Grade-C House Guard, Purchasing Pills

After a brief moment of surprise, Pang Long thought:

This boy practiced martial arts alone, with no one to guide him, relying entirely on his own exploration. Perhaps he had made a little progress and assumed he had reached Minor Accomplishment. Young people often make such mistakes; it is only normal.

He said sternly, "For martial artists, the greatest taboo is aiming too high. Do you know the mark of Minor Accomplishment in the Four Directions Fist?"

As he spoke, he spread his legs and assumed a fist stance. He threw a punch, stirring up a gust of wind. Strangely, his fist edge pointed right, yet the force of the punch swept left.

Pang Long intended to instruct him. He threw four punches in succession: one struck east while its fist force headed west; one struck south while its fist force headed east; one struck north while its fist force headed south. The final punch struck west, and its fist force went west as well.

He meant to demonstrate that every punch had its force. The mark of Minor Accomplishment in the Four Directions Fist was separating fist force from the path of the punch, achieving an effect that caught enemies unawares and left them impossible to guard against.

It seemed ordinary, but in truth, it required tremendous painstaking effort and exceptional comprehension to achieve.

"Did you see the trick?"

"This! This is true Minor Accomplishment!"

"Even I, Pang Long, spent more than a full year learning this fist art before I finally..."

Just as Pang Long was speaking, he saw Li Xian take up a fist stance. Li Xian punched east, but his fist force came from the west.

Though the force of Li Xian's punch was inferior to Pang Long's.

The gap was not in their fist arts, however, but in the vast difference between their inner qi.

Li Xian threw another four punches, each aimed east, west, south, and north, recreating Pang Long's display. He said, "I know. The mark of Minor Accomplishment in the Four Directions Fist is comprehending the Four Directions Fist Force."

When the fist routine ended, Li Xian gathered his qi inward. Remembering that Pang Long had not finished speaking, he asked, "Commander Pang, please continue."

"Cough... cough..."

Pang Long hurriedly turned his back, rubbing his chin. His rough features could not conceal his embarrassment.

He had spoken too soon...

This was truly awkward. He wiped away some sweat and thought:

I am a dignified commander. If this boy learns that I spent a year to barely reach Minor Accomplishment, while he achieved such attainments in less than a month... would I not lose all face?

Pang Long said seriously, "Not bad, not bad. It seems you truly have reached Minor Accomplishment. You may participate in the house guard competition..."

"Thank you, Commander!" Li Xian was overjoyed.

"However, though you have reached Minor Accomplishment, do not grow complacent." Pang Long said, "You have some talent for martial arts, which is good. But there is a bit of jianghu experience I must teach you in advance."

Li Xian listened attentively.

"We martial artists seek to wash away the Clay Embryo and undergo Bone Recasting. The great taboo of martial arts lies in... excessive measuring."

"Excessive measuring?" Li Xian pondered its meaning.

Pang Long nodded. "It means turning martial arts, realms, and experience into ruler lengths for measurement and comparison, treating them as everything."

"For example, you have reached Minor Accomplishment in the Four Directions Fist, while your opponent has only just begun. Knowing in your heart that their fist art is inferior to yours, once you secretly measure the difference, contempt will naturally arise."

"Most of the time, that is indeed the case. But you must know that martial artists fighting and killing is a matter of ever-changing instants. No one can say for certain who will truly win or lose."

Li Xian understood, grasping the meaning behind Pang Long's words.

"There are still four days until the house guard competition."

"Make your preparations. Let me tell you, your opponents this time are not weak in the slightest."

"Even if your fist art has reached Minor Accomplishment... you may not necessarily defeat them."

Pang Long said with great interest.

"Commander Pang, could you reveal a little in advance?" Li Xian asked with a grin.

Pang Long said, "It is no secret, so there is no harm in telling you. Besides, I have heard that you boy... do not seem especially popular among the house guards. If I do not tell you, I fear no one else will."

When Li Xian heard "not especially popular," he did not care in the least.

"Martial arts are precious in this world. Generally speaking, a Grade-D House Guard can only claim another martial art after completing a full year of attendance and attaining Proficiency in their current martial art."

"Each time a house guard advances in rank, they can also claim an additional basic martial art."

"The more martial arts one attains Proficiency in, setting aside everything else, even sheer force alone will be far stronger."

"There are three openings for Grade-C House Guards this time. Yet seven of your opponents are exceptionally formidable."

Pang Long's "exceptionally formidable" was only relative to Li Xian.

Li Xian asked, "Who are they?"

"I will not tell you their names. You will know on the day of the competition." Pang Long said:

"Of these seven, four have served as house guards for six years and mastered six martial arts."

"Two were once Grade-C House Guards who fell in rank. Their strength needs no further mention; compared with those four... they should be evenly matched."

"There is one more. Though he has served only five years and his martial arts foundation is slightly poorer, he has trained a body-strengthening martial art to an excellent level. He must not be underestimated."

Hearing this, Li Xian found the matter greatly troublesome. Yet how could one who pursued advancement in martial arts fear powerful enemies!

With no fear in his heart, he would not retreat!

Li Xian learned from Pang Long that if he wished to purchase pills, he could go to the Leisure Pill Pavilion and buy them himself.

The Idle Martial Pavilion and Leisure Pill Pavilion both bore the word "leisure."

It meant they were things the Madam did in her spare time. The martial arts stored in the Idle Martial Pavilion were either created by the Madam during her leisure time or martial arts utterly useless to her.

As for the "leisure" in Leisure Pill Pavilion, it meant the various leisure pills the Madam refined in her spare time to temper her pill-refining skills. They were of no use to her, so she simply put them into circulation within the estate.

Beside the Leisure Pill Pavilion.

A pavilion was under construction. It was the Alchemy Pavilion.

Li Xian had heard that the Madam possessed three alchemy pavilions: the Spring Arrival Pavilion, Autumn Arrival Pavilion, and Winter Arrival Pavilion. They corresponded to pill-refining sites for different seasons.

Pill refinement was... profoundly mysterious, placing importance on the right time, favorable terrain, and harmony among people. The climates and feng shui of spring, summer, autumn, and winter differed.

There had originally been a Summer Arrival Pavilion as well.

He had heard that the Madam failed while refining pills, triggering a great fire that burned it into ashes. Only after winter arrived did she suddenly remember it and send people to restore it.

"Steward Luo, we meet again."

Li Xian greeted him.

"It's you!" Luo Fang asked warily, "What are you doing here?"

"Purchasing pills." Li Xian turned and entered the Leisure Pill Pavilion.

"Good boy... he is becoming more and more formidable!" Luo Fang felt a great sense of crisis. Only a few days had passed since they last met, yet this boy's essence, qi, and spirit were now abundant, and he had grown increasingly formidable.

"Useless trash!"

Thinking of his nephew still lying bedridden, Luo Fang cursed aloud, "When your injuries heal, forget revenge—you will not even be fit to carry another man's shoes!"

One wrong step led to wrong steps all the way.

Inside the Leisure Pill Pavilion, pill fragrance filled the air.

"A Grade-D House Guard?"

There were more than ten attendants in the Leisure Pill Pavilion, both upstairs and downstairs. They were mainly responsible for cleaning, arranging goods, receiving customers, keeping accounts, and such matters.

Though they too were servants, their status was not comparable to that of common menials.

The speaker was Xiao Qing, the Leisure Pill Pavilion's "Left Pavilion Steward." She had once been a laundry maid, but after currying favor with Qiuyue, the Madam's personal maid, she had been assigned to the Leisure Pill Pavilion as half a steward.

She rose from her chair and walked toward Li Xian, her gaze roaming up and down before settling on his face.

He does have a handsome face. Xiao Qing's thoughts flickered.

"I have come to purchase pills," Li Xian said truthfully.

"A Grade-D House Guard... The pills available to you are limited, and there is no discount. Even the cheapest pills cost five hundred coins. Do you have enough money?" Xiao Qing said blandly.

Seeing Li Xian nod, Xiao Qing beckoned. "Come with me."