Chapter 223: Liu Fu's First Half of Life

Bi Jie followed Yan Jing into the room.

For some reason, the windows had been covered with kraft paper. The room was dim, and even the air inside felt a few degrees colder.

"County Magistrate Luo called me in to ask...?"

Bi Jie voiced his uncertainty.

"It is nothing major, really."

Yan Jing smiled.

"I just wanted to ask a few things about Master Liu."

"About Liu Fu?"

Bi Jie's eyes widened. Sensing trouble, he immediately turned to leave.

But Yan Jing's leisurely voice drifted over from behind.

"The competition begins tomorrow. Lord Bi and I must support each other. If one of us were to encounter a genuine accident, the other wouldn't just stand by and watch him die, right?"

...

Bi Jie pulled a long face and turned back around.

He made up his mind. The moment the Prohibited Item's effect ended, even if he had to fight one against two, he would teach this brat a lesson!

But for now...

He forced a chuckle.

"What does County Magistrate Luo wish to know?"

"I heard Lord Bi and Master Liu are old friends, so I wanted to ask about his past."

Yan Jing smiled.

"He never mentioned it to you?"

Bi Jie blinked.

"I just want to hear your version of events."

Yan Jing did not confirm or deny it.

Truthfully, he had no idea if the Old Man had ever discussed his past with Eldest Young Master Luo before coming to Bianliu County.

To max out that Loyalty Level, understanding the Old Man's past was absolutely necessary.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Start with what you know."

...

Bi Jie thought for a moment before speaking.

"There are some things I promised him I wouldn't share, so I will only tell you what I can. As for the rest, you can ask him yourself."

"I appreciate it," Yan Jing said.

Bi Jie cleared his throat.

"The twelve lake prefectures of Minhu each have their own distinct characteristics. Among them, Third Lake Prefecture has been famous for its transport docks since the Imperial Era. With an endless stream of merchants and sailors passing through, it boasts the largest transient population of all twelve prefectures."

"But few know that Third Lake Prefecture has also been a military garrison since ancient times. The martial tradition runs deep there. Even today, it hosts martial arts gyms for various body cultivator sects. It is a gathering place for countless experts, which gave rise to the Martial Guild."

"Commerce and martial arts relied on each other—that was the unique charm of the prefecture. A century ago, when the martial tradition was at its peak, the prefecture reached its zenith. Any sort of prosperity you can imagine could be found there."

"But now, it has ultimately fallen into decline."

"What caused the decline?"

Yan Jing asked.

"Because the Martial Dao declined."

Bi Jie sighed with deep emotion.

"I was born in Third Lake Prefecture. When I was a child, it had already begun going downhill. It only maintained a facade of prosperity because it remained a crucial chokepoint for cargo transport."

"The wealth cultivators propped up that final facade, dressing up Third Lake Prefecture to look as though it hadn't yet decayed. But in reality..." He paused, his eyes flickering.

"Its roots had long since rotted away."

"Has Young Master Luo ever seen Martial Cultivation?"

Yan Jing shook his head. "I have no impression of it."

"That is correct, because Martial Cultivation simply doesn't exist in this world."

Bi Jie continued, "Among martial artists, there are fist cultivators, leg cultivators, saber cultivators, and sword cultivators—and each type of practitioner even has subdivided schools. Martial artists are naturally different from officials like us. While we prioritize building a broad network of connections, they believe that mastering one leads to comprehending all. First and foremost, they must perfect a single art."

"As for Martial Cultivation, it is merely a legend."

"If a martial artist could somehow master a hundred different martial arts, they could be said to have attained Martial Cultivation and become the number one figure in Third Lake Prefecture."

"Using this as a pretext, Third Lake Prefecture recruited martial artists from all over the world, hosted grand martial arts tournaments, opened martial arts gyms, and took in countless apprentices."

Yan Jing found this quite fascinating.

"Are you saying that in hundreds of years, no one has ever achieved Martial Cultivation?"

"Never."

Bi Jie said with absolute certainty.

"After hundreds of years, didn't anyone see through this scheme?"

"Everyone saw through it."

"Then why did it continue?"

"Because so-called Martial Cultivation was just a pretext." Bi Jie's voice was low and forceful.

"With the title of Martial Cultivation as a lure, martial arts gyms recruited endlessly. Politicians boasted of outstanding achievements, and merchants hosted massive tournaments. They gained fame and laundered money, while the children from poor families just wanted to earn a bite to eat."

"Put that way, this 'Martial Cultivation' was actually a good thing."

Yan Jing nodded.

"A tremendously good thing."

Bi Jie paused.

"For both the business and political worlds, that is."

He paused again before adding, "And for those who had no true love for the martial arts as well."

Yan Jing understood his meaning.

"In other words, it wasn't a good thing for those who truly loved the martial arts."

"It definitely wasn't," Bi Jie answered decisively.

"How so?"

"Because with the title of Martial Cultivation, the gyms could hold back their true teachings. Using excuses like 'mastering one leads to comprehending all' and 'biting off more than one can chew,' they hid their core inheritances. A famous master would pass on his true arts to at most two people in his entire life, claiming that to achieve Martial Cultivation, one must undergo thousands of trials and gather the strengths of a hundred schools."

"Now do you understand how the Martial Dao fell into decline?"

Yan Jing nodded.

"I get it. Achieving Martial Cultivation isn't something a normal person can do."

"It absolutely fucking isn't!" Bi Jie fiercely agreed, growing so agitated that he slammed a hand hard against the table.

"Tell me, if it were you, would you try to pursue Martial Cultivation?"

"No."

"If it were a normal person, would they try to pursue Martial Cultivation?"

"They wouldn't."

"So anyone clamoring to achieve Martial Cultivation, aside from naive children, is nothing but a madman!"

When Bi Jie finished, Yan Jing knew exactly who this madman was.

"So this madman insisted on achieving Martial Cultivation, single-handedly challenged sixteen martial arts gyms in Third Lake Prefecture, and was eventually driven out when they united against him?"

Bi Jie raised an eyebrow.

"He really did tell you."

"But not the whole story."

"The actual events were far more complicated than that."

"I'd love to hear the details," Yan Jing said, cupping his hands in a polite gesture.

Bi Jie hesitated for a moment. "I'll tell you what I can."

"At the time, that madman was forty-one—slightly older than I am now, though not by much. But unlike someone like me who has sat around in rooms until I've gone soft, as a cultivator, he was at the absolute peak of both martial skill and physical vitality."

"Since childhood, he was hailed as a peerless genius. He told me he was born in a rundown village next to a small county town, which was next to a large city by a great river. He claimed he had no father or mother and was picked up by his master, who brought him back to Third Lake Prefecture. Seeing his potential for the martial arts, his master started training him."

"Out of the thousands upon thousands of martial cultivators, he just had to choose the path of a body cultivator."

"What is a body cultivator? Only someone who tempers their entire body from top to bottom can be called one. Think about it—what is the main drawback of such a cultivator?"

"It takes too much time?" Yan Jing asked.

"It takes too much money!" Bi Jie smacked the table again. "That's why I say that madman was crazy from the start!"

"Where would he get the money? Yet he bought into his master's nonsense, believing he had great talent that shouldn't be wasted, and decided to take the hardest path. He didn't even stop to consider if his master actually meant it. Wasn't it just a lie to trick a kid?"

"So, ignoring his master's attempts to dissuade him, he became a body cultivator. Since he had no money, he sought out various ancient texts. As the saying goes, the Heavenly Dao does not hide its secrets, and one method connects to ten thousand methods. A single martial art might have a thousand ways to practice it. Take a guess at how he made his choices."

Yan Jing didn't reply, having already guessed what the man had done.

"He learned whichever one required the fewest tonics!"

As Bi Jie spoke, he worked himself into a fit of anger. He raised a hand and brought it down in another resounding slap against the table.

"Keep it down in there! If you break it, you buy it!"

Fei Yu's voice drifted in from outside the door, passing along a covert signal to let them know they were being too loud.

Bi Jie finally snapped out of it and lowered his voice.

"A kid just a few years old thought he was a martial arts prodigy, grabbed a few ancient texts, and trained blindly. But in the end... who would have thought he'd actually pull it off?"

"Furthermore, his master truly had profound attainments in the Martial Dao. Although it was a minor fist style that couldn't be brought to the grand stage, mastering one leads to comprehending all. Gradually, he far surpassed his peers."

"However, in accordance with his master's orders, he wasn't allowed to make a name for himself before completing his apprenticeship, so he kept a low profile."

"As a result, Third Lake Prefecture remained completely unaware of him."

"According to him, he caught the eye of several of his master's friends who wanted to guide him down their own cultivation paths, but he refused. He insisted on being a body cultivator."

"But this path was simply too difficult. A fist cultivator only trains a pair of fists. He, on the other hand, had to train his legs after his fists, his palms after his legs, his eyes after his palms... And so, he began his martial training at the age of nine, but only reached the First Tier at thirty-one."

"Then, the Second Tier at thirty-two."

"The Third Tier at thirty-five."

"By the time he was forty-one, he was just one step away from the Fourth Tier."

"Don't judge him based on the fact that I'm also in the Fourth Tier. The gap between one Fourth Tier and another can be worlds apart! Let's put it this way: if the Old Man—if that madman was also in the Fourth Tier, two of me wouldn't be able to match one of him. Do you believe that?"

Yan Jing nodded.

Naturally, he believed it.

During the great battle for the county magistrate position, he had seen the Old Man fight one against six. Using just a pair of fists, he hadn't even broken a sweat while suppressing those six until they couldn't even catch their breath.

It had been the same that day at the Lin Estate. A Third Tier who could beat a Fourth Tier bloody in just two strikes spoke volumes.

"On his forty-first birthday, his master called him and his junior brother over, telling him it was time to complete his apprenticeship."

"Not only that, but their sect, Yang Family Dao, was going to make a name for itself alongside his graduation by opening the thirty-seventh martial arts gym in Third Lake Prefecture."

"Therefore, according to the rules of Third Lake Prefecture, which already had thirty-six gyms, he had to single-handedly challenge and defeat eighteen of them."

"The rules of these challenges were complex and varied from gym to gym, but they shared one commonality: neither side could use their cultivation base."

"Just like that, he fought his way through and won against sixteen gyms in a row, breaking a record that had stood in Third Lake Prefecture for decades."

"Just when everyone thought he would clear them all, he lost at the seventeenth gym."

"Not only that, but he was driven out of Third Lake Prefecture and nearly died out there."

"And that is how the story goes."

Bi Jie stopped of his own accord, indicating he had shared all he could.

"As for what happened next, or the specific details within, you can ask him. He will naturally tell you himself."

Having finished, Bi Jie rubbed the hand he had used to smack the table, stood up, and prepared to leave.

"To be honest, Young Master Luo, he and I haven't seen each other in a very long time. But whether it was in the past or now, he brings you up every single time we meet."

"Years ago, he was always telling me, 'What about the young master? What will my Young Master Luo do in the future? If I die one day, how will the young master survive on his own?'"

"These days, he always tells me, 'It's wonderful. The young master has finally grown up. Even if an accident were to happen, the young master could live very well on his own. What do you think of my young master?' In all fairness, Young Master Luo, based on what I have seen these past few days, his words ring true."

"As for tomorrow's competition, I wish both of us the best of luck."