Four Letters

That evening, Ye An returned to Room 3 of the Jia Courtyard and saw a small cloth bag lying on the ground by the door.

The bag was made of coarse hemp, its opening tied shut with hemp rope.

After Ye An untied it, he found several letters inside.

Three were stacked together, while another lay separately to the side. Its paper was clearly finer than that of the first three, and a dark pattern had been pressed into the envelope.

Ye An brought the letters inside, sat down at the table, and opened the one on top first.

The handwriting was crooked and awkward, as if written by someone unaccustomed to using a pen. A small patch of grease stained the edge of the paper.

"Brother An, ever since word spread that you broke through the Third Body Tempering and went to the Four Symbols Sect, more and more people have come to Green Bamboo Martial Arts Hall to study. Of course, more and more people have left as well. I'm at Peak First Body Tempering now and preparing to break through to Second Body Tempering. I wonder how things are going for you, and whether the Four Symbols Sect is any good. When you come back, I'll treat you to Drunken Immortal Tower!"—Qian Duoduo.

Ye An smiled as he read the letter, placed Qian Duoduo's letter to his left, and immediately opened the second one.

The second letter had neat handwriting and clear strokes. It was written by his eldest brother, Ye Ping.

"Third Brother, everything at home is fine, so don't worry. Father's general store business is as usual, and he's still in good health. Your second brother has already broken through to the Third Body Tempering. He's currently helping teach classes at the martial hall in South Market, saying he wants to build up some experience before opening a Martial Hall of his own. We received the letter you sent back and read it several times. Knowing that you've settled in is enough. Take good care of yourself over there."

He then opened the third letter.

The handwriting was fierce, the strokes sharp. Anyone could tell it had been written by someone who had wielded a blade for many years. Its contents were brief, consisting of only a few lines.

"I heard you've settled into the Four Symbols Sect. How is it? There must be plenty of geniuses there, right? Do you feel that the Third Body Tempering is nothing special now? Oh, and contact me less in the future. I'm afraid Ye Ning will misunderstand."—Gu Changfeng.

Ye An stared at the line, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Gu Changfeng's words—"contact me less in the future"—were both a joke and a promise. Your family in Anping County is under my protection, Gu Changfeng's.

And then there was his second brother, Ye Ning.

After Ye An left, the most outstanding young martial artist in Anping County was Ye Ning. With the Third Body Tempering and Grade A Bone Aptitude, calling him a "genius" would not be an exaggeration.

Ye An set down Gu Changfeng's letter and looked toward the last one.

He had already guessed who the first three letters were from, but who could this last one be?

The envelope was pale blue, with fine-textured paper. A tiny flower was printed in the corner. Ye An had not seen much of the world and did not recognize what kind of flower it was.

The handwriting was elegant. Memories surfaced in Ye An's mind—he had seen this handwriting in Anping County.

"Please open this letter, Young Master Ye. I heard that you have joined the Four Symbols Sect. Congratulations. I have specially sent you a bottle of Flawless Body Tempering Pills as a small token of my goodwill. The Liu Lineage is also in Cangwu Prefectural City. If you encounter any difficulties in the Sect, you may come to the Liu Lineage and find me. The address is enclosed with this letter."—Respectfully, Liu Ruyan.

Beneath the letter lay a slip of paper bearing an address: "Third Ward of Liu Family Alley, North Liu Lineage, Cangwu Prefectural City."

It was actually Liu Ruyan of the Liu Lineage. Ye An was surprised.

Ye An folded the letter, put it back into the envelope, and took the bottle of Flawless Body Tempering Pills out of the cloth bag.

The porcelain bottle was a size smaller than the previous one, but the wax seal at its mouth was still perfectly intact.

Ye An broke the wax seal. A pill rolled out, reflecting a rich force of qi and blood beneath the lamplight.

The dense medicinal fragrance flowed into his nose. Its quality was exactly the same as the previous bottle.

After examining everything, Ye An spread out paper, ground the ink, and wrote three reply letters in succession.

One for Qian Duoduo, one for his family, and one for Gu Changfeng.

As for his reply to Liu Ruyan, Ye An hesitated for a moment, then wrote one more letter.

Its contents were simple: he thanked her for the pills and told her that if she ever needed help, she could come to him.

Three months was neither a long nor a short time.

But for someone who left at dawn every day and returned at dusk, three months was enough to accomplish many things.

Time flew by for Ye An, each day repeating the same rhythm.

At daybreak, he went to the Martial Practice Ground and occasionally practiced Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada. After finishing the footwork, he practiced Azure Cloud Finger, then returned to his room at dusk to meditate.

The bottle of Flawless Body Tempering Pills Liu Ruyan had given him greatly accelerated Ye An's progress.

After three months, his results were even better than he had expected.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Layer): 135/800]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Layer): 243/800]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Layer): 389/800]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Fourth Layer): 541/800]

On the day Azure Cloud Finger broke through the five-hundred mark, Ye An jabbed a finger into a bluestone slab. Although the slab did not crack, a fine web of fissures spread across its surface.

Ye An focused his mind and began to comprehend the technique. He discovered that his Internal Energy could now reach his fingertips. Although he still could not release it through the air, he could at least drive it into the interior of the stone slab instead of striking only its surface.

Su Yuanshan had said that the Fourth Layer of Azure Cloud Finger was "sending Internal Energy out," and Ye An could now send it out half an inch.

[Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada (Initial Glance): 1/100]

[Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada (Initial Glance): 37/100]

[Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada (Initial Glance): 62/100]

[Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada (Micro): 3/200]

Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada advanced from Initial Glance to Micro in the middle of the second month.

That day, Ye An once again completed an entire circuit of Eight Steps on the Martial Practice Ground. After stopping at each step, his position landed exactly where he had intended.

Ye An could now change direction four times within eight steps. When giving chase, he no longer feared losing his target, and when fleeing, he no longer feared being caught.

Ye An looked out the window. The lights of the Outer Sect appeared here and there, while the stone steps leading to the distant Inner Sect were guarded by disciples on duty.

His three-month cultivation period was coming to an end. Ye An had looked over the mission list outside the Mission Hall several times: mountain patrols, herb gathering, escorting merchant caravans...

Ye An would soon have to accept a mission.