A wager

The Great Zhou's social structure remained at the level of the Song and Ming dynasties.

But with supernatural existences such as martial artists and True Qi, its productivity was markedly higher.

The city streets were not exactly clean, but neither would stepping outside leave someone covered in mud.

"Lijiang is the capital of Jiangzhou, with a population of around six hundred thousand. The Zhou Dynasty has more than a dozen other cities of this scale... Judging by the architecture, sanitation, and everyday necessities, its development has reached an eighteenth-century level."

Li Xian walked down the street, digesting every detail of food, clothing, housing, and transportation in the original Li Xian's memories.

There were no cannons or firearms in those memories. Martial artists filled the gap in productivity left by technology.

As he observed his surroundings, he stopped before a stone bridge.

A sequence of memories belonging to the original Li Xian flashed through his mind.

It had been a night of torrential rain.

Li Xian had run after a carriage, weeping and shouting.

"Yanran, how am I supposed to live without you? Yanran!"

When he reached this bridge, a dark figure darted out and kicked "him" into the river.

The river water chilled him to the bone.

When he woke again...

It was him.

"Li Xian" had died.

"There will be a reckoning."

Li Xian withdrew his gaze, crossed the stone bridge, and walked another hundred meters, arriving outside Soaring Dragon Ward.

Upon entering the ward's market, he immediately spotted a large courtyard compound near the ceremonial gateway. The sign for the Dragon Spring Martial Arts Hall was clearly visible from dozens of meters away.

Li Xian stepped inside just as a woman's voice rang out: "Sinews and bones are the foundation of force. Only by permeating them with force and forging sinews of steel and bones of iron can you rein in a galloping horse and capture tigers and leopards alive!"

Once inside the courtyard, he saw a woman of eighteen or nineteen, over a hundred and seventy centimeters tall, with a slender figure and a healthy complexion, instructing several disciples around her age.

"To cultivate Bright Force through martial training, place importance on eating and diligence in practice! Only with a full belly can you train hard and master your force! Eat chicken, duck, and beef every day, drink ginseng soup and medicinal dishes, and diligently practice a superior fist art. Strengthening your body and mastering Bright Force will be child's play!"

The woman's expression was indifferent. "However stupid someone is, they should still comprehend force by fifteen or sixteen. So attaining Bright Force is nothing special. Only when force permeates your body and you reach the point of Bone Tempering and Sinew Transformation can martial arts become the foundation on which you establish yourselves."

As she spoke, her gaze shifted to Li Xian as he entered the courtyard.

"What do you want?"

"Li Xian, requesting an audience with Hall Master Zhou Juechen."

"You want to see my master?"

The woman gave him an indifferent glance and pointed at a table near the entrance. "Register and get in line."

Li Xian did not understand.

A disciple beside him chuckled. "Do you think Hall Master Zhou is some ordinary martial arts instructor you can see whenever you please? Do you understand the standing of a fifth-stage martial master who has achieved Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing? He ranks among the finest in Lijiang City, a man with a name even across the martial world!"

Another added, "The hall has been open less than a month, and if there haven't been a thousand famous figures and wealthy merchants visiting our hall master, there have been eight hundred. If he met everyone, when would he cultivate? Go get in line."

At that moment, however, the woman instructing them seemed to recall something. "Wait, Li Xian? Li Xian? Master Zhou's student, the one known as one of Lijiang's Four Great Talents?"

As she spoke, she scrutinized Li Xian.

Lijiang's Four Great Talents?

The original owner of this body had indeed borne that nickname.

"I've seen you before."

The woman had recognized him now, and her tone softened slightly. "Come inside and wait a moment. I'll inform my master."

"Sorry for the trouble."

Li Xian cupped his hands and followed.

Among the few memories he possessed, the original Li Xian had indeed enjoyed considerable literary fame.

His teacher, Master Zhou, was an even more renowned Confucian scholar in the Zhou Dynasty.

The apprentices who had been mocking him also underwent subtle changes in attitude upon learning Li Xian's name.

"It's actually him? Master Zhou of Pinewind Academy's student!"

"I heard Master Zhou expelled him because he wanted to become the Dingfeng Marquis's live-in son-in-law. Is that true?"

"That must be false, right? He placed first in the prefectural examination. The education official even said he had the makings of a Jieyuan. Why would he marry into a marquis's household and destroy his future?"

The group huddled together, watching the famous figure enter the inner courtyard as they discussed him in low voices.

Meanwhile, the woman soon reached the study inside the courtyard and knocked.

"Hongyu? Come in."

A voice came from within.

As Hongyu pushed open the door, she saw Zhou Juechen, only twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, casually toss several invitations onto his desk.

The invitations all came from prominent Lijiang families.

"Good timing. Sword Saint Guangyuanzi will soon invite Jiangzhou's heroes to discuss swordsmanship at Canglang Mountain. Look after the hall for me for a while."

"Understood."

Hongyu nodded, then said, "Master, Master Zhou's student Li Xian requests an audience."

"Li Xian? The prized pupil my third granduncle used to talk about every day?"

Somewhat surprised, Zhou Juechen leaned forward. "The one who married into the Dingfeng Marquis Residence?"

"That's him."

"Hah! Then I'll have to meet him."

Zhou Juechen snorted. "I'd like to see just what the world's number-one fool looks like. Anyone with eyes knows that young lady of the Marquis's Residence only married to find a backup and ward off suspicion. Yet he gladly offered himself up, infuriating Third Granduncle so much he couldn't swallow his food."

"He comes from a poor family, with limited experience and no access to information from the upper circles. He had admired that young lady for a long time while she attended the academy. When he heard the Marquis's Residence was seeking a husband, he naturally fell for it at once..."

"No access to information from the upper circles? I refuse to believe Third Granduncle never gave him a hint!"

"All one can say is that he was too deeply in love."

"What use is being deeply in love? At a banquet a few days ago, I even saw that Miss Liu of the Marquis's Residence exchanging sweet nothings with Heir Apparent Yan. Hmph. Do you think this great talent, this great romantic, knows about that? Should I tell this 'Commandery Prince Consort Li' the truth and vent Third Granduncle's anger for him?"

Zhou Juechen was exasperated that iron would not become steel.

But Hongyu's expression turned grave at his words. "This involves a daughter of the Marquis's Residence, a commandery prince's heir, and... an Immortal Seedling who has leaped through the dragon gate. If you want to pull him out of this, Master... the risk is extremely high."

When Hongyu mentioned the Dingfeng Marquis Residence and the commandery prince's heir, Zhou Juechen remained fairly indifferent. But at the words "Immortal Seedling," apprehension appeared on the face of this fifth-stage martial expert whose reputation carried weight throughout Lijiang.

After a moment's consideration, he said, "All right. Bring him here."

He leaned back slightly. "I'd like to hear what he has to say to me."

Hongyu soon left.

Before long, she brought Li Xian to the study.

He looked Li Xian over.

The young man certainly had a dignified appearance.

To be named one of Lijiang's Four Great Talents, literary ability came first, but his looks naturally could not be too bad either.

He was just a little stupid.

Martial artists did not bother with so many twists and turns.

Before Li Xian could speak, he said bluntly, "If you want to use me to ask Third Granduncle for forgiveness, save your breath. Go back where you came from."

"Third Granduncle?"

Li Xian did not understand.

He was not someone who fussed over minor details either.

Without wild speculation or inward fretting, he went straight to the point. "That isn't why I'm here. I came to seek your instruction on the method of Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing. Whatever your conditions, Hall Master Zhou, please state them."

After a moment's thought, he added, "If you could also offer some guidance on the key points of heavenly cycle without leak and Refining the Void into Reality, that would be even better."

"Seek instruction on the method of Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing?"

Zhou Juechen froze briefly.

Then his face filled with disbelief. "And heavenly cycle without leak and Refining the Void into Reality too?"

"Yes."

Li Xian nodded.

People really did laugh when left speechless.

Zhou Juechen laughed in exasperation. "You bookwo-scholar, do you know what Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing is? Do you even understand what heavenly cycle without leak and Refining the Void into Reality mean?"

"I do."

Li Xian answered truthfully. "Of the Nine Martial Dao Stages, the fifth is Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing, using methods of force circulation and breathing to drive blood circulation and transform the body. The sixth is heavenly cycle without leak: comprehending the meaning of the Primordial Chaos so that qi and blood regenerate endlessly. The seventh is Refining the Void into Reality: Blood and Qi Mastery, using the false to cultivate the true, and producing True Qi."

Having said that, he knew his question might seem somewhat overambitious to Zhou Juechen, so he explained, "I already have some idea about Bright Force, sinews and bones, and even Internal Organ Refinement. As for Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing... I have a few thoughts as well. Whether they're feasible still needs verification, which is why I came specifically to the Dragon Spring Martial Arts Hall to seek Master Zhou's guidance."

Watching him discuss martial cultivation with such earnestness, Zhou Juechen felt weary.

Different trades were separated by mountains.

Did this Li Xian really think that because he excelled at studying, he could also possess a talent for martial arts rarely seen in the world?

Hongyu noticed her master's speechlessness and took over before he could start cursing. "Young Master Li, martial cultivation isn't as simple as you imagine. To achieve anything, you must pass three great barriers: the Money Pass of nourishing yourself with large quantities of medicine, the status barrier of having sufficient standing to purchase cultivation methods, and the perseverance-and-physique barrier, which cannot be endured without immense perseverance and determination."

She said plainly, "The first two barriers wouldn't be difficult for you, Young Master Li, but the third... the pain of stretching sinews and pulling bones is not something ordinary people can endure."

"I know."

Li Xian nodded, then said, "That isn't difficult for me."

After Embracing Qi and Forming a Core, finding no road ahead; after reaching the absolute pinnacle, being unable to withstand a child's gunshot—those were true difficulties.

"Fine, fine, fine! 'Not difficult,' is it!"

At last, Zhou Juechen understood what it meant to have a head made of elmwood.

He also finally understood how Third Granduncle had felt when anger left him unable to eat.

He could not help clenching his fists.

Especially when he thought of how this man had discarded a bright future to willingly become a live-in son-in-law at the Dingfeng Marquis Estate, the hall master's anger surged.

He pulled open a drawer, took out a booklet, and slapped it onto the desk. "You have some idea about the first four stages, do you? And thoughts about Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing too, do you? Here! These are the cultivation methods I used from Bright Force through Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing, including my experiences and insights on making the whole body an Impervious Body! Read it carefully and memorize it properly! Let's see just what you can cultivate!"

Li Xian's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward, reaching out. "Thank you."

Hm?

You're actually taking it?!

"Hold on!"

Zhou Juechen pressed his palm onto the booklet. "If you truly achieve something, I'll give you this Five Elements Art for free! But what if you achieve nothing?"

"I'll pay twice the price of the cultivation method."

Li Xian volunteered this himself.

"Do you think a martial artist at Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing lacks your paltry coins?"

Zhou Juechen held up three fingers. "Three months! I'll give you three months. If you still haven't achieved anything after three months, obediently break off the engagement, apologize to Third Granduncle, and go back to your books!"

Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing in three months?

A little difficult!

But...

Not entirely impossible.

Besides, only a challenging life could be called fun, couldn't it?

"Agreed."

Li Xian nodded.

Zhou Juechen released his hand and leaned back in his chair. "Hongyu, take him downstairs, pour a few servings of Eight-Treasure Soup into him, then drill him hard. Work him to death."

(End of chapter)