Senior, Won't You Reconsider?

"Brokerage Guilds actually sell pills too..."

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

If he truly wanted to buy some, he could still afford a few bottles. But his martial cultivation was still shallow; eating more food could replenish him just as well.

One tael of silver could buy twenty hens. With ten taels, he could keep his family supplied with chicken for three or four months.

Leaving the training ground, Su Xinghe was considering what he should eat to build himself back up.

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

"You talked so boldly, dreaming of making something of yourself late in life!"

A faintly mocking aged voice sounded beneath the old camphor tree.

How long had it even been? Not even half a shichen, right?

The apprentice who had just sworn grand oaths and boasted to the heavens had turned around and become the first to leave.

Xie Guang had no choice but to reassess this young man from the guard squad.

Just moments ago, he had thought that it was no easy thing for a newcomer to emerge from gang slaughter. He had wanted to see whether Su Xinghe was worth nurturing.

Now, though, it seemed the Veteran's Trade House had truly declined with each passing generation.

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

Still, 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 soon.

He had a cheat, after all. Naturally, his spirit carried a strange confidence.

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

So he could only stop, turn around, and cup his fists.

"Senior, you misunderstand. I left early because I had exhausted my strength and could no longer train."

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

Only then did Xie Guang's expression improve somewhat, and his tone returned to its earlier lazy drawl.

"Farewell!"

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

"Wait!"

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

In the blink of an eye, he was standing before Su Xinghe.

"You said you were only taught the old gang leader's True Art yesterday, and that today is your first time at the training ground?"

Xie Guang considered himself—

Though he was getting on in years, he was not yet so old that his eyes had gone dim. The Brokerage Guild had stationed him here to guard and protect the place, partly so he could discover talented people.

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

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

He nodded instinctively.

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

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

"Are you practicing the Golden Ape Fist?"

The Veteran's Trade House currently had 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 gate overnight was exceedingly rare. Unless one possessed exceptional talent or had received assistance from some heavenly treasure.

Either possibility was worth his focused attention.

Su Xinghe was no fool.

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

This is bad.

There really were many twists and turns among martial warriors. His lack of experience had cost him, and he had still dared to talk too much.

The reason was that disciples whose True Art had yet to enter the gate did not expend much physical strength merely practicing the stances, routines, and mnemonic verses.

After resting three to five minutes, they could begin again.

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

Only after a cultivation method had entered the gate, requiring Qi Circulation to move one's blood and vital energy, would excessive boxing practice leave one Qi-deficient and exhausted.

This sort of exhaustion could not be recovered from by merely resting a little and catching one's breath.

The circulation of a True Art would stir the body's potential, but it would also consume great quantities of the essence of one's blood and vital energy.

One had to eat nourishing food or take specialized pills.

He had gone in for less than half a shichen, then come out claiming exhaustion. If he was not lying, then his True Art had already entered the gate.

But in this situation, facing an elder martial warrior, could he say he had merely been joking?

"I got up too early... and hadn't eaten yet..."

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

But it was useless.

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

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

"Entering the gate of a Ninth-Rank True Art overnight is not particularly unusual. But in a small place like Lin County, your martial talent could 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 these past several decades."

"Ah..."

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

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

In every generation, new talents emerged. Who would have thought that after Zhou Hao had appeared in recent years, this brat would now appear as well?

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

Su Xinghe furrowed his brow tightly.

He had indeed been exposed.

But fortunately, there was a fine jade before him. He was merely a little genius who had started late.

His thoughts raced, and he pretended not to understand as he asked, "Senior, you say my boxing art has already entered the gate, but why can't I feel it?"

At those words, Xie Guang glared.

"You have only just stirred a thread of blood and vital energy. Do you expect to fly through the skies and burrow into the earth already?"

"I'm telling you, feeling hungry after training is the sign."

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

"It is a pity you began martial training too late. Otherwise, I would have accepted you as my disciple."

"As for now, go do whatever you are supposed to do."

As he spoke, he waved his hand and prepared to leave.

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

In the other man's eyes, after all, he was one of the rare geniuses Lin County had not seen in decades.

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

What martial cultivation fought over was not who started first, but who lived longer and walked farther.

"Senior, won't you reconsider? I'm only twenty-two. My body is still developing."

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

Su Xinghe could only add another sentence.

"My family was poor when I was young, 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 such a shameless person.

"Just looking at how you are dressed, I can tell you are a poor ghost. If I take you as my disciple, I'll have to sink quite a bit of silver into you."

"You are already twenty-two and only now entering the gate of martial cultivation. You have missed the period of rapid advancement. Even if I emptied my coffin savings to buy you Qi-Replenishing Pills, it would still take you at least two or three years to become a martial warrior."

"A disciple at the Ninth Grade Realm would be no help to me. I would have to spend effort and energy raising you to Eighth Rank."

"By then, the grass on this old man's grave will be tall enough."

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

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

His body had already decayed severely. Forget Dark Force and inner power—he could barely maintain enough blood and vital energy for his daily needs.

Ordinary pills had long ceased to be useful. Unless they were heavenly treasures.

But could something like that be obtained by a Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior?

"How could that be?"

Su Xinghe pretended to be astonished.

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

Xie Guang was taken aback as well.

"Senior, one look tells me that you are a highly respected martial powerhouse, with the immortal bearing of crane bones. 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, an old steed still bound to the stable, and in your later years you shall gain..."

"Stop!"

Xie Guang's scalp went numb from listening. He hurriedly shouted to cut him off.

"Stop calling me 'Senior' all the time. Just call me Elder Xie."

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