Chapter 48 : Chapter 48
Chapter 48. A New Batch of Martial Trainees
The next morning,
Xu Yuan went to the Affairs Hall as usual to choose his assignment. Since he had done a good job teaching the martial instructors’ trainees last month, he naturally remained in the same post.
After that, he received this month’s salary along with the reward for a martial artist’s breakthrough, for a total of four taels and five mace of silver.
As he walked slowly along the road, Xu Yuan calculated inwardly:
‘My savings now amount to a little over one hundred and twenty taels. Although my monthly wages are fairly considerable, they are still nowhere near enough to keep up with the rate of my expenses.’
‘Moreover, according to Uncle Zhao, the resources and medicinal treasures required for the Third Meridian realm rise to an entirely new level. It takes more than ten taels of silver per month, and that is not even mentioning the Fourth Meridian…’
At this thought, Xu Yuan shook his head. Silver truly vanished far too quickly.
‘Still, I can only keep moving forward. As for what comes later, I will simply build a bridge when I reach the water, and carve a road when I meet a mountain.’
After collecting his monthly pay and selecting his assignment, Xu Yuan came outside and found Chen Sanli chatting with someone nearby. The moment Chen Sanli saw him, his eyes lit up, and he hurried over.
“Brother Xu, good morning.”
“Good morning.” Xu Yuan nodded, then asked, “Why do I not see Tian Yang?”
Chen Sanli replied, “He already finished choosing his assignment. He decided to head to the medicinal fields outside the city.”
“Just now, I also ran into Wang Huan and Xiao Sheng. Wang Huan got two months of freely chosen assignments and went to the Level Three zone. Xiao Sheng did not move from his current post. As for Qin Yang…”
At this point, he said with a trace of schadenfreude, “There is no need to guess. He is definitely still struggling in the Level Four zone. It will probably not go well for him from here on.”
In truth, things were exactly as he predicted.
Because Qin Yang had delayed matters and caused severe losses for his entire squad, he was naturally disliked by everyone now. On top of that, he was injured, making every step difficult.
Xu Yuan had no particular reaction to this. He had never had much of a friendship with Qin Yang in the first place. Hearing the news, he merely sighed inwardly and let it pass.
The two exchanged a few more words, then Xu Yuan took his leave and returned to the training ground in the outer courtyard of Section Ding.
This month, it was still Li Hua and Zhou Yu who were responsible for guarding the Vein-Nourishing Soup. Xu Yuan greeted them, then went to the rear courtyard and answered questions for the miscellaneous workers. After a short while, he left again.
After all, what the miscellaneous workers needed most at the moment was diligent practice. As for techniques and other things, no matter how much he explained, it would be useless.
He then moved to the front courtyard. Looking at the crowd of unfamiliar new faces before him, Xu Yuan felt no particular emotion. He simply had them line up neatly, introduce themselves, and then began teaching.
After a month of this, he was already thoroughly familiar with the entire process.
After a brief explanation, he demonstrated the power of a martial artist as usual. Once he had collected a wave of shocked reactions, he began teaching them the stance art.
After completing the full routine, Xu Yuan asked, “Did you all remember it? That little fat one over there… yes, you. Come up and demonstrate.”
The moment those words fell, some of the martial trainees below were instantly invigorated, thinking, ‘As expected, the instructor is going to call a few people up for personal guidance. This is a crucial opportunity. I have to seize it!’
The Shangyang Residence had already expanded enrollment for martial trainees for three or four batches. Some of the “seniors” who had left because they failed to break through as martial artists had a flash of inspiration and compiled what they had seen and heard inside the residence into booklets, which they then sold outside.
Thus, many of those who had bought the booklets now had some idea of what to expect. They all held their breath, ready to raise their hands eagerly.
‘What a bunch of fools. They probably still do not understand what this means. Once I go up and receive personal guidance, they will regret it to death!’
Some of the trainees saw the confusion on others’ faces and felt extremely pleased with themselves. A few had already begun imagining the glorious scene of becoming martial artists in the future.
However, Xu Yuan did not grant their wishes.
Seeing that the little fat trainee’s practice was clumsy and halting, Xu Yuan immediately lost interest in instructing him. After sending him back down, he said directly,
“All right, that is enough for today. Practice the rest on your own!”
???
What?
Those martial trainees who had been gathering momentum and preparing to shoot their hands into the air were instantly dumbfounded.
Why was this instructor not following the usual script?
Xu Yuan could not care less what they thought. If someone with outstanding performance had appeared and sparked his interest, he might have given pointers to a few more people.
But the reality was that no such person appeared.
Just as before, after one stick of incense had burned down, he left the training ground and entered the quiet chamber.
…
Xu Yuan’s pace of life remained unchanged.
Every morning and afternoon, he spent one stick of incense’s worth of time teaching the miscellaneous workers and martial trainees, then left as soon as the time was up.
His main focus remained on cultivation. Every day, he could free up around four hours for it, while the remaining scattered bits of time were spent studying the fist exercise and martial techniques.
Once life settled into a rhythm, time passed with astonishing speed.
In the blink of an eye, it was February 20.
The new month was also nearing its end.
That morning, while Xu Yuan was leading the group in stance practice, one of the martial trainees suddenly raised his hand and said with ecstatic joy,
“Reporting to Instructor Xu, I have broken through and become a martial artist!”
As soon as he said this, and without waiting for instructions, he consciously took out a wooden board and pressed a palm print into it.
“Mm, not bad.”
Xu Yuan looked over and had some impression of this person. His name was Li Shun. He usually behaved in a flashy manner and had a personality that loved showing off.
Still, if he could help Xu Yuan complete his performance targets, then he was a good student.
“Move your luggage and bedding to the training compound. The people there will inform you of the next arrangements.”
“Thank you, Instructor Xu.”
Li Shun answered excitedly. After breaking through and becoming a martial artist, even his mood felt more open and carefree. He then came out of the dormitory carrying his belongings. When he passed by Xu Yuan, his footsteps paused. After hesitating for a moment, he said,
“Instructor Xu, even if this may offend people, I still want to say it… The only reason I was able to become a martial artist was because of my own aptitude and effort. You never guided me, so I will not be grateful to you!”
What he meant was that his becoming a martial artist had nothing to do with Xu Yuan.
There was another implication as well: he had broken through to the First Meridian in only twenty days, so the Second Meridian probably would not take much longer. Seeing his outstanding aptitude now, did Xu Yuan regret overlooking him?
As he said these words, Li Shun felt indescribably exhilarated, as though he were living out the triumphant thrill of, “My fate is mine, not heaven’s,” and, “Do not bully the poor youth.”
After all, he had previously tried more than once to curry favor with Xu Yuan. Yet even when Xu Yuan gave pointers to others, he had never once looked his way.
This small act of slapping back at authority made Li Shun feel as if he had become the center of attention, like the kind of talented young protagonist from storybooks who dared to resist oppression.
At his words, an uproar broke out among the crowd. Their expressions were vivid and varied, all carrying the thrilling sense of watching drama unfold in person.
‘Quite bold, I will give you that. Let us hope that after you have seen the true strength of a Second Meridian martial artist, you still dare to speak this way.’
Xu Yuan raised a brow, revealing an amused expression. Still, he had no intention of getting angry with a student and merely said lightly, “Mm, I understand.”
Did he need Li Shun’s gratitude?
What he needed was only the results Li Shun could bring him.
As for whether those words offended him?
Xu Yuan was not so petty. Besides, he truly had not guided the boy. He was only speaking the truth.
After all, Xu Yuan left every day as soon as he finished the basic teaching and had never been especially invested in this assignment. It was only natural that some students would harbor complaints. He was not about to be provoked so easily that he would start lashing out.
Li Shun had wanted to see indignation, fury, or a complete emotional collapse on the instructor’s face, but all he received was a casual, weightless reply.
This left him stunned for a moment. Then he began to feel a little guilty, afraid that Xu Yuan might suddenly explode after all. He hurriedly turned and left in a rush, making his dramatic scene end rather awkwardly.
“Young people really are full of spirit.”
Although Xu Yuan did not appear much older than them on the surface, he still could not help making that remark.
‘Does he think that just because he has broken through to become a First Meridian martial artist, the sky and sea have opened before him? This is only the beginning.’
Xu Yuan shook his head and continued teaching the others to practice, his mood entirely unaffected.
Because after this month and a half of bitter training, he too was almost at that step.
…