Tempering the Heart

"I heard that constables at the Prefectural City Soul-Calming Office are divided into three grades. First Grade is the highest, Third Grade the lowest. They still look at three things: Yin Bone quality, the amount of strength one can wield, and martial arts attainment," Lin Qing said. The middle-aged man had gone over this briefly at the meeting two days earlier.

"Mm. Your Yin Bone is Low-Grade, so your martial arts attainment and strength can't drag you down too," Yang Feng said.

"Rest assured, Master. I won't slack off in the slightest." Lin Qing nodded.

"You've reached Perfect Mastery in the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake. Your next step is to break through to Hidden Strength. The Soul-Calming Office Armory has a Hidden Strength Method, but you need the head's approval to receive it." Yang Feng lowered his voice. "I don't know whether Pang Tong will make things difficult for you out of spite. Either way, try asking first."

Meanwhile.

At the center of the Soul-Calming Office courtyard, Pang Tong sat in a tall pavilion, gazing out the window. From its top floor, he could overlook the entire office.

"Lin Qing turned down the Han Family's offer. Looks like he's set on standing with Yang Feng," Han Tai said from across the table.

"Who would've thought a phoenix would fly out of a chicken coop? With that boy's martial arts talent, once he goes to Prefectural City, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop him." Pang Tong tapped his fingers against the long table, his face expressionless.

"My lord, if we can't win him over, we can't let him reach Prefectural City safely. Find a way to keep him here. Or we could go further and cut him down with one stroke," Han Tai said under his breath.

"He's in the spotlight right now. Killing him would bring the fire down on our own heads. But you're right—we need to find a way to keep him here." Pang Tong rose and stood by the window, gazing into the distance. No one knew what he was considering.

Night fell.

When Lin Qing returned home, he shared the good news with his parents at once.

Both were overjoyed. Neither had expected him to succeed.

"Wonderful! Heaven has blessed the Lin Family. With talent like yours, Ah Qing, you're sure to become someone important one day." Lin Cheng laughed heartily, a bright smile never leaving his face.

"Yes, Ah Qing has a promising future. Our family has never produced a formidable martial artist before. He'll be the first." Han Ying beamed too.

"Father, Mother, don't worry. One day, I'll take you to Prefectural City. I've heard it's incredibly prosperous—a hundred, even a thousand times better than Jiangyin County," Lin Qing said softly.

"Ah Qing, I believe you," Lin Cheng said with a smile.

"By the way, Ah Qing, when do you leave for Prefectural City?" Han Ying suddenly asked.

"Next March. Five months from now." Lin Qing stuffed a fried meatball into his mouth, his words muffled.

"Five months... Ah, Prefectural City is far away, and the journey will be exhausting. It'll be hard to see you after that." Han Ying let out a sudden sigh.

"Don't sigh. A fine young man should set his sights on the wide world. What future could he have cooped up in a little county town?" Lin Cheng said sharply.

"I know. Your mother supports you. You're talented; you mustn't let it go to waste," Han Ying hurriedly said.

By daybreak, word that Lin Qing had passed the Reexamination had spread among the neighbors. Visitors soon came bearing all manner of gifts. Even matchmakers showed up, clamoring to arrange a marriage for him.

Lin Qing's mind was on martial arts. He had never considered romance, so he turned them down outright.

In half a day, his home was piled high with fruit, vegetables, rice, and flour—all "congratulatory gifts" from the neighbors.

His family had always been on fairly good terms with the people around them, but they had never been treated so warmly. Now everyone's attitude had changed as completely as heaven and earth.

It drove home to Lin Qing the saying: when you're poor, no one asks after you even in a bustling market; when you're rich, distant relatives seek you out in the deepest mountains.

The world is muddied. Whether people try to suppress me or flatter me, it's all an illusion. Only my own strength is real.

Don't be elated by what I gain or grieve over what I lose. Stay true to myself and take honor and disgrace lightly.

There's no end to the martial path. Training the body is also tempering the heart.

Lin Qing gazed at the rice, flour, fruit, and vegetables piled into a little mountain and kept reminding himself of these things.

Time passed. Several more days went by, and the commotion caused by Lin Qing's success in the Reexamination gradually died down.

His life returned to normal. As before, he collected corpses, trained, ate, and slept each day.

Lin Qing first went to the Armory to request the Hidden Strength Method, only to be told he had to wait for approval from Lu Xingyun, the head of the office, before he could receive it.

All he could do was wait. He poured his energy into practicing the Tathagata Fist Manual. With his Exceptional Fist Talent, he advanced rapidly, mastering the second move and moving on to the third.

One day, after practicing the fist technique all morning, Lin Qing felt exhausted by noon and sat down in a nearby chair to rest.

"Five days have passed, and they still haven't issued the Hidden Strength Method." Lin Qing frowned.

Ordinarily, it could be handled the same day and would take no more than three days at most. Now it had dragged on for five. Something was clearly amiss.

I'll wait a little longer and practice the Tathagata Fist Manual for now. If that fails, I'll find a Hidden Strength Method and a Body-Hardening Art elsewhere.

I also need to start preparing the materials for the Rebirth Record's promotion to Fourth Tier. Gold and silver won't be a problem. Heavenly Dust Sand and Moonshadow Stone are the hard part.

Lin Qing had asked Yang Feng about them over the past few days, but Yang Feng had never heard of either. He had then searched through many books in the library and found a mention in the Gazetteer of Mountains and Rivers. It stated plainly that both materials were exceedingly rare and used specifically to forge Divine Weapons.

I wonder if there's any way to get those two materials in Jiangyin County. If not, I'll have to look for them in Prefectural City, Lin Qing thought.

As he pondered this, Yu Qiuyu called him to the Cremation Ground to handle some corpses. It was his turn on duty today.

When Lin Qing arrived, he saw three bodies: two men and one woman.

The woman looked young, but her death had been horrific. Bluish-black patches covered her body. Judging from his medical experience, Lin Qing knew she had been poisoned so severely that even her organs had rotted. Up close, he could smell a faint, fishy stench.

Lin Qing did not care how she had died. He only cared whether the bodies had any value. After looking them over, however, he found they were all ordinary people. At most, he might obtain a few useful talents from them; their value was negligible.

A short while later, Lin Qing fed the woman's body into the cremation furnace and saw fragments of her memories in his mind.

He quickly absorbed those memories. His brow furrowed, and anger surged uncontrollably within him.

The Han Family are beasts worse than pigs and dogs, he cursed inwardly.

The woman had been Han Shantong's personal maid. Sold to the Han Family at thirteen, she had been forced to swallow poison that destroyed her hearing and voice, leaving her a deaf-mute girl.

Recently, the Han Family had been secretly developing a Forbidden Drug. Whenever they made progress, they had servants swallow it first. The woman had died after taking it in one such test; the poison had eaten through her stomach and intestines.

In this world, the lives of people at the bottom are worth nothing. In the Han Family's eyes, a servant is worth less than a dog, Lin Qing reflected.

He was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Still, those infuriating scenes were not all he had gained.

First, the Han Family had recently been secretly collecting the bodies of dead infants.

Second, Han Shantong had a hidden chamber filled with treasures, possibly including Heavenly Dust Sand.