The World Remained the Same, Returning to the Servant Quarters

With Pang Long's guidance, Li Xian finally caught a glimpse of the truth.

Initial Martial Realm: Clay Embryo.

First Martial Realm: Essence Consumption.

"Then every martial art manual is exceedingly precious. Each can accumulate inner strength, martial insights... all manner of things, building up enough capital for Bone Recasting in the future!"

Where did inner strength come from?

Ordinary running and body training did not produce inner strength. Rather, it was force naturally born within the body through practicing different martial arts.

"The deeper the hard work one puts in, the greater the harvest... In that case, there is no breathing technique in this world—only superior martial arts!"

Li Xian sensed himself. A warm current circulated through his lower abdomen. It was already much larger than a fist.

Part of his inner energy had been cultivated through the Wild Bull Fist. Since the Wild Bull Fist was incomplete, this portion of inner energy was very limited. The other part had been cultivated through the Four Directions Fist.

Though the Four Directions Fist was basic, its fist techniques were complete. Once Li Xian became familiar with it, his punches flowed like drifting clouds and running water, indescribably smooth.

His progress was not slow at all.

[Four Directions Fist]

[Proficiency: 658/1000 Proficiency]

At this rate, reaching Minor Accomplishment was not far off.

There was a row of duty rosters in the patrol office.

The patrol duties of several hundred house guards were all recorded and arranged on the rosters.

Li Xian had become an official house guard, so he had less time to practice martial arts. Every day, only the two hours from early morning until noon were free for him to train.

The rest of his time was assigned to patrol duty, requiring him to make rounds throughout the estate.

Sometimes, when luck was bad and he was assigned too many shifts, he could not even sleep in the middle of the night.

"Sure enough... House guards are still servants in the end. Though far, far better off than the likes of menial servants, they are still servants."

Li Xian's patrol schedule was full today—or rather, it was nearly full every day.

The Mao and Chen hours in the morning were for martial arts practice. Patrol duty began at the Si hour. He could rest briefly for a quarter of an hour at noon, then had to patrol various places during the Wei, Shen, and You hours.

He could rest for two hours during the Xu hour and eat dinner. But he had to patrol again during the Hai and Chou hours.

Tomorrow would be better. He would not need to patrol during the Chou hour, so he could finally sleep soundly.

"Three hours of rest in total, two hours of martial arts practice. The rest of the time, I have to do all kinds of labor."

"But it is still far better than being a menial servant."

Menial servants got up before dawn, while house guards were still snoring away at that hour. Their treatment was worlds apart as well—their food and lodgings were completely different.

"If I can become a Grade-C House Guard, my patrol time will be greatly reduced."

Li Xian saw on the duty roster that the higher a house guard's rank, the more free time he had. Grade-A House Guards only patrolled once every few days.

After receiving his house guard token and a waist saber, Li Xian went off on patrol.

His morning patrol covered the eastern side of the estate, an area Li Xian had never visited before. Lush greenery filled the place, and the scenery was beautiful.

"This is..."

Li Xian suddenly stopped. He saw a large tree that had been cleaved apart down the middle. The stump was so thick that it would take seven or eight people with arms outstretched to barely encircle it.

Yet such a huge tree had been split in a single blow, the break smooth and clean, without any extra marks from blade or sword.

It had clearly been formed by a single strike!

"What astonishing might!"

Even with the advanced technology of his previous life, such a smooth cut could not have been made without the aid of technology.

Li Xian could not help moving closer to inspect it, only to find it even more astonishing. Such trees possessed exceptionally vigorous vitality. Even if snapped in half, their life force would remain.

The following year, they would still grow new branches. Yet this stump had not sprouted any branches, as though its "head" had been severed.

Its vitality had been cut off completely.

"What realm had martial arts reached to possess such strength?"

"Could it have been that Madam?"

Li Xian did not dare inspect it any longer and honestly followed his patrol route.

"Who's there!"

Li Xian's ears twitched. Ever since he had gained the Four Directions Fist's trait, All-Around Hearing, through intensive practice, his hearing had far surpassed that of ordinary people.

He heard faint movement in the distant grass. His gaze turned cold as he slowly approached.

Using his waist saber to part the weeds, he found a little beggar, bare-chested and dressed in ragged trousers, cowering in a corner in terror.

Winter had already arrived. Frost and snow had yet to fall, but the weather was growing colder by the day.

The beggar looked at Li Xian, his eyes full of despair. He clamped a hand over his mouth, making no sound, but he had already been frightened to tears.

Li Xian could not help thinking of himself, of his younger brother. "Did you come here to steal?"

The little beggar shook his head. But afraid Li Xian would beat him, he nodded again and pitifully said, "I... I didn't steal anything."

"Hero, I'll never dare again. Spare... spare my life."

"It's winter now. My... my little sister... really can't survive anymore. That's why I came. Spare my life, I... I'll never dare again."

The little beggar was skin and bones, bowing again and again.

"How did you get in?" Li Xian frowned.

"I... I crawled in through a dog hole. I'm thin..." the little beggar said tremblingly.

"Go back wherever you came from. If I catch you again, I'll beat you to death," Li Xian said coldly.

"Huh!?" The little beggar could not believe it. "M-Master, you're really letting me go?"

He had several companions who had also sneaked into the estate. Once discovered by the house guards, those who were not beaten to death were played to death. Their deaths had been horribly miserable.

"Hm?" Li Xian's brow furrowed, displeasure showing on his face.

"O-Okay, I'll leave right away. Master, you're a good person. You're a good person." The little beggar was about to crawl through the hole and leave.

Li Xian looked around. Seeing no house guards nearby, he called out, "Wait."

The little beggar was nearly scared into wetting himself, but there was nothing in his stomach, so he truly could not squeeze out a drop.

"These are some stale buns. Take them and get lost." Li Xian took two soft, hot buns from his clothes.

Since he had kept them close to his body, they still retained a little warmth.

"This..." The little beggar did not dare take them. Li Xian simply tossed them at his feet. Only after seeing that the buns had gotten dirty did the beggar gather them into his arms, looking at Li Xian timidly.

Then he kowtowed twice and slipped away through the crack in the wall.

"Ah, there goes my extra meal."

"And they were fragrant meat buns... swiped in secret."

Li Xian's heart ached. He used stones to plug the crack in the wall, then covered it with weeds before continuing his patrol.

The world remained as bitter and painful as ever.

Only Li Xian's circumstances had improved compared to before.

"Grade-D House Guard Number 269, Li Xian."

"Your afternoon patrol has been canceled. Come with me to the Servant Quarters and help keep watch."

About half an hour later, just as Li Xian was growing bored, a middle-aged man walked toward him, waving and calling out.

This man was also a Grade-D House Guard, named Zhao Dachun. He was an old hand among the house guards. His talent for martial arts was mediocre, and he had long since been unable to rise any further.

"Li Xian, right?" Zhao Dachun said bluntly. "I'm Zhao Dachun."

"Brother Zhao, hello." Li Xian nodded. "May I ask why we are suddenly going to keep watch at the Servant Quarters?"

Zhao Dachun explained, "What else could it be? Madam wants to renovate an Alchemy Pavilion, but she is short on lumber and stone."

"Some time ago, lumber and stone were purchased from the Lin Family of Qingning County, as well as the Blackwood Gang. They're piled up three li outside the estate."

"Winter is about to set in, so we need to quickly move the stone and lumber back into the estate for storage. Let the menial servants from the Servant Quarters provide the muscle. The two of us just need to watch from the side."

"So that's how it is," Li Xian said.

"This is a fine assignment, much easier than patrol duty." Zhao Dachun laughed. "The two of us got lucky. We can loaf around and paddle through the work from the sidelines."

"I didn't expect to return to the Servant Quarters so soon." Li Xian suddenly smiled.