15: Chapter 15 The First Battle Down the Mountain

After Frost's Descent, Zhongnan Mountain saw its first snow.

Fine snowflakes drifted all night. Pushing open the window in the morning, he saw the valley draped in silver, bamboo groves blanketed in white, the stream covered in ice. Only the dark gray tiled roof of Xuanwei Temple still showed a bit of its original color. Lu Mingyuan stood by the window, exhaling a puff of white breath, his mind occupied with one thing—winter clothes needed to be added.

He had arrived in the height of summer, bringing only a few light garments. Now, with the mountain temperature plummeting, although his True Qi protected him from the severe cold, it was ultimately inconvenient. More importantly, Qingfeng and Mingyue, the two young novices, were still ordinary children who needed winter clothes and quilts. The temple's food stores also needed replenishing, and some daily necessities were in short supply.

"Thinking of going down the mountain?" Xuanweizi's voice came from behind.

Lu Mingyuan turned and bowed. "Yes, Master. The temple needs to procure some supplies for winter."

Xuanweizi walked to the window, gazing at the snowy scene in silence for a moment. "It is time for a trip down the mountain. You have been cultivating here for over four months; it is also time to walk in the Mortal World and test what you have learned."

He paused. "However, it is not peaceful down there."

"Not peaceful?"

"Bandits have been appearing on the outskirts of Zhongnan Mountain lately," Xuanweizi said calmly. "I hear it's a gang formed by displaced refugees, specializing in robbing traveling merchants. The authorities have tried to suppress them several times but failed due to the complex mountainous terrain."

Lu Mingyuan's heart tightened. "Then..."

"But you must go nonetheless." Xuanweizi glanced at him. "Cultivation cannot be done solely behind closed doors in the mountains. Go, and take these."

He retrieved three items from his sleeve: a blue cloth money pouch, a procurement list, and the green bamboo staff he had been leaning on when Lu Mingyuan first met him.

"The pouch contains some silver fragments and copper coins, enough for the purchases. The list details the items to buy. As for this green bamboo staff..." Xuanweizi handed the staff over. "...consider it a borrowed means of self-defense."

Lu Mingyuan took the staff. The shaft felt warm, smooth, and cool to the touch. Under Clear Sight, he could see faint cyan Spiritual Qi slowly circulating within the bamboo. It was clearly no ordinary item.

"Thank you, Master." He accepted it solemnly.

"Remember three things." Xuanweizi instructed. "First, return immediately after completing the purchases; do not linger in the town. Second, if you encounter bandits, avoid them if possible; do not be reckless or seek conflict. Third..." He looked deeply at Lu Mingyuan. "...if a fight truly breaks out, treat it as a test of the results of these four months of cultivation."

Lu Mingyuan nodded. "This Junior has taken note."

After simple preparations, he set off down the snowy mountain, carrying a bamboo basket on his back and leaning on the green bamboo staff. The snow-covered mountain path was difficult to traverse, but his body was now light and strong, and with the Foundation laid by the Hunyuan Stance, he walked as if on level ground. The green bamboo staff tapped the ground, leaving shallow indentations in the snow. The shaft transmitted a warm, smooth sensation, seemingly able to sense changes in the terrain and automatically adjust its supporting force.

Two hours later, the mountain path gradually leveled out, and the outline of a small town appeared in the distance.

The town was named Qingyang, the largest market town at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain. Despite the light snow, the streets were fairly busy, mostly with nearby mountain folk and traveling merchants. Lu Mingyuan made purchases according to the list: three bolts of cotton cloth, twenty catties of cotton, five catties of salt, two *dan* of rice, along with oil, sauce, vinegar, and other sundries. The bamboo basket gradually filled up, and several oil-paper packages hung from the green bamboo staff in his hand.

By the time the purchases were complete, it was already afternoon. He ate a bowl of hot noodle soup at a street-side noodle stall and prepared to return.

Just after leaving the town entrance, the sky suddenly darkened. A north wind sprang up, howling and swirling with snowflakes—another snowstorm was approaching. Lu Mingyuan quickened his pace, hoping to return to the mountains before the snow grew heavy.

Halfway there, the wind and snow intensified.

Visibility plummeted; figures were hard to distinguish beyond ten paces. Lu Mingyuan channeled True Qi to his eyes, activating Clear Sight, which allowed him to barely make out the path ahead. As he trudged forward with difficulty, several figures suddenly emerged from the snowy curtain ahead.

"Halt!"

A coarse shout rang out. Four men leaped from the roadside woods, blocking the path. All were dressed in rags, sallow and emaciated, yet they held gleaming hatchets and hunting spears. Their leader was a one-eyed man with a fierce face full of coarse features and a hideous scar where his right eye should have been.

Bandits.

Lu Mingyuan's heart sank. He tightened his grip on the green bamboo staff.

"Kid, hand over everything valuable on you!" The one-eyed leader sneered as he approached. "Bold of you to travel alone in this weather."

Lu Mingyuan took half a step back and said in a low voice, "Honored brothers, I have only purchased some daily necessities and carry little silver. If you need them, you may take these goods. I ask only for passage."

Following Xuanweizi's advice, he wished to avoid conflict if possible.

"We'll take the goods, and the money too!" a tall, thin bandit beside him shouted. "And that bamboo staff—looks sturdy, leave that too!"

As they spoke, the four men fanned out in a semicircle. The howling wind and snow made the atmosphere suddenly tense.

Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath, knowing avoidance was no longer an option. He slowly set down the bamboo basket, grasped the green bamboo staff with both hands, and assumed the opening stance of Hunyuan Fist.

"Oh, thinking of fighting back?" The one-eyed leader scoffed. "Brothers, show him some color!"

The tall, thin bandit charged first, his hunting spear thrusting straight at Lu Mingyuan's chest. The thrust was wild, relying solely on brute force and full of openings.

Under Clear Sight, Lu Mingyuan clearly "saw" the spear's trajectory, the points where the opponent exerted force, even the softness of the snow under the thin bandit's feet. The physical instincts formed from daily stance training and fist practice over the past four months naturally activated at this moment—

He slightly withdrew his left foot, sidestepping the spear tip. Simultaneously, the green bamboo staff in his right hand Go with the flow tapped, striking the spear shaft seven inches from the tip. This tap seemed light, yet it contained the skillful force of Hunyuan Fist's "Four Ounces Moves a Thousand Pounds." The thin bandit felt a twisting force transmit through the spear shaft; his grip went numb with a sharp pain, and the hunting spear flew from his hands, embedding itself with a *clang* into a roadside tree trunk.

"What?!" The one-eyed leader's expression changed.

"Attack together!" The other two bandits pounced from left and right. One swung a hatchet at his head, the other thrust a short spear at his abdomen.

Lu Mingyuan advanced instead of retreating. The green bamboo staff spun in his hand, executing the Hunyuan Fist Move "Differentiation of Yin and Yang"—the staff shaft seemed to split into two phantom images, simultaneously striking at the wrists of both attackers.

*Thud, thud*, two muffled sounds.

The hatchet and short spear were almost simultaneously knocked from their hands. The two bandits cried out in pain, clutching their wrists as they retreated, their wrist bones already injured from the impact.

"Damn, this one's tough!" The one-eyed leader's eyes flashed with ferocity. He drew a broad-headed saber from behind his back. "I'll deal with you myself!"

He stepped forward and charged, the saber whistling through the air as it chopped down. This strike was powerful and heavy, clearly showing some martial Foundation, unlike the wild Moves of the previous three.

Lu Mingyuan dared not meet it head-on. He employed the Hunyuan Fist footwork "Swimming Dragon Step," his body swaying like willow catkins in the wind, weaving through the saber's light. The green bamboo staff tapped and deflected, each contact precisely striking the weakest point of the saber's momentum. A continuous clanging sound echoed, sparks flying amidst the wind and snow.

After ten exchanges, the one-eyed leader grew increasingly alarmed. This scholarly-looking young man's Moves seemed simple, yet they always managed to break his killing strikes at critical moments. That green bamboo staff was even stranger; clearly just bamboo, yet hard as iron, numbing his grip with each impact.

"Kid, what martial art is this?!" the one-eyed leader gritted out.

Lu Mingyuan did not answer, but his mind raced with thoughts.

Over these four months, he had practiced Hunyuan Fist, nurtured Noble Spirit, and contemplated the principles of the Three Teachings, but all through solitary cultivation or sparring with Xuanweizi. He had never truly fought for his life. Now, in this life-or-death struggle, those principles suddenly became vividly real—

The Daoist concept of "using softness to overcome hardness" manifested in his evasive footwork.

The Confucian ideal of "uprightness and harmony" was evident in the orderly flow of his staff techniques.

The martial way's "ferocity and relentless progress" burst forth in his counterattacks at crucial moments.

And most importantly was the Fusion of these three.

Once again evading a diagonal slash of the broad-headed saber, Lu Mingyuan's thoughts flashed. The one-eyed leader had overextended with this strike, leaving his chest wide open. Purely from a martial perspective, a direct assault on the center would work, but that might take a life. From a Daoist perspective, he should guide the force Go with the flow, dissolving the hostility; but the opponent might not appreciate it.

In that split second, he made a decision.

The green bamboo staff suddenly changed its technique. No longer using skill to overcome force, he channeled Noble Spirit instead. The staff shaft glowed faintly with a pale golden light. Executing the Hunyuan Fist Move "Awe-Inspiring Uprightness," he thrust straight out, not aiming for a vital point, but targeting the opponent's saber-wielding wrist.

This thrust contained the Noble Spirit he had nurtured over four months—upright, resolute, yet not cruel.

*Clang!*

The broad-headed saber was knocked away once more. The one-eyed leader staggered back, clutching his wrist. He felt a warm, upright energy invade his arm's Meridians, actually clearing away the violent rage in his heart.

"You..." He stared blankly at Lu Mingyuan.

Lu Mingyuan withdrew his staff and stood firm, the wind and snow whipping at his robes. He spoke slowly, "Honored brothers, in this bitter cold, why engage in such harmful deeds? Take this silver, find proper livelihoods."

He took out the majority of the remaining silver from the money pouch and placed it on the snowy ground. Then, he shouldered the bamboo basket, leaned on the green bamboo staff, turned, and continued walking toward the mountains.

The four bandits looked at each other; not one dared to pursue.

After walking a hundred paces, Lu Mingyuan finally let out a long sigh. His hand holding the staff trembled slightly—not from fear, but from the surging blood and Qi after the intense fight. He looked inward and found the Chaotic Dao Foundation in his Dantian spinning faster; his True Qi was slightly more refined than before the battle; the Noble Spirit was purer; even the blood and Qi of his Physical Body felt much more active.

Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

He suddenly understood the deeper meaning behind Xuanweizi sending him down the mountain. What he gained from cultivation in the mountains was, in the end, theoretical. Only by applying, testing, and adjusting it in real combat could those principles truly become his own.

Looking back, the bandits' figures were already lost in the wind and snow.

He adjusted the straps on his back and continued onward.

The battle was not long, yet it allowed him to see many things clearly. The Fusion of Dao, Confucianism, and martial arts was not an empty ideal; it could be realized in actual combat. Tranquil inaction did not mean no action, but acting with a calm mind. Upright action did not mean recklessness, but acting with principle. Fierce and relentless progress did not mean rashness, but exerting force when the timing was right.

The wind and snow gradually lessened; the mountain path grew clearer.

Lu Mingyuan's steps became even firmer.

In this first battle, he had won.

Not only had he won against the bandits, but he had also won against his former self who only knew theory.