Gravely Wounded

Several more days flew by, and the entire street of martial arts halls grew livelier still. Those pulling strings pulled strings.

Those buying pills bought pills.

Outside Benevolent Harmony Hall and Golden Jade Hall in the inner city, people packed the streets. The queues stretched from one end to the other.

Even with all their manpower and resources committed, supply still could not meet demand.

After all, the Martial Arts Examination allowed approved pills. Even a Dark Force martial artist needed three or four days to absorb the vitality boost from a whole pill.

Vitality Powder was less effective, putting it at a disadvantage in the grueling examination.

Duan Xuan spared Benevolent Harmony Hall the extra trouble and went to the martial arts hall as usual to practice his Broken Mountain Fist.

"Hello, Senior Brother Duan!"

"Junior Brother Duan, you're here early again today?"

"Senior Brother Duan, Erniu and I don't understand a few parts of the technique. Could we ask you about them?"

Duan Xuan nodded to each of them. He rarely turned away fellow disciples who came to him for advice, and he never charged them.

For most people, merely surviving was hard enough. Those who came to learn martial arts were the poorest of the poor.

They were no different from him as he had once been.

If he looked on coldly or seized the chance to profit,

he truly would not know how to write the word "human."

"Senior Brother Duan, my vitality's been brimming lately. I think I can make a push for Ming Force by the end of the month!" Liu Tie excitedly handed Duan Xuan a meat bun, clearly one he had saved for him. "Practicing beside you every day has taught me a lot.

I've learned so much about the techniques and how to build vitality!"

Duan Xuan took the bun with a cheerful grin. "Enough sweet talk. Diligent practice is the proper path."

"Got it, got it." Liu Tie settled into a Broken Mountain Fist stance, grinning. "Senior Brother Duan, Senior Brother Zhang Chen's been gone a while. Know where he went?"

Duan Xuan paused. He really did not know. Zhang Chen had been gone for over half a month.

He had left the hall so suddenly that Duan Xuan had assumed he had found a good position elsewhere to earn money.

But the way Liu Tie brought it up told him otherwise.

"Don't tell anyone else. I happened to overhear two senior sisters talking yesterday. Senior Brother Zhang Chen actually went to Cloudfall County to deliver a letter for Master."

"Cloudfall County? The county town nearly a hundred li from here?"

Liu Tie nodded furiously, still shaken. "Didn't see that coming, did you?

Master has several friends there who run martial arts halls. Apparently, they're all Hua Force experts too.

He's contacting them so our disciples won't be ambushed during the Martial Arts Examination.

He's also hoping to bring over a disciple who doesn't want to compete.

You might not have heard, but a Dark Force martial artist has been challenging halls in the neighboring county lately.

Disciples from six or seven halls have suffered. Their top senior brothers had their martial foundations destroyed and were left crippled!"

Duan Xuan frowned. He truly had not heard, but what did it matter? What did challenging a hall mean?

One person taking on an entire martial arts hall!

Losing would be one thing. Winning would be no different from slapping the hall master in the face before everyone.

And after challenging that many halls, the local halls would never let that person leave.

By now, they had probably broken the challenger's arms and legs and buried him alive.

Master Chen Feng's and Liu Tie's worries were entirely unnecessary.

Still, taking precautions against Scale Python Martial Academy made sense.

One of their senior brothers who served as an assistant instructor had already been badly injured and was still recovering at a fine clinic in Yellow Snake County.

"Going by the timing, Senior Brother Zhang Chen should be back today." For some reason, Liu Tie grew excited as he said it.

He rubbed his hands together. "Think any of those other halls have pretty young women like our two senior sisters?

Once I break through to Dark Force, I'll marry one and bring her home to be a good daughter-in-law to my mother!"

Duan Xuan had no interest in hearing Liu Tie boast any longer. What concerned him was where Senior Brothers Song Dayuan and Wu Hui had gone.

Today was the day they were to make their final attempt to break through to Dark Force, yet Duan Xuan had not seen either of them since their sparring match a few days ago.

Even by evening, neither had appeared.

"Junior Brother Liu Tie, do you know what those two senior brothers have been busy with? I haven't seen them making any preparations to break through to Dark Force these past two days."

Liu Tie let out an "Ah" and blinked. "I thought you knew. So you don't.

After they sparred with you, Senior Brothers Song Dayuan and Wu Hui packed their bags and left the hall late that very night.

Senior Sister Jingyun tried to stop them. She told them to wait and attempt the breakthrough to Dark Force five days later, but they were determined. No one could make them stay.

The other Ming Force senior brothers looked miserable too, as though they were the ones leaving. Strange!"

"I see..." A wave of sorrow passed through Duan Xuan.

Without natural aptitude, connections, resources, or even a lucky break, the martial path was merciless to ordinary people.

Looking back over the past few months, he had not been especially close to either man, but they had talked and sparred from time to time.

He knew the other disciples' grief was genuine too.

But they were not mourning those two. They were afraid for their own futures.

Time flew like the sun and moon. Duan Xuan did not know how long Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall had stood in this county town, but every year newcomers entered, and every year older disciples left.

The hall narrowed the gap between social classes, but outside its doors, class remained class. However deep the bonds between fellow disciples, a lifetime might not be enough to cross that divide.

"Ah..." In the end, all he could do was sigh. The paths of those two men and Duan Xuan had drifted ever farther apart.

That evening, Duan Xuan was drenched in sweat. He had drilled the moves of Broken Mountain Fist over and over, yet the final two still gave him no insight. He had grown numb to it.

"Perhaps only at Hua Force will I truly understand those two moves!" He packed his things and was about to leave.

Suddenly, cries came from outside the gate.

"Master! Senior Sister! Help! They... they fought dirty!"

At the familiar sound of Zhou Ye's voice, even the disciples exhausted from training surged outside in a great wave.

Zhou Ye stood there covered in blood and in a wretched state. On his back lay a tall man, barely breathing. The wounds had cut through flesh to sinew and bone, exposing stark white bone beneath.

"Junior Brother Zhou! Senior Brother Zhang Chen! What happened?"

The disciples immediately took up guarded stances while ushering the two into the courtyard.

Disciples from nearby halls watched the commotion; some ran inside their own courtyards to report to their masters. Passersby on the street recoiled in fright and kept their distance.

Yet they could not help wondering what had happened at the hall.

Bang!

The gates of Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall slammed shut, cutting off the prying crowd.

"What happened? Were the hall's disciples attacked by bandits?"

"Don't be ridiculous. They'd never dare."

"With injuries that bad, could a Demon Beast have done it?"

"A Demon Beast? You've been reading too many storybooks. There's no such thing. Shoo, kid, go sell your flatbreads!"

"Could the undead army have made it here?"

The crowd fell silent, and the talk died away.

Only after a long while did someone break the silence. "Impossible. The undead army is a hundred and eight thousand li away. I heard Scale Python Martial Academy did it.

Those two halls haven't been getting along lately. They were fighting tooth and nail just a few days ago.

I heard that Dragon-Elephant Academy even sent someone over."