Chapter 58 : Chapter 58
Chapter 58. Breakthrough!
Knock, knock.
Xu Yuan had not been practicing for long in his room before a knock at the door interrupted him. His brows knit slightly. “What is it?”
“Instructor Xu, it’s me.” Li Shun’s low voice came from outside the door.
“Oh?” Xu Yuan’s eyes flickered. He went over and opened the door, only to see his former student standing there with an uneasy expression. He could not help smiling. “What is this about?”
Li Shun cast a wary glance around him. After entering, he gently closed the door first before lowering his voice and saying,
“Instructor Xu, there’s something I need to tell you. During patrol tonight, Hu Quanshui sent the rest of us away and went off by himself to look for a prostitute. He was gone for the entire second half of the night.”
A prostitute?
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes. On the very first day, Hu Quanshui had already dared to slack off on duty. He clearly had not taken Xu Yuan, his captain, seriously at all.
“Why didn’t Liu Yu and Qi Li say anything about it?” he asked at once.
Li Shun immediately let out a scornful laugh. “Those two fools were talked in circles by Hu Quanshui after just a few words. I’m not the same as them.”
“Then why didn’t you go with him?” Xu Yuan shot him a teasing glance.
“No, no.” Li Shun hurriedly waved his hands, his expression turning solemn. “Instructor Xu, you know me. With my habits... I never rely on others in anything. How could I fool around with them like that?”
But when he saw the suspicion in Xu Yuan’s eyes, he gritted his teeth and added, “Fine... I did think the place was filthy. More importantly, when they pull something like this, the burden on me gets heavier, and it delays my training.”
“Instructor Xu, you do not want to see your student end up accomplishing nothing, do you?”
Xu Yuan’s expression turned strange. How did this fellow have one shameless line after another ready to go? He impatiently waved a hand. “I understand. You may go.”
“Yes, yes. As long as you know what’s going on.” Li Shun bowed and scraped his way back out, then conveniently shut the door behind him.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Relying on his seniority, Hu Quanshui had been throwing every dirty and exhausting task onto the newcomers. Li Shun had no intention of swallowing that loss in silence.
‘In a situation like this, strength really is what matters.’
‘That Hu Quanshui only acts this way because people have indulged him!’
Li Shun thought this, then turned back to glance behind him. Fortunately, the captain assigned to this courtyard was a young man.
...
Inside the room, Hu Quanshui’s matter did not draw much of Xu Yuan’s attention. These trivial issues were nothing more than petty squabbles. What mattered was what Chen Sanli could uncover.
After focusing his mind for a moment, he immersed himself in cultivation once more.
At the morning meeting the next day, Xu Yuan gave Hu Quanshui a subtle warning.
Over the following few days, the man did indeed become much more obedient, at least on the surface.
The entire squad maintained its routine of patrolling and reporting. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
And so six days and nights passed in repetition.
Time reached the eighth day of the fifth month.
Xu Yuan finished the morning meeting according to procedure, painted the squad another dry and empty grand promise, and then returned to his room.
【Skills: Tai Chi Exercise (Perfection 70%), Stone Platform Stance (Perfection 99%), Benlei Fist (Minor Mastery 67%)】
【Aptitude: 15 (Exceptional Bones)】
“This bottleneck is finally about to break.”
Xu Yuan could not help feeling emotional. Since breaking through to the Third Meridian on the twentieth day of the second month, he had cultivated bitterly for nearly two months. At last, today, he was about to achieve another breakthrough.
“I will break through to the Fourth Meridian today!”
Xu Yuan’s expression was steady as he twisted his waist and sank into stance. As usual, he began practicing the Stone Platform Stance. His Qi and blood circulated within him, gradually gathering like a long dragon as it crashed against the bottleneck of the Dai Meridian again and again.
As his movements shifted, his body stood rooted like ancient stone. It was clearly only an extremely simple posture, yet when performed by him, it carried an additional trace of mysterious charm.
As time passed, the gentle morning light gradually dimmed.
Xu Yuan stood in the shadows. His strength was being consumed at a violent rate, and sweat poured from him like rain, yet he seemed wholly unaware of it. Then, at last, a faint sound came from somewhere within, and in his awareness, the towering wall he had built came crashing down!
His Qi and blood grew more majestic still as it coursed through the Dai Meridian. Four meridians now cycled through one another, flowing smoothly and freely as he completely stepped into a new stage.
The Fourth Meridian realm had been achieved!
A sudden flash of insight came over Xu Yuan. Once again, he felt that mysterious sensation of his potential bursting forth. His entire body felt light and at ease, his muscles and bones rang together, and it was as though he were floating among the clouds.
【Skills: Tai Chi Exercise (Perfection 70%), Stone Platform Stance (Perfection 100%), Benlei Fist (Minor Mastery 67%)】
【Aptitude: 18 (Promising Uncut Jade)】
Xu Yuan immediately opened the panel. As expected, he had cultivated the Stone Platform Stance to complete perfection at last!
At the same time, it had granted him an increase of 3 Aptitude points. Even the assessment that had remained unchanged for so long had transformed from “Exceptional Bones” into “Promising Uncut Jade”!
“The feeling of my talent changing is truly intoxicating!”
Xu Yuan’s eyes shone brightly as he noticed the changes throughout his body.
Exceptional Bones meant being born different from ordinary people. As long as one studied diligently and trained hard, one could become someone remarkable.
Promising Uncut Jade, however, was like a naturally superior piece of jade, containing boundless potential within. With only a little carving, it was destined to become something great!
Xu Yuan moved his body a little, then followed it up by performing a full set of Benlei Fist. He immediately felt the difference.
Previously, when he used Benlei Fist, he had needed complete concentration just to perform it smoothly.
But now, everything had suddenly become clear. It was as though he had gained a godlike perspective on himself, seeing straight through the flaws and oversights in his earlier practice and correcting them. His thoughts became ever more agile, and fresh inspiration surfaced again and again.
Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes. He felt refreshed and invigorated, as though a layer of shackles had fallen away from him. He knew this sensation was partly an illusion brought on by the breakthrough, yet joy still appeared on his face.
“With this step, everything is different from now on. In Shangyang Residence, this would make me a four-striped steward. At last, I can be counted as a real ‘person.’”
One should not think being a person was such an easy thing in this world.
For ordinary commoners, how could they really be counted as people at all?
In the eyes of the officials and lords, they were nothing more than rows of leeks to be harvested again and again.
Even from the perspective of the entire Shangyang Residence, a Fourth Meridian martial artist was only a somewhat more advanced expendable resource.
Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside. Then Chen Sanli’s voice rang out.
“Brother Xu, there’s news about the matter you asked me to investigate.”
“Come in first.” Xu Yuan let him enter.
After Chen Sanli entered the room, he instinctively looked toward Xu Yuan. He felt that something about him seemed different, yet he could not put his finger on what it was. Not dwelling on it further, he leaned in and whispered a few words into Xu Yuan’s ear.
“...Understood. Sanli, you handled this matter well. Go back for now. Carry on exactly as usual in everything,” Xu Yuan said after listening, his expression unchanged.
“Do not worry, Brother Xu. I understand.” Chen Sanli nodded. With how worldly and smooth he was, no one would be able to spot anything unusual about him.
Only after Chen Sanli left did Xu Yuan stroke his chin and ponder the information he had brought.
“This man loves gambling and women. He is steeped in vice from head to toe. Compared to that honest and simple face of his, the contrast is striking.”
“And he is also a deadbeat who owes quite a few debts. Add that to the fact that he escaped the Bai Family’s encirclement alone before, and it is obvious...”
“This man has already been brought under the Bai Family’s control.”
A guess immediately formed in Xu Yuan’s mind. The Bai Family was most likely waiting for an opportunity, planning a surprise counterattack, and there were probably quite a few people like Hu Quanshui among them.
However, he had no intention of passing this information on to Hong Qianshan.
Anyone vigilant enough could discover it with a little investigation. Even if Hong Qianshan truly knew nothing, that would not necessarily be a bad thing for Xu Yuan.
With his current Fourth Meridian cultivation, as long as no martial artist of the same realm appeared, he would be able to crush everything in his path.
Besides, Shangyang Residence and the Bai Family both had unspoken rules between them.
Until it became an all-out war of extermination between the two sides, neither side was allowed to send someone whose strength exceeded that area’s level into the other’s battle zone, lest their martial artists suffer one-sided slaughter.
However...
“I broke through in the middle of this assignment. Officially, I still count as a Third Meridian martial artist, and my posting has not ended yet.” Xu Yuan’s eyes grew deep and thoughtful.
Of course, if he could break through at such a moment, the Bai Family probably had people who could do the same, but certainly not many.
After all, once someone broke through, he could switch to a better assignment, and his monthly pay, medicinal treasures, and other cultivation resources would all increase accordingly.
Who would remain crouched in the same place without advancing an inch for no reason?
“Still, just in case, if I really do run into a martial artist of the same realm, I’ll need to strengthen myself further as well,” Xu Yuan thought to himself.