The test

Early the next morning.

Li Feng woke early, changed into his White Runner's uniform, and headed for the City Guard Office.

Since a new Chief Constable would soon be brought in from outside, he had to shed the label of "a White Runner who got in through connections" before the new Chief Constable arrived.

In principle, entering the Martial Dao—reaching the Qi-Blood First Stage—was enough to qualify him for a White Runner's duties.

Li Feng planned to go to the City Guard Office first thing that morning and demonstrate his Qi-Blood First Stage strength. That way, even when the new Chief Constable arrived, there would be nothing to find fault with.

The City Guard Office stood in the central district of Blackrock City's outer city.

The thin morning mist had just dispersed when Li Feng stepped through the City Guard Office's gates and headed straight for the Martial Testing Hall, which handled the registration of constables' strength.

"You want to have your strength tested?"

Inside the Martial Testing Hall, Clerk Wang, who was in charge of keeping the records, looked Li Feng up and down. Frowning, he said without a shred of courtesy, "I remember you. You're the family member Chief Constable Lin forced on us, aren't you? You haven't even reached the first level of blood and qi. What's there to test for an auxiliary constable who got in through connections just to coast through his days?"

Li Feng did not get angry. He merely said calmly, "Clerk Wang, I've reached the Qi-Blood First Stage. Sorry for the trouble, but please test me, then amend my entry in the White Runner register from 'not yet initiated into the Martial Dao' to 'Qi-Blood First Stage.'"

"You've reached the Qi-Blood First Stage?" Clerk Wang froze briefly, then stared at Li Feng in surprise and could not help asking, "You'd never even practiced the Martial Dao before joining us. It's only been a few months, and you've already reached the Qi-Blood First Stage?"

"Yes. I got lucky a few days ago and managed to break through. I've been busy practicing Archery and haven't had time to register it." Li Feng nodded.

"You actually broke through several days ago?"

Clerk Wang was even more astonished. He looked Li Feng over, then seemed to think of something, and understanding dawned on his face. "I see. You rushed here so early to have your strength tested because of what happened to Chief Constable Lin, didn't you?"

News that Lin Yanqiu had been seriously injured and lost the use of her right arm had already spread throughout the City Guard Office.

Clerk Wang privately mulled it over. When Li Feng had slipped in through the back door, he had never even practiced the Martial Dao. Now that something had happened to Lin Yanqiu, he must have learned that a new Chief Constable would soon be brought in. Not wanting to give his new superior anything to hold against him, he had hurried over for a strength test so he could get his entry in the White Runner register changed.

"More or less." Li Feng nodded.

"To think you usually keep your mountains and waters hidden, yet you've got quite a talent for the Martial Dao, just like your sister-in-law."

Clerk Wang's attitude softened a little. He stood and said, "In that case, come to the rear courtyard and try the stone weights. As long as your strength meets the standard, I'll change your entry in the White Runner register from 'not yet initiated' to 'Qi-Blood First Stage.'"

In the rear courtyard, a row of stone weights of various sizes sat neatly arranged on the ground.

Li Feng approached the stone weight used to test the Qi-Blood First Stage, took a deep breath, gripped it with both hands, and exerted his strength in a sudden burst.

"Up!"

With that low shout, Li Feng steadily lifted the three-hundred-jin stone weight in both hands and raised it straight above his head. He held it there for several minutes without showing the slightest strain.

Clerk Wang watched, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"You've held that stone weight up with both hands for several minutes without any sign of strain. Could you already have reached minor attainment in the Qi-Blood First Stage?!"

"Not yet. I've only just reached the Qi-Blood First Stage," Li Feng said mildly.

"I see. That's still remarkable. You've only just reached the Qi-Blood First Stage, yet your strength already rivals someone at minor attainment. An ordinary beginner at the first stage could lift that stone weight at most. There's no way they could hold it up for several minutes without any strain like you!" Clerk Wang could not help praising him.

Li Feng slowly and steadily lowered the three-hundred-jin stone weight to the ground, then turned to Clerk Wang. "Clerk Wang, this should be enough to change the entry in the register, right?"

"Enough? Absolutely!"

Clerk Wang nodded, looking at Li Feng in an entirely different light now. "A White Runner only needs Martial Dao cultivation at the Qi-Blood First Stage. You more than qualify. I'll go change your entry to the Qi-Blood First Stage right away!"

Only after watching Clerk Wang put pen to the White Runners' register and change "not yet initiated into the Martial Dao" to "Qi-Blood First Stage" did Li Feng relax. He left the Martial Testing Hall, ready to report for duty.

He had barely taken a few steps outside when he came face-to-face with a burly man.

The man's surname was Chen, and he was the Chief Constable in charge of another district. Since his district bordered Li Feng's sister-in-law's, they interacted fairly often and were on reasonably good terms. Li Feng knew him as well.

Chief Constable Chen stopped when he saw Li Feng and asked with concern, "Li Feng, how is Constable Lin's injury?"

"She's still at the Spring Renewal Hall. Her injuries aren't life-threatening, but her right arm is so badly hurt that even if they set the bones, she probably won't be able to hold a saber again," Li Feng answered honestly.

"Ah, who could have expected her to run into a dangerous criminal who'd escaped from the inner city? It's good that she survived."

Chief Constable Chen sighed, then asked with some curiosity, "What brought you to the Martial Testing Hall so early? Running an errand to deliver a report for someone?"

Li Feng shook his head and said calmly, "No. I came to update the strength recorded in the White Runners' register. I've begun training in the Martial Dao and officially reached the Qi-Blood First Stage."

"The Qi-Blood First Stage?!"

Chief Constable Chen's eyes suddenly widened. His voice rose involuntarily, his face full of disbelief.

He clearly remembered catching a glimpse of this young man a few months ago, when Lin Yanqiu brought him to the City Guard Office.

Back then, Li Feng's steps had been unsteady and his breathing disordered. He had been an ordinary person who had never practiced the Martial Dao at all.

On the Martial Dao, as with all things, the first step was the hardest.

For an ordinary person to temper their muscles and bones, cultivate that first trace of blood and qi from nothing, and take that most difficult first step onto the Martial Dao, they would need at least a year or two of grueling daily training without a martial instructor's guidance.

That was precisely why martial artists were so rare. The poor could study letters, but martial training demanded wealth; most people gave up before they ever began training in the Martial Dao.

Yet what was he seeing now? How long had Li Feng been at the City Guard Office? Even counting generously, it had only been a few months, hadn't it? And he had already reached the Qi-Blood First Stage!

"You... you've already cultivated blood and qi?"

Chief Constable Chen looked Li Feng up and down as though meeting the young man for the first time, his eyes full of astonishment. "You didn't have the slightest foundation when I saw you a few months ago. Who would've thought you had such talent? Even in our City Guard Office, it's rare for someone to begin training in the Martial Dao this quickly!"

After a pause, Chief Constable Chen asked, "How old are you this year?"

"Eighteen," Li Feng answered truthfully.

"Good, good, good!" Chief Constable Chen said it three times in succession. "Reaching Qi-Blood First Stage at eighteen—your talent surpasses even Constable Lin's back then! With talent like this, you'll give her one less thing to worry about. She won't have to spend every day fretting over you anymore!"

"You flatter me, Brother Chen." Li Feng lightly cupped his hands. "I just got lucky and stumbled into it..."

"It's getting late. I need to report for duty too."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Chief Constable Chen, Li Feng took his leave and headed toward the front courtyard.