Senior, Would You Like to Reconsider?

"The Brokerage Guild actually sells medicinal pills too..."

"This Qi-Replenishing Pill is pretty good, but it seems I can't afford it either..."

If he truly wanted to buy them, he could still afford a few bottles. But his martial cultivation was still shallow; eating more food could make up for it.

After all, one tael of silver could buy twenty hens. With ten taels, he could keep his family in chicken for three or four months.

Leaving the training grounds, Su Xinghe was wondering what he should eat to replenish himself.

"So this is your so-called Diligence Makes Up for Dullness?"

"And you were spouting wild boasts, dreaming of becoming a great talent late in life!"

Beneath the old camphor tree, an elderly voice rang out, carrying a hint of mockery.

How long had it even been? Not even half an hour, right?

The apprentice who had just sworn boldly to the heavens had become the first to leave in the blink of an eye.

Xie Guang could not help but reassess this young man from the guard squad.

Just moments ago, he had been thinking that it was not easy for a newcomer to rise above the slaughter within the gangs, and had considered whether the boy was worth nurturing.

Now, it seemed the Brokerage Guild had grown worse with each generation over the years.

Su Xinghe was helpless too. He could only blame himself for talking too much.

But it was not entirely his fault.

After all, this little old man had looked down on him first, saying he was too old to become a martial warrior and telling him not to die too quickly.

He had a cheat, after all. Naturally, he carried an inexplicable confidence in himself.

But the man was still a senior of the Brokerage Guild, and Su Xinghe might end up working under him in the future.

He could only stop, turn around, and cup his fists.

"You misunderstand, Senior. This disciple returned early because I exhausted my strength and could no longer train."

"Oh, then that is different. Too much is as bad as too little; one must proceed step by step."

Only then did Xie Guang's expression improve slightly, his tone returning to its earlier lazy drawl.

"Farewell!"

Just as Su Xinghe was about to turn and leave, Xie Guang suddenly jolted.

"Wait!"

With that, he sprang up from the stone bench and crossed a distance of three zhang in a single stride.

In the blink of an eye, he had arrived before Su Xinghe.

"You said the old gang leader only bestowed the True Art upon you yesterday, and today is your first time at the training grounds?"

Xie Guang believed himself.

Though he was getting on in years, he was not yet so old that his eyes had gone dim. The Brokerage Guild had assigned him to guard and protect this place partly so he could discover talent.

But this new disciple's words truly made him wonder whether he had remembered wrong.

Su Xinghe was startled by the movement. Only then did he realize that the other man was actually a martial warrior.

He nodded instinctively.

Xie Guang's eyes instantly widened as he swept his gaze over him.

That was right. This was the very same "overage apprentice" from earlier.

"Are you practicing the Golden Ape Fist?"

The Veteran's Trade House currently possessed two True Arts. One was the Grade-Eight True Art, Spirit Ape Transformation, practiced by members of the Zhou Family themselves. The other was the Ninth-Rank True Art, Golden Ape Fist, taught to disciples.

Yet regardless of which True Art it was, entering the beginner stage overnight was exceedingly rare. Unless one possessed extraordinary talent or had some heavenly treasure to assist them.

Either possibility was worth his close attention.

Su Xinghe was no fool.

The moment he heard that, he immediately understood where the problem lay.

He inwardly cried out in alarm.

There really were so many twists and turns among martial warriors. He had suffered for lacking experience yet daring to speak too freely.

The reason was that disciples whose True Art had not yet reached the beginner stage would not expend much physical strength merely practicing moves, forms, and mnemonics.

They only needed to rest for three to five minutes before they could begin again.

For example, yesterday afternoon on the third floor of the Brokerage Guild, none of them had felt exhausted. Su Xinghe himself had merely overworked his mind and become dizzy.

Only after a cultivation method had reached the beginner stage, requiring Qi Circulation to move one's Qi-Blood, would excessive boxing practice leave someone Qi-deficient and exhausted.

This kind of exhaustion could not be recovered from simply by resting for a while and catching one's breath.

The circulation of a True Art stimulated the body's potential, but it also consumed vast amounts of Qi-Blood essence.

One had to eat nourishing food or take specialized medicinal pills.

He had entered less than half an hour ago, yet he had come out claiming exhaustion. If he was not lying, then his True Art had already reached the beginner stage.

But given the situation before him, facing an elderly martial warrior, could he say he had only been joking?

"I woke up too early... I hadn't eaten..."

Su Xinghe could only make up an unconvincing excuse on the spot.

But it was useless.

As expected of a martial warrior, Xie Guang's next words struck straight at the heart of the matter.

"You hadn't eaten... or you hadn't drunk medicinal broth?"

"Entering the beginner stage of a Ninth-Rank True Art overnight is not all that unusual. But in a small place like Lin County, your martial talent would rank among the top ten of the past fifty years."

"As for our Veteran's Trade House, aside from the young master... you, brat, are the first in several decades."

"Ah..."

"What a pity you are a little too old. Otherwise, you would be the next Lu Xuanji. He began Qi Circulation and Force Infusion at sixteen, achieved Inner Tempering within a month, broke through to become a martial warrior in half a year, and is now a renowned Core Embrace Grandmaster in Qingzhou."

As Xie Guang sighed, he circled around Su Xinghe, as though he wanted to inspect him inside and out.

Each generation brought forth its talents. Who would have thought that after Zhou Hao had appeared in recent years, this boy would emerge as well?

He hoped he could live a few more years and see the Brokerage Guild rise again.

Su Xinghe frowned tightly.

Sure enough, he had exposed himself.

Still, with such a splendid jade before him, he was merely an overage little genius.

His thoughts raced as he pretended not to understand and asked, "Senior, you said I have already entered the beginner stage in fist arts, but why can't I feel it?"

At that, Xie Guang's eyes widened.

"You have only just stirred a trace of Qi-Blood. Do you expect to fly through the heavens and burrow into the earth already?"

"I'll tell you: feeling hungry after training is the feeling."

"Before becoming a martial warrior, only reaching Inner Tempering counts as getting started."

"What a pity you began martial practice too late. Otherwise, I would have accepted you as my disciple."

"As for now, go do whatever you should be doing."

With that, he waved a hand, preparing to leave.

Seeing how easygoing the other man was, Su Xinghe decided to make another effort.

After all, in the other man's eyes, he was one of Lin County's rare geniuses of the past several decades.

Though he was a little older, he had merely begun martial practice six years later than others.

What martial practice contended for was not who started first, but who lived longer and walked farther.

"Senior, would you like to reconsider? I'm actually only twenty-two. My body is still developing."

Xie Guang: Did I look like an idiot to you?

Su Xinghe could only add another sentence.

"My family was poor when I was little, and we couldn't afford food, so I developed late."

Xie Guang hurriedly took a step back.

He shook his head like a rattle-drum.

He had never seen someone so shameless.

"Just looking at how you are dressed, I can tell you are a pauper. If I take you as my disciple, I will have to pour quite a bit of silver into you."

"You only entered the beginner stage of martial practice at twenty-two. You have already missed the period of rapid advancement. Even if I took out my coffin savings to buy Qi-Replenishing Pills for you, it would still take at least two or three years for you to become a martial warrior."

"A disciple in the Ninth Grade Realm would be of no help to me, and I would have to spend all that effort raising you to Eighth Rank."

"By then, the grass atop this old man's grave will have grown tall."

"What use would you be? Would you come pull the weeds for me?"

Which martial warrior had not been built up with mountains of medicinal pills and silver? Even a landlord's household had no surplus grain.

His body had already aged severely. Forget Dark Force and Internal Force—even his Qi-Blood strength could barely sustain his daily needs.

Ordinary medicinal pills had long ceased to work for him, unless they were heavenly treasures.

But could such things be obtained by a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior?

"How could that be?"

Su Xinghe feigned surprise.

"What do you mean, how could that be?"

Xie Guang was taken aback as well.

"Senior, one look tells me you are a highly respected martial expert. You possess crane bones and an immortal's bearing, and you are in the prime of your fighting years. Even when this junior grows old, you will still stand tall like that great tree."

"Senior, you are vigorous in old age, like an aged steed still bound to the stable, growing old and gaining..."

"Stop!"

Xie Guang's scalp prickled as he listened, and he hurriedly shouted to cut him off.

"Stop calling me Senior this and Senior that. Just call me Elder Xie."

He was beginning to fear that mouth of Su Xinghe's.