Tiger-Crouching Force!

In the days that followed, Mo Yun continued his routine of traveling between two points.

He worked in the Spirit Herb Garden by day, squeezing in time to practice and test his fist technique after finishing his chores. At night, he went to the Rear Mountain to cultivate, without fail.

Of course, calling it a three-point routine would have been fair too, since he still had to return to the dormitory to sleep at night.

His progress in testing the fist technique advanced a thousand miles a day. By his estimate, another eight or nine days at most would bring him to the threshold of Perfect Comprehension.

His only regret was that he still had no idea what that Emerald Pill actually was.

He had secretly leafed through several pharmacological texts in the Spirit Herb Garden, but none contained a matching description.

"Forget it. Who cares what it was? All that matters is that it packed a punch."

Mo Yun did not dwell on it. The thing was already in his stomach, so worrying would accomplish nothing.

Time flew, and the morning of the third day arrived.

Mo Yun was watering the Blood-Stopping Grass in Herb Plot No. 3 when he spotted a burly figure approaching the Spirit Herb Garden from afar.

A body like an iron tower, heavy black armor, and a stride that stirred the wind with a tiger's vigor-

Commander Li!

"Little Mo!"

Commander Li called out from a distance, his voice booming like thunder and making even the herbs in the plot tremble.

Mo Yun set down his bucket, wiped his hands, and hurried over to meet him.

"Commander Li, what brings you here?"

"Wonderful news!" Commander Li laughed heartily and clapped him on the shoulder. "The Village Master's rewards have arrived. I came especially to deliver them!"

Mo Yun's eyes lit up.

"Come with me."

With a sweep of his large hand, Commander Li led him to a shaded shelter in a corner of the Spirit Herb Garden.

Once they had sat down, Commander Li took three things from inside his clothing and laid them before Mo Yun one by one.

An exquisite little porcelain bottle, a bulging cloth bag, and a yellowed book.

Mo Yun's gaze settled on the porcelain bottle first.

It was only palm-sized, its surface as white and flawless as jade. Red wax sealed its mouth, and a tiny label had been affixed to it.

He leaned closer and saw three characters written on the label-

Dragon-Tiger Pill!

"Dragon-Tiger Pills?" Mo Yun looked up at Commander Li.

"That's right." Commander Li nodded, his expression turning solemn.

"Dragon-Tiger Pills are one of the Crouching Tiger Manor's signature medicines. They greatly improve the efficiency of bone tempering."

He explained, "Once you reach Mid Bright Strength, you can begin tempering your sinews and bones. Taking Dragon-Tiger Pills then gives you twice the results for half the effort, making your sinews and bones tougher and stronger."

Mo Yun nodded thoughtfully.

"There are twelve Dragon-Tiger Pills in this bottle," Commander Li continued. "The Village Master was delighted to hear that you'd made another breakthrough in the Tiger-Crouching Fist, so he added these as an extra reward."

He paused, his tone growing stern. "But Little Mo, I must warn you: Dragon-Tiger Pills are potent. You cannot withstand their effects yet.

"You must wait until your Stance Training reaches Minor Accomplishment before taking them. Otherwise, your body won't be able to bear it, and they'll do more harm than good."

Mo Yun's heart tightened, and he quickly nodded. "I'll remember."

Although the Black Seal absorbed most of a pill's medicinal power when he took one, feeding only a small portion back to his body.

To be safe, he would still wait until his Stance Training reached Minor Accomplishment.

It would only take a few days anyway. There was no need to rush.

Seeing that he had taken the warning to heart, Commander Li nodded in satisfaction, then pointed at the cloth bag.

"Now take a look at this."

Mo Yun opened the bag and peered inside-

He froze completely.

Gleaming silver ingots filled the bag, stacked in neat rows and shining dazzlingly in the sunlight.

"This... this is..."

Mo Yun swallowed, scarcely believing his eyes.

"One hundred taels," Commander Li said with a smile. "The Village Master knows that life is hard for you servants. This silver is to help you live a little better."

One hundred taels!

Mo Yun drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the excitement surging in his heart.

As a servant at the Crouching Tiger Manor, he earned only two hundred copper coins a month. One hundred taels of silver amounted to decades of wages!

"Thank you, Commander Li! Thank you, Village Master!" Mo Yun hurriedly expressed his gratitude and tucked the silver securely inside his clothing.

He was already planning to check whether his elder sister needed money when he next went home on his day off.

His food and lodging at Mountain Manor cost him nothing, so he had few expenses for the time being. His sister was running several shops now; perhaps there were matters she needed money to smooth over.

Commander Li waved a hand, telling him not to thank him so soon, then picked up the last item, the yellowed book. His expression grew especially solemn.

"Little Mo, this is the most important one."

Mo Yun accepted the book and looked down at its cover.

Three large, archaic characters were written upon it-

Tiger-Crouching Force!

"This is..." Mo Yun looked up at Commander Li.

"Tiger-Crouching Force is the inherited internal art of the Tiger-Crouching Stance." Commander Li's voice was low and serious.

"The Tiger-Crouching Fist provides the moves, the Tiger-Crouching Stance lays the foundation, and Tiger-Crouching Force is the core that drives it all."

He explained, "External arts temper the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones. Even when abundant blood and qi give birth to force energy, they still remain within that scope. No matter how much you train, your force energy remains limited to a strand or two, lacking explosive power."

"But internal arts are different."

Commander Li's gaze deepened. "Internal arts strengthen you from the inside out. Once you practice one, both the quantity and quality of your force energy increase substantially. It also nourishes your body in turn, allowing you to break through the limits of the human body again and again."

"You could say that internal arts are the key to reaching Hidden Strength."

Listening to him, Mo Yun sank into thought.

He had his panel. As long as he trained the Tiger-Crouching Fist and Tiger-Crouching Stance well, he could keep breaking through and growing stronger.

I wonder whether I can reach Hidden Strength without practicing an internal art, just by adding points...

At that thought, Mo Yun was momentarily speechless.

Based on the novels I read in my previous life, perhaps my realm won't advance, but I can keep getting stronger. Three thousand levels of Qi Refining, anyone?

Coming back to himself, Mo Yun looked at Commander Li. "Commander Li, this Tiger-Crouching Force..."

"Is very precious," Commander Li interrupted him, his tone earnest.

"Internal arts are exceedingly rare. They're generally treated as core inheritances and aren't taught lightly."

Looking at Mo Yun, he said with deliberate emphasis, "Normally, internal arts would never be passed on to servants. Even among the guards, only First-Class Guards are qualified to practice them."

Mo Yun's heart tightened.

As far as he knew, the entire manor had only a handful of First-Class Guards. Nearly all were experts at the peak of Bright Strength, and some had even reached Hidden Strength. Their standing in the Crouching Tiger Manor was far beyond that of a mere servant like him.

"Your contribution this time was truly significant, and the Village Master thinks highly of your potential. That's why he made an exception and passed Tiger-Crouching Force on to you." Commander Li patted his shoulder.

"Little Mo, train hard. Don't disappoint the Village Master's expectations."

Mo Yun nodded solemnly. "I'll work hard!"

Black-and-White Seal, let's see what your limits are!

Commander Li smiled, then added, "Oh, right. Study Tiger-Crouching Force yourself first. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me anytime."

He paused before adding, "Your cultivation is still only at early Bright Strength, so there's no hurry to practice it. Just familiarize yourself with it for now. Once you reach late Bright Strength, you can devote time to it."

Mo Yun nodded and put Tiger-Crouching Force away.

After offering a few more reminders, Commander Li rose and left.

Watching his burly figure disappear at the far end of the herb plots, Mo Yun took a deep breath and opened the yellowed book.

The pages had grown somewhat brittle, clearly showing their age. The handwriting was neat and forceful, every stroke carrying the steady bearing of a Martial Dao master.

He read it page by page, committing its contents firmly to memory.

As he turned to the end, a thin sheet of parchment slipped out from between the pages.

Mo Yun picked it up and looked-

It was a painting.

The painting depicted a vast mountain forest, mist winding among ancient trees that towered into the sky. At the very center of the forest, a fierce tiger raised its head in a roar.

The tiger was astonishingly lifelike, every hair rendered in minute detail. Its bright, piercing eyes radiated the domineering air of one that looked down upon the world.

Four characters were written in the painting's lower-right corner-

Tiger's Roar in the Mountains.

As Mo Yun stared at the painting, his vision suddenly blurred.

An invisible force seemed to surge out of it and pull his entire being inside.

In a daze, he felt as though he truly stood in that vast mountain forest.

Ancient trees towered overhead, mist filled the air, and all around him was silent.

Then-

ROAR!!!

A tiger's roar shook heaven and earth!

Mo Yun felt his very soul tremble. That roar seemed to explode directly inside his mind, leaving him utterly stunned.

When he came to his senses, he found himself still standing beneath the shelter, the parchment held in his hands.

Everything that had just happened seemed like an illusion.

But Mo Yun knew it was not.

He looked down at the painting, his gaze turning exceptionally grave.

"There's something strange about this painting."

Just then, a startled voice came from behind him.

"Little Mo, you..."

Mo Yun turned and discovered that Commander Li had returned at some point. He stood outside the shelter, staring at him in shock.

"Commander Li? Why did you..."

"I forgot to tell you something else." Commander Li waved a hand, his gaze fixed firmly on the parchment Mo Yun held. "Just now... did you look at that painting?"

"Yes." Mo Yun nodded. "I just opened it and took a look."

"One look?" Even Commander Li's voice trembled slightly.

"Yes, just one look." Mo Yun regarded him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Commander Li fell silent for a moment, then let out a long breath. The shock on his face gradually turned into a rueful smile.

"Little Mo, do you know how long it took me to resonate with this Spirit-Intent Diagram for the first time?"

Mo Yun: "?"

"Three years. Three whole years!"

Commander Li raised three fingers, his tone tangled with emotion.

"For three years, I stared at this painting every day. Only after three full years did I finally resonate with the spiritual imprint on the Tiger's Roar in the Mountains Spirit-Intent Diagram, comprehend the Martial Truth it contained, and successfully take my first step in Tiger-Crouching Force."

He looked at Mo Yun, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"And you managed it with a single look."

Mo Yun scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Maybe I just got lucky?"

"Lucky?" Commander Li shook his head with a bitter smile. "Where would so much luck come from on the Martial Dao path?"

He took a deep breath to steady his emotions, then gave Mo Yun's shoulder a heavy pat.

"Little Mo, from the looks of it, reaching Hidden Strength is only a matter of time for you."

Mo Yun looked at Commander Li in confusion.

Commander Li smiled, his tone certain.

"The hardest part of cultivating an internal art is the first step: resonating with the Spirit-Intent Diagram and comprehending the Martial Truth within it. If you can't do that, no matter how much you practice, you'll have only the outward form. You'll never truly begin."

"But once you've taken that step, all that remains is the patient work of water wearing down stone. Keep cultivating steadily, step by step, and sooner or later you'll achieve something."

He looked at Mo Yun, his eyes full of expectation. "And you've already taken that first step."

Understanding dawned on Mo Yun, and he broke into a grin. "So that means I have the potential to reach Hidden Strength?"

"Why stop at Hidden Strength?" Commander Li laughed heartily. "With your comprehension, challenging even higher realms in the future may well be possible!"

Mo Yun's heart steadied.

The legendary Transforming Strength?

"All right, enough talk." Commander Li waved a hand and turned to leave, his retreating figure looking somewhat forlorn.

"Train hard, Little Mo. There's no limit to what you might achieve!"

Once Commander Li's figure disappeared from view, Mo Yun withdrew his gaze and looked down at the parchment in his hands.

Tiger's Roar in the Mountains, a Spirit-Intent Diagram.

He rolled up the painting and tucked it securely inside his clothing along with the Tiger-Crouching Force manual.

"Tiger-Crouching Force, huh..."

Mo Yun raised his head toward the distant mountains, a glimmer of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

"I'll give it a try at the Rear Mountain tonight and see what it's all about!"