Others' Words Are But Gnats and Flies; the Saber in Your Hand Is What Matters!

A martial warrior?

A martial warrior!

Those two brief words were worth more than a thousand blades.

They made those loose-tongued people who had just been gathered outside the fence, chattering away with idle gossip, wish they could pick up needle and thread and sew their mouths shut.

They were stunned as well.

"Wasn't that Ji Family boy unable to even afford food just a month ago, when he sold himself to the Lin Residence?"

"That's right, that's right. A few nights ago, when I got up to take a piss, I even saw him swinging that Wooden Saber around. Looking at it now, how was he mad?"

"He's got talent. He was never meant to rot in a mud pit. See? In just one month, he rode the tide and rose!"

"I heard that all the martial halls and boxing schools in the county stress 'study for three years first, then learn martial arts.' In one month, he surpassed the hard work others put in for years. Incredible, truly incredible!"

Dusk fell.

It stretched the shadow of the cloth-clad figure holding a saber long behind him.

The narrow-minded villagers only knew how to watch a spectacle. Seeing someone rise to prominence, with hopes of becoming a master, they did not stint on their coarse, fawning praise.

As their chatter spread, they saw Zhang Liu Zi help Uncle Shuanzi up, covered head to toe in mud and looking thoroughly bedraggled, and could not help but speak enviously:

"Zhang Lao Shuan really got lucky. He protected that Ji Family boy, and the boy happened to see it."

"If that Ji Family boy makes something of himself later, becoming a manager or shopkeeper with businesses and establishments under his command—"

"With a martial warrior looking after him, won't little Liu Zi have an easy life ahead?"

"Ah, if I'd known, I would've said a few good words too."

"You? When you saw the Fire Kiln manager show himself, your legs nearly started shaking."

"You were only separated by a fence and didn't have to face him head-on. If you actually came face-to-face with him, you'd be scared out of your wits!"

When those flattering, ingratiating words reached Ji Xiu's ears,

they did not stir even the slightest joy in him.

He looked at the Wooden Saber in his hand, then at Fire Kiln Manager Qiao Jin, kneeling on one knee and clutching his arm.

He raised his eyes slightly toward the sky.

At last, he understood what it meant for a fist to be power.

He had clearly done nothing wrong.

Yet simply because he was a lowly servant, because his lone younger sister could be bullied, because he had merely blocked someone's path a little, they could seize and manipulate him at will, without the slightest restraint.

Had he not fought with all his might to become Duan Chenzhou's disciple, learned the Heaven River Saber, cultivated relentlessly without heeding idle gossip, and finally reached Entering Force and broken through the Sinew Tempering barrier—

would he, Uncle Shuanzi, and this Fire Kiln manager all have ended up kneeling or lying in this muddy, filthy yellow earth after the autumn rain, pointed at and mocked by others?

As saber force flowed through his sinews and bones,

the sickly yellow tint of his face and the dullness in his pupils gradually faded.

Ji Xiu took a deep breath, and his gaze slowly hardened.

"Master Duan was right."

"The road lies beneath my feet!"

Other people's words could decide nothing.

But the saber in his hand could truly, tangibly change his life!

The look in his eyes gradually changed.

It frightened the few thugs so badly that they scattered like birds and beasts.

With nothing blocking or restraining her anymore,

Ji Wei hurried forward in small steps to Ji Xiu's side, tightly clutching the hem of his robe behind him. Her crystal-clear eyes brimmed with worship.

"Brother, you really did it!"

She did not understand how powerful a martial warrior was, nor how difficult Entering Force was.

But—

every day and night Ji Xiu had practiced his saber in the past,

beneath the gentle moonlight,

Ji Wei had hidden beside the half-open door, silently watching him every day as he gripped his saber, drew it, and swung it.

Again and again.

One person, clad in a single thin garment, desperately striving in the biting cold wind of late autumn.

Yet in other people's eyes,

it had become a joke for those shallow-minded fools who knew nothing but pretended to be impressed, something to sneer at over tea.

But how could that be allowed?

It should never have been that way!

Fortunately,

her brother had used this Wooden Saber, carved with his own hands, to prove—

his persistence had not been in vain!

"If I owe the Fire Kiln rent, I will go pay it."

"But my younger sister is my only blood relative now. You wanted to use her as payment."

"Could it be—"

"that you truly think you can bully a mere 'stablehand,' because there is no saber in his hand!?"

Ji Xiu cast a sidelong glance, his gaze icy.

Qiao Jin endured the pain and gritted his teeth, but still cupped his hands in a bow.

"An Entering Force martial warrior, even wielding a Wooden Saber, can split steles and shatter rocks into dust."

"You held back and left my sinews and bones unbroken, so I can still be saved. Whether I acknowledge this favor or not, I must accept it."

"Today, I, Qiao Jin, started this. My mouth was foul, saying I would use your younger sister to settle three taels of silver."

"Afterward, I will personally bring three taels as an apology."

"I accept this loss!"

At that moment, Qiao Jin's heart was a tangled mess, and fury burned within him.

But his anger was not directed at Ji Xiu—it was directed at the Lin Residence!

He had some acquaintance with Lin Steward of the Lin Residence. The man had said this kid had no real ability and had only recently sold himself, yet had suddenly come into a windfall of eight taels of silver, making him easy to handle.

After the matter was done, he would even give Qiao Jin another reward. Tempted, Qiao Jin had made the trip.

In the end, not only had he failed to get any benefit, he had offended a ruthless figure who had crawled out of the mud!

Sixteen years old.

Entering Force!

If he used that as capital to sell himself, how many great clans and wealthy households would be willing to offer guidance and show him favor?

Even if he fared poorly, he would still be better off than Qiao Jin.

Coming here to pick a fight—

he had hanged himself from the Old Immortal's tree, thinking his life was too long!

"The Lin Residence's steward wanted to control a stablehand like you."

"If you had not reached Entering Force, I'm afraid you would have met no good end. If I were you, now that you've become a martial warrior, I'd quickly find your contract of sale and have this lowly household registration removed. That would be far better than anything else."

He forced himself to stand, looking at Ji Xiu with immense wariness. Yet instead of uttering any threats, he viciously glared at the thugs behind him.

"Still not embarrassed enough? Why aren't you apologizing to him? Get lost!"

With that, he took the lead in bowing. The cowardly thugs who bullied the weak and feared the strong repeatedly cupped their hands and bowed before fleeing in haste.

Watching the group's retreating backs,

Ji Xiu did not stop them. His eyes flickered.

From this day onward, he no longer feared their revenge.

But in the end, his abilities were still not hard enough, and his backing was still not deep enough.

Otherwise,

why would there be anything left to worry about?

His blade-sharp gaze swept viciously around the fence, sending the villagers scattering like startled birds and fleeing monkeys.

Ji Xiu soothed Ji Wei.

Then he walked over to Uncle Shuanzi and Liu Zi, taking out his last string of one hundred copper coins.

"Uncle Shuanzi, take this."

Zhang Lao Shuan's skin had been split open by stones and was bleeding, his face covered in bruises. But upon seeing the money, he quickly pulled Liu Zi back.

"Keep it, keep it. Manager Qiao didn't hit hard. It's nothing serious."

Honest people were kind-hearted.

But after being honest their entire lives, they should not be bullied.

Ji Xiu forcefully slapped the coins into Liu Zi's palm.

"Take it. Buy some medicine for bruises and injuries for Uncle Shuanzi."

"I, Ji Xiu, will repay you more than this in the future."

There was no room for doubt in his eyes.

Liu Zi could not refuse him, and could only look at Ji Xiu gratefully before hurriedly taking his father home to apply medicine.

A farce came to an end.

But its aftershocks

had only just begun.

At this moment, the sky had grown dim, and the moon hung above the branches.

With his hands behind his back, Ji Xiu looked at the ruined courtyard, now restored to silence. Once again, he was penniless.

But his state of mind had become utterly different.

"No matter when,"

"I must never forget the foundation that lets me stand and survive."

After a long while, Ji Xiu, who had been gazing at the stars, opened his eyes. Then he seized his Wooden Saber

and drew it again and again.

Heavenly River Saber Technique, progress +13

Heavenly River Saber Technique, progress +11

After Entering Force, one could temper flesh and sinew, gradually becoming as spirited as a dragon and as fierce as a tiger!

By the time night faded into dawn,

Ji Xiu exhaled a breath of stale air. Having gained command of force, he felt that without realizing it, his sinews, bones, blood, and qi had all become much stronger than before.

In the past, three hundred saber strikes a day had been his limit.

But—

this time, after only one night,

he had already struck five hundred times!

Heavenly River Saber Technique: (3501/10000)!