"Jiang Fa, when do you think all this training will ever end?"
Li Tie squatted beneath the shade of a tree, holding a hard, dry mixed-grain flatbread.
He watched Qin Xuan, who was receiving private instruction from Zhao Zhong in the distance, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
"Look at Qin Xuan. He'll probably break through to Ming Jin and enter the inner court before long. How can the gap between people be so huge?" Li Tie sighed and took a bite of his flatbread.
Wang Dahu squatted beside him and said in his rumbling voice, "I heard even some inner court disciples treat Qin Xuan politely. Nothing like when they deal with us, with their noses pointed at the sky. They won't even look us in the eye."
"Don't think too much. Just train hard," Jiang Fa said.
He had already finished his flatbread and brushed the crumbs from the front of his robe with his fingers.
"You certainly have a good attitude."
Li Tie gave a bitter chuckle.
"The more I think about it, the more hopeless it seems. He's naturally gifted, and the hall master values him too. I heard Master Zhao privately examined his bones. Guess what the result was?"
"What?"
Wang Dahu asked curiously.
Jiang Fa turned his head, a little curious as well.
Li Tie clicked his tongue. "Highest-grade aptitude. They say he's the most talented martial disciple since our hall was founded."
"Highest-grade?"
Wang Dahu sucked in a breath of cold air.
They had been at the hall for quite some time now and were no longer greenhorns fresh out of the thatched cottage.
Naturally, they knew what highest-grade aptitude meant.
According to the texts,
martial aptitude was divided into nine grades.
From lowest to highest, they were lowest grade, low grade, middle grade, high grade, and highest grade, followed by the exceedingly rare bronze bones, silver bones, golden bones, and jade bones.
One could not underestimate "highest grade" simply because it ranked fifth. Across all of Qingshan County, one could scarcely find a handful who truly possessed such aptitude.
The vast majority of people in the world had aptitude hovering around middle or lower-middle grade. Even those with high-grade aptitude were uncommon.
Take the Zhao Clan Martial Hall alone: countless disciples had come and gone over more than a decade, yet only a scant few had possessed high-grade martial aptitude.
One could well imagine how dazzling highest-grade talent was.
"Highest grade? No wonder Master Zhao values Qin Xuan so much."
Understanding dawned somewhat on Jiang Fa.
"Exactly. He was never on the same path as us to begin with. Ah." Li Tie sighed, looking somewhat dejected.
"That's how it is sometimes. You can't compare one person to another," Wang Dahu said, offering a rare sensible remark. "What good does comparing yourselves over and over do, besides making you miserable?"
Jiang Fa nodded.
He looked up at Qin Xuan in the distance. The latter was still practicing his stance.
His movements flowed smoothly, his force connected throughout. He had indeed attained a measure of proficiency.
For a while, the three fell somewhat silent.
Jiang Fa withdrew his gaze.
For the past month, he had risen before dawn to train every day, returning only after practicing late into the night.
By now, he was undoubtedly the most enthusiastic about training among this batch of new disciples.
In diligence, no one could compare with him except that one veteran disciple in the outer court.
Yet progress on his panel remained slow, and he was still a considerable distance from minor accomplishment in the first level of his stance training.
Jiang Fa sighed inwardly.
Practicing martial arts truly was no easy task.
During the midday break, Jiang Fa, Li Tie, and Wang Dahu squatted beneath a tree beside the training grounds, gnawing on the half pieces of mixed-grain flatbread left over from breakfast.
It was reasonably cool beneath the tree, but a dry heat still permeated the air, making them drowsy.
Wang Dahu ate quickly, swallowing his flatbread in a few hasty bites. He choked until his eyes rolled, then grabbed the gourd at his waist, tipped his head back, and gulped down cold water.
Only after several loud gulps did he catch his breath and wipe the water from his mouth.
Li Tie suddenly nudged Jiang Fa with his elbow and lowered his voice. "Here he comes again."
Jiang Fa followed his gaze.
With two lackeys following behind him, Liu Wen swaggered over from the outer court's main gate, carrying a cloth bundle.
He wore an expression that practically begged for a beating.
When Liu Wen reached the shade, he deliberately slowed his steps.
He stopped before the three of them, leisurely opened the small cloth bundle in his hand, and took out a tiny celadon medicine bottle.
The bottle was exquisitely made, its body decorated with subtle cloud-and-thunder patterns and its mouth sealed with a red silk stopper. One glance showed it was nothing one could buy at an ordinary apothecary.
The bottle alone was probably worth a fair amount of silver.
"Recognize this?"
Liu Wen pulled out the stopper, tipped a dark red pill the size of a soybean into his palm, and held it before the three of them, waving it a little.
The pill gleamed with a muted red light in the sunshine and gave off a rich medicinal fragrance.
The medicinal fragrance wafted into his nostrils.
Jiang Fa felt the blood and Qi in his chest, which had grown faintly depleted from days of arduous training, actually stir slightly,
like a starving man catching the scent of food.
"A Blood Condensation Pill. From the Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion in the prefectural city."
Liu Wen's voice carried undisguised smugness. "One pill is worth five doses of Blood Strengthening Powder. My father had someone bring these back from the prefectural city. They're specifically for martial cultivators at Ming Jin and above to replenish their blood and Qi."
He rolled the pill around in his palm so the three could see it more clearly.
Its dark red luster shifted in the sunlight, like an exquisite blood-colored pearl.
Jiang Fa said nothing, merely watching the pill in silence.
Li Tie tightened his grip on his half-eaten flatbread, pressing his lips into a thin line.
Wang Dahu stared wide-eyed, his throat bobbing, though it was unclear whether he was swallowing saliva or holding back his anger.
Seeing the subtle changes in their expressions, Liu Wen's smile deepened.
He slowly put the pill back into the bottle, replaced the silk stopper, and patted the celadon bottle in his hand, producing a crisp sound.
"Twelve pills in this bottle. Enough to last me until I break through to Ming Jin."
He paused, sweeping his gaze over the three as though inspecting some curious objects.
"My father said that if I reach Ming Jin within three months, he'll buy me even better Marrow Cleansing Pills."
At this point, he deliberately paused before continuing, "Come to think of it, you three probably haven't seen a Blood Condensation Pill before, have you?"
Li Tie clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
He gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Wang Dahu glared at Liu Wen and forced out a rumbling reply. "Training depends on your own efforts, not on popping pills."
Yet even he did not believe the words as he spoke them.
His voice dropped, plainly lacking confidence.
Liu Wen gave a contemptuous chuckle. The laugh was light and airy, like a feather brushing someone's face, its itch maddening yet impossible to scratch.
He tilted his head as he looked at Wang Dahu, his eyes full of mockery.
"You big oaf, you're right about that. For someone like you, taking more medicine would just be a waste. You really can only rely on yourself."
He paused, turning his gaze toward Jiang Fa and Li Tie as his lips curled in disdain. "As for you two, you're all turtles from the same pond!"
With that, he tucked the celadon bottle into his robe, patted the front of it, and turned to leave.
After two steps, he looked back, deliberately glancing at the three as though he had remembered something important, and snickered with gloating delight.
"Oh, right. I saw a notice outside the dining hall this morning. This month's room and board fees are due. One tael of silver each. You three had better get it ready beforehand. If you end up unable to afford even a meal, you'll really be a laughingstock."
The two outer court disciples behind him laughed along.
Their laughter echoed through the empty courtyard, grating and brazen.