Five Years Later (Tuesday-Please Keep Reading!)

The Golden Crow rose in the east, and the first light of dawn appeared.

In the Xu Household courtyard.

Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan were sparring.

Xu Chuan, Li Er, Zhao Dalong, and the others watched from the sidelines.

Xu Mingyuan planted his feet in the Eight Trigrams stance, his arms curved before him like a flood dragon coiled around a pillar.

This was the opening stance of Flood Dragon Fist—Dragon Sleeps in the Azure Abyss.

"Big brother, watch out."

"Give it everything you've got."

Xu Mingwei stood calm and unhurried.

Summers and winters had come and gone.

Five years had passed since Xu Mingyuan began training in martial arts.

Xu Mingwei was fifteen this year.

He was already nearly as tall as Xu Chuan, and in another couple of years, he would certainly surpass him.

Xu Mingyuan was a head shorter, but years of training through the fiercest summer heat and bitterest winter cold had tempered his restless nature.

The light in his eyes was restrained. He had become a martial artist.

He had not given up reading or practicing calligraphy, though he spent less time on them than on martial arts.

As for business, he only accompanied Chen Ergou on trips after the fruit and vegetable harvest each year.

These days, they transported their produce to Qingjiang County to sell, and the Xu Household's fruit and vegetables from Dongxi Village had gradually made a name for themselves.

Both households had expanded their landholdings considerably over the past five years.

The Xu Household had bought land outright. They now owned 120 mu of rice paddies, 60 mu of farmland, and 80 mu of woodland.

The woodland included a pool called Jade-Cold Pool. Its surface was frigid, yet it never froze.

Descend a hundred meters into the water, and it gradually grew warmer—a peculiar phenomenon.

Even a martial artist who jumped into the pool would freeze to death within the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Reaching its depths was harder still.

It was because of this peculiarity that Xu Chuan had found a way to acquire it.

Xu Chuan had entered Jade-Cold Pool himself, but he had soon come back up.

As his cultivation in the Martial Way steadily advanced, the power of his Fate Talent made his vitality surge ever stronger.

Though he was only a Second-Rate Martial Artist, his vitality was more formidable than that of many First-Class Martial Artists.

Xu Mingwei was also a Second-Rate Martial Artist. He had opened 286 Apertures, over twenty more than Xu Chuan.

He was not far from the First-Class Warrior Realm.

A genius who could reach that realm before sixteen could probably only be raised by a Lineage with a Grandmaster presiding over it in the Commandery Seat.

Xu Mingwei possessed the Fate Talent [Natural Divine Strength]. He was also young, his body not yet fully developed, which made opening Apertures somewhat easier.

He trained diligently day and night, never slacking off.

For five years, he had also been nourished by Medicinal Cuisine every day.

Only then had he made such progress.

Ever since obtaining the Xiantian Five Elements Creation Art, Xu Chuan had decided that everyone practicing martial arts would eat Medicinal Cuisine daily to support their training.

Those blessed with a Fate Talent could manage without it.

Ordinary people cultivating the Martial Way, however, needed Medicinal Cuisine or herbs that replenished vitality. Otherwise, their vitality would decline.

Both Medicinal Cuisine and such herbs cost a great deal of silver.

Fortunately, the Xu Household could now earn a fair amount.

A few years earlier, they had received a windfall from Boss Bear.

Jade Pears brought in a steady income each year, while their other fruits and vegetables sold well too.

The Xu Household was now the wealthiest in Dongxi Village apart from the Xu Lineage.

In fact, after deducting all expenses, the Xu Household had the largest annual surplus in the village.

But no one knew that except Xu Chuan, Bai Jing, and Zhou Ming.

Even the Mingwei brothers knew only the broad outlines.

The Xu Household kept a low profile in Dongxi Village.

Every direct member of the family treated others with courtesy and never threw their weight around.

The same was true of Zhou Ming, Zhao Dalong, Sun Fugui, and the others.

Five years had passed.

They had all married, and they had been diligent about starting families too.

Each household had welcomed one or two children.

With wives and children, these men had truly put down roots in Dongxi Village and found a place where they belonged.

From now on, they would strive not just for themselves, but for their descendants as well.

Xu Mingyuan sparred with Xu Mingwei.

His clawed hands crossed and slashed as his waist twisted explosively. He looked like a flood dragon striking with its claws, an enraged dragon parting the waters. The force of his attack was ferocious.

Li Er smiled and nodded from the sidelines. "The second young master's Flood Dragon Fist is already every bit as good as mine. I'm afraid he'll surpass me within a year."

Zhao Dalong glanced at Li Er's smug face and scoffed. "You've got the nerve to compare yourself to the second young master?"

"How old are you, and how old is he?"

"By the time the second young master reaches your age, he'll probably be a First-Class Martial Artist."

Li Er's expression turned sheepish.

His talent for the Martial Way was mediocre, so he could not argue.

Still, he came from a prominent Lineage. His perspective was broader than Zhao Dalong's and the others'.

He had taught Xu Mingyuan personally. Even with daily Medicinal Cuisine, the boy's pace of cultivation was impressive.

The Medicinal Cuisine Li Er himself had eaten back then was far more precious than what the Xu Household provided, yet he had been seventeen or eighteen before reaching Xu Mingyuan's level.

Then again, he had been somewhat lax in his training.

After he married, he had paid even less attention to it.

That was why he had only just become a Third-Rate Martial Artist.

Li Er had thought that with his Lineage behind him, his life would at least go smoothly.

Who could have expected the sky to change without warning?

Li Er could still gauge Xu Mingyuan, but Xu Mingwei was beyond him.

The boy was only fifteen, yet he seemed unfathomable to Li Er and already carried himself like an expert of the Martial Way.

Could the eldest young master have quietly become a Second-Rate Martial Artist? Someone that young reaching the second rate would be rare even among the Lineages of the county seat.

Back in my Li Lineage, at most one or two people in each generation became Second-Rate Martial Artists before fifteen.

The eldest young master is outstanding, and the second young master is no slouch either. Could the Xu Household have an inherited martial bloodline?

Li Er pondered in silence.

He had heard that some great Lineages in the Commandery Seat carried such bloodlines, making it easier for them to produce powerful martial artists.

Facing Xu Mingyuan's assault, Xu Mingwei's expression did not change. He crossed his arms before his chest and blocked the attack outright.

Then he struck with an outward-turning, crushing palm.

As the force burst forth, Xu Mingyuan flew backward.

He flipped over and landed on one knee, sliding two or three meters before coming to a stop.

"Reverse Scale Surges Through the Waves!"

Xu Mingyuan crouched low and slid forward, his right fist spiraling upward from below.

The move targeted the lower body.

Xu Mingwei smiled. Lifting a corner of his long robe, he raised one leg after the other and retreated.

After several steps, he saw through Xu Mingyuan's move. He planted himself on one leg, rooted to the ground and immovable.

His right leg swung out like an elephant's trunk and struck Xu Mingyuan's right fist head-on.

Xu Mingyuan tumbled several times and ended up in a sorry state. Xu Mingwei, despite the force rebounding into him, stood steady as Mount Tai and slowly lowered his leg.

"Excellent!"

Zhao Dalong, Sun Fugui, and Qian Youcai cheered loudly.

Seeing Xu Mingyuan grimace, Xu Chuan laughed. "A Yuan, don't embarrass yourself in front of Shitou with those paltry skills."

"Zhao Dalong, spar with Shitou. Don't hold back."

"Yes, Patriarch." Zhao Dalong stepped forward and cupped his fists toward Xu Chuan. Then he turned to Xu Mingwei. "Eldest young master, please teach me."

Zhao Dalong had once been an apprentice at a Martial Arts Hall and often fought with others.

He had far more combat experience than Xu Mingyuan. Rather than sticking rigidly to the moves in a manual, he adapted them as needed.

Every strike went for a vital point, ruthless and decisive.

Even so, he could not harm Xu Mingwei in the slightest.

In front of others, Xu Mingwei never displayed more than the strength of a Third-Rate Martial Artist. But his eye for combat and his fighting skills surpassed those of Zhao Dalong and the others.

For the past two years, he had ventured deep into the woods every two or three days to fight wild beasts.

Every so often, he brought back a beast's carcass.

The wolf and fox pelts alone had sold for a tidy sum.

Once, he had even brought back an intact white fox.

White foxes were swift as the wind. Even a First-Class Martial Artist would struggle to catch one in the woods.

An intact white fox pelt was worth several hundred taels of silver in Qingjiang County.

Xu Chuan had let Xu Mingwei decide what to do with it. Without a second thought, he had it made into a fur coat and gave it to Bai Jing.

Bai Jing was deeply moved and could hardly bear to wear it.

A short while later.

Zhao Dalong could no longer withstand Xu Mingwei's attacks.

Xu Chuan spoke again. "Sun Fugui, Qian Youcai, join Zhao Dalong and attack him together."

"Yes, Patriarch."

The two had been itching to fight. At Xu Chuan's command, they rushed into the fray.

Under the combined assault of three martial artists, each with more than twenty Apertures open, Xu Mingwei finally felt some pressure.

He increased the power of his Inner Force slightly.