Arrogance

Upon breaking through to the ninth rank, Huang Tian felt the blood throughout his body seem to boil. His skin, flesh, sinews, and bones were being remolded amid the surging blood-qi. His face flushed fiery red, and plumes of heat steamed from his body as though water were coming to a boil. This sight was quickly caught by Instructor Xu, whose expression shifted dramatically. Crossing several zhang in two large strides, he arrived before Huang Tian, his lips quivering slightly. "The ninth rank?! It's only been a few days—you entered the ranks this fast?!" Hearing Instructor Xu's words, the martial students who were training felt great waves of shock surge through their hearts. Developing force in the blink of an eye had already pushed the limits of what they could accept, but how on earth could anyone enter the ranks in mere days? Was he even human?! *Phoo—* Exhaling a foot-long stream of billowing white vapor, Huang Tian slowly drew back his stance. The fiery redness on his face gradually receded, returning to his normal complexion, and the boiling blood-qi within his body gradually quieted. Yet even as the blood-qi calmed, he could clearly feel that his strength, speed, defense, and all other aspects had advanced to an entirely new tier. *The path of immortal cultivation emphasizes the profound, profound arts, and techniques, focusing primarily on the divine soul and spirit. In this realm, though spiritual qi exists as well, its violent nature gave rise to the martial path instead.* *In the early stages, one cultivates the physical body, tempering the sinews, bones, and skin. In the later stages, once the body can endure the rampant spiritual qi, one draws qi into the body to cultivate blood-qi and divine soul together. Looked at this way, the profound dao and the martial dao actually arrive at the same destination by different means...* Although practical differences remained, the overarching direction was similar. It was simply that the martial path placed greater emphasis on the physical body along its evolutionary journey, whereas immortal cultivators—unless they specifically walked the path of body tempering—had comparatively fragile bodies. *From this perspective, the martial dao can serve as an excellent supplement to the profound dao, or I could even attempt to fuse the two and forge my own unique path...* With that thought flashing through his mind, Huang Tian finally looked up at Instructor Xu. Instructor Xu was staring at him as if looking at a monster. He walked a circle around Huang Tian, scrutinizing him from head to toe, front to back. Only after a long silence did he squeeze out a question: "Did you consume some precious medicine or spirit pill?" Breaking through and entering the ranks in ten days was a feat achievable only by taking exceptionally rare and precious spirit pills or herbs. He had heard that the imperial court possessed a spirit pill known as the Precious Elephant Sacred Fetus Pill, which was effective even for fourth-rank martial artists breaking through to the Grandmaster realm. If an ordinary person consumed it, so long as the medicinal potency did not burst their body, they could rapidly fuse and temper their blood-qi to break through realms. However, Instructor Xu had never even seen such a spirit pill, let alone earned the right to catch a whiff of one. "I haven't taken any spirit pills," Huang Tian said. "However, I discovered that the Spirit Tiger Demon Crane Force suits my body remarkably well. The rate at which it nourishes and strengthens my blood-qi didn't just increase by fifty percent—it more than doubled. That, combined with my diligent and bitter training, allowed me to break through today." Hearing this, Instructor Xu felt somewhat convinced. Every kind of force possessed its own unique nature and would suit certain individuals exceptionally well; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the students choose between the Spirit Tiger Stance and the Demon Crane Stance in the first place. Selecting a compatible force would indeed accelerate the nourishment of blood-qi by a wide margin. Instructor Xu clicked his tongue in wonder. "To think you harmonize so well with the Spirit Tiger Demon Crane Force. Of course, the fact that you broke through so quickly also proves that your bone structure and perseverance are not lacking. "Splendid! The road of martial arts is long. No matter how brilliant a genius is, one must possess an indomitable spirit and the endurance to withstand boring, grueling work!" After his exclamation, he clapped Huang Tian heavily on the shoulder. "Now that you have entered the ranks, I can no longer instruct you. Starting tomorrow, you will join the other ninth-rank students under Head Instructor Liu at Drill Ground Tian One to study martial arts." He was an eighth-rank martial artist himself. Although his foundation was remarkably profound from having spent over a decade without a breakthrough, a profound foundation was still eighth rank in the end. Teaching ordinary students and those learning to develop force was well within his capabilities, but instructing a ninth-rank martial artist would be somewhat presumptuous. Head Instructor Liu, on the other hand, was a seventh-rank martial artist who had completed the Three Blood-Qi Transformations. Rich in experience, instructing ninth-rank martial students was effortless for him. As for why there were no sixth-rank martial artists serving as instructors, it was naturally because every martial artist of the middle three ranks held immense power and authority. Even a sixth-rank martial artist was either a vice chiliarch or an authoritative centurion garrisoned to oversee a whole county town. With mountains of duties on their hands, where would they find the time to serve as instructors? What was more, for mere ninth-rank martial artists, there was no need for them to teach; Head Instructor Liu alone could teach them well. "Remember, do not let a momentary breakthrough breed arrogance. You must cultivate with even greater diligence. I shall await the day you surpass me!" "I will." "Good lad! You really aren't modest at all!" Instructor Xu gave Huang Tian's shoulder an amused punch. Suddenly remembering something, he turned his head and bellowed at the students craning their necks to watch the excitement. "What are you gawking at?! It's merely entering the ranks in ten days—what's so astonishing about that? Stop staring and get back to your own business!" A low murmur of boos rippled through the crowd. *Not astonishing to enter the ranks in ten days?* They had just seen Instructor Xu lose his composure with their own eyes, eyes wide and lips trembling. Hearing the boos, Instructor Xu's face instantly flushed crimson, and he barked, "Have you developed force yet? Have you entered the ranks? You have the leisure to watch the commotion?! All of you, get your asses back to stance training!" Disheartened, the martial students resumed their stances to guide their force, though their eyes still kept darting toward Huang Tian. Instructor Xu snorted and looked back at Huang Tian. "You developed force in an instant and entered the ranks in ten days. Your natural talent is truly extraordinary. I'm certain many important figures above will take an interest in you. "However, whether you can catch their favorable eye and secure cultivation resources depends on whether you can sustain this genius-like pace of progress, or demonstrate extraordinary talent in other areas." Regardless of the cultivation path, resources were indispensable. The martial arts system—especially for martial artists of the lower three ranks—needed resources the most to grow blood-qi. Those of the middle three ranks had it somewhat easier, because they could absorb the spiritual qi between heaven and earth to slowly nourish their blood-qi, making their need for external resources far less dire. "Aside from reminding you to cast off arrogance and press forward with fierce determination, there is another matter concerning your family affairs..." Instructor Xu hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice. "Is there any possibility of reconciling with your elder brothers?" It seemed that after Huang Jian's little "publicity campaign," this instructor had also learned about the dirty feud among the Huang brothers. Huang Tian shook his head without a second thought. Instructor Xu nodded slowly, his expression turning somewhat somber. "Then once you go to Drill Ground Tian One, you must be careful of your second brother, Huang Rui. He is a veteran ninth-rank martial artist and has also mastered a rather formidable Yin Hand Snake Fist. "When the time comes, he might use sparring as an excuse to challenge you, then pretend he couldn't hold back and injure you. Even if he doesn't cripple you, it would drag down your cultivation progress." According to the Guard Academy's rules, students who had not entered the ranks only needed to focus on training their force to nourish blood-qi and strive for an early breakthrough to the ninth rank; there was no need for them to learn martial arts forms, lest they be distracted. Once a student reached the ninth rank, however, the head instructor would teach various saber, sword, fist, and palm methods, and would regularly have the students spar with one another to hone their skills. "It doesn't matter," Huang Tian said. "Whatever comes, I will deal with it." "All right. Seeing your calm and composed demeanor, you must have some confidence. That puts my mind at ease!" Though he said this out loud, Instructor Xu secretly thought to himself, *Still, I can have a word with Head Instructor Liu and ask him to look out for Huang Tian...*