"Is Captain Hou here as well...?" Chix Jin, a middle-aged man in a brocade robe, looked quite shrewd.
Hou Ping glanced at the newcomer, his lips slightly moved, but he just gave Chix Jin a glance and then saluted Fang Xiao.
Hou Wuchun and Chix Lin blinked a few times, shrinking their necks and following behind Hou Ping.
After Captain Hou and the other two left, Chix Jin waved his hand, and two men came out from behind the carriage, dragging a big box.
"This must be Captain Fang?" Chix Jin asked with a smile.
"Is there something you need?" Fang Xiao's expression was indifferent.
He knew this man; he was one of the top wealthy merchants in Liuu Town with numerous assets.
But precisely because of this, he didn't want to deal with him.
Doing business means, just like the Chu Family, merchants prioritize profit.
"Is Brother Chu home?" Chix Lin spoke up, "I am his friend. Yesterday, Cyan Bamboo Pavilion invited Brother Chu but he didn't come, so today I specially brought some gifts."
Fang Xiao adjusted the sword at his waist, his voice slightly cold, "You've got the wrong place."
He closed the door without bothering with the other party's reaction.
"Father..." Chix Lin was a bit anxious.
Chix Jin looked at the humble courtyard, furrowing his brows.
Liuu Town was only so big, and Chix Jin was a well-known figure in town, always surrounded by a crowd wherever he went.
However, the owner of this courtyard... was not simple.
The elder just now worked in the Arresting Office, even Hou Ping had to call him Brother Fang, surely an expert.
And the young man inside, who used to be an unknown... no, with a bad reputation. According to his information, he was a fallen young master with a lot of faults.
But such a person, after a severe illness, suddenly became enlightened, not only winning first place in the courtyard exam but also being summoned by the Baiyuan County Classics.
The Standard Eighth-Grade Official, to even meet him, would require smoothing relations with quite a few silver taels.
He thought he could provide some benefits before this fallen young master rose, to build a good rapport, but he was shut out even before meeting him.
"Let's go back."
With Captain Fang blocking the way, entering the courtyard ahead seemed almost impossible.
"Father?"
"We'll see, there are plenty of opportunities."
...
In the courtyard.
Fang Xiao's face gradually relaxed as he heard the sound of the receding wheels fade.
"Madam died due to the Chu Family's internal conflicts. Now that the young master is showing great potential, his future is limitless. He must not be entangled with these profit-driven merchants."
He turned towards the main room, where Little Shan was focused on tidying up the bowls and chopsticks.
"Tiger and Python Strength..."
Fang Xiao's gaze locked on Chu Ming's small room.
Originally, he had planned to visit the Arresting Office with Hou Ping after lunch to discuss cases.
But the appearance of that crumpled paper made him restless.
"Little Shan, is the young master's medicinal soup ready?"
"It's ready."
"Good."
Fang Xiao walked into the kitchen, picked up the pot, and poured a bowl of dark brown medicinal soup.
This medicine, known as 'Tiger Strength Soup', is essential for cultivating the Tiger and Python Body Refining Technique. One set costs two taels of silver, lasting ten days at most.
Drinking it daily would cost six taels of silver a month.
A typical family's monthly expenses are around one tael of silver.
Martial arts require talent, but also financial support, and the monthly cost of six taels for medicinal soup is beyond what ordinary people can afford, which is why he decided to join the Arresting Office.
Fang Xiao approached Chu Ming's door with the soup, "Young Master, the medicinal soup is ready."
Chu Ming put down the paper and pen, got up, and opened the door, "Give it to me."
He took the medicinal soup, blew it a few times, and drank it in one go.
Although the Tiger and Python Body Refining Technique, after being improved, does not damage the body like the original technique, requiring medicinal soup for repair.
The soup not only repairs the body but also strengthens it. During the absorption of medicinal power, cultivating the body refining technique speeds up progress, so he continues drinking it.
"Anything else, Housekeeper Fang?"
Fang Xiao held the empty bowl, his eyes sharp as he looked at Chu Ming.
Murders had been frequent recently, and he left early and returned late, only meeting Chu Ming during dinner.
But now when he looks at his young master, he feels unfamiliar.
The young man appeared more energetic, his body stronger, seemingly taller.
"Uhm..." Fang Xiao hesitated, "Was it the young master who drew the cultivation technique on that paper earlier?"
Chu Ming did not answer but walked over to the desk, picked up two brand-new sheets of paper, "Is this what Housekeeper Fang meant?"
Fang Xiao looked at the cultivation technique before him, his pupils instantly contracting.
It was this... but somehow not exactly!
Because he saw more cultivation movements and detailed explanations.
Moreover, this set of movements felt more advanced than the one Hou Ping had bought!
"Yo...Young Master, is this the Tiger and Python Strength?" Fang Xiao felt his throat dry.
The ink on the paper was still wet, what did that mean?
The cultivation technique was just drawn by the young master!
Chu Ming nodded slightly, "Yes, it's the Tiger and Python Strength."
"Did the young master revise it?"
"You could say that."
Fang Xiao's heart was stirred.
The Body Refining Technique of the Tiger Armor Army in Xirong County, led by successive commanders, integrated with hundreds of cultivation techniques, is the most suitable body refining technique for the Tiger Armor Army.
Every commander in the Tiger Armor Army was terrifyingly in the Refining Organ Realm.
One could say that the Tiger and Python Body Refining Technique has been the finest body refining cultivation technique in Xirong County's Blood Circulation Realm for a hundred years.
In just a month, the young master, who had just begun his Martial Arts, already improved the first strength of the Body Refining Technique?
Fang Xiao took the two sheets of paper, his heart and mind fully immersed.
Sixty movements, clearly showing traces of the original one hundred twenty movements of the Tiger and Python Strength, yet refined so one could feel the smooth flow start right from the beginning.
The more he looked, the more he wanted to practice it.
"Young master's martial arts talent is unparalleled, this old servant has never seen the like before."
Fang Xiao couldn't help but praise, an unusual feeling rising within him.
If he had practiced this set of movements back then, could he have achieved Great Success in the first strength within months and condensed Qi and Blood?
But alas, age was high, Qi and Blood declining...
If the entire Tiger and Python Body Refining Technique were like these movements, perhaps he could attempt to break through the Qi and Blood beyond the twelve lines in old age.
"Tired." Chu Ming waved, preparing to return indoors to continue studying "Poetry, Politics, and Military".
"By the way, the subsequent movements haven't been drawn yet, Housekeeper Fang might need to wait a bit more."
The door closed, leaving Fang Xiao a bit stunned.
The subsequent movements?
What movements?
Hmm?!
He suddenly raised his head.
Could it be that the young master not only improved the Tiger and Python Strength but the entire... Tiger and Python Body Refining Technique?!
Impossible!
That was his initial reaction.
However, the next moment, he felt it very likely.
"The young master spontaneously comprehended the Palm Technique, revised the Tiger and Python Strength within a month of Martial Arts; it's highly possible he can improve the subsequent Strength Technique!"
No, no!
Thinking this, his eyes shone brightly.
What does improving a cultivation technique signify?
"The young master has already fully understood the Tiger and Python Strength, Tiger Roar Strength, and even the subsequent Strength Techniques, thus improving and extrapolating from this foundation!"
"Which means, the young master's strength...!"
Fang Xiao gazed at the closed room door, his expression changing repeatedly until he couldn't hold back any longer, knocking on the door frame.
Knock Knock——
"Does Housekeeper Fang have more to say?" Seated at the desk, Chu Ming was reluctant to rise.
"You... Young master, how many strands of Qi and Blood Power have you condensed?"
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