The next day, everyone woke up early. After breakfast, they went to the classroom together.
All the newcomers were present, neat and tidy, with no one daring to be lazy.
Lu Yun and his companions didn't arrive too early; the front row seats were already taken, so they ended up finding a spot in the third row.
Soon, the teacher for the class arrived. The teacher appeared to be around fifty years old, quite thin, with a few white hairs. He looked frail and didn't seem like someone from the Gang.
The teacher walked to the podium and began, "Hello, students.
Let me introduce myself. My surname is Chang. You can call me Instructor Chang.
I am not a member of the Green Dragon Gang; I am only responsible for teaching you to read and understand principles."
Instructor Chang looked at the crowd below, who were dressed in a variety of clothes, and asked with some confusion, "Why haven't you received your Gang uniforms?"
Someone replied, "We only arrived last night and haven't had time to get them yet. We'll pick them up during our break."
Instructor Chang nodded and said, "Alright, let's start class now.
First, let's talk about the geographical location of the Green Dragon Gang. Does anyone know about places outside the Green Dragon Gang?"
Seeing no one answer, Instructor Chang explained, "The Green Dragon Gang is located in Heyang City. Our country is called the Great Xia Empire.
Heyang City is situated in the far west of the Great Xia Empire, a relatively remote area with scarce resources. You'll understand once you travel outside later…"
During the break, Lu Yun and his friends went to the supply office to collect their items: two Gang uniforms, two taels of silver, and an identity token.
Looking at the silver in his hand, Lu Yun was excited for a long time; it was the first time he had ever held silver.
After the few of them changed into their Gang uniforms, their dispositions all changed.
The three from the village, after putting them on, each looked heroic and extraordinary, full of spirit.
Qin Yu, after putting his on, frowned and pouted, saying with a look of disdain, "It's not as good as what I had before."
But there was no choice; in the Gang, they had to dress this way.
In the afternoon class, as Instructor Chang entered, he was startled to see everyone uniformly dressed in gray Gang uniforms.
In the morning, they were dressed in a variety of clothes, some bright and vibrant, others in coarse, tattered rags. The visual impact before and after was quite significant.
At this stage, the main focus was still on learning to read and write.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and those with a basic literacy foundation had mostly learned enough.
Many people had gone to the Secret Manual Pavilion and chosen their preferred Secret Manuals.
Gray-Robed Disciples like them could only choose ordinary Secret Manuals from the first level;
It was said that Green-Robed Disciples could choose Secret Manuals from the second level;
Black-Clothed Disciple could choose Secret Manuals from the third level;
The Secret Manual Pavilion had a total of four levels, and Core Disciples could read any Secret Manual freely.
Lu Yun and his companions also excitedly went and each selected a Secret Manual. These Secret Manuals were something ordinary people outside would never get to encounter in their lifetime.
They all eagerly went to Cultivate, but most returned disappointed, as many parts were simply incomprehensible.
However, there were a few who managed to get started, which showed that there were indeed differences between people.
Martial Artist Ranks are divided into Acquired Stage and Innate Stage.
Each stage has nine levels. It was said that there were currently only five Innate experts in the Gang, but their identities were unknown.
That night, after the others had fallen asleep, Lu Yun thought of Wang Ping's ancestral Cultivation Technique.
After this period of learning to read, he had mostly grasped it.
He then took out the cloth bundle and opened it, seeing three large characters on the yellowed Secret Manual. He didn't recognize them before, but now he did: "Eternal Life Art." He didn't know how good this Secret Manual's Rank was.
An ancestral one shouldn't be too bad, right? He'd read it first. He opened the first page and began to read: "Eternal Life Art, Qi Refining Chapter," a total of twelve levels.
What was a Qi Refining Chapter? Further down was the Cultivation Technique's introduction:
Sit cross-legged, calm the mind, serene and natural;
Lips and teeth gently closed, breathing lightly;
Gather Divine Thought, point directly to the Dantian;
Descend to the Qi aperture, circulating repeatedly;
Dantian Qi warms, self-refinement complete;
It was extremely abstruse and difficult to understand, but he would try to Cultivate according to it.
Qi Refining First Level stated that to enter Qi Refining, one must draw Qi into the body to succeed in the first level.
Following the steps in the Cultivation Technique, he sat cross-legged with closed eyes, relaxed his body and mind, and quietly felt the Spiritual Qi around him.
He used his will to guide the surrounding Spiritual Qi points into his body.
He Cultivated for half the night but still saw no change. He could only rest first. From then on, Lu Yun would Cultivate for half the night every night.
It was strange; he went to bed very late every day, but he was very energetic during the day.
One night, half a month later, Lu Yun, who was Cultivating, suddenly felt a stream of Qi flow like water.
After circulating for one cycle through his Meridians, it flowed down his Meridians into his lower abdomen, causing a sudden sharp pain in his lower abdomen.
Lu Yun immediately felt that his senses had become much, much stronger.
He could clearly see how many legs the crickets on the ground outside the room had, even in the dead of night.
According to the Secret Manual, after drawing Qi into the body, one needed to continue circulating the Qi according to the Cultivation Technique.
Lu Yun continued to operate the Cultivation Technique. The Spiritual Qi outside his body continuously circulated through his Meridians and gradually sank into his Dantian.
According to the book, Lu Yun knew that he had successfully drawn Qi into his body and entered the first level of Qi Refining. He saw that it was almost dawn, yet he felt no sleepiness at all.
A strange, foul smell permeated his entire body. Lu Yun sniffed and almost threw up the food he had eaten yesterday.
Just then, Liang Zi woke up, still half-asleep. Seeing Lu Yun sitting there, he asked, "Why are you awake so early? And why is there a strange smell?"
Lu Yun glanced at the other two who were still sleeping, then whispered, "Come outside for a moment."
Liang Zi, still not fully awake, complained with extreme reluctance, "Calling me out in the middle of the night? Are you sick?" But he still followed him out.
As soon as Liang Zi approached Lu Yun, he was hit by a foul stench and reeled back repeatedly.
Frowning, he yelled, "Did you smear shit on yourself? Why do you smell so bad?"
Lu Yun heard this, raised his arm, and sniffed. The smell truly was…
Then he said excitedly, "Do you know why I smell so bad?
Do you remember the person we met in the mountains outside the village, who gave us the Secret Manual?"
Liang Zi thought for a moment and said, "I remember."
Lu Yun smiled and said, "I Cultivated according to it, and I succeeded.
The stench on my body is only there after mastering this Secret Manual. I estimate it should be the Impurities in my body.
Do you still remember what Instructor Chang talked about, the 'Washing Meridians and Cleansing Marrow' that Martial Forest practitioners dream of?
It's exactly like my current symptoms. I was just about to go wash when you woke up."
Liang Zi was astonished upon hearing this and said, "Really? Quick, let me try it too."
Lu Yun casually took it out and handed it to Liang Zi, saying, "It took me more than half a month to barely get started and reach the first level.
Alright, I'm going to take a bath. Remember to Cultivate secretly at night and don't let anyone know. I always feel that this Cultivation Technique is very extraordinary." Liang Zi nodded after hearing this.
After taking a bath, Lu Yun looked at his body. He used to be a dark-skinned boy, but now his skin had actually turned white.
There was a faint, mysterious glow subtly covering the surface of his skin.
He didn't know why, but ever since he mastered that Cultivation Technique and entered the first level of Qi Refining.
His memory had basically become photographic. He only read the remaining ten levels of the Cultivation Technique once, and they were all in his mind; he couldn't forget them even if he wanted to.
The next day, Qin Yu looked at Lu Yun with a surprised expression and asked, "What happened to you? How did you get so handsome and fair-skinned?"
Lu Yun pretended to ask, "Did I?"
Qin Yu affirmed, "Yes, definitely."
Then he looked at Tang Biao, who also nodded and said, "It's true."
Qin Yu leaned closer to Lu Yun and whispered, "Do you have some method to become handsome? Quickly teach me."
Lu Yun rolled his eyes at Qin Yu and said, "There's no such method to become handsome; you must have seen wrong." After saying that, he walked away first.
Qin Yu looked at Lu Yun's retreating figure with a look of disbelief, then chased after him.
In the following days, Lu Yun attended classes during the day, practiced a sword art he chose from the School's Secret Manual Pavilion in his free time, and continued to Cultivate the Eternal Life Art at night.
Soon, two months passed. Liang Zi found Lu Yun, looking unhappy.
"Yun-ge, I've been Cultivating this lousy Cultivation Technique for so long, and I haven't made any progress. It's not as good as the one I chose from the Secret Manual Pavilion. Here, take it, I'm not Cultivating it anymore."
One day, as the four people in the room were chatting, Qin Yu suggested that everyone go to the plaza to spar, as they had all made significant progress.
The four agreed immediately and went to the plaza.
Liang Zi mainly Cultivated a Saber Art;
Tang Biao Cultivated a Fist Art;
Qin Yu Cultivated a Movement Technique and a Sword Art;
Lu Yun Cultivated a Sword Art;
Qin Yu looked at the others, then finally turned to Lu Yun and smiled, "Let's spar, see if you can even touch me."
Lu Yun smiled upon hearing this and said, "Alright." He then took out a sword he had received from the Weapon Pavilion.
Soon, the two began to fight. Lu Yun secretly circulated Spiritual Qi throughout his body, holding it back but opening his Divine Thought wide.
Qin Yu's Movement Technique had no effect on Lu Yun.
Lu Yun wanted to test his combat strength, so he only defended and didn't attack.
However, with Qin Yu's Movement Technique and Sword Art both unleashed, he still couldn't even touch Lu Yun's clothes for a long time.
Finally, he gave up, exhausted like a dog.
Qin Yu looked at Lu Yun with a surprised expression and asked, "How did you Cultivate? I never saw you practice Movement Technique, yet you're so powerful. I'm not fighting anymore, not fighting."
Lu Yun was quite satisfied with his combat strength.
Afterwards, Liang Zi and Tang Biao also sparred. In the end, Liang Zi lost to Tang Biao's iron fists; Tang Biao's physique had too much of an advantage.
His iron fists moved with the force of a tiger. Liang Zi, perhaps due to the delay from Cultivating the Eternal Life Art, hadn't had enough time to practice his Saber Art, and it wasn't yet perfected.