C8 The Eighth Chapter

On the expansive training grounds, a variety of equipment for building strength was scattered about. There were stone weights tipping the scales at a thousand kilograms, alongside finely crafted iron longswords and spears.

The air was filled with a cacophony of shouts and cheers, creating an atmosphere of bustling activity.

At Dragonflight Academy, the youngest students were mere seven or eight years old, while the eldest were significantly older than Xia Yi.

Xia Yi had just entered his early twenties, yet some of his peers were already in their mid-thirties.

The goal of cultivating spiritual energy was to empower the physical body to wield greater strength. And where did the greatest strength originate? Naturally, it came from relentless daily training.

Xia Yi stretched his arms and shook out his legs, loosening up his muscles before he began to practice Tai Chi in an open area.

His Tai Chi was unremarkable, the same variety practiced by elderly folks in parks, with virtually no offensive power. However, it excelled in promoting physical health.

The most crucial point was that... he knew no other martial arts.

"Verdant Lord's form may appear gentle and feeble, but if you observe closely, do you notice? The movements of the fists flow in continuous circles, from top to bottom, left to right, like an unending river. It's truly exquisite," praised Luo Fang, the renowned Grandmaster of Dragonflight Academy, known as Thunderbolt Hand, upon witnessing Xia Yi's Tai Chi.

"Deeply profound, indeed," echoed the onlookers.

"If Verdant Lord's martial spirit were still present, executing this form would be..." Luo Fang mused.

"Such a shame," the crowd lamented in harmony.

Ignoring the surrounding whispers, Luo Fang stepped closer, intently observing Xia Yi's practice.

Unaware of the commentary, Xia Yi completed his Tai Chi and jogged around the training field twice. Slightly perspiring, he retreated to a tranquil spot to regulate his breath and focus on his cultivation.

This approach was a result of his recent practice with the Spiritual Guidance Technique; he found that cultivating after warming up and inducing sweat significantly enhanced the effects.

With each inhalation and exhalation, his pores opened and closed rhythmically. In his mind's eye, myriad points of white light surged into his body, creating a sensation of comfort too wonderful for words.

After spending a considerable amount of time cultivating, Xia Yi finished his practice and stood up, feeling light and refreshed as he headed home.

Upon his arrival, he caught sight of Xia Ye, who was holding a brush and resting her cheek in her palm, gazing dreamily at a painting on the table.

"Sister, what are you up to? Are you drawing?" he asked.

Startled, Xia Ye quickly snatched up the painting and scurried into the inner room.

"What's the matter? You seem so jittery," Xia Yi remarked.

Several of Xia Ye's artworks were still laid out on the table. Xia Yi examined them with interest and inwardly marveled at her talent. She truly had the potential to become a professional comic artist. He had only expressed his enjoyment of her drawings once, and in just a few days, her skills had improved remarkably.

One of the drawings featured a mischievous and adorable little rabbit reaching out its paws as if waving to someone.

"Brother, this is for you," Xia Ye said as she dashed out from the room, handing Xia Yi a small booklet before running off again.

The booklet was titled 'Spirit Transformation Palm'—a martial technique Xia Yi had once practiced.

...

Under the bright moon, Xia Yi gazed upward, contemplating the gathering of baleful qi above his head. His master had once told him, "After successfully forming the baleful qi, the full moon will condense it above your head, and you can open the sky..."

Open the sky? What did that mean? He regretted being too flustered at the time to catch the full explanation. But no matter, he thought, once he succeeded, he would understand.

A faint red thread emerged from Xia Yi's body, guided by his thoughts, and began to converge above him. The moon cast a very faint light upon the thread, and as the red and white intertwined, they started to spin around the center point of Xia Yi's head.

A voice seemed to echo from above, clear yet incomprehensible. As Xia Yi's consciousness blurred, the red thread and white light fused, forming runes that spiraled and burrowed into his head, finally settling between his eyebrows.

Suddenly, a sharp pain surged through Xia Yi, giving him the sensation that his eyes were about to burst. He couldn't help but let out a soft grunt, gritting his teeth against the intense pain at his brow.

"Hiss—"

As the pain intensified, the faint red threads that had emerged from within Xia Yi were depleted. The luminous moonlight swiftly withdrew, and the runes dissipated into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

Xia Yi massaged his forehead, pondering the recent events with a sense of resignation.

It seemed that a lack of sufficient malevolent energy within him had led to his failure.

The excruciating pain between his brows, the kind that could split open the heavens... Could it be that what his master referred to was the ability to open the heavenly eye?

He squinted to inspect the spiritual seed and noticed that its surface glow was faint to the point of flickering, barely hanging on. To Xia Yi's astonishment, the size of the spiritual seed had more than doubled!

Despite the failure of his attempt, it wasn't without its advantages. The growth in the spiritual seed's size was a significant benefit. With its size doubled, the amount of malevolent energy he could harness next time would be twice as much as before.

Beneath the clear moonlight, Luo Fang stood in the training field, eyes shut, lost in deep contemplation.

For a whole day since witnessing Xia Yi's Tai Chi, he had stood there, immersed in thought, his mind devoid of all distractions. He was so engrossed that he failed to notice a daring mouse that had ventured into his trousers.

He wasn't fixated on Xia Yi's seemingly feeble Tai Chi, but rather the profound intent behind the movements.

Like the relentless flow of a mighty river, formless and shapeless, slow yet impenetrable.

Luo Fang sprang into action, startling the mouse in his pants into a squeak and a frantic escape. Abruptly, a whirlwind kicked up, sending dust swirling.

His movements were swift, as quick as lightning. With Luo Fang's continuous punches, fists seemed to multiply, and in a moment, he appeared as a creature bristling with fists.

This was the speed of lightning—this was the Lightning Hand, Luo Fang!

"Bam!"

Luo Fang's punch struck the earth, leaving a long fissure in the ground.

"No, it's still not enough. I can hold my ground with this technique, but if I slow down, I'm going to lose. The relentless power of the fist is truly fearsome!"

Luo Fang caught his breath with heavy pants before launching into another series of punches.

The next morning, as Xia Yi stretched and opened his door, he was greeted by the sight of Luo Fang standing outside, his clothes in tatters, as still as a tree.

"Verdant Lord's Divine Fist is beyond me," Luo Fang admitted, bowing with his hands clasped before he drifted away.

Xia Yi was taken aback.

...

"The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of all things. Therefore, always without desire..."

The students in the classroom nodded and swayed as they recited along with Xia Yi.

Xia Yi was teaching them about moral cultivation and the way of the gentleman.

What exactly the way of the gentleman entailed was something Xia Yi pondered himself. Nevertheless, even without full understanding, he wasn't stumped. After ten years of studying under his master, he could recite the 'Tao Te Ching' by heart.

This group of students, all around the ages of eighteen or nineteen, made teaching much easier than with Qin Bo's younger group.

"The way of the gentleman is to not impose on others what you would not wish for yourself."

"Class dismissed!"

Xia Yi concluded the lesson to the admiring looks of his students.

"Verdant Lord Xia!"

As Xia Yi stepped out of the academy, Lan Su approached him.

"We're hosting a musical contest at the Phoenix Pavilion tonight. Verdant Lord Xia, would you honor us with your presence?"

Lan Su smiled, eagerly awaiting Xia Yi's response.

Before Xia Yi could reply, a woman dressed in white approached.

"Xia Yi, I'm hosting a dinner at Autumn Breeze Pavilion tonight, and you must attend."

"Qin Lan, Xia Yi has already agreed to join me at the Phoenix Pavilion," Lan Su said with a hint of irritation.

Qin Lan turned to Xia Yi, her gaze seeking his decision.

"Tonight, I need to take my sister Xia Ye out for a walk. As you know, because of her condition, she can only go out in the evening..."

Xia Yi offered a brief explanation and quickly made his exit.

Lan Su and Qin Lan exchanged glances, a palpable aura of hostility spreading between them.

Having spent nearly a month at Dragonflight Academy, Xia Yi had come to understand the lay of the land. The 'enthusiastic female teacher' he had met upon his arrival was Lan Su's older sister, Lan Xi. Their father was none other than the current Left Prime Minister, Lan Tianye.

The woman in white, Qin Lan, known for her fiery temper, was the sister of the Right Prime Minister, Qin Seng.

Both the Left and Right Prime Ministers were figures far beyond Xia Yi's ability to contend with. Offending either could spell disaster for him.

Yet, fear was not in Xia Yi's nature. His refusal of all social invitations stemmed from overhearing a malicious rumor. A clique of arrogant women had wagered on who could seduce him first. The winner would not only claim a hefty prize from the others but would also seize the moment to tarnish Xia Yi's reputation as the preeminent gentleman of the Kisal Dynasty.

Such a malevolent scheme!

What did Xia Yi have left to his name? Beyond his esteemed title as the Verdant Lord of Kisal, he was left with nothing.

Should he lose even that distinction, his future would be uncertain.

It made sense, after all. Why would the daughter of the Left Prime Minister or the sister of the Right Prime Minister take an interest in a man of mere nominal fame and no real standing?

In Foglaostein, martial prowess was valued far above scholarly pursuits. Deities revered were war gods and martial gods, and while scholars held a respected place, their status was no match for that of warriors.

Take, for instance, the Tiger Guards and Hawk Guards, who had served the Kisal royal family for generations. Though they held no official titles, they wielded the power to execute first and report afterward. Since the inception of the Kisal Dynasty, the blood of over a thousand high-ranking officials stained their hands. This stark reality alone put civil servants in an entirely different league.

The more time Xia Yi spent at the Dragonflight Cloister, the stronger his desire to become more powerful grew.

At night, with Xia Ye by his side, Xia Yi practiced the 'Spirit Transformation Palm'.

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