Internal Cultivation Method

No sooner had Li Liang finished speaking than the apprentices surrounded Deng Qing.

Li Cheng, Zhou Tie, and Wang Wei had broken through; everyone could understand that.

They had family resources, supplements, meat, medicinal wine.

But what about Deng Qing?

Who did not know that he was so poor he could not even scrape together the corvée fee?

A man like him had actually broken through Skin Tempering First Layer too. Was there any justice left? Any law?

Someone could not help asking, "Senior Brother Deng, how exactly did you break through?"

"Practicing fist techniques."

"Just practicing fist techniques?"

"Practicing bitterly."

Everyone fell silent.

Someone else asked, "But how did you replenish your blood and qi? You do not have supplements or medicinal wine."

Deng Qing told the truth. "I ate pig offal."

"Pig... offal?"

"Large intestines, small intestines, pig lungs."

Someone immediately covered their mouth. In an instant, the entire place erupted in uproar.

Li Liang said, "That is true enough. I have been to Junior Brother Deng's courtyard and saw half a yard full of intestines and lungs frozen hard as iron."

With those words, no one doubted him any longer.

Fan Sheng knocked on a corridor pillar. "All of you, disperse. Even if you know the method, you may not be able to endure that kind of hardship."

With that, he patted Deng Qing's shoulder. "Come with me."

Deng Qing followed him into the accounting room.

Fan Sheng took Deng Qing's apprentice token, then brought out a new wooden plaque.

The front still bore the words "Celebration," but the back had the character "Registered" carved into it.

Fan Sheng carved the two characters "Deng Qing" onto the plaque and handed it to him. "Keep it safe. From today onward, you are a registered disciple of Celebration Hall."

The accountant at the side opened the roster and wrote with his brush, "Everjoy County, Celebration Hall. Registered disciple, Deng Qing. Realm: Skin Tempering First Layer."

Deng Qing stared fixedly at the roster and thought, From now on, every scroll in the twelve volumes of military records bears my name.

Fan Sheng added, "The formal apprenticeship ceremony will have to wait until two months from now.

After this batch of apprentices finishes their assessment, those who remain will kneel, kowtow, and offer tea to Master together with you few."

"Understood."

The next day, Celebration Hall.

Deng Qing had just entered the front courtyard when two laborers carried a door panel in from outside in a hurry.

A person lay atop the panel, their chest wrapped in thick layers of white cloth already soaked through with dark-red blood.

Another person was being helped along behind them, his left arm hanging limp at his side, the area below his sleeve swollen high.

The last door panel was covered with a white sheet, which covered the body from head to toe.

The wind swept through the courtyard and lifted a corner of the sheet, revealing half a bluish chin.

Deng Qing's head throbbed at the sight. He had thought becoming a registered disciple meant entering a safe harbor. Looking at it now, he had been far too naïve.

"See that?"

Fan Sheng's voice came from behind him.

Deng Qing turned and cupped his hands. "Senior Brother Fan."

Fan Sheng said, "They are all registered disciples who went out from Celebration Hall.

Some guarded the estates of wealthy households, some escorted goods for merchant caravans, and some handled matters for the yamen.

Those who made it did well earned silver and respect.

Those who did poorly lost hands and feet."

As he spoke, he glanced at the door panel covered with the white sheet. "Worse still, they end up like that—having played away even their lives."

Deng Qing was speechless.

"Now that your name has entered the registered disciples' roster, there are some rules you ought to know."

"Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."

"Newly registered disciples who break through to Skin Refining Second Layer within six months will continue to receive the hall's training.

Those who fail to break through to Skin Refining Second Layer within six months will be given a letter of recommendation and sent out to make their own way in the world."

"Make my own way in the world?"

"That is right."

Fan Sheng said, "With a letter of recommendation, it is easier than for ordinary people to become guards for wealthy households, escort goods for merchant caravans, or serve the yamen.

But once you walk out Celebration Hall's doors, whoever feeds you is the one whose orders you obey.

After that, whether you lose hands and feet or have a white sheet draped over your head, the hall can no longer concern itself with it."

Deng Qing quietly steeled himself. Within six months, he had to break through to Skin Refining Second Layer.

Deng Qing asked, "Senior Brother Fan, since the hall intends to train registered disciples, how many resources will it provide next?"

Fan Sheng spread his hands. "One set of white clothes, meals in the inner courtyard, and one cultivation method. That is all."

Deng Qing froze. What kind of treatment was that?

Fan Sheng said, "Those things are enough to keep you from going hungry, but they are far from enough if you want to climb higher.

From Skin Tempering First Layer to Skin Refining Second Layer, the blood-and-qi replenishing items you need would cost no less than nearly two hundred taels of silver."

Deng Qing felt like beating his chest and stamping his feet. He had spent a year since crossing into this world, risking his life to save up three taels of silver.

Now he needed two hundred taels. It sounded like a damn mountain crashing down on him.

Seeing his silence, Fan Sheng smiled. "Scared?"

Deng Qing shook his head. "Not scared. I just think it is too difficult."

Fan Sheng said, "It is good that you know it is difficult. The path of martial arts burns more money the farther you go. Poor scholars, rich warriors—that is not empty nonsense."

Deng Qing quietly drew a breath. "Then what must I do to stay in the hall like you, Senior Brother?"

Fan Sheng waved a hand. "Like me? Do not use me as an example.

I am only a registered disciple who has muddled into a minor post in the hall, managing apprentices, running errands, and earning enough to fill my belly.

If you truly want to rise higher, you should aim to become an entry disciple, then a personal disciple.

Only once you reach that step can you be said to have truly entered Celebration Hall's doors."

Light shone in Deng Qing's eyes. "How can I become an entry disciple?"

"That is a matter for later. Right now, you are not even at Skin Refining Second Layer. First think about how to remain here for six months."

After saying that, Fan Sheng led him into a side room.

Several wooden racks stood inside, each holding volumes of cultivation methods.

Many of those methods had a paperweight placed atop them. After looking around, only one cultivation method remained without a paperweight.

Fan Sheng picked up that unweighted method. Deng Qing saw its title as well: Violet Palace Method.

Deng Qing said, "Senior Brother Fan, I have not finished practicing Tiger-Subduing Fist. Why can I not continue practicing Tiger-Subduing Fist?"

Fan Sheng frowned. "Who said you have not finished? You already relied on Tiger-Subduing Fist to break through Skin Tempering First Layer. If that does not count as finishing it, what does?"

Deng Qing's heart stirred. It seemed Senior Brother Fan's idea of finishing was completely different from Juan'er's.

With Tang Juan'er, I have only reached minor accomplishment.

Deng Qing quickly made up his mind. He needed to learn the new cultivation method, but he could not abandon Tiger-Subduing Fist either.

Fan Sheng said, "Celebration Hall offers registered disciples two kinds of cultivation methods.

One is external cultivation methods, all techniques for killing and fighting fiercely.

They take effect quickly and possess great power, suitable for people like you who are in a hurry to earn money.

The other kind is internal cultivation methods."

Fan Sheng patted the Violet Palace Method in his hand. "Internal cultivation methods take effect slowly and are weak in actual combat. In the short term, they are far less appealing than external cultivation methods, so few choose them.

But their strength lies in laying a solid foundation. They help nourish the internal organs and efficiently refine food and medicinal power.

Because they take effect slowly and their benefits cannot be seen, not many are willing to choose them.

Registered disciples in the hall have always been old hands leading newcomers.

Only Senior Brother Tu Wei has not taken anyone on for the time being, and what Senior Brother Tu practices is precisely an internal cultivation method: Violet Palace Method."

Deng Qing had wanted to choose an external cultivation method as well. In troubled times, survival meant combat strength came first.

But since there was no choice now, what more was there to say?

Fan Sheng immediately led him toward the rear courtyard. After more than a hundred breaths, they arrived at a quiet room.

The door stood half open. Inside sat a tall, broad-built man.

He wore a white robe, his shoulders and back wide as a wall, and he was lowering his head to wipe a bronze kettle.

Fan Sheng entered and said, "Senior Brother Tu."

Tu Wei raised his eyes.

Fan Sheng pointed at Deng Qing. "A newly registered disciple, Deng Qing. He chose Violet Palace Method."

Tu Wei glanced at Deng Qing, then pointed at the cultivation method in his hands. "Memorize it first. Then come find me."

Deng Qing opened the booklet. After reading only a few lines, he could not stop his brow from furrowing.

The booklet contained not only words, but several diagrams of people circulating qi.

The little figures in the diagrams sat cross-legged, with dense lines drawn through their chests and abdomens. Beside them were marked terms such as Purple Residence, Scarlet Palace, Sea of Qi, and the rising and descending of the internal organs.

At a glance, it was mysterious beyond mystery.

He recognized every word, but when they were strung together, Deng Qing felt as though he were lost amid cloud-veiled mountains and mist-shrouded peaks.