Chapter 76: Chapter 76
Day three since Chenjian Wu’s Tenth Chief Qu Bushi lost his head.
Dawn was just breaking. Shen Xiuhan rinsed his mouth with tooth powder, ate two of Madam Zheng’s pan-fried scallion flatbreads, then shouldered the bundle he had prepared and set off for Mei Hall.
At the South Street fork, he caught a distant glimpse of a familiar figure.
Blue scholar’s robe, features so unremarkable they’d vanish the moment he stepped into a crowd.
But Shen Xiuhan recognized him at a glance.
Han Li!
He was about to call out a greeting when Han Li’s steps faltered, and he turned down the lane heading north.
Shen Xiuhan knew that lane. There weren’t many great households along it. If anything of note stood there, it was the Tongbei Martial Hall…
“Last time I spotted him with Xiao Wen, they seemed to be heading down that same lane?”
Shen Xiuhan shook his head and thought no more of it. He continued on toward Mei Hall.
“HEI!”
“HA!”
Before he even reached the front gate, the rhythmic shouts of practice rang out from inside — unified, powerful, carrying far on the morning wind.
Once through the gate, a sweep of the training grounds told him that several familiar faces among the outer-court disciples had departed during his absence, while a handful of new students who had paid their tuition and freshly enrolled had taken their places.
“Good morning, Senior Brother Shen!”
“Greetings, Sixth Senior Brother!”
A number of outer-court disciples spotted him and stopped mid-form, bowing respectfully.
The newer students turned to their neighbors, whispering and asking about this unfamiliar senior brother.
Shen Xiuhan waved over a disciple he knew and asked, “Which inner-court senior is supervising morning practice today?”
The disciple clasped his fists hastily.
“Reporting, Senior Brother — it’s Fifth Senior Sister today. Though Senior Sister Ding mentioned yesterday that she’d be about an hour late this morning…”
Shen Xiuhan nodded in understanding and spoke firmly.
“In that case, don’t waste the morning session. I’ll supervise. Begin your stances!”
“Yes, sir!”
The outer-court disciples answered as one.
They snapped into formation and began working through the foundational Dark Eagle Stance, move by move.
By Mei Hall’s rules, every inner-court disciple shared the duty of overseeing the outer court.
But Shen Xiuhan hadn’t been a member long, and his early deployment to Yunyi Island had kept this particular duty from ever landing on him.
Today, with nothing pressing, there was no harm in lending a hand.
He moved among the rows, now and then nudging a student’s lower stance into alignment with a tap of his foot, correcting their force mechanics, or offering a low-voiced pointer.
About an hour later.
A girl in a lotus-pink training outfit, her hair pulled into a high ponytail, came hurrying in. Her face was slightly round and endearingly pretty — a girl in her girlhood years.
Seeing the outer-court disciples already deep in their stances, a flicker of surprise crossed her face.
Then her gaze found Shen Xiuhan moving through the ranks with his hands clasped behind his back, and understanding dawned.
Shen Xiuhan noticed her too and went to meet her.
Before he could speak, she bounced up with a pert grin.
“You must be Little Six! Hee hee, I’m finally not the youngest in the inner court anymore…”
“Shen Xiuhan. A pleasure, Fifth Senior Sister.” Shen Xiuhan clasped his fists with a smile.
“I like the sound of that…”
Fifth Senior Sister nodded with satisfaction, her eyes crinkling. “I’m Ding Qing. I just stepped out to pick up a few things for Young Lady Tangyin.”
Tangyin?
Luo Tangyin?
Shen Xiuhan had heard Second Senior Brother Xu Chuan mention this once.
Fifth Senior Sister Ding Qing served as a bodyguard for the Luo family’s young lady — but he hadn’t expected it to be one of the Four Prodigies, Luo Tangyin herself!
“Junior Brother, you’re back at the hall today — I take it you need to see Master?”
“That’s right.”
Ding Qing shooed him along with a wave. “Off you go, then. I’ll keep an eye on the outer court!”
“Much obliged, Senior Sister.”
Shen Xiuhan didn’t stand on ceremony. He clasped his fists, bowed, and headed for the rear courtyard.
Knock, knock, knock.
At the door of the main residence, he rapped his knuckles.
“Enter.”
Shen Xiuhan pushed the door open.
Sunlight slanted through the latticed window, falling across the white of Mei Shuangfeng’s robes.
She sat upright in the great chair, turning the pages of a yellowed old volume. The corners of the pages were curling — she had clearly been reading for some time.
Shen Xiuhan strode in, clasped his fists, and got straight to the point. “Master, your disciple has broken through the Bone Tempering barrier.”
Mei Shuangfeng paused. A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes. She beckoned him forward.
“Come here.”
Shen Xiuhan obeyed.
Mei Shuangfeng extended a pale hand and pressed her fingers in succession against his shoulder blades, the nape of his neck, and both sides of his ribs. Finally, she curled her knuckles slightly and pressed them against his spine.
A pulse of internal force.
Shen Xiuhan felt his entire skeletal frame shudder. A low, dense hum resonated through his body.
In the space of a few breaths, Mei Shuangfeng withdrew her hand and let out a long exhale. An unusual light stirred in her cool gaze.
“Good… Bone Tempering is confirmed. And you’ve done the hardest part first — the spinal column.”
Mei Shuangfeng raised her teacup for a sip and continued in a measured tone.
“Manifest Strength is divided into three barriers: Blood Tempering, Bone Tempering, and Sinew Tempering. Bone Tempering involves forging four skeletal regions: the shoulders, neck, ribs, and spine.”
“There’s an old saying in the fist classics: ‘If the iron bones are not wrought, Hidden Strength will not emerge; if force drives through brittle bone, death awaits in the grave.’ The meaning is clear — only by forging your frame solid as iron first can your body endure the tyrannical force that comes with a Hidden Strength breakthrough.”
“And of those four regions, the spine is the great dragon of the human body — the most perilous to temper, yet once completed, the most dramatic in its boost to combat power.”
Mei Shuangfeng regarded him, her tone carrying a rare note of praise. “Bold of you to tackle the hardest bone first.”
Shen Xiuhan shook his head with a rueful grin.
“To tell the truth, Master, I was forced into it by circumstances. It was the only option I had.”
That was a lie.
Back when he had Deduced Dark Eagle Stance, his cultivation had already been pushed to peak Bone Tempering.
Ordinary martial artists progressed through Bone Tempering from easy to hard — shoulders first, then neck, then ribs, and only last did they dare attempt the spine.
For Shen Xiuhan, it was simply retracing a path he had already walked.
“Forced by circumstances?”
Mei Shuangfeng arched an eyebrow slightly. She set her celadon teacup on the table and fixed him with a direct look.
“Tell me.”
“Yes, Master.”
Shen Xiuhan held nothing back.
He recounted how a last-minute assignment had sent him to Wuji Academy at the foot of Mang Mountain, how he’d been forced to attempt his Bone Tempering breakthrough overnight, how fortune had smiled and the attempt succeeded, and how they’d been ambushed en route by Chenjian Wu — culminating in Qu Bushi’s death. He hit the key points concisely.
“Qu Bushi…”
When the account was finished, a flash of surprise crossed Mei Shuangfeng’s gaze. She looked Shen Xiuhan up and down anew, a half-smile playing at her lips.
“I find myself quite curious about your true strength now.”
“If I recall correctly, that Qu Bushi crossed the Bone Tempering threshold years ago. His skills were no trifle, and yet he still fell to you…”
“Well…”
Shen Xiuhan hesitated, mulling over how to explain.
“Never mind.”
Mei Shuangfeng raised a pale hand, cutting him off. The corner of her eye softened into a gentle curve.
“The martial path is long. Who doesn’t have a hidden card or two? If fortune has favored you, that’s your own doing. You needn’t bare every secret to others.”
Then her tone shifted — casual on the surface, but edged with an authority that brooked no argument.
“You just follow whatever arrangement you and the Ji clan have agreed on. The Ji clan won’t go back on their word over something like this. And even if word does somehow leak and Chenjian Wu comes looking for revenge… don’t be afraid. If the sky falls, your Master will step in and shield you herself.”