Turning Her

Time flew by, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The crowd beneath the martial arena stood in utter silence. Upon the stage, the battle between Xu Yuan and an Eighth Rank martial apprentice had reached a fever pitch. Dull, heavy impacts of fist and foot slammed into flesh, one after another. Weaving and dodging constantly, Xu Yuan suddenly slashed his hand like a blade through the empty air. *Swish—* A blood-red ripple cut through the air like a razor. The burly man's pupils constricted. He hastily ducked beneath it, simultaneously throwing a fully charged punch straight toward Xu Yuan's face. The gust stirred up by the fist grazed past Xu Yuan's cheek, and as the punch overextended, the burly man's ribs were exposed to his sight. Seeing his opening, Xu Yuan shifted his palm into a fist. Circulating his technique, blood-red flames instantly engulfed his knuckles, and he drove an uppercut straight toward the man's flank. The man seemed to anticipate Xu Yuan's intention a split second before the strike landed, thrusting a calloused palm in front of his ribs to block. *Bang!* A muffled crack resounded. The immense upward force lifted the burly man clean off the ground. Xu Yuan immediately followed up with another punch, but the man had already crossed his muscular forearms in front of his chest in defense. Another heavy thud echoed. Even with his guard up, the burly man had no leverage while suspended in midair. The tremendous force blasted him completely off the arena stage. Landing on his feet, he staggered back two steps to steady himself. He rubbed his numb forearms, sighed ruefully, and bowed with clasped fists. "Third Young Master, this humble one concedes." *Whew.* Standing on the arena, Xu Yuan let out a long breath. In half a month, this was his first victory. Even though he had merely relied on the sheer brute force granted by the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art to knock his opponent off the stage, a win was still a win. Xu Yuan glanced toward Zhou Chen, who was standing by the edge of the stage. Zhou Chen nodded, bowed, and chuckled. "Third Young Master, he didn't pull any punches." With confirmation from an expert, Xu Yuan hopped off the arena, gestured toward the burly man, and ordered, "Give him a Bone Tempering Pill. That's enough for today. Let's go." "Right away." Zhou Chen smiled, tossed over a Bone Tempering Pill, and followed Xu Yuan out of Wuxuan Courtyard. On the way back to his quarters, Xu Yuan stretched his sore body with some difficulty. Those blows had really landed, and even with the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art protecting him, the blunt force still rattled him thoroughly. He would probably be covered in black-and-blue bruises once he undressed tonight. Xu Yuan touched his cheek. A sharp sting flared from his cheekbone, and he remarked helplessly, "These guards are really holding back less and less." Following behind, Zhou Chen laughed. "Young Master, your combat skills are improving by leaps and bounds. If those guards dared to hold back now, they wouldn't get their daily Bone Tempering Pills." Xu Yuan smiled at the compliment, but his smile soon faded. He had no right to be pleased with himself just yet. Although his combat prowess had grown rapidly, it was essentially brute-force stat suppression courtesy of the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. His speed and power far exceeded an ordinary Meridian Tempering martial apprentice, yet with such an overwhelming gap, he had barely managed to scrape together a draw until now. What was there to be proud of? More importantly, the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art cultivated the Way of Qi. It was a caster class, designed to destroy enemies from a distance. Yet he was still stuck in basic hand-to-hand brawling, completely failing to unleash the true might of the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. Thinking of this, Xu Yuan sighed softly. In the final analysis, he still lacked proficiency in the art. Combat in this world was exceedingly complex; you couldn't just shout a name and have a skill cast automatically. To unleash a specific technique, one had to circulate qi through specific meridians. In his recent fights, he had only been able to run the most rudimentary paths. The truly devastating techniques couldn't be channeled at all in real combat. Every time he was halfway through channeling a skill, an incoming attack or the need to maneuver would interrupt him. According to the descriptions in the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art, once a cultivator mastered its various techniques, they should be invincible among their peers. Only through actual experience did one uncover their shortcomings. This world demanded far more than just secluded cultivation; there were countless things he still had to learn. These guards were indeed handpicked elites among their rank, but against Qin Mo, the protagonist of the story, not a single one of them would last a single exchange. They walked in silence for a long while. *Huff, huff... hah...* Amidst ragged gasps, a fair-faced maidservant ran up breathlessly from a distant courtyard. "Th-Third Young Master!" "..." Looking at her face, Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. He remembered her as the maidservant Steward Li had assigned to attend to Su Jinxuan's daily needs. "What is it?" Out of breath, the maid stammered, "Miss Su said... said she wishes to see you, Third Young Master." During the days Xu Yuan had immersed himself in combat training, Su Jinxuan had remained holed up in her quarters without stepping outside once, skipping meals and sleep to comb through and cross-examine the ledgers of the Konghua Chamber of Commerce. To her, denying Qin Weijiu meant denying more than a decade of her own life's beliefs. Thus, she was desperately searching for flaws in those records. When Xu Yuan learned of this, he had ordered the official, fabricated ledgers of the Konghua Chamber of Commerce to be printed as well and sent to her room so she could compare them side by side. And Su Jinxuan had spent over half a month doing precisely that. Reaching the guest quarters, Xu Yuan pushed the door open and stepped inside alone. As expected, mountains of account books filled the entire room. On the bed, the floor, the table, the windowsill. Some lay open, some closed, and some had even been torn to shreds. Glancing across the cluttered room, Xu Yuan's gaze finally settled upon the woman on the cushion. Su Jinxuan sat kneeling on a cushion beside the tea tray. Her face was haggard, yet the lost, bewildered look in her eyes had vanished. Xu Yuan stepped over the scattered ledgers, sat down across from her, poured himself a cup of tea, and asked, "Finished reading, Miss Su?" "No." Su Jinxuan's voice was very soft and somewhat raspy; she must have wept many times over these past days. "How did you get your hands on these ledgers?" Her gentle voice echoed in the quiet room. Xu Yuan replied naturally, "The Black Scale Guards obtained them, of course. Aren't you going to keep reading?" Su Jinxuan set the ledger in her hand onto the wooden table. Lowering her gaze, she whispered, "There is no need to keep reading..." Having randomly selected so many volumes to examine, she had already confirmed their authenticity. Xu Yuan turned to face her properly and smiled. "So, have you thought it through?" "..." Su Jinxuan fell silent. Xu Yuan's tone was gentle. "I know this is hard for you to accept all at once, but calling me here means you must have made up your mind, right?" Su Jinxuan kept her eyes cast down, her long eyelashes quivering slightly. Her voice was remarkably calm. "Yes. What do you want me to do?" Xu Yuan smiled faintly and said softly, "Three things. "First, tell me everything you know about Qin Weijiu. "Second, follow my orders and feed false information to Qin Weijiu. "Third... well, help me cultivate."