At Tianyang Martial Dao Academy that morning, winter frost clung to the treetops, and the grass was a glittering blanket of white.
By the time Zhang Qingyuan reached the mountain gate, the ten youngsters taking part in the study tour had already gathered their equipment at their teachers' reminders and been waiting for some time.
There were ten of them in all: Liu Sidao, Ma Shou, Li Goudan, Murong Xue, Lin Pingzhi, Xiao Yan, Sun Xiaohu, Liu Che, Zhang Xiaohua, and Zhao Hongbing.
Only one of them was a girl: Murong Xue.
Xiao Yan, who had never stood out in his first year, had revealed his talent in his second.
Although he was not as dazzling as Liu Sidao and the others, he certainly deserved an award for most improved.
When they saw Zhang Qingyuan approach, the children all called out, "Headmaster!"
Zhang Qingyuan nodded in acknowledgment and said, "Students, our study tour is about to begin. I hope we'll all return together just as we set out together, stay safe throughout the journey, and broaden our horizons.
"If any problems arise, report them to me immediately. You must not act on your own. Understood?"
"Understood!"
Liu Sidao and Ma Shou exchanged a glance. These two leading students of the first intake, already chosen to become the headmaster's disciples, seemed a little closer now.
They had gone from classmates to friends, and then to brothers.
Liu Che wore a gloomy expression. He had failed to outdo them in his first year, and still failed to outdo them in his second.
Although he was delighted to be going on a study tour with the headmaster.
Looking around, however, he could find no one he could really talk to.
Murong Xue's attention was entirely on Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan carried a heavy sword. This had been Old Lu's advice after he consulted Lu Guying.
His technique was not particularly good, but fortunately, his physical gifts were decent, and his aptitude for internal cultivation was especially outstanding.
So he would let brute strength overcome ten forms of finesse. All he had to do was swing!
He had chosen the Tianyang Hurricane Sword Technique, a highly practical heavy-sword martial art.
Liu Sidao carried a saber, while Ma Shou used a sword.
Sun Xiaohu kept things simplest, carrying a long saber. He was a man who intended to become commander of the Brocade Guard.
His long saber resembled an embroidered spring saber, but was heavier and longer.
The other students all used swords.
All their weapons had been provided by the academy.
"Move out!"
With a sweep of his hand, Zhang Qingyuan led the ten little children onto the road for their study tour.
Everything felt new and thrilling to the students, who bounced about with excitement.
The ten of them formed a single file, with Liu Sidao leading, Ma Shou bringing up the rear, and Sun Xiaohu in the middle.
Excited as they were, none dared speak.
They kept glancing at Zhang Qingyuan, looking very nervous.
Zhang Qingyuan noticed their little concerns too and said casually, "Relax, everyone. Although we're walking in formation, a study tour is about traveling the martial world and broadening your horizons. There's no need to be so stiff."
Even after Zhang Qingyuan said that, the students still dared not move.
Helpless, Zhang Qingyuan turned to Li Goudan'er. "Goudanr, why do I feel like you've grown quite a bit taller?"
Li Goudan was a child from a thoroughly rural background, gifted enough to rank among the best even in this gathering of talents.
He smiled bashfully and scratched his head. "Hehe, Headmaster, I've grown more than three inches since I came to school."
"Really?"
"Yes. Shitou measured me yesterday."
"That shows our academy's food is pretty good, doesn't it?"
"Hehe, it's much better than what we eat at home, anyway. There's meat at every meal."
Country children had lacked nutrition back home. Steamed cornmeal buns and roasted sweet potatoes were the norm. Never mind meat-even eggs were a rarity.
The food at Tianyang Martial Dao Academy really was like fertilizer. Almost every farm child here had grown considerably taller than when they first arrived.
Strangely enough, when many people lived together, even their growth seemed to happen in sync.
Zhang Qingyuan remembered how, in his previous life, his elementary school classmates had gone to different middle schools after graduating.
At the middle school he attended, the students were generally of normal height.
Some of his other classmates had gone to another school, where the students generally grew taller than those at his school.
He remembered a little shorty from his class who, after just a year apart, had shot up taller than him. It was quite amazing.
After speaking with Li Goudan'er, Zhang Qingyuan turned to Liu Che. "Brother Che."
"Huh?" He froze. The headmaster actually called me Brother Che? He hurriedly stammered a reply. "Headmaster."
"How's that Heavenly Dragon Association of yours doing?"
Liu Che's face flushed bright red. "It-it disbanded ages ago."
"Don't lose heart," Zhang Qingyuan encouraged him. "Once you graduate, you can start your own business. Set up a Heavenly Dragon Association and run a little enterprise. That would reflect well on me as your headmaster too."
"Hehe!"
The encouragement warmed Liu Che's heart.
He glanced at Liu Sidao up ahead, secretly proud.
The headmaster encouraged me. He didn't even ask you!
"Xiaohua'er, how did your parents come to give you that name?"
Zhang Xiaohua also came from the countryside, but his family was somewhat better off than Li Goudan'er's.
Zhang Xiaohua answered, "Well, Headmaster, my father didn't ask a learned gentleman to name us. He just named us siblings after whatever he happened to see.
"When my eldest sister was born, it happened to be raining outside, so he named her Zhang Xiaoyu.
"When my second sister was born, my father saw a pheasant perched on the roof, so he named her Zhang Xiaoji. My mother said it sounded awful, so she ended up being called Zhang Xiaoye.
"When it was my turn, my father saw the little flowers by the wall when I was born, so I became Zhang Xiaohua.
"But my little brother had it worst."
His classmates all turned to him, eager to know just what his little brother was called.
Zhang Xiaohua said, "When my little brother was born, my father had just come back from taking the ox out, and the ox dropped a pile of dung."
"Huh?"
Everyone could not help snickering. Zhang Xiaohua said helplessly, "So my little brother was named Zhang Xiaofen."
"Couldn't he have called him Zhang Xiaoniu?" Ma Shou asked from the very back, utterly unable to fathom what that father had been thinking.
Seeing everyone laughing so hard, Zhang Xiaohua said awkwardly, "Don't just laugh at my father. Isn't Brother Dao called Liu Sidao too?"
Liu Sidao narrowed his eyes and glanced back at him. Zhang Xiaohua shrank his neck.
Zhang Qingyuan put a stop to it. "All right, a bit of joking is enough. Don't use this to make fun of him."
"Understood!"
"Don't worry, Headmaster. We're all brothers."
As they walked on, noon arrived.
They had now reached the boundary between Phoenix Cry City and Ripple Water City.
Zhang Qingyuan ordered the students to rest, eat something, have some water, and so on.
After a morning together, the students had loosened up. Knowing that the headmaster really was kind, they chatted with increasingly little restraint.
Xiao Yan had barely spoken along the way, spending most of his time thinking.
Despite his tender age, a tenacity beyond his years had appeared on his face.
He finished his flatbread in a few bites, stood up, and hefted his heavy sword, putting all his strength into practicing his sword technique.
Every swing of the heavy sword visibly strained him, and sweat soon covered his forehead.
He channeled internal power into his arms, swinging the heavy sword with deftly applied force.
The technique behind a heavy sword lay in borrowing force and momentum, using momentum to increase its power.
Most people, even experts, would not keep projecting True Qi outward throughout a one-on-one fight.
More often, they would concentrate True Qi in their weapons or hands for close combat.
As the students watched Xiao Yan practice diligently, a few checked Zhang Qingyuan's expression, wondering whether they should also put on a display for the headmaster to show how hard they worked.
But when Zhang Qingyuan showed no reaction, they hesitated and continued watching Xiao Yan's performance.
The heavy sword struck fiercely, as though it would cleave the air apart.
Just then, a blue-robed martial wanderer carrying a longsword suddenly passed in front of them.
The wanderer glanced their way, taking particular notice of Xiao Yan practicing, and stopped.
The students' vigilance surged, and their hands went to their weapons.
Zhang Qingyuan watched the blue-robed swordsman without speaking.
The swordsman nodded to him, and Zhang Qingyuan politely returned the gesture.
After a while, Xiao Yan stopped what he was doing, panting heavily.
The swordsman lost interest in lingering as well and continued on his way.
Zhang Qingyuan had no intention of engaging with him either. He praised Xiao Yan briefly, told him to rest a while, and then continued their journey toward the Bright Moon Sect.
By nightfall, they had failed to find an inn and could only seek shelter in a ruined temple.
Ruined though it was, the students were quite happy.
In the storytelling performances they had heard and the storybooks they had read, ruined temples were where the great heroes of the martial world stayed most often.
The children excitedly divided up the tasks-one gathering firewood, another fetching water, another cooking-and enjoyed themselves immensely, as though they too were great heroes from the storybooks.
Murong Xue cooked a pot of porridge, and Zhang Qingyuan handed each of them a piece of dried meat.
The ten sat around the fire, eating while listening to their headmaster tell the story of Journey to the West.
Just then, two people suddenly appeared at the entrance.
One was a man and the other a girl. The man was injured, and the girl supported him as they entered the ruined temple.
Everyone turned to look. Wasn't that man the blue-robed swordsman they had seen at noon?
Zhang Qingyuan clapped his hands and alerted them, "Children, here comes your chance for some practical experience in the martial world. Save him!"