Refusal

Three days later, at the Subduing Tiger Martial Hall.

After drinking the Blood Replenishing Powder, Li Yun immediately got to his feet and assumed the Tiger-Subduing Stance.

He spread his feet shoulder-width apart, lowered his shoulders and elbows, held his chest in and straightened his back, then planted himself firmly in the Tiger-Subduing Stance.

A warm current rose from his dantian, carrying the rich medicinal energy as it surged through his meridians.

An hour later, Li Yun slowly withdrew from the stance and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

[ Removed? ]

[ Removed? ]

With the Blood Replenishing Powder's help, his Tiger-Subduing Stance gained more than thirty experience points a day.

Unfortunately, he could only drink the stuff once a day.

Whenever the blood-and-qi buildup from the Tiger-Subduing Stance slowed, Li Yun immediately went to spar with his senior brothers at the Martial Hall.

His Tiger Subduing Fist experience also climbed rapidly.

Just as he was about to find a senior brother to spar with, Yu Qingqing came over.

"Junior Brother Li, I need to talk to you about something. Do you have a moment?"

"Go ahead, Senior Sister."

Li Yun stopped and cupped his hands toward Yu Qingqing.

"I heard you used to be a hunter in Mountain-Back Village?"

"That's right." Li Yun nodded.

There was no need to hide it.

"I'm going hunting on Crow Mountain tomorrow and need a guide who knows the mountain trails. Could you help me out?"

She paused, afraid Li Yun might refuse because he had to practice martial arts, and quickly added, "I won't ask you to do it for free. It'll only take a day, and I'll pay you two taels of silver."

A trace of confusion flickered in Li Yun's eyes. "Senior Sister, I saw a similar task at the Bounty Pavilion a few days ago. Was that one posted by you?"

At the mention of it, Yu Qingqing curled her lip. A hint of disdain slipped into her voice. "No. It was probably that shameless woman from White Crane Martial Hall."

"Oh?"

Yu Qingqing took a deep breath, her expression gradually growing serious.

"Actually, the main reason for this trip is to accompany Miss Huang from the Inner City on an outing.

"She's the Huang Family's most doted-on daughter.

"She manages the family's cloth shops and spice business. If she takes a liking to me, my family's cloth shop could gain access to new markets.

"Only Lin Biling from White Crane Martial Hall and I are going with her, so I wanted to find a reliable guide."

A favored daughter of a powerful family who managed two businesses.

Someone like that was certainly no ordinary person.

With the Outer City in such an uproar, she wanted to go hunting for fun?

The more Li Yun thought about it, the stranger it sounded.

He couldn't take this job.

"Senior Sister, look at how young I am. How much could I know about Crow Mountain?

"There are plenty of old hunters in Mountain-Back Village.

"You can just hire someone there."

Seeing that Li Yun wasn't joking, Yu Qingqing didn't press him.

Over the past few days, he had been sparring with his junior brothers in the Inner Courtyard. She admired his persistence and determination.

She had planned to use this opportunity to help him out.

But if Li Yun really didn't know Crow Mountain well, then so be it. She couldn't risk wasting this chance to curry favor with Miss Huang.

"All right. I'll look for someone in the village, then.

"Go back to your training."

After Yu Qingqing left, Li Yun was about to find a senior brother to spar with.

To his surprise, someone came looking for him first.

"Junior Brother Li, let's spar."

Li Yun recognized the senior brother who spoke. He was one of Yu Qingqing's many admirers: Chen Bin.

They'd only exchanged a few words.

Damn simps.

Li Yun cursed under his breath, but didn't refuse. It didn't matter who he sparred with.

Besides, no one at the Martial Hall would fight to the death.

Otherwise, Fu Huaixing wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Come on."

Before Chen Bin could even take his stance, Li Yun launched himself forward with a Fierce Tiger Pounces on Prey.

The result was only to be expected.

The days went by.

Li Yun's wallet slowly emptied, but the progress on his status panel was looking very promising.

Especially his Tiger Subduing Fist.

He never turned down anyone who wanted to spar.

Some people, though, didn't play fair.

They relied on their abundant blood and qi and superior strength to overpower him.

But Li Yun discovered that the stronger his opponents were, and the harder they pressed him, the faster his understanding of Tiger Subduing Fist deepened.

So Li Yun often went out of his way to chat with Yu Qingqing.

He wanted them to take a dislike to him so they'd hit him harder.

Through their conversations, he also learned that on the earlier hunting trip to Crow Mountain, Yu Qingqing had earned Miss Huang's approval, opening a small door for her family's cloth shop to enter the business.

Li Yun had missed out on a bit of extra money, but he didn't regret it.

Safety came first.

Who knew? If he'd gone, the butterfly effect might have caused trouble.

"Congratulations, Senior Sister. Now that you're working with the Huang Family in the Inner City, your cloth shop's business should reach new heights."

"You've already congratulated me five times."

"Oh, really?"

"If you want to spar, why not just go find them? Why go to all this trouble?"

At first, Yu Qingqing hadn't understood what Li Yun was up to.

She'd thought he was just like the others, lusting after her.

But after watching him, how could she not understand?

He was only doing this to provoke the others into sparring with him.

People might be given the wrong name, but they were never given the wrong nickname.

Martial Fanatic.

Li Yun smiled but didn't answer her question.

How could he tell Yu Qingqing that when those "simps" were in a bad mood, they hit harder, and he improved faster?

Yu Qingqing didn't expect an answer. She waved him away.

Li Yun sensibly moved off, waiting for one of her "protectors" to come find him on his own.

A few moments later...

"Junior Brother Li, I see you're training alone. You'll improve slowly that way. Let's spar."

"Come on."

Li Yun didn't refuse Chen Bin's invitation.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he drove off the ground, his body shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. His right fist clenched and drove straight toward Chen Bin's face.

Once bitten, twice shy.

Chen Bin was prepared this time. He ground his feet into the earth and rooted himself like an old tree.

Lowering his shoulders and elbows, holding his chest in and straightening his back, he quickly raised his hands before his chest and assumed the orthodox defensive posture of the Tiger-Subduing Stance.

"Thud!"

Li Yun's fist slammed squarely into Chen Bin's forearm with a muffled thump.

Chen Bin didn't budge. Using the force of the block, he sank into his stance and deftly dispelled most of Li Yun's momentum.

He grinned.

"Keep going, Junior Brother."

Li Yun kept up his attack, throwing dozens of strikes in a row, but he still couldn't break through Chen Bin's defense.

Just then, Chen Bin suddenly let out a loud shout.

He twisted at the waist, blood and qi surging toward his arms like a rushing tide, and abruptly shifted from defense to offense.

His left fist drove straight toward Li Yun's chest, while his right swept toward his ribs. Both attacks were fierce and domineering.

Li Yun couldn't dodge in time and was sent stumbling back seven or eight steps.

Though the pain made him suck in sharp breaths, he couldn't help smiling when he saw the proficiency notifications flashing through his mind.

[Tiger Subduing Fist: +1]

[Tiger Subduing Fist: +1]

[...]

Chen Bin saw Li Yun grinning through the pain after taking a punch from him.

It made his blood boil.

Laughing?

You'll have plenty of time to cry.

"Junior Brother, still want to keep going?"

"Yeah."

Chen Bin vented his resentment, pummeling Li Yun mercilessly.

Yet he couldn't help admiring him a little.

The first time they'd fought, Li Yun had been completely outclassed. Gradually, he'd learned to dodge.

Now, he could even land a sneak attack or two now and then.

His progress was plain to see.

But that didn't give Junior Brother Li the right to get close to the person Chen Bin admired.

With that thought, Chen Bin put a little more strength into his blows.