Half-lotus pose. Sit up straight. Make sure that the qi flows properly, or the consequences might be deadly.

Breathe in. Visualise your internal structure. Anatomy knowledge is key. To misunderstand but a single organ is enough to create a clot or spawn a new illness.

Xin was sitting in Jia Li's garden, this time completely undisturbed. He had a cushion now, and his ribs were covered in wet dirt. Today, he ate a lot of salt, to hold the water element, coupled with a bunch of raw carrots, freshly picked. All to feed the metal element.

This process used the basic understanding of Wuxing alchemy, yet it was the execution that would be a true test of knowledge.

Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. In. In. Out. In. In. In. Out.

Focus the qi on your fingertips. Resonance Palm. Produce metal qi, then dissolve it. Eat a spirit stone. Expensive, but necessary.

Xin touched his ribs, such an injury wasn't deadly, but would take several weeks to heal properly. Can't afford that, I've got to train. He rubbed the dirt around the wound, and then his firm finger pressed into his ribs, injecting the dissolving metal qi.

As he performed the procedure, Xin visualised a hieroglyph "Firm". Reinforcement.

There was a small delay, and Xin was anxious that he failed, but then his ribs were pierced by a sudden burst of pain. The young hunter managed to restrain his impulse to breathe in.

Need to hold the structure. The qi was trying to distribute evenly in his body, flow down the meridians, and holding it in his ribs caused a lot of pain and mental strain, not even speaking about struggling for breath.

The qi pulsated and pulsated, until it lost resonance and settled in his ribs. He touched them, and he felt even more pain than he used to, but they were also mended, and firm to the touch.

Thank the ancestors, thought Xin. Being trained from a young age, and belonging to a decent enough bloodline, even if hindered by the dual qi nature, is a huge advantage. Still, Xin couldn't help but envy those that trained in clans or sects with powerful resources. Many of his less talented or hard working peers were already rank one, and could dispatch mortals with relative ease. He used to beat those people in martial arts tournaments, but now he was beneath them, it was quite humiliating.

Xin, on the other hand, had a few cheap tricks. His Resonance Palms, his ability to manipulate his body in minor ways athletically and in healing (although he wasn't very experienced in this, as he was seldom injured), some hunting tricks — all of these were useful, but could hardly elevate him above an exceptional mortal.

Xin's biggest advantage over others were his sharp senses. His natural senses were already pretty sharp, but he also trained to infuse them with qi, rivalling many rank ones in this aspect. If one was to count how many times each of Xin's skills or techniques helped him out, his perception would beat all the other abilities, combined.

By the end of the procedure, the ribs were firm, but not healed fully. Tomorrow, he would need to perform another procedure, but using the wood element. And today, Xin chose to focus on resting.

Everybody was busy with their own work, and Xin could barely exchange a few phrases with some safehouse residents. The hunter was quite stressed out, he felt alien among these people and they probably felt similarly about him. Nothing to read, nothing to do, no way to train. Too irritated to meditate.

Humiliation inflicted by Lei still stung, and the fact that he didn't even tell anyone about beating him felt patronising. Fuck this guy. But also my fault for underestimating him. He is right, I made an incorrect judgement about him based on the yaoguai incident. He displayed so much martial spirit and resilience in that fight, and I concluded him to be a weakling? And I am clearly out of shape, I lost my sharpness in the last two years.

The girl. What's wrong with her, acting so strange around me? All caring but also acts like I am some sort of weirdo. Am I?

Xin had a strong urge to stand up and leave, and so he did. He dressed up, grabbed a pouch with coins and an empty bag and went shopping.

There was a faint fantasy of breaking through to Foundation Stage before the tryouts, but given his conflicting nature and lack of a proper breakthrough location, it wasn't a realistic goal.

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Xin previously asked for directions in the safehouse, so he knew where to go.

"Reinforcement materials. Clothing. Materials. Clothing." He kept mumbling this item list under his nose as he walked through the crowd, admiring the view around him. So many drinking places, gambling dens, elite establishments, small martial arts schools, trade pavilions, bathhouses, it was enough to make one's head spin!

Fifteen minutes later, Xin stumbled at a weapon shop, and started admiring the mannequins inside, dressed in beautifully decorated armour. He felt his heart melt.

"Gu Dao's armoury", the shop sign said. Some of these armours were even made of enchanted materials! The weapon stand had a giant cleaver, some sort of foreign halberd, twin daggers with beautiful ornamental guards...

"Please come in, customer. It's rude to peek like that, hehe." He heard a voice call out from inside the shop.

And so he entered, and saw a tall, thin man, with tanned skin and long arms, wearing multi-layered golden armlets.

"I... I am not buying. I was just walking by and was mesmerised."

"I see. I often get kids coming here, they love to stare and imagine themselves wearing and carrying my treasures, being a hero to save the day, you know the thing. Their gazes are innocent and endearing, but also shallow. Are you like them?"

"I used to be such a kid, but when the moment came, I chose to survive instead." He suddenly blurted out.

"A wild guess, Tealstone?"

Xin nodded.

"They say the boar retreated, the beast tide is on the run and the frontier is reclaimed. Still, the survivors are not many in numbers. My condolences. The herald would announce this by the evening, but I already know." The trader clearly looked proud of being the person people share rumours with.

"I see. Who shops here, then?"

The tradesman raised his eyebrow. He expected a more vivid reaction to the rumour he shared.

"The soldiers, mostly. What you see here on the stands is for the nobles, we have a bigger, mundane armoury on the second floor."

"Wouldn't it be more convenient to have simple goods on display on the ground floor? For visibility. You deter many potential buyers."

"You just came in, big eyes wide open and saliva leaking, half-chub in your pants! And you are already teaching me how to do business, kid? What's your name?"

"Xin."

"Just Xin? Any surname? No? I see. I am Gu Dao, you could probably tell. Listen, I sell one of these armors, enchanted and made out of rare materials, with this sort of craftsmanship — and I outsell two years of drunk mercenaries looking for a new polearm. Use your brain."

"Forgive me, master, I might have provoked you so that you explain more about your business. I have a bad habit that I am not very mindful of." What? No, I actually just blurted something out to be a smartass.

"Haha, you are a funny guy. Sadly, you've got nothing to do on the first floor, let's go upstairs."

"But I wasn't going to buy anything..."

"Yes, I can see that you are here to spy. Let's go."

"Aren't you afraid of the thieves? We seem alone here, and your shop's door is wide open."

"Ha, what a kid. I won't spoonfeed you this one. Let's go."

Thirty minutes later, Xin was walking towards the safehouse, his money pouch empty.

He wore a decently made traditional scale mail shirt, with sizeable shoulderguards, but shortened below the waist, and a capped open-face helmet, adorned with a black "horse tail" on top. The helmet was scratched here and there, but was well polished, and, reinforced with leather lining, it looked pretty reliable.

The young man walked through the same crowd, yet he could feel the perception of him change. Some people nodded respectfully, some bowed, and some stared at him with a competing gaze, sizing him up. He could feel his new look bolster his inner confidence, allowing him to walk with his shoulders spread, even as a dull ache still lingered in his ribs.

Yet the true treasure in Xin's eyes was a guandao polearm he was carrying. It had a long wooden shaft, with a beautiful crescent blade curving on top of it. It had a little guard just below the blade, which could serve as a blunt weapon if the enemy got too close, and the other side of the blade had a spike to injure the opponent as you pulled them. And the other end of the glaive was also spiked! So many options! And it looked so majestic, so beautiful, so heroic! Xin was delighted.

Xin had to trade two of his pills and all of his savings for this equipment, but he was sure he struck a good deal.

Xin walked into the safehouse as if he was drunk. Everyone was playing some sort of gambling game with dice and chips, but they froze up when he entered.

"Oi, you spooked me, thought it's a city guard until I noticed that childish face, ha! Nice getup, chump!" Cha Dai was stingy as always, but Xin now knew it was his way of being friendly without exposing himself too much.

"Thanks, man. Where's Lei?"

"Working. Thought you are injured, but you go around and shop? Are you rich?"

"No, I just know how to bargain well."

"That stuff used? How much did it cost ya?"

No matter what I answer, he'll claim I was ripped off. Not giving him the pleasure.

"Doesn't matter, I'll go rest, have a nice game, guys. I'll come out for dinner."

"You for real? Just like that? Rude kid."

Xin went back into his room, took his armour off and tried taking a restorative nap, but the sleep just wouldn't come, so he thought about his situation instead.

I have a cool weapon, a decent armour, a great crossbow, a magical bracer and some cultivation materials. Nice. But also no money and no spirit stones. Not nice at all, the safehouse will probably stop hosting me soon.

Xin also touched his chest pocket. The wooden figurine, the totem. It clearly has powers, but I have no idea how to activate them. It's supposed to communicate with the user somehow, yet it seems "asleep"?

Xin tried rubbing it, putting it in water or even squeezing some blood from a piece of meat on it, sucking on it and injecting it with small doses of qi. No reaction. If it wasn't found in the tiger's intestines, Xin would dismiss it as a simple trinket.

One more thing that bothered him was Lei. He is my friend and all that, but if I overcome him in cultivation, will he resent me?