Preparing to Strike

Over the next few days, Ye An trained harder than before.

The string stretched taut in his heart tightened further.

Gu Changfeng had said, "How much you can take depends on your own ability." Ye An kept turning those words over in his mind.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Layer): 71/800]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Layer): 84/800]

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Penetration): 103/300]

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Penetration): 112/300]

The white marks on the iron plate grew deeper by the day, but he was still far from the "striking through the air" mastery of Azure Cloud Finger.

The Qi-Nourishing Formula progressed faster. Internal Energy flowed ever more smoothly through his meridians, shortening the time it took to travel from his Dantian to his fingertips.

But a martial artist's first realm focused on the physical body. In the Body Tempering Realm, one needed only to practice Body Tempering Martial Arts.

Mortal Grade internal arts were merely icing on the cake. Only after Meridian Opening would Spirit Grade internal arts become essential to advancing one's cultivation.

The atmosphere in the Martial Hall had changed.

The students no longer laughed and joked as they trained.

Wang Tie's departure had changed a great deal. When he walked out carrying his bundle, no one chased after him to say, "Take care." They were all afraid that one day, those words would be spoken to them.

But after that day, the newcomers holding horse stances stopped trembling.

The sound of fingers striking iron plates rang from morning till night in the corners.

Ye An finished his practice and shook out his wrists.

He walked out of the Martial Hall. The shops on South Street were still open, and the sounds of noodles dropping into pots, bowls and chopsticks clinking, and shopkeepers working their abacuses mingled together.

Ye An had just turned into Willow Alley when a figure emerged from its depths.

The newcomer was half a head shorter than Gu Changfeng and rather thin, dressed in worn gray cloth. Something bulged at his waist, hidden beneath the fabric.

The man had probably trained a Body Tempering Martial Art focused on footwork. He made no sound as he walked.

He stopped before Ye An and drew an iron badge from his robes. The face of the pitch-black Token bore the character "Suppress."

Ye An took his own Token from his trouser pocket and compared their numbers. They matched.

The man put his Token away and said without expression, "Tomorrow, at the hour of Hai. The Zhou Family's back gate."

"Is there a main target?"

"Just don't let anyone from the Zhou Family escape."

With that, the man walked past Ye An as though nothing had happened. This time, Ye An heard his footsteps, but they sounded like a fallen leaf blown down the alley.

Ye An glanced back. The man had already vanished.

In the Ye home's main room, the oil lamp flickered above a table set with simple home-cooked dishes.

Ye Ning sat at the table. His right leg had healed completely; no one could tell from the way he walked that he had ever been injured.

The doctor had advised him to rest a few more days before resuming normal training.

The Tianyuan Vein-Continuing Pill had worked better than anyone expected. It had not only rejoined his severed tendons and meridians, but improved his Bone Structure as well.

"Third Brother, you're back just in time." Ye Ning placed a piece of pork rib in Ye An's bowl. "Once I've rested a few more days, I'm going into seclusion to break through to Third Body Tempering!"

Ye An asked casually, "Can your body handle it?"

"I asked the doctor. He said a few days' rest would be enough." Ye Ning clenched his fist, and his knuckles cracked. "The pill gave me such a strong foundation that I'd feel wasteful if I didn't make the attempt."

Anping County Yamen, rear hall.

Gu Changfeng sat in a high-backed chair before a map spread across the table. It showed the streets and markets of Anping County, along with the terrain of Blackwind Ridge outside the city. Several lines and arrows marked in vermilion pointed from different directions toward the Zhou Family, the Sun Family, the Li Family, and Blackwind Ridge.

A middle-aged man stood before the table, kneeling on one knee with a stack of papers in his hand.

"My lord, the scouts have reported back. Blackwind Stronghold has reached an agreement with the Zhou Family. The night after tomorrow, the Zhou Family will open the north gate and let Blackwind Stronghold's men into the city. The two sides will meet in Yongning Ward to discuss how to divide the territory."

Gu Changfeng tapped the map twice. "Have you confirmed where they'll meet?"

"Yes. The Zhou Family ancestral hall, the one deepest in Yongning Ward. The Zhou, Sun, and Li families will all send representatives. Pang Hu himself is coming from Blackwind Stronghold."

Relief crossed Gu Changfeng's face, as though what he had awaited for so long had finally arrived.

"Pang Hu is coming in person?"

"Yes."

"The scouts say that since breaking through to Meridian Opening, Pang Hu has grown much bolder. He thinks that with the Zhou Family helping him from within, Anping County is already in his pocket."

Gu Changfeng rose and walked to the window. Wind rustled the green bamboo in the corner of the courtyard, sending its shadows swaying across the ground. After watching for a moment, he returned to the table.

"Pass on my orders."

The middle-aged man straightened his back.

"Three teams will strike simultaneously at the hour of Hai. One will surround the Zhou Family, one the Sun Family, and one the Li Family. Not one person gets through. Not even a rat escapes." His finger came down on Blackwind Ridge. "Also, send men to watch for movement on the ridge. The moment Pang Hu leaves, cut off his retreat. If he dares come here, he won't be going back."

The middle-aged man hesitated. "My lord, Blackwind Stronghold still has plenty of underlings. What if—"

"Underlings?" Gu Changfeng cut him off. "Once Pang Hu is gone, are we keeping his underlings around for New Year?"

His meaning was clear: spare no one!

The middle-aged man said no more. He cupped his fists and withdrew.

Alone before the map, Gu Changfeng drew his finger across the positions of the Zhou, Sun, and Li families, then traced a circle at their center.

He rolled up the map and held it over a candle.

The flame licked the edge of the paper, leaving a charred line before racing upward. Gu Changfeng watched the map curl and blacken in the bronze basin until it turned to ash.

Firelight flickered across his face.

After dinner, Ye An returned to his room.

From beneath the bed, he took out the short blade he had seized from Liu Yin.

There was a scratch on the sheath, and the blade was still fairly sharp, but it fell far short of the Iron Sand Gloves.

Ye An put on the Iron Sand Gloves and flexed his fingers.

The gloves fit snugly. He rubbed the iron-sand powder at his fingertips, its tiny grains glinting darkly in the lamplight.

He had kept the short blade thinking it might be useful, but it had proved of little use.

Ye An took the Token from beneath his pillow and checked it once more.

He gazed at the character "Suppress" on its face. For some reason, the Token gave him a faint sense of security.

He rubbed his thumb over the recessed character, then tucked the Token into an inner pocket of the clothes against his skin.

He was doing this for the reward, but also for his family's safety after he left Anping County.

Ye An walked into the courtyard. Moonlight washed the stone paving white. The old locust tree's branches were bare, but in another month, new buds would emerge.

Tomorrow, at the hour of Hai.

Time to begin.