The two of them followed the covered corridor and made a circuit of the Martial Arts School.
The front courtyard was spacious, paved with bluestone. It was where the outer-court disciples practiced their forms and tempered their qi and blood.
After passing through the carved, hanging-flower gate, they reached the inner courtyard.
The scenery here was far more elegant.
Rockeries rose in layers, while a stream wound down from above with a soft, tinkling murmur. A stretch of bamboo grew in the corner, its leaves bearing the remnants of snow.
This was where the inner-court disciples cultivated and tested their martial skills.
As for the rear courtyard, Xu Chuan deliberately pointed at the moon gate and lowered his voice.
"That is where Master and Eldest Senior Sister live in secluded cultivation. Unless summoned, you must never enter without permission."
"Understood, Senior Brother."
There was also a dining hall, side rooms, an armory, a bathhouse, and all the other facilities one could need.
There were even several dormitories for the disciples to rest in. Their windows were bright and clean, and everything looked neat and orderly.
After making a tour of the front and rear courtyards, Xu Chuan stopped, his expression turning solemn, and began laying down the rules.
"Junior Brother Shen, our Martial Arts School doesn't have many rules for outer-court disciples. There are only two lines you must never cross."
"First, you must not casually invoke the Martial Arts School's name outside, bully others by relying on our influence, or stir up trouble."
"Second, you must respect your teacher and honor the path. Fellow disciples must not harm one another. Otherwise, Master will personally purge the school. Have you remembered that?"
Shen Xiuhan listened attentively, then cupped his hands. "I'll engrave it in my heart, Senior Brother!"
After setting down the rules, Shen Xiuhan waited a moment, but in the end he could not hold back his question.
"Senior Brother, when do I start practicing martial arts?"
"Look at you—getting impatient already?"
Xu Chuan seemed to have been waiting for him to ask that. He gave a sly laugh and shook his head with great relish.
"On the martial path, foundations matter most. As they say, a towering edifice rises from level ground... Junior Brother Shen, do you know the three great thresholds of the first stage of martial arts, the 'Bright Force Period'?"
Shen Xiuhan nodded.
"I know a little. Are they the three realms of Blood Tempering, Bone Tempering, and Tendon Tempering?"
"Exactly."
Xu Chuan smiled and recited a martial proverb.
"Knock on the Blood Gate in June, temper tendons and bones for three years. Don't say learning martial arts is painless—those who cut corners will never become tigers!"
"All things are difficult at the beginning, and the foundation is especially important. During your first few days at the Martial Arts School, Master will personally supervise you and teach you stance work."
"Once you've entered the proper path, you'll practice alongside the rest of us. Master will only appear to offer guidance during evaluations."
Shen Xiuhan suddenly understood and said sheepishly, "So that's how it is... I was being too hasty, Junior Brother..."
"Haha, it's nothing. We all came through the same way."
Shen Xiuhan paused, then asked again.
"Right, Senior Brother. What exactly did you mean by 'knock on the Blood Gate in June, temper tendons and bones for three years'?"
Seeing that he was asking so humbly, Xu Chuan patiently explained.
"That refers to the three thresholds of Bright Force."
"For example, 'knock on the Blood Gate in June' means that someone with decent martial bones, if they diligently practices stance work every day, can sense their qi and blood surging within six months at most and knock open the gate to the Blood Tempering Realm."
"Afterward, once the qi and blood throughout the body have been tempered and the circulation of qi and blood has become one, they can attempt Bone Tempering..."
"But the Bone Tempering Realm is still far too distant for you. What you need to do now is sense your qi and blood within six months. Only then can you be said to have entered the proper path."
Six months...
Shen Xiuhan fell into thought.
No wonder Mei Shuangfeng said yesterday that half a year was enough to tell whether he was a dragon or a worm on the martial path. So that was what she meant!
But to him, six months was far too slow.
Ma Xianyang would never give him that much time.
After pondering for a moment, Shen Xiuhan asked, "Senior Brother, does everyone need six months to sense their qi and blood?"
"Of course not."
Xu Chuan immediately shook his head.
"Being able to sense qi and blood within six months can only be called barely passing. Those with truly exceptional martial talent can sense their qi and blood in as little as one or two months."
"Oh? How long did it take you to sense yours, Senior Brother?"
"Me?"
Xu Chuan laughed heartily, his tone rather proud.
"It took me thirty-seven days."
Thirty-seven days...
No wonder he was the second senior brother of the inner courtyard. He truly had outstanding talent.
"Then was Second Senior Brother the fastest person in our Martial Arts School to sense his qi and blood?"
"Er... not quite. There's one person faster than me—our Eldest Senior Sister."
Eldest Senior Sister?
She must be the woman in martial attire who took him to meet Mei Shuangfeng yesterday.
At the mention of Eldest Senior Sister, Xu Chuan visibly grew interested, his expression brimming with enthusiasm.
"Back then, Eldest Senior Sister sensed her qi and blood in only eighteen days. That was why she, Bai Jing, Luo Tangyin, and Zhao Honggang of Longcloud County were known together as the 'Four Heroes of Longcloud.'"
Shen Xiuhan failed to notice the slight pause in Xu Chuan's tone when he spoke the final name.
His mind was entirely occupied with figuring out how to sense his qi and blood as quickly as possible.
After hearing Xu Chuan's words, Shen Xiuhan gave a bitter smile.
"Senior Brother, you all cultivated so quickly. It's putting a great deal of pressure on me. What if my martial bones are too poor, and I can't temper my qi and blood even in six months...?"
"Hey, who told you that we all tempered our qi and blood through hard work alone?"
"Huh?"
Seeing the bewilderment on Shen Xiuhan's face, Xu Chuan smiled and explained.
"There's an old saying: 'The poor study letters; the rich study martial arts.' On the martial path, aside from one's own talent, all kinds of cultivation resources are indispensable."
"For example, the secret medicinal paste refined by Master. If you smear it over your entire body, then absorb its medicinal power while practicing stance work, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort."
Shen Xiuhan suddenly understood. He thought of the Silver-backed Fish he had sold to Mei Shuangfeng and asked, "Senior Brother, what about Treasure Fish? I've heard people say that eating one Treasure Fish is worth several months of painstaking cultivation?"
"Eating it?"
Xu Chuan laughed and shook his head.
"That's completely wrong. Eating a Treasure Fish is practically throwing away a priceless treasure."
Shen Xiuhan looked slightly embarrassed at his words and hurriedly cupped his hands. "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
"This isn't some great secret. You'll learn it yourself in time, but I'll give you a simple explanation."
Xu Chuan's expression grew more solemn.
"A Treasure Fish is filled with the creations of Heaven and Earth. If you swallow it whole, seven or eight parts out of ten of its medicinal power will be lost."
"Of course, it must be supplemented with various aged ginseng roots and precious spirit herbs, then handed to an alchemist to refine into pills. Only then can its essence be locked inside."
"Some fierce Treasure Fish even possess strange bone spikes that can be given to a master craftsman and forged into divine weapons sharp enough to slice through iron like mud..."
Shen Xiuhan could not help thinking of the bone spike at the mouth of that Silver-backed Fish.
"So, for martial artists, only by taking qi-and-blood treasure pills refined from Treasure Fish can one achieve progress that advances a thousand miles in a single day."
"Speaking of Treasure Fish..."
Xu Chuan looked Shen Xiuhan up and down.
"I heard you came to the school yesterday carrying a fish basket. I take it you're also a fisherman who makes a living on the lake?"
"Er, that's right."
"Then if you happen to catch a Treasure Fish in the future, you can sell it directly to Master."
Seeing the incomprehension on Shen Xiuhan's face, Xu Chuan smiled and said, "There's something you don't know. Refining treasure pills requires an alchemist to do it personally."
"Most of the alchemists in Longcloud County have been taken in as guest retainers by the great clans. If you take a Treasure Fish to them, who knows how many portions of the finished pills those black-hearted fellows will embezzle!"
"And our esteemed Master is precisely an alchemist who has kept her abilities hidden!"
"Not only that, Master charges the inner-court disciples a fair price. Compared with the pills on the black market outside, hers are one or two tenths cheaper."
"I see..."
Shen Xiuhan suddenly understood.
He could not help picturing the great cauldron he had glimpsed behind the screen yesterday when he went to the main room in the rear courtyard.
Before you continue