Lu Jing'an truly hadn't expected it.
An old boxing manual unearthed among the confiscated goods had such deep roots.
Still, it made sense.
If not for the insight granted by the Fist Master Affix,
Lu Jing'an would probably have been just like any ordinary martial artist.
He would have thought it was nothing more than an unremarkable cultivation technique.
To most people, Mountain Crushing Fist
was merely a boxing style with demanding requirements but seemingly ordinary power.
Who could have guessed that it had come from the hand of the Great Ming Fist Champion?
It was a top-tier legacy that time had buried.
This unexpected opportunity stirred a tide in Lu Jing'an's heart.
He finished breakfast in a few quick bites and planned to start practicing with Chen Xuan.
"Young master, there's no need to rush into practicing. There are a few things I must explain to you first," Chen Xuan said, raising a hand to stop him.
"Please, teacher." Lu Jing'an tamped down his eagerness and composed himself.
Chen Xuan took a thin booklet wrapped in gray cloth from his robes and said slowly,
"I actually have a portion of a Six Harmonies Fist manual in my possession.
I had planned to give it to you today, young master. I didn't expect you'd obtain another manual first."
His gaze swept over the Mountain Crushing Fist manual in Lu Jing'an's hands before he continued,
"If you've decided to follow the path of Six Harmonies Fist, I recommend cultivating both manuals together."
"With the two boxing styles complementing each other, you'll surely be able to break through the Blood Barrier."
"If you can find a third manual in the future, you'll be able to break through the Bone Barrier as well."
Hearing this, Lu Jing'an couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement.
His teacher really was a lucky star.
But the surprise didn't go to his head. Instead, he asked solemnly,
"Teacher, are there any hidden dangers to practicing two sets of boxing techniques at once?"
Chen Xuan nodded, his expression grave.
"There are."
"The force in each Six Harmonies Fist manual follows a different path.
At the beginning of cultivating them together, the two forces will clash within your body, like ice and charcoal in the same stove."
"You'll need a special medicinal bath to guide the forces into harmony.
But that's only one problem."
He paused and looked Lu Jing'an in the eye.
"The hardest part is that the process is excruciating, like having your bones scraped and your flesh carved away.
And once you begin, you can't stop halfway."
"If you do..."
Chen Xuan's tone darkened.
"At best, your meridians will be damaged, making further progress in martial arts difficult.
At worst, your foundation will be ruined, leaving you no better than an invalid."
"So, young master, you must choose carefully."
Lu Jing'an pondered for a moment before asking,
"If I can master both sets of boxing techniques, will that lessen the pain?"
"That's right." Chen Xuan nodded, but cut off Lu Jing'an before he could speak.
"But you must understand, young master: if you practice only one style,
with your aptitude, you can master it in a few days.
But if you practice both,
the difficulty will increase a hundredfold, and it'll take far longer."
Lu Jing'an lowered his eyes to the manual in his hands. Its cover had yellowed, and its corners were worn.
He fell silent only briefly before looking up, his gaze now firm.
"Teacher, I'll choose Six Harmonies Fist."
Lu Jing'an had a simple reason for choosing this path.
First, Six Harmonies Fist was powerful—powerful enough to support him as he climbed to greater heights in martial arts.
Second, he had Energy Points.
If the pain became too much to bear, he could simply spend Energy Points to force his way to mastery.
If it really hurt too much, Lu Jing'an could just use Energy Points to master it.
With a cheat at his disposal, not choosing the strongest option would be utter folly.
Seeing that Lu Jing'an had made his choice,
Chen Xuan stopped trying to persuade him.
Instead, he handed Lu Jing'an another manual he possessed, for Thunderclap Fist.
Lu Jing'an accepted both manuals with both hands and thanked him solemnly.
"There's no need to rush into practicing, young master. You can first have Cui Jieyi prepare the medicinal bath. While that's being done, you can take another look at the two boxing styles."
Lu Jing'an asked, "Teacher, won't you explain them to me in detail?"
Chen Xuan replied, "Your understanding of boxing is already no worse than mine.
With top-tier martial arts like these, the path you comprehend for yourself will suit you best."
"They're different from a basic style like Tongbei Fist. If you can comprehend them on your own, your foundation will be the strongest."
"When you truly begin practicing, I'll stay by your side to protect and guide you."
With that, he took a prescription he'd already written from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Jing'an.
"So you already knew I'd choose Six Harmonies Fist, teacher." Lu Jing'an took the prescription and couldn't help smiling.
"I was only preparing for every eventuality." Chen Xuan shook his head.
"If you hadn't chosen it, I wouldn't have taken out the prescription."
Lu Jing'an called over a servant and gave him the prescription, instructing him,
"Take this to Doctor Cui. Buy all the medicinal ingredients she needs, and draw the money directly from the accounts office."
After the servant left, Lu Jing'an asked about another important matter.
"Teacher, do you have any leads on the remaining four manuals?"
Chen Xuan considered this.
"I have some idea where two of them might be.
Once you've mastered these two, I can go out and look for them."
Lu Jing'an waved his hand.
"Have the servants look for the manuals first.
If money can solve the problem, there's no need for you to trouble yourself with the journey."
Chen Xuan thought it over and nodded.
Just then, two sets of footsteps approached from the corridor, one after the other.
Lu Jing'an turned to look. One was the servant who had just gone to deliver the prescription; the other was a servant who attended to his father, Lu Huaiqian.
"Young master, the master requests your presence in his study," the servant said respectfully.
Lu Jing'an nodded, then turned first to the servant who had returned with a reply.
"What did Doctor Cui say?"
"Doctor Cui said most of the ingredients on the prescription can be bought here in Yinshan County.
A few uncommon ones will have to be found in neighboring counties or even the provincial capital."
"She's already sent people to look for them. We should have news in five or six days at the latest."
"Good. Tell Doctor Cui to handle everything as she sees fit. I only want the results."
After giving his instructions, Lu Jing'an said goodbye to Chen Xuan and followed the servant toward the study.
Along the way, he had already guessed what his father wanted.
Sure enough, as soon as he entered the study, he saw Lu Huaiqian holding a dossier.
It was the Tiger Demon file borrowed from the Peacekeeping Bureau.
Things had gone so smoothly that even Lu Huaiqian was a little surprised.
He had originally wanted to use this as a chance to give his son some "experience."
Instead, his son had "taught him a lesson."
What surprised him even more was that his son seemed to have more sway with the Peacekeeping Bureau than he'd imagined.
"Jing'an, this is the Tiger Demon file we obtained from the Peacekeeping Bureau. Read it carefully."
Lu Jing'an accepted it and began reading intently.
The Peacekeeping Bureau's records were extremely detailed, dating back forty years.
According to the dossier, the Tiger Demon had been entrenched in the mountains outside Yinshan County for nearly forty years.
Its origins were a mystery. The Peacekeeping Bureau had organized two campaigns to exterminate it.
Both had ended in failure because the Tiger Demon was exceptionally cunning and had stayed holed up in its lair.
During one campaign, a team of Peacekeeping Bureau cultivators had been returning from an outing and taken a shortcut.
They'd blundered into the Tiger Demon's territory and been set upon.
Unexpectedly, the demon had possessed the ability to refine Chang Ghosts.
The Peacekeeping Bureau hadn't known it was capable of this.
On their own turf, they had suffered a crushing defeat.
Seven or eight cultivators had been lost.
The entire Peacekeeping Bureau, including affiliated cultivators, numbered fewer than thirty people.
Losing a quarter of its cultivators in one blow had been a devastating loss.
Afterward, the Peacekeeping Bureau had investigated the Tiger Demon for a long time.
Although they hadn't managed to hurt it again, they had learned a great deal about it.
After finishing the dossier, Lu Jing'an handed it back.
"Father, this dossier should be copied. It will surely be useful later."
Lu Huaiqian nodded and called his secretary over to give the order.
After a moment's thought, Lu Huaiqian finally asked,
"You seem to be rather close with the Peacekeeping Bureau?"
Lu Jing'an's expression remained unchanged.
"We're on familiar terms.
But this time, they let me read the dossier not because of my connections. The Peacekeeping Bureau simply follows the rules.
They cooperate when things are handled according to procedure."
Lu Huaiqian nodded and said no more.
But he knew full well that when he followed the procedures, things had never gone this smoothly.
Still, this was a good thing, and he didn't want to probe further.
After leaving the study, Lu Jing'an went straight back to his own courtyard.
In the quiet room, he spread the two manuals across the desk and immersed himself in them once again.
Only when night deepened and the candlelight flickered
did he finally grasp every move, every principle, and every intricacy of circulating force in both boxing styles.
Cui Jieyi hadn't gathered all the medicinal ingredients yet, so Lu Jing'an wasn't in a hurry to begin practicing.
He simply ran through another set of punches in the courtyard and stood in a stance for a while.
Afterward, he soaked in a medicinal bath. Once he was relaxed from head to toe, he put out the light and went to bed.
That night, the moon hid and the stars sank.
The main streets of Yinshan County lay drenched in ink-dark night. The watchman's call sounded distant, and the lights were few and far between.
Unnoticed by anyone, several figures slipped into the shadows of the streets and alleys.
They made no sound as they walked, drew no breath, and had pallid faces and frozen eyes.
They were the Chang Ghosts refined by the Tiger Demon.
All six had been Martial Cultivators in life.
Though they had lost the breath of life, their bodies now seemed even stiffer and more vicious.
All six had a clear target: the Lu Family residence.
It didn't take long
for the six to reach the Lu residence.
They easily vaulted over the courtyard wall.
They split into two groups. One headed straight for the East Courtyard where Lu Jing'an lived.
The other crept toward the west, to the courtyard where the two children of Lu Jing'an's third uncle lived.
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