me."

Herbalist Wang mocked him.

Feng Xiao lowered his head, not daring to say anything. His second senior brother was a freak. His martial arts might not be much, but his stamina was freakishly good, and Feng Xiao didn't dare compete with him.

The sun had already set, and night had fallen.

But Herbalist Wang's training wasn't over.

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying, the two young girls, still had to obediently climb the cliff in the dark, which was even harder than doing it by daylight. It wasn't until midnight that the two of them finally reached the top.

Herbalist Wang had them find some edible roots and insects or small animals on the summit, then ordered them to descend in the dark. This climbing and descending training went on for half a month.

The final month of wilderness field training came to an end. All five of them had been tanned nearly black, and their ability to climb mountains, cross rivers, and survive in the wilderness had greatly improved. They had been trained into five Herb Gathering Apprentices qualified to follow the Herb Gathering Artisans into the mountains.