At Li Dashan's words, a buzz rose from below, every voice brimming with excitement.
Everyone knew what a Ninth-Rank Commandant meant for Celebration Hall.
Li Dashan pressed both hands down to quiet the crowd and declared, "Receiving a reward doesn't mean we can rest easy.
The Donghuang Cult has not been destroyed, and the region will know no peace until it is. You must keep training and grow stronger to repay your country.
To spur you on, one month from now, I will choose another five of you to become Initiate Disciples..."
At that, the uproar could no longer be contained.
It was no secret that disciples of different ranks enjoyed different treatment in Celebration Hall.
Initiate Disciples received a monthly allowance of five taels of silver from Celebration Hall, not to mention other benefits.
Half an hour later, Deng Qing and Li Cheng left Celebration Hall. Discussions about how to become an Initiate Disciple still rang in their ears.
Li Cheng said quietly, "Senior Brother Deng, to become an Initiate Disciple, you'll definitely need to reach Skin Tempering Third Layer. If you're planning to break through, you can wait a few days before teaching me."
The only thing I lack right now is the meat your family can provide every day, Deng Qing thought.
Aloud, he said, "It's fine. I'll work hard. Whether I make it is up to fate."
Li Cheng said, "Senior Brother Deng, don't underestimate this opportunity.
Celebration Hall is far more than a martial arts school. You saw it yourself: one casual gathering brought together nearly a hundred Skin Tempering martial artists.
What ordinary martial arts school has that kind of strength?"
"It sounds like you know quite a bit, Senior Brother Li," Deng Qing said. "Could you tell me more?"
"It's no great secret," Li Cheng said. "Southern Qingzhou is the True Yang Martial Sect's territory. They have people in every county building their strength.
Our master belongs to the True Yang Martial Sect. Whether he's an outer disciple or an inner disciple, I don't know.
And it isn't just Master. Song Wuliang, the head of the Golden Saber Sect, belongs to the True Yang Martial Sect too.
That's why our clashes with the Golden Saber Sect have never gone so far that we couldn't mend things."
Deng Qing's eyes were opened. He asked Li Cheng, "You don't seem interested in becoming an Initiate Disciple. Don't tell me even the True Yang Martial Sect isn't good enough for you?"
"It's not that," Li Cheng said. "The True Yang Martial Sect is terrifyingly powerful, but its hierarchy is so rigid that your path upward is cut off.
Master has been in Everjoy County for nearly twenty years. I'd wager he risked going to Liangshan so he could break through to the Furnace Realm sooner."
"Why would going to Liangshan let him break through to the Furnace Realm?" Deng Qing asked.
Li Cheng froze. Only then did he realize he had unwittingly told Deng Qing far too much.
Li Cheng waved a hand. "Senior Brother Deng, you've heard what I said, but please don't spread it around."
Deng Qing nodded, knowing Li Cheng would say no more.
He remembered how, when he had first arrived at North Warehouse, Wang Wei and Zhou Tie had said Li Cheng had been sickly since childhood, but that Desolate Soil had cured him.
Putting that together with Li Cheng's talk of the "True Yang Martial Sect" and "going to Liangshan to break through to the Great Furnace Realm," Deng Qing suddenly realized this world was probably far vaster than what he had seen so far.
Half an hour later, the two reached the Li Family's practice yard. Zhang Bo was already waiting there.
Deng Qing cupped his hands in greeting. Zhang Bo said, "Guiding the young master in swordsmanship is no small matter. I must first see how far you've progressed with the Seven Forms of Settling Solitude, young friend Deng Qing."
Deng Qing cupped his hands. "I wouldn't dare make a fool of myself before you, Zhang Bo."
"We're not fighting to determine a winner. Just testing your sword."
Holding a wooden sword, Zhang Bo walked into the yard. "Young friend Deng Qing, please."
Deng Qing declined no further. He tapped his waist, and the Blacksteel Soft Sword sprang into his palm.
They took their positions a few paces apart. Deng Qing struck first, flicking the Blacksteel Soft Sword so its point drove straight at Zhang Bo.
Zhang Bo turned his wrist, and his wooden sword shifted course.
Deng Qing changed his footing, and the Blacksteel Soft Sword changed direction with him.
After several exchanges, the look in Zhang Bo's eyes gradually changed.
Deng Qing's sword was not fast, but every strike sought the instant of empty space when Zhang Bo changed moves.
It was not enough to force a genuine opening, but no one gained that kind of eye simply by practicing from a sword manual a few times.
Zhang Bo quickened his hand a little, and Deng Qing immediately felt the pressure mount.
One moment he could still catch the gaps in Zhang Bo's swordplay; the next, they had vanished.
He forced himself to stay calm and thrust several times in succession, but could no longer bring his blade anywhere near Zhang Bo.
The next moment, Zhang Bo gave a light flick with his wooden sword.
Clang! The Blacksteel Soft Sword flew from Deng Qing's hand and landed several paces away.
Deng Qing's eyes dimmed. He had known he was no match for Zhang Bo, but he had not expected the gap to be this wide.
Zhang Bo lowered his wooden sword. "Not bad. Judging only by your understanding of the Seven Forms of Settling Solitude, you've found your way into it.
You're more than capable of guiding the young master through the basics."
Li Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. "I told you Senior Brother Deng could teach me."
He picked up the Blacksteel Soft Sword and handed it to Deng Qing. "Senior Brother Deng, shall we begin?"
Deng Qing steadied himself and took the sword. "Run through the forms first."
Li Cheng did not hesitate. He immediately performed the Seven Forms of Settling Solitude from beginning to end.
When he finished, the moves were correct, and his motions were reasonably practiced.
Deng Qing shook his head.
Li Cheng hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
"You're rushing."
Deng Qing took Li Cheng's longsword. "There's nothing wrong with your moves, but with every strike, you're trying to lunge ahead. Your strength scatters with it."
Li Cheng frowned.
Deng Qing raised the sword and thrust. Halfway through, he suddenly drew its momentum in. The force that had spread outward gathered through his shoulder, elbow, and wrist, until it settled at the sword's tip.
"The sword manual says to gather your force into a line. You haven't done that.
When your force scatters, a faster sword only grows more chaotic. Only by holding that force together can you wield the sword freely."
Zhang Bo nodded again and again.
Deng Qing continued, "There's another line: the sword seeks empty gaps. When you practice, you only watch whether your own strike will hit. But in a real fight, your opponent is moving and attacking too.
When his move changes, there will always be an instant when his Qi-Blood, strength, and body fail to follow one another.
That instant is the chance to attack."
Li Cheng thought for a moment. "But a chance like that vanishes in the blink of an eye."
"Which is why you can't rush."
Deng Qing said, "Once you get impatient and think only of striking faster, all you can see is your own sword. How will you see your opponent?"
"Again."
Li Cheng took his stance and began practicing anew, while Deng Qing spoke up from time to time beside him.
"Too much force in that strike."
"Draw your wrist back a little."
"Don't rush into the next form. Pull the force from this strike back first."
Li Cheng adjusted his movements again and again.
Zhang Bo watched, and the last of his doubts vanished.
Deng Qing was not reciting from a sword manual. He was sharing insight earned through practice.
From that day on, apart from his nightly work and sleep, Deng Qing practically lived with the Li Family.
The Li Family prepared seven meals for him every day, each with plenty of meat.
By day, Deng Qing guided Li Cheng while repeatedly taking apart the Seven Forms of Settling Solitude himself.
At night, he circulated the Violet Palace Method, refining the meat he had eaten that day bit by bit.
After a few days, Deng Qing found that coming to the Li Family to teach swordsmanship had not delayed his cultivation at all. On the contrary, he had made great progress.