Disciple

The morning light of autumn filtered through the creaking wooden door of the Xingyi Martial Arts Hall, casting a patch of warm yellow onto the moss-speckled brick floor of the front courtyard.

As Chen Jianghe stepped through the gate, several senior and junior disciples were already up, loosening their limbs near the stone locks in the corner. Seeing him enter, a few nodded in greeting: "Jianghe, you're here?"

"Morning." Chen Jianghe nodded to each of them in turn, his pace never faltering as he crossed the front courtyard and headed toward the back.

Li Chengyue was still sprawled in his bamboo lounge chair, a wine gourd resting on his belly, rising and falling slightly with his breath.

His eyes were closed, a trace of last night's wine still staining the corners of his mouth, his graying hair draped messily over his shoulders.

In this state, anyone would take him for nothing more than a decadent, hopeless drunkard.

Chen Jianghe walked to the locust tree, stood still, and bowed: "Master."

Li Chengyue did not open his eyes, merely letting out a grunt through his nose, muttering vaguely: "If you have something to say, say it. If not, don't disturb my good dream."

Chen Jianghe straightened up, took a deep breath, and slowly raised his right hand.

There was no stance, no gathering of strength. He simply curled his fingers into a loose fist and pressed gently against the air in front of him.

Three feet away, a locust leaf that had just fallen beside the stone stool silently disintegrated into fine powder.

In the lounge chair, Li Chengyue's snoring stopped abruptly.

He snapped his eyes open, and those eyes, usually clouded with drunken haze, suddenly erupted with two beams of sharp light, locking onto Chen Jianghe's hand, which he had yet to withdraw.

"You—" Li Chengyue's voice was somewhat parched.

Chen Jianghe withdrew his hand and bowed: "This disciple is untalented, but I have luckily broken through the barrier. Dark Strength is now nascent."

"Damn the heavens..." Li Chengyue whispered, his voice raspy and strained, "You actually succeeded?!"

He stood up with a start, shuffling in his shoes as he rushed to Chen Jianghe in a few strides, his thin, withered hand darting out like lightning to grip Chen Jianghe's wrist.

His finger strength pierced to the bone, internal energy surging through.

Li Chengyue's expression shifted repeatedly, from shock and doubt to confirmation, then to awe, finally settling into a complex look that defied description.

"How old are you?" He released his grip, his voice low.

Chen Jianghe bowed: "Reporting to Master, I have just turned eighteen."

"Eighteen... eighteen..." Li Chengyue repeated the words, then suddenly stumbled, retreating until he collapsed back into the bamboo lounge chair. His entire frame seemed to have had its spine removed, and he slumped down in defeat.

Those eyes, which had been radiating such intensity, turned murky once more.

Chen Jianghe stood quietly, saying nothing.

The courtyard was deathly silent.

Only the morning breeze passed through the bare branches, making a low, mournful sound.

I do not know how much time passed before Li Chengyue finally raised his head.

He stared at Chen Jianghe, his lips moving as if to say something, but in the end, he only let out a long, heavy sigh.

"To reach Dark Strength in just over a year," he muttered to himself, his voice so soft it was almost swallowed by the wind, "Eighteen... only two years left... if you do not reach Transforming Strength before twenty, you will never meet the requirements..."

He suddenly stood up, shuffling in his shoes, and paced back and forth under the locust tree with his hands behind his back.

His steps were somewhat erratic, completely lacking his usual lazy composure.

Chen Jianghe watched him silently.

Requirements? What requirements?

Li Chengyue stopped, turned to look at him, and spoke in a low voice: "Jianghe, do you know that in the path of martial arts, there is an unspoken saying?"

"Please enlighten me, Master."

"If you do not reach Transforming Strength before twenty, you are destined to be mediocre." Li Chengyue enunciated each word clearly. "This does not mean you cannot reach Transforming Strength after twenty, but rather... only by breaking through the barrier of Transforming Strength before twenty can one hope to glimpse higher realms."

He paused, his gaze like a deep, ancient well: "You are eighteen now, and Dark Strength is nascent. To go from Dark Strength to Transforming Strength in two years..."

Chen Jianghe's heart jolted: "Transforming Strength... before twenty?"

"Correct." Li Chengyue nodded. "Only by reaching Transforming Strength before twenty do you have the chance to receive the true teachings of my Xingyi Sect."

Li Chengyue stared at Chen Jianghe for a long time, then suddenly let out a long breath, as if he had made a major decision.

"Enough." He waved his hand and turned toward his room. "Wait here."

Chen Jianghe bowed: "Yes."

Before long, Li Chengyue emerged.

Chen Jianghe looked up, his heart skipping a beat.

His master had changed his clothes—it was the very same navy blue cotton-linen robe he had worn the day he accepted him as an official disciple.

His graying hair was neatly tied back with a wooden hairpin, and his face, usually clouded by drink, was now scrubbed clean of any trace of alcohol. His brows were calm, his back straight.

Just standing there, he possessed the bearing of a deep pool or a towering mountain.

Li Chengyue walked to the stone table in the courtyard and retrieved an old wooden box from a hidden compartment beneath it.

He opened it to reveal a half-foot-tall brass incense burner, three sticks of incense, and a black lacquered wooden tablet.

He placed the burner in the center of the stone table, lit the incense, and thin wisps of blue smoke began to rise.

"Chen Jianghe." Li Chengyue spoke, each word clear and distinct, "You have been in my Xingyi Martial Arts Hall for over a year now. Today, having achieved your initial mastery of Dark Strength, according to the sect rules, you shall be accepted as a direct disciple."

He paused, his gaze like a torch: "Kneel."

Chen Jianghe lifted his robes and knelt, his spine straight, his expression calm.

Li Chengyue held an incense stick, bowing three times toward the east, each bow slow and forceful.

He then inserted the incense into the burner; the blue smoke rose straight up, neither scattering nor swaying in the windless courtyard.

He turned around and declared in a resonant voice: "Li Chengyue, successor of the Xingyi Sect, today accepts Chen Jianghe as a direct disciple to inherit my mantle and continue my lineage. I hope you will practice diligently and attain clarity of heart and nature."

The voice echoed through the courtyard, startling a few birds from the locust tree, sending them fluttering into the sky.

"Kowtow." Li Chengyue stepped back half a pace, "Three kowtows: one for heaven and earth, one for the ancestors, and one for the sect."

Chen Jianghe complied, kowtowing respectfully three times toward the incense burner. His forehead struck the blue bricks with a solid, resonant sound.

When he rose, Li Chengyue had already walked up to him and reached out to help him up.

Their eyes met.

The complex emotions in Li Chengyue's eyes had mostly faded, replaced by a deep sense of expectation: "From this day forward, you are my direct disciple. In your future training, I shall teach you everything I know."

He paused, his tone suddenly stern: "Remember, as a direct disciple, you must also uphold the spirit of our Xingyi Sect. You must not betray your master or ancestors, you must not bully the weak, and you must not use martial arts to break the law. Those who violate this will have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the sect!"

"This disciple will remember!" Chen Jianghe replied solemnly.

Li Chengyue nodded, then suddenly rubbed his hands together, revealing a rare look of embarrassment: "A direct disciple should receive a master's gift. However..."

He gave a wry smile, "This old man's savings have long been emptied by wine. Wait a few days; I will go out and return to make it up to you."

With that, he said no more, turned back into the house, and soon emerged with a small bundle. He nodded at Chen Jianghe and strode out of the courtyard.

His figure disappeared outside the gate.

Chen Jianghe: "..."

Familiar footsteps and a jaunty, humming tune drifted in from outside the gate.

"Oh, little junior brother! You were hard to find; so this is where you were hiding!"

Su Derong sauntered in, waving his fan, his face wearing his usual relaxed smile.

But that smile froze for an instant when he caught sight of the incense smoke on the stone table and the marks of the prayer mat on the ground.

He stopped in his tracks, his gaze shifting between the incense burner and Chen Jianghe, before he looked up to carefully assess Chen Jianghe's aura.

Upon this inspection, his pupils shrank.

The fan in Su Derong's hand fell to the ground with a clack.

"You... you've reached Dark Strength!?" Su Derong's voice was filled with incredulous shock.

"Yes. A lucky breakthrough." Chen Jianghe nodded calmly.

He stared wide-eyed at Chen Jianghe for a long while before bending down to pick up his fan, exclaiming in shock: "Dark Strength... you kid, you really make one look at you in a new light. It took me three full years to go from Bright Strength to Dark Strength."

He paused, pointing his fan toward the incense burner, his tone complex: "You performed the apprenticeship ceremony? He accepted you as a direct disciple?"

Chen Jianghe nodded: "Yes. Master just left, saying he had to go out for a few days and would discuss the follow-up with me when he returns."

"Yes, he should prepare properly. Now you really are my little junior brother. This master of ours... I'll have to prepare a gift myself when the time comes."

Chen Jianghe was silent for a moment, then steered the conversation away: "Did you come over today because of something at the escort agency? Or..."

"Oh, right, right!" Hearing this, Su Derong slapped his forehead with his fan, "Look at my memory, I was so busy being shocked that I almost forgot the main point!"