A whole family of freaks (two chapters in one)

Ever since the Xu Household had chosen a site and begun building the Dragon Elephant Martial Hall, Gu Yiping had been living in a side room of their western courtyard.

Every day at the fifth watch, he spread rice paper across the desk by the window and wrote down the essentials of the martial arts and the secret recipes for medicinal cuisine, one by one.

The foliage of the old locust tree in the courtyard grew from sparse to dense.

Half a month slipped by in a flash.

Gu Yiping packed the Little Dragon Elephant Art and the Xiantian Dragon Elephant Art, seven or eight martial techniques including the Seven Extremes Sword, Wind-Treading Steps, Mad Dragon Fist, and Divine Wind Palm, along with four medicinal cuisine recipes, into a rosewood box and handed it to Xu Mingwei.

"Thank you for your efforts, Hall Master Gu."

"It was a transaction we both willingly agreed to."

They exchanged a look, and Xu Mingwei went straight to the Ancestral Hall to put everything away.

He had skimmed through every volume.

His main focus was the four secret medicinal cuisine recipes.

Three were suitable for martial artists below Xiantian, while the remaining one detailed Xiantian medicinal cuisine that could aid Xiantian Martial Artists in their cultivation.

Xu Mingwei picked out several techniques that suited him and began practicing them in his spare time.

Once he had gained some proficiency, he invited Gu Yiping to spar with him.

The Golden Crow sank westward, and heaven and earth suddenly took on a gilded hue.

The bluestone bricks of the Martial Training Ground still held the warmth of the day.

Xu Mingwei curled his fingers into a fist and watched Gu Yiping. Before he even punched, the wind stirred by his fist sent fallen leaves swirling across the ground.

Gu Yiping stepped into the Seven-Star Steps. His left palm traced an arc as though embracing the moon, while his right palm struck toward his opponent's chest with the sound of wind and thunder.

Xu Mingwei neither dodged nor evaded, raising his left arm across his body like an iron bar.

A muffled thud rang out. Gu Yiping felt his palm go numb and had to retreat half a step before regaining his footing.

His pupils contracted slightly, astonishment rising within him. What tremendous strength. This no longer feels like Houtian.

Instead of retreating, Xu Mingwei advanced, his body drifting like willow fluff. As his toes touched the ground, he had already circled to Gu Yiping's side.

He pushed his right fist straight forward. Before the wind of his punch arrived, the air around it was already faintly trembling.

Gu Yiping hurriedly used a blocking form from the Mad Dragon Fist, only to feel an immense surge of force rush toward him. The impact sent his blood and qi churning, and the web between his thumb and forefinger ached faintly.

He had not used his Xiantian True Qi, but he had never expected to find himself at a disadvantage.

"Eldest Young Master Xu, you truly hide your depths."

"You saw through me, Hall Master." Xu Mingwei smiled faintly. Even before they exchanged blows, he had known he could not conceal it from a Xiantian Martial Artist.

But a chance to exchange techniques with a Xiantian Martial Artist was rare, so he had not let that bother him.

"Not yet twenty, and already at Xiantian..."

Gu Yiping let out a long, wistful sigh, traces of old memories surfacing in his eyes.

In the Dragon Elephant Sect's heyday, they might only produce two or three Xiantian Martial Artists under twenty every decade or two.

Such people could often enter the Grandmaster realm at thirty-five or thirty-six.

They had a chance of reaching grandmaster perfection before sixty.

As for him, he had only reached late Xiantian at forty. Breaking through to Grandmaster in this lifetime would already be fortunate.

Unless he had Grandmaster Medicinal Cuisine to assist him.

Yet even the Dragon Elephant Sect had possessed no medicinal cuisine that precious.

Had they possessed it, those who reached Xiantian before twenty would have had a seventy to eighty percent chance of attaining grandmaster perfection, provided they did not die prematurely or suffer serious, lasting injuries or ailments.

"It was merely luck."

"There is no such thing as luck on the martial path. Even with resources to help, someone without sufficient talent will struggle to amount to much."

Xiantian was an enormous threshold, the beginning of a martial artist's transcendence beyond the mundane. It allowed them to contend with Cultivators, and naturally, not everyone had the opportunity to enter it.

Even with the Qi-Inducing Pills available in the Commandery Seat, there were always wooden-headed people who failed to awaken after taking ten or twenty.

"Eldest Young Master Xu, let us end our spar here. If you have any questions while practicing the Xiantian Dragon Elephant Art, feel free to ask me."

"Thank you, Hall Master Gu."

"By the way, I have a younger brother and sister who also practice the Little Dragon Elephant Art. Would you be willing to offer them some guidance?"

"I would gladly go and take a look."

"There is no need to trouble you to go anywhere, Hall Master." Xu Mingwei smiled, then instructed a servant, "Go and bring my Fourth Younger Sister and fifth brother here."

"Yes, Eldest Young Master."

The servant bowed respectfully and immediately left.

A short while later.

Xu Mingshu rode the White Tiger into the courtyard, with Xu Mingxian standing beside her.

"Big Brother, what did you call us here for?"

"With Father away, I was afraid you two would slack off, so I invited a renowned teacher to guide you. Make good use of this opportunity."

"Fourth Sister slacks off. I don't." Xu Mingxian lifted his small face and rebutted with icy arrogance.

"This is my Fourth Younger Sister, Xu Mingshu, and my fifth brother, Xu Mingxian," Xu Mingwei introduced them with a smile.

Gu Yiping looked the pair over. They truly lived up to their status as the young lady and young master of an aristocratic clan.

Though young, they already displayed exceptional talent.

"First, perform the twelve forms of the Little Dragon Elephant Art three times for me."

Xu Mingshu obediently climbed off the tiger's back and patted it. The White Tiger went to a corner of its own accord and lay down.

Gu Yiping was greatly surprised.

They had actually tamed a Variant White Tiger to such a degree. Could it even understand a child's words?

Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian stood side by side, a dozen or so paces apart.

Then they began moving in unison.

With every form they performed, Gu Yiping recited the essence of its formula.

"The young dragon wakes its spine; as the dragon raises its head, draw in purple qi; let the weilü sink earthward to anchor the eight directions."

"The elephant's trunk curls water; its trunk coils around the heavenly river for three thousand li; sink qi into the dantian and turn it into thunder."

"Fire Dragon Sweeps Its Tail; the tail sweeps with crushing force to burn away evil and filth; plant your feet in the Li position to refine true fire."

"Dragon and elephant unite in harmony; the dragon rises and the elephant descends, settling heaven and earth; link baihui and yongquan in a single line."

He nodded repeatedly.

Their movements and forms alone showed that both had worked hard, practicing day and night without cease for at least several years.

Their fists whistled through the air.

To produce such power, they had undoubtedly reached the level of Third-Rate Martial Artists.

"What nimble, gifted youngsters! To possess such skill at this tender age—the Xu Household truly spares no effort in raising its children."

Xu Mingwei said nothing, a faint smile resting on his lips.

"The Martial Arts Hall has yet to be completed, and I have been eating and lodging at the Xu Residence for free. It is only right that I guide the younger generation."

"In that case, thank you for your efforts, Hall Master Gu." Xu Mingwei nodded slightly.

"Big Brother."

She had only just managed to enjoy a few carefree days.

Xu Mingshu ran up to Xu Mingwei, her almond-shaped eyes curving into crescents, a plea seeming to linger in them.

Xu Mingwei lowered his gaze to her, a draft through the hall lifting a corner of his dark robe.

When he put on a stern face, his authority was so imposing that even the White Tiger would tuck its tail between its legs at the sight.

Now, with Xu Mingwei's brows slightly furrowed, Xu Mingshu could only swallow all the wheedling words she had prepared.

Compared with the rest of the Xu Household, she was somewhat willful, but she still knew how to read the occasion—when she should do something, and when she should not.

Xu Mingwei was now the acting household head.

With Xu Chuan absent, his words were orders that everyone in the Xu Household had to obey.

When no one else was around, she could indulge her temper a little. But with outsiders present, she absolutely could not undermine him and diminish the household head's authority.

"Fourth Sister, don't think you can take it easy just because Father isn't here to keep you in line."

"You brat!"

"Next time, have the backbone not to eat the pastries I bring you!"

Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian often bickered. Xu Mingwei was already accustomed to the sight.

Gu Yiping watched silently before speaking a moment later:

"The breathing method is the key to the Little Dragon Elephant Art. Only by combining it with Dragon Elephant Breathing can you bring the twelve forms to their full potential. This is also the key to sensing the power of heaven and earth and breaking through to Xiantian."

"Now continue practicing with the breathing method. Your household has obtained the corresponding medicinal cuisine recipes I provided. Used together, they can speed up the opening of your apertures."

"How much faster?" Xu Mingshu immediately grew interested, her eyes seeming ready to burst with light.

Gu Yiping smiled faintly at the adorable, mischievous girl before him. "Becoming a First-Class Martial Artist at seventeen or eighteen will be no problem. If you are talented and willing to practice diligently, reaching the Houtian peak before twenty will be no problem either."

"If it really is that fast, won't I be able to match Big Brother's pace of advancement?"

"Little girl, how could ordinary medicinal cuisine compare with the secret medicinal cuisine developed through centuries of research and inheritance in my Dragon Elephant Sect?"

"All right, I'll practice!"

Gu Yiping stood to one side with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the pair circulate the breathing method of the Little Dragon Elephant Art while throwing punches with the Twelve Dragon Elephant Forms.

It was akin to doing two things at once. Without exceptional comprehension, it was difficult to master perfectly.

This was also why many members of the Dragon Elephant Sect had failed to enter Xiantian back then.

Xu Mingshu held her palms in a loose circle, her breathing as long and unbroken as a spring silkworm spinning silk. With every inhalation, her sleeves billowed as though stirred by a breeze.

Though her movements were steady, she always faltered slightly at the transition from Dragon Leaps into the Abyss to Elephant Treads the Mountain, as though invisible threads were holding her back.

Xu Mingxian presented an entirely different sight.

He sat cross-legged, steady as a bell, every segment of his spine aligned. Following Gu Yiping's instruction to "inhale like a diving dragon, exhale like a trumpeting elephant," he actually found the flow of qi on his third breath.

A faint greenish qi seeped from his Tianling aperture, and the sound of a dragon's roar rolled in his throat as he breathed out.

Gu Yiping's eyes shone. Stroking his beard, he looked at Xu Mingwei and said, "The Fourth Young Lady and Fifth Young Master are both exceptionally gifted."

"It is thanks to your guidance, Hall Master," Xu Mingwei said calmly. "When our Xu Household first obtained the Little Dragon Elephant Art, we had no one to guide us and stumbled along at the beginning."

"And in the world today, who understands the true essence of the Little Dragon Elephant Art better than you?"

"You flatter me, Eldest Young Master." Gu Yiping raised a hand with a smile.

"Still, although the Fourth Young Lady has extraordinary comprehension, the Fifth Young Master is even more gifted in the breathing method. Even with my guidance, someone who can accomplish this in mere moments is rare in this world."

"Father has said as well that Fifth Brother is the most talented among us, and that his future achievements will certainly surpass mine."

Gu Yiping was secretly astonished, growing ever more curious about the Xu Household Head.

In the gathering dusk.

Xu Mingxian had already glimpsed the mysteries of transitioning between the breathing method and the forms.

A gleam flashed in Gu Yiping's eyes. He nodded repeatedly and murmured, "Truly a fine seedling."

He even felt the urge to take the boy as his disciple and pass on the Dragon Elephant Sect's legacy.

But then he recalled how highly the Xu Household valued Xu Mingxian. They would surely never agree.

He could only extinguish that thought for the time being.

Time trickled away.

Where the crimson disc of the sun sank in the west, it suddenly seemed to make a dying struggle.

First, it burst forth with thirty feet of scarlet flame, burning the wisps of cloud into curtains of crimson-gold gauze. Then it shrank into a cherry-sized golden bead, teetering above the blue-black mountain ridge.

A flock of crows crossed the sky. As their wingtips skimmed the patches of light, they seemed to carry away a little of the golden radiance.

As the final ray of sunset swept across the Martial Practice Ground.

Xu Mingxian suddenly rose to his full height. His left palm traced an arc like a dragon sweeping its tail, while his right foot stamped down like an elephant shaking a mountain. Fallen leaves within three feet of him spun without any wind—he had clearly grasped the true essence of Form and Intent in Harmony.

"Excellent!"

Gu Yiping applauded, his eyes filled with admiration.

"You've pulled ahead again."

Gu Yiping's praise stirred Xu Mingshu's competitive spirit.

"Let's spar. We've always been evenly matched before. Let's see who's better today."

"Fourth Sister, you're asking for another beating." Xu Mingxian was just as sharp-tongued.

Blazing torches had already been lit around the Martial Training Ground, illuminating the entire space.

"There is no need for you two to fight each other. Your level is still low, and there is little you can learn that way. Why not join forces instead? Whoever manages to gain even the slightest advantage against me will be the winner."

"How about it?"

Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian exchanged a look and answered together, "All right!"

The two stood to Gu Yiping's left and right, their three shadows stretching across the bluestone slabs like winding dragons.

Suddenly.

Xu Mingshu touched her toes to the ground like a dragonfly skimming water, her body abruptly weaving like a snake. Every step kicked up a three-inch wave of dust.

As Gu Yiping pointed toward her Jianjing acupoint, she suddenly lifted her knee and swung her arm. When her knee strike met his fingers, a faint clang of metal rang out.

A sharp light flashed in Xu Mingxian's eyes. He suddenly sank his waist and unleashed his strength, and the blue bricks cracked into a spiderweb beneath him with a crack.

As he thrust his right palm forward, a dragon's roar rolled in his throat. His left palm swept an arc like an elephant's trunk curling around the sky. The two surges of force made every torch thirty feet away tilt in unison.

With a faint smile, Gu Yiping raised his other hand to meet him.

Bang!

The siblings' eyes met, and they abruptly crossed over to exchange positions.

Xu Mingshu's Sword Finger struck straight at his center like a dragon probing the abyss, while Xu Mingxian's palm wind sealed off his retreat like an elephant's trunk shaking a tree.

Amid the dancing light and shadows, Mingxian's right palm glowed red like a branding iron, leaving a scorch mark on Gu Yiping's robe, while Ming Shu's Sword Finger was intercepted by Gu Yiping's own Sword Finger.

The surrounding torches crackled and popped.

After exchanging blows with them, Gu Yiping was quite surprised. Both possessed the strength of Third-Rate Martial Artists, though Xu Mingxian held a slight edge in the depth of his internal force.

Xu Mingshu seemed mischievous and quirky, yet her martial forms were precise and orderly. Of course, her youth was partly responsible. Xu Mingxian, however, was the same age, and despite his cold, arrogant appearance, he did not follow the prescribed patterns.

Had he not changed his move at the last moment to attack the hem of Gu Yiping's robe and catch him off guard, Gu Yiping would likely have blocked him with ease as well.

"Both are seeds of future Grandmasters."

"Even without the Dragon Elephant Sect's secret Medicinal Cuisine to complement her training, she made such progress. From now on, she might leap a thousand miles in a single bound."

Gu Yiping marveled that she already knew to conceal her abilities at such a young age, with such a shrewd mind.

Just like Xu Mingwei, nothing could be discerned from appearances alone. Only by actually exchanging blows with her could one tell.

He had no idea where she had learned such tricks.

The second young master of the Xu Household was also adept at navigating every situation, with a keen eye for detail.

When they had discussed the Martial Arts Hall's rules earlier, Gu Yiping had mostly found himself following his lead.

At every turn, the young man had struck precisely the right chord with him, leaving him unable to find fault.

This girl, meanwhile, had sharp instincts and an exceptional aptitude for understanding.

The Xu Household was full of freaks!

Right, it seemed only the third young master, Xu Mingxuan, was somewhat ordinary.

Still, that was only compared with his brothers.

Compared with the scions of other Aristocratic Clans in the County Seat, he was probably more than qualified to become a Lineage's heir.

Gu Yiping had wandered for over a decade, traveling through dozens of county seats, and had seen no small amount of the world.

"The Xu Household definitely ranks among the upper tier of the County Seat's Aristocratic Clans."

"To have raised children like these... I really do want to meet the Father they speak of."

After obtaining the Dragon Elephant Sect's Medicinal Cuisine recipes, Xu Mingyuan began purchasing the medicinal herbs in bulk, each at least ten years old.

A single batch cost around ten taels.

The Medicinal Cuisine recipes that supported Xiantian Martial Artists were even more precious.

Xu Mingwei told him not to worry about his needs for now, so Xu Mingyuan managed to gather all the ingredients for the Martial Artist Medicinal Cuisine in just a few days.

Beyond that.

The Xu Household also began growing these medicinal herbs in the Medicine Field.

If they wanted to open an herb shop, they would ultimately need their own supply of medicinal herbs, supplemented by purchases from people living in the wilds.

These past few days, Xu Mingyuan had been so busy that his head was spinning.

He recruited workers and established a smithy, a carpentry shop, an herb shop, a school, and more.

He did not expect immediate results.

Instead, he was laying the groundwork first.