Pan Long was about to go over and strike up a conversation, but he frowned and sat back down.
Two burly men were coming through the inn's front door. They headed straight for the scholars' table.
They wore constables' uniforms and looked like ordinary officers. But Pan Long's cultivation ran deep. From their breathing alone, he could tell what they were.
Their Internal Power isn't bad—about on par with A-Feng when he first entered the Martial World. They're no ordinary constables. What are they here for?
He wondered in silence.
The Great Xia Imperial Court had an official Internal Art called the Bodybuilding Exercise. It worked from the outside in, and even a fool could practice it. With diligence, a person could develop at least a little Internal Power to strengthen the body—in as few as three to five years, or as many as ten or more.
But mastering the art required many secrets that were never made public. They could not be taught even in the army. Only loyal, trustworthy people, such as Wind Patrol Envoys or Officers who had earned merit, could learn them.
The Bodybuilding Exercise was said to have nine levels, each harder and more powerful than the last. Anyone who reached the ninth level, Unleash Ideals, could supposedly contend with the secret divine arts of the great sects without losing ground.
Pan Long believed the rumor. The name alone suggested Wen Chao had devised it—that man who lived to stir things up.
Wen Chao excelled at developing martial arts and had created plenty of extraordinary techniques. Most just had strange names: the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, the Heavenly Immortal Sword, the Sea Tiger Explosive Fist, the Ripple Breathing Technique... The Bodybuilding Exercise fit right in.
Its defining feature was breathing unlike anyone else's. External-arts masters often