Moreover, in the judgement of the bronze mirror, Xu Qing was still considered a short-lived ghost.
The guards like Wang thought he was young, with plenty of time ahead, not knowing that Xu Qing carried a significant problem on his back!
He even vaguely suspected that his Ziwei Life Chart might have something to do with his background, which was the Xu Family massacre. Perhaps it was the Ziwei Life Chart that attracted the disaster.
But who was the mysterious blind man who saved his original body and left him under the care of Li Gongpu?
Why didn’t the mastermind behind the Xu Family massacre continue to pursue Xu Qing?
All these matters were indeed shrouded in mysteries.
"Could it be that the mysterious blind man was actually part of the murderer’s gang?" Xu Qing sometimes had this bold thought.
He planned to study the local county annals and the annals of Jiangning Prefecture after dealing with the matter of the Lotus Sect’s Great Elder. One was to look for any subtle clues, the other was Xu Qing’s decision to expand his sources of income.
The annals of a prefecture or county often conceal important clues that are not easily noticed by ordinary people.
For example, the local geography often contains special opportunities, such as mineral veins and the like...
A life chart of the Ziwei Star is a fate of rebellion; he had to be fully prepared.
Luckily, he wasn’t surnamed Ye; otherwise, wouldn’t he also have to become the Heavenly Emperor?
Xu Qing started his Visualization Method at night.
At midnight, when Yin energy was at its peak and Yang energy was beginning to rise, coinciding with the taste of the Divine Soul’s hidden Yin embracing Yang. It was the most suitable time of day for practicing the Visualization Image of Xuantian Temple.
Xu Qing immersed himself in the Visualization Method, running his Divine Soul Power as if an engineer, slowly carving through the Purple Emperor Meridian.
During the process, the Qi-Blood was rapidly consumed.
After midnight, when his Qi-Blood subsided and his Divine Soul Power was exhausted, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes, pushed the door open, and went out into the courtyard.
"What’s the matter?" he inquired to Su Lianqing who had been waiting in the yard.
Su Lianqing was in her Divine Soul state, casting a strange glance at the Old Wutong Tree, "This tree..."
She had visited Xu Qing’s courtyard several times, so she was quite familiar with the old tree in the courtyard. Tonight, she noticed that despite the cold and freezing weather, it had unexpectedly sprouted new buds. The small buds, seemingly insignificant, were in fact a feat of harnessing the mysteries of the sun and moon, seizing the creation of heaven and earth.
Xu Qing: "I’ve had some insights; it’s nothing to make a fuss about. Get to the point."
"Mr. Xu is becoming increasingly unfathomable," Su Lianqing thought to herself with a sense of astonishment, and then she reported the matter of the Heavenly Fragrance Courtyard.
Xu Qing: "It was only a matter of time before you formally joined the Inner Factory, nothing surprising there. Since being an undercover agent is your forte, just go with the flow."
She knew this would be the outcome, but still had to report in person.
After some contemplation, Xu Qing added: "After the tenth day of the first lunar month, I will stay in the Plum Blossom Lodge for a while, be prepared."
"As you command, master."
Xu Qing: "During this time, I will teach you some Kung Fu to facilitate your future actions."
"My constitution probably isn’t suited for it," Su Lianqing said obediently.
Xu Qing: "I have my methods."
Su Lianqing had no choice but to comply. It was actually more difficult and less rewarding for women to train in Martial Arts. Without Xu Qing’s insistence, she would not be so keen on training.
Her current level of Kung Fu was sufficient; further improvement seemed of little use.
In the end, life had been too comfortable in the Heavenly Fragrance Courtyard. With Xu Qing shielding her from troubles, she naturally became more relaxed.
Seeing this, Xu Qing reminded her, "I know that sometimes I, or Guo Zhuang and the others, seem too demanding, even harsh. But think about it, the work we do involves our lives at the slightest slip; a stringent approach reduces the chances of mishaps."
Su Lianqing rarely saw Xu Qing so serious. Upon hearing his words, she thought it made sense.
Her life had never been as easy as now since joining the Luo Sect, which relaxed her vigilance. Who would blame her when Mr. Xu’s instructions were always foolproof?
Nevertheless, she took the lesson to heart, reflected on her mistake, and earnestly said: "Mr. Xu, I will diligently practice my Kung Fu after I return."
Xu Qing knew one good trait of Su Lianqing was that she corrected her mistakes once realized, which was already better than his past life self. After all, he was an ordinary person with many shortcomings in his previous life.
This life was propelled by the urgency of his lifespan, and the bronze mirror gave feedback on everything, which felt like clearing stages in a game, and thus, he slowly changed himself.
Others do not have this chance; in reality, the feedback is minuscule, making it hard to correct one’s flaws.
Therefore, the Imperial Examination is so alluring.
Despite its flaws, it provides a tangible ladder for the lower classes to rise, not just pie in the sky.
Xu Qing’s offer to instruct Su Lianqing in Kung Fu was not without purpose.
Since the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist consisted of two hundred and six moves, once he completed them all, with his already developed Dark Strength, he could comprehend the most crucial Secret Technique of the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist—the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound when the spring thunder roared.
In recent years, the climate of the Great Yu Dynasty had become increasingly abnormal. The actual timing of the twenty-four solar terms had shifted earlier, and Jiangning Prefecture was in the Southern region.
Therefore, the spring thunder, which should be around the twenty-fifth of the first lunar month, near the solar term—’The Waking of Insects,’ has begun earlier according to Xu Qing’s research on the recent records of the spring thunder.
It was actually around the tenth day of the first lunar month that represented ’The Waking of Insects.’
"What a strange era, with climate and solar terms becoming increasingly abnormal, reversing Yin and Yang, upending heaven and earth..." As Xu Qing read history, whenever such an era emerged, many devils were often born.
Where a nation is on the brink of collapse, devils will emerge.
True sincerity is foreknowing.
This is the saying, ’The sage sees the falling leaves and knows the autumn of the world.’
In the following period, Xu Qing devoted himself to the cultivation of the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist without even celebrating the spring festival, exhausting all his Supplemental Medicine.
Finally, on the evening of the tenth day of the first lunar month, Xu Qing mastered all two hundred and six moves of the Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist without omission.