Passing the Test and a Kind Gesture

"Let this old man say it one more time: lift a hundred-jin stone pedestal overhead more than thirty times, and you pass. Do not think that stepping into the Three-Knock Blood Pass means you have succeeded!"

The old man's teasing voice echoed beside everyone's ears. For a moment, they all looked at one another, at a complete loss.

"So reaching the Three-Knock Blood Pass does not necessarily meet the requirements!"

"Hmph. To lift it more than thirty times, not only must your stance training be close to perfection, but you must also cultivate a fist or kicking technique to the minor accomplishment stage. Otherwise, even if your blood and qi are abundant, without skill in exerting force, how could you possibly lift it thirty times?"

"Damn plague on it! There is only one month left out of the hundred days. Where could there be enough time..."

A sharp gleam flashed through Wang Xuance's eyes as he asked inwardly.

"Senior, can this man see through my true martial cultivation?"

"No. Though he is one realm above you, so long as you do not unleash all your blood and qi, he cannot stare through to your true realm with his eyesight!"

Before long, it was Wang Xuance's turn to step forward.

"Name?"

"Wang Xuance!"

"Begin!"

Wang Xuance took a step forward. His sleeves swayed despite the absence of wind. With a grab of his five fingers, he moved to lift the stone pedestal, which was no larger than a millstone.

Yet the instant his hand touched it, he suddenly felt that the force he exerted was like a stream meeting protruding rocks, its flow split apart, instantly dispersing the strength from his palm.

"Hmph!"

Wang Xuance's lips curled. The knuckles of his clenched fingers turned golden, and a fierce, unyielding force erupted violently. His powerful aura billowed his robes round.

"Up!"

He scooped up the stone pedestal and hurled it high into the air!

"Hm?"

The old man watching from afar noticed the abnormality in Wang Xuance's palm, and his expression changed in surprise.

"This is... Vajra Fist at the perfected level?!"

"He looks so young. Which guard post did he come from?"

"What immense strength. I have watched quite a few people show signs of exhaustion after their very first lift, yet he has thrown it dozens of times in one breath without losing steam!"

"It seems he will be today's first person to pass..."

The muscles in Wang Xuance's right arm knotted like coiled dragons. The stone pedestal became a gray blur, tumbling up and down as fierce winds howled.

Yet the young man's expression was somewhat strange. This stone weighed far more than a hundred jin. Each time it rose and fell, its downward momentum approached well over a thousand jin. Had his Vajra Fist not reached perfection, how could he have looked so relaxed?

"Huff!"

He expelled a mouthful of turbid air. The great dragon of his spine shook as he gathered strength to throw it, then caught it in turn. In mere moments, he had completed thirty lifts.

Bang!

The stone pedestal struck the ground and smashed out a furrow a foot long. Smoke and dust swirled into the air.

Cries of astonishment rang out from the surrounding crowd. They all declared that Wang Xuance possessed exceptional talent and inborn divine strength, becoming the first Martial Practitioner to pass that day!

"Wang Xuance, is it? Your blood and qi are full as a surging river, rolling in endless waves, dense and enduring, ceaselessly renewing. Your use of force is exquisite, and your fist technique is perfected!"

"You pass. This is a temporary identity token. Once you officially pass the trials, you will become a valiant Border Army soldier on the same standing as me!"

The old man handed him an ivory token, upon which his own name was written in seal script. At the same time, a black jade slip followed after it.

"This jade slip contains some points of attention. May Brother Wang pass the trials smoothly!"

Wang Xuance casually accepted them and gave the old man a grateful look.

"Tsk, tsk, this man is truly formidable. He looks utterly ordinary, but once he acts, he is truly extraordinary!"

"What a young lad. Look, even Senior Qian has shown him goodwill in advance. It is clear that his talent is exceptional and cannot be measured by ordinary standards..."

Amid the crowd's praise, Wang Xuance returned to his small two-courtyard residence. However, a sheet of paper had been tucked into the door bolt. Had he not drawn close, he would have nearly missed it.

"Brother Wang, Ling'er has encountered an urgent matter and begs Brother Wang to lend a hand. Once it is settled, I shall reward you with a martial art capable of opening Martial Apertures!"

The few lines of small characters were tightly packed and hurriedly written, showing just how desperately urgent the writer's situation was.

"Could Chen Feng have broken through to become a Martial Practitioner? Or has she encountered some other trouble?"

During that trip to the cave dwelling, Wang Xuance had spared her life so that he could have a faction to rely upon in White Light Outer City, and no longer find his actions hampered at every turn.

Who could have expected that she would instead come seeking his help? As for martial arts capable of opening Martial Apertures, he already possessed three such manuals. Greed for too much brought no benefit.

"Fine. There is no harm in making the trip. If I cannot defeat the enemy, I can simply leave. The Blood Sword I planted still rests in her heart. Who holds whom in their grasp remains to be seen!"

With his thoughts clear, Wang Xuance looked at the black jade slip in his hand.

His entire body could not help but relax, and a long-lost sense of ease flowed through his heart.

He had endured countless dangers along the way. He had fled after his martial hall was annihilated, evaded pursuit, and luckily been saved by the old monk, escaping death by a hair's breadth. To obtain enough True Martial Qi, he had formed enmity with Qilian Mountains, a great sect of the Demon Sect. At the Six Schools Martial Meet, he had nearly lost his life... He had weathered such long years of slaughter for the sake of passing today's assessment smoothly.

A sharp gleam flickered in his eyes, and his heart brimmed with exhilaration.

"Once I enter the Border Army, why should I fear that my martial path will rise too slowly!"

"As for acquiring True Martial Qi, slaughter on the border offers an almost inexhaustible supply. To me, this martial path is both cultivation resources and a trial of life and death!"

Medicine King Shop, underground secret chamber.

Chen Linger wore a slender white celestial robe that outlined her graceful, curvaceous figure. Her expression was slightly uneasy as she stood with her hands clasped behind her back, gazing at the secret chamber behind her.

Rumble—

The stone door opened, and a lean young man stepped out. He had sword-like brows, starry eyes, phoenix eyes that carried authority, and a subdued aura. A trace of blood qi showed at the corner of his mouth.

"Brother!"

Chen Linger cried out in alarm and hurried forward to support the handsome young man. Tears poured from her eyes like rain, and her sobs came in gasps.

"Sister, your brother is useless. This time, I failed to break through and become a Martial Practitioner. In the end, inner demons interfered, and in my impatience, I fell just short..."

The young man was Chen Mufeng, the eldest legitimate son of the Chen Clan's main branch, Chen Linger's elder brother by the same mother, and the member of the Chen Clan's younger generation most qualified to challenge the Martial Practitioner realm.

"I failed... Sister... Cough, cough..."

The young man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. His hand clamped tightly over his lips, but scarlet blood dripped through the gaps between his fingers, pattering down.

His eyes held both helplessness and regret. After swallowing the blood with effort, he gently patted Chen Linger's back.

"If I wish to challenge the pass again, I must at least tend to my injuries for half a year. Our branch will most likely have no chance at the patriarch's position..."

"Then give it up..."

His helpless, deep voice echoed through the secret chamber, as though lamenting a lifetime of unfulfilled ambition!

Tears shimmered in Chen Linger's beautiful eyes as she cried unwillingly.

"Brother clearly has superior bone quality. Breaking through to become a Martial Practitioner should have always been as natural as water flowing into a channel. How could Chen Feng, with merely middling bone quality, become a Martial Practitioner before you?!"

"Breaking through to become a Martial Practitioner is itself dangerous and difficult. A breakthrough in martial cultivation is a test of one's state of mind. Chen Feng has trained in the army for many years and is thoroughly accustomed to fighting opponents in pairs. In the end, I lost to him by a notch in my state of mind..."

What seemed like a difference of a hair was in truth a gulf of hundreds or thousands of miles. The martial path was like rowing against the current: if one did not advance, one retreated. Bone quality alone was truly insufficient to travel far.

Seeing the unwillingness in his younger sister's eyes, how could Chen Mufeng, as her elder brother, not understand her stubborn nature? Once she set her mind on something, she permitted success alone and never failure.

"Sister, if our main branch cannot contend for it, then do not contend. You have only just broken through the Three-Knock Blood Pass. You are even less likely to be Chen Feng's match. We have only lost for the moment; we have not lost for a lifetime!"

Chen Linger's tears stopped. She spoke unwillingly.

"Brother, I will definitely help our branch overcome this crisis. Definitely!"

The moment she finished speaking, the girl seemed to have made a grave decision. Gritting her silver teeth, she turned and left, while the image of a burly figure surfaced in her mind...