A starry night. The night wind rustled through the woods, accompanied by the faint chirping of insects.
At a time that should have been extraordinarily quiet and serene, Section A of the Guard Academy's Upper Quarters was anything but.
Huang Qian's cold eyes shone with piercing sharpness in the dark. As he looked upon Huang Tian's nonchalant face, he felt only disgust and bewilderment. The disgust naturally stemmed from Huang Tian injuring the second brother, Huang Rui—without which Huang Qian would never have entered the Guard Academy in the first place.
Barring special circumstances, even the officials and functionaries of the Martial Restraint Guard could not casually enter or leave the academy. Of course, that rule was certainly less strict for martial artists of the middle three ranks, but to Huang Qian, despite bearing the reputation of a minor prodigy, he was ultimately only a seventh-rank martial artist. Had Huang Rui not been injured, it would have been difficult for him under normal circumstances to get in.
As for the bewilderment, it was because Huang Tian was simply too different from before!
The Huang Tian of the past had been cowardly, cringing, and sullen, behaving like a mouse before cats whenever he saw Huang Rui or Huang Jian. Yet in just a few days' time, he was like a completely changed man. Not only had he dared to injure them, but standing before Huang Qian now, he was entirely fearless...
Huang Tian asked calmly, "Is there something?"
Huang Qian's brow furrowed tightly. "Do you not even have a word of greeting for your elder brother?"
Huang Tian could not help shaking his head. "There is no need for such pointless words."
Huang Qian was furious, but in an instant, he reined it in. Suppressing his anger, he demanded, "Are you... are you truly bent on making enemies of us, without the slightest fear or worry?"
"It is you who are making an enemy of me," Huang Tian said. "Furthermore, you hold yourselves in far too high regard."
With that, he turned and walked off.
He had thought Huang Qian called him out to offer some grand insight, only to find it was the same old routine, barely any different from Huang Jian or Huang Rui.
Watching Huang Tian saunter into Room A-25, Huang Qian let out a heavy breath and stepped back into the quarters.
Three people were inside: himself, Huang Jian, and Huang Rui, who lay on the bed unable to produce coherent words.
"Did you both hear that?" Huang Qian's voice carried a chill.
Huang Rui let out raspy groans, while Huang Jian raged, "That bast—he... he is too arrogant!"
He claimed Huang Tian was arrogant and appeared incandescent with fury, but deep down he was terrified beyond measure. He did not even dare to utter the slur "bastard" that he had once hurled so casually.
And that was when Huang Tian was not even in front of him. Face to face, he might not have had the courage to speak at all.
Huang Qian looked down on his third brother's cowardice and snapped, "He's arrogant? I say the two of you were the arrogant ones! When we were back at the manor, how did I warn you?
"I told you to concentrate on your training and not be distracted by other matters! But what did you do? Leaving aside your eating, drinking, and gallivanting, why did you have to bully Huang Tian? What was the point of bullying him? Could it make you strong, or elevate you above others?
"Yet you refused to listen, obsessively tormenting him! Now that you've been taught a lesson, you remember me and want me to stand up for you! Hmph! If you hadn't sown the bitter seed yourselves, how would you be reaping this bitter fruit?!"
Among the three Huang brothers, Huang Rui and Huang Jian had both tormented Huang Tian. Only the eldest, Huang Qian, had never possessed the inclination. The age gap was too large, and he was quite arrogant; he found no meaning or sense of achievement in bullying the son of a maidservant, focusing his mind entirely on the martial path instead.
Even so, it could hardly be said that he held any affection for Huang Tian. In his heart, he likewise viewed him merely as the spawn of a lowly maid.
Huang Jian felt somewhat aggrieved and murmured, "It is too late to say all this now. He has gained momentum, and he views us as mortal foes. We have no choice but to face him."
Huang Rui groaned raspily as well, highly agitated, seemingly saying, *Please avenge me, Eldest Brother.*
Seeing this, Huang Jian added, "He beat Second Brother so brutally. We can't simply let it go without revenge. Are we supposed to just stand by and watch him grow stronger day by day..."
"What can I do?"
Though pained by his brother's injuries, Huang Qian snapped irritably, "He is inside the Guard Academy. What would you have me do—kill him in broad daylight for everyone to see?"
To dare such a thing would be an open provocation of the Martial Restraint Guard. Even though Huang Qian himself was a Merit Recording Officer of the guard, he would not escape death. Otherwise, anyone with a bit of background and strength would dare to run wild in the academy.
The Martial Restraint Guard's prestige was far more important than the lives of Huang Qian and his kin.
"Then what do we do?" Huang Jian slumped into a chair dejectedly.
"What else? Wait until he leaves the academy and takes up an outside post to make a move! Once an academy student enters the eighth rank, he is granted the post of Platoon Commander to follow a superior patrolling a ward within the commandery, or be dispatched to one of the county seats. When that happens, he won't be able to hole up in the academy anymore. Only then will we have an opportunity..."
Yet as he spoke those words, he lacked confidence. From what he knew, Battalion Commander Xia Hong had summoned Huang Tian today and held him in high regard—rumor had it that he had even bestowed a silver token upon him!
A silver token was something granted only to trusted confidants. Now that Huang Tian had caught Xia Hong's eye, laying a hand on him in the future might prove truly difficult.
*A thorny problem...*
Glancing at his two worthless younger brothers, Huang Qian sighed softly to himself.
***
Inside Room A-25.
Huang Tian poured himself a cup of warm water, drank it down, and swallowed one of the Blood Condensation Pills gifted by Xia Hong.
The medicinal pill dissolved the moment it entered his mouth.
A surging medicinal power flooded instantly through his limbs and bones. The blood-qi within his body erupted into a boil, bubbling like boiling water!
He immediately assumed his stance, running through the Spirit Tiger Demon Crane Stance. Rolling rumbles of thunder echoed from within his body, and a plume of white vapor rose like smoke from his form.
At a certain moment, he broke out of the stance and transitioned into practicing the Spirit Tiger Mountain-Smashing Fist, the Ferocious Crane Fist, the Cloud-Overturning Palm, the Flowing River Palm, and the Dragon Elephant Demon-Subduing Fist...
As he shifted from move to move, he channeled the blood-qi through his body, swiftly tempering every inch of himself. A numbing, tingling sensation washed over him. The pores of his skin opened slightly, exuding fine beads of sweat.
After a long while, the shadow in the room finally came to a halt. Huang Tian slowly exhaled a wave of heat, taking stock of the changes within his body.
*The effects of the Blood Condensation Pill are indeed remarkable, far superior to the medicinal soup I used to drink. Moreover, my speed at refining the medicinal potency is faster than anticipated. Taking two a day won't be an issue at all; my body can bear it completely. At this rate, breaking through to the eighth rank within ten days should pose no great difficulty...*
Pondering, he walked to the window. Outside, darkness blanketed the sky. The moon was veiled behind clouds, leaving only a few stars visible. The air held a faint chill; it was clearly the dead of night, only a few hours before dawn.
"Might as well keep training! Going without sleep for a night makes no difference..."
He decided that starting today, he would practice his stances and fist techniques in the mornings and evenings to strengthen his blood-qi, and spend the afternoons in the Book Pavilion "studying" the martial arts on the ground floor.
There were far too many martial techniques on the first floor, requiring several afternoons just to read through them all. Although he possessed an eidetic memory and mastered anything at a glance, turning the pages took time, inevitably eating up many hours.
*No matter. At worst, I'll pull a few all-nighters. With my current constitution, holding out for several days without sleep is entirely manageable... For now, back to training!*
*Whoosh—whoosh—*
The howling of displaced air rose once more as his shadow danced and surged across the wall...
Chapter 62