Chapter 28: Hidden Strength |
The next morning, after roll call at the River Office.
Chen Qing was organizing his patrol badge and sword.
Cheng Ming walked over and pulled him to the shadow beneath a corridor pillar.
Cheng Ming glanced left and right, confirming no one was paying attention to them, before saying quietly, "Last night I returned home and mentioned your matter to my eldest sister."
"Oh!?"
Chen Qing looked up, seeing something unusual in Cheng Ming's expression, his heart stirred.
"The matter is settled."
Cheng Ming's face showed a trace of relaxed smile, "She agreed to give you two additional blood qi pills each month from now on."
Chen Qing clasped his fists heavily, "Chief, thank you so much."
"Go on."
Cheng Ming patted Chen Qing's shoulder and smiled, "Cultivate well, perhaps with good luck you'll achieve the second breakthrough."
...
With the martial examination approaching, the atmosphere at Zhou's courtyard was taut like a fully drawn bowstring.
Zhou Liang paced back and forth in the courtyard daily, his attention mostly on disciples with hidden strength cultivation.
After all, they were the main force for this martial examination.
Chen Qing just practiced inconspicuously in the courtyard. With the blood qi pills sponsored by the Cheng family, plus his own purchases of blood qi powder, his through-arm stance work progress increased visibly.
This evening.
"It's about time to attempt triggering hidden strength."
The qi and blood within Chen Qing's body surged and roared like underground fire churning and burning in the depths of his blood vessels. Each breath carried scorching heat, his exposed skin showed an abnormal reddish color, with faint white vapor rising.
In moments, his clothes were soaked through with sweat.
If one observed carefully, they could detect some clues.
Without realizing it, the sun began to set.
Zhou courtyard disciples cleaned up their equipment in small groups.
"It's getting dark and he's still training."
"A second He Yan!"
"No, he's even more hardworking than He Yan!"
"Sigh, just relying on mindless practice... what's the use?"
...
The discussions accompanied by sighs quickly dissipated in the twilight.
In the vast training ground, only Chen Qing remained.
He stood on the wooden post with eyes tightly closed.
At this moment he felt as if there was a ball of fire burning in his chest, spreading toward all parts of his body.
That was qi and blood flowing through his feet, shoulders, back, connecting section by section, forming circulation paths.
This was precisely the sign of obvious strength perfection.
The breakthrough had officially begun.
As night deepened, the courtyard became quiet.
Chen Qing stood on the wooden post, the qi and blood in his body boiling, rushing toward his limbs and bones.
Wherever it reached, he felt like flames were burning.
Flesh and tendons became ashes at this moment, then these ashes transformed into breath.
Obvious strength originates from flesh and blood, resonating through tendons and bones, hidden strength must sink into bone marrow, penetrating the governing and conception vessels, with internal restraint like a venomous snake's strike, silent yet deadly!
At this moment Chen Qing was experiencing this sensation, qi and blood tempering tendons and bones. This was naturally much more difficult than tempering skin and flesh, and also brought some pain.
Initially he only felt heat throughout his body, soon this heat spread like flames burning on his skin.
Then the flames invaded again, burning within his tendons and bones.
Night fell completely, all was silent.
Only his heavy, suppressed breathing was particularly clear in the empty courtyard.
Chen Qing at this moment was like someone pulled from water, soaked through from head to toe.
This suffering continued but the longer he persisted, the more vigorous the triggered hidden strength would be.
Chen Qing clearly felt his tendons and bones becoming more resilient, his pores contracting violently.
This was the manifestation after tendons, bones, and flesh connected.
Time passed minute by minute.
Chen Qing was like an old monk in meditation, only even breathing sounds at his nostrils.
The pain was gradually dissipating, skin, flesh, tendons, and bones connecting.
Clearly he had persisted to the end, which could be called perfect.
Boom!
After an unknown time, the burning agony finally began to recede.
A strange sensation of connection arose spontaneously, as if blocked waterways were thoroughly cleared, qi and blood no longer stagnant, flowing harmoniously through skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, reaching all limbs.
All the pores throughout his body awakened, greedily opening and closing, breathing in the cool night air.
Boom—!
Something within his body seemed to explode completely, then instantly return to silence.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence, Success Guaranteed]
[Through-arm Stance Work: Great Achievement (1/2000)]
"Phew!"
After about half an incense stick's time, Chen Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes, "So this is hidden strength?"
His body felt unprecedentedly light, his control over qi and blood refined to the smallest detail.
Where his intention reached, a condensed, restrained, yet containing more terrifying explosive power waited dormantly between tendons and bones, ready to strike.
Chen Qing jumped down from the wooden post, muttering to himself, "Qin Lie took nearly half a year to reach hidden strength, considered Zhou courtyard's most outstanding disciple, while I was only a few months slower than him, which is quite good."
"Tomorrow I'll find an opportunity to inform master."
Appropriately displaying one's strength was also very necessary, letting people see the value of investment.
Hiding one's abilities was to protect oneself, displaying strength was to grasp opportunities.
Moreover, he still needed to ask Zhou Liang about subsequent cultivation techniques, perhaps even gaining some resource allocation.
This could be said to have a hundred benefits and no harm.
Afterward, Chen Qing left Zhou's courtyard, walking toward home.
At this time in the deep of night, the streets were very empty.
In Gaolin County, except for the prosperous areas of the inner city, once it got dark the pedestrians on the streets disappeared.
Two worn black-canopied boats quietly moored at the dock, gently swaying with the night wind, making creaking sounds.
Chen Qing skillfully untied the hemp rope attached to the neighboring boat's stern, stepped on the slippery boat planks, and squeezed into his family's connected boat from the rear cabin.
Inside the boat cabin, the oil lamp flickered like a bean.
Lady Han was mending fishing nets by the dim light. Hearing the commotion, she looked up, her face showing unconcealed fatigue and worry, "Why did you stay out so late? You must be starved. There's still warm porridge in the pot, mother will heat it up right away."
She put down her handiwork and was about to move toward the inner boat connected to the stove with her hunched back.
"I lost track of time while practicing."
Chen Qing removed his sweat-soaked, stiffened short jacket that still carried the fishy smell of the river, casually draping it over the worn boat oar.
"Now I'm starving. Mother, heat some more water, I need to wash, I'm covered in stinking sweat."
"I know."
Lady Han responded, squeezing into the narrow inner boat, "By the way, your eldest aunt came by today, stood at the bow for a while. From what she said, the Yang family wants to pool some capital to set up a small shop in Hundred Flowers Lane."
Chen Qing scooped up half a ladle of cool water and drank it down, wiping his mouth, "Uncle-in-law has had nothing to do since his leg injury, opening a shop to help out would be quite good."
Lady Han sighed, "In these times, who knows if it can succeed."
Chen Qing thought for a moment, "It should be fine."
He was clear that since the Black Water Gang was completely uprooted by him, the Tiger Gang had taken over Hundred Flowers Lane and treated the Yang family fairly well. Opening a small shop should have no major problems.
"You don't understand!"
Lady Han pursed her lips, "Opening a small store definitely requires investing quite a bit of silver. If it loses money, that would be troublesome."
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