Picking up martial arts.

It was afternoon. After making a scene in the library, Li Ying had told Wang Huo that he needed some time alone. He headed to the shared training ground.

The common training yard was a large area for practicing martial arts, with wooden dummies, stone pillars, and sandbags arranged in various patterns. Many disciples could be seen sparring or exercising, but Li Ying did not come here to train. He came here to attend the basic lessons that the elders gave every day.

Even though Li Ying had studied the basics from books, he still came here to review and apply them. Reading about the fire was different from seeing the fire.

It was the first elder's turn to give the lecture today. All the disciples gathered and sat on the rocky ground under the open sky. It was mostly outer disciples wearing green robes.

First elder Qin Yimu was the most senior in the sect. He had a gentle appearance. He taught the disciples about condensing qi today. Nothing was new to Li Ying, he already knew everything that the first elder was teaching, but this feeling was somewhat refreshing. It had been a long time since Li Ying listened to a lecture instead of giving one.

After the first elder left, all the disciples started chatting with each other. It was casual talk, but Li Ying overheard something intriguing behind him.

It was an inner disciple who was talking and a few outer disciples surrounded him.

"Our sect is organizing expeditions to eliminate the evil cultivators from our territory. It is my master, first elder's turn to lead the expedition for the first time. All the disciples under his guidance, including me, will go hunt the evil cultivators tomorrow." He sounded thrilled, his name was Xue Da. He didn't need to attend the basic lessons, but he still did to impress him master, the first elder.

One of the outer disciples spoke up, "Senior Brother Xue, are you not scared of those evil cultivators? I have heard they are very vicious."

Xue Da scoffed and said, "Who is scared of those despicable evil cultivators, they aren't part of any sect and because of that they can't even learn any proper martial arts."

"Senior brother is courageous." 

"I wish I was as gifted as you." All the outer disciples started flattering him.

It was already evening. Li Ying got up and left.

…

The next morning, Li Ying strolled in the library.

Yesterday, he had caused a huge commotion in the library and today, Shao Li and his group of outer disciples had disappeared.

Everyone was staring at Li Ying. Some were pleased, some were furious and some were amused by yesterday's incident.

Li Ying did not care about all the gazes he was receiving, it was part of the journey to become stronger.

After taking out the jade token, Li Ying infused his qi into it. "Master, you haven't changed your mind, right?"

"Don't fret, I will help you find the best martial arts manual here." a reassuring voice replied.

"Go straight, then turn left…" She gave Li Ying the instructions, Li Ying moved as directed. He walked past many shelves.

"Stop, look here in the first section."

Li Ying stopped and looked at the box on the indicated shelf.

"Pick the third book from the top."

Li Ying picked it. "Heavenly Lightning wave." He muttered as he skimmed through the book and reached the end of it.

"That's it." Li Ying was let down, he continued. "Master this book is incomplete."

"Relax, since I have promised, I will help you complete the rest of it."

"Master, what is so special about this manual?" Li Ying asked.

"Look around you, all the martial arts manuals are trash white grade. You will only waste time if you learn them as they will not be of any use to you in future at all, but that one in your hand is different, it has a potential to be upgraded to upper green grade."

Martial arts grades were divided into white, green, blue and purple. All the grades were further divided into lower, mid and upper stage.

Li Ying looked a bit astonished looking at the treasure in his hand. After a while he said, "Master, if you are so worried about me then why don't you give me the best martial arts yourself."

"Hmph, what's the meaning of your task if I give you everything."

"Master, what is this task about anyways?" Li Ying asked curiously.

"Do you want to use your next year's request?" a playful voice asked.

"No." Li Ying shook his head. He was already somewhat regretting his first year's request. Even if he gets to know the answer, it's not like anything would change. She would still be stingy and not give him any treasures.

Putting the jade token in his robe, Li Ying headed to the rear of the library, where the long rows of bookshelves finally ceased.

There, he spotted a large table with a fat and bald man sitting on a wooden chair behind it. Next to him was a shelf with small doors.

Wang Huo had told Li Ying that this shelf had the elite martial arts manual in them. They were all green grade and only elders and core disciples could access them.

The fat man was absorbed in a book on his table. He was Deng Guiying, the fourth elder and the librarian of the sect. He raised his head when he noticed Li Ying approaching. 

"You are the one who stirred up all that trouble yesterday with that brat Wang Huo." Deng Guiying laughed.

Li Ying bowed respectfully and said, "You were observing, elder?"

"Hmph, nothing in this library escapes my notice." Deng Guiying snorted.

"So you were aware of Shao Li's actions and did not intervene." Li Ying said.

Deng Guiying straightened his back and looked at Li Ying with a serious expression, "What 'actions' are you referring to?"

"He was giving misleading and harmful advice to outer disciples, which would only ruin their cultivation in the long run, yet you turned a blind eye to it." Li Ying replied in his normal tone.

"Hahaha, so you did all that because you knew that. All that demonic cultivator nonsense was just a bullcrap? Hahaha." Deng Guiying laughed loudly.

He continued as his expression turned normal, "It's their own fault that they can't discern good from bad. Sooner or later, they would find out that they were following the wrong path. It would serve them as a lesson. Besides, that attention-seeking brat made the library more lively."

'What kind of librarian are you? You want the library to be noisy rather than quiet.' Li Ying thought to himself.

He decided to change the topic and placed the 'Heavenly Lightning Wave' manual on the table.

"Elder, I would like to borrow this manual."

Deng Guiying glanced at the manual and frowned, "That martial arts is flawed, go choose something else."

"No elder, I want this one."

"You know that you can only borrow one manual every three months, right?"

"Yes elder, I am aware."

Deng Guiying clicked his tongue and said, "Tsk. How many fools have squandered their time on that trash. I should've burned it."

He looked at Li Ying and smiled, "Go take another manual, consider it a gift for entertaining me yesterday."

'First my master and now this old man, they all have such twisted tastes. Can't they concentrate on cultivating?' Li Ying thought to himself but he felt thankful inside.

Li Ying went to the shelves and picked a movement technique. It was called 'Leopard Sprinting Arts'. He came back and showed it to Deng Guiying.

The elder took out a register and asked, "What is your name and the names of the manuals?"

"I am Li Ying elder and the manuals are 'Heavenly Lightning Wave' and 'Leopard Sprinting Arts'."

Deng Guiying looked at the register and wrote, "Li Ying and…'Leopard Sprinting Arts'." He continued, "You can have that other trash for yourself, don't tell anyone."

"Thank You elder." Li Ying bowed and left.

…

Li Ying walked towards the common training yard today as well, but he sensed something was wrong.

There was a large crowd of disciples, all wearing solemn expressions and whispering among themselves. Li Ying squeezed his way through the crowd, trying to catch some words.

"Those evil cultivators, they will pay for this!"

"I heard that Senior brother Xue Da fought valiantly until the end."

"He was a hero, a true disciple of our sect."

"Those wicked bastards must have used some dirty tricks."

"I heard from his Senior brothers who were with him. They said he deviated from the original plan and pursued an evil cultivator alone. The evil cultivator was in a higher realm and lured him into a trap. He was surrounded and killed by a group of enemies."

'So that guy died due to his overconfidence.' Li Ying thought to himself, but he did not voice his opinion. It was better to leave these naive children to their imagination.

There was no class today.

'The elders must be busy dealing with the aftermath of the death of an inner disciple.' Li Ying thought to himself and left the yard.

As Li Ying made his way to his wooden cabin, he spotted Wang Huo standing outside.

"Li Ying, there you are. How are you feeling?" Wang Huo asked.

Li Ying smiled faintly, remembering yesterday's event.

"Senior brother, I feel much better. Thank you for your help."

Wang Huo nodded.

"Good, good. Come on, let's go. Master has summoned all of us."

Li Ying did not ask the reason and followed Wang Huo to their master's residence.

Unlike the disciples who lived in simple cabins, the elders had their own yards, each with a different style and layout.

Su Zhi's yard was one of the largest and most elegant, surrounded by a bamboo fence. Inside, there was a lush garden with various herbs and flowers, and a rocky field where he practiced his cultivation.

At the center of the yard, there was a wooden cottage that looked peaceful and harmonious.

Li Ying saw that Tian Cheng and Xuan Ping, his other senior brothers, were already waiting outside the cottage. They greeted him warmly and smiled at him.

Soon, a figure emerged from the cottage. It was Su Zhi, their master.

Everyone bowed and greeted him. "Greetings, Master."