Chapter 63 - 61: Cultivation Progress
Eighth-Grade Military Officer.
This was his current official rank.
It was a rank he had attained step by step over thirty-odd years, through seniority and battlefield merits.
But this year, Wei Tu, at just over twenty years of age, had reached the pinnacle of County Captain Xu’s entire career.
How could County Captain Xu not be filled with emotion, with boundless envy?
Last year, after quelling the unrest in Siyang Town, he had even considered making Wei Tu his trusted confidant.
However,
times had changed.
Wei Tu now held the same rank, but his future was far brighter. In the world of officialdom, Xu’s standing would generally be considered lower than that of a young, promising official like Wei Tu, despite their equal grade.
The two chatted idly for a while.
Then, County Captain Xu suddenly changed the subject, bringing up the Li Mansion.
"Brother Wei, I am generally aware of your ties to the Li Mansion."
"It involves the matter of your benefactor, and while I am reluctant to speak ill of them in your presence..."
"...as a colleague, and with your future in mind, I feel I must say a few words."
County Captain Xu looked at Wei Tu, choosing his words carefully before he spoke.
"The Li Mansion?"
Wei Tu was slightly surprised by the remark.
Since taking Xinghua from the Li Mansion, his connection to them had been severed. Other than presenting the necessary festival gifts each year as a token of his enduring gratitude, he had not interacted with anyone from the Li Family.
"Is there some problem with the Li Mansion?" Wei Tu pressed.
"The Li Mansion is fine," County Captain Xu said, shaking his head. "However, some of our men, while suppressing bandits recently, ran into several Blademen who were once tenant farmers for the Li Family."
He stopped there.
He didn’t need to say more.
Qingfeng Prefecture had suffered no disasters in recent years. With over a decade of continuous good harvests, the common folk had not yet reached the point of desperation.
For tenant farmers of the Li Mansion to be forced into becoming Blademen, taking to the mountains as bandits—and not just one or two of them...
County Captain Xu was confident that Wei Tu could understand the implications.
"Thank you for informing me, Brother Xu."
A few breaths later, Wei Tu collected himself and cupped his fists in thanks to County Captain Xu.
He understood the meaning behind the County Captain’s words.
County Captain Xu was advising him to make a clean break with the Li Family, lest their affairs implicate him and tarnish his own reputation.
"The Li Family did me a great service," Wei Tu said after a moment’s thought. "Once I have repaid that debt of gratitude, I will have no further connection to them."
Repaying the Li Family was not as simple as, say, borrowing ten taels of silver and paying back ten taels of silver.
The Li Family wasn’t short on silver coins; what they wanted was the favor he owed them, incurred during the process of "being in their debt."
The day the Li Family finally called upon him to repay that favor... would be the day he no longer owed them anything.
A moment ago, when County Captain Xu had spoken so tactfully about the Li Family, he wasn’t just advising him to make a clean break for his own sake... he was also subtly asking whether he should give the Li Family "special treatment."
The matter of a few tenant farmers turning into bandits was hardly worth mentioning for a man of County Captain Xu’s stature, the second-in-command of Qingshan County.
"I see." County Captain Xu nodded, a sharp glint in his eyes.
He smiled and said, "If the opportunity arises, I will help Brother Wei with this matter and repay that favor."
If he helped Wei Tu repay the favor to the Li Family, Wei Tu would in turn owe him a favor. But unlike the debt to the Li Family, this one would not be so large.
—It was simply a matter of mutual assistance between two Military Officers of the same grade.
...
After leaving the Xu Mansion, Wei Tu went to the Weii Family estate to see Weii Fei and bid him farewell.
However.
When Weii Fei learned of Wei Tu’s new appointment, not only did he fail to offer congratulations, his face hardened, and he said indignantly, "Third Brother, you’ve made it big! Off to the Prefecture City to be an Eighth-Grade Guard Captain, promoted to a high official..."
"And now I’m the only one left behind in the County Town, stuck as a Miscellaneous Grade Official."
"Some brother you are!"
Wei Tu just shook his head with a wry smile.
He knew Weii Fei only spoke this way because they were close... unlike an acquaintance such as County Captain Xu, who would turn his words over in his mind several times before speaking.
Therefore, he wasn’t bothered by Weii Fei’s indignation; on the contrary, he was a little pleased.
Wei Tu offered a few words of comfort and promised that as soon as he had free time, he would bring their Fourth Brother, Fu Zhizhou, back to the County Town to drink with him.
Hearing this, Weii Fei’s face broke into a grin. He laughed heartily and cupped his fists in congratulations to Wei Tu.
"But... Third Brother, if you come back to the County Town to drink with me, you don’t have to... you don’t have to bring our Fourth Brother, Fu Zhizhou, along..."
"It’s fine if it’s just the two of us."
Weii Fei waved his hand dismissively.
Of the four brothers, he had never gotten along well with Kou Liang and Fu Zhizhou. Now that Kou Liang was in the same boat as him, he no longer felt any animosity toward him.
But—
when it came to Fu Zhizhou, who had always been so "high and mighty," it was a different story.
Especially since... with Wei Tu heading to the Prefecture City to work alongside Fu Zhizhou... there was a chance he might grow distant from his down-on-his-luck brother...
With all these factors combined, Weii Fei naturally didn’t want Wei Tu bringing Fu Zhizhou to Qingshan County Town for drinks.
Hearing this, Wei Tu initially wanted to persuade Weii Fei to accept Fu Zhizhou.
But after a moment’s thought, he swallowed his words. He smiled and nodded at Weii Fei, indicating he agreed to his request.
—If he really wanted Weii Fei and Fu Zhizhou to bury the hatchet, his words would be of little use. In fact, they would only serve to dishearten his friend.
Actions would always be more effective than words.
...
「Half a month later.」
Wei Tu took Xinghua and left Qingshan County Town, moving into a new villa he had purchased in the Prefecture City.
This villa cost thirteen taels of silver, more than double the price of his small courtyard in the County Town.
With the fortune Wei Tu had amassed a year ago, he had more than enough to afford it.
Afterward,
Wei Tu took up his post as the West Gate Guard Captain of Qingfeng Prefecture City.
...
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye,
five years had gone by, bringing them to the 32nd year of Qing’an.
Every year on the thirteenth of June, the four of them would meet at Xuanhe Tower as agreed to discuss their progress in the Cultivation of the Immortal Skill.
Unfortunately, without exception, all four had failed. Not one of them had managed to achieve a breakthrough in the Five Elements Spirit Body technique.
With the exception of Wei Tu, the other three all felt a sense of defeat regarding the Cultivation of the Immortal Skill.
After all, how many five-year periods does one get in a lifetime?
However,
in July of that year, Fu Zhizhou had an unexpected breakthrough.
He hadn’t mastered the Immortal Skill, but he had successfully achieved Qi Sensitivity. Inner Qi was born within his meridians, and he entered the Qi Sensing Realm.
Fu Zhizhou was twenty-six years old that year.
「A dozen or so days later.」
Fu Zhizhou sent a message, summoning Wei Tu and the other two to meet in the Celestial No. 3 Private Room at Xuanhe Tower.
He explained that achieving Qi Sensitivity was related not only to the experience Wei Tu had shared with him but also to the Immortal Skill itself.
On the day he sensed his Inner Qi, he hadn’t been practicing his fist techniques or Pile Skill. Instead, he had been concentrating fully on the Cultivation of the Immortal Skill, the Five Elements Spirit Body.
"I suspect that Xie Qing kept that Immortal Skill not because he intended to master it, but because he wanted to use it to find Qi Sensitivity and enter the Qi Sensing Realm..."
Fu Zhizhou offered his reasonable speculation.