Jiang Ding closed his eyes and nurtured the twelfth regular meridian, the Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, occasionally mixing in practice of the Minor Breath-Concealing Technique. His aura was like stone, like wood.
Suddenly, his brows furrowed.
After thinking briefly, he tapped his feet lightly and landed atop the courtyard wall. A few steps later, he moved across the eaves of various houses like a soundless bird.
"Mmgh..."
In a corner, Liu Qi, the scar-faced burly man, tightly covered a filthy, scrawny little beggar with a handkerchief. Moments later, the child's body went limp as mud and was thrown to the ground.
"Enough. Move him onto the carriage." Liu Qi snorted coldly and said to the two men behind him, "Whenever I have you do something, it's either this mistake or that oversight!"
"Yes, Brother Qi!"
The two burly men nodded and bowed, swiftly carrying the beggar onto the carriage.
The curtain was lifted, revealing a carriage packed with teenage beggar children, strewn haphazardly across the compartment.
"Hurry up. The gang leader needs them urgently. Damn it, where are we supposed to find so many beggars..." Liu Qi wiped his hands in disgust, about to do something when his expression changed drastically.
A youth in blue robes had appeared not far from him at some unknown moment, silently watching.
His hand rested on his sword hilt.
Thud!
"Spare my life, young hero!"
Liu Qi dropped to his knees, his body trembling violently. He could not help recalling the sight of the Wolf Guard's head hitting the ground, blood gushing everywhere.
"Talk."
Jiang Ding took a light breath, calming some of the icy killing intent within him.
"The Wild Wolf Gang has lofty ambitions. It hasn't been long, and you've already gotten into the business of kidnapping children. Your future is boundless."
He had always disliked involving himself in the slaughter and conflicts of the natives.
But seeing boys and girls his own age, or even younger than him, reduced to such a miserable fate, he could not bear it.
"This..."
Liu Qi looked around. The two burly men understood at once and immediately ran some distance away, looking ready to flee the instant anything went wrong.
"My lord, this lowly one doesn't want to do such a conscience-destroying thing either. It was an order from above."
Liu Qi revealed a bitter expression. "It was an order from the Zheng Clan. They demanded that our Wild Wolf Gang offer up fifty virgin boys and girls under twenty years old, otherwise... our Wild Wolf Gang wouldn't be able to withstand it."
That was naturally a lie. To people in these gangs, kidnapping children was no different from collecting protection money.
Those who roamed the martial world—what conscience did they have?
"Why? What are they for?"
Jiang Ding's heart grew colder and colder. Yet the education he had received taught him that in all things, he had to trace matters to their root and solve the problem at its essential level.
"Perhaps they're training deathsworn? Raising eunuch slaves? Or perhaps harvesting the living and carving the dead to cultivate some evil art?" Liu Qi's face twisted bitterly. "How could small fry like us know what grand figures like the Zheng Clan are thinking?"
The Zheng Clan.
Killing intent brewed in Jiang Ding's heart, yet he had no choice but to bury it.
The Zheng Clan was related by marriage to the Eastern Spirit Marquis's Manor. If he moved against them, it would very likely draw the garrison army here and ruin the flourishing situation he currently had.
Forget it. Forget it.
I'm only a high school student. My aptitude and strength are low, I'm clumsy and worthless—what right do I have to settle grudges to my heart's content?
"I can't control other places."
Jiang Ding said in a low voice, "But on Rotten Plank Street and in the several nearby blocks, this must never happen again. Otherwise, Long Shi, you, and anyone else involved will pay for it with your lives."
"Yes, yes, yes! Rest assured."
Liu Qi nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice, not caring whether he could actually accomplish it.
"It had better be so."
The cold voice came from somewhere nearby. Liu Qi raised his head and looked around, but the youth had already vanished without a trace.
Back in the small courtyard, Jiang Ding felt somewhat downcast and summoned Huang Deyou.
"How many beggars are there near our shop who were forced into it, not the kind who indulge in idleness and hate work?" Jiang Ding asked.
"Boss, are you..."
Huang Deyou was startled. Considering Jiang Ding's conduct lately, apart from those who deliberately provoked him, he was almost harmless to everyone and even took the initiative to consider others.
Though admiration rose in his heart, he advised, "Boss, it would be best not to do this. These beggars are the authorities' concern. We can't handle it. Once we get involved, there'll be endless trouble."
"All the beggars in the city might come to us."
"That is what you should be thinking about!"
Jiang Ding said flatly, "Go do it. Investigate the number of beggars on Rotten Plank Street and the nearby streets. Find ways to make sure they can eat their fill. Don't simply hand out porridge. Find work for them, teach them one or two survival skills, and so on. I'll allocate silver for you."
"Also... stop other beggars from entering the area around Rotten Plank Street. Have Long Shi deal with that."
"Boss, your righteousness is towering!"
Huang Deyou gave a deep bow and said no more about the difficulties.
Ninety-nine percent of matters in this world could be solved as long as one was willing to spend silver.
"Go."
Jiang Ding sat in his chair, one hand on his sword hilt, continuing to use his inner force to nurture and temper the twelfth regular meridian, the Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian.
At a certain moment,
From beyond the heavens, a faint sound like mountains collapsing and seas roaring seemed to arrive. All the inner force throughout his body froze motionless, then suddenly turned violent and surged toward a point at the center.
At his lower left abdomen, his inner force began to rotate, first slow, then fast, then gradually slowing again. The inner force running through all twelve regular meridians flowed into this place, then flowed back out, circulating throughout his entire body.
His dantian qi sea had formed!
Jiang Ding felt the inner force between the twelve regular meridians become one whole. Even if left alone, it could circulate in cycles by itself, while the speed at which inner qi was generated had at least doubled!
He drew his sword.
Clang!
A flash of bright sword light vanished in an instant before returning to its sheath.
"The speed and quality of my inner force have both improved slightly."
Jiang Ding caught a bright yellow fallen leaf. Applying a little force with his index finger and thumb, he divided it into two identical thin halves and let them drift to the ground.
Then, with a thought, inner force formed a complex true-qi structure between the twelve regular meridians. His entire aura rapidly disappeared without a trace, like earth and stone.
"The Minor Breath-Concealing Technique has become easier to execute. I should be able to reach the proficient level within a week."
Jiang Ding murmured to himself.
This was the Immortal Sect's Young Eagle Inner Qi realm of the "Minor Celestial Circuit"!
The twelve regular meridians had undergone initial tempering and formed a single circulating whole, bringing a minor qualitative transformation in every aspect.
Beyond that, he could now temper and nurture twenty tiny meridians every day, doubling his previous efficiency.
"My next stage of cultivation is to continue tempering the tiny branch meridians of the twelve regular meridians, allowing them to hold more inner force, returning from acquired to Innate step by step. The next realm is the 'Lesser Celestial Circuit.' Each of the twelve regular meridians must have one hundred tiny branch meridians tempered, for a total of twelve hundred."
"With a Hundred Essences Transform Qi Pill every day, along with the Purple Jade Qi-Nourishing Pill issued by the school, I can temper twenty tiny meridians a day under these conditions..."
Jiang Ding calculated briefly.
"Fifty-four days. Roughly two months should be enough to reach the 'Lesser Celestial Circuit' realm."
That speed was quite good.
Calling him a genius would be no problem at all. Before the college entrance examinations, he had hope of reaching the completion of inner qi and tempering the twenty thousand tiny branch meridians of the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians required for completion.
However, there was still a vast distance between that and the one hundred and eight thousand meridians throughout the human body required for Fledgling Innate.
"Two paths."
Jiang Ding's gaze was profound. Naturally, he would not be satisfied with this.
"First, raise my comprehension of the cultivation method to major accomplishment or even perfection, which will greatly increase my tempering speed. Second, obtain the 'Blue Gold Potion'!"
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