Return to the City

Lu Li swam through the water for half the night.

"This water is far too cold. Could there be something else invisible lurking beneath it?"

He suddenly felt that he had been a little careless this time.

After all.

He still could not be sure whether some flood dragon or strange beast was hidden beneath the Black Flood Dragon River...

Fortunately, he had not dived too deeply. He had merely swum close to the bottom, roughly two meters below the surface.

He came ashore.

It was nearing the fourth watch. Dawn was almost here, yet the sky still looked pitch-black.

He did some calculations.

He had swum nearly a dozen li underwater. The place he chose to come ashore was also something like a deep pool, its banks thick with thorns and towering trees. Since he had been this cautious, surely he had shaken off those tracking him...

At a spot where the aquatic grass grew thick, he quietly poked his head out.

His eyes shifted slightly.

All around him lay desolation and utter darkness.

Lu Li found a small path and became a brother hacking through brambles and thorns, sprinting all the way. After running seven or eight li, he spotted a small village.

With a turn of thought, he quietly slipped into a courtyard and stole a coarse short robe hanging there. He did not forget to leave a tael of silver by the gate before silently departing.

On the official road near Blackwater City.

Lu Li transformed into an old man nearing eighty and searched for an opportunity by the roadside.

Just then.

An old woman of barely seventy was pushing a cartload of green vegetables and had gotten stuck before an earthen slope. Lu Li hurried forward.

"Little sister, let me lend a hand."

"Oh... Big brother, you're a good man!"

Lu Li lowered his head, deliberately slowing his speech. His voice was dry and muddy as he slowly said,

"Little sister, it's nothing. Just a small effort, a small effort..."

Once they made it up the slope, the old woman let out a breath and glanced sideways at Lu Li. Seeing his plain clothes, his face covered in gray wrinkles, she smiled kindly.

"Thank you, big brother. Are you heading into the city to take care of something?"

"Ah... Little sister, I'm going into the city to see my married daughter. When one gets old, one starts to miss the past..."

"Life in the countryside is hard these days... Bandits are rising everywhere. We old sticks can only live one day at a time..."

Accompanied by the rumbling of the cart wheels, the two slowly approached the city gate.

After entering the city and bidding the old woman farewell, Lu Li mingled with the crowd and crisscrossed the Outer City... Only after circling around for nearly half an hour did he sneak back to the Lu residence, remove his disguise, change clothes, and head for the Road Division yamen.

That afternoon.

Lu Li returned to the martial arts school.

Upon entering the front courtyard, Lu Li found that several unfamiliar faces had arrived.

When the disciples saw Lu Li, they could not help secretly observing him, their eyes filled with probing curiosity.

Lu Li's eyes remained calm. He found a corner and began practicing his fists.

It was the same secret stance. With the Xingyi Stance perfected, the accumulation of Primordial Unity Force was visibly swift.

In terms of level, the Xingyi Stance was unquestionably far more difficult than the Bagua Stance.

Back then, under the illumination of the Azure Cloud Lamp, it had taken him only ten days to take the Bagua Stance from beginner to perfection.

Yet with the Xingyi Stance, he had trained for half a month before reaching minor success, and only achieved perfection after his last sudden enlightenment.

That was with his existing foundation in stance work. Otherwise, bringing the Xingyi Stance to great success would likely have taken at least three years.

He had paid attention to the nine senior brothers in the inner courtyard. Only four or five of them were close to great success. As for reaching perfection, that was likely no longer something that could be achieved by grinding away like water wearing through stone.

This was also one of the great difficulties blocking martial artists from Skin Tempering.

The further one went, the more it was not merely a matter of being shackled by one's innate physique. The demands placed on comprehension grew ever higher.

After all, martial prodigies like him, blessed with extraordinary comprehension and truly one in ten thousand, were still few.

"All disciples of the front courtyard, listen up. You all need to learn from your Senior Brother Lu Li. Everyone knows he has the lowest-grade innate physique. Speaking solely of aptitude, Junior Brother Lu is mediocre among the mediocre. Those who came to the martial arts school early know just how desperately Junior Brother Lu worked. The example stands right here before you. Go learn from him. Can't you even imitate him?"

Zhao Kuo's booming voice rang through the front courtyard. Quite a few new disciples promptly stiffened their bodies and put on diligent expressions, hoping to leave a good impression before Zhao Kuo.

Lu Li froze for a moment upon hearing this, then gathered his thoughts and continued immersing himself in training.

Quite a few of the older front-courtyard disciples secretly sighed. What use was hard work? Had he not still failed at Gate-Breaking and damaged his foundation?

Most of them did not look down on Lu Li. Rather, they were lost about the road ahead.

Nearly every disciple had been supported by their entire family at all costs. Their families had not only drained their savings to support their martial training, but had also piled up a mountain of debts.

The atmosphere became oppressive.

The surrounding disciples each had their own thoughts. Those with even a little family wealth were considering their future escape routes.

Just then, a joyful voice pierced through the front courtyard.

"I did it! I did it!"

Lei Zhengming's laughter could no longer conceal itself, brimming with intense delight.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Lei!"

"Senior Brother Lei, magnificent!"

"Senior Brother Lei..."

The surrounding disciples all crowded around him, congratulating him enthusiastically. The oppressive gloom hanging over the front courtyard was swept clean away.

Hope began to shine once more in many disciples' eyes. Examples of failure could never compare to the heart-stirring inspiration of a single success!

After humbly accepting the congratulations of his junior brothers, Lei Zhengming instead turned and came before Lu Li.

All the disciples' gazes gathered on Lei Zhengming.

They did not know what he wanted to do.

Lu Li raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Senior Brother Lu, my success in Gate-Breaking this time is actually thanks to you. If not for your setback half a month ago, I would still be smugly complacent, thinking that because my background was better than yours and my aptitude was higher than yours, I was superior to everyone else—that I could hold my nose in the air and act without restraint in the front courtyard..."

"Thank me?"

Lu Li was somewhat surprised. Had Lei Zhengming changed his nature?

Or was he planning to play some new trick?

"Yes, Senior Brother Lu, I truly am grateful to you!"

What kind of act was this?

For the moment, Lu Li suppressed the thought of violently beating Lei Zhengming that had risen in his mind. Still wearing a cold expression, he asked doubtfully,

"Junior Brother Lei, what do you mean?"

Sincerity showed in Lei Zhengming's eyes. After choosing his words carefully, he said,

"I was immature in the past. I even secretly investigated you before. Not just you—I asked around about many disciples. I did not have any malicious intentions. I simply wanted Master to take me as a personal disciple as soon as possible, so I could enter the Martial Lecture Hall... Before this, I even thought there was nothing wrong with that. Not until you easily defeated me that day... At first, I thought it was merely luck, and I still wanted to find an opportunity to win back my face. But then one day, Ironwood Hall came to me and told me to watch your every move. Only then did I suddenly awaken. We are fellow disciples. We have no hatred or grievance between us. Everything was merely my own arrogance."

Lei Zhengming finished in one breath, then turned toward the crowd behind him.

"I hope Senior Brother Lu and all my junior brothers can let bygones be bygones. Let us advance hand in hand and look after one another on the path of martial arts ahead."

"..." For a moment, Lu Li did not know how to respond.

Lu Li and the front-courtyard disciples all fell silent.

At this juncture, Lei Zhengming had just succeeded in Gate-Breaking and was at the height of his pride. For him to say such words, there had to be at least some sincerity in them.

Was this a prodigal son turning back, worth more than gold?

Or was the sea of suffering boundless, but turning back led to shore?

As thoughts surged one after another, Lu Li gradually felt relieved. Those few calls of "Senior Brother Lu" from Lei Zhengming actually sounded rather pleasant...

Lu Li pondered quietly for a while, then turned his head toward Lei Zhengming and said with a low laugh,

"Remember what you said today. Otherwise, I'll beat you up again next time."

Amid the laughter and conversation, the disciples felt that Lu Li sounded somewhat overconfident saying this after failing at Gate-Breaking.

Only Lei Zhengming's expression turned solemn as he instinctively nodded.

Standing close by, he had seen a faint, nearly imperceptible chill in Lu Li's eyes. He could not describe that feeling for a moment.

It was like the barren, deathly stillness after someone had just killed a man... devoid of any emotion. The sight made Lei Zhengming's heart tremble for no reason.