Knock Open the Blood Gate in Six Months, Temper Sinews and Bones for Three Years

The two of them followed the covered corridor and made a circuit through the martial hall.

The front courtyard was spacious, paved with bluestone. It was where outer-court disciples practiced martial arts and tempered their qi and blood.

Beyond the carved hanging gate lay the inner courtyard.

The scenery here was far more elegant.

Rockeries rose in layers, while a stream of living water wound its way down with a soft, babbling murmur. A grove of bamboo had been planted by the wall, remnants of snow piled upon its leaves.

This was where 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 cultivate in seclusion and reside. You must never enter without being summoned."

"I understand, Senior Brother."

There were also dining halls, side rooms, an armory, bathhouses, and every other facility one could need.

There were several dormitories for the disciples to rest in as well, their windows bright and rooms spotless, all of them looking exceptionally neat.

After making a full tour of the place, Xu Chuan stopped walking. His expression turned solemn as he began laying down the rules.

"Junior Brother Shen, our martial hall does not have many rules for outer-court disciples. There are only two lines that must not be crossed."

"First, you must not casually invoke the martial hall's name outside, bully others by relying on its power, or stir up trouble."

"Second, you must respect your master and honor the Way. Fellow disciples must not harm one another. Otherwise, Master will personally purge the house. Have you remembered that?"

After listening carefully, Shen Xiuhan cupped his fists. "I will bear it firmly in mind!"

Once the rules had been laid down, Shen Xiuhan waited for a while before finally being unable to hold back his question.

"Senior Brother, when do I begin training in martial arts?"

"See? You're getting impatient already, aren't you?"

As though he had been waiting for those words, Xu Chuan chuckled and swayed his head.

"On the path of martial arts, foundations matter most. As the saying goes, a towering building rises from level ground... Junior Brother Shen, do you know the three great thresholds of the first stage of martial arts, the Bright Force stage?"

Shen Xiuhan nodded.

"I know a little. Are they the Blood Tempering Realm, Bone Tempering Realm, and Sinew Tempering Realm?"

"Correct."

Xu Chuan smiled and recited a martial proverb.

"Knock upon the blood gate in six months, temper sinews and bones for three years. Do not say martial arts demand no hardship; those who cut corners will never become tigers!"

"All things are difficult at the start, and the foundation is especially crucial. During your first few days in the martial hall, Master will personally supervise you and teach you stance training."

"Once you have found your way in, you will train alongside the rest of us. Master will only appear to offer guidance during evaluations."

Shen Xiuhan suddenly understood and said shamefacedly, "So that's how it is. I was too impatient..."

"Haha, it's nothing. We all went through the same thing."

After a pause, Shen Xiuhan asked again, "By the way, Senior Brother, what exactly did you mean by 'knock upon the blood gate in six months, temper sinews and bones for three years'?"

Seeing his eagerness to learn, Xu Chuan patiently explained.

"It refers to the three thresholds of Bright Force."

"Take 'knock upon the blood gate in six months,' for instance. It means that someone with passable martial aptitude, if they diligently practice stance training every day, may sense the surging of their qi and blood within six months at most, thus knocking open the gate to the Blood Tempering Realm."

"After the qi and blood throughout the body have been tempered, and the qi and blood circulate as one, one may 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 considered to have entered the path."

Six months...

Shen Xiuhan fell into thought.

No wonder Mei Shuangfeng had said yesterday that half a year would be enough to reveal whether he was a dragon or a worm in martial arts. So that was what she meant!

But for him, six months was far too slow.

Ma Xianyang would not give him that much time.

After pondering for a moment, Shen Xiuhan asked, "Senior Brother, does everyone need six months before they can sense their qi and blood?"

"Of course not."

Xu Chuan immediately shook his head.

"Being able to sense qi and blood within six months only barely counts as passing. Those with truly outstanding martial talent can sense qi and blood within one or two months at most."

"Oh? Then how long did Senior Brother take to sense qi and blood?"

"Me?"

Xu Chuan laughed heartily, his tone filled with pride.

"I took thirty-seven days."

Thirty-seven days...

No wonder he was the second senior brother of the inner court. He truly was someone of exceptional talent.

"Then is Second Senior Brother the fastest person in our martial hall to sense qi and blood?"

"Er... no. There is one person faster than me: our Eldest Senior Sister."

Eldest Senior Sister?

She must have been the woman in martial attire who had taken him to meet Mei Shuangfeng yesterday.

At the mention of Eldest Senior Sister, Xu Chuan visibly perked up, his face glowing with animation.

"Back then, Eldest Senior Sister sensed qi and blood in only eighteen days. Because of that, she was named alongside Bai Jing, Luo Tangyin, and Zhao Honggang of Longcloud County as the Four Heroes of Longcloud."

Shen Xiuhan did not notice the faint pause in Xu Chuan's voice when he spoke the last name.

His mind was entirely occupied with figuring out how to sense qi and blood as quickly as possible.

After hearing Xu Chuan's words, Shen Xiuhan gave a bitter laugh.

"Senior Brother, you all cultivate so quickly that it puts a great deal of pressure on me. What if my aptitude is too poor, and I still can't temper qi and blood after six months..."

"Hey, who told you that we tempered our qi and blood through hard training alone?"

"Huh?"

Seeing Shen Xiuhan's blank expression, Xu Chuan smiled and explained.

"There is an old saying: 'Poor scholars, rich warriors.' On the path of martial arts, aside from one's own talent, all manner of cultivation resources are indispensable as well."

"For example, the secret medicinal paste Master brews. Smear it over your entire body, and while practicing stance training, the medicinal power will be absorbed into your body, allowing you to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Shen Xiuhan instantly understood. Remembering the Silver-backed Fish he had sold to Mei Shuangfeng, he asked, "Senior Brother, what about Treasure Fish? I heard people say that if a martial artist eats one Treasure Fish, it can equal months of hard training?"

"Eat it?"

Xu Chuan laughed and shook his head.

"Completely wrong. Eating a Treasure Fish is nothing short of ruining a heavenly treasure."

Shen Xiuhan looked somewhat embarrassed and quickly cupped his fists. "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."

"It is no great secret. You will learn it in time, but I will give you a simple explanation."

Xu Chuan's expression grew slightly more serious.

"Every part of a Treasure Fish is a gift of heaven and earth. If you swallow it whole, seventy or eighty percent of its medicinal power will be lost."

"You must supplement it with various aged ginseng and precious spirit herbs, then have an alchemist refine it into pills to lock in its essence."

"The strange bones and sharp spines of certain ferocious Treasure Fish can even be forged by master craftsmen into divine weapons capable of slicing through iron as though it were mud..."

Shen Xiuhan could not help recalling the bony spike on that Silver-backed Fish's snout.

"Therefore, for martial artists, only by taking qi-and-blood treasure pills refined from Treasure Fish can one advance a thousand miles in a single day."

"Speaking of Treasure Fish..."

Xu Chuan looked Shen Xiuhan up and down.

"I heard that you came to our door yesterday carrying a fish basket on your back. I suppose you make your living as a fisherman on the lake?"

"Er, that's right."

"Then if you catch a Treasure Fish in the future, you may sell it directly to Master."

Seeing Shen Xiuhan's puzzled expression, Xu Chuan smiled.

"You do not know this, but refining treasure pills absolutely requires an alchemist."

"Most of Longcloud County's alchemists have been taken in as retainers by the great aristocratic clans. If you bring a Treasure Fish to them, who knows how much of the finished pills those blackhearted fellows might skim off!"

"And our Master is precisely a hidden alchemist!"

"Not only that, Master charges inner-court disciples a fair price. Her pills are ten to twenty percent cheaper than those on the black market outside."

"So that's how it is..."

Shen Xiuhan came to a sudden realization.

In his mind, he could not help seeing again the great cauldron he had glimpsed behind the screen when he had gone to the main room of the rear courtyard yesterday.