Multiple rocks jutted upward from the ground as if trying to emerge. The entire area was covered in stones. A 180 cm tall young man with his upper body bare stood firmly in a stable stance in front of a huge rock.
"Diamond fist" silver light gathered in his right hand which was clenched into a fist as he shouted these words. the ground beneath his feet cracked and dust scattered. His right hand rapidly moved cutting through the air carrying with it an unimaginable force. the huge rock in front of him was broken into smithereens.
"I'm already out of shrine qi? I guess this is my limit" heaving a long sigh the young man sat cross-legged in order to rest. His hand was perfectly fine without any scratches despite having decimated the rock with it.
"After about a month of hard training i finally mastered "Diamond fist" but... this technique consumes ninety percent of my shrine qi so I will have to use it only when necessary." The young man thought with a disappointing look in his eyes.
"Diamond fist" was the first form of "Diamond clad dragon fists" martial art which the young man practiced
And after about a month of training and finally mastering the form. he found out the form consumes a huge amount of shrine qi which he couldn't afford. Thus opting to only use the form when necessary.
Even though elder feng jing had given him qi beads he didn't want to use them. During trainings, qi beads were precious and only when in danger should one use it.
Other than that he believed he would be better off absorbing the natural earth qi.
Closing his eyes slowly "I wonder how the others are doing." With this thought, his lips slowly curled up into a smile.
...
Under the blazing sun water flowed slowly with its soothing sound stirring thirst in anyone who heard it.
Wu Jin sat beside the river eating fish. behind him on the ground lay multiple massive bamboo tress with countless sword marks. After about a month of training in "Dao of saber sword arts" he too finally mastered its first form. Not only has his knowledge in martial arts increased but his body had also adapted to martial arts. Under his jade-green robes, his once slender body had become well toned. With the river water and its plenty of fishes his needs were fulfilled. There was no need for him to go to the courtyard even for food.
"Since my martial arts have improved i should return to the courtyard. Elder feng jing might be looking for me, I also want to see what my fellow disciples have accomplished." After thinking Wu Jin headed towards the courtyard.
Meanwhile in the courtyard
"Brother Wei Long it's good to see you doing well, was the martial art to your liking?" Hao Jun asked, cupping his fists toward the 180-cm-tall young man standing before him, his upper body bare.
Once a slave like Wu Jin, Wei Long renamed himself after becoming a disciple, choosing "Wei Long" as a symbol of leaving his past behind.
"Thanks to Brother Hao Jun's keen eyes, I was able to obtain a martial art that suited me." Wei long also cupped his fists. His tone humble and his eyes shining with respect.
Same as Wu Jin, wei long was illiterate but with hao jun's help he learned reading and writing, while paying hao Jun with qi beads of course. Not much time had passed since they entered yu feng sect but they quickly adapted to the point of even using qi beads meant for their training as currency.
"Brother wei long I've been thinking how about we train together? I'm sure we could all gain experience in martial arts if we trained together instead of individually." Hao Jun asked.
Just as the two were talking Wu Jin also arrived at the courtyard.
"It's good to see you doing well brother wu jin." Both hao jun and wei long cupped their fists toward him at the same time.
"It's good to see you brothers doing well too."
"I also think that is a good idea" after being informed of hao jun's idea of training together wu jin agreed.
"Even though our understanding in martial arts deepened while training by ourselves i think it would be even a lot better if we could excute our techniques while fighting." Wu Jin said
Martial arts was like this the more someone fought the more their martial arts would improve. One would not be able to get better simply by training by themselves. They needed a dummy to perform their techniques and perfect it.
Both hao Jun and wei long nodded in agreement.
"This is also my chance to take a peek at how their martial arts have improved compared to mine, who knows when we might clash" Wu Jin thought, not daring to say it.
Although they were fellow disciples Wu Jin was not one to blindly trust others, conflicts could happen at any time. he was planing to use this chance to observe what they were capable of.
"I know a perfect place we can train but first let's wait for sister xiao Mei yue." Hao Jun said while sitting down.
The trio sat in the courtyard waiting for xiao mei yue.
....
At the foot of Yu long mountain. two people could be seen walking towards the old yu feng sect gate.
"Old ren will Yu feng sect really help us? Even though we hadn't payed the required tribute to them?" a young man about the ages between 12-15 worriedly asked the old man who was walking in front of him. the young man's eyes were full of fatigue and sadness. his clothes looked new but it had dust and multiple holes in it.
After heaving a long sigh old ren said: "Who knows? Since we ruined our relationship with yu feng sect they might not even want to see us, back then I warned the other elders from not giving tribute but they did not listen to me and did as they liked."
The two people came from Qing jiu village.
For some unknown reason their village which had been peaceful for the past decades was suddenly attacked and taken over by the nearby bandits who had only been eyeing them, not making any moves.
With no other choice old ren came to yu feng sect, seeking their help.
But because of the dispute that had occurred in the village some time ago, causing Village Qing jiu to stop paying tribute to the Yu feng Sect, old ren wasn't optimistic.
Before long old ren and the young man reached the old wooden yu feng sect gate.
"We greet the elder" both old ren and the young man deeply kowtowed towards elder feng jing who was standing in front of the old wooden sect gate. As though she had been expecting them.
"The agreed price for your village's protection was that you harvest and pay 13 spirit mind fruits every month, my sect even went as far as giving you the method to harvest these fruits." Elder feng jing's voice was cold and indifferent.
Upon hearing her cold voice old ren trembled and clenched his teeth hard. "About two months ago yulong mountain's river suddenly flooded. not only were our crops ruined in the flood but also the spirit mind fruits we prepared for the month, fortunately we didn't lose any lives to the river's flooding but the bandits suddenly struck. they killed many of us and took over our village, hai chen and I barely escaped so we could inform you." Tears streamed down from old ren's eyes as he said that. the young man kowtowing beside him put his hand on his shoulder trying to comfort the old man.
yulong mountain river was known to flood and because of that qing jiu village was built far away from the river and thanks to that they didn't lose any lives to the river's flooding but the bandits who had only been eyeing them used the river's flooding and the attacked the already misfortune villagers. taking over their village.
"I know that the agreement between yu feng sect and our village was that you only protect us from bandits and not floods or other natural disasters but.. after the flood we first tried to gather our crops from the flooded farms before collecting the harvested spirit mind fruits so we wouldn't starve."
Elder Feng Jing's eyebrows twitched. "These despicable bandits knew exactly what they were doing, because of the flood the villagers weren't able to get the spirit mind fruits in time to pay us the tribute. and used the flood to their advantage as they took over the village." Elder feng jing sighed after assessing the situation.
"It's unknown how the bandits found out we had to pay spirit mind fruits every month in order for us to be under yu feng sect's protection, it's only us elders who know of these things." Old ren thought to himself as tears continued to stream down from his eyes.
The bandits assault was too calculating and vicious as they though they had been hiding in the bush just waiting for the little bunny to fall into their trap.
"Hmph" elder feng jing suddenly scoffed attracting old ren and the young man's bewildered gazes. However, her next sentence ignited hope in their hearts.
"so what if qing jiu village failed to pay my yu feng sect it's due tribute? My yu feng sect is of the righteous path and will not ignore the needy, I will immediately send my disciples who will bring these heinous people to justice." Elder feng jing spoke in calm righteous tone.
Originally, Yu Feng Sect belonged to the righteous faction. As such, they had to do something about the troublemakers wreaking havoc right under their nose. They could not truly call themselves a righteous sect if they ignored the matter and pretended to be blind. Old Ren and Chen Hai understood this clearly. After failing to meet the sect's expectations of paying the required tribute, they hoped to use Yu Feng Sect's righteous reputation as leverage and turn it to their advantage. But since Yu Feng Sect had chosen to intervene, there was no longer any need to publicly tarnish the sect's righteous reputation.
"Thank you elder, yu feng sect is truly benevolent." Both old ren and chen hai deeply kowtowed once again. shouting. Their emotions which were suppressed due to being afraid that yu feng sect might not help them poured out. Tears and mucus strolled down from their noses and eyes.
"They had not only lost their crops to the flood but the bandits mercilessly killed their brethren, sigh, a misfortune had truly struck them." Elder feng jing sighed after understanding the village's painful situation.