Training Ground

"How many people are in the Inner Hall, anyway? Can they compare to the numbers we have in the Outer Hall? In our batch alone, there are twenty or thirty of us, while they only have five. Besides, we've spent three to five years training in the deep mountains and old forests, killing who knows how many wolves, tigers, and leopards. How could those pampered fellows who've stayed in the county town their whole lives compare to us? When it comes to sheer ruthlessness, I'm enough to take down two or three of them by myself."

Yang Yicheng shouted indignantly, clearly dissatisfied with Feng Xiao's cowardice.

"The ordinary disciples of the Inner Hall don't count for much, but what about the Law Enforcement disciples? They are in charge of discipline and always favor the Inner Hall disciples. If they catch us fighting in private, we won't be getting away without a skin-tearing beating."

When Feng Xiao mentioned the Law Enforcement disciples, Yang Yicheng's brows furrowed in worry.

There are two types of disciples in the Herb Gathering Hall's Inner Hall. One type consists of ordinary pharmaceutical disciples who wear white robes; they are responsible for making medicine or tending to the storefronts in the county town, and most come from wealthy families. The other type consists of the core Law Enforcement disciples who wear brocade robes. They have studied martial arts wholeheartedly since childhood, possess formidable skills, and have even deeper backgrounds, usually hailing from prominent, powerful clans.

In contrast, the herb-gathering disciples of the Outer Hall wear green robes, and most are commoners without any background at all.

The disciples of the two halls look down on each other and frequently clash, but no one dares to provoke those Law Enforcement disciples.

Whenever a fight breaks out between the two halls, the brocade-robed Law Enforcement disciples almost always side with the white-robed Inner Hall disciples. Often, the Inner Hall disciples act so arrogantly precisely because they have the Law Enforcement disciples backing them up.

Ye Qin considered this for a moment, then spoke to the four of them with a calm demeanor:

"There is no rush for this matter; we should try our best to avoid the brocade-robed Law Enforcement disciples. A large number of outsiders from the jianghu have recently arrived in the county town, which is bound to cause some chaos. Our Herb Gathering Hall cannot sit by and watch them stir up trouble; we will certainly have to step out to maintain order. I estimate that the strongest Law Enforcement disciples will be pulled away to keep the peace. We can take advantage of the time when the Law Enforcement disciples are busy to have a fight with those Inner Hall people. Given the arrogant and conceited nature of the Inner Hall disciples, they will certainly accept the challenge."

"Big Brother, Third Junior Brother, don't you know many brothers and friends in the Hall? You can invite them to help. And Fourth Junior Sister, Fifth Junior Sister, you two should also invite some female disciples from the Outer Hall to join in. Since we are going to have a fight, we might as well teach the Inner Hall disciples a harsh lesson so they don't forget it in the future. Big Brother, you should be the one to preside over this."

"Good, let's do it."

Yang Yicheng nodded fiercely and agreed immediately. He usually socialized with many drinking buddies in the Herb Gathering Hall, most of whom were Outer Hall disciples, with none from the Inner Hall. Inviting some Outer Hall disciples to help was not a problem at all.

As for Feng Xiao, his social circle wasn't as wide as Yang Yicheng's, so it was hard to say how many people he could pull in.

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying nodded in agreement, as they knew quite a few female disciples from the Outer Hall.

Ye Qin had another small calculation in his heart.

Those female disciples of the Outer Hall would never sit by and watch Sun Ying be humiliated; they would likely step up to help. As long as those female sisters were willing to show up, they would surely attract a group of male disciples who admired them, all rushing over to "protect the flowers." Once there were enough people from the Outer Hall, what did it matter if those Inner Hall disciples had superior martial arts? They would still end up getting beaten.

"Let's set the time within ten days. During this period, we will pick a time when the Law Enforcement disciples are out on a mission to have our showdown with the Inner Hall disciples." Ye Qin finalized the plan.

Among the five fellow apprentices, Ye Qin was considered the one with the most foresight.

Yang Yicheng was bold and impulsive; although he had his own ideas, he was often rash and reckless, which never felt entirely reliable. Feng Xiao was prone to retreating when faced with trouble and rarely dared to make a decision. While Qian Ruoxiu had her own opinions, she was a woman, and her presence was slightly less imposing. Sun Ying had a weak personality and often relied on others to make decisions for her.

Ye Qin didn't speak much, but his nature was steady and calm. Once he made a decision, the other four were usually willing to follow. The matter of fighting the Inner Hall disciples was settled. Ten days was plenty of time, so they weren't in a rush to seek revenge immediately.

"Second Brother, let's trade a few moves. Let me see how much your kung fu has improved and if you can take a beating! Don't let those Inner Hall bastards flatten you 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 palms together and shouted excitedly.

"Big Brother, you know my internal energy is purely auxiliary. It's no problem for me to carry three or four hundred pounds for dozens of miles, but if I have to take your iron fists, I won't last two blows. If you want to spar, find someone else; there are plenty of opponents in the Training Ground who would be willing to practice with you." Ye Qin smiled bitterly in his heart and shook his head faintly.

"Forget it, I knew you'd say that." Yang Yicheng was a bit displeased, but his fists were still itching, so he headed straight for the Training Ground.

"Big Brother, how about I spar with you for a few moves?!"

Feng Xiao let out a strange laugh and followed closely behind.

Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying didn't lag behind either; since the revenge couldn't be taken right now, they might as well go to the Training Ground to vent.

Ye Qin thought for a moment and walked toward the Training Ground at a leisurely pace.

He didn't want to train, because the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra he was currently practicing relied almost entirely on the medicinal power of Dew Grass to achieve rapid growth. Ordinary training methods had no effect on his cultivation.

He just wanted to go over and see how the four of them had progressed in their martial arts over the past six months.

Inside the Training Ground, there were dozens of disciples practicing. Most were young Outer Hall disciples between fifteen and twenty years old, and their skills were mostly third-rate or even unranked.

These disciples were either practicing their martial arts alone or sparring in pairs. There was a flurry of blades and shadows, fists and kicks, and people shouting and yelling—it was quite lively.

Ye Qin watched intently from the sidelines for a long while, but his brows began to furrow.

He discovered that the martial arts of the dozens of young disciples in the arena seemed very weak; their movements were slow and extremely stiff. He could capture the trajectory of their attacks at a glance, and even their subtle movements—every sword swing, punch, or kick—seemed as slow as a child who had just started learning martial arts.

Yang Yicheng's iron fist had considerable power; he could shatter five Cyan Rock bricks stacked on the ground with one punch.

But in Ye Qin's eyes, it felt far too slow. He feared that before it could even hit anyone, the opponent would have already dodged it.

Feng Xiao's Cloud Ladder Leap had reached the fourth level. He was jumping around the Training Ground with great speed, very agile and clever. Few of the young disciples sparring with him could even touch him.

Ye Qin had always admired Feng Xiao's light-body technique in the past. But now, he suddenly felt that Feng Xiao jumping around like that was a bit boring—a bit silly, like a rabbit. If he had a pebble in his hand right now and flicked it... Feng Xiao would probably be lying on the ground groaning, unable to jump anymore.

Qian Ruoxiu was taking her frustration out on a wooden stake, hitting it until it made a clattering sound, but her Plum Blossom Folding Hand was not as fast as he remembered. If she were sparring with him, he reckoned he could easily grab her nimble little hands and render her Plum Blossom Folding Hand completely powerless.

Sun Ying's swordsmanship seemed to have regressed significantly as well; the blade was even shaking slightly. If she couldn't even hold the sword steady, how could she possibly hit anyone?

In the entire Training Ground, not a single person's martial arts were satisfactory; flaws and weaknesses were everywhere. What was going on? Had their martial arts regressed significantly, or had his own cultivation advanced?

While Ye Qin was astonished, he was also lost in thought.

The power of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra seemed to be much greater than he had imagined. He had spent half a year bringing the first level, which originally required ten years of cultivation, to perfection. He could already easily look down on most of his fellow apprentices of the same age.

If he could complete the second and third levels, he should be considered a rare expert in the jianghu. It was just a pity that there weren't enough Cyan Rock stones to cultivate the Dew Grass and accelerate his progress.

Ye Qin couldn't help but feel deeply regretful.

Without medicinal herbs, he could only rely on basic meditation every day to cultivate, and the speed of such cultivation was extremely slow. Without ten or twenty years of dedicated practice, he feared he would never be able to break through to the third level of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra.