The surroundings erupted in an uproar.
"What happened? Why is there only a single wisp?"
"Exactly! That 'Peerless Di Hao' just now filled more than half the stone ball."
"The worst of the people before him had seven or eight wisps. How come he only has one?"
The three men seated at the head of the hall, however, wore dark, uncertain expressions.
They were nothing like the disciples waiting to be tested.
As Body Refining Realm martial artists, they could sense and absorb the energy of heaven and earth even without the aid of the formation.
The moment Lu Cheng increased his absorption of the energy, they had sensed it.
The disturbance was no less than that caused by the "Peerless Di Hao." By all rights, at least half the stone ball should have been filled with energy.
But the situation now could only mean one thing: Lu Cheng was unable to retain the energy.
Feng Zhan and the other two started another conversation that no one else could hear. This time, it went on much longer.
The people around them grew louder and louder in their discussions. Fatty and the other two had already helped Lu Cheng down from the stone platform to rest.
Fatty thought Lu Cheng was hungry and opened his bag of pork knuckles.
"Lu Cheng, you're probably too hungry to have any strength left. Hurry up and eat some pork knuckles, then take the test again."
Lu Cheng shook his head. He was indeed a little hungry, but that hadn't affected the test.
The real problem was that strange hole that had suddenly appeared.
Fortunately, it seemed he had already filled it.
After resting a little, he could take the test again. This time, there shouldn't be a problem.
But before Lu Cheng could say anything, Feng Zhan spoke from the front, his voice carrying unmistakable regret.
"Lu Cheng, this has happened before. Most likely, your innate source qi and blood are depleted, which is causing problems with your ability to combine with primordial energy."
"Bone structure, meridians, and qi and blood complement one another."
"Bone structure affects strength. Meridians affect the circulation of the energy of heaven and earth. Qi and blood affect how much of that energy you can ultimately absorb."
"When martial artists train, they first cultivate strength. Once their strength has formed, they can guide their qi and blood through their meridians and combine them with the energy of heaven and earth. This, in turn, tempers the body and prepares it for what comes next."
"This qi and blood doesn't refer to the qi and blood in your body right now. It refers to the innate source qi and blood you carried with you from the womb."
"Only this innate source qi and blood, which comes from the same source as the energy of heaven and earth, can combine with it."
As he spoke, he pointed at the stone ball lying on the stone platform.
"Your innate source qi and blood are too depleted. You're like a vessel with a huge belly and no bottom. The energy is like flowing water. No matter how much enters your body, you can't hold on to it."
"Your progress in the Body Refining Realm will be extremely difficult from now on."
Seeing Lu Cheng keep his head lowered, Feng Zhan sighed inwardly.
To fall from genius to nothing in such a short time—anyone would inevitably feel dejected.
He was about to offer a few words of comfort when Lu Cheng raised his head.
"Thank you, Third Chief Escort, for explaining it to me. In that case, am I still qualified to join the Long Wind Escort Agency?"
"Hm?" Feng Zhan looked at Lu Cheng in surprise. He hadn't expected the boy to pull himself together so quickly.
Little did he know, Lu Cheng hadn't felt much of anything from beginning to end.
Whether others criticized him or praised him, their words couldn't take his life or protect him. Why should he care?
So what if his innate source qi and blood were depleted? Was he supposed to give up martial arts?
The Fish Gang alone was a deadly threat right before his eyes.
If he didn't join a sect, he might not even live to see tomorrow.
Besides, it wasn't as if he truly couldn't combine with even a wisp of energy.
What Feng Zhan had said didn't quite match his situation.
The "hole" inside him didn't seem all that serious.
At the very last moment, the energy of heaven and earth had already begun rushing toward the stone ball.
He had simply run out of stamina and couldn't continue.
That meant that if he could increase his stamina, the "hole" caused by his depleted innate source qi and blood might not be impossible to make up for.
At least before reaching the Body Refining Realm, and during its early stages, he still belonged among the ranks of geniuses.
As for what would happen after the Body Refining Realm—
That would depend on how powerful the [Heavenly Mandate] in his Consciousness Sea was!
Before Feng Zhan could respond, the man seated in the middle spoke in a low voice.
"Of course you can. When the Long Wind Escort Agency takes on disciples, character and virtue come first."
Then he changed the subject.
"However, the rules must still apply equally to everyone. No matter who you are, if you can't cultivate strength within three months, you'll have to leave."
Lu Cheng cupped his hands in salute.
"This disciple understands."
The man nodded.
"Good. Go register your name. Everyone else, continue."
Tuition at the Long Wind Escort Agency was ten taels for the first three months. If a disciple wanted food and lodging, that cost an additional two taels.
Twelve taels of silver was indeed beyond the means of an ordinary family.
Fortunately, You Lanchuang and the fish market had contributed.
Only after seeing his name written in the disciple register did Lu Cheng finally relax.
With that, the trouble caused by You Lanchuang was basically settled.
Before long, Fatty and the other two had also completed their Tendon Measurement and Bone Weighing. All three wore long faces as they joined Lu Cheng.
Fatty, in particular, kept complaining about the little girl's ominous predictions.
Liu Wan'er had called it exactly right. All three had "ordinary mortal" talent. Liu Wan'er was a little better than the other two, but she still fell far short of the next rank, "Fine Jade Talent."
Liu Wan'er was the girl among the three.
After that, no one with particularly good talent appeared.
There were no "Human Heroes" or "Peerless Di Hao," and not even anyone close to "Fine Jade Talent."
Unexpectedly, the three brothers who had clashed with them earlier struck up a conversation.
They still weren't friendly to Fatty, but they greeted Lu Cheng and Thin Bamboo Pole and introduced themselves.
The eldest was Hu Liang, the same age as Lu Cheng.
The second was Hu Ming, fifteen years old.
The youngest was Hu Guang, fourteen.
Hu Ming did almost all the talking, so Lu Cheng paid him a little extra attention.
He wasn't as sturdy as his eldest or youngest brother, but he was clearly more quick-witted than either of them.
There was no lack of sincerity in his words, either. He seemed like someone worth befriending.
Lu Cheng and the others had arrived relatively late. Before long, the remaining twenty or thirty people had all joined.
There were 113 disciples in all, men and women together.
At that rate, the Long Wind Escort Agency could earn more than a thousand taels of silver every three months!
No wonder they'd stopped taking escort jobs.
Perhaps to keep things simple, or perhaps because they couldn't be bothered to prepare tea, there was no tea-offering ceremony when the disciples took their masters.
More than a hundred people knelt in orderly rows across the training ground, listening to the three men's admonitions.
The man in the middle was the one who spoke.
"My name is Feng Qi. You may call me Chief Escort."
His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried clearly to everyone present.
The crowd immediately responded in unison.
"Greetings, Chief Escort!"
More than a hundred voices swept across the escort agency, startling the birds in the branches into flight.
"The man on my left is Feng Ji, the Second Chief Escort. He oversees all food, clothing, and supplies within the agency, as well as rewards and punishments."
"Greetings, Second Chief Escort!" ×113
"The man on my right is Feng Zhan, the Third Chief Escort. From now on, he'll be responsible for teaching and testing your martial arts."
"Greetings, Third Chief Escort!" ×113
Each greeting rose louder than the last.
Feng Qi nodded in satisfaction and continued.
"Today, you've joined my sect. From now on, you must uphold our principles."
"Respect your teachers and value the Dao; stand together with your fellow disciples. Those things go without saying."
"Beyond that, there's one more thing I must impress upon you. Listen carefully."
"If one day you become capable enough, you may join the Great Fortune Martial Guard—to capture bandits and arrest thieves, or to defend a region. Even I would bow to you in greeting."
"One step below that, you can serve as a guard in the manor of some high-ranking official or noble. That's honest work that guarantees food and shelter."
"If you don't want to be bound by such rules, you can enter the martial trade like the three of us, open a martial arts school and take on disciples, or escort people and cargo. Either way, it's a trade passed down from master to apprentice."
"At worst, if you fail to accomplish anything in your training, you can become a peddler or laborer after three months."
"But after three months of martial arts training, even the lowly street thugs will think twice before bullying you."
"No matter what, the bond between master and disciple will never be severed."
"But if any of you harbor wicked thoughts, use your skills to commit injustice, or stoop to murder, arson, robbery, and plunder..."
At this, Feng Qi paused, then thundered,
"Hmph! Don't blame me for forgetting our old ties and striking you down!"
He put all his strength behind the word "down."
The moment it rang out, it was like a thunderclap in a clear sky overhead. Even the people standing on the training ground shuddered.
"Do you understand?"
More than a hundred heads buzzed from the shock. It took a long while for everyone to recover their senses. Once they had, they shouted back,
"This disciple understands!"
Feng Qi swept his gaze across the crowd, his voice softening considerably.
"Even so, I'm not telling you to be timid and hold back. If you encounter injustice, you may step forward and do what's right. If petty troublemakers provoke you, you mustn't cower or retreat."
"Our Long Wind Escort Agency still has a good reputation here in Yangcheng County."
His last words carried a hint of pride.
As Feng Qi finished speaking, an unhurried voice came from outside the courtyard.
"Excellent, excellent. Chief Escort Feng is truly unmatched in benevolence and righteousness. The Long Wind Escort Agency is indeed a pillar of martial arts in Yang City."
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