Divine Tang Era

"Hey, there's a golden kidney tree over there."

"Where?"

"there."

"Let's go, let's go over there."

The Golden Kidney grows on steep, rocky mountains. Its leaves have golden netting, and its flowers are decorated with five kinds of precious flowers. There are five kinds: the first kind has golden flowers and is called Golden Golden Kidney; the second kind has snow-white flowers and is called Silver Golden Kidney; the third kind has bright red flowers and is called Bronze Golden Kidney; the fourth kind has sky blue flowers and is called Iron Golden Kidney; and the fifth kind has flowers and leaves of the same color and is called Back Golden Kidney.

Golden kidneys are bitter and cool in nature. Small ones can relieve heat and pain, while large ones can be used to refine precious elixirs.

Of course, Xu Dan and his team only picked ordinary kidney beans this time, but they can still sell for a lot of money.

"roar"

After gathering the herbs, Xu Dan and the others were about to continue their journey when a beast's roar suddenly came from behind them, followed by Lu Shizong's call for the martial arts school disciples to return. Xu Dan and the others had no choice but to turn back and head in the direction from which the sound came.

In the forest where the Crimson Fire Fox was killed earlier, a Black Gold Leopard was pinned to the ground by a martial arts master, roaring defiantly.

"Now let's continue the trial. Situ Lao, step forward," Lu Shizong called out from the side.

Situ Laozhi walked out from the group of martial arts school disciples and looked nervously at Wujinbao, who was being held down.

The martial arts instructor released his grip, and Wujinbao darted like an arrow into the woods to the left, only to be struck back by the instructor who was guarding the area. Seeing that this spot was no longer suitable, Wujinbao changed direction and darted into the woods to the right, only to be struck back again.

After being repeatedly hit, Wujinbao became extremely angry and charged forward suddenly.

Situ Laozhi thought it was coming and was being cautious, but to his surprise, the black leopard turned around after only a few steps and ran wildly into the woods behind it. But as soon as it entered the woods, it was slapped back by the martial arts school senior brother who was guarding the back with his sword sheath.

After being hit time and time again, Wujinbao became completely enraged and charged forward in a fit of rage.

Situ Laozhi met the attack head-on, unleashing his Demon-Subduing Fist, the sound of which boomed and the intent of his fist poured forth.

"roar"

The black leopard roared fiercely, its eyes flashing with blood-red light, and it leaped forward with lightning speed. Situ Laozhi's vision blurred, and he lost sight of the black leopard. Suddenly, a sound rang in his ears; turning his head, he saw the black leopard opening its mouth to bite.

A hideous face, blood-red eyes, and a foul stench—all these things came into view.

He quickly crossed his fists and held them in front of him.

"Bang!"

Situ Laozhi didn't get attacked by the black leopard. He opened his eyes at the sound and saw the leopard being knocked back to its original position by his senior brother. Having escaped being bitten, Situ Laozhi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken. However, this meant he lost his chance to try. He retreated into the group, and the next martial arts school disciple stepped forward at Lu Shizong's call.

The remaining disciples stepped forward one by one.

But the Black Gold Leopard was incredibly fast; some disciples hadn't even reacted before it was already in front of them.

If Lu Shizong hadn't been there to protect them, many people would probably have been bitten or killed.

Lu Shizong and his martial arts school senior shook their heads repeatedly, but there was nothing they could do. The Crimson Fire Fox had just been killed, and they couldn't find a suitable replacement, so they had to temporarily find this ninth-grade demon beast to make do. The Black Gold Leopard was known for its speed, and when it lurked in the forest at night, no one could rival it, hence its reputation as the "King of the Night" and the "Killer of the Jungle."

This black leopard may only be a ninth-rank beast, but in terms of speed, even an eighth-rank demon beast can't keep up, let alone a martial arts school disciple.

Watching the martial arts school disciples retreat one after another, Lu Shizong sighed. But there was nothing he could do; this was the only way.

Back in the city, Xu Dan processed the herbs he had collected and gave them to He Rong.

He discovered that the price he received from selling the herbs to him was roughly the same as the price he received from selling them to others, and it was also simpler to sell them to him, as he didn't have to take them elsewhere to sell. This period of traveling out of the city with the Mo Clan Martial Arts School allowed him to gather herbs to sell for money and also to participate in trials—a win-win situation.

Many disciples who had collected the herbs were overjoyed and couldn't wait for the Mo Clan Martial Arts School activities to continue.

Unfortunately, it won't be available tomorrow.

Xu Dan didn't have much to regret, since the event didn't help him much anyway, and he didn't earn as much as he would from a trip into the wilderness. It was just that it was more lively when everyone was doing the event together, and he felt a little lonely by himself.

For dinner, I filled my stomach with monster meat.

If I can't digest this monster meat, I'll have trouble sleeping at night.

So Xu Dan stood in the courtyard, raised the Crimson Flame Giant Shield, and began to breathe in and out while circulating the Qi-Sealing Furnace Technique.

The essence of the demonic beasts was continuously refined into blood and qi, surging into the golden cauldron phantom located in the center of his body, and the cauldron slowly solidified. The next moment, with a loud boom, another golden cauldron condensed. At this point, Xu Dan had a total of six golden cauldrons within his body, and with a force of six thousand jin, the giant shield he held in his hand inevitably rose a little higher.

I've been going out of town for training with the Mo Clan Martial Arts School lately, and I've completely forgotten to ask Dong Yeyu to make me a bicycle.

So I went to find him early the next morning, and he happened to be there.

Dongye Yu looked at the drawings Xu Dan had made, thought for a moment, and said, "This is simple. Give me a few days, and I'll definitely get it done for you."

Thanks.

"You are welcome."

Leaving the government compound, Xu Dan entered the Mo Clan Martial Arts School and walked to the teaching building. Upon entering, Xu Dan noticed that there were far fewer people; Wan Zhen, Liu Xuan, and Fan Meng were not among them. After the trials, the outer disciples could graduate. If they wished to continue practicing martial arts, they could enter the inner courtyard; if not, they could fend for themselves or have the martial arts school arrange their future.

Wanzhen's family was large and they couldn't afford to support his martial arts training, so he had to go out and work.

Liu Xuan felt he wasn't cut out for martial arts, so he decided to learn how to manage a restaurant.

Fan Meng was tall and strong, making him suited for heavy weapons. However, the Mo Clan Martial Arts School used the Demon-Slaying Fist to strengthen the body during the foundation-building stage, and later taught swordsmanship. Fan Meng was not a good fit, so he went elsewhere to learn martial arts.

Seeing that most of the people had arrived, Lu Shizong led them inside.

It was the same place where we last met the master. Looking at the strong, robust, and spirited martial arts disciples, the master nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good, good, good, all fine young men of my Divine Tang. From now on, when you practice swordsmanship, you must remember: practice the sword, practice the mind; practice the mind, practice virtue. Without virtue, you cannot control the mind; without the mind, you cannot control the sword. If you only value swordsmanship and neglect virtue, you will eventually become a slave to the sword."

"Yes," the martial arts school disciples replied in unison.

"Shizong, distribute the items."

Following the academy master's instructions, Lu Shizong distributed the two booklets and swords that had been prepared beforehand to everyone. Some people received them and eagerly began to read them; some remained calm and simply held them in their hands; and some, though not reading them, were absent-minded.

"These two booklets are a sword manual for beginners on the dangerous sword technique and an internal energy cultivation method for beginners of the Mo family. As for the sword, it is a beginner's sword given to you by the martial arts school, which is slightly better than those sold on the market."

After the curator finished speaking, he paused, then added:

"When practicing swordsmanship and martial arts, the most important thing is internal energy cultivation. The sword is like a fist, and internal energy is like strength. Without strength, there is no fist; without internal energy, there is no sword. So go back and remember to diligently cultivate your internal energy, don't just focus on practicing sword techniques. Without internal energy, even the best swordsmanship is useless, understand?"

"We understand," the disciples replied.

"Alright, go practice your swordsmanship with your senior brother!" The master waved his hand.

Lu Shizong then led the martial arts school disciples out.

Upon entering the inner courtyard, the training area was no longer the same courtyard where they had learned the Demon-Slaying Fist. Lu Shizong led them through a side gate to a secluded courtyard and began teaching them the Dingwei Sword Technique. The Dingwei Sword Technique was an introductory sword technique, not complicated, just a combination of basic moves.

Those who are able to enter the inner courtyard to continue practicing martial arts all have a passion in their hearts and are also a bit smarter than ordinary people.

Lu Shizong practiced twice and had almost memorized everything. He would go back and look at the sword manual for the parts he hadn't memorized and come back to learn them tomorrow.

Next, Lu Shizong continued to teach them the internal energy cultivation method. The method was not complicated; it was simply based on the human body's meridians that he had taught them recently, focusing on how to gather and practice qi, and how to circulate qi to impact acupoints and meridians.

Xu Dan flipped through the internal energy cultivation manual, a helpless bitter smile on his face.

While gathering and practicing Qi is fine, circulating Qi to impact acupoints is impossible.

It seems there's no need to come to the martial arts school so often anymore, because the sword techniques there are all based on internal energy to be effective; without internal energy, practicing swordsmanship is useless.

Xu Dan originally wanted to practice some more, but now it seems he doesn't need to.