The next day!
The eastern part of the city was in an uproar, and the martial world of Guangping County was shaken.
The Wang Family patriarch, Wang Heng, and his nephew, Wang Hao, had been murdered. Most of the Wang Family's Skin Polishing martial artists had been wiped out; only a few who hadn't been at the estate last night had escaped disaster.
While the major factions of Guangping County were still reeling from the news, Xu Ping and his father in the Xu Family's home in the northern part of the city had also spent the entire night without sleep.
Father and son sat staring at the bag of silver on the table, from the early hours of the morning until noon.
At dawn, Father Xu had heard a noise in the courtyard. When he got up to investigate, he found a bundle that hadn't been there before. When he opened it, he discovered it contained a full two hundred taels of silver.
"Ping'er, who do you think left this silver? Could they have put it in the wrong courtyard?"
"Father."
Xu Ping interrupted him. Resolve flashed in his bloodshot eyes. "Don't try to guess who left the silver. Let's act as if this never happened, and don't tell anyone—not even Mother or the others."
He had practiced martial arts, after all, and was quick-witted.
Two hundred taels was no small sum. There was no way it had been left in the wrong place.
The other party had left the money in the dead of night without a trace, which meant they didn't want their identity exposed.
Qingtian Town.
Lin Yan was quite pleased with what he had gained last night.
Eight hundred taels in banknotes, more than two hundred taels in silver, and several martial arts pills. Their total value was already close to fifteen hundred taels.
He had tossed the two hundred taels to the Xu Family.
Xu Ping had been crippled by the Wang Family's scheme because of him. Taking action against the Wang Family had also been a way of avenging Xu Ping.
The two hundred taels were compensation for Xu Ping, as well as thanks for giving up the chance to hold a post with the Tang Family.
The northern part of the city was rather disorderly. This money was enough for the Xu Family to buy a residence in a less prosperous area of the east or south, with dozens of taels left over—enough to cover several years of expenses.
It wasn't that Lin Yan didn't want to give them more. He needed money to practice martial arts, too. If another opportunity came along in the future, he could send the Xu Family more.
Besides, even if he gave them more, they would only put it away. He might as well use it to cultivate for now.
"No one knows I've reached the third round of Skin Polishing. No one will connect the deaths of the Wang uncle and nephew to me. Once things quiet down in a few days, I'll return to the city and announce that I've reached the third round of Skin Polishing."
Seven days later.
The Yang Family Martial Arts Hall.
Lin Yan entered the hall. Seeing only a handful of youths in the front courtyard, he couldn't help frowning. Last year, when he had come to join the hall, there had been more than a dozen disciples in the front courtyard. Every time he had returned since, there had been at least ten.
Had so few people signed up for the hall this year?
Puzzled, Lin Yan crossed the middle courtyard and headed to the rear courtyard. There weren't many disciples in the middle courtyard, either. Fortunately, when he reached the rear courtyard, a few senior fellow disciples were there.
"Junior Brother Lin."
Lv Qianfan and the others, who were practicing in the rear courtyard, stopped and hurried over to greet him.
Lin Yan nodded in reply. "Senior Brother Lv, is Master here?"
"Master is in the main hall."
"Then I'll go pay my respects to him first. We can talk later."
Lv Qianfan and the others watched Lin Yan walk toward the main hall, their expressions complicated.
Junior Brother Lin had reached the first round of Skin Polishing later than they had. Back then, they had looked down on him because of his ordinary background. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye he would already be a martial artist in the second round—and one of the best among them?
When Junior Brother Lin said, "We can talk later," it was only a polite formality.
Li An, on the other hand, was close to Junior Brother Lin. If Li An had been here, Lin Yan would have stopped to have a proper chat instead of saying, "We can talk later."
In the main hall, Yang Qingfeng was going over the account book. When he saw Lin Yan enter, a smile spread across his face.
"Your disciple pays his respects to Master."
Lin Yan bowed and got straight to the point. "I came to tell you some good news, Master."
"What good news?"
Yang Qingfeng instinctively looked Lin Yan up and down. A moment later, his eyes lit up. "You've reached the third round of Skin Polishing?"
"Your eyes are as sharp as ever, Master. I really can't hide it from you."
Lin Yan grinned. Yang Qingfeng rose from his chair and stepped forward, taking Lin Yan by the arm. He applied a little pressure and felt the surging qi and blood within him. Then he released him, his face full of satisfaction.
"Good. I thought you'd need another six months to reach the third round. You've certainly given me a pleasant surprise."
Yang Qingfeng was immensely pleased with Lin Yan.
At first, he had only thought Lin Yan had a good temperament. But martial arts cultivation depended more on resources. He hadn't expected Lin Yan to surprise him again and again, progressing from the first round of Skin Polishing to the second, and now the third. At this pace, he had already left ninety percent of the county's martial artists in the dust.
Still, beneath his satisfaction, Yang Qingfeng felt a little guilty.
As the head of a martial arts hall, he naturally hoped all his disciples would be talented. But now that two gifted disciples stood before him, he was both delighted and ashamed.
Since opening the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall, he had treated his disciples fairly well. Aside from the apprenticeship fee, he charged only twenty percent above cost for secret medicines and meals. As a result, he hadn't managed to save much over the years.
The resources he had could support martial artists in the second and third rounds of Skin Polishing. But after the third round, the expense of rapidly pushing through to the fourth was a terrifying figure.
He and the Zhao Family had scraped together everything they had just to cover Linyuan's expenses. He could no longer provide Lin Yan with many martial arts resources.
That was why he had tried to arrange a marriage for Lin Yan in the first place, and why he had later given him secret medicine recipes.
He felt guilty, so he could only make it up to him in this way.
"Now that you've reached the third round of Skin Polishing, I'll teach you the method for the fourth round."
Putting his feelings aside, Yang Qingfeng began teaching Lin Yan the method for the fourth round.
"The first round of Skin Polishing tempers the skin, the second tempers the flesh, and the third cleanses the sinews. The fourth round is bone tempering."
"The first three stages work on the skin, flesh, and sinews—all places qi and blood can easily reach. Bones are different. They lie deep beneath the flesh, where qi and blood struggle to reach, and impurities are hard to remove."
He turned to Lin Yan, his voice growing more serious. "The fourth round of Skin Polishing is also known as 'casting off the mortal body and replacing the bones.' At this stage, you must guide your qi and blood into your bones and gradually refine away their impurities."
"Grinding away at it over time won't work at this stage. You need to supplement your diet with secret medicines." Yang Qingfeng held up two fingers. "At a minimum, you'll need precious meat to eat. As for secret medicines and pills, two are indispensable: Bone-Strengthening Paste, which is applied externally, and the Bone-Tempering Pill, which is taken internally."
"Bone-Strengthening Paste is more or less the same across the different martial arts halls. But Bone-Tempering Pills come in three grades, depending on their main ingredient. The best is the Tiger Bone Tempering Pill, made with marrow from the bones of a tiger that's been dead for at least three years. The Bear Bone Tempering Pill is a little inferior, and the Leopard Bone Tempering Pill ranks below that."
Lin Yan listened carefully, then paused to consider before asking, "Master, is there a big difference in efficacy between the three kinds of Bone-Tempering Pills?"
"You get what you pay for. A Tiger Bone Tempering Pill costs one hundred taels, a Bear Bone Tempering Pill seventy, and a Leopard Bone Tempering Pill only fifty."
Yang Qingfeng gave Lin Yan his answer directly through their prices. "The pills differ not only in efficacy. Most importantly, taking the Tiger Bone Tempering Pill gives you the best chance of succeeding in the fourth round of Skin Polishing."
"How often do you take a Bone-Tempering Pill?"
Lin Yan asked what he was most concerned about. The price per pill was one thing; the crucial point was how often they had to be taken.
"If you have enough money, you can take any of these three pills every day. But most martial artists in the third round of Skin Polishing take one every ten days or half a month. Your junior, Linyuan, takes a Tiger Bone Tempering Pill every three days. Add in the other secret medicines and precious meat, and his expenses come to over a thousand taels a month."
Hearing this, the corner of Lin Yan's mouth twitched. He didn't think he had spent even a thousand taels since he started practicing martial arts.
Martial arts cultivation wasn't just a money pit. It was a bottomless black hole.
Seeing Lin Yan's shocked expression, Yang Qingfeng explained, "Linyuan's circumstances are different. His goal is to reach the fourth round of Skin Polishing by the end of this year, so he's sparing no expense. You don't need to follow his example."
At this, Lin Yan's thoughts stirred. Curious, he asked, "Master, Junior Brother Zhao is seventeen this year. Is there some reason he's so eager to reach the fourth round of Skin Polishing?"
Yang Qingfeng glanced toward the door. "Yes, there is a reason Linyuan is in such a hurry. Now that you've reached the third round of Skin Polishing, I should tell you about the state of martial arts across Dengzhou Prefecture."
Lin Yan listened attentively, waiting for his master to enlighten him.
"Our dynasty is ruled jointly by the imperial house and the sects. When our dynasty overthrew the previous one, the major sects made great contributions. In return, the imperial house granted them vast fiefs. In name, these lands belong to Great Zhou, but the sects hold the real power. The entirety of Dengzhou Prefecture, where we live, belongs to the Mysterious Heaven Sect."
Lin Yan's mind raced. He doubted any dynasty would willingly accept a system of fiefs. The imperial authority and the sects must have struggled many times over the years. But all that was far beyond him. He only needed to know that the Mysterious Heaven Sect governed Guangping County.
"The Mysterious Heaven Sect governs Dengzhou Prefecture much like the imperial house does. It doesn't send its disciples to take charge of the various counties. The prefecture has forty-eight counties under its jurisdiction, and each is administered by its own Patrol Bureau. The Patrol Bureau has the authority to maintain order and levy taxes. The bureaus need only pay the taxes set by the Mysterious Heaven Sect on time. The sect doesn't interfere in how much tax a bureau collects in its county."
"The Patrol Bureau has that much power?"
Lin Yan clicked his tongue at his master's words.
With control over taxes and public order, they were no different from local emperors.
Yet from what he had learned about the Guangping County Patrol Bureau, although it was powerful, it didn't seem to operate the way his master described. Otherwise, it wouldn't be entangled in a struggle with the Four Seas Gang.
"The Patrol Bureau does have great power, but it isn't without checks."
Yang Qingfeng knew what his disciple was thinking, so he explained, "The county's powerful families are all martial artists. The Patrol Bureau can't tax them too heavily, or it will provoke public outrage. And the Mysterious Heaven Sect certainly won't back the bureau. If it fails to collect enough taxes, the sect can simply replace it with another faction."
"So, to collect enough taxes, the Patrol Bureau can't offend the martial artist families in the city too badly. Most of the county seat's businesses and shops are controlled by those families. If they pull a few strings and prevent the bureau from collecting enough to meet the Mysterious Heaven Sect's tax requirements, the sect will punish the bureau severely."
Now Lin Yan understood. He also began to grasp how formidable the Mysterious Heaven Sect was.
It delegated authority to the Patrol Bureau without acting as its patron. That meant the bureau couldn't use the Mysterious Heaven Sect's name to intimidate the county's martial families.
And if the Patrol Bureau imposed excessive taxes and provoked public anger, the Mysterious Heaven Sect could send people to quell the unrest.
The county's martial families and commoners wouldn't direct their hatred at the Mysterious Heaven Sect. Instead, they would be grateful that the sect had stood up for them.
The Patrol Bureau played the villain, while the Mysterious Heaven Sect maintained its image as the benevolent ruler of the region.
"Master, can anyone take charge of a Patrol Bureau?"
"Of course not." Yang Qingfeng shook his head. "The Mysterious Heaven Sect takes the lion's share of the taxes and doesn't care about the scraps left over. But that doesn't mean its disciples don't care. Behind each county's Patrol Bureau is someone with close ties to a Mysterious Heaven Sect disciple, or a force from the Prefecture City backing it."
Lin Yan understood. The Mysterious Heaven Sect had effectively outsourced law enforcement and tax collection. The ones taking over were either powerful or well-connected.
"In Dengzhou Prefecture, the Mysterious Heaven Sect is heaven itself. Linyuan is working so hard because he wants to join it and become one of its disciples. But the Mysterious Heaven Sect's minimum requirement is to reach the fourth round of Skin Polishing before turning eighteen."
The fourth round of Skin Polishing before eighteen?
The corner of Lin Yan's mouth twitched. He hadn't started practicing martial arts until he was eighteen.
"Master, if the Mysterious Heaven Sect has that requirement, why didn't Junior Brother Zhao start practicing earlier? If he'd begun a year sooner, wouldn't he have had more time?"
This was what Lin Yan couldn't understand. If Junior Brother Zhao's goal was to join the Mysterious Heaven Sect, he could have started practicing at fourteen or fifteen, or even earlier. Why wait until he was sixteen?
"Most people's bones and sinews don't fully mature until they're eighteen, or even later. If they begin training too early, their bodies aren't developed enough to withstand powerful martial medicines. They'll end up failing to break through to the fourth round of Skin Polishing time and again."
Yang Qingfeng knew his disciple came from an ordinary background and didn't know much about martial arts, so he added, "There's a reason each of the four stages of Skin Polishing holds so many martial artists back. During their training, they may damage their foundations without realizing it. By the time they find out, it's already too late."
"Only a small number of people have fully matured bones and sinews before turning eighteen. Linyuan is one of them."
Lin Yan asked another question. "Master, if the Mysterious Heaven Sect only recruits martial artists who reach the fourth round of Skin Polishing before eighteen, does that mean people like Junior Brother Zhao, whose bones and sinews mature early, have something special about them? For example, an unusual constitution?"
He asked because he had thought of his own Stone Waist Savage Spine. At first, he had assumed martial artists were classified by their constitutions, but even after reaching the third round of Skin Polishing, he still hadn't heard anyone mention "special constitutions."
"Why would you think that?"
Yang Qingfeng was a little surprised by his disciple's question. He smiled and said, "There's no such thing as a special constitution in the martial world—or at least, I've never heard of one. Of course, you might be right. But if so, it would be a secret belonging to a far higher level of the martial world, beyond our knowledge."
Hearing his master's answer, Lin Yan felt a little disappointed. He had wondered whether cultivating his Stone Waist Savage Spine counted as having a special constitution.
"The reason the Mysterious Heaven Sect requires its disciples to reach the fourth round of Skin Polishing before eighteen is that they have to start training at sixteen to reach the fourth round by that age. Any later, and there isn't enough time. Those whose bones and sinews mature before eighteen really do progress faster in martial arts cultivation than those whose bodies mature afterward."
Lin Yan considered this. After a few moments, he asked, "Master, how does the martial world tell whether someone's bones and sinews have fully matured?"
Yang Qingfeng stroked his beard and thought for a moment. "They feel the bones and test the sinews, but these methods are mostly based on experience and aren't necessarily accurate. The most reliable method is to take a pill. Linyuan had someone feel his bones first, then took a Bone Setting Pill to confirm it."
"A Bone Setting Pill?"
"Someone whose bones and sinews have fully matured won't feel anything after taking one. It's just like drinking a bowl of water. But if they haven't fully matured, their bones will ache all over. The less mature their bones and sinews are, the stronger the reaction. Bone Setting Pills are difficult to make, though, and several of the ingredients are expensive. Each pill costs over a hundred taels. Ordinary families can't afford to spend that kind of money. Only major lineages can afford to use them to identify talented disciples early."
"I see. Thank you for explaining, Master. I understand." Lin Yan bowed, then smiled. "With Junior Brother Zhao's talent, he should have no trouble reaching the fourth round of Skin Polishing within the year."
"It won't be that easy." Yang Qingfeng smiled wryly. "To reach the fourth round within a year, Linyuan needs not only his natural talent but also a vast supply of martial arts resources. He and his family made an agreement with me that we would train him together. But now, I've already been bled dry, and the Zhao Family isn't doing any better."
After Linyuan reached the third round of Skin Polishing, the Zhao Family mortgaged several silver shops and storefronts in the city to the moneylender. They even sold all of their more than a hundred acres of good farmland outside the city.
The Zhao Family had spent a century's savings on Linyuan.
If the gamble paid off, they could get it all back.
If it failed, the Zhao Family's century-old estate would be gone.
"That's why I can't provide much support for your martial arts training. I hope you won't blame me."
"Master, you shouldn't say that. Everything I've achieved is thanks to your teaching, and that kindness is already immense. Junior Brother Zhao has a bright future ahead of him. It's only right that you devote your full efforts to training him. I'm grateful, not resentful."
Lin Yan's expression was sincere. He truly had no resentment. After all, his master and the Zhao Family had made their agreement first.
Besides, in everyone's eyes, Junior Brother Zhao had more potential than he did—unless he revealed the existence of his Martial Dao Tree.
But the Martial Dao Tree was his greatest trump card and secret. He could never expose it to anyone.
Yang Qingfeng looked at Lin Yan. The more sincere Lin Yan was, the guiltier he felt. If this were another martial arts hall, they would spare no effort to cultivate a gifted disciple like him.
After a long moment, he made a decision. "If another martial arts hall is willing to cultivate you, I'll allow you to transfer there."
Lin Yan froze. He looked up and saw how serious his master was. He understood that his master wasn't testing him; he felt guilty because he had devoted the resources to Junior Brother Zhao.
"I don't regret becoming your disciple, Master."
Lin Yan had never considered joining another martial arts hall.
"I'll make you a promise. You don't have to decide right away."
Yang Qingfeng sighed inwardly. Lin Yan's martial arts talent wasn't much worse than Linyuan's. He was simply two years older and came from a poorer background.
But those two points—especially the latter—were precisely what people valued most in the martial world. Otherwise, why would the families he had approached as a matchmaker have turned Lin Yan down?
Now that Lin Yan had reached the third round of Skin Polishing, they might accept if he brought up the marriage again.
But the thought had barely surfaced in Yang Qingfeng's mind when he dismissed it.
Those four families had already rejected Lin Yan once. Going to them again would only cost Lin Yan his pride and dignity.
That wouldn't do!