Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The next day, Yan Liqiang woke up early in the morning…

After waking up, Yan Liqiang did not start his morning regime immediately. Instead, he stood in front of the copper mirror in his room, assessing his face from all angles. He even lifted up his head and looked into his nostrils. There didn’t seem to be any abnormalities…

“That Psychic Serpent doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal. Why don’t I feel anything at all?” Yan Liqiang mumbled to himself.

The first thing he did after coming back the night before was to churn out the Psychic Serpent from the ‘toy capsule machine’ that was in the Heavenly Realm. He then integrated the Psychic Serpent with himself.

Till now, the scene that happened the night before was still very clear in Yan Liqiang’s mind. It was as if it had just happened a short moment ago.

It was like what Fu Guang had said: the Psychic Serpent was very small — so much so that it was completely beyond Yan Liqiang’s expectations.

The Psychic Serpent was only the length of a finger, just like a thin earthworm. It was translucent and emitted a strange glow, like an interesting piece of crystal artwork. It did not seem like something that would exist in the mortal world and just by looking at it, one would not be able to imagine that it could do the things that Fu Guang said it could. The integration process was also very simple. After the Psychic Serpent was produced, Yan Liqiang held it in his hands, placed it on the tip of his nose, and that small Psychic Serpent understood Yan Liqiang’s intentions and darted in through Yan Liqiang’s nostrils…

When Yan Liqiang merged himself with the Psychic Serpent, he felt nervous as if he were taking drugs for the first time. However, the entire process moved so smoothly that it was beyond his expectations. In the beginning, he only felt that the inside of his nose was a little itchy, and then his scalp turned slightly numb for less than half a minute, as if electricity had run through it. Everything then ended. It was simpler than squeezing a pimple.

After a night of sleep, neither Yan Liqiang’s body nor head felt any discomfort. Everything was normal and Yan Liqiang finally felt at ease.

As usual, after he completed his morning regime and washed up, the servant from Deer Villa who was here to deliver his breakfast was already punctually standing outside the door to his place. The servant knocked on the door and called, “Commandant Yan, I’m here to bring you your breakfast…”

Yan Liqiang opened the door, took the box containing his breakfast, and said, “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome. This is something that I should be doing…” The servant who brought his breakfast was immediately full of smiles as he nodded and bowed before Yan Liqiang.

Yan Liqiang wanted to turn after taking the box containing the food, but he suddenly thought of that Psychic Serpent from last night. A thought popped up in his mind. What was this person thinking about right now?

The moment this thought popped up, Yan Liqiang’s turned his attention toward that servant. A scene suddenly appeared in Yan Liqiang’s consciousness, almost giving him a fright…

The scene that appeared in Yan Liqiang’s mind was that of an ordinary little boy who was about eight to nine years old. The boy wore ordinary clothes, his cheeks were red, and he bore a resemblance to this servant who brought Yan Liqiang his food on a daily basis…

With the appearance of this scene, many thoughts then appeared in Yan Liqiang’s mind. They were like bubbles — one would appear, burst, and then another would appear…

—Tiezhu must work hard to learn martial arts so that he can reach the very top like Commandant Yan, and have others serve him despite the fact that he’s so young…

—Mingcheng Dojo’s fees are too expensive. It costs over ten taels of silver a year, and this is only for the elementary class…

—Maybe I should try to get closer to Supervisor Zhu, gift him some money, and ask him to move me to a better position in Deer Villa. That way, it’ll be easier to earn money in the future. This position doesn’t really allow me to do anything else other than bring back some good food for Tiezhu…

—But if I need to gift Supervisor Zhu some money to get closer to him, then I won’t have the money to pay the fees for Mingcheng Dojo. Tie Zhu won’t be able to get in and his studies might be delayed…

……

“Erm… Does Commandant Yan have any instructions for me?” Seeing that Yan Liqiang did not enter with the box of food but stood there instead while looking at him, the servant who came to deliver the food thought that Yan Liqiang was dissatisfied with him. He quickly asked anxiously.

“Uh, it’s nothing, it’s nothing…” All parents in the world exhausted great mental and physical efforts for their children. Yan Liqiang let out a sigh inwardly and turned his attention away from this person, cutting off the thoughts that he was sensing. “I just felt that the weather today…” Yan Liqiang lifted his head and looked up toward the sky, “The weather probably won’t clear up today…”

That servant heaved a sigh of relief and said, “That’s right, that’s right. There’s always a few days like this in the sixth and seventh lunar month in the Imperial Capital. However, they don’t tend to be like this for long. It’ll be two to three days if it’s short, or at max, four to five days. Thereafter, the sky’ll probably clear up…”

“Mmm, that seems to be the case…” Yan Liqiang forced a smile and entered with the box of food. That delivery servant waited outside dutifully.

Yan Liqiang ate his breakfast. Although he appeared to be very calm, he was very astonished. He thought of the experience from earlier and he lost himself in his thoughts twice. The ability the Psychic Serpent brought him was too terrifying. The large amount of resources that he had put into the Heavenly Realm this time around to produce the Psychic Serpent had not gone to waste…

After having his breakfast, Yan Liqiang brought the box to the door as usual. The servant received it and was about to leave when Yan Liqiang called out to him.

“Oh right, are there any children in your family?” Yan Liqiang suddenly asked.

“There’s… there’s one!” The servant responded uneasily, not knowing why Yan Liqiang would suddenly ask this.

“When I was doing the stock-check for the archery range’s storeroom yesterday, I noticed that a thirty-picul bow had been worn down due to humidity. The bowstring is loose and it has been in the storeroom for a number of years. According to the rules, it can be thrown out, but I think that the bow still can be used. Only the bowstring needs to be changed and it’ll be a waste to just toss it. If there’s a child in your family, you can bring it back and get him to learn archery. You can come and ask me if there’s anything that he doesn’t understand. I’ll explain it to you and you can go back and teach him!”

That servant who came to deliver food stared at Yan Liqiang in a daze. Suddenly, tears gushed out of his wide open eyes. Then, without a second thought, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Yan Liqiang, “Thank you, Commandant Yan. I’m kowtowing to you on behalf of my son. This is a great fortune and blessing that Commandant Yan is giving to him…”

Over the past few days, Yan Liqiang’s reputation had already slowly spread through Deer Villa. Everyone in Deer Villa knew that Yan Liqiang was an archery expert and thus was highly regarded by Eunuch Liu and he was in charge of Deer Villa’s archery range. For one to receive guidance from someone like Yan Liqiang in archery was ten times better than learning archery from outside dojos. Treatment like this was something everyone wished to have but had limited opportunities to receive. It was no wonder that the servant was so thankful…

The bows in the Deer Villa’s archery range were all exquisite items, and the bows there were not cheap to begin with. Even though Yan Liqiang said that it was something which could be scrapped, such a bow would be able to sell for ten or twenty taels of silver outside without a problem.

That staff had been working at Deer Villa for many years and knew about many things…

“Get up, get up. There’s no need to act like this…” Yan Liqiang quickly helped the person up. However, Yan Liqiang had just gotten the person to stand when that guy knelt down again, giving Yan Liqiang three loud kowtows before he wiped his tears and got to his feet. His gaze was now completely different from before as he looked at Yan Liqiang. It was as if he had the impulse to give up his life for one who was willing to appreciate him.

“I’ll bring that bow over later tonight. You can bring it back after bringing me food. If someone asks, just tell them that I was the one who gave it to you. Get whoever can’t accept this to look for me!”

“I understand…”

“Mmm, you are dismissed…”

After seeing watching the servant leave, Yan Liqiang cleaned himself up and then headed to the bottom of the waterfall at the mountain behind the archery range. He then continued swinging his spear and started cultivating…

The sky still remained gloomy and it was drizzling, but that little rain did not affect Yan Liqiang who was cultivating under the waterfall to begin with.

Due to the heavy downpour the day before, the waterfall’s water capacity suddenly increased several fold. Other than the huge increment in water volume, Yan Liqiang also discovered that small things were occasionally falling down together with the waterfall’s water flow…

Yan Liqiang did not notice anything at first. It was only when that small thing charged down from the waterfall and just so happened to land on Yan Liqiang’s big spear that it caught Yan Liqiang’s attention. It had made his spear tremble like a tuning fork.

The water that came charging down from the waterfall would instantly be shaken into mist the moment they landed on Yan Liqiang’s great spear that was moving at a high frequency. However, that small thing remained unscathed and when it felt the tremor from the great spear, and its body slid down after being flicked up. Then it landed into the pool below.

Yan Liqiang did not pay it much heed the first time, but the second time, things were still the same. Yan Liqiang finally noticed the problem and let out a “Hmm?” He then stopped his cultivation…

Yan Liqiang understood how strong the tremble of his great spear was. He would not be exaggerating when he said that if someone were to toss a rock over, it could be shattered by the long spear made from Dragon Spine Steel. How could that small thing remain unscathed like this?

Yan Liqiang held onto his long spear with one hand and lifted his head, opening his eyes wide as he focused his gaze on the water flow that was charging down from the waterfall. A few minutes later, he saw another small thing plunging down while hidden amidst the water flow. Without giving it a second thought, he reached out to grab it…

When his hand came into contact with that small thing, Yan Liqiang only felt the small thing sliding from his hands and slipping away, still landing into the pool.

“Impossible…” Yan Liqiang cried out.

To think that he was unable to grab hold of that small thing with his ability and movements?

What kind of joke was this…

Yan Liqiang was truly astonished. That small thing looked a little like a loach. How was it possible that he was unable to grab ahold of it?

When he was only five to six years hold, he had caught loaches in the Liuhe Town’s ditch. Right now, his skills were over a thousand times stronger than how he was back then and there was no reason that he would not be able to grab it…

Yan Liqiang was unable to accept this and continued to wait below the waterfall, hellbent on capturing that small thing…

Another one dropped down and it still slid away from Yan Liqiang’s hands. This happened three consecutive times and Yan Liqiang decided to just toss away his long spear and grab at them with his hands…

……

Half an hour later, Yan Liqiang looked at his empty hands and the water that charged down incessantly with wide-open eyes and his mouth agape. His expression was that of disbelief…

“Those are the Steeled-Skin Loaches, the most slippery things in the world. It’d be a wonder if you grab one with your hands!” Unknowingly, Li Hongtu was already standing next to the pool, his brows raised as he looked at Yan Liqiang with a strange expression with a shadow of a smile.

“Ah, Master…”

“Use this to catch it…” Li Hongtu said this and put out his hand, tossing over a big bamboo basket.

“Master, this is…” Yan Liqiang caught the big bamboo basket Li Hongtu tossed over, not knowing whether to cry or laugh…

Li Hongtu’s expression was solemn, “What do you know? These Steeled-Skin Loaches are great nourishments. Every year, I wait for these few days to have a good meal. Don’t cultivate this morning, just catch the Steeled-Skin Loaches and then we’ll cook up a pot of them…”