South Town Garrison Command.

Mu Wanjun leaned against the railing, gazing at the sky outside her window. It was a dull, uniform gray, yet a faint light shone through, as if it could break through the clouds at any moment.

It had been several days since she received the reply to the letter she had sent her family.

In her letter, she had stated that she had inadvertently discovered a true Martial Dao genius. This genius had a clean background and met the family’s expectations for fostering talent. She suggested they focus on winning him over and binding him to the family’s cause.

He was a true genius who, despite a late start, still had an excellent chance of breaking into the Inner Qi Realm.

She had expected the contents of her letter to earn the family’s approval and a grant of cultivation resources to help win him over. But she never imagined...

The family’s reply had been completely unexpected.

The Mu Family had an ancient lineage, stretching back a thousand years. In Weishui County City, they were a truly illustrious and noble family.

In their reply, the family agreed with her suggestion to recruit the Martial Dao genius. They gave her free rein to absorb him into the family. However, there was no mention of the cultivation resources she had requested in her letter.

’Could it be that in order to support Sixth Brother’s cultivation, the family has reallocated the resources for the younger generation to such an extent? Have they even diverted the funds meant for recruiting young talents?’

Mu Wanjun guessed silently.

Her cousin, Mu Feiyu, was the number one prodigy of the Mu Family’s current generation. At a young age, he was already a Martial Arts Master at the Realm of Purification and Rejuvenation, the Second Stage of Inner Qi. He was only half a step away from entering the Third Stage of Inner Qi, Celestial Rain Falling on the Crown.

If Mu Feiyu could successfully step into the Third Stage of Inner Qi, he would have a chance to make it onto the Rising Star Chart, bringing glory to their house and enhancing the Mu Family’s prestige. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Mu Feiyu, along with Liu Ziming of the Liu Family and two other prodigies from the county city, were known as the Four Young Masters of Weishui!

Of course, in recent years, Liu Ziming had pulled far ahead of Mu Feiyu and the other two. For the last couple of years, rumors had spread that Liu Ziming was the Liu Family’s Qilin Child, an existence in a league of his own among Weishui’s younger generation.

The younger generation of Weishui County City was structured like a pyramid.

Liu Ziming stood at the apex, peerless among Weishui’s youth.

The tier just below Liu Ziming was occupied by Mu Feiyu and the two other prodigies.

And the tier below them was where Mu Wanjun found herself.

Across all of Weishui County City, there were about eight or nine people in her situation.

Each of those eight or nine individuals had the strength to compete for a spot in the top ten of the younger generation. But only an all-out competition would reveal who could truly make it.

’Chen Ping’an, what a pity.’

Mu Wanjun sighed.

She had wanted to secure some cultivation resources for Chen Ping’an to smooth his future on the Martial Dao. But she never thought the family would completely ignore her request because of Sixth Brother’s attempt to get on the Rising Star Chart.

’The timing was just wrong!’

Mu Wanjun withdrew her gaze from the distance and turned to sit back down in her large chair.

’The Rising Star Chart...’

A flicker of hope flashed in Mu Wanjun’s eyes.

Her own talent was not much inferior to Mu Feiyu’s. But with their talents being so similar, the Clan Elders preferred to see a son of the Mu Family carry its banner for the younger generation.

As a daughter, the family hadn’t mistreated her. But for a long time, there had been a slight disparity in the supply of cultivation resources she received compared to Mu Feiyu.

Over time, this had caused her to fall behind Mu Feiyu.

As a woman, she was destined to be married off eventually!

No matter who she married, she was a bargaining chip for the family’s interests.

...

+1.

A very familiar experience symbol flashed past, and a flicker of excitement passed through Chen Ping’an’s eyes.

"I did it!"

Name: Chen Ping’an

Realm: Qi Blood Fifth Layer Perfection

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt Perfection, Flying Locust Stone Perfection, Public Door Thirteen Sabers Perfection, Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training Great Success (191/200), Golden Bell Shield Unentered (1/20)

...

Following the method recorded in the secret manual, Chen Ping’an successfully cultivated the Golden Bell Shield.

This initial success meant that from now on, Chen Ping’an just needed to put in the time and effort, gradually advancing the Golden Bell Shield’s realm bit by bit.

’Superior cultivation methods really are different! Just reaching the entry level costs 20 Experience Points! That’s double the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training!’

Chen Ping’an mused with a hint of awe as he looked at the interface floating in the void.

As a superior martial art, the Golden Bell Shield had many unique aspects. Furthermore, some pages of the secret manual contained more precise details, such as the circulation of Qi Blood, the Breathing Heart Method, and secret acupoints.

With these restrictions, it was incredibly difficult to simply hand-copy an identical version!

Many superior martial arts secret manuals were like this; they couldn’t just be copied by anyone and sold. If certain key martial arts essences were not properly conveyed, the copy would probably be nothing more than waste paper.

And this was just for superior martial arts. As for the divine skills that ranked above them...

Legend had it that the original copies of divine skill manuals contained a residual mental realm. Only by comprehending this mental realm could one truly begin to cultivate the martial art.

A transcribed copy without this residual Martial Arts Realm would be utterly meaningless, no matter how complete its explanation of the martial arts essence.

’The Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training is about to reach Perfection! Once this martial art is perfected, I can go all-out on the Golden Bell Shield! If I can cultivate the Golden Bell Shield to a certain realm, my ability to protect myself will increase to a terrifying level!’

Chen Ping’an thought with anticipation.

Currently, if he fully activated the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training, he no longer feared ordinary blades. When a weapon struck his body, it was like metal hitting metal, leaving only a white mark.

One could only imagine what would happen if he stacked the Golden Bell Shield on top of that...

What level would his protective power reach!

The Golden Bell Shield was a practice of both Inner and Outer Cultivation. Besides the physical tempering of a horizontal training technique, it also involved the wondrous use of Qi.

If the strands of Qi in one’s body became as numerous as hairs and gradually converged over a long period, it could form a Qi Sea within the Dantian.

At that point, a cultivator would be considered to have stepped into the Inner Qi Realm, reaching the First Stage of Inner Qi: Initial Qi Sea Transformation.

...

After obtaining the superior cultivation method, the Golden Bell Shield, Chen Ping’an acted as he always did. He came and went from the Nanquan Alley Town Patrol Office under the reverent gazes of the constables and their superiors.

At his current level, as long as nothing major was happening, he could basically arrange his work schedule as he pleased.

That night, Chen Ping’an completed his cultivation of the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training.

As the experience points swirled and changed, a starlight entered the center of his brow, and the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training reached complete Perfection!

At the same time, the Qi Blood throughout Chen Ping’an’s body surged like a great dragon, seeping into his very marrow.

Qi Blood Sixth Layer, achieved!

Feeling the surging power that filled his entire body, a heroic spirit rose in Chen Ping’an’s heart.

"A young man should have the ambition of a swan, and ride a fine steed across the plains!"