Haitian Road, a street near the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall, was a high-end residential area within Celestial Sea Prefecture. The neighborhood was filled with detached, Western-style houses, each with its own courtyard. Its residents were mostly upper-class individuals and elites from the Upper River District. Many of them had business dealings with the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall; even the Xiaolin Escort Agency maintained a large base nearby.

Haitian Road.

This was a two-story Western-style house. Its exterior wasn’t extravagant, but it was very tasteful.

This was the house that Weng Xiaolin had decided to gift to Zhao Xuanqi. The deed transfer was now complete, and it was officially registered under Zhao Xuanqi’s name.

After the Three Halls Tournament, Weng Xiaolin had brought Zhao Qin to the Martial Arts Hall for a temporary stay out of concern for her safety. But half a month ago, once this house was fully prepared, he had her move in. With disciples from the escort agency watching over the area, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

At this moment, because they hadn’t hired a housekeeper yet, Zhao Qin was in the living room on the first floor, resting on a chair after just finishing cleaning.

Zhao Qin’s complexion was much better than it had been a few months ago. After Zhao Xuanqi became an Outer Disciple, her meals had steadily improved. Her face was now rosy again, and her black hair had regained its luster. Dressed in a simple white dress that complemented her quiet temperament, she looked elegant and delicate.

Looking at her surroundings, she suddenly felt as if she were in a daze, as if she had returned to the time when she lived with her parents.

Although Zhao Rong’en and Zhou Minqing came from a scholarly family, they weren’t particularly wealthy. The house where their family of four had lived was very similar to this one.

She had once thought she would never again live in a house like this. But now, in less than a year, she had moved back into one.

And all of this was thanks to her younger brother.

During this time, she had learned in detail about everything Zhao Qi had done at the Martial Arts Hall. She understood all too well that his status and abilities were now completely different from just a few months ago. This immense change left her feeling somewhat at a loss.

She found that she could no longer see through her own brother at all.

She even felt a hint of unfamiliarity towards him.

What he was thinking, what he wanted to do—she knew none of it.

She didn’t feel happy about her improved living situation. On the contrary, her heart was filled with worry.

She worried for Zhao Qi’s safety, and she also worried that he might lose himself because of all this.

’But, at least things have settled down for now. Zhao Qi has found his path. And I... I should start thinking about my own path, too.’

After a short rest, Zhao Qin picked up her bamboo basket, walked out of the courtyard, and headed to the market to buy groceries.

Along the way, she constantly felt like she was being watched.

But she didn’t find it strange, as she knew the Martial Arts Hall had been sending people to protect her in secret lately.

As she entered the market, the crowd grew thicker, and the feeling of being watched became indistinct.

"Zhao Lingfei?"

Just then, a voice suddenly sounded beside her, making Zhao Qin’s body tremble slightly.

How long had it been since she last heard the name that had been hers for over a decade?

She whipped her head around toward the source of the voice, but all she saw was a chaotic stream of people, and all she heard was the noisy din of vendors hawking their wares.

She almost thought she had just been hallucinating.

She shook her head and was about to continue her shopping when she suddenly noticed something new in her empty bamboo basket.

She picked it up and saw it was a cardstock business card for a clothing store.

The store’s name: Chu’s Embroidery and Clothing Store.

...

...

Night fell. Zhao Xuanqi finished his day’s training, returned to his room, and locked the door.

HUFF!

Sitting on a chair, he let out a long breath. For any Martial Artist, the Cross-Training realm was the most painful stage. The daily tempering of the body, the agony of constantly breaking down one’s original form to forge a more perfect one, was not something everyone could endure. Countless people were left traumatized by this brutal training, their progress halting completely.

However, to Zhao Xuanqi, this kind of pain was nothing more than child’s play.

He mixed and drank a dose of Secret Medicine, then circulated his Pile Skill to move his Qi and Blood, healing the remaining minor injuries on his body before opening his eyes again.

’The Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall’s Martial Arts Secret Transmission is second-rate at best,’ Zhao Xuanqi thought to himself. ’Its Cross-Training method is reliable, but its efficiency is a bit too low. At this rate, with Zhao Qi’s natural constitution, reaching the level of Qi Circulation Throughout the Body is almost impossible.’

The Striking Technique is the key to Cross-Training, and the techniques of various schools and sects are actually quite different.

A method like the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall’s—using external objects to strike the body while strengthening it with Pile Skill and Secret Medicine—is the most basic and least efficient way.

Zhao Xuanqi knew of many Striking Techniques that far surpassed that of the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall.

For example, there were methods like stimulating the skin and pores with extreme cold in a frozen wasteland, combined with external strikes; standing beneath a waterfall, enduring its crushing force while slamming one’s body against the rocks; or training inside a furnace room, enduring the searing steam and performing Cross-Training in high temperatures.

These Striking Techniques were far more dangerous, but their effects were also more significant. Furthermore, after completing Cross-Training, different methods would bestow the Martial Artist with additional abilities beyond just the physical enhancement.

For instance, once the extreme cold Striking Technique was mastered, one’s ability to maintain body temperature, contract muscles, and perceive with the skin would all be enhanced to a superhuman degree.

Another example is the waterfall Striking Technique. Upon mastery, the "Soft Force" of the skin and muscles is greatly enhanced. When facing an enemy’s attack, one can even directly control their flesh to soften and neutralize the blow.

But the Striking Technique used by the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall, by comparison, offered no other enhancements aside from a moderate boost to the body’s recovery.

’But that’s to be expected. The Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall is just a local Martial Arts Hall. Its Secret Transmission isn’t going to be too powerful. The potency of its Secret Medicine alone is a dead giveaway.’

As a top-tier Secret Transmission from his past life on Blue Star, the Hundred Beasts Fist naturally had its own unique Cross-Training Striking Technique.

It was called the Hundred Beasts Mystic Gate.

Zhao Xuanqi did a quick sweep of the area around his house to confirm there was nothing amiss. Only then did he return to an open space in his room and assume the Fierce Form Pile Skill stance.

His eyes were half-open, half-closed. The usual clarity of a human gaze was gone, replaced by flickers of some inexplicable light.

Now cunning, now savage; now restrained, now ferocious; now agile...

At the same time, his body began to move. He clenched his hands into fists, but with his thumbs sticking out.

His arms, like those of an ape, rose slightly, like long whips, then suddenly struck down toward certain acupoints on his upper arms.

SMACK!!

A crisp sound rang out. Two acupoints on Zhao Xuanqi’s upper arms had been struck. His thumbs sank deep into the muscle, and in coordination with the circulation of Qi and Blood from his Pile Skill, it triggered a terrifying physical reaction.