New Blood and Old Bonds

"I, Wen, swear by my Martial Soul and all my cultivation throughout my life," Mentor Wen, his right hand pressed against his left chest, his voice low, "That I will not divulge a single word of what I have seen and heard today. If I break this oath, may my Martial Soul be shattered."

"Okay." Lu Yuan nodded.

Shen Moxin her Mentor Wen to the east wing to settle in. As the door closed, Lu Qinghe asked in a low voice, "Is this person reliable?"

"The approach is correct." Lu Yuan wiped the charcoal ash off the equation with his foot. "The rest, see what happens next."

Mo Chen scratched his messy hair. "It's good to have more people share the burden. But we need to be careful since we don't know the details."

Lu Yuan didn't say much, picked up the Soul Marrow Essence from the table and looked at it against the oil lamp. The light swirled around it.

The next morning, Mentor Wen tied up his hair and went to the well to fetch water to wash up.

Su Yan and Li Wangye were practicing horse stance against the wall, sweat beading on their foreheads. Mentor Wen nodded to them but didn't approach.

Lu Yuan walked into the work shed, where Shen Moxin and Mo Chen were looking at blueprints. "Mr. Wen is up." Shen Moxin adjusted her glasses. "We talked about teaching this morning. He's good at breaking down concepts and guiding students with examples."

"Can you get started?"

"The theoretical teaching is fine." Shen Moxin relaxed a bit. "Su Yan and the others are slow to understand, so Mr. Wen's method might be more suitable."

Footsteps approached. Mentor Wen came over carrying an empty basin. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Lu Yuan said directly, "You'll be teaching Su Yan and Li Wangye's theory classes starting today."

Mentor Wen's eyes lit up. "What should we teach?"

Shen Moxin handed over the booklet. "Lecture notes on ' Basic Soul Power Perception and Guidance '. They're stuck on Chapter 3, the relationship between Soul Power flow rate and resistance."

The Mentor Wen quickly flipped through a few pages, his finger tracing the lines of text. "I understand. The difficulty lies in the abstract concept lacking a concrete reference." He turned and walked towards the courtyard wall.

Lu Yuan and Shen Moxin followed, keeping their distance.

After the two boys finished their horse stance, Mentor Wen spoke. He picked up a dry twig and drew a circle on the muddy ground. "Let's assume this is the dantian." He then drew a curved line, "This is the path for the flow of Soul Power."

Su Yan and Li Wangye nodded.

"The Soul Power flows from the dantian, like water drawn from a well." Mentor Wen traced the line with a branch, "Check the speed of the flow to see if the pipe is smooth and if there are any stones blocking it."

He applied pressure at a certain point in the line. "Here, the vein narrows, like a pipe suddenly getting thinner. Doesn't the water flow slower here?"

The two boys thought for a moment and nodded.

"The resistance is right here." Mentor Wen tossed aside the branch. "The 'resistance coefficient' mentioned in the book is the degree to which this 'pipe narrows.' The larger the coefficient, the narrower the pipe, and the slower the water flow. When you cultivate, you use your mind to 'widen' the nodes, just like slowly grinding a thin pipe to a thicker one."

He paused, then asked, "Do you understand?"

Su Yan stared at the map on the ground with his bright black eyes and slowly nodded. "I understand. Resistance is determined by the shape of the path."

Li Wangye suddenly realized. "So 'using intention to guide' means imagining grinding a thin tube into a thicker one?"

"Yes." Mentor Wen smiled, a smile tinged with weariness, but mostly with satisfaction. "The theory isn't mysterious; it's simply about understanding the road conditions and repairing the roads where necessary."

He picked up the branch again and began to draw and talk.

The voices from the base of the wall were soft but clear. Two boys squatted nearby, their eyes growing increasingly focused.

Under the distant shed, Shen Moxin a soft sigh of relief. "The method was right. I was being too academic before."

Lu Yuan looked over there, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly.

The morning's theory class was very effective. Mentor Wen also taught two tips for self-testing Soul Power circulation. Su Yan and Li Wangye's eyes lit up after trying them.

Lunch consisted of coarse grain pancakes with pickled vegetables. Mentor Wen ate quickly and didn't forget to thank Lu Qinghe. After the meal, he took the initiative to clean up the dishes.

In the afternoon, Shen Moxin assigned him part of the theoretical organization work. Mentor Wen took over very quickly, not only organizing the messy notes clearly, but also correcting two errors in data transcription.

Shen Moxin looked at the neatly arranged catalog and remained silent for a long while.

In the evening, Lu Yuan called Mentor Wen to the main room. Mo Chen and Shen Moxin were also there.

"Mr. Wen adapted very quickly," Lu Yuan said bluntly, "He was a great help."

Mentor Wen waved his hand. "It's my duty. It's already a blessing to have a place where I can do something meaningful and teach something real."

Lu Yuan looked at him. "Yesterday you said you pieced together the information that we were here from outside sources. Besides asking around among unfamiliar faces in town, what else did you hear?"

The Mentor Wen turned serious; he knew this was a test, but also the beginning of trust. He pondered for a moment, "I traveled northwest from Nuoding City and heard a few pieces of news that might be useful."

He counted on his fingers. "First, about a month ago, there was quite a commotion in the Black Stone Mountain Range, with Soul King fighting each other. Later, it was rumored that the Cloud Mist Sect suffered some losses in that area."

Mo Chen's eyes sharpened.

"Secondly, the Cloud Mist Sect has been very active in several towns in the Northwest lately. They've been secretly gathering intelligence and offering unusually high bounties. I suspect they're looking for something, or... someone."

He paused, then looked at Lu Yuan. "Thirdly, and most importantly. Ten days ago, at the Black Stone City station, I overheard two merchants whispering that things weren't going well within the Cloud Mist Sect. A team they sent out suffered heavy losses, and the leader was a trusted confidant of a powerful elder. Another faction within the sect had reservations, believing it was a waste of resources, a loss not worth the 'ancient relic treasure'."

The main room fell silent.

Lu Yuan tapped his index finger lightly on his knee. "Internal strife within the sect... Is the information reliable?"

"It's just the talk of a merchant in his drunken stupor, I wouldn't dare say it's entirely true," Mentor Wen said cautiously, "But there's no smoke without fire. I've also heard a more vague claim— the Star Luo Empire's northwestern border defense forces have recently increased their patrols around the Black Stone Mountain Range. The timing somewhat overlaps with the Cloud Mist Sect's activities."

He looked at Lu Yuan, his eyes filled with inquiry and worry. "Young friend Lu, have you gotten involved in something serious?"

Lu Yuan didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Mr. Wen, what do you think the Cloud Mist Sect usually do with the prisoners they capture?"

Mentor Wen paused for a moment, then pondered, "It depends on their value. If it's an ordinary thief, we can usually get their confession..." He made a downward cutting gesture, "But if we capture a valuable target, such as someone who knows crucial information, or someone with exceptional talent or a special Martial Soul, we might detain them first, interrogate them repeatedly, and even try to recruit or... study them."

His voice lowered. "After all, for some major sects, rare Martial Soul and talents are resources worth 'collecting' or 'analyzing'."

Mo Chen clenched his fist tightly. Shen Moxin's face paled.

Lu Yuan stopped tapping his fingers.

He looked up, his gaze piercing through the dim light and landing on the twilight outside the window.

"Resources..." he repeated in a low voice.

Mentor Wen hesitated for a moment before speaking, "If you do have a companion who has fallen into their hands, and that person is indeed extraordinary, then your lives may be safe in the short term. But this might not be a good thing. The Cloud Mist Sect is not monolithic; there are factional infighting within it. The value of a prisoner varies in the eyes of different factions. This might be..."

"Opportunity," Lu Yuan continued.

Mentor Wen nodded emphatically. "Yes. The time window may be a little wider. But how to utilize this window, how to obtain more accurate inside information, and even how to exploit their contradictions, requires more meticulous and risky planning."

Forcing your way through is a dead end.

A glimmer of hope remains in their attempt to outsmart the enemy.

Lu Yuan remained silent for a long time. The lamplight flickered on his face.

He finally stood up.

"Mr. Wen," he began, his tone steady, "I'll be looking forward to your hard work over the next few days. Make sure Su Yan and Li Wangye's theoretical foundations are solidified as soon as possible. Also, familiarize yourself with the basic framework of Soul Power properties and Martial Soul structure that Teacher Shen compiled."

He paused, then continued, "We need more information about the Cloud Mist Sect's internal structure and power factions, the more detailed the better. Pay attention to any related rumors or clues, no matter how absurd."

Mentor Wen nodded solemnly. "I understand."

Lu Yuan then looked at Mo Chen and Shen Moxin: "Cultivation cannot stop. The plan for using the essence will be refined tonight. Su Yan and Li Wangye's training for their breakthrough points will begin tomorrow. Mo Chen, continue your treatment of your old injury as planned."

He issued his instructions one by one, in a clear and organized manner.

The atmosphere in the main room shifted from somber to tense and focused.

As night fell, Mentor Wen took an oil lamp to the east wing. Su Yan and Li Wangye were still practicing in the courtyard, their breathing heavy and their eyes piercing.

Shen Moxin and Mo Chen stayed in the main room, discussing the distribution of the essence with Lu Yuan in hushed tones.

In the corner of the front yard, Lu Qinghe silently chopped firewood. As the axe fell, the firewood split open with a crack.

The light shone through the paper windows, twinkling like stars.

In the east wing, Mentor Wen sat on the wooden bed, writing and drawing on the back of old paper by the light of an oil lamp. He drew a rough network of relationships, with "Cloud Mist Sect" written in the center, and lines extending outwards, labeled "Grand Elder," "Second Elder," "Sect Master," and "External Attention?".

The lines are messy and the information is incomplete.

But he wrote it very carefully.

The oil lamp crackled.

He looked up at the dense, impenetrable night outside the window, sighed softly, and then lowered his head to continue sketching.

The night is still long.

The road is long.

But at least, the direction is a little clearer than last night.

Just a little bit is enough.