Apprenticeship

After leaving Granny Cui's Inn, Gu Bing and I waited outside Uncle Huang's house. It was almost noon when he finally staggered back, reeking of alcohol.

He invited us inside, but even after entering, he still didn't remove his bamboo hat. I suddenly became curious—did he even take it off when he slept?

"Master, please accept our respects!" Gu Bing and I knelt down together, reciting the lines we had rehearsed in advance. We were fairly certain that Uncle Huang was a swordsmanship expert—whether it was the Sword Energy he unleashed with a hoe last night or how he immediately understood our intentions when we asked for guidance this morning. Since he had no plans to hide his skills, we decided to be direct.

"Hey, hey, hey! I only drank a pot of wine you gave me, but I never agreed to take you as my disciples!" Uncle Huang hiccupped and responded slowly.

"I know you are a master, Uncle Huang. Gu Bing and I have been practicing sword techniques on our own, but we haven't been able to grasp the key concepts. That's why we want to learn from you," I said sincerely. Gu Bing nodded in agreement.

"What key concepts are you struggling with?" Uncle Huang glanced at me from beneath his bamboo hat.

"I've been practicing Offensive and Killing Fencing, but no matter how much I train, I just can't comprehend Sword Energy."

"Where did you learn Offensive and Killing Fencing?"

"From this book." I took out the swordsmanship manual and respectfully handed it to Uncle Huang.

He flipped through it quickly with squinted eyes, then closed it and returned it to me, saying slowly, "That explains it."

I was puzzled by his remark, but before I could ask, he continued, "This book is incomplete—it doesn't teach you the way of Qi Cultivation."

"Qi Cultivation?" It was my first time hearing this term. Then a thought struck me—was this book really incomplete? The manual had come from Old Yu's collection, but I had no way of knowing if it was whole. I had shown it to Grandfather Pan before, yet he never mentioned anything missing; instead, he told me to focus on my own cultivation. Could it be that Grandfather Pan wasn't actually a swordsmanship master or some hidden expert? Or had he intentionally withheld something from me?

"That's right. First, come with me and show me what you've achieved so far. Then I'll decide whether to teach you the Qi Cultivation Method."

With that, Uncle Huang led us to his backyard. The yard contained a wooden stake and various scattered items.

"Both of you, strike the wooden stake with the heaviest blow you can muster."

Gu Bing and I each focused our strength and slashed at the stake. Perhaps because I had been training in sword techniques longer or because my sword was heavier, my strike left a deeper mark than Gu Bing's. Just like last night, I felt a faint trace of Sword Energy clinging to my blade, as if it was about to explode outward but remained just short of breaking free.

"Hmm." Uncle Huang examined the cuts on the stake and responded with a simple grunt. Then he asked how long we had been training. We answered honestly.

After listening, he seemed satisfied and nodded slightly before saying, "Xiao Bing, strike the stake with your full strength. Ah Zheng, watch his sword movement carefully."

Gu Bing delivered another strike. His stance was almost identical to mine, and I had seen him do it many times before. I couldn't understand why I needed to observe him again.

Then, Uncle Huang took Gu Bing's sword and said, "Now watch closely how my strike differs from his."

"Hah!"

With a loud exhale, Uncle Huang swung the sword. A white glow enveloped the blade as it cleaved into the wooden stake. The stake shook twice before completely collapsing.

Gu Bing and I were both stunned, our mouths hanging open. But I quickly composed myself and started analyzing the differences in their sword strikes.

"Your strike was obviously much heavier than mine," Gu Bing remarked. "Is it because of Sword Energy?"

Uncle Huang shook his head. "Sword Energy increases the damage, but that's the result, not the cause."

"Is it the stance?" I scratched my head. "I noticed that when you swung the sword, your body movement was more pronounced than ours. But I can't figure out the exact difference."

"Exactly!" Uncle Huang nodded. Then he asked, "When you swing your sword, where does your power come from?"

"Our hands? Our arms?" we replied.

"Power comes from the ground." Uncle Huang spoke four simple words before explaining further, "Your hands grip the sword, but they lack strength compared to your wrists. Your wrists, in turn, are weaker than your arms, which is why we use arm movements. But can your arms alone generate as much power as your whole body?"

"Of course not. But how do we channel our full body strength into a single strike?"

"When you swing, rotate your body—let the force start from your feet, flow through your waist, up your back, then through your arms, and finally explode at the moment of impact." Uncle Huang explained in detail. "This is called 'power from the ground.'"

Hearing this, we seemed to gain some insight and started twisting our bodies, trying to incorporate the concept into our movements. Since the wooden stake had already collapsed, we practiced our swings in the air.

After a while, I felt like I was beginning to grasp something and was about to ask Uncle Huang for more guidance when he said, "This is something you need to practice and refine on your own. Only through constant repetition will you truly understand it. Also, in actual combat, don't expect every strike to have this effect."

We nodded in agreement. If every strike was as powerful as that, wouldn't we be invincible? Looking back years later, I can only say that we were terribly naïve to think it was that simple to become all-powerful.

"Additionally, while some parts of the book are lacking, others are still valuable. You need to study them carefully. The Offensive and Killing Fencing—'Offense' is the strike infused with Sword Energy, while 'Killing' is about timing. Under what circumstances and at what moment should you unleash a killing blow?" Uncle Huang instructed further before continuing, "Since fate has brought us together, I'll teach you a Qi Cultivation Method. You will need to meditate and train daily. After some time, you should be able to release Sword Energy as I did."

"Thank you, Master," we both said excitedly and respectfully.

"Don't call me Master. I'm just giving you some pointers; you are not my disciples. Just keep calling me Uncle Huang," Uncle Huang insisted on not formally accepting us as his disciples. This put us in an awkward position, but we reluctantly agreed to keep addressing him as Uncle Huang, even though, in our hearts, we had already regarded him as our teacher.

"Alright, go back and practice on your own." After teaching us the method for cultivating internal energy, Uncle Huang dismissed us.

As we were leaving, he rummaged through a corner of his house and pulled out a Bronze Axe, tossing it to Gu Bing. "That iron sword of yours needs replacing. Try using this for now. Also, once you master the Offensive and Killing Fencing, I'll help you find a weapon that truly suits you."

"This internal energy technique—once we've learned it, we just need to meditate and train daily. Rushing won't help. On the other hand, mastering 'Force Rising from the Ground' and understanding the right timing for a heavy strike requires actual combat practice," I analyzed after we returned.

"Yeah, but where should we practice?" Gu Bing asked.

"The snakes in this mountain are too easy for us now; they're not suitable for training anymore." As I considered this, a place suddenly came to mind. I turned to Gu Bing and said, "Let's go to Baiqi City. We'll sell the snakes first, and then I'll take you to a place where we can truly hone our skills."

Upon arriving in Baiqi City, we first sold the snake meat before heading to Old Cheng's General Store. He had been eagerly awaiting us.

"You finally came!" Old Cheng said urgently. "If you had taken any longer, I wouldn't have been able to hold on to these twenty bottles of Perfect Restoration Oil for you!"

"What happened?"

"Ever since I made this Perfect Restoration Oil, I gave a few bottles to some of my old customers to try. Once they did, they were amazed by the results and started fighting over them! But I had to save some for you, so they kept pestering me multiple times a day!" Old Cheng sighed, clearly torn between wanting to sell more and keeping his promise to us.

"How many bottles have you made in total?" I asked. "If they're fighting over it, why not just raise the price? After all, you're the only one who can make this stuff."

"I did raise the price! I'm already selling it for two thousand gold coins per bottle! That White Serpent Oil you gave me allowed me to make a total of 120 bottles," Old Cheng grinned, clearly thrilled with the fortune he had made.

I handed him another jar of White Serpent Oil, but this time, I didn't plan on giving it away for free. Considering that we might be training for a long time, I asked him to set aside another twenty bottles for us. As for the rest, I wanted a twenty percent share of the profits. Upon hearing that I had more White Serpent Oil, Old Cheng was overjoyed. He was so ecstatic that he would have gladly given me half the earnings, let alone just twenty percent.

After leaving Old Cheng's store, I stopped by Aunt Yu's place as usual. Everything at her shop looked the same as always—actually, all of Baiqi City seemed unchanged.

"Something's not right," I said to Gu Bing.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you noticed? Baiqi City is exactly the same as before."

"Yeah, and? What's wrong with that?"

"The Orcs are supposed to be attacking Baiqi City soon! So why hasn't anything changed?" The realization hit me hard. Without hesitation, we rushed to Wang Family Pharmacy to find Da Xiong and get some answers.

When we arrived at the pharmacy, I noticed fresh wounds on Da Xiong's face. I immediately asked, "What happened to your face? Did someone beat you up? Who did this?"

"What?! Those bastards!" As soon as Da Xiong told me what had happened, I flew into a rage, slamming my palm onto the table with such force that it almost broke apart.