"I never expected that bastard to develop force right off the bat!"
That night, in Room Jia Six, Huang Jian arrived at his second elder brother Huang Rui's quarters, his face fraught with distress and frenzied jealousy.
Huang Rui's expression was grim; he too had been stunned by the news that Huang Tian had developed force in a mere breath.
"Second Brother, he couldn't be some kind of martial genius, could he?" After the jealousy passed, a sliver of worry rose in Huang Jian's heart.
If Huang Tian truly was a genius seen once in a decade or once in a century, wouldn't he, who had bullied him in the past, be in dire straits?
"Should we try to ease relations with him?" Huang Jian asked uneasily.
Huang Rui snapped peevishly, "Are you dreaming? Back in the manor, you were the one who bullied him the worst. Now that he seems on the rise, you want to reconcile? Do you think he'd agree?
Even if he did, would you dare believe it? What if he settles scores with you later?"
Huang Jian sighed repeatedly, pacing back and forth across the room. "Father is still to blame. Why did he have to send him to the Guard Academy as well? If he had kept him cooped up in the manor, when would he ever have had the chance to show his talent?"
"Talking about this is completely pointless. Where in this world can you buy regret medicine?"
Huang Rui said coldly, "Still, there's no need to worry too much. Even if his comprehension is high, he hasn't entered the ranks after all, so the threat isn't great. My only regret is that private brawls are forbidden in the Guard Academy; otherwise, I could find an opportunity to cripple his limbs."
Huang Jian ventured cautiously, "Second Brother, what if you were to sneak around and..."
Huang Rui snorted coldly. "You're crazy, but I'm not. Being caught fighting privately is a grave crime. If I were to cripple him on top of that, even if Father and Eldest Brother put in their full effort, they couldn't save my life. The Martial Restraint Guard is no ordinary place. Don't have unrealistic fantasies, and don't think the Guard Academy won't investigate and find out.
Of course, if you're truly that uneasy, go kill him yourself—a life for a life."
Huang Jian forced an awkward chuckle. Where would he find the guts? He certainly wasn't willing to throw away his own life.
"Enough. Stop sighing and fretting all the time. Just because he seems gifted now doesn't mean we know how he'll turn out later. We'll wait and see. Maybe he'll hit a wall before some cultivation realm. Are geniuses turning into mediocrities ever rare in this world?"
Huang Rui continued, "As for you, put more effort into your cultivation. If you were a ranked martial artist like me right now, you wouldn't be this anxious. And if you were a seventh-rank martial artist like Eldest Brother, your heart wouldn't even ripple—you wouldn't bat an eye even if the heavens collapsed."
Chastised, Huang Jian felt humiliated. His eyes flickered, and his face stayed dark without a word. Not staying much longer, he hurried away.
...
...
Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and Huang Tian became a complete celebrity in the Guard Academy.
Both the martial students and the instructors knew his name. Many martial students clustered eagerly around him, either seeking pointers or hoping he might pull them along once he rose to prominence.
However, starting from a certain day, things gradually changed. Huang Tian noticed that some martial students whom he previously could barely shake off were now giving him a wide berth. Even his roommate He Xu seemed to be keeping his distance, trying his best to avoid walking together with him when heading to the drill ground every morning.
Although Huang Tian didn't know the exact reason, he was glad to see this shift. Only without distractions could he focus on honing and strengthening his blood-qi.
That night, however, when Huang Tian went out to wash up, Jiang Hou quietly followed him out.
"Huang Tian!" Jiang Hou called out to stop him.
Huang Tian paused and turned around.
Jiang Hou hesitated, torn, before stepping a bit closer and speaking in a low voice: "Is Huang Jian your brother?"
Huang Tian raised an eyebrow slightly and didn't answer, but Jiang Hou immediately knew the answer. Lowering his voice further, he said, "Are you... on very bad terms with your brothers? Your third brother, Huang Jian, has been telling people privately that whoever dares get close to you will be targeted. That's why... that's why..."
Huang Tian understood at once. "That's why everyone is avoiding me."
Jiang Hou nodded. "Your third brother Huang Jian has developed force, your second brother Huang Rui has entered the ranks of the martial path, and your eldest brother Huang Qian is a Merit Recording Officer with immense authority. Nobody dares offend them."
To most martial students, a ranked martial artist was an extraordinary master, and the seventh-rank Huang Qian was an unreachable, towering figure.
Not to mention that Huang Qian was a Merit Recording Officer who held the power to record merits. How could they dare cross him? Naturally, they kept their distance from Huang Tian to avoid earning Huang Jian's quiet resentment.
Understanding the cause and effect, Huang Tian was only left speechless, thinking that Huang Jian truly lacked brains. Airing family dirty laundry like brotherly discord in public was merely making a laughingstock of himself.
Still, he wasn't truly a member of the Huang family, nor did he care about such trivial nonsense. He smiled at Jiang Hou. "Thanks for letting me know."
"Think nothing of it; we share a room after all." Jiang Hou waved his hands repeatedly, then hesitated before adding, "I don't know why your relationship turned so bad, but if you can smooth things over, it'd be for the best. After all, the arm can't twist the thigh. Of course, if you don't like hearing this, just pretend I was farting—don't take it to heart."
"It's fine."
Huang Tian had no intention of adopting Jiang Hou's advice, but neither was he angry. He merely clapped Jiang Hou on the shoulder, then turned cleanly to go wash up.
Watching Huang Tian's retreating figure, Jiang Hou instantly understood his resolve—he would never submit. Sighing, he slowly walked back to the room.
The next day, golden sunlight bathed the earth, filling heaven and earth with vitality.
Drill Ground Xuan Three.
Dozens of martial students stood spread out, practicing their stances under the guidance of Instructor Xu. After several days, they could finally adopt roughly correct forms, though none had yet developed force.
Compared to the martial students still practicing stances, Huang Tian stood to one side, wholly focused on honing his blood-qi.
His left hand formed a tiger claw and his right hand a crane beak—one hard, one soft; one releasing, one gathering. Two different forces intertwined, and under this marvelous combined jin, the blood-qi within his body was hammered into greater purity while growing increasingly restless.
Yet this was still not enough.
Huang Tian took three breaths in and one out, steam billowing as his chest rose and fell. A low hum emanated from within him—this was the sound of blood-qi surging through meridians, vibrating against skin, flesh, and bone, a thunderous reverberation bursting forth from deep within his organs!
Buzz... Buzz...
Under the continuous resonance of the extremely low thunderous hum, the twelve great sinews throughout his body were stretched taut, and his bones creaked under the strain. The roiling blood-qi was like refined iron cast into a furnace; impurities were shaken loose and stripped away bit by bit. Intense pain surged, causing beads of sweat to seep from his forehead.
At that moment, Huang Tian let out a low shout, pushing the Tiger Crane Jin to its peak and driving the thunderous resonance to its zenith!
Pop!
At a certain moment, a sound like a bottleneck breaking open rang out in his mind.
All obstructions vanished instantly. Scalding blood-qi surged forth like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam, coursing through his meridians. As it rushed, it tempered his skin and sinew-bones simultaneously, bringing about a metamorphosis throughout his body!
"This is... the First Blood-Qi Transformation, entering the ninth rank!"
Chapter 53