Initial Training

# Chapter 5: Beginning Practice

Zou Fang stood motionless at the study door, a blue robe draped over him, a white jade horsetail whisk in hand.

Inside the study, Chu Zhiyuan lounged lazily behind the desk, watching Feng Xi, who stood with a slight bow, and saw the wry smile on his face.

He didn't need to ask to know something had gone wrong.

"Didn't catch them?"

Chu Zhiyuan took a sip of tea and asked unhurriedly.

"Reporting to Young Master, this servant was incompetent—they got away."

"Those two are that formidable?"

With the gap between Xiantian and Grandmaster realms, there should be a crushing advantage, yet they still escaped—enough to show how skilled those two were.

"Their Disguise Technique was masterful. They melted into the crowd while changing their appearance, their auras shifting simultaneously, and vanished without a trace in an instant."

Chu Zhiyuan took another sip of tea, lost in thought.

So these were special Mysterious Skills and Techniques.

In a world where martial arts flourished so vigorously, a Counter-tracking secret art designed specifically to evade pursuit wasn't impossible, but it was certainly rare.

These two people's identities were growing more and more unusual.

He thought for a moment, then asked: "Did they notice you?"

"They shouldn't have noticed this servant."

"Are they from the court?"

"...Both of them from the court?"

Chu Zhiyuan furrowed his sword-like brows and stared at him.

Feng Xi answered quickly: "The other one probably isn't a Town Martial Division expert."

The Town Martial Division's experts came from two sources: one was military experts, inheriting from the armed forces; the other was experts from the Four Great Sects.

Feng Xi could be certain that one of them was a Town Martial Division expert, but the other was not.

"The Town Martial Division..."

Chu Zhiyuan stood up and paced behind the desk with his hands clasped behind his back.

In the present world, the practice of martial arts was in full bloom. Schools and sects stood everywhere—the Four Great Sects, the Eight Great Schools, the Thirty-Six Gates, and countless smaller sects, all bustling with activity.

But in terms of strength, the imperial court was the most powerful.

The court had established the Town Martial Division specifically to deal with martial arts experts who committed crimes.

The Town Martial Division operated outside the court's bureaucratic system, under the emperor's direct command, holding an exalted position.

The Town Martial Division expert watching him was probably on the emperor's orders. Though he didn't know the intent, there should be no danger.

But the other one wasn't from the Town Martial Division—that demanded caution.

"Young Master, the person in our manor most skilled at tracking and trailing is Liang Guanjie. How about letting him work with this servant tomorrow?"

Chu Zhiyuan raised his voice: "Zou Fang, have Liang Guanjie come here."

"Yes."

Zou Fang soon brought in a plump, sturdy middle-aged man.

The plump, sturdy man wore a brocade robe, his face beaming like a Maitreya Buddha—he looked more like a wealthy old gentleman than a martial arts expert.

He entered the study, clasped his hands, and gave a cheerful bow.

Chu Zhiyuan sat back behind the desk: "Old Liang, go tomorrow and follow Tenth Uncle's and Thirteenth Uncle's Young Masters. See if anyone is trailing them... Be careful not to be discovered."

He suddenly thought of something—were these people only following him, or were they following other Young Masters too? If they were following others as well, there was no need to be too tense. But if they were only following him, then he would have to be extremely cautious, even consider taking the initiative.

That was more important.

Compared to Feng Xi's Grandmaster realm, Liang Guanjie was only at Xiantian. Of course, he would keep Feng Xi by his side.

"Rest assured, Young Master. A trivial matter." Liang Guanjie patted his chest and grinned.

Chu Zhiyuan looked at Feng Xi: "Are there any tracking experts in the manor?"

Feng Xi hesitated.

Chu Zhiyuan understood that meant there weren't. He turned to look at Liang Guanjie.

Liang Guanjie scratched the back of his head and shook his head: "Young Master, we originally had two in the manor, but they left five years ago to return to their hometowns and live as wealthy gentlemen."

"Then find a few helpers from among your old comrades."

Liang Guanjie had once been an elite of the Eagle Soaring Camp. An elite's friends naturally included plenty of elites. He had no shortage of formidable comrades in the capital.

"This..." Liang Guanjie's face showed reluctance.

Chu Zhiyuan snorted: "Not enough friendship, or not enough face?"

Liang Guanjie scratched his head and chuckled. "Well, there are three old comrades, all serving in the City Guard Department. They have duties to attend to, so I'd rather not trouble them."

"What are their characters like?"

"Straightforward men, clumsy with flattery—otherwise they wouldn't have ended up where they are now."

"Ask them for help. Tell them there are vacancies in the estate guard."

He keenly felt the shortage of talent in the estate.

Experts in tracking might seem useless outside the military, but they could work wonders.

At any time, intelligence was paramount.

Though Prince Qing's Estate had declined, that depended on who you compared it to. The estate guard's salary was at least three times that of the City Guard, and compared to the bustle and tedium of city duty, the estate guard was far more leisurely, with less worry and more time and energy for cultivation—a prime cushy job.

If Prince Qing's Estate were still under its former seal, it would be no different from imprisonment. Over the past thirty years, a quarter of the estate guards had already left.

Now that the seal was lifted, even if the estate had declined, it was still a prince's residence. People would definitely be scrambling to join the guard.

Liang Guanjie's eyes lit up, and he thumped his chest vigorously. "Hey, Heir Apparent, leave it to me!"

Chu Zhiyuan turned to Feng Xi. "Steward Feng, have the three of them assist you. Get to the bottom of that fellow's background."

"Yes." Feng Xi nodded solemnly.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Old Liang, explain the situation of those three to Steward Feng clearly. Don't mess this up—this matter is very important."

"Heir Apparent, rest assured!" Liang Guanjie thumped his chest again.

Chu Zhiyuan picked up the white jade teacup.

Liang Guanjie cupped his fists in farewell and withdrew.

Feng Xi remained at Chu Zhiyuan's signal.

Chu Zhiyuan set down the white jade cup and looked at Feng Xi, revealing a hint of doubt.

Feng Xi, catching the cue, said, "Old Liang talks big, but he's still steady in his actions."

The Eagle Soaring Camp wasn't a place just anyone could enter—it was the elite of the military's finest. Otherwise, even after discharge, they wouldn't have made it into the prince's estate.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded. "Find out the backgrounds of Old Liang's three friends."

If they were to be taken into the estate, they needed clean records with no hidden risks.

"This servant understands." Feng Xi nodded gravely.

People's hearts could change. They were Old Liang's comrades, but that didn't mean they had no other intentions. It was still necessary to investigate.

Chu Zhiyuan waved his hand.

Feng Xi bowed and withdrew.

Chu Zhiyuan stepped into the courtyard.

At the base of the walls were patches of bamboo groves. A breeze blew, rustling softly—hence the name Listening to Waves Courtyard.

Several strings of lanterns lit the yard brightly.

Under the lamplight, the green bamboo cast scattered, sparse shadows.

The night sky was dotted with stars, and the bright moon hid behind a few dark clouds, illuminating their thin edges like layers of silver scales.

He stared blankly for a long while.

Was this same bright moon the one from his past life?

What connection did this world have with his previous one?

Lost in thought and observation, the dark clouds drifted lightly away, revealing the moon like a wheel of ice.

Molten moonlight spilled from the sky, falling into the bright glow of the courtyard.

He flickered and vanished from his spot, reappearing a zhang away, then flickered again to three zhang away.

His form flashed and flickered across the yard, each time covering about three zhang.

The Inch-to-Horizon Footwork had already reached minor mastery.

The energy circulation route of the Inch-to-Horizon Step was complex. To make Internal Energy flow along such a convoluted path smoothly without error required two steps.

The first was opening the path.

Using Internal Energy to forge this route.

This route lay neither in the Twelve Meridians nor the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, but instead opened new Meridians within the body.

From one Acupoint to the next, then to another, it passed through thirty-two acupoints in total, finally leading to the Bubbling Spring points in both legs.

The Internal Energy stored in the Dantian changed at each acupoint it passed. After thirty-two acupoints and thirty-two transformations, it became entirely different from the energy cultivated by the Lesser Violet Sun Technique, making the body light and swift, unleashing explosive power in an instant.

The second step was achieving effortless mastery.

After opening the mental technique's route, one had to become so familiar that it could flow smoothly without conscious thought, even with eyes closed, turning it into an instinct like eating or drinking.

Without this, a moment of tension in battle could cause errors—at best a stall, at worst an injury. In a life-or-death fight, such a slip would be suicide.

He discovered that what had mutated wasn't just his five senses, but also his brain.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have so easily accepted the vast and overwhelming torrent of information brought by the extension of his five senses, without the slightest hint of dizziness or a throbbing head.

Before he knew it, he had developed a photographic memory.

He memorized the complex circulation route of the technique in a single pass, became proficient after three repetitions, and after twelve, it had become instinctive.

He no longer needed to consciously divert his attention to channel his Internal Energy; it was as smooth as if he had trained for decades.

He shook his head with a sigh, acknowledging that he was indeed a martial prodigy.

What defined a prodigy was that others needed to expend vast amounts of time to accomplish something, while he achieved it effortlessly.

This meant that while others might only master two or three martial arts in a lifetime, he could master countless ones.

But then he shook his head again—the most fundamental factor was still his cultivation realm. If his realm couldn't keep up, having a dazzling array of extraordinary techniques and peerless skills would only amount to empty posturing.

Most of his energy still had to be focused on cultivating his internal energy techniques and advancing his realm.

In the time that followed, his figure continued to flicker and flash without pause, his crossing distance increasing from three zhang to four, then five zhang, where it stopped.

Limited by the purity of his internal energy, five zhang was already the limit.

To improve further, he would need to elevate the quality of his internal energy.

He then had Zou Fang bring him a longsword, which he fastened to his waist, and began drawing and thrusting it over and over, faster and faster.

Before he knew it, the bright moon had shifted westward.

The night grew deeper and denser.

A cold gleam flashed at his waist, and the sword was already thrust into the air, astonishingly swift.

The Great Avalanche Sword Art was mastered.

Whether it was the Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart Step or the Great Avalanche Sword Art, they shared a common trait—both were explosive martial arts.

They pursued speed and surprise.

This was his choice, tailored to his own strengths.

With two Grandmasters like Zou Fang and Guo Chi by his side, he only needed to use the Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart Step to evade the first or second strike; Zou Fang and Guo Chi would never allow the opponent a third move.

The Great Avalanche Sword Art condensed his entire cultivation into a single strike, deciding life and death in one blow. Paired with Super Sensation to perceive the opponent's weaknesses and judge the timing of his strike, and accelerated by the Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart Step, it could unleash maximum power.

The moment his mental tension eased, he felt pain wracking every inch of his body. His Meridians, having endured too much impact, felt as if they were about to split open.

Gasping from the cold, he lay down on the couch, but the pain was too intense to sleep. He needed to divert his attention to ease the suffering, so he focused his mind on the Jade Lock Golden Pass Technique.

Then he let out a sigh.

No wonder no one had ever managed to master the Jade Lock Golden Pass Technique until now.