“Wanna spar?” Xiuying asks…

… “Good, let’s spar…” And with those words she pulls me along as she makes her way out of the room.

—❈—

“Xiuying, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but don’t you think that this is a little…” I search for a better word than dumb. “Foolhardy?” I settle on finally.

“I’ll be fine,” she says with an exasperated sigh, not even deigning to look my way as she instead scans one of the many training spears in the weapons room adjoining the training yard closely.

Yes, how annoying of me to care about her wellbeing.

Truly, I’m just the worst.

Unable to help myself though, mostly because I would be quite inconvenienced if (or when, with the way things are looking) I accidentally murder her, I say, “Xiuying, I really don’t think this is a good idea. We don’t know by how much my strength has improved, and I haven’t even begun to learn control yet. This is dangerous.”

“Well, no better way to learn than by fighting,” she says, testing out a spear with a few thrusts before setting it back on the rack with an unimpressed frown and picking up another one.

I have no idea what she could possibly be checking them for, seeing as they’re all simple wooden poles with red painted ‘tips’.

Honestly, right now she’s giving off the same vibes as those pretentious guys who go on and on, spouting specs like horsepower and cylinders and whatnot, even though they have little idea of how any of that translates to the real-world performance of a car.

Accepting that I will not be making any headway with her, I turn to my final hope.

“Will you help me talk some sense into her?” I plead.

Meng Yi shoots me a happy, little smile. “I would, Young Master Xian, but unfortunately I’m quite looking forward to you knocking her about for a change.”

Xiuying scoffs. “You wish.”

Meng Yi gives the woman an amused look. “I don’t need to, not unless you went up a rank or two in cultivation while I wasn’t looking.”

Xiuying shoots her a dirty look. “His cultivation may be superior now, but I still have more skill and experience in my left pinkie than he has in all of him,” she says.

Ouch.

Meng Yi raises an eyebrow at the other woman’s claim. “Wasn’t it you who began the Young Master’s first lesson by telling him no amount of skill will save him from an opponent with a superior cultivation?”

“Guess I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Xiuying says, and this time, it’s Meng Yi’s turn to scoff.

“What tricks?” she asks rhetorically. “You’re a sledgehammer. You do one thing.”

“Maybe,” Xiuying agrees easily, a smirk forming on her lips. “But I do it really fucking well.”

As though to punctuate her point, Xiuying flashes through a series of crisp thrusts with her practise spear, ending with a powerful, downward slash and a cool pose.

Meng Yi claps so sarcastically that the singular act could be a masterclass on sass. “Very impressive,” she says, looking not the least bit impressed. “For your sake though, I hope you can take a beating as well as you pose.”

Xiuying makes a rude gesture at her.

I, meanwhile, sigh. “You remember you’re supposed to be talking her out of this, right?” I ask Meng Yi. “Not goading her with trash talk.”

“My apologies, Young Master,” she says, neither sounding nor looking the least bit apologetic.

I sigh again.

Xiuying flicks the tip of yet another spear with a finger, then frowns unsatisfactorily to herself. “Why are they all so subpar?” she mutters, irritated.

“Of course, because the quality of the spears is definitely the problem,” Meng Yi says, rolling her eyes so hard that her head moves along.

Xiuying’s expression sours.

“Enough talk,” she says, spinning on her heels and storming out to the training yard in a manner that practically demands we follow. “Let’s do this.”

Looking positively giddy, Meng Yi follows her eagerly, grabbing my hand to pull me along, and effectively countering my plan to stand rooted to that very spot.

Outside now, Xiuying takes a combat stance, looking more serious than it feels like I’ve ever seen her.

“Don’t hold back,” she says, and before I can even acknowledge the request, she charges.

When I’d told Xiuying to train me, what feels like so long ago now, I’d told her not to go easy on me.

She’d taken my request seriously, and every time since, having her come at me has always felt like a genuine attempt on my life.

It hadn’t been, of course, but with her blistering speed, near overwhelming strength, and oppressive presence, it had felt it.

What I feel now, is amazement, because, for the first time ever, Xiuying is coming at me with nothing held back, nothing reserved, and yet, she is just… so… slow.

Her spear stabs at my face, coming at me almost like a slow-motion scene in a movie. I bat it aside.

Xiuying recovers instantly, flowing with the motion and sending a kick at my face.

I catch her foot.

She reacts immediately to that too, kicking at my knee with her other leg, her reaction so instant that I don’t even notice her doing it until it’s too late to dodge.

I wince an instant before the hit connects, expecting my knee to snap gruesomely, but instead all that happens is a brief flash of pain and the jolt of my body absorbing all that momentum.

What the hell?

With one foot in my hand and the other against my knee, Xiuying is airborne, but somehow, she generates enough force to spin and throw me clean off the ground.

I recover easily from the toss, rotating midair and landing on my feet, only to find Xiuying already charging at me, spear at the ready.

This time, when she stabs at me, I grab the spear, fully intending to throw her with her tight grip on it.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

To my surprise though, Xiuying let’s go, leaving me to fumble as I put all my weight into an act that meets zero resistance, then she kicks me in the back of my right knee, causing my leg to buckle, and slams her palms on both my ears so hard it sounds like a resounding thunderclap.

My vision shuts off for a moment, and even as it does, I feel a solid kick slam into my throat, cutting off my air.

For a minute, I’m in pain, well and truly discombobulated by my wheezing breath and ringing ears.

“Cycle your qi,” Xiuying advises, and I heed it.

The difference is immediate. What, one second ago, felt like significant injuries, rapidly begin to fade away as the sun within my chest flares with a breath.

I suck in a deep, nearly painless breath, massaging my ears as the ringing fades to nothing.

“That’s fast,” I say, pleased but still surprised.

“You’re noble rank, and they’re not qi wounds, so they heal fast,” Xiuying says. “In Qi Realm, even a beast rank will heal from normal wounds so fast they might as well not exist.”

“And what’s the difference between qi wounds and normal ones?”

“Normal wounds are what I just gave you, qi wounds are caused by cultivation techniques. They won’t heal without a qi doctor, or some top-notch cultivation supplements,” Xiuying explains, then her eyes light up with a teasing smirk. “And speaking of wounds, weren’t you talking about giving me some?”

“Never said that,” I deny truthfully. “All the trash talking was done by Meng Yi.”

“Oh, is that the woman over there who looks like she ate a sour plum?” Xiuying asks, pointing at Meng Yi, who does indeed look like she ate something sour.

I fight off a smile. “You know, you can tease if you want, but, I for one, am glad that I still have things to learn from you,” I say honestly.

Xiuying gives me a look. “Well, I’m glad I still have things to teach you,” she says happily. “So, you wanna go again?”

“No. No, I’m… I think I’ve learnt enough for one day,” I say, and Xiuying laughs, looking almost giddy with her win.

Her elation only grows as we approach Meng Yi, the younger woman’s gaze firm on Xiuying’s smirking face.

When we reach her though, her attention immediately shifts to me, and she reaches up, her fingers ghosting over my neck with light touches.

“Are you okay?” she asks, big, brown eyes soft with worry.

I swallow and nod, my throat suddenly feeling a little tight.

“Good,” she says, then her attention turns to Xiuying as a scornful expression settles on her face. “No proper teacher would rejoice in besting her student,” she sneers.

Xiuying’s mouth drops open, and I can see in her eyes as her brain works to come up with a good argument against that only to fail again and again.

Turning to me, a pleasant smile once more gracing her features, Meng Yi says, “Oh, yes, Young Master, there is a small matter I have to discuss with you regarding Magistrate’s Qin’s estate.”

I frown. “What about his estate?”

“His accountants reached out to me two mornings ago, apparently, he left you some property in his will; three hundred thousand gold and a sage rank technique manual.”

Xiuying coughs. “What the fuck!?” she asks, wide-eyed.

I’m more than a little surprised myself. “That sounds like a lot,” I say.

“I guess Magistrate Qin was very grateful,” Meng Yi says, calm as ever.

“Clearly,” I say, a thoughtful frown on my face.

“You will not turn it down,” Meng Yi says firmly, already guessing where my thoughts were heading. “It would be an insult on the Magistrate’s memory.”

I sigh. “Seriously? I already cultivated with the man’s corpse, taking anything else from him just feels wrong.”

“You are not taking, Young Master,” Meng Yi says. “It is a gift, given of gratitude. Take it in the spirit it is given.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, subtly alerting her to the hypocrisy of her words.

Meng Yi’s cheeks pinken. “This isn’t about me,” she says, and I laugh.

“Okay,” I’ll take it,” I say.

“Good,” Meng Yi says. “I’ll write them. In the meantime, you need a bath and a good meal.”

“I do, don’t I?”

“Oh, and Young Master Xian, congratulations on your advancement.”

—❈—

Three hours later, bathed and fed, I sit with Meng Yi and Xiuying (who’d been invited to stay for breakfast and just hung around after that) in one of my many parlours as Magistrate Qin’s accountants come to deliver my… inheritance, I guess.

The first thing I notice about the three accountants are their cultivation levels, two peasant ranks and all three in the Sprouting phase.

It makes sense, I suppose, since, Meng Yi had explained the accountants of this world to me, and apparently, it’s more or less a blanket term for people who handle, invest, protect, or in any way, shape, or form, are involved with cultivators’ wealth. Be it money, or other precious items.

No cultivator worth the name would trust anyone but a cultivator with anything of theirs.

The three cultivators bow to me as one.

“Young Master Xian, we of the Greater Wealth Company congratulate you on your advancement,” they intone.

“Thanks,” I say back, smiling perfunctorily.

Manners satisfied, the strongest cultivator among them, sitting comfortably in the second layer of Sprouting phase, speaks. “As per your request, we have brought this.” He gestures, and the only woman, and the only beast rank cultivator of the three, carries a small, fancy box forward, and sets it on the table before me.

The cultivator who’d spoken, reaches forward and opens the box with a touch, then settles back into his seat.

Meng Yi lifts the lid of the box, and the qi of the technique manual leaks out into the room.

She picks up the book and hands it to me, and I make a noise of amused surprise when I read the silver words on the golden cover, Surefooted Steps of the Keen Tiger Technique.

I hold up the book to Xiuying, finding it rather interesting that it too is tiger related like her cultivation method, only to find an expression of intense want on her face.

She notices me looking at her after a moment, and her eyes widen in surprise then embarrassment. Then she looks away, gaze fastidiously trained on the far corner.

Right. I really should have thought about how it would feel for her to see this, shouldn’t I?

I mean, imagine working your whole life for something, and then watching as it’s just handed to some rich scion who literally doesn’t need it.

Most people in her shoes, would probably shank me in my sleep and steal the damn thing, for sure.

“As for the gold, Young Master Xian would prefer if you moved it into his account,” Meng Yi says, smoothly pulling the focus of the room from the little byplay between Xiuying and I.

“Understood, Manager Meng.”

I blink at that. “Wait, I have an account? With them?”

“Yes,” Meng Yi says.

Well, that’s news to me.

I lean in close and whisper to her. “I thought all my money was the gold in the vault room?”

Meng Yi whispers back. “It isn’t.”

I blink again. Digesting that for a moment.

“How much money do I have?” I ask finally.

“A lot,” Meng Yi answers.

“Huh. Uh… Okay,” I say, for lack of anything else.

“If we are needed for nothing else…” the strongest cultivator says leadingly, and Meng Yi looks to me.

I shrug.

“No, nothing else,” Meng Yi says.

The accountants bow, then swiftly but without truly rushing, make their exit.

With them gone, my focus returns to the technique manual in my hand, and I finally get on with the reason why Meng Yi and I had asked them to bring it over in the first place.

1 – 500 (Beast Rank)

501 – 800 (Peasant Rank)

801 – 950 (Sage Rank)

951 – 999 (Noble Rank)

1000 (Divine Rank)

Roll: Yes || No

Yes.

Rolling…

562 (Peasant Rank)

Reward: NIL

I tsk in disappointment.

Meng Yi looks at me, asking with her eyes, and I shake my head.

She doesn’t look particularly bothered by the failed roll. I suppose I’m not either, if I’m being honest. I don’t exactly need a technique personally, and Meng Yi will have to have a method first before we can worry about techniques for—

“I should be going,” Xiuying says, rising. “Thanks for the meal.”

She begins to rush out, and it’s only my calling her name that halts her in her tracks.

I hold out the manual to her as she turns.

Xiuying’s gaze pinpoints on the extended book, every muscle on her body locked like she’s trying to physically restrain the hope I can see in her eyes as she raises her gaze to meet mine.

“W-what are you…?”

“You can use this, right?” I ask.

“She can,” Meng Yi answers for Xiuying. “It’ll be strenuous for her cultivation, but a single rank difference isn’t insurmountable.”

“Good.”

Meng Yi has already told me once before, that using items meant for one rank above yours was taxing but doable, as long as one didn’t make a habit of it. Just needed to confirm.

Rising to my feet, I walk to Xiuying, then I reach for one of her hands and place the book on it gently.

She looks at the manual, then at me.

“Qigang,” she swallows. “Do you understand what you’re giving me?” she asks.

“I already have three techniques,” I say, “and Meng Yi’s going to be a spider woman whether she likes it or not. You, on the other hand, literally have a tiger method. This is fate, if I’ve ever seen it.”

Meng Yi walks up to us, the fancy box the accountants had brought the manual in held out to Xiuying.

“Don’t fight it,” she says to the stunned soldier. “Trust me, it’s easier that way.”

It takes her a minute, but finally, Xiuying gingerly puts the book inside the box and seals it with her qi, marking her as its new owner.

She looks at me then, expression so intense it scares me a little.

“I will repay this with my life,” she says, meaning every word. And before I can reply to that, she rushes out of the room, the door closing gently behind her.