Unlike both of the elders who Qian Feng had met as of now, the "Iron Fox" seemed both much more protected and much more secluded. Even the travel to the place where the Iron Fox lived was far more exciting than his life so far put together, as he had finally been able to leave the dull, underground surroundings and set his eyes on the outside world, the happenings of the place they live below.
Qian Feng had taken a long, winding, and heavily guarded staircase to the top, being only temporarily blinded by the light his eyes were unaccustomed to - it was only a moment, thankfully, due to his enhanced eyes gained from cultivation. He had to keep up the act of someone who hadn't undergone cultivation, though, and shielded his eyes while cowering for a far longer time than what was necessary.
It was then he found out that they lived beneath a forest, in the middle of nowhere, with no landmarks besides a mountain range a few miles ahead. How far could they go in their efforts to stay unseen?
Elder Nian had swept aside a bunch of vines blocking the sight, revealing an old and beaten path. They had followed this path uneventfully, walking until they reached the mountain and then slowly ascending it. It was then Qian Feng began to make a few assumptions.
First off, considering that they were ascending a mountain to meet Iron Fox, it should be safe to conclude that he had quite the high staus in the family. Just the name itself - Iron Fox - implied that he was famed for something. After all, even as beautiful an elder as Elder Nian went by "Elder" followed by her supposed surname, Nian. For the person he was going to meet to have such a domineering name as Iron Fox could only mean he was extraordinary.
Secondly, Qian Feng had been able to gauge his status in the family based on Elder Nian and Elder Yu's reactions to learning more about him. And, bassed on those reactions, he should be quite valued. After all, it seemed that even the founder of the Spirit Fox clan had only A-grade talent, and that itself was considered very good, while Qian Feng had S-grade talent, a level of talent far superior to that of S-grade. So, his teacher, and especially the one during his early years that would lay the foundation for his deeds in the future, had to be extra good. The clan, or maybe just Elder Nian, would settle for nothing less!
As Qian Feng mused, he finally reached the top of the mountain and was able to enjoy the sight revealed in front of him. As he was climbing the mountain, mist had shrouded the top, so Qian Feng was unable to see clearly until he reached the very top, where the place he supposed he was going to train restlessly in the next few years lay. And, Qian Feng had to admit, it wasn't a bad prospect...
The ground was as flat as seemingly possible, looking as if the top of the mountain had been sliced off cleanly by an endlessly sharp sword. Qian Feng stood on cobblestone, and cobblestone did pave the ground until a shining golden line seemed to separate the cobble and the true training grounds.
The real training grounds were flat and undecorated, with a few wooden stakes lined up in a row on the right side, but besides those, his future home seemed especially dull. There was, to be fair, a stump in the very middle of the training ground, made of an aged wood deep brown in color. On this stump sat who Qian Feng presumed to be Iron Fox, a shirtless old man comprised entirely of muscles.
With a body as if it was sculpted from marble, Iron Fox sat in the lotus position, eyes closed. Even his eyelids seemed buff, and that perfect body was perfectly showcased by his half-naked state. A quick glance right revealed that Elder Nian was drooling. QIan Fen softly snorted, thinking that she was way out of his league. Sure, he was strong and fit, but while Elder Nian seemed at most a day over 20, Iron Fox was easily over 50, and despite being in good condition(exceptionally good condition, to be fair), it wasn't a very good matchup.
Finally, upon some close observation, Qian Feng noticed a sort of script running all over the mountaintop in a line. For the first time, he couldn't understand the characters, but they did glow slightly. Qian Feng wondered if they were the inscriptions he had read about in xianxia novels, but subsequently cast that thought to the back of his mind.
The Iron Fox, who was sitting on the stump, suddenly opened his eyes. An invisible force chased towards Qian Feng, bearing down on him like a thousand mountains, trying to force him to kneel. Responding to the invisible attack, Qian Feng resisted with all his strength while staring straight into the amber, deep eyes of the Iron Fox.
His muscles strained to remain in their place. A defiant spirit emerged within Qian Feng's body, and as the pressure increased, Qian Feng's body alone became unable to handle the stress, and he was forced to send Force Qi to reinforce his bones and muscles. His martial spirits all awakened, and as the Empyrean Might Titan roared powerfully and sent out waves of Force Qi to reinforce his body, Qian Feng's two other martial spirits also responded against Qian Feng's will. His Universal Tortoise stood up and bowed its head, directing peaceful and sturdy Earth Qi to harden his body and make it more able to withstand the force. The Truejade Qilin opened its eyes gently and quietly guided small amounts of incredibly pure Life Qi to repair his bones as they cracked and soothe his tearing muscles. As the force increased even further, the Empyrean Might Titan roared all the stronger and grew, expending as much Force Qi as possible in order to make resistance harder. The Universal Tortoise finally opened its ancient eyes and stomped its foot once powerfully, sending even more Earth Qi coursing throughout his body, reinforcing it and strengthening it. The Truejade Qilin was also going to do something, but Qian Feng stopped it with all hsi remaining strength. His logic was this: if this was a test, Qian Feng's cultivation level was already revealed, and, since the Iron Fox would likely be on high alert, it was extremely likely that his second affinity was found. However, the situation would be far less manageable or salvageable if the Iron Fox not only found out about his Earth affinity, but also his Life affinity, if he hadn't already.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
With two of his spirit realms under extreme pressure, they began to grow and strengthen as Qian Feng passed into the second level of the Martial Warrior stage. Even throughout Qian Feng's breakthrough, though, the boy tried to quiet it as much as possible, attempting to draw as little attention as possible to his cultivation base.
After a minute-straight staring contest, the Iron Fox relaxed and Qian Feng's burden decreased, to almost nothing. It was still there, just not as noticeable. Qian Feng wondered what the reason for such an attack was. Could it be to test him? To try to scare him away? All that Qian Feng gained from that was a cultivation increase(that, honestly, Qian Feng didn't really need). However, it was almost certain that the Iron Fox had found out his true cultivation, as well as his double(he didn't necessarily know about the third) martial spirits.
Elder Nian had just stood to the side, both confused and somewhat intimated at the staring contest between the clan's greatest prodigy since ever and the greatest warrior the clan has, someone who shocked the world in his prime.
Now that the aggressive, silent test was over, the Iron Fox stood up from his stump and, with a grim face which seemed to come extremely easy for him, walked over to the duo.
"Are you the kid I'm going to train?" He asked, looking directly at Qian Feng as he spoke. The pressure intensified slightly, just barely noticeably so, as the old man's gaze fell upon the young boy.
"Yes, Iron Fox, that's him. Three years. Well, I'm just going to leave you two to your fun training, don't mind me... Hehe..." Even Elder Nian seemed affected by the pressure, and just as much, if not more so, than Qian Feng. This had caused her usually eloquent and smooth self to turn into a nervous, well, wreck. Taking this into consideration, it made sense she wanted to leave so badly.
And the pressure did not seem to stem from the Iron Fox's cultivation base, not this time. The force that made him break through, that was indeed from an unfathomably deep power, but not this time. As for how Qian Feng knew this, well, if it came from the cultivation base, it was impossible for Qian Feng to be affected less than Elder Nian, who almost surely had a higher cultivation base than he did as an elder of the family, and the Iron Fox didn't seem like the type to make active efforts to restrain his pressure, at least at that time. Excluding that, Qian Feng's claim was also intuitive. It just felt like it wasn't from cultivation base. No, instead, it would make more sense if that pressure was accumulated from years and years of experience, of bloody battles and life-and-death experiences. Then, it would make sense for Qian Feng to be affected by the pressure less, as someone who was likely close to the Iron Fox's age(sure, he didn't look 100, but cultivators aged slower), if not older. And regarding Elder Nian, sure, he couldn't beat out an old man who had survived as bloody a world as Heidas for as long as Qian Feng had survived on Earth, but a 100-year-old, no matter from which world, was certainly more mature and resilient than a what, 30-year-old?
Anyways, as Elder Nian departed "gracefully", Qian Feng was left with the person who would train him for the next few years.
In absolute silence, the Iron Fox, fulfilling the role of a strict and cruel instructor, went inside the simple wooden shed to the right of the training field, and returned out with a bunch of weights.
"Put these on and squat down. Your waist should be at the same level as your knees, and your arms should be straight out. Stand on your toes. Every time you fall, I will whip you one time for the amount of times you fell up until that point. Meaning, if you fall right now, I will whip you once for the first time falling, while the fall after that will cost you two strikes with the whip. This is how the next month will persist. While you exercise, let's have a chat."
While he spoke, the Iron Fox had led Qian Feng to the area right in front of the stump and attached the weights to his young protege. The weights were quite curious, only needing contact with the skin of the body part they were shaped to fit to fasten tightly to the wearer. After fastening all the weights, the Iron Fox revealed a bullock whip likely as tall as Qian Feng was(refer to post-chapter author note for information on the bullock whip).
Even for someone who had finished the Martial Refiner stage three times over, the weights were heavy. Sure, they were liftable, and likely more so that the Iron Fox had intended(Qian Feng's cultivation techniques were really good, he could easily dominate someone who had finished the Martial Refiner stage as many times as he had due to their effectiveness), but they wouldn't even be possible to raise an inch off the ground for a three-year-old-boy who had never undergone training before. And, if that didn't show that the Iron Fox knew about his cultivation stage to a satisfactory level, what he said next did.
"So, why don't you tell me how you've already passed into the Martial Warrior stage without anyone teaching you any cultivation techniques, huh, boy?"