52: Chapter 52 Born too late, started too poorly

"My Lord..." Chen Mo opened his mouth, his voice a little hoarse. "I..."

"No need to explain."

Ye Zhiqiu waved her hand, cutting him off. "In Qingyang City, if I want to know, there are no secrets. I also know how you got that money. It's nothing more than taking a little from the dead, and winning a little from the gambling dens. Water that is too clear has no fish; as long as you don't cross the line, I'm too lazy to care."

Chen Mo closed his mouth.

Since she had investigated everything, arguing further would be treating her like a fool.

"Stand up."

Ye Zhiqiu suddenly commanded.

Chen Mo instinctively stood up.

Before he could react, his vision blurred, and a fragrant breeze wafted over. Immediately after, a hand was already on his shoulder.

Fast!

Too fast!

Chen Mo couldn't even see how she moved. He instinctively wanted to retreat, wanted to draw his saber, but that hand was like an iron clamp, firmly gripping his shoulder blade.

"Don't move."

Ye Zhiqiu's voice sounded in his ear.

Then, that hand slid down his shoulder, squeezed his upper arm, elbow, forearm, and finally gripped his wrist.

That was not a woman's caress.

That was a doctor feeling bones, a butcher picking meat.

Her fingers were powerful. Each squeeze felt like it was tearing Chen Mo's muscle fibers apart, making him grimace in pain, but he didn't utter a sound.

"Skin and membranes are tight, like oxhide, like old wood."

Ye Zhiqiu released her hand and stepped back, a strange glint in her eyes.

"Although your muscles haven't been thoroughly trained yet, their resilience is excellent. Chen Mo, your Five Animal Frolics isn't just practiced well; it's reached Perfection."

She looked at Chen Mo as if truly seeing him for the first time.

"A common health Cultivation Technique can be cultivated by you to Skin Refining Perfection. Your Comprehension Ability is quite interesting."

Chen Mo rubbed his arm, which was sore from being squeezed, but his heart was in turmoil.

Skin Refining Perfection?

He didn't even know what Realm he had reached. He only knew that recently his strength had increased, his skin had thickened, and getting hit with a stick felt like an itch.

"Sit back down."

Ye Zhiqiu walked back to her desk and sat down, resuming her cold demeanor, but her gaze held less scrutiny and more... interest?

"Since we've spoken frankly, I won't beat around the bush."

She looked at Chen Mo and got straight to the point.

"Resign from your post at the yamen and come to the City Defense Army. You'll directly join my Personal Guard Unit."

Chen Mo was stunned.

This was... a recruitment?

"Why?" Chen Mo couldn't help but ask, "I'm just a..."

"Because you are a smart person, and a talented smart person." Ye Zhiqiu cut him off. "A place like the yamen is nothing but infighting and waiting to die. If you stay there, you'll be nothing more than a constable your whole life. But with me, you can go further."

She paused, seemingly seeing through Chen Mo's thoughts.

"I know you have some acquaintance with Jiang Hongli. But you need to understand one thing."

Ye Zhiqiu's voice grew colder.

"Jiang Hongli is the last Disciple of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's Director, a Phoenix from the heavens. Her coming to Qingyang City is merely because she's restless and came out to travel and play. It's like a rich Young Miss going to the countryside to experience life; once the novelty wears off, she'll just pack up and return to the capital."

"What will you do then? Continue to be your Little Runner? Or hope she takes you back to the capital to be a servant?"

Chen Mo fell silent.

These words were harsh, but very realistic.

He and Jiang Hongli were originally people from two different worlds. She was a cloud in the sky, he was mud on the ground. It was an elegant pastime for a cloud to occasionally drift down and look at the mud. If the mud wanted to follow the cloud and fly, that would be courting death.

"I don't like owing favors, nor do I like making empty promises."

Ye Zhiqiu picked up a booklet from the table and threw it to Chen Mo.

"This is the City Defense Army's 'Body Tempering Outline'. Although it's not some peerless divine skill, it's a hundred times better than your haphazardly practiced Five Animal Frolics."

Chen Mo caught the booklet; it felt heavy in his hand.

"The Martial Dao in this world is not as simple as you think, nor as complicated as you imagine."

Ye Zhiqiu leaned back in her chair and began to lecture Chen Mo. This was also the first time Chen Mo had systematically heard about cultivation.

"Martial Dao Foundation Establishment is divided into four steps: Skin Refining, Muscle Tempering, Tendon Strengthening, and Bone Forging."

"You are currently at the peak of the first step—Skin Refining Perfection. Your skin is tough as leather, ordinary blades are hard to wound you, and your strength is much greater than that of ordinary people."

"Further up is Muscle Tempering. Through special breathing methods and strikes, the muscles are trained to be as hard as iron, and explosive power is doubled."

"Then comes Tendon Strengthening, where major tendons are like bowstrings, snapping to kill. Finally, Bone Forging, where bones are like steel, producing blood and replacing marrow."

Ye Zhiqiu looked at Chen Mo, her gaze sharp.

"Although you are only at Skin Refining Perfection now, because you've laid such a solid Foundation, coupled with your ruthlessness and your study of killing techniques, if you were to really fight, an ordinary Muscle Tempering Realm Perfection practitioner might not be your opponent."

Chen Mo listened intently.

So he was that strong?

"But—"

Ye Zhiqiu's tone shifted, and a bucket of cold water was poured over him.

"You can only defeat those who follow unorthodox paths. When you encounter a true master, you will surely die."

"Because you only have brute force, no 'momentum', and certainly no Internal Energy."

"Strong physique, weak technique, no Internal Skill."

Ye Zhiqiu gave Chen Mo a seven-character evaluation.

"You're like a strong man holding a wooden stick. You can bully children, but if you meet someone with a sharp blade, they can stab you to death with one strike."

Chen Mo took a deep breath and clutched the booklet tightly.

Though this woman's words were harsh, every single one hit the mark. This was exactly what he lacked: systematic guidance, a clear path.

"What a pity."

Ye Zhiqiu said to herself inwardly.

If it had been ten years ago, or even five years ago, encountering such a talent, she would have spared no expense to send him to the capital's Lecture Hall of Martial Arts, or to those great Sects.

This almost instinctive intuition for martial arts, this survival wisdom forged through hardship, and the patience to cultivate a health-preserving technique to its extreme.

This was a born Martial Artist seed.

But now...

Sixteen years old.

Too late.

His bones were already set, and his Meridians had solidified. Even if he started using the best medicinal bath and the top-tier Cultivation Technique now, he had missed the golden period for laying his Foundation.

Skin Refining, Muscle Tempering, Tendon Strengthening, Bone Forging.

Completing these four steps would probably exhaust all his potential.

Ye Zhiqiu shook her head.

Poor background, started too late.

This was fate.

"Reaching the Tongmai Realm and becoming a Centurion is probably his limit."

Chen Mo gripped the 'Body Tempering Outline', his palm a little slippery.

From sweat.

Ye Zhiqiu's words sounded like praise, mentioning "Comprehension Ability" and "talent," and even wanting to recruit him into her Personal Guard Unit. For an impulsive young man, he would probably be bowing in allegiance by now, eager to pledge his loyalty.

But Chen Mo was not.

The abacus beads in his mind were clacking loudly.