"The two people with Huang Shan are Zhong Yuquan and Zhong Yushan. Their older brother is one of the Summoned People from the Inner City Government Office. Then there's Chen Chong's younger sister, who's a Summoner within the Chen Family. And after that, there's your Second Senior Brother, and me. Our families also have relatives who have successfully undergone Summoning for one of the Inner City's Three Greats," Mu Qiaozhi said calmly.
Qiu Yiren, and the few other students nearby who overheard, all felt a slight chill and committed the information to memory.
"Then, Senior Sister, can a Summoner's strength really reach the level of our masters just like that?" Qiu Yiren asked again.
"How could that be possible? They just instantly gain Copper Skin and Iron Bones, but they still have weak points in actual combat. If they really had to fight without any foundation in Martial Combat, they'd naturally have no chance of winning against the masters of the Ming Generation. However, their status is different. If they want to learn the methods of a Martial Artist, it will be very easy for them. Their starting point is far higher than us ordinary people," Mu Qiaozhi explained. She clearly had a high opinion of Yiren, her junior sister.
By now, the line of boys in front had mostly dispersed, so she led the way forward, and the girls began to line up to leave.
「* * *」
Inside the dim carriage of an ox-cart.
His father, Lin Shunhe, sat cross-legged on a soft couch, looking at his son who had been silent ever since he entered.
"What's wrong? You look so grim."
Lin Shunhe had clearly been very busy lately. His skin was darker than before, and his frame was thinner, but his eyes were brighter and more spirited.
He was wearing a brownish-green silk robe with a leather vest over it and appeared to be in a good mood.
Lin Hui sighed and recounted the incident with Lu Baihua.
"That sort of thing is common," Lin Shunhe sighed. "That's just how the world is. If you're weak, you're like a weed on the roadside. You can only endure it when someone steps on you."
"What about our family?" Lin Hui suddenly asked.
"Us... Don't worry, no one will dare to come looking for trouble with you for no reason," Lin Shunhe said, shaking his head with a laugh.
"Why?"
"Because I'm working for a person of high status. And that person is no ordinary figure. All right, you don't need to worry about these things. Tell me, how are things at the temple?" Lin Shunhe changed the subject.
"It's fine. Master Mingde has me calculate the accounts for him periodically, but it's not difficult and doesn't take up much of my time." Lin Hui thought back to the simple arithmetic problems he had done. They were so easy that he had to think hard just to recall them.
"When Brother Mingde mentioned this to me, he praised your arithmetic skills, saying you were much better than the previous bookkeeper. So he brought it up with Daoist Baohe, and they've confirmed that you'll be in charge of auditing some of Qingfeng Temple's accounts from now on. As for your wages, after covering your current Martial Arts expenses, you'll receive one thousand coins a month."
One thousand coins wasn't a lot, but considering the high cost of martial training and the decent quality of the food provided at Qingfeng Temple, Lin Hui didn't complain.
"My cousin underwent the Summoning and successfully became a member of the Shayue Sect's Rain Palace. Did you know, Dad?" Lin Hui asked again.
"Mhm, the Lin Family Mansion held a Summoning banquet some time ago, but that has nothing to do with us. We're not Lin Family Members anymore," Lin Shunhe said softly. "Of course, your personal relationship with Lin Hongzhen is your own business."
"I understand," Lin Hui nodded.
"This is reality. Everyone has their own fortune, but life goes on. The sun rises as it always does, just like that mist... it hasn't changed in tens of thousands of years..." Lin Shunhe said with a sigh.
Next, he asked about Lin Hui's martial arts and sword practice. Hearing that his progress was still slow, he stopped worrying. Clearly, in his eyes, becoming good at swordsmanship would be a bad thing. The proper path was to be a bookkeeper's assistant, do the accounts, become a full-time bookkeeper once he was skilled enough, and make a living.
"Once you become an official bookkeeper, I'll find you a wife. Then you can have a few sons, and we'll be able to grow our own separate branch of the family and build it up," Lin Shunhe said with a chuckle.
"You seem to be in a pretty good mood, Dad?" Lin Hui had noticed something.
"I am. Just closed a big deal and made quite a bit. But I can't talk about it. It's enough that you know, just don't spread it around," Lin Shunhe nodded.
The ox-cart slowly moved onto the main road. The surroundings were no longer remote. On both sides of the dirt path, Lin Hui looked through the half-open carriage window and saw fields of golden rice being harvested.
Flocks of black birds circled in the air above the fields, and he had no idea where they had come from.
"I heard that birds aren't affected by the mist and can fly in and out freely. Is that right, Dad?" Lin Hui asked.
"How could that be? These are birds that live in the city. Once they fly out, they basically can't come back. But if it's just a short trip and they're lucky, they can make it back on speed alone," Lin Shunhe replied.
At a thought from Lin Hui, dark red, bloody words appeared in the lower part of his vision.
*Hundred Turns and Thousand Hearts* has finished evolving. He was now seamlessly evolving the third move—Transforming West Wind.
It would still take sixty days, consuming only his energy and time, and nothing else.
'It's less like evolution and more like deduction. Once the time is up, the automated deduction completes, and I gain complete mastery of the enhanced and perfected move. This Blood Seal... it seems more like a deduction engine.'
Lin Hui mused to himself.
When he got home, his mother, Yao Shan, had already prepared a large spread of dishes. The family had also hired an extra hand to help with the work. His mother called her Sister Luo, and she came from a nearby farming family.
Outside, workers had already started building a second outer wall, doubling the size of their already large courtyard by extending it backward.
Apparently, his father had started expanding the house as soon as he had money.
After the morning's business was done, his father took Lin Hui out to visit old friends, trying to build a network for him among the younger generation.
However, as Lin Hui looked at his father's face, flushed with success, he couldn't shake a vague sense of worry.
Although they had separated from the main family, his father had no martial strength to protect their wealth. He relied entirely on the patronage of his benefactor. Things were fine while the benefactor was looking out for them, but if one day that relationship soured...
'At that point, what would their family do, with no ability to stand on their own? Would they have to rely on these so-called connections and old friends?'
He mentioned this worry to his father, but was dismissed with an unconcerned wave of the hand. His father told him to relax, that he would handle these matters, and that all Lin Hui needed to do was focus on his own affairs.
The three-day holiday ended quickly.
Lin Hui once again boarded an ox-cart and headed back to Qingfeng Temple.
This time, he didn't force himself to endure the group lodgings. Instead, he found Huishen, Master Mingde's Daoist Child, and arranged for a private room.
What followed were tedious days of practicing the sword and tempering his body, day after day, rain or shine.
Chen Zhishen still spent his days with him, but after the incident with Lu Baihua, he had grown quiet and withdrawn. The resolve in his eyes was heavier than before.
He practiced his sword every day without a hint of distraction. When others rested, he practiced. When others played, he practiced. When others chatted idly, he would find time to practice.
Worried that Chen Zhishen would ruin his health, Lin Hui often bought him nourishing and healing medicines from the Daoist Temple's logistics department. For someone who was now earning money, it was no great expense.
But for Chen Zhishen, it was undoubtedly a timely and much-needed form of support.
Lin Hui himself only needed to wait, and his progress would advance step-by-step. And once he improved, he would never regress.
Therefore, when he practiced the sword, it was more to train his body's reactions. He didn't really need any nourishing or healing supplements.
In the blink of an eye, the third move also finished evolving, followed by the fourth.
During this time, Lin Hui officially took over the auxiliary accounting work for the Daoist Temple, and his status changed from a disciple to half-disciple, half-logistics staff.
He also interacted with Huishen and Master Mingde much more than before.
And during this period, another group of people left the Daoist Temple, and a new group arrived.
Tuition fees were paid, and the introductory training for the newcomers began again. This time, however, Lin Hui was no longer one of them, but stood in the area for the older disciples at the front.
Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren, the two geniuses, had already completely mastered the Seven-Section Quick Sword and its power generation points, and had started learning the second set, the Nine-Section Swift Sword. It was said they had already finished learning the Nine-Section Swift Sword as well, and the two of them had begun officially sparring with their senior brothers and sisters.
No geniuses like them had appeared among the new students, only a few who were relatively talented, but they were far from the same level.
After the newcomers' training session ended.
Daoist Baohe, who hadn't been seen for a long time, made a surprise appearance. He simply patrolled the rear training ground, checking on everyone's progress.
But although it was called a patrol, his gaze constantly lingered around Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren. He had obviously come specifically for the two girls.
He didn't care how the others were practicing.
Lin Hui stood in the back row, meticulously practicing the Seven-Section Quick Sword. The wooden stick in his hand had been replaced with a Rough Wooden Sword. As he executed a backhand rotation, the first three moves were perfect—skilled and fluid. But the following four moves instantly reverted to their original, mediocre level, making it incredibly awkward to watch.
After finishing one set of the swordsmanship form, he paused briefly to rest and catch his breath.
"Alright, everyone stop for a moment. Since the Observatory Master is here, let's have a small, impromptu competition today. We'll see how everyone is progressing," Daoist Mingxiu said, clapping his hands to draw everyone's attention.
There were over a hundred disciples in total, scattered across the vast rear courtyard practicing their swords. Upon hearing the announcement, some of the newer disciples immediately grew excited.
Everyone loves a good show, but the older disciples whose progress was worrying didn't look too pleased.
Mingxiu paid them no mind and clapped his hands again.
"Disciples who have mastered the Nine-Section Swift Sword, step forward."
The Seven-Section Quick Sword was just a training method and couldn't be used for sparring. Only the Nine-Section Swift Sword and the Qingfeng Swordsmanship were the temple's true combat-oriented swordsmanship styles.
At once, twenty people out of the hundred-plus disciples stepped forward one after another.
Among them was First Senior Brother Chen Sui and his group.
These twenty were clearly the true elite among the Daoist Temple's current disciples.
As for the other disciples and students, it was possible they would have to leave dejectedly before they could fully master the Seven-Section Quick Sword.
Therefore, those were not Official Disciples.
Only these twenty people were the true core of Qingfeng Daoist Temple.
"Since this is a small competition, we'll follow the old rules and offer a prize. The top five will each receive a portion of the Bright Body Powder refined here at the temple," Mingxiu said with a smile.
The tournament began quickly, with pairings decided by drawing lots. One by one, disciples stepped forward, wielding wooden swords to duel using the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
Lin Hui watched from the sidelines, keenly observing that the movement speed of these disciples' Body Techniques was much faster than that of an ordinary person.
"The Body Tempering and Light Body effects of the Seven-Section Quick Sword are showing," Chen Zhishen whispered from the side.
"Mhm. It's said that correctly practicing the Seven-Section Quick Sword once through has the effect of one round of Body Tempering and Light Body training. It seems that's true." Watching his senior brothers and sisters on the field, who were even more nimble than monkeys, Lin Hui finally gained a more direct understanding of Qingfeng Temple's survival skills.
To be honest, despite having been at the temple for so long, this was the first time he had personally witnessed the true effect of the swordsmanship he had been practicing.
"But a competition like this is nothing more than a comparison of everyone's mastery of the Nine-Section Swift Sword and the degree of their Body Tempering from the Seven-Section Quick Sword. If you were to really go out into the world, you'd need more experience in dealing with various other types of Martial Arts and enemies," Lin Hui said softly.
"That's true, but as long as your Body Technique is fast enough to save your life, can't you just slowly observe and accumulate experience then?" Chen Zhishen replied. Having studied for so long, none of them were the rookies they once were. They often communicated and gathered information from others, so they knew much more than before.
In the cleared space, the two disciples currently dueling were locked in a stalemate. One of them finally couldn't hold back any longer and abruptly changed moves, switching from the Nine-Section Swift Sword to the Single-Handed Cloud Brushing of the Qingfeng Swordsmanship.
CLACK! Three consecutive strikes rang out.
His opponent's wooden sword was suddenly knocked flying by the move, leaving his grasp and clattering to the ground.
"Wucheng, victor!" a Daoist on the side, who was keeping score, announced loudly.
From the sidelines, Lin Hui squinted, his eyes fixed on the scene.
"Is the Qingfeng Swordsmanship that powerful?"
"Of course it's powerful. Why else do you think our Daoist Temple is called Qingfeng Temple?" a light, feminine voice came from his side.
The speaker was a petite female disciple with delicate features and a pitiful, endearing air.
Lin Hui recognized her. She was one of the more talented disciples from the newest batch, named Xie Li.