On the official road from Yellow Earth Town back to Qingshan County, Jiang Fa walked more slowly than he had on the way there.
It was not that the road was difficult. He had things weighing on his mind.
He still had twenty-odd taels of loose silver in his pocket.
Jiang Fa reckoned that this would buy four Blood Condensation Pills at Precious Ganoderma Hall, along with a few packets of Blood Strengthening Powder.
After his breakthrough to Ming Jin, the medicinal potency of Blood Strengthening Powder had become somewhat inadequate, but even a mosquito's leg was meat. Any increase was worth having.
As expected, Liu Laizi's death had stirred up no waves at the yamen.
According to Auntie Wang, Constable Liu had taken men to collect the corpse, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, but had still closed the case with little fuss.
A local thug who had offended far too many people in his daily life-dying from a drunken fall might have been a rather dubious end, but it was still plausible.
Who would bother investigating?
Jiang Fa pushed these thoughts down and quickened his pace.
By the time he returned to the martial hall, dusk was falling.
As he passed through the outer courtyard, there were still many figures practicing their stances on the grounds.
Several lanterns lit the inner courtyard's training ground, where a few figures practiced beneath their light.
Jiang Fa glanced over and recognized Xu Xiaomeng among them.
She was practicing punches against an ironwood post, each movement exceedingly slow. Every punch landed with a muffled thud, like an iron hammer striking a quilt, heavy and dull.
Jiang Fa did not disturb her and went straight back to his room.
When he pushed open the door, he found several new things on the table.
A brand-new gray training outfit lay neatly folded, its fabric more than a cut above the coarse hemp clothing he wore.
There was a palm-sized bronze token, with "Zhao" engraved on the front and his name on the back.
There was also a thin booklet, its cover bearing the words "Annotations on the Second Level of the Mountain-Breaking Stance" in neat handwriting, the ink still fresh.
Jiang Fa picked up the bronze token and examined both sides. It weighed heavily in his hand, its edges polished smooth and rounded.
This was an inner courtyard disciple's identification token. In the future, when traveling within Qingshan County, showing it would keep ordinary thugs from provoking him lightly.
He shook out the training outfit and held it against himself. It was just the right size.
There was also a note on the table, tucked beneath the booklet with only one corner showing.
Jiang Fa drew it out and read it. There were only two lines, the handwriting forceful and vigorous, its strokes sharp as blades.
"Come find me at the Teaching Hall tomorrow at the hour of the dragon."
It was signed Zhao Zhong.
Jiang Fa folded the note and tucked it into his robes, changed into the new training outfit, then picked up the booklet and leafed through it.
Zhao Zhong had written the booklet by hand. The handwriting was identical to that on the note.
The first few pages contained the formulas for the second level of the Mountain-Breaking Stance. The rest were densely packed with annotations, with Zhao Zhong's personal cultivation insights beneath every line of the formulas.
"The key to penetrating force lies not in brute strength, but in borrowing momentum. The earth is the bow, the body the arrow. The deeper you sink, the farther you shoot."
"A common failing among beginners is raising force too fiercely, letting strength dissipate before the force can penetrate. Use the dantian as the pivot and raise it slowly, as though drawing silk and unraveling a cocoon."
"When practicing, you may choose wet mud as your stance ground. Sink your feet three inches into the mud, then shake it away with penetrating force. If you can shake it five inches away, you have reached minor achievement."
Jiang Fa read more than a dozen pages in succession, growing more astonished with every page.
These annotations were no vague generalities. They broke down every detail of how to exert force in each movement and every shift in the rhythm of breathing.
They even listed the mistakes beginners were prone to making, one by one, along with ways to correct them.
If this booklet were sold outside, the annotations alone would be worth dozens of taels of silver.
Yet Zhao Zhong had simply left it on the table without even saying a word.
Jiang Fa closed the booklet and drew a deep breath.
The next day, Jiang Fa woke just after the hour of the hare.
He changed into the gray training outfit, hung the bronze token at his waist, and stepped outside.
People were already practicing on the training ground.
Qin Xuan had a corner to himself and was holding the second-level posture of the Mountain-Breaking Stance.
His eyes were half-closed and his breathing long and steady. His center of gravity was pressed extremely low, his knees bent to almost ninety degrees.
Jiang Fa watched briefly, then withdrew his gaze and found an empty spot to practice his stance.
He immersed his mind in the formulas for the second level of the Mountain-Breaking Stance, bent his legs, and lowered his center of gravity.
The first level is sinking. The second is raising.
He silently recited the words from Zhao Zhong's annotations, adjusting the rhythm of his breathing. As he inhaled, he sank his Qi into his dantian; as he exhaled, he slowly raised the force that had sunk down.
Once, twice, three times.
On his fourth repetition, he suddenly felt a faint warm current surge up from the soles of his feet.
The warm current rose from his Yongquan points, traveled up his calves and through his knees, and gathered in his dantian. Then it spread out from his dantian, following his meridians into every limb and bone.
It was very faint, but it was undeniably there.
[Mountain-Breaking Stance (Mid Yellow Grade) · Second level (1/500)]
Looking at the progress on the panel,
Jiang Fa felt a surge of delight.
Was this the "raising force" Master had spoken of?
He tried guiding the warm current into his palm, then gently pushed it into the empty space before him.
Where his palm passed, the air rippled faintly, like a stone dropped into a tranquil lake.
Compared with the gusts his punches had previously produced through brute strength alone, this force was more contained and more sustained.
Jiang Fa drew back his palm and stood still. Opening his eyes, he discovered that the horizon had already turned fish-belly white.
The hour of the dragon was approaching.
He wiped away his sweat, straightened his robes, and headed for the Teaching Hall.
The Teaching Hall's door stood ajar.
Jiang Fa raised his hand to knock, but a voice came from inside first.
"Come in."
Jiang Fa pushed open the door and entered.
Zhao Zhong stood with his hands behind his back before the calligraphy bearing the character for "sink," his back to the entrance.
Today, he wore a dark blue robe rather than a training outfit. He had less of a martial artist's sharpness about him and more of a scholar's refinement.
"Master." Jiang Fa cupped his fist and bowed.
"Sit." Zhao Zhong turned, looked Jiang Fa up and down, and gave a slight nod.
"That training outfit fits reasonably well."
Zhao Zhong sat in the grand armchair, lifted his tea bowl, and spoke unhurriedly. "You have been here for over three months. What do you think of my Zhao Clan Martial Hall?"
Jiang Fa paused in surprise, then answered honestly, "Master teaches selflessly, and my senior brothers get along fairly well. This disciple has benefited greatly."
Zhao Zhong gave a hum of acknowledgment. Rather than respond, he asked another question. "Are your parents well?"
"Thanks to your blessings, they are doing reasonably well."
Jiang Fa paused, then added, "This disciple went home the day before yesterday. My father had met with a sudden mishap, but with medicine taken on schedule, he is no longer in any serious danger."
The hand holding Zhao Zhong's tea bowl paused slightly, and his gaze lingered on Jiang Fa's face.
"A mishap?"
After a moment's silence, Jiang Fa briefly recounted how Liu Laizi had used his backing to bully others and how his father had been injured in the beating.
After listening, Zhao Zhong pondered for a moment.
"That is how the world is. The strong bully the weak, picking on the soft and fearing the hard. What happened to your father was not the first such incident, nor will it be the last."
He looked up at Jiang Fa, his gaze sharpening somewhat.
"Reaching Ming Jin means you have crossed the threshold of a martial artist. But remember, Ming Jin is only the beginning. An Jin is the true dividing line. Ming Jin martial artists are as numerous as hairs on an ox in the martial world, but an An Jin martial artist can hold their own."
"Qingshan County's five great martial halls, two great gangs, and three great lineages appear calm on the surface, but undercurrents are surging beneath. You count as half a man of the martial world now. Sooner or later, you will become involved in these matters."
Jiang Fa listened attentively without interrupting.
Zhao Zhong continued, "Inner courtyard disciples are different from those in the outer courtyard. Outer courtyard disciples need only bury themselves in hard training, but inner courtyard disciples must put what they learn to use. The martial hall does not support idlers. You must take posts outside, both to gain experience and to earn some silver to supplement your cultivation. Do you have any thoughts?"
After a brief moment of consideration, Jiang Fa said, "This disciple's learning is shallow. I leave everything to Master's judgment."
Zhao Zhong nodded.
"In that case, go. You may ask Steward Ma in the rear courtyard about taking a post. He will explain all the arrangements."
"The essentials of the Mountain-Breaking Stance's second level are all in the booklet I gave you. Cultivate diligently, and do not disappoint my expectations."
"Thank you, Master. This disciple takes his leave."
Jiang Fa cupped his fist and bowed, then withdrew from the Teaching Hall.