Advancing the Martial Arts

"Brother An, when did you get back? You didn't even tell me!" At first, Qian Duoduo thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Only now did he dare believe it.

His voice rang with undisguised excitement.

"Never mind that. There's room at our table! Want to join us?"

Qian Duoduo showed no trace of restraint because of Ye An's status. His tone was as warm as ever, as though they had seen each other only yesterday.

Ye An smiled when he saw Qian Duoduo. At last, he had found the table where he wanted to sit.

He knew quite a few people at this table.

Zhao Tieshan sat toward the back. He was a good deal broader than he had been a few years ago, his shoulders wide as a small wall. His short-sleeved shirt barely reached his elbows.

He froze when he saw Ye An approach, then stood. "Ye... Ye An?" he asked, sounding a little uncertain.

Times had changed. Of them all, Ye An had changed the most in the nearly three years since they had last met.

"Senior Brother, it's been a long time."

Unlike Qian Duoduo, Zhao Tieshan seemed somewhat stiff. In the end, all he managed was, "You've really made something of yourself."

He spoke sincerely, without piling on praise because of Ye An's strength. Beneath his plain words lay a touch of emotion.

The boy who had not yet stepped onto the Martial Dao had surpassed him in just one year. Now he was a gifted martial artist known throughout Cangwu Prefecture.

Several other familiar faces recognized Ye An too. Someone instinctively shifted their chair aside to give him more room.

Their gazes rested on him for an instant before they looked away, afraid of being rude. Still, faced with Anping County's legendary