Training Ground

"How many people are there in the inner hall, anyway? Can they really outnumber us in the outer hall? There are more than twenty or thirty of us from the same batch, and only five of them. Besides, we've spent three to five years honing ourselves in the deep mountains and old forests, killing who knows how many jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards. How could we compare to those inner hall fellows who've been lounging around in the county town? When it comes to fighting dirty, I'm enough to knock two or three of them flat."

Yang Yicheng shouted angrily, clearly unhappy with Feng Xiao's timidness.

"The inner hall's ordinary disciples are nothing to worry about. But what about their enforcement disciples? They're in charge of enforcing the rules, and they've always favored the inner hall. If they catch us fighting among ourselves, we'll be beaten until our skin is split and our flesh torn."

At the mention of the enforcement disciples, Yang Yicheng furrowed his brow.

The inner hall disciples of the Herb Gathering Hall fell into two groups. One consisted of ordinary medicine-making disciples, who wore white robes and were responsible for making medicine or managing the Hall's storefront pharmacies in the county town. Many came from wealthy families. The other group was made up of core enforcement disciples, who wore brocade robes and had devoted themselves to martial arts since childhood. Their skills were far beyond ordinary, and their backgrounds were even more impressive; most came from prominent, wealthy families.

The Herb Gathering Hall's outer hall herb-gathering disciples wore green robes. Most came from ordinary families and had no backing whatsoever.

The disciples of the inner and outer halls looked down on each other and often got into arguments, but neither side dared provoke the enforcement disciples.

When disciples from the two halls fought, the brocade-robed enforcement disciples usually sided with the inner hall's white-robed disciples. The inner hall disciples often strutted around arrogantly because they knew the enforcement disciples would back them up.

Ye Qin thought it over, then calmly addressed the four of them.

"There's no need to rush this. We just have to find a way to avoid the inner hall's brocade-robed enforcement disciples. Recently, a large number of outsiders from the martial world have arrived in the county town, so there's bound to be some unrest. Our Herb Gathering Hall can't just sit back and watch them cause trouble; we'll have to step in and maintain order. I expect the strongest enforcement disciples will be sent out to keep things under control. That'll give us a chance to pick a time when they're busy and fight those inner hall disciples. With their arrogant, self-important nature, they'll definitely accept the challenge.

"Senior Brother, Third Junior Brother, don't you know a lot of people in the Hall? Invite them to come help us. And Fourth Junior Sister, Fifth Junior Sister, you two should invite some outer hall female disciples as well. If we're going to fight, we might as well teach the inner hall disciples a good, hard lesson so they won't forget it next time. Senior Brother, you can take charge of arranging everything."

"Good. That's the plan."

Yang Yicheng nodded emphatically and agreed at once. He'd made quite a few drinking buddies in the Herb Gathering Hall, most of them outer hall disciples. He didn't know anyone from the inner hall, so there'd be no problem bringing some outer hall disciples in to help.

As for Feng Xiao, he didn't have as wide a circle of friends as Yang Yicheng, though he knew plenty of people. Whether he could bring in a few helpers was hard to say.

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying nodded in agreement. They knew quite a few fellow female disciples from the outer hall.

Ye Qin had another little plan in mind.

Those outer hall female disciples would never stand by and watch Sun Ying be humiliated. Most would come to help. And if they agreed to show up, they could surely bring along a crowd of male disciples who admired them, eager to rush over and play the hero. With enough people from the outer hall, what would it matter if the inner hall disciples were skilled? They'd still get beaten.

"Let's do it within ten days. We'll pick a time when one of the enforcement disciples is away on an assignment and fight the inner hall disciples then." Ye Qin settled the matter.

Of the five fellow disciples, Ye Qin was the one with the clearest head.

Yang Yicheng was bold and impulsive. He had a mind of his own, but could be rash and reckless, making him seem unreliable. Feng Xiao tended to back down when things got tense and often couldn't make up his mind. Qian Ruoxiu had some ideas of her own, but as a woman, she lacked a certain forcefulness. Sun Ying was timid and often needed others to decide for her.

Ye Qin didn't say much, but he was steady and calm. When he made a decision, the other four were usually willing to follow. And so, they settled on fighting the inner hall disciples. Ten days gave them plenty of time; there was no need to rush out and get revenge immediately.

"Second Brother, let's trade a few moves. I want to see how much you've improved and whether you can take a beating! Don't get flattened by those bastards from the inner hall when the time comes." Yang Yicheng hadn't seen Ye Qin for over half a year, and his fists were itching. He rubbed his iron-hard palms together and called out eagerly.

"Senior Brother, you know what my internal art is like. It's purely a supporting technique. I could carry three or five hundred pounds for dozens of miles without trouble, but I couldn't take two punches from you. If you want to practice your fists, find someone else. There are plenty of people at the Herb Gathering Hall's Training Ground willing to spar with you." Ye Qin gave a wry smile and shook his head.

"Forget it. I knew you'd say that." Yang Yicheng looked a little displeased, but his fists were still itching, so he headed straight for the Herb Gathering Hall's Training Ground.

"Senior Brother, how about letting your junior brother trade a few moves with you?"

Feng Xiao let out a sly chuckle and followed him.

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying didn't lag behind either. They couldn't get revenge just yet, so they might as well blow off some steam at the Training Ground.

Ye Qin considered it, then headed toward the Training Ground without hurrying.

He wasn't going to practice. His Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra now relied almost entirely on the medicinal properties of Dew Grass to advance rapidly. Ordinary training methods had little effect on his cultivation.

He only wanted to see how much the other four had improved over the past six months.

Several dozen disciples were practicing at the Training Ground, most of them young men from the outer hall, between fifteen or sixteen and their early twenties. Most had third-rate skills, or were even below that.

Some practiced martial arts alone, while others paired off to work on their sparring techniques. Blades flashed and fists and feet flew; some even shouted loudly. The place was quite lively.

Ye Qin watched intently from the edge of the grounds for a while, then furrowed his brow.

He realized that the martial arts of all the young disciples there seemed weak. Their movements were slow and stiff. He could read the trajectory of every move at a glance—even the smallest motions as they swung their swords, punched, or kicked. They were so sluggish they looked like children who had only just started learning martial arts.

Yang Yicheng's iron fists were powerful. One punch could smash five Cyan Rock bricks stacked on the ground.

But to Ye Qin, they seemed far too slow. Yang Yicheng would probably be dodged before his fist ever landed.

Feng Xiao had already practiced Cloud Ladder Leap to the fourth level. He darted and bounded around the Training Ground with nimble agility, and few of the young disciples sparring with him could even touch him.

Ye Qin used to envy Feng Xiao's light-footed movement. But now he suddenly found all that leaping around rather pointless, like a foolish rabbit. If he had a pebble in his hand and flicked it at Feng Xiao... Feng Xiao would probably be left lying on the ground, groaning, unable to hop around anymore.

Qian Ruoxiu was taking her frustration out on a wooden post, pounding it until it cracked and popped. But her Plum Blossom Folding Hand wasn't nearly as fast as Ye Qin remembered. If she sparred with him, he could probably catch her nimble little hands with ease, leaving her unable to use the technique at all.

Sun Ying's swordsmanship seemed to have deteriorated a lot too. The blade even trembled slightly in her grip. If she couldn't hold her sword steady, how could she expect to strike anyone?

Not a single person at the entire Training Ground had skills that satisfied him. There were openings and weaknesses everywhere. What was going on? Had their martial arts deteriorated so badly, or had his own cultivation improved?

As Ye Qin wondered, he began to understand.

The Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra seemed far more powerful than he'd imagined. In half a year, he'd perfected the first level, which would normally take ten years to cultivate. He could now look down on most of his fellow disciples his age with ease.

If he could complete the second and third levels as well, he should become a rare master in the martial world. The only problem was that he didn't have enough Cyan Rock to nurture the little Dew Grass and speed up his cultivation.

Ye Qin couldn't help feeling deeply regretful.

Without the herbs, he could only rely on his daily meditation to cultivate, and progress was painfully slow. Without ten or twenty years of devoted practice, he feared he wouldn't be able to break through to the third level of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra.