The morning passed quickly.
At the Long Wind Escort Agency's training ground.
Even though it was lunchtime, not a single person had left.
Some were lazily practicing their stance training.
Others had gathered in groups of three or five, talking in low voices.
Everyone was distracted, glancing toward the inner courtyard from time to time.
"Hey, he's out! He's out!"
Someone shouted first. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the figure emerge from the inner courtyard.
"..."
"Lu Cheng? You really are Lu Cheng?"
Fatty stared wide-eyed and asked Lu Cheng in disbelief.
The person before him hadn't changed at all.
But after what had happened that morning, and hearing that Lu Cheng had taken down two bullies from rival gangs all by himself, Fatty still felt that Lu Cheng was different from yesterday.
Lu Cheng turned around, held out his arm, and smiled.
"What, want to feel if I'm warm?"
"Pah, pah, pah." Fatty had only been startled for a moment. Hearing Lu Cheng say that, he spat three times. "What are you saying? That's bad luck."
"The match is in three months. You have to avoid tempting fate, so you absolutely can't say things like that again."
Lu Cheng smiled.
"Fine, I'll listen to our Fatty. Pah, pah, pah."
The Hu Brothers looked as though they wanted to say something, but held back.
Seeing this, Lu Cheng simply gave them a brief account of everything.
From Lu Zhongyou being maliciously underpaid by You Lanchuang to running into the Fish Gang's Young Gang Leader at the restaurant yesterday.
Of course, he left out luring You Lanchuang to his death on the river and raiding Liu Daozi and the others at night.
Even so, the six of them couldn't stop exclaiming at how unbelievable it all was.
"What about the match in three months? Are you confident?"
After hearing Lu Cheng's story, Thin Bamboo Pole asked the question they all considered most important.
"The match?"
Lu Cheng took a deep breath and swept his awareness across his Consciousness Sea.
A black figure darted up and down, its claws striking like hooks.
[Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk] [Grade: Mid-Grade Human Tier] [Realm: Beginner (3/200)] [A martial skill paired with the Long Wind Escort Agency's Mystic Eagle Technique. Seven strikes flow one into the next, like a hawk diving through the sky. Each strike is based on stance training: shoulders lowered, elbows dropped, fingers hooked, waist and legs united, every move aimed at the enemy's vital points.]
The corners of Lu Cheng's mouth lifted slightly, then settled.
"Who knows how it'll turn out until I actually fight?"
Four days later, at half past five in the morning.
The Long Wind Escort Agency's training ground.
Zhuang Xing watched Lu Cheng slowly approach, a trace of disdain and schadenfreude flashing in his eyes.
But on his face, he put on an expression of exasperated disappointment.
"Lu Cheng, wait a moment."
Hearing him, Lu Cheng stopped and looked at this fellow disciple, who had collapsed from exhaustion during training. He asked, puzzled, "What is it?"
Just looking at Lu Cheng's expression made Zhuang Xing angry.
"I wasn't tired. I... I'd just advanced too quickly, and my body hadn't adjusted to the changes brought by the increase in strength."
Lu Cheng nodded.
"Oh."
What did that have to do with him?
Over the past four days, Lu Cheng had set aside an hour every morning and evening to practice the Seven Strikes of the Black Hawk in Feng Zhan's courtyard.
The martial skill deserved its Mid-Grade Human Tier rank. After four days of hard practice, he had only managed to make his Beginner level more secure.
His proficiency had risen from three to forty-two.
He could just about perform all seven moves correctly now.
Although Feng Zhan praised how quickly Lu Cheng was progressing every time, Lu Cheng wasn't satisfied.
He had only just reached Beginner level. He was still a long way from being able to face an enemy with it.
And at this rate, he would have a hard time reaching perfection in three months.
Thanks to the experience he had gained from Fish Spearing Technique, Lu Cheng knew that any skill became worlds apart once it reached perfection.
Martial skills were likely even more so.
But with time going to martial skills, he had less time to practice stance training.
The Mystic Eagle Stance, which should have reached Minor Achievement yesterday, would have to wait until today.
Just as he was about to head toward the Plum Blossom Stance, Zhuang Xing spoke again.
His tone was full of inexplicable lecturing.
"Lu Cheng, I've heard about what happened. Don't take this the wrong way, but you acted too recklessly with the Fish Gang."
Huh?
Was there something wrong with Zhuang Xing?
Quite a few disciples had already arrived at the training ground. Hearing Zhuang Xing's words, they all turned to look.
Most of them were from the lower and middle ranks, with families that at best had a modest business or two.
They were often extorted and exploited by street gangs, and every one of them hated those local thugs and bullies to the bone.
Nobody thought Lu Cheng had done anything wrong.
Zhuang Xing had come right out and criticized Lu Cheng. Could his family be involved with the gangs?
At the thought, their looks toward Zhuang Xing changed.
But Zhuang Xing assumed they were gazing at him with admiration for a "strong man."
He had remained strict and diligent from start to finish, rising at the same time every day without fail, at three in the morning, and going to bed at midnight.
Other than eating, using the privy, and currying favor with his senior brothers, he spent every other moment training.
Now, he had successfully grasped the trick to reaching Beginner level. Within a month, he would definitely cultivate strength.
Among this batch of new disciples, he was the first—an undisputed senior brother!
Meanwhile, Lu Cheng had cost the Long Wind Escort Agency three slots.
And one of those three slots was supposed to be his!
The matter had once made him so angry that he couldn't eat for two days.
But they were all fellow disciples, after all. Once his brief anger passed, Zhuang Xing regained his composure.
He clasped his hands behind his back, raised his chin, and narrowed his eyes.
"Lu Cheng, since you've already done it, let's not dwell on it."
"The chief escort was right. My Long Wind Escort Agency should indeed put chivalry and justice first. Since the Fish Gang's Young Gang Leader deserved to die, then killing him was no big deal."
Damn, then what was all that about being "reckless" just now?
Hearing this, the others couldn't help grumbling to themselves.
This guy had probably trained himself into a daze.
Thinking this, the few people nearest him quietly edged a few steps away.
Zhuang Xing didn't notice at all. He turned those two statements over and over in his mind.
The more he thought about them, the more satisfied he became.
Ha! I'm so eloquent!
No, stay calm. Keep up appearances.
I'm the senior brother, after all.
Zhuang Xing drew in the air with all his might, trying to suppress the excitement in his chest.
But he hadn't expected that clamping down so hard would make his lungs spasm.
"Cough..." Zhuang Xing couldn't hold it in and coughed once.
He immediately tried to suppress it with all his might. The trouble in his lungs made his face grow redder and redder.
Even so, Zhuang Xing didn't forget to lecture him. His breathing was already uneven, but he still struggled to force out the words.
"But you absolutely shouldn't... shouldn't have... cough..."
"Shouldn't have given up on yourself. Just look... look at the time. How could you still... uh—"
He couldn't finish. In the end, he couldn't catch his breath.
With an "uh," his eyes rolled back, and he crashed to the ground, still holding his hands behind his back and his chin raised.
"..."
"Ah, Zhuang Xing collapsed from exhaustion again!"
"Doesn't look like exhaustion. Looks like anger."
"How does that guy get so worked up?"
"Nutcase."
No matter what, Zhuang Xing had collapsed while talking to him. Lu Cheng couldn't just ignore him.
He and Hu Er carried Zhuang Xing back to his sleeping quarters.
After confirming that he was only asleep, Lu Cheng returned to the Plum Blossom Stance and began training.
As the sun climbed high overhead, Lu Cheng's movements grew faster and faster.
He cycled through the first six forms of the Mystic Eagle Stance, forward and backward.
Then he practiced them out of order, adjusting the sequence to suit his body.
Sometimes, halfway through one form, he twisted around and shifted into another.
After a while, sweat gathered on Lu Cheng's body until he looked as if he had been fished out of the water.
Suddenly, Lu Cheng swiftly returned to the opening stance of the Mystic Eagle Stance and stood still.
His body shuddered violently, and the joints throughout him gave off a faint series of crackling sounds.
The sounds climbed from his ankles to his knees.
Then they traveled up his spine, one vertebra at a time.
Past his waist and hips, through his shoulders and back.
At last, they burst from his fingertips.
It lasted a full four or five breaths before finally stopping.
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