The guards didn’t hesitate for long before nodding in agreement.
After all, they had relied on Tian Fugui for their livelihood even before Li Chang’an’s guidance. Now, there was simply a time limit attached.
As long as it allowed them to advance a few more steps on the path of the Martial Dao, such a small price was not worth mentioning.
Li Chang’an wasn’t worried they would go back on their word. He immediately returned to the study in the rear courtyard to write out a rapid external training method for them.
He had traversed several worlds, after all, and accumulated a wealth of experience. He was no longer a novice on the path of the Martial Dao. With the help of his Heaven-defying Comprehension talent, improving something slightly was naturally a simple task.
The external training of this world’s Martial Dao had to be followed in a strict sequence of steps.
First came Blood Refining. Only after the blood was refined until it was as thick as mercury paste could one begin training the muscles, bones, and skin.
A single misstep was not permissible.
But after Li Chang’an’s modifications, these steps became compatible and could be trained simultaneously.
In other words, given the same amount of time and the same level of talent, the guards could progress twice as fast as others by following the method Li Chang’an provided.
As for how far they could actually go... that would depend on the guards’ own destiny.
After receiving Li Chang’an’s guidance, the guards left, overjoyed.
From that day on, Tian Fugui was stunned to find that these guards, who had previously shown little ambition, suddenly became dedicated to their training.
Whenever Li Chang’an trained in the courtyard, the guards were always bustling about, eager to help.
Tian Fugui assumed the guards were teaching Li Chang’an martial arts. Although he wasn’t happy about it, he didn’t say anything.
What he didn’t know, however, was that his assumption was the exact opposite of the truth.
The guards weren’t teaching Li Chang’an martial arts; they were secretly learning from him.
The more time they spent with Li Chang’an, the more they sensed how extraordinary their young master was.
...
「At the age of five.」
Li Chang’an had already refined his blood, muscles, bones, and skin to a state that could only be described as perfect.
Under normal circumstances, he should have generated a breath of internal energy and entered the stage of an Inner Cultivator. But Li Chang’an closed his eyes and searched within his body for a long time, yet he couldn’t sense where this energy was supposed to originate.
’Of course, with my Heaven-defying Comprehension, if I really wanted to, I could forcefully condense this wisp of energy by borrowing it from any part of my body.’
’But if I did that, the Cultivation Method I’ve learned would no longer be pure.’
’My ultimate goal in this life is to make that Cultivator sit down for a calm discussion. But how can I make a Cultivator calm down?’
’Words alone obviously won’t solve the problem.’
’My fists must be big enough!’
In his predetermined destiny, Li Chang’an had smoothly reached the mythical Realm at the very end of the Martial Dao.
Yet even so, when he faced that Cultivator from an unknown origin, Li Chang’an had been utterly powerless to fight back. He was defeated in a few swift moves and absorbed into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
In other words, with the peak combat strength of a normal Jianghu Martial Artist from the Li Yang Martial World, it was virtually impossible to resist that mysterious Cultivator.
’I must use my Heaven-defying Comprehension to find or forge an entirely new path, one that goes beyond this world’s original Martial Arts Realms.’
’Only then will I have a chance to break my limits and ’reason’ with that Cultivator.’
’Of course, if I could just whip up a mushroom cloud...’
’...or a high-tech weapon from the Main World, like a Super Electromagnetic Cannon...’
’...I could probably threaten the Cultivator enough to make him sit down and listen to reason.’
’But industrial civilizations require a long period of primitive accumulation, and the current Liyang Dynasty is still a backward, impoverished, old-fashioned society.’
’Even if you gave me forty years, it would be impossible for me to create such a sophisticated, high-tech weapon.’
’Under these circumstances, my options are limited.’
...
That same year, when he was five, Tian Fugui, who was hell-bent on having Li Chang’an pursue a scholarly career, insisted on finding him a Scholar in Chunan County Town to serve as his tutor.
In this world, children were taught to read at three, but formal studies didn’t begin in earnest until the age of five.
Li Chang’an didn’t refuse his illiterate father’s arrangements.
However, after arriving in Chunan County Town, he didn’t go to the tutor’s schoolhouse. Instead, he went to the residence of the Martial Champion Scholar, which several of his family’s guards had recommended.
The Martial Champion Scholar’s surname was Cao, and his name was Cao Shu. He was an accomplished Postnatal Master.
In Chun’an County and the surrounding towns, Cao Shu’s title as the Martial Champion Scholar was extremely well-known.
Awed by Cao Shu’s reputation, many Jianghu Martial Artists restrained themselves when operating near Chun’an County, unlike their rampant lawlessness in other, less notable counties.
Cao Shu’s mansion was vast.
Yet the estate felt empty and desolate, a clear sign that the family was not large or thriving.
Li Chang’an walked up to the main gate and knocked.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man in a Sable Hat poked his head out. He looked Li Chang’an up and down a few times, then frowned. "What do you want, kid?"
The man in the Sable Hat looked to be in his fifties, with a thin, drooping mustache. He seemed to be some sort of steward.
Li Chang’an presented the apprenticeship gift Tian Fugui had prepared for him and said earnestly, "This junior, Li Chang’an, has come to the Champion Scholar’s Mansion in hopes of becoming a disciple to study the Martial Dao!"
The steward sized Li Chang’an up again and sneered. "There are plenty of people in Chun’an County who want to study under our master. Who do you think you are?"
Li Chang’an replied seriously, "Please, sir, just announce my presence!"