“...Yes.”

Swish, swish, swish!

Shen Xiuhan stood on the plum blossom stakes.

Sinking his waist and dropping his hips, his ten fingers curled into claws. His arms alternately opened and closed, sometimes rising and falling, sometimes seizing and capturing, his movements shifting sharply with every breath.

His footwork shifted accordingly. Stepping forward with his left foot, his right foot followed by half a step, his entire body shifting rapidly among the wooden stakes like a soaring eagle.

The muscles in his thighs, waist, and abdomen were sore and aching. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow, landing on the snow beneath the stakes and blooming into tiny, dark spots.

Shen Xiuhan gritted his teeth and endured, keeping his inner energy restrained, refusing to let his form falter in the slightest.

After a morning of practice, Shen Xiuhan brought his movements to a close and stood still, his chest rising and falling slightly.

He was already able to perform the first five forms of the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 seamlessly!

Such progress brought a look of surprise to the eyes of Xu Chuan, who was standing nearby with his hands behind his back.

Xu Chuan paced forward, sizing Shen Xiuhan up from head to toe, and clicked his tongue in admiration.

“Junior Brother Shen... your progress is truly unexpected. I originally thought it would take you four or five months just to sense your blood qi, but judging by today's momentum... perhaps two or three months will be enough.”

“You flatter me, Senior Brother!”

Shen Xiuhan wiped away his sweat and smiled. “I started practicing martial arts quite late, so I must make up for my lack of talent with hard work. I only hope diligence can compensate for my clumsiness.”

“Good, very good...”

Hearing this, Xu Chuan patted him on the shoulder, his eyes filled with approval.

“Keep it up. In martial arts, the most important thing is perseverance. As long as you can endure hardship and put in the effort, there is nothing you cannot achieve.”

Xu Chuan's public praise drew several peculiar glances from not far away.

The thirty-odd disciples in the outer courtyard of the Mei Family Martial Arts Hall were divided into distinct social circles.

Most of the youths from the Inner City wore silk and satin robes with swift boots. They gathered in groups of three or five, carrying themselves with pride.

Those from the Outer City, like Xiao Wen, wore patched-up old coats and could only huddle in corners, silently practicing their martial arts, not even daring to speak aloud.

Seeing Shen Xiuhan, a tenant farmer from the Outer City, drawing so much attention, several Inner City youths looked displeased and sneered in hushed voices:

“What's he trying to prove, acting like a martial arts fanatic? He's just making the rest of us look lazy.”

“He's from the Outer City, so he probably only cares about how expensive the tuition fee is. He's training like his life depends on it, but he doesn't realize that martial arts requires a balance of work and rest. If he keeps pushing himself like this, he'll ruin his muscles and bones within a few days!”

“Keep it down. Is it really a crime for him to practice diligently?”

Shen Xiuhan did not hear these discussions, and even if he had, he would have ignored them.

After collecting two large white steamed buns, Shen Xiuhan found a corner of the wall and squatted down.

He had barely taken two bites when a faded old cloth bag was held out in front of him.

Shen Xiuhan looked up and saw Xiao Wen.

“Senior Brother Shen, my brother asked me to bring this to you.” Xiao Wen smiled timidly as always. “He heard that you shared your flatbread with me, so he told me to bring some of our family's pickled mustard greens for you...”

Shen Xiuhan took the bag and weighed it in his hand. Inside were four or five sliced pieces of dark pickled mustard greens.

“Thanks.”

Without standing on ceremony, he reached into his robes, pulled out a meat-filled flatbread, and stuffed it into Xiao Wen's arms.

“Have a taste.”

“I couldn't possibly, Senior Brother. I didn't mean to...” Xiao Wen's face flushed red, and he hurriedly tried to decline.

“Take it and eat!”

Seeing his resolve, Xiao Wen did not dare to refuse any further and took a small bite.

The next moment, the boy's eyes went wide. “It's filled with meat!”

“Mm.”

“...Thank you, Senior Brother!”

Xiao Wen's eyes turned slightly red. Casting aside his shyness, he began to wolf down the flatbread.

The boy's greedy eating reminded Shen Xiuhan of Shen Momo, and the corner of his mouth curved up in an imperceptible smile.

After finishing his lunch, he walked over to the water vat in the corner of the yard, scooped up a ladle of water, and gulped it down. He was about to catch his breath and continue practicing.

Just then, an outer courtyard disciple with an excited expression rushed in through the main gate, heading straight toward the crowd.

Within the span of half a cup of tea, the courtyard erupted in a flurry of activity, with cries of surprise and heated discussions rising and falling.

“Have you heard? The Bai family and the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall are at each other's throats!”

“Ah? Really?”

“It's absolutely true! The Bai family shut down the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall's gambling dens. Just now, Zhao Honggang and Feng Xiaobao took a bunch of outer courtyard disciples straight to the county magistrate's office to demand an explanation!”

“Hiss... Did they actually fight?”

“They fought with real weapons! Zhao Honggang and Feng Xiaobao teamed up to attack Bai Xiuan. The commotion was so huge that it drew out the eldest young master of the Bai family, Bai Jing!”

“Bai Jing! The leader of the Four Prodigies of Changyun?!”

“Yes! Bai Jing is truly a formidable character with one foot already in the Anjin stage. He entered the fray barehanded and completely suppressed both Zhao and Feng on his own!”

“How satisfying! Serves them right!”

The Mei Family Martial Arts Hall and the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall had always been at odds over recruiting disciples.

Some time ago, Zhao Honggang had even used his seniority to bully the weak, defeating First Senior Sister Jiang Qinghong and stealing away many of their disciples.

Seeing their bitter rivals suffer now, the disciples felt a wave of immense satisfaction.

But despite their laughter, someone muttered:

“Has the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall grown a death wish? How dare they cross the Bai family?”

“I was wondering about that too, until... Wang Xuanyang of the Zhendong Martial Arts Hall stepped up and blocked Bai Jing...”

“Wang Xuanyang? Is that the same Wang Xuanyang rumored to have broken through to the Anjin stage in his twenties, and who is supposedly the son of the Zhendong General?”

“That's him...”

“No wonder the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall dared to go head-to-head with the Bai family. It turns out they have the Zhendong Martial Arts Hall backing them up!”

“That explains it.”

“...”

Sitting in the corner, Shen Xiuhan listened silently, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

They were tearing into each other.

And the conflict was far more vicious and widespread than he had anticipated.

Last night, Shen Xiuhan's only intention had been to get the Bai family to cause some trouble for Feng Xiaobao, buying himself some time before they came looking for him.

He had never expected...

...that pulling up a radish would bring up so much mud, dragging several of the major factions of Changyun County into a chaotic battle.

Shen Xiuhan stood up, stepped back onto the wooden stakes, and resumed practicing the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』.

Even if the sky fell, there would be taller people to hold it up.

He only had one thing to do.

Survive these ten or so days.

...

For three consecutive days, the wind and snow gradually subsided.

Shen Xiuhan spent his entire day at the martial arts hall, practicing day and night alongside the illusory figure in his mind. His progress with the stance work was incredibly rapid, changing almost by the day.

Martial arts training was highly physically demanding, but fortunately, his family was no longer short of money.

Meat was served daily. The day before yesterday, he had even made a trip to the East Market to buy an old hen, bringing it back for Madam Zheng to raise. Once it started laying eggs, they could use them to nourish his body.

In just three short days, a healthy color visibly returned to Shen Xiuhan's previously sallow face, and his physical frame grew increasingly sturdy.

What put his mind even more at ease was that the two Golden Dragon Gang lackeys responsible for keeping tabs on him had vanished since the day before yesterday.

Rumor had it that the conflict between the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall and the Bai family was escalating, spilling over to the West Market docks.

Several gangs had caught wind of this and, coveting the Golden Dragon Gang's territory, began to fight openly and covertly for control.

In particular, a gang called the “Luanbo Gang,” led by a military veteran named Zheng Dadao, who had over a dozen skilled fighters under him, had beaten the Golden Dragon Gang into a rather pathetic state.

The situation was far too chaotic. Neither the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall nor the Golden Dragon Gang had the spare energy to worry about him for the time being.

This brief window of tranquility allowed Shen Xiuhan to fully immerse himself in his training.

In the blink of an eye, another five days slipped by, bringing with them the biweekly assessment of the martial arts hall's outer courtyard.