Lesson

Seeing how arrogantly overconfident he was, Feng Zhihao's face darkened as he said coldly, "If the Heir Apparent is skilled with a sword, you might as well use one."

"No need." Chu Zhiyuan shook his head. "Young Sect Master, be careful. My moves win through speed."

"What a coincidence. So do mine. Heir Apparent, make your move!"

A faint flash of yellow Qi flickered across his face.

Through his Super Sensation, Chu Zhiyuan saw the yellow light around Feng Zhihao suddenly blaze brightly as True Qi began gathering in his feet.

"You first, Young Sect Master," Chu Zhiyuan said. "If I make a move, you will have no chance to strike again."

"Heh!" Feng Zhihao gave a cold laugh. "Take this!"

His palms turned yellow as though coated in a layer of yellow mud, and he transformed into a yellow blur that shot before Chu Zhiyuan in an instant.

Chu Zhiyuan surmised that he possessed an extraordinary art similar to the Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart Step.

The Thick Earth Sect excelled at borrowing the power of the earth. The force used in their movement techniques was the earth's power, so it was hardly strange for them to possess an extraordinary art akin to the Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart Step.

Under Super Sensation, Feng Zhihao's movements were like slow-motion footage. Every motion was crystal clear; Chu Zhiyuan could even see his hair fluttering and the fine fuzz on his face stirring.

Relying on his judgment, he stepped diagonally aside. Feng Zhihao charged precisely into his original position, while he arrived directly behind Feng Zhihao.

He lightly slapped Feng Zhihao on the back.

Pop!

Feng Zhihao stopped, standing like a wooden post.

Pfft! His halted body suddenly shuddered, and he abruptly sprayed a jet of blood. A mist of blood blossomed in the sunlight with a vivid sheen.

Chu Zhiyuan withdrew his palm and stood still.

Feng Zhihao slowly turned around to look at Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, his face full of disappointment.

The instant he touched Feng Zhihao's back, his Super Sensation had thoroughly perceived the circulation of True Qi through his internal organs and Meridians.

Two masses of True Qi lay within the yongquan points of Feng Zhihao's feet, as though he stood upon wind-fire wheels. No wonder his movement technique was so fast.

Two more masses of True Qi lay within the Laogong points of his palms, making his palm strikes extraordinarily swift as well.

Gritting his teeth, Feng Zhihao spat out two words. "Again! Come!"

"Please—!" Chu Zhiyuan smiled.

Yellow Qi flashed across Feng Zhihao's face, and his body flickered away with it. The next moment, he was behind Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan vanished in a flash and appeared behind him at the same time.

Feng Zhihao had been prepared this time. He twisted at the waist, turned, and met him with both palms.

But Chu Zhiyuan slanted his body and stepped forward from the side. His right palm lightly slipped between the two palms and struck Feng Zhihao in the chest.

Bang!

Feng Zhihao shot straight backward, crashing into the wall and hanging there like a painting, utterly motionless.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head and flicked up a pellet of mud with the tip of his foot.

The mud pellet shot into Feng Zhihao's dantian.

"Urgh... cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Feng Zhihao sucked in a huge breath with exaggerated force, his chest swelling dramatically. Then, coughing violently, he slid down the wall to its base and continued coughing without pause.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

Guo Chi watched with delight written all over his face, itching to clap and cheer.

Zou Fang smiled at Feng Zhihao, then shook her head.

After coughing several dozen times, Feng Zhihao slowly pushed himself up against the wall. He viciously wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and said coldly, "I misjudged you. The Heir Apparent's martial arts are formidable!"

The one chance in ten thousand had actually come to pass.

The nearly ruined Prince Qing's Estate actually had such a formidable Heir Apparent!

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head and smiled. "Young Sect Master, your cultivation is not bad, but your Martial Skill is lacking. You have not trained it deeply enough."

Feng Zhihao had no reply.

He could sense that Feng Zhihao's True Qi was roughly equal to his own, yet Feng Zhihao had been beaten without the slightest ability to fight back.

That stifling humiliation filled him with hatred.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "This is what comes of cultivating only internal cultivation methods. You still need to train your Martial Skills properly, or you will disgrace the Thick Earth Sect."

Feng Zhihao's face turned iron-blue, and he said nothing.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "What a pity today was. I gained nothing. Young Sect Master, your martial arts do not match your temper. It is fine for martial artists to have a bad temper, but their martial arts must be worthy of it, right?... We can spar again another day."

Feng Zhihao felt even more suffocated. Gritting his teeth, he said coldly, "One month from now, we fight again!"

Chu Zhiyuan nodded. "Then we shall meet again in one month. I'm leaving."

He cupped his fists, turned, and left.

Without even looking at Feng Zhihao, Guo Chi and Zou Fang followed Chu Zhiyuan out.

Feng Zhihao glared fixedly at Chu Zhiyuan's retreating back, cold light bursting from his eyes as his thoughts surged like raging waves.

Chu Zhiyuan saw it all clearly through his Super Sensation.

It seemed this Young Sect Master was narrow-minded and held grudges. He needed to be properly taught a lesson several more times.

After they had gone far from Earthly Soil Hall, Chu Zhiyuan said, "Zou Fang, find a residence within one hundred meters of Earthly Soil Hall."

"Yes." Zou Fang answered softly.

Walking at Chu Zhiyuan's other side, Guo Chi sneered. "That bastard deserved the lesson the Young Master gave him!"

The following evening, Chu Zhiyuan entered a residence roughly fifty meters from Earthly Soil Hall. He looked over the three-courtyard estate and found it quite satisfactory.

The previous owner of this residence had clearly been wealthy. Its understated elegance concealed lavish luxury.

What pleased him most was that this residence stood only fifty meters from Earthly Soil Hall.

He could see everything in Earthly Soil Hall clearly, especially the Quiet Room at the rear, where that strange painting was plainly visible.

After making a circuit of the residence, he left and returned to Prince Qing's Estate.

A bright moon hung high overhead.

Bright Moon Restaurant was like a celestial palace.

Chu Zhiyuan sat in a private room on the third floor. Through the open window, he admired the bright moon in the night sky while drinking wine and eating exquisite dishes.

At the table sat Gao Lingfeng and several officials from the Ministry of Rites. Among them was Assistant Director Zhou Xudong, who held the same rank as Chu Zhiyuan, along with several section chiefs.

They drank and chatted idly.

Such banquets were plainly an everyday occurrence for them. After several cups of wine, they cast aside their reserve and spoke freely.

The Ministry of Rites was a poor office with little profit to be had, so conflicts of interest among its officials were few. They got along fairly well.

The other Assistant Director, Zhou Xudong, came from an impoverished background. He too had been a promising scholar, his talent no worse than Gao Lingfeng's, but his luck had been slightly poorer, and he had placed third in the imperial examinations.

Given his background, he ought to have left the Ministry of Rites long ago to spread his wings elsewhere. He should not still have been trapped in the Ministry of Rites as a frustrated man at forty.

Chu Zhiyuan was curious but did not ask further, merely observing.

Zhou Xudong had a tall, straight build, ordinary features, and dark skin. He looked less like an official than a farmer. Yet after several cups, he made a startling declaration. "These martial sects are all sources of chaos. Ordinary people have suffered under them for far too long. If you ask me, they should all be swept away!"

Chu Zhiyuan was startled.

"Yes, they should all be swept away!"

"They're all scourges!"

The section chiefs slapped the table and chimed in one after another.

Seeing every one of them with eyes gleaming and emotions running high, as though they were about to fight someone at once, Chu Zhiyuan could not help shaking his head inwardly.

They had clearly been repressed too severely.

Among the officials of the Department of Martial Affairs whom he had encountered, none had much goodwill toward the martial sects.

He had thought Gao Lingfeng was already radical, but now it seemed Gao Lingfeng's idea of weakening and restraining them was not radical at all. This group was even more radical.

Zhou Xudong glared at Chu Zhiyuan. "Lord Chu, do you believe the Town Martial Division is enough to intimidate martial artists and keep them from committing crimes?"

Chu Zhiyuan looked at him, knowing that he did not truly need an answer.

Zhou Xudong sneered. "In those remote regions, how many innocent people are harmed without anyone ever discovering it? No matter how formidable the Town Martial Division is, its manpower is limited, and the area it can intimidate is limited. Far too many murderers remain at large!"

Everyone echoed his words.

Crimes committed by martial experts were extremely difficult to investigate. If someone was killed by blade or sword, there was still hope of identifying the style of martial arts from the wound and narrowing down the suspects. But what if they did not use blades or swords?

A flicked pebble could take a life. How were they supposed to find the killer?

"When one carries a sharp blade, the desire to kill arises of itself. Once these martial experts are angered, if they encounter someone weaker than themselves or someone who knows no martial arts, they kill at the slightest provocation."

"Alas... like wolves meeting sheep—they kill whenever they please!"

"They may look mild-tempered enough, but after a few drinks, they might start killing!"

"These martial sects are wild and untamable. They rarely serve the Imperial Court or take the field to slay enemies. All day long, they hide among the common people and wreak havoc upon the world!"

"They ought to be eradicated!"

"Lord Chu, am I wrong?" Zhou Xudong asked with a smile. "Do you think these martial experts should not be restrained?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head with a smile. "Lord Zhou, I have only just arrived. I have seen little and experienced little, so I dare not speak rashly."

Zhou Xudong sighed. "Lord Chu should not have come to the Department of Martial Affairs. Even if you entered the Ministry of Rites, you should not have entered the Department of Martial Affairs. The other four divisions are where one can truly live at ease."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled. "I practice martial arts too."

Zhou Xudong kept shaking his head and sighing, deeply regretting Chu Zhiyuan's choice. As an Heir Apparent, taking an idle post in one of the other divisions would have allowed him to live truly carefree.

Entering the Department of Martial Affairs was simply asking for hardship. When all was said and done, the Department of Martial Affairs played the villain who sang the soft tune; it was there to placate people, not punish them.

At times, they truly wished they could wipe out those sects, yet they still had to swallow their tempers and coax them along, even enduring their tempers.

The tempers of those sects were growing ever worse. They were looking down on the Department of Martial Affairs more and more!

This filled them with intense resentment, yet duty bound them, leaving them nowhere to vent their anger.

That had bred their dissatisfaction with martial sects and martial experts alike. They wished they could purge them all cleanly, and then there would be no more trouble.

Chu Zhiyuan frowned inwardly as he listened.

He had originally thought that the Imperial Court was powerful, and that the Department of Martial Affairs, as its representative, could wield the Court's authority and hold the upper hand when dealing with martial sects.

But from what they said, the opposite was true.

If things really were like this, then it was unacceptable.

The Department of Martial Affairs represented the Imperial Court, after all. How could it permit martial sects to behave so recklessly?

He carefully pondered the crux of the matter.

Was the Imperial Court doing this deliberately, making the Department of Martial Affairs an outlet for pressure?

He shook his head inwardly.

They drank until midnight. The atmosphere grew ever more harmonious, and when the gathering ended, each of them was thoroughly satisfied.

Chu Zhiyuan did not return to Prince Qing's Estate, instead heading straight back to the newly purchased residence.