“Intelligence”: Fifteen!
With a slight thought from Shen Xiuhan, the numbers on the panel began to tick down.
Fourteen...
Eleven...
Seven...
Three...
Until it stopped at one...
Boom!
In an instant, the chaotic noises of the surroundings stripped away, as if all sound had been vacuumed from the world.
In Shen Xiuhan's mind, pale gold spots of light interwove, condensing into an illusory figure that assumed the starting form of the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』.
Immediately after, the pale gold figure began to deduce, dismantle, and reshape this obscure and complex stance work over and over at a dizzying speed!
Once, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times... ten thousand times!
【You cast aside all stray thoughts and painfully practiced the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 day and night. In the fourth year, your stance work broke through to the Minor Accomplishment stage, and you successfully sensed your blood qi.】
【Through relentless effort, year in and year out, and after nine years of weathering hardships, your 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 finally reached Great Accomplishment, allowing you to comprehend the method of the Great Cosmic Circulation of Qi! At the same time, your blood qi reached great accomplishment, and you entered the Bone Tempering Rank!】
【In the thirteenth autumn, your 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 reached Great Perfection! You mastered the subtle mechanics of generating force from the joints, and your understanding of this stance work reached its peak, bringing your cultivation to the peak of the Bone Tempering Rank...】
【In the fifteenth year, your understanding of the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 soared once again, and you comprehended the martial technique 『Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force』. At the same time, you faintly touched upon a deeper shackle of martial arts. Although a flash of inspiration struck, you failed to completely deduce a qualitative change due to your shallow foundation...】
Swish...
His consciousness returned to his body.
Fifteen years of bitter, unceasing practice through the changing seasons flooded into his mind like a divine revelation, etching itself into his very bones and limbs.
The next moment!
The skin on Shen Xiuhan's face, and even the flesh beneath his old cotton jacket, suddenly flushed with an unnatural crimson, scalding hot like boiling water.
The blood qi that had been quietly dormant inside him was like a ladle of hot oil poured into a furnace. It turned into a wild stallion, surging, crashing, and roaring frantically through his meridians.
“Huff... Huff...”
Shen Xiuhan panted heavily. What he exhaled was no longer cold breath, but scalding white steam.
This was...
Blood qi?
He had sensed his blood qi!
Wild joy surged in Shen Xiuhan's heart.
But very quickly, the blood qi in his body suddenly spiraled out of control, and the scorching heat multiplied several times over!
His entire body felt as if it were being refined in an Eight Trigrams Furnace. It felt as though his internal organs would be set ablaze and reduced to ashes in the very next breath, causing his expression to change drastically.
“Take off your outer jacket! Strip and disperse the heat!”
In his daze, a thunderous shout exploded by his ear.
Shen Xiuhan had no time to think. With a hard tug of both hands, his old jacket fell to the ground.
The biting, freezing wind, carrying flecks of snow, slapped against his bare upper body. It made a faint “hissing” sound and rose as a white, misty steam, clearing his mind.
Looking toward the source of the voice, the one who had just roared was indeed Second Senior Brother Xu Chuan.
Around them, the thirty-odd outer courtyard disciples who had been burying their heads in bitter training had all stopped. Every single eye was locked onto him as if they were looking at a ghost, filled with utter disbelief!
“Do not lose focus!”
Xu Chuan barked again: “Get on the stakes, guide your blood qi, starting stance!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Xiuhan crushed the remaining snow underfoot and leaped onto the wooden stakes. His arms thrust out like iron spears, and his fingers curved into claws!
The 『Mystic Eagle Stance』, starting form!
Form one, form five, form eight... form twenty-eight!
Executing the stance forms he had practiced countless times, accompanied by his surging blood qi, his claws whistled through the air with every move, tearing through the wind and snow.
Every rise, fall, and transition of his stance was as smooth as flowing water, perfectly fluid and connected, without a single trace of stiffness!
Only then did the outer courtyard disciples, who had been standing dazed on the spot, snap out of it, and the crowd instantly erupted!
Luo Qiaoqian's beautiful eyes widened as she said in disbelief, “His blood qi boils like soup, and he withstands the bitter winter frost... Junior Brother Shen has knocked open the blood gate!”
“His whole body is red as fire, and his heat is rising as steam... This is absolutely the phenomenon of breaking through to the Blood Tempering Rank!” another disciple from a major family in the Inner City said, equally pale with shock.
“How is this possible?! He's only been at the hall for a few days. How can he be this fast?!”
“Sixteen days! Counting today, it's exactly sixteen days, no more, no less!”
On the edge of the crowd, Xiao Wen's face was flushed red with excitement.
This youth, who was usually timid and didn't dare to breathe too loudly in front of the Inner City children, was now clenching his fists and shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Knocking open the blood gate and breaking through to the Blood Tempering Rank in just sixteen days... This, this is too damn mind-boggling!”
“It's two days faster than First Senior Sister! First Senior Sister took eighteen days!”
“This man's talent is actually so terrifying...”
...
A clamor erupted in the courtyard.
From deep within the backyard, a dark-clothed figure suddenly swept out.
Mei Shuangfeng tapped her toes lightly on the rockery, her robes fluttering as she landed at the edge of the outer courtyard's martial arts field.
“Master!”
The surrounding disciples hurriedly cupped their fists and bowed.
Mei Shuangfeng paid them no mind. Her habitually cold, phoenix-like eyes were fixed on the figure moving with effortless grace, a trace of astonishment flashing in her gaze.
“The form follows the mind, the intent precedes the claws, like a mystic eagle raising its head...”
She said, almost pausing between each word, “The 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 has reached Minor Accomplishment!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding disciples gasped even harder, their scalps tingling.
“What!”
“Breaking through to Blood Tempering in sixteen days is already shocking enough, but he actually trained the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 to Minor Accomplishment as well!”
“Is... Is this guy even human?!”
In the crowd, Luo Qiaoqian gritted her pearly white teeth, her nails almost digging into her flesh.
Her delicate, pretty face was filled with unconcealable regret and vexation.
Had she known Shen Xiuhan's talent was this high, she would have dragged him to her side by any means necessary, even if she had to cling to him shamelessly after the assessment a few days ago!
But... as long as he hadn't been formally recruited yet, it wasn't too late to make amends!
...
What nobody knew was...
The moment his consciousness returned to his body, Shen Xiuhan's 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 had already bypassed Minor Accomplishment and Great Accomplishment, stepping directly into the stage of Great Perfection!
But the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be destroyed by the wind.
Surviving in a chaotic world meant one could never show all their cards to others.
Therefore, he deliberately held back some of his strength, leaving a few flaws in the transitions where he generated force, disguising it as if he had barely stepped into the “Minor Accomplishment” stage.
Even so, it was more than enough to leave everyone present speechless with shock.
“Phew...”
After executing the stance forms five times in a row, the surging blood qi in his body finally settled down along his meridians and was completely brought under his control.
Shen Xiuhan took a deep breath, leaped down from the wooden stake, and cupped his fists, speaking in a low voice:
“Master, this disciple has fortunately not failed your expectations. I have knocked open the blood gate and entered the Mingjin Rank.”
“Good, very good!”
A brilliant light shone in Mei Shuangfeng's eyes. Always decisive and straightforward, she made an immediate decision:
“From today onward, you are exempt from the outer courtyard tests and shall enter the inner courtyard to cultivate directly!”
Hearing this, Shen Xiuhan's eyes lit up instantly.
Having spent some time at the martial arts hall, he was no longer the ignorant youth he had been when he first arrived.
For outer courtyard disciples, practicing stance work to sense blood qi was the key.
Only after knocking open the Blood Tempering gate and entering the inner courtyard would one be qualified to study true combat techniques.
Stance work was the foundation of martial arts, strengthening the body and nurturing the blood.
Combat techniques were the true killing arts!
Only when paired with matching martial techniques would the dormant goshawk of the 『Mystic Eagle Stance』 grow the sharp claws to tear its enemies apart!
“This disciple obeys!”
Shen Xiuhan cupped his fists deeply.
“Follow me to the inner courtyard. Xu Chuan, you come along too.”
“Yes, Master!”
Mei Shuangfeng left those words behind and strode toward the inner courtyard.
Shen Xiuhan picked up his old cotton jacket from the snow, wrapped it around himself, and quickly followed with Xu Chuan.
Behind them, the martial arts field fell into a dead silence.
The gazes of the outer courtyard disciples followed the receding figure, filled with an indescribable complexity.
Admiration, jealousy, unwillingness...
And a hint of obscure bitterness.
Some clenched their fists, some lowered their heads, and some opened their mouths but ultimately remained silent.
The Mei Family Martial Arts Hall had strict rules.
Outer courtyard disciples paid a hefty tuition fee, but they were only given a six-month limit.
Within these six months, if they could sense their blood qi and knock open the gateway to the Mingjin Rank, they could leap over the dragon gate into the inner courtyard, formally becoming Mei Shuangfeng's personal disciples and bringing honor to their ancestors.
If they failed to sense it... and wanted to continue training, they would have to pay another eight taels of tuition fee.
But most people would realize they were not cut out for martial arts and choose to leave.
Among the thirty-odd people in the outer courtyard, the one who had been there the longest had trained for nearly five months but had still not even touched the threshold of Blood Tempering.
Originally, no one was in a rush.
After all, for so long, no one in the entire outer courtyard had ever trained up their blood qi. At worst, they would all just leave together.
But as fate would have it...
A mere outer city fisherman's son, who had only joined the hall for sixteen days, had knocked open the Blood Tempering gate right before their eyes, stepped into the Mingjin Rank, and been promoted to the inner courtyard by their master on the spot!
For a moment, the entire outer courtyard was so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard.
...
Rate on N.U.
