Simply Trading

When QIn Feng left the Heaven Sword Library, he was clutching all three manuals to his chest as if they were precious treasures that he could not bear to be parted from. Something that made Chen Xing laugh, although the old man did admit that he had felt the same way, when he received his first martial arts techniques himself.

"You are probably eager to head back to your little farm, so that you can look through them and begin practicing at once. But don't forget that you'll need to work on your fields, and get those herbs properly sown. That is your main responsibility, and the penalties for missing that can be quite harsh!"

Qin Feng nodded at the old man's reminder, but his feet still carried him at an excited pace, all the way back to the hut. It was only after he was alone, and had set all three books down that he breathed a little easier.

He had tried to maintain a nonchalant expression as soon as he had his hands on the Jade Tree manual, and flipped it open to look through it. But the moment that he realized that it was not only complete, but had included the White Jade Hands addendum at the end of it, he knew that he wouldn't be able to maintain his composure.

So he had turned back to Chen Xing, and held it up with an expression of glee. "I'll take this one. My grandmother had a Jade Tree ornament once, so this should be alright. It doesn't need me to cut off any of my bits," he joked.

The old man had chuckled at his weak jest, and offered to bring him around the Library. But Qin Feng shook his head at him. "No, I think I had better bring all of these back to my field and look through them carefully. I will need to start training, I think, if I don't want to fall behind. I have only two more years before I reach sixteen, remember?"

So they had left, and Chen Xing managed to tell him a few interesting stories about the places that they passed. Then they were back in the Medicine Gardens, and the old man waved for him to head back.

"You should know the way by now. It has been three days, after all. I'll come to your field in another three days or so, to make sure that you are keeping up with your chores. There has been instances where the disciple gets too caught up training, and ignores his duties. I hope that doesn't happen to you," he warned sternly.

Qin Feng, naturally, assured the old man that he would not neglect what he was supposed to do. And breathed a sigh of relief as soon as Chen Xing was gone. Only then did he pick up the pace, and hurried back to his own field, and his own little hut.

So he had three days, he told himself, as he looked over the fields that had largely been dealt with. The rocks that had fallen into the parts that were to be tilled had already been removed. And most of them were now piled up against the walls on the outside of the hut, to make it a little more secure.

The rest of them had been used to craft a simple stairwell, no more than six steps deep, that led down into the cave with the half-hidden pond behind the same hovel. That was where the puppet was sited now, and it was obscure enough that no one should be able to detect it.

And it was close enough to the hut so that it should be no difficulty to send his consciousness across that distance, if he really had to. Or to summon the puppet to his aid, if he was actually attacked, there in his medicine herbs farm.

As for the wild grass covering the fields, there was already about a third of it cleared up. So he could start planting, if he wished. It would make for a good story, that he was making the most of his time. As for the remaining two-thirds, he would deal with that after Chen Xing had taken a look. After all, he should not have any trouble meeting the requirements set, if he stuck to this pace, would he?

Once inside the hut itself, he quickly put down the other books, and brought the Jade Tree manual back over to the doorway. He had not had a chance to get his hands on any reading candles yet, so he would have to depend on the moonlight for his light. Fortunately, it was bright enough for him to read by, so he could satisfy his curiosity at once.

The book, once he started, was rather easy to understand. As if it was written for someone that was younger, or far less experienced, than he was. Which more or less matched up with the sort of young child of ten or twelve, who was just beginning on his path to becoming a martial artist. Of course, he was a little behind, since he was starting close to two years later, at fourteen.

Still, it did not take him too long to finish the ten pages of text, which described what he was supposed to do, and how he was supposed to draw in the energies of the world with each inhalation, and to channel the same into his core, which was supposed to be in his dantian.

There were ten diagrams, that showed the location of the dantian and the approximate locations of the major meridians in the human body, for his reference. And it went on to describe the actual process itself, and how he would know when he had managed to form a Foundation that was firm enough to allow for further cultivation of his inner qi.

Which, to tell the truth, he had already some understanding of, since he had already spoken to Old Man Snow Mountain about this same topic, back in the day. If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't have a powerful martial arts that was suitable for Qin Feng's oh-so-basic level, the youth would not have bothered to travel so far, just to get to the Heaven Sword School, to get his hands on this particular method.

But that was enough of feeling sorry for himself, Qin Feng told himself at once. And put the book down with the other two, before he quickly sat himself back down on his thin and slightly frayed bed mattress.

Then, eagerly, he straightened his back and started to Breathe at once!

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