The martial tournament of the three halls ended, and the crowd dispersed from the Haiyue Dance Hall.

Zhao Xuanqi didn’t return home. In fact, for the past three days, he had been in seclusion at the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall, studying the characteristic techniques of the other two major halls with Weng Xiaolin. Unexpectedly, however, he hadn’t needed to use that knowledge during the tournament at all.

Now, it was also at Weng Xiaolin’s insistence that he not return home. Weng Xiaolin was worried someone might target him, leading to an unforeseen incident.

After all, in tonight’s competition, Zhao Xuanqi had been completely exposed to the public eye. The more dazzling his performance, the greater the danger he was in. The forces of the Jili Empire, in particular, would now surely view him as a thorn in their side, eager to kill him. It was a threat that had to be taken seriously.

Although Zhao Xuanqi had shone brightly in the tournament, he had yet to even reach the Cross-Training realm. There were plenty of people in Celestial Sea Prefecture who could overwhelm him with sheer power.

Weng Xiaolin had even gone so far as to instruct Liu Changfeng to have someone bring Zhao Qin to the Martial Arts Hall to stay for a while, leaving nothing to chance.

After they returned to the Martial Arts Hall, Weng Xiaolin had planned to throw a small, impromptu victory celebration for Zhao Xuanqi, but Zhao Xuanqi declined, saying he was exhausted and needed to rest.

Weng Xiaolin didn’t press the issue. He had a lavish meal prepared and sent to Zhao Xuanqi’s room, along with some Wound Medicine and a basic Secret Medicine.

Inside the room, Zhao Xuanqi ate his meal to recover some of his spent energy. After confirming no one was spying from outside, he took the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall’s Secret Medicine and immediately began practicing his Pile Skill.

He had gained much from this battle.

The most important of these gains was the improvement in his control over his body.

GURGLE GURGLE!

His stomach churned as the Secret Medicine digested. A massive amount of nutrients was extracted, making the blood throughout his body feel as if it were boiling. Guided by his Pile Skill, it was circulated to every corner of his body.

This time, his Pile Skill was vastly different from before.

Previously, he could only just barely meet the minimum standard for the Pile Skill. His bodily control was insufficient, making it impossible to fully achieve "movement within stillness." From a distance, his body had appeared to be standing on the surface of water or the deck of a boat, the rising and falling motion incredibly obvious.

Now, however, that undulation was minuscule. It was nearly impossible to notice his body’s slight movements without observing him closely.

His mastery of the Pile Skill had advanced another step.

Consequently, the effectiveness of his Qi and Blood Circulation also increased by about ten to twenty percent.

One could say his current Pile Skill level had broken past the stage of the Peak of Sound Power, completely meeting the requirements for Cross-Training.

As long as he accumulated enough Qi and Blood, breaking through to Cross-Training would be a natural progression. He would no longer need to endure the long, exploratory phase of Pile Skill training like other disciples.

Soon, he ceased his Pile Skill practice and began to move about the room, sometimes stretching, sometimes throwing punches, testing the current limits of his control over this body.

Control over one’s body is the most direct manifestation of one’s Martial Dao realm. The stronger the Spirit’s command over the body, the more one can manipulate it in subtle ways, producing all manner of incredible feats.

The Pile Technique for Qi and Blood Circulation, the Inner Breath for nourishing the five viscera, the endless variations in fighting techniques—all of it is linked to one’s control over the body.

And to improve this control, aside from innate talent, the most important thing is daily, relentless practice. It is an extremely slow process that demands both talent and perseverance.

Below the Cross-Training realm, innate physical aptitude is what matters most. Strong Qi and Blood allows for explosive progress.

But progressing from Cross-Training to Inner Cultivation means shifting from external to internal, beginning to train the five viscera. The demand for bodily control suddenly skyrockets. A minor mistake means the Qi and Blood won’t reach their destination, yielding no effect. A major one could result in internal organ damage—a "Qi deviation."

Therefore, for most Martial Artists, the transition from Cross-Training to Inner Cultivation is a major threshold, one that not everyone can cross.

Take the Martial Arts Hall’s second True Inheritance disciple, Liu Changfeng, for example. From what Zhao Xuanqi understood, he had been stuck at the peak of the Cross-Training realm for no less than five years.

In fact, Zhao Xuanqi’s Spirit and Zhao Qi’s body had always been in a peculiar state.

His soul had been reincarnated, bringing with it the Martial Dao experience from his past life. He knew exactly how to control this body with meticulous precision, but his Martial Dao realm had completely vanished within Zhao Qi’s body.

Even with his past-life experience, controlling this body felt incredibly foreign. He couldn’t command it with the ease of his own limbs; even his Pile Skill had been barely at the introductory level.

At first, he had attributed this to the body’s lack of training, assuming he would have to slowly and arduously re-temper it, step by step, to recover his original Martial Dao realm.

In fact, he had been training relentlessly every day to improve his control over this body. He was making progress, but it was incredibly slow.

At this rate, even when he reached the peak of the Cross-Training realm, his insufficient control over the body would still cause a significant delay.

But today, he had finally understood the reason.

’Zhao Qi’s body has not truly and completely accepted my soul.’

’This body is still influenced by Zhao Qi’s will, still clinging to his ideals and convictions.’

’To make this body accept my soul, it seems there are only two ways.’

’First, through relentless training, forcing the soul and body to merge into one through constant friction. But that’s hardly different from starting my cultivation over from the very beginning.’

’The second way is the method I just realized: I need to earn this body’s "approval."’

’Through repeated instances of "approval," this body will accept my soul more quickly, allowing my control over it to improve at a rapid pace.’

’At the very least, the increase in bodily control I gained from the natural sense of joy and approval after that last fight was equal to two months of my previous painstaking training.’

"It seems I’ve found another way to recover my strength faster."

Zhao Xuanqi finished his tests and let out a long breath.

’After all, Zhao Qi inherited his parents’ legacy, that burning ember. If I want to earn this body’s approval quickly, I must appear before the public frequently.’

’However, in this day and age, that is an extremely perilous thing to do.’

’Take today, for example. I won the competition, and Weng Xiaolin immediately insisted on protecting me within the Martial Arts Hall. From the looks of it, he probably won’t let me leave the hall for at least the next ten days or even half a month.’

’And these are just the consequences of one small tournament. If my actions were to truly infringe upon the core interests of those in power, then forget the small Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall—I doubt even the Giant Spirit Army that controls Yuehai could protect me.’

’It is an extremely dangerous path, but it is, admittedly, a shortcut.’

Zhao Xuanqi fell into deep thought.

...

...

Meanwhile, after returning to his residence, Ma Maocheng immediately began using his authority and his organization’s connections to investigate Zhao Qi as thoroughly as possible. It wasn’t until the following evening that he managed to dig up some of Zhao Qi’s publicly available information.

"Fled to Celestial Sea Prefecture as a refugee more than half a year ago? Has an older sister named Zhao Qin? Both siblings can read and write; their background doesn’t seem to be that of common folk?"

"Ancestral home... Su Sea..."

As the reports on Zhao Qi came in one by one, a complicated expression crossed Ma Maocheng’s face.

"Could they truly be the orphaned children of the revered Zhao Rong’en and Zhou Minqing?"