Chapter 29: The Substitute

"Grown taller again? Must be about 1.8 meters. Tsk, the Bai Yuan stance is truly a good thing!"

In the bronze mirror was a face slightly childish, not handsome but well-proportioned, with bright eyes and a faint dark shadow around the mouth.

Nodding in satisfaction, Li Yuan stepped out feeling refreshed; on the table in the outer room sat a bowl of rice porridge, two steamed buns, a dish of pickles, and several eggs.

"Where is he? Where did he go?"

For a full three days, Li Yuan hardly saw Fatty Sun, yet his two daily meals were never missed.

Early on the fourth morning, Li Yuan pushed open the door and saw Sun Hao, who seemed somewhat thinner.

"Fight exactly as you did that day, and then fight exactly like that again!"

Fatty Sun pushed the door open; his voice was somewhat hoarse, and his eyes held a complex look: "No, no, don't hide your skill."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Sun, for the advice."

Li Yuan clasped his fist, somewhat worried: "These past three days..."

"I'm fine, it's just..."

Fatty Sun grunted twice, waving his hand with an irritated look on his face:

"Hurry up and go, it's getting late!"

After Li Yuan left and closed the door, Sun Hao sat down gloomily, truly feeling a bit stifled.

He wasn't a jealous person; over the years he had seen apprentices with good bone structure and talent, but this kid's talent was simply too good.

"When I was young, I studied for three years, yet I wasn't as proficient on my first try as he is..."

The more Fatty Sun thought about it, the more depressed he became; he reached out, picked up the hammer from the corner, adjusted his breathing, assumed the Bai Yuan stance, and gritted his teeth:

"I just don't believe it!"

"A genius, outstanding, but this degree must also be grasped..."

Stepping outside, Li Yuan reflected.

That day he had been restrained, merely showing a little skill, yet it still provoked Fatty Sun; this degree was just right.

If he had exerted his full strength...

"Inner courtyard apprentices can move out to live elsewhere; as long as they have silver, no one will care, but..."

Rubbing the center of his brow, Li Yuan sighed; he was still poor.

He still had seven or eight taels of broken silver in hand, enough to rent a small courtyard, but that was money he had saved for medicinal meals to nourish his body; as for those few pearls, they were truly hard to sell.

Although he hadn't gone out these past few days, the strange matter of him pledging silver notes as a last resort had already spread throughout Gao Liu County, complete with all the details.

"Senior Brother Li."

Wearing a white cloak and hexagonal black boots, Li Yuan turned his head and saw Wang Gong; standing beside him was a young woman with a clear, delicate face, Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, the youngest daughter of Leader Zhao.

"So it is Senior Brother Wang."

Li Yuan bowed with clasped hands.

Although they had joined the Inner Courtyard in the same batch, they had no real connection; Wang Gong, Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, and others formed a small circle into which Niu Gui barely managed to squeeze.

People from their batch like Lu Zhong and Du Yun could never manage to get in no matter how hard they tried.

"Is Senior Brother Li heading to the Inner Courtyard? We can go together."

Wang Gong approached with a smile, while Zhao Zhao Xiaoming looked at him curiously.

These past few days, inside and outside the courtyards, Li Yuan had become a figure everyone could touch.

First in the Inner Courtyard, a genius who mastered the Cloak Hammer Technique to the Minor Success level in just over four months, and the apprentice of Zhang Ben, the manager of the Forging Room...

"What is Senior Brother Wang doing?"

Li Yuan frowned slightly, neither cold nor warm.

After becoming an apprentice, Old Zhang had told him plenty about the matters in the Weapon Forge; Qin Xiong was not only a man of the Third Shopkeeper Wang Ding but also the latter's most capable disciple.

"On the third day after the New Year is the birthday of the 'Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva'; we accompanied Mother to offer incense, only returning yesterday, so we were unable to attend Senior Brother Li's apprentice banquet..."

Wang Gong paid no mind to Li Yuan's coldness; he smiled and reached out to take out a porcelain bottle:

"This 'Blood-Containing Pill' is a precious medicine of Sijicaotang; consider it my gift."

Blood-Containing Pill?

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Senior Brother Wang's gift is far too heavy..."

He had never been to Sijicaotang, but he had heard of this pill; a bottle of six cost half of Second Brother's monthly allowance, and it was usually sold only in the Inner City.

"What's wrong with that..."

Wang Gong smiled faintly; just as he was about to say something, Li Yuan had already reached out and taken the porcelain bottle:

"Such a heavy gift must be intended for my master, the elder? Since Senior Brother Wang is heading to the Inner Courtyard, I will deliver it for you..."

"Uh..."

Wang Gong was slightly taken aback, then forced a smile once more:

"This... is Senior Brother Li not going to the Inner Courtyard?"

"It's not far anyway."

Weighing the bottle of pills in his hand, Li Yuan bowed and took his leave, paying no mind to Wang Gong behind him, whose face had lost its smile.

"A bottle of Blood-Containing Pill, and you just gave it to him?"

Zhao Zhao Xiaoming chuckled lightly: "Young Master Wang is truly generous!"

"... After all, he is just a fallen family member!"

Wang Gong felt a bit embarrassed on his face and swept his sleeve before departing.

Upon his return this time, he had heard Li Yuan's name several times from his father, which led him to suddenly decide to try and win him over.

Who would have thought…

……

"Still haven't grown a single hair, and you dare come to test your master?"

Tucking the pills into his robe, Li Yuan sneered inwardly; after becoming a disciple, he learned that the Third Shopkeeper was no good either.

On the day of the assessment, if he hadn't revealed his talent and drawn the attention of those two shopkeepers, even if he'd outperformed Niu Gui, he never would've entered the inner courtyard.

He might even have been sent under Qin Xiong's command…

"Zeng Xue Dan?"

The clang of hammering and waves of heat rolled through the forge room; Zhang Ben poured out the pills and, one by one, scraped off tiny amounts of powder with his fingernails to taste:

"Hmm, the medicine's fine—it's from Sijicaotang. That kid really spent big; this bottle must've cost him five taels of silver!"

"What are you doing?"

Li Yuan froze.

"Don't just swallow pills willy-nilly—even those bought straight from a major pharmacy must be handled with care, let alone ones that passed through someone else's hands?"

Zhang Ben warned his disciple:

"Inner courtyard disciples often travel outside. You must remember this! Not just pills—even water and dried rations—you mustn't eat anything untrusted!"

"Disciple understands!"

Li Yuan committed it to memory.

In his past life, he'd roamed the Jianghu for years; he naturally valued the wisdom of these elder masters—such experience often came soaked in blood.

"Good. Remember that."

Zhang Ben was fairly confident in this disciple; he tossed the porcelain bottle back to him:

"It's just one bottle of Zeng Xue Dan. If he dares give it, take it. Old man has little ability, but this much, I can still bear!"

"Then I owe you my thanks!"

Li Yuan felt no burden at all, grinning as he stuffed it into his robe.

"Enough. Old Tang said he's going to test you? Go early—today's thousand hammer strikes are waived!"

Zhang Ben waved his hand dismissively.

He was quite satisfied with this disciple's progress; aside from the initial days when the wear and tear was high, these past few days' advancement had left him stunned.

"Can't waive it—I rely on this to buy medicine!"

Li Yuan shook his head vigorously.

As a disciple in charge of the forge room, there were benefits: for every two thousand jin of refined iron he processed, he earned half a tael of silver.

This was a privilege reserved for the forge room's masters—and his only source of income right now.

"Do as you like!"

Zhang Ben waved him off impatiently.

……

Huh!

Huh!

Before reaching the inner courtyard, Li Yuan already heard the whistling of air split by weapons.

On the training ground before the courtyard, Niu Gui, Wang Gong, Lu Zhong, and other new disciples stood in stance, hammer in hand, learning striking techniques; the veteran disciples gathered in small groups nearby, either sparring or strengthening their strength.

Outside the field, Yue Yue Yunjin stood with his hands behind his back, expressionless.

He was the one teaching the new disciples their techniques.

Tang Tong, who hadn't shown his face since the assessment, was also present today, seated on a high-backed chair, eyes half-lidded, unsure whether he was watching or napping.

Li Yuan slowed his steps, observing the new and veteran disciples.

"Wang Gong, Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, and those several wealthy youths from the inner city—all have blood qi exceeding Proficient level, yet their hammer techniques are barely Entry level; they've simply stacked pills."

After a few glances, Li Yuan lost interest in his "fellow students."

But among the veteran disciples, several were truly formidable—each move and posture followed strict form, enhanced by blood qi, their presence imposing, clearly having achieved minor mastery.

"Aside from Yue Yue Yunjin, none have reached Great Completion? Perhaps a few more exist—but at most one or two…"

Li Yuan now had a clear sense of things.

With the Perfect-level Cloak Hammer Technique enhancing his perception, he could gauge others' progress from their practice—but he couldn't judge those who hadn't trained.

As for Tang Tong…

"Lying like a sick tiger—far more dangerous than Qin Xiong?"

Li Yuan muttered to himself—when suddenly, Qin Xiong's booming voice rang out:

"Li Yuan!"

Shhh!

Tang Tong, who had seemed asleep, suddenly opened his eyes—sharp as a hawk's gaze:

"Who is this friend? Why didn't you announce your arrival?"

"I am Yu Zhen, Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren."

Laughter came from outside the inner courtyard; a thin young man stepped in: "I came for a reason, and forgot proper etiquette—Brother Tang, please forgive me!"

"Yu Zhen!"

Tang Tong rose to his feet, his expression darkening slightly:

"Why has a Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren left hunting imperial court fugitives to come to my forge shop?"

"Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren!"

Li Yuan turned his head, his eyelid twitching involuntarily.

The young man looked to be about twenty-eight or twenty-nine, with a long blade at his waist. His complexion was a sallow dark yellow, his face weathered by wind and frost, his clothes disheveled—he looked quite down on his luck.

Yet no matter who saw him, none would dare hold him in the slightest contempt.

The New Year had just passed and the cold had not yet relented, yet this man wore only a single layer, with a close-fitting short jacket underneath!

And at this moment, under Qin Xiong's pointed finger, the gaze of this Fuxiu Fuxiu Daoren had just fallen upon himself:

"Yu has come here only to ask this little brother a few questions!"

(End of chapter)