"A warrior has Confucian Six Arts — the art of archery, charioteering, swordsmans.h.i.+p, medicine, mathematics, as well as literature and history. A pract.i.tioner complete with the Confucian Six Arts will be able to go everywhere and do anything. The art of archery is the best weapon to use to kill during battles. Charioteering refers to the skill in riding any steed or driving any carriage. If one has fully grasped charioteering, traveling over a thousand li in a day will be child's play. Regardless of whether on the battlefield or off it, one will be in difficult position without charioteering. Swordsmans.h.i.+p is the way of battle. As the saying goes: a warrior is nothing without his sword. The most basic requirement as a Martial Warrior is to be able to master a short-ranged weapon to attack as well as defend. Of course, swordsmans.h.i.+p is only a general reference. Almost everyone will cultivate this. Those who have chosen more unusual weapons also fall within this category…"

In the martial arts academy's huge cla.s.sroom, an academy tutor was on the podium explaining his lesson today with great enthusiasm. The podium was right in the middle of the cla.s.sroom and there were rows of chairs arranged around it. The entire cla.s.sroom was as huge as a wide concert stage and it could easily accommodate an audience of a thousand.

The academy tutor was an old man dressed in green garb. Yan Liqiang was no stranger to this old man because he was the shop owner of the biggest medicinal store, Auspicious Fortune, on Three Yuan Street. In just these two months, Yan Liqiang had already b.u.mped into this old man more than once on Three Yuan Street.

A good deal of academy tutors from the martial arts academy had other businesses and professions aside from their status as an academy tutor. Take Song Tianhao for example, although the salary of an academy tutor wasn't low and was enough to live by for an ordinary person, most people, especially those with talents weren't satisfied by just living like a normal person. Money was required everywhere. Clothing, food, housing, transport, maintaining social relations.h.i.+ps, wine, women, wealth, as well as buying a house and starting a family, all required money. Cultivation required even more money. Academy tutors were not immortals that lived above the common populace either. They had their own lives too so it was no surprise that they had other businesses and ways of earning a living.

Even a well-respected man like s.h.i.+ Changfeng was a part-time private tutor to a few children from the influential clans of Pingxi City, not to mention the others.

Yan Liqiang was seated at the furthest spot in the cla.s.sroom by the window without anyone else around him. Half of Yan Liqiang attention was on the podium, listening to the academy tutor's lecture, while the other half was wandering outside the window.

At this very moment, snowflakes were already dancing outside the window!

This was the first snowfall ever since Yan Liqiang arrived in this world. As soon as he got up this morning, Mount Thousand Pine was blanketed with white snow. Snow was also piling up in the courtyard which he rented.

Before he realized it, it had already been more than two months since he arrived at the martial arts academy. A month ago, all the new students would fill up the seats during every lecture. But ever since last month, the new students had started to learn how to be more selective of the courses to attend and also to direct some focus on their cultivation. They had stopped flocking to every lesson. The new students who already had experience in this field or already knew the content which the academy tutor would cover today didn't attend. There were only about five hundred students in the entire cla.s.sroom, a few students among these were from previous intakes.

"Why don't we go enjoy some lamb hotpot at Gathering Restaurant for lunch today? A pot of lamb soup will do us good in this weather. It's on me!" s.h.i.+ Dafeng, who was fully dressed in a gorgeous silver fox fur garb, whispered to Yan Liqiang beside him. He was completely distracted from the lesson.

"I need to go to the Military Governor's Office this afternoon…" Yan Liqiang replied in a soft voice.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that…" s.h.i.+ Dafeng knocked on his own head then gave Yan Liqiang an envious look. He reached out and jabbed Yan Liqiang below his armpit with his hand. "Remember to help recommend me if the Military Governor is recruiting bodyguards next time! I think I'm not bad too!" He said brazenly.

"I haven't seen him for a month already. Do you think he will take the words of a little horse-brus.h.i.+ng attendant like me seriously?"

"Well, at least it's still better than not saying anything…"

"Focus on the lesson, focus!" Yan Liqiang chucked. Seeing that the conversation had stopped, he started concentrating on listening to the lecture.

Over these two months, he was with s.h.i.+ Dafeng a lot. He had to drop by the Military Governor's Office every once a week. He didn't hide the fact that he had been recruited as a bodyguard by the Military Governor from s.h.i.+ Dafeng. s.h.i.+ Dafeng also knew the entire story and felt nothing but envy towards Yan Liqiang's good fortune. In these two months, Yan Liqiang lived a simple yet fulfilling life. His daily life basically revolved around the martial arts academy and the small courtyard he rented. He had yet to see the Shatu people taking their revenge so the whole incident was gradually pushed to the back of his mind.

When Yan Liqiang was practicing Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, he could feel the joints and the ligaments in his entire body heating up as well as a numbing sensation akin to electric, coursing through every tendon and vein in his body. With the emergence of such signs, he knew he was already close to pa.s.sing the Stretching Tendon and Extending Bone stage.

"...The lesson for today is a basic self-rescue technique from the art of medicine of the Six Confucian Arts. What should you do if you sustain a wound from swords or blades out there and you are bleeding profusely without any appropriate medicine on you? And on top of that, you can't buy the Blood Coagulation Pill from Auspicious Fortune even though you have the money?!"

When the students heard how the old man didn't fail to advertise his own medicinal store even during the lesson, they all laughed in a good-natured way.

While speaking, the old man picked up a potted plant from the floor, placed it on the podium, then started to explain to everyone. "Everyone needs to first remember this type of herb. This is very commonly seen everywhere in the countryside. It's a Lace Fern but also referred to as Black Bamboo, Black Leek, Cliff Cypress or Chicken Tail Gra.s.s. There are various names given to it, but its appearance will never change. This herb is usually about a foot tall, has short rhizomes and grows horizontally. There are fine brownish-red patterns on the leaves and they usually grow in a bunch. The stalk looks a little like the stem a rice plant. These grow in damp areas, like at the sides of a river, in bushes or in crevices. They are mostly seen at the foot of mountains. If you are injured and see Lace Ferns growing nearby, you may pluck them, chew the part above the roots thoroughly in your mouth, and apply it on the wound before bandaging with fabric to instantly staunch bleeding. It is effective against all external bleeding wounds. In fact, it is the main ingredient of many Jinchuang ointments and hemostatic drugs."

...

This lesson went on for a long time, reaching slightly more than an hour. By the time the academy tutor was done explaining a few medicinal herbs on the podium, as soon as the cla.s.s was dismissed, many flocked to the front to examine those herbs.

Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng joined the crowd too. After remembering the appearance of the few medicinal herbs, they left the cla.s.sroom. Although the content of this lesson wasn't in depth, it was very useful.

When they exited the cla.s.sroom, the forest outside was covered in snow. The snow was still falling even now.

"Liqiang, where are you going now?"

"I'm about to return home to get ready. It's about time for me to go be a horsekeeper!" Yan Liqiang replied.

"Well then let's go back together. It's too cold today so I don't feel like moving around too much, otherwise, it will get really uncomfortable after being drenched in sweat. I wonder where Shen Teng has his private lessons today. He's trying really hard to catch up to you…"

Yan Liqiang smiled while shaking his head. Shen Teng had challenged him last month, so both them had sparred with each other in one of the arenas in the martial arts academy. That was the second time they sparred against each other after a few months. Shen Teng was very well prepared and had shown a lot of improvement. His body technique had become even more agile and versatile, even so, he still couldn't beat Yan Liqiang and was defeated once again. Since then, Yan Liqiang had not seen Shen Teng for days.

He heard that the Shen Clan had a manor with a courtyard in Pingxi City, so Shen Teng lived there instead of living anywhere near Three Yuan Street. Therefore he only saw him once in a while and he didn't stick around Yan Liqiang or s.h.i.+ Dafeng every day.

Both of them were about to walk downhill while still speaking before Yan Liqiang noticed about seven people gathered under a pavilion nearby. One of the people pointed towards Yan Liqiang, then all seven people came out together from the pavilion and made their way towards him.

These seven people were all strangers to Yan Liqiang. They were slightly older, around eighteen to twenty. From the looks of it, they seemed to be seniors from the martial arts academy.

The mountain path in the martial arts academy wasn't wide to begin with, but it was enough to allow a row of four to five people walking side by side without any hindrance. However, when those seven people came towards them, they completely blocked Yan Liqiang's path on both sides. Furthermore, when the few of them came towards them, their eyes were trained on Yan Liqiang's face while they put up menacing looks.

Yan Liqiang's gut feeling told them that these people had an ill-intentions towards him.

"Be careful…" s.h.i.+ Dafeng reminded him softly from the side, while still walking together towards the few people.

The two parties stopped when they were about two meters apart.

"Excuse me…" Yan Liqiang said calmly.

"So you are Yan Liqiang?" A youth of about twenty years old standing in the middle of the seven people sneered in contempt before he critically sized up Yan Liqiang from top to bottom. "You're just as arrogant as the rumors say!"

"A person from this kind of backwater place has never experienced much. You probably think if you can get some reputation in the Pingxi Prefecture Martial Arts Academy and advance as a Martial Warrior, you will be able to show off in front of the other country b.u.mpkins back in your hometown then get a menial job at a government office and consider yourself at the pinnacle of your life!" Another youth jeered from the side, causing the rest around him to roar with laughter.

...