Chapter Eighteen: Grand Mastery
Zhen Family Village.
Night had fallen deep, and the noisy village had once again returned to silence. Yet beneath this tranquil surface, hidden currents still surged.
The gray-robed elder who had just returned home sat heavily in his study, weighed down with worries. Stroking his beard, he sank into deep thought.
After a long while, as if reaching a decision, he reached for a sheet of white paper and swiftly penned a letter. At last, he stamped it with his personal seal.
Once the letter was sealed, the village chief of Zhen Family Village spoke in a low, heavy voice, “Attend me.”
No sooner had the words left his lips than a plain-looking middle-aged man hurried into the study, bowing low in respect. “Master, what are your orders?”
The elder handed the letter to him, speaking in a hushed tone, “At first light tomorrow, deliver this letter to North Ridge, to Yellow Wind Cave. Give it to the Patriarch of Yellow Wind. Be quick and do not tarry.”
The middle-aged man’s heart gave a jolt, but he quickly accepted the letter with both hands. “Yes, sir!”
“Go.”
As the man was about to withdraw, the elder suddenly said, “Wait.”
He drew a long breath, a flicker of pain flashing in his eyes. Reaching into his sleeve, he produced a jade box, no bigger than a man’s palm, its quality unremarkable and plain. Yet the act of handing it over made the elder’s face twitch as if he were cutting away a piece of his own flesh.
With grim resolve, he passed the jade box to the man. “Take this as well, present it to the Patriarch of Yellow Wind as my apology.”
The man dared not ask questions and replied meekly, “Yes.”
“Go, go!” The elder closed his eyes, dismissing him.
When the village chief of Zhen Family Village opened his eyes again, they were filled with venom and resentment.
“Damn little beast!”
Crack!
His right hand, pressed against the edge of the table, suddenly clenched, snapping off a hefty chunk of hard sandalwood.
“Achoo!”
In the kitchen of Little Jing Mountain Daoist Temple, Fang Xiao let out a sudden sneeze. He put down the water ladle, rubbed his swollen belly, and strode back out to the courtyard.
The clouds had just scattered from the night sky, and the bright moon once again cast its silvery light upon the earth.
Though it was very late, Fang Xiao felt not the slightest hint of sleepiness. The events earlier in Zhen Family Village had made him truly realize that he lived in a world fraught with treacherous hearts and lurking dangers.
He could not always rely on Daoist Pang for help and protection.
He must be able to defend himself.
Fang Xiao’s desire to grow strong had never burned as fiercely as it did now.
He placed his hand on his chest to check the Scarlet Sun Codex.
Scarlet Sun Codex.
“Unfazed by ten thousand weapons, untouched by ten thousand arts, immune to ten thousand evils.”
Dragon-Tiger Stance (Mastered): 0/40
Demon-Subduing Fist (Novice): 0/10
Experience: 52
Sometimes the situation seems grim, but in such moments one must have resolve, not be deceived by temporary appearances, not be blinded by the darkness of the moment...
Slaying five yellow weasels had earned Fang Xiao forty-five experience points. Including the seven he had left, his total experience had now crossed the threshold of fifty.
But how should these fifty points be allocated?
For a moment, Fang Xiao was paralyzed by indecision.
Should he raise Dragon-Tiger Stance to an even higher level, or bring Demon-Subduing Fist up to mastery?
After weighing his options, Fang Xiao finally decided to invest forty points into Dragon-Tiger Stance.
Dragon-Tiger Stance (Great Success): 0/80
In an instant, Fang Xiao’s entire being was shaken. That familiar surge returned, ten times stronger than before.
His soul seemed to soar into another dimension, where he “saw” himself devote endless time to training in Dragon-Tiger Stance.
Day after day, year after year, Fang Xiao lost all sense of the passage of time.
Sometimes he stood firm beneath the blazing sun, sometimes he weathered raging storms without moving, sometimes he stood in the midst of a roaring waterfall, letting the mighty current batter him again and again.
As time went on, Fang Xiao was reborn yet again.
This time, the transformation went deep into his muscles, bones, and marrow, unleashing the full potential of his life-force.
He gradually came to comprehend the martial principle of the Dragon and Tiger in harmony.
But at that moment, Fang Xiao suddenly felt a wave of weakness.
He snapped back to reality.
To his astonishment, he found himself still standing in the temple courtyard—his feet sunk into the earth up to his ankles!
His stomach rumbled loudly.
An intense hunger, like an invisible whip, lashed him without mercy.
He leapt up and dashed into the kitchen.
There was no time to cook.
He grabbed a strip of cured meat hanging from a beam and tore into it with his teeth.
The tough, dry meat was easily ground to a pulp between his jaws and swallowed whole.
A piece of meat weighing three or four pounds was gone in the blink of an eye.
But Fang Xiao was not satisfied.
As food entered his belly, his stomach churned and digested most of it in moments.
He devoured three entire strips of cured meat in one go, then gulped down two ladles of mountain spring water.
Only then did the hunger subside.
He wiped his mouth and finally settled down.
It was not that Fang Xiao did not wish to eat more—there was simply nothing left!
At this point, Fang Xiao noticed the sticky grime and filth covering much of his skin—all the toxic impurities expelled from his body after the transformation.
This time, he used up two full buckets of water before he managed to cleanse himself thoroughly.
Fortunately, the kitchen’s large water vat was connected by a long, hollow bamboo pipe that drew sweet, clear spring water directly from the mountain—no need to fetch water outside, an endless supply at hand.
After bathing, Fang Xiao found his physique had grown leaner, yet his muscles were now sharply defined, his energy brimming, ready to unleash tremendous power at any moment.
He clenched his fists, and the joints crackled with a series of sharp pops.
One word: strong!
Dressing quickly, Fang Xiao could not wait to return to the courtyard.
He first practiced the Dragon-Tiger Stance.
At once, he sensed the extraordinary change brought by reaching Great Success in the stance!
His foundation was now unshakable, his feet rooted to the ground as if fused with the earth, his body as steady as a mountain, unmoved by force.
The movements of the stance flowed with perfect ease, becoming pure instinct—every joint and muscle working in harmony, his limbs surging with power, the rhythm strange and wondrous.
Not only that, after a few rounds, Fang Xiao’s ears faintly caught the sounds of dragon’s roar and tiger’s howl!
In this state, he continued with the Demon-Subduing Fist.
To his delight, with the Dragon-Tiger Stance at Great Success as his foundation, his understanding and mastery of the fist technique grew significantly.
Every punch landed as intended, each move fierce as a tiger, his practice yielding twice the result with half the effort—a sensation of indescribable exhilaration!
Only when he had exhausted every ounce of strength did Fang Xiao reluctantly end his night’s training.
As he lay down to rest, he made an unexpected discovery.
Demon-Subduing Fist (Novice): 1/10
From this, Fang Xiao understood: adding experience points was exhilarating, but his own hard work would never be in vain!