The way to survive

Blackrock City, where Li Feng lived, actually covered an enormous area, divided into an inner city and an outer city.

The inner city was primarily the domain of high officials, aristocrats, great clans, and top martial arts schools. It was prosperous and heavily guarded.

The outer city was a jumble of dragons and fish, where people from every walk of life gathered. The City Guard Office stood in its central district.

These days, the world was in turmoil and officialdom was rotten. In this chaotic age where Martial Dao reigned supreme, gangs crowded the outer city, frequently clashing over territory. Occasionally, dangerous criminals who had escaped from the inner city would cause trouble as well. Faced with such chaos, the City Guard Office often lacked the strength to act, even when it had the will.

Unless firm orders came down from above, it generally left gang bloodshed alone. Most low-ranking runners like Li Feng likewise kept themselves out of trouble and lived quietly.

The front courtyard of the City Guard Office was where the runners usually reported for duty and rested during their breaks.

The moment Li Feng entered the courtyard, he keenly sensed the coldness around him. Many people who would once have struck up a conversation with him were now deliberately keeping their distance.

It seemed word of his sister-in-law's crippled right hand had already spread through the City Guard Office. These people's attitudes had suddenly become subtle.

At that moment, quite a commotion filled the middle of the courtyard.

A young White Runner stood there holding a wooden token marking his enrollment at a martial arts school, showing it off to the others.

The young man was named Sun Yan and was two years older than Li Feng. They seldom interacted, but they knew each other. Relying on his family's modest wealth, he usually made quite a show of himself among the White Runners and looked down on everyone.

Before long, a large crowd of White Runners had gathered around to listen to him boast.

"Brother Feng, over here."

Zhang San and another colleague, Chen Song, were sitting beneath a large tree nearby. When they saw Li Feng, they waved him over.

Li Feng walked over and sat beside them, following their gazes with a glance. "What's going on today? Why are so many people crowding around Sun Yan?"

Zhang San glanced at Sun Yan and remarked casually, "That kid's family spent a fortune to send him to a martial arts school in the inner city as a registered disciple, so he can learn a saber technique. In times like these, it really is the rich and powerful who get ahead!"

"So that's it."

A flicker of understanding crossed Li Feng's face.

In this world where Martial Dao reigned supreme, entering the inner city to study martial arts was indeed a promising path. But martial cultivation was tremendously difficult. Most people could not cultivate even a trace of qi-blood. He wondered whether Sun Yan had gotten in through connections or had already reached the Qi-Blood First Stage.

Either way, Li Feng felt no envy. He had the Heavenly Dao Advance Panel, and his future achievements would far surpass theirs. Besides, he was already at the qi-blood first stage. All he needed to do was practice his saber every day and repay his debt, and he could take an advance on another cultivation method. Then he would surely reach the second martial stage and become a regular runner.

With this confidence that belonged to him alone, he had no need to concern himself with Sun Yan's good fortune.

"Brother Feng, you're younger than Sun Yan. If you had a chance to practice the saber, I'm sure you could make something of it too. Aren't you going over to take a look?"

Zhang San smiled as he asked Li Feng.

Li Feng shook his head. "We're neither kin nor friends. Even if he masters it and I go cozying up to him, why would he teach me? Besides, saber techniques aren't that easy to master. If you don't train well, you're no different from an ordinary person with a little extra strength."

A few days earlier, after entering the Martial Dao through Archery, Li Feng had discovered that the Qi-Blood First Stage was, frankly, just an ordinary person with greater strength. Dealing with three to five ordinary people was manageable, but in a fight to the death against three to five saber-wielding thugs, even victory would leave him dead or injured.

He would need to reach at least the Qi-Blood Second Level and achieve minor mastery in a saber technique before a handful of thugs could no longer casually leave him dead or wounded.

Sun Yan was two years older than him. Since he had not become a regular runner, he could be no higher than the Qi-Blood First Stage. Reaching that stronger level would probably take him another year or two. By then, who knew what realm Li Feng would have reached with his Heavenly Dao panel?

"That makes sense. People like us should just keep our heads down and do our jobs as White Runners."

Zhang San nodded with a chuckle.

He was a little older, and both his talent and his family's means were fairly ordinary. After years of practice, he had only reached the Qi-Blood First Stage. Currying favor with others would do him no good. He could only keep training honestly, and perhaps one day he would reach the Qi-Blood Second Level and earn a promotion to regular runner.

As they spoke, Sun Yan seemed to notice them. Leaving the crowd behind, he walked straight over.

He glanced at Li Feng with a faint, ambiguous smile. "Li Feng, I heard Chief Runner Lin had her right hand crippled by a single palm strike. I doubt she'll be able to stay chief runner now. Looks like you won't have anyone protecting you in the City Guard Office anymore. Why not follow me from now on? Once I've picked up a few tricks at the martial arts school, a little casual guidance from me should be enough to keep you alive in the outer city."

He had disliked Li Feng for a long time.

They were both White Runners in the City Guard Office, but Li Feng had refused several of his invitations to drink at the Spring Breeze House. That had displeased him greatly. He believed Li Feng was refusing to give him face because he had a Chief Constable for a sister-in-law.

Now that his sister-in-law, a Chief Constable, had lost the use of her right hand, she would surely lose her position. Li Feng's strongest pillar of support had fallen. So why, even after hearing that Sun Yan was going to the inner city to study martial arts, did he still show so little regard for proper courtesy?

Li Feng's expression remained calm. He could not be bothered to argue with this strutting clown and brushed him off. "No need. You'd better worry about yourself, Brother Sun. It would be truly embarrassing if you spent a few years at an inner-city martial arts school, achieved nothing, and got thrown out."

His sister-in-law was one of his few remaining loved ones in this world. Since Sun Yan had dragged her injury into this, Li Feng certainly had no intention of showing the bastard a pleasant face.

"You..."

Sun Yan's smug expression froze. Furious, he snapped, "Big words! I've studied martial arts for quite some time myself. Chief Runner Lin is a skilled martial artist, so I'm sure Brother Li can't be too far behind. Why don't you give me a few pointers today?"

"No need. Chief Runner Lin's talent is hers. What does it have to do with me? Besides, as an unpaid runner, you should know that regular runners aren't allowed to lend others the cultivation methods issued by the City Guard Office without permission. In the few months since I joined, I've only practiced archery for a few days at the outer training grounds. Naturally, I'm no match for you, Brother Yan."

Li Feng had no interest in competing with Sun Yan. Having lived two lives, he saw Sun Yan's behavior as little more than a child throwing a tantrum. Besides, he was not particularly strong yet. There was no need to make another enemy.

Only after Li Feng publicly conceded his weakness did Sun Yan's expression improve a little. He nodded at Li Feng, then turned away to boast and laugh with the others again.

He was going to become a registered disciple in the inner city. Once he had mastered his studies, he could return and immediately become a Chief Constable, perhaps even contend for the position of guard superintendent. There was indeed little reason to quarrel with a mere White Runner like Li Feng.

He had heard that Li Feng's family was very poor, with no other relatives at home besides the sister-in-law who depended on him as he depended on her. Now that her right hand was crippled, the best Li Feng could hope for was to become a regular runner. They would certainly not belong to the same class of people in the future.

The other runners in the courtyard merely watched the exchange between Li Feng and Sun Yan without commenting much.

Only a few younger constables secretly glanced at Li Feng, thinking he had failed to read the winds. If he did not curry favor with Sun Yan now, why would Sun Yan bother with any of them once he rose to prominence and truly became a Chief Constable?

But no one would remind Li Feng. Everyone had their own aspirations, after all. If he wanted to mingle with those older unpaid runners and spend his whole life at the bottom, that was his fate.

Watching Sun Yan's smugly retreating back, Zhang San and Chen Song exchanged a glance. Neither said anything.

Still, both were somewhat surprised. They had worked with Li Feng for several months and knew that, although he was usually quiet and cautious, he was certainly not someone who meekly accepted whatever came his way. How had he managed to swallow his anger today while Sun Yan sat astride his neck and mocked him?

It seems Chief Runner Lin's injury hit this kid too hard. Even the last of his spirit has been worn away, Zhang San thought, believing Li Feng had completely accepted his lot and intended to drift through an ordinary life from now on.

But on second thought, there was really nothing wrong with drifting through life like that.

In this outer city, where human lives were worth no more than weeds, forcing yourself into the spotlight after losing your backing was simply asking to die sooner.

For lowly unpaid runners like them, as long as they harbored no grand ambitions and did not take risks to prove themselves, they might remain poor for life, but at least they could earn their meals in peace without losing their lives.

"All right, it's about time. We should go on patrol. If a Chief Constable catches us here, we'll definitely get a scolding."

Chen Song stood and brushed the dust off his trousers. Picking up his service saber, he called to them and headed outside.

"Let's go."

Li Feng nodded, then rose with the other two and walked out of the courtyard.