Dragon Gate Escort Agency Comes Calling

The air in the training room was thick with killing intent.

"Hah!"

"Hah!"

Two figures flashed past each other at breakneck speed, the clash of metal ringing without pause.

Li Xiang had barely crossed the threshold when he saw Ye Qingyao beating up Qin Zhong.

Qin Zhong's burly frame looked clumsy now. Ye Qingyao's twin blades flitted like butterflies through flowers, darting into every blind spot in his defense. She drove him back again and again, leaving several white marks on his Cowhide Armor.

Smack!

Ye Qingyao struck Qin Zhong's wrist with the back of her blade. The big man grimaced in pain, nearly dropping his knife.

"Too slow, Qin Zhong. Your footwork is decent, but your hands are far too rough."

Ye Qingyao barked the criticism and was about to attack again when she caught sight of Li Xiang in the doorway.

"Stop!"

Ye Qingyao lowered her blades and stood still. Without another glance at Qin Zhong, she fixed her gaze on Li Xiang.

"You're here?" Ye Qingyao's voice was cool, her eagerness for a fight undisguised.

"Junior Brother Li's here."

As if granted a pardon, Qin Zhong tossed his knife aside, dropped onto his backside, and gasped for breath.

"Oh, my heavens. Senior Sister Ye, you call that sparring? You nearly killed me."

He turned to Li Xiang, sympathy and gloating mingling in his eyes. "Brother Li, you finally made it. I don't know what set Senior Sister Ye off today, but she's been hitting hard."

"She said time's short and the task's tough, so she has to turn up the pressure on you."

Qin Zhong truly feared this Grandmaster. She showed no mercy when she struck.

"Turn up the pressure?" Li Xiang raised an eyebrow. She was probably looking to settle yesterday's score.

"That's right."

Ye Qingyao toyed with the Eight-Cutting Knives in her hands. Cold light traveled along their edges, illuminating her beautiful, icy face.

"The match is close. For the next few days, we won't practice forms. We'll practice killing moves."

Ye Qingyao tossed Li Xiang another pair of real knives.

"Catch!"

Li Xiang caught them steadily. Their heavy weight sharpened his focus.

"We're still using real blades," Ye Qingyao said, pointing a knife at him. "Only by walking the edge of life and death will your body remember that feeling of dread."

"Otherwise, when you step into the ring and see blood, your body will lose its nerve before your mind does. That leads straight to death."

"Good!"

Li Xiang wasted no words. He drew a deep breath, and the [Boxer]'s Dragon Spine pulled taut. The [Swordsman]'s Blade Courage activated, aided by his other professions, and the world before his eyes grew clear and slow.

"Come on!"

They collided in an instant.

Clang! Clang, clang!

Sparks flew.

This time, every strike Ye Qingyao made aimed for a vital spot. She pulled back at the last moment, but the sting of a blade grazing his skin was all too real.

"Junior Brother Li, watch out!"

Qin Zhong could not help shouting from the sidelines.

Ye Qingyao suddenly changed her move. A fierce chop turned to Soft Force in an instant, her blade sliding along the back of Li Xiang's knife toward his wrist.

Li Xiang reacted at once. He dropped his wrist and swept his knife upward in a reverse cut at an uncanny angle.

Clang—

The two knives crossed in midair, scattering sparks.

Li Xiang gave the fight his full attention, pushing everything he had learned of the Wing Chun Eight-Cutting Knives to its limit.

Guarding Knife, Spreading Knife, Pillow Knife...

Move after move flowed out in response to Ye Qingyao's attacks, no longer bound by set forms.

[Practice match. Swordsman experience +1]

After dozens of exchanges, they broke apart.

The sleeves of Li Xiang's long robe had been slashed dozens of times. Ye Qingyao, meanwhile, was unscathed. She stood apart, light and poised, clearly pleased with her handiwork.

"Good!" Ye Qingyao lowered her knives, a hint of approval in her eyes. "You're improving quickly. You're stronger than you were yesterday."

"Has your body remembered what it feels like to stand one step from death?"

"It has." Li Xiang nodded and shook out his aching wrist. "It leaves a much deeper impression than practicing blindly on my own."

"Good." Ye Qingyao walked over and handed him a towel. "Only under this kind of pressure will your body develop instincts."

"When you enter a real match and face an opponent's killing move, your body may respond before your mind has even caught up."

"That's what it means for skill to become part of you."

Li Xiang wiped away his sweat, then asked, "Senior Sister, does crossing the threshold really make such a big difference?"

He had unlocked several Professions, but aside from [Embalmer], which had reached Lv10 and stalled at its advancement task, the rest were still at low levels.

He wanted to understand what it meant for a professional to "cross the threshold," and to grasp this world's system of power more thoroughly, rather than relying on the scraps of explanation in the [Book of a Hundred Lives].

"Of course."

Ye Qingyao sat down on a cushion and, without holding anything back, began giving Li Xiang a private lesson.

"I heard you went to Zither Strings House with Qin Zhong yesterday. He must have told you that once Courtesan Cultivators cross the threshold, a weapon capable of draining a person's essence and marrow is born within them.

"Li Xiang, you're still at the stage of nurturing your essence, energy, and spirit. No matter how tempting it is, don't go near a Courtesan Cultivator's bone-scraping blade."

At that, Qin Zhong's face reddened slightly. He clearly had not expected Ye Qingyao to bring up his taking Li Xiang to Zither Strings House in front of them both.

"Like the Courtesan Cultivators' Fate Artifacts, we martial cultivators have something unique to us."

Ye Qingyao extended a finger. A faint current of air swirled around its tip.

"When martial cultivators cross the threshold, Martial Force is born within them."

"Fate Artifacts and Martial Force may take different paths, but they reach the same destination. Both are tangible manifestations of a profession's rules within the human body. They are a professional's foundation."

"Martial Force?" Li Xiang stared at her fingertip. This was the power he had dreamed of.

"Martial Force isn't brute strength. It's power refined and compressed to an extraordinary degree, given a special attribute, and expressed directly."

Ye Qingyao explained, "Take the Taizu Long Fist you practice. If you cross the threshold with it, Dragon Force will be born within you.

"Dragon Force is upright and balanced, fierce and unyielding. It's especially suited to tempering muscles and bones, and it forms the foundation of most martial arts today."

"And if you master the Wing Chun Eight-Cutting Knives and cross the threshold, Piercing Force will be born."

With that, she picked up a wooden stick and gave her wrist a gentle flick.

Crack!

The hard stick burst apart. Radiating fractures spread from the break, as though something sharp had pierced straight through it.

"Piercing Force does exactly what its name suggests. It has tremendous penetrating power. It can pass into the body and is particularly effective against masters who cultivate physical toughness."

Li Xiang stared, dumbfounded.

So this was the power of Martial Force?

"But that's only the foundation." Ye Qingyao's tone shifted, and a feverish light entered her eyes. "The most wondrous thing about Martial Force is that it can merge."

"Merge?"

"That's right. Combine them." Ye Qingyao nodded. "It's like cooking. Mix different ingredients, and you can create countless flavors. Martial Force works the same way."

"Merge different kinds of Martial Force in a particular sequence, guiding them along particular paths through the meridians, and you can produce higher forms of Martial Force that are more powerful and more unpredictable."

Li Xiang listened, entranced. It sounded like a chemical reaction: combine different elements, and the result could change completely.

"The methods for merging these higher forms of Martial Force are the heart of a sect's secrets, its true family treasures. They aren't casually taught to anyone but direct disciples."

"That is the 'real skill' everyone talks about."

Ye Qingyao began listing examples as easily as if she were counting her own possessions. "Take Wudang's True Martial Force. It merges dozens of basic forces, including Hard Force, Soft Force, Silk-Winding Force, and Tremor Force. It renews itself endlessly, with strength that carries on and on."

"Then there's Mount Hua's Purple Dawn Force, Shaolin's Tathagata Force, Emei's Nine Yin Force, and the Celestial Master Mansion's world-renowned Nine Heavens Force..."

"Every one of these famed forces was formed by merging dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of basic forces. They're the ultimate goal countless martial cultivators spend their lives pursuing."

Ye Qingyao continued, "The first person to merge Martial Forces was the Wu Dynasty's founding emperor—the Martial Ancestor, whom countless martial cultivators revere as their forefather."

"He opened a new path for martial cultivators and led their profession to its peak. It leaped from the hundred schools into the upper nine ranks, its influence drawing close to that of the Three Teachings."

Li Xiang's heart surged as he listened.

No wonder everyone had reacted so strongly when Hong Tianbao said he would teach real martial arts.

So this "real martial art" was the method for merging Martial Forces.

It was like nuclear weapons in his previous life: whoever possessed them had a voice.

"What about the Shocking Heron Martial Hall?"

Li Xiang could not help asking, "Master Hong is a martial cultivation Grandmaster and a former Martial Laureate. What higher form of Martial Force does he command?"

Ye Qingyao was about to answer when hurried footsteps sounded outside the training room.

"Senior Brother Qin, Senior Brother Li, someone's here for you."

A young student rushed in, his face tight with nerves.

"What are you panicking for?" Qin Zhong frowned. "Who's looking for us?"

"People from the Dragon Gate Escort Agency." The student swallowed. "Several of them came. They asked for you both by name and want to question you."

"The Dragon Gate Escort Agency?"

Li Xiang and Qin Zhong exchanged a glance, both frowning.

Since Li Xiang had accepted the Knife-Clasping Hand-Wrestling challenge and shown everyone that "deadly weapon" of his yesterday, the other students had begun calling him "Senior Brother."

But no one cared about that change in address now.

Their attention was fixed on the words "Dragon Gate Escort Agency."

It was the local tyrant of Linjiang County, the undisputed overlord.

What could they want with me?

Li Xiang immediately thought of Lu Jin, the Lu Family's third young master, who had spent money like water at Zither Strings House the night before.

Even for the wealthy and powerful Dragon Gate Escort Agency, a hundred thousand silver dollars was no small sum—especially when it had been spent on a Courtesan Cultivator.

If word got back to the Lu Family, the Head Boss would probably cough up blood from sheer anger.

Now that people from the Dragon Gate Escort Agency had come calling, they were most likely here to verify what had happened.

"Go see what they want." Ye Qingyao's expression chilled as she slid her twin knives back into her belt.

"On the Shocking Heron Martial Hall's grounds, even the Dragon Gate Escort Agency has to follow the rules."

"Mm."

Li Xiang nodded and headed for the main hall with Qin Zhong.

P.S. A humble new author has a request: this book is still in its early release period, so if you think it's pretty good, please don't leave it unread to stockpile chapters. Read a little every day. Once it goes on sale, I promise at least ten thousand words a day, and at least fifty thousand words on the first day.