Along thousands of miles of the Cloud Rain Mountains, the rosy clouds were slowly rising, like a dragon creeping from the south to the north, through ‘warring empires’.
In the mountains there was ethereal Xian Qi, numerous palaces, dojos, and pavilions. White apes offering spirit fruits and cranes had spirit herbs in their mouths. It gave a sense of immortal lands of blessings.
In ancient times, when passing by the Cloud Rain Mountains, a martial predecessor perceived their power, feeling the morning frost, night dew, dawn clouds, and dusk rains. He was inspired, understood the limit of cultivation, and then invented a supreme secret skill ‘Cloud Rain Great Zhen Qi”. With this skill, he gathered clouds as rain swept across the lands gloriously. He then created an eternal sect… ‘the Cloud Rain Sect’”.
The ‘Cloud Rain Mountains’ were named after ‘the Cloud Rain Sect’.
The fame of ‘the Cloud Rain Sect’ was as reverberant as the thunder at the present world.
In the past thousands of years, masters kept emerging in the sect. Numerous talents appeared, becoming earth-shattering legends. They made undeniable contributions and played a critical role in the endless long wars between humans and demons.
As one of the top five ‘warring empires’, the ‘Cloud Rain Sect’ were terribly profound.
It was late autumn. The whole sky was filled with a sense of autumn. The whole Cloud Rain Mountains were bathed in laziness.
At the peak of a humble little mountain in the outer area stood a dojo. A few equipment for outer disciples’ training, such as stone mounds, sand bags, and stakes were placed randomly.
Several tall and strong young men were practicing lifting stone mounds, exhausting their energy; or they bound sandbags on their arms and legs, running, jumping and leaping like powerful tigers.
These young men’s bodies had been refined strongly and energetically. A slight kick or fist could pierce the air. They were vigorous and resolute. All movements made through waists and hips were coherent. They were practicing like eagles battling with rabbits and hungry tigers rushing at sheep.
These were novice disciples of the Cloud Rain Sect.
At the edge of the dojo, about ten less strong men were standing there with a pinched look. Their ages varied, from teens to middle aged. They were all trembling with fear, hearing piercing voices from the dojo where those novice disciples were practicing. They were shivering panickedly, and even had heart palpitations, pulling a long face as if they were attending a funeral.
They were ‘walking targets’, human sandbags for novice disciples to kick and beat cruelly.
Among them, the youngest-looking teenager, fifteen or sixteen at most, kept his eyes upon each move and strike practiced by the novice disciples. He nodded at times as if he learned something.
This was Xiao Han.
Xiao Han had been back for over two months from the unknown town where Brother Fong had killed the demon.
He had lost a lot of weight in these two months.
It was the heart pain.
At the night after he returned to the Cloud Rain Sect, Xiao Han felt as if numerous ants and poisonous insects were eating his heart, or like thousands of small knives cutting there. The pain lasted for four hours. Xiao Han was twitching painfully and passed out.
He thought he was possessed by the demon from the town and he was going die shortly. But the pain lessened and only lasted for three hours on next day.
It lasted two hours on third day.
Nowadays, Xiao Han still felt a pain in hearts, but it was only for a few minutes.
Last night, the pain only lasted for just one minute. Xiao Han was finally relieved. It should not happen again tonight.
Xiao Han felt that something had wormed into his heart. But after all, he had a shallow knowledge. He did not dare to ask people because he was afraid they would cut his heart to see what was there. He had to keep it locked up inside and leave it alone.
“These novice disciples are practicing ‘Bone Refining Bull Fist’, an introductory body strengthening skill of the Cloud Rain Sect’ as they said. I know every technique by heart, but I cannot practice it. I am too weak, without any strength in arms, legs, waist and hip. I am just striking a pose if I practice it, useless.” Said Xiao Han staring at those dragon-and-tiger-like novice disciples, licking the corner of his mouth. “Will I be a walking target and a loser for the rest of my life? Damn it! Qi Shi, you bastard! You should suffer a thousand knives! If you did not take away my medicinal pill Brother Fong gifted to me, I would’ve had a chance to cultivate now…damn! Damn!
Although Xiao Han held a great grudge in his heart against what the novice disciple Qi Shi had done to him, Qi Shi dared not speak up.
At this time, two novice disciples who were strengthening their bodies threw away the stone locks, backed down to rest for a while. They chatted cheerily.
“Brother Song, are those the ‘walking targets’ you were talking about, those standing over there?”
“Right, walking targets. They are just meat sandbags that can walk. As far as we need, we can kick and hit them, practicing skills and balancing body coordination.
“Hit walking targets? Is…isn’t this too…too cruel?”
“Not really. Junior Duan Mu, do you know what walking targets are? They are just lowly creatures. Never treat them as human beings. Now, violent demons are scourging this world, making disasters, raising turmoil and chaos of war, taking lives away, and leaving numerous bodies everywhere. Those mortals without cultivation are in serious dangers. They are making a precarious living. That’s why there are more and more orphans, refugees, victims, and fleeing people. In order to sustain lives, they seek protections from sects. Taking our Cloud Rain Sect as an example, thousands of refugees pour in here every year. There are so many people and so many refugees in the world, we cannot keep them without reasons. Otherwise, after a few years, our disciples would have no place to cultivate, because there would be refugees and orphans all over here. Isn’t it nonsense?”
“We, cultivators, should take killing demons as our duty. Killing a demon will save one thousand people! This is true merit and virtue! If we waste our cultivating time to keep those refugees and orphans, we are running after the less important things and forget the right obligations. So, all sects would never take the risk to keep refugees. We cannot be the first sect to do this. If refugees want protections and a life-time safety, they need to contribute to our sect. Many sects reorganized refugees and orphans who went to them for shelter. They treated them as walking targets, practicing tools for novice disciples.
“Brother Song, this…this is being too cruel…mortals without cultivation will be beaten to death if they are treated as walking targets… pitiful, so pitiful…”
“Hahaha, Junior Duan Mu, you think too much. How could they be so easy to be beaten to death? Let me tell you. Before they get beat, they would wear rattan(a sort of wood) armors, made from ‘Wu Tie Rattan’, a specialty of the Cloud Rain Mountains. Skillful craftsmen weaved the armors before they soaked them in tung oil for 81 days. The rattan armor was super tough and unsinkable. Neither swords or spears can penetrate it. Our novice disciples can maim them at most, It is not easy to kill them. Also, most novice disciples beat walking targets with a blows and kicks. Then they will stop beating them. They won’t beat them continuously. But it is not rare that those talented and strong novice disciples hit the armor and break it and cause the walking target to split with one fist. But only hundreds of walking targets die at the Cloud Rain Sect throughout the year. It is not a big thing.”
“Ah? Hundreds of people get beaten to death. Isn’t it a big thing?”
“Junior Duan Mu, as I told you, walking targets are like pigs, dogs, cows, sheep, and ants. Don’t treat them as human beings. If they didn’t become walking targets, they would’ve already died, either of starvation or freezing. Maybe they would’ve been eaten alive by demons. What’s more, they are more than happy to be walking targets for the sects. They will survive after being beat for several years and gain good fields, cows, sheep and draught animals. They will be safe for the rest of their lives. At worst, they are fed by our sect with three meals a day, a medicinal bath and herbs aftercare.”
“In this world, mortals are as cheap as dogs…hey… they didn’t even commit a crime, but have to be beat here…”
“Junior Duan Mu, being useless is a crime. Pigs, dogs, cows and sheep, they didn’t commit a crime neither, but they have to be killed and roasted. This is the same.”
…
After a while, those novice disciples all stopped practicing, throwing the stone mounds and sandbags away. They stretched their meridians and bones with a horribly crackling voice through joints explosions. They went towards the walking targets, who were standing at the edges. The disciples were laughing, looking at them teasingly as if a group of wild tigers saw a few sheep.
The walking targets could not help but shiver with a grieving look as if they had lost their parents. Apparently, they were panicking to death.
“Brother Qi, yesterday you said I made a few mistakes when practicing ‘Bone Refining Bull Fist’. I went back and practiced carefully. I did have some questions of a few techniques. I found them very unfathomable and hard to practice. It was very different from what you said – ‘carrying strength through fists and feet, combining hardness with softness, and feeling full and delightful’. Brother Qi, please teach me in person.”
After several novice disciples found their positions, one of them, over 20 years old, rough and dark skinned, stood as majestic as an iron tower. He crossed his arms in front of his chest in arrogance. He seemed to be the backbone here. He was exactly the one who took away the white tiger bone strengthening medicinal pill from Xiao Han.
Instantly, people bowed and scraped to flatter Qi Shi, asking for learning cultivation from him.
“Hum~~” Qi Shi snorted in a bluff, lazily saying, “This ‘Bone Refining Bull Fist’ that we are cultivating is the basic body strengthening skill from our Cloud Rain Sect. When you reach a limit, your meridians, bones and skin will be tougher. When you hold your breath, your skin will be as tough as cow’s hide. It can withstand attacks from blunt weapons, swords and blades. Your bone will be as hard as iron. Every part of your body, your waist, legs, bones, meridians, spines, limbs will integrate with your strength. Your body can be soft or hard, as you want. When you start fighting, your bones will make crackling sounds, like thundering, giving you mountain-like pressure.
“Right, right, Brother Qi. The ‘Bone Refining Bull Fist’ is really something out of the ordinary. It can help us reach the peak of the ‘Bone Refining Layer’ among the body layers. Once we break through it, we will move on to ‘Body Purifying Layer’. Brother Qi, you are a gifted genius. You made a rapid progress, from the ‘50th Bone Refining Layer’ to the ‘90th Bone Refining Layer’ in only two months. You are just a step away from the ‘Body Purifying Layer’. You will reach it anytime.” Said the novice disciple who asked for learning cultivation before, flattering Qi Shi unscrupulously. His face had nothing but just flatter. “Hey hey, when Brother Qi reaches the ‘Body Purifying Layer’, he will gain the mastery, becoming an ‘outer disciple’ from ‘novice disciple’, a skyrocketing rise of his statue. We need to rely on Brother Qi at that time.”
Other disciples all came over to please Qi Shi carefully.
Cultivation started from Body Strengthening. The body layers were divided into Fitness Layer, Skin and Meridians Strengthening Layer, Bone Strengthening Layer, Body Purifying Layer, Marrow Refining Layer, and Blood Enhancement Layer, progressing layer by layer. At the final layer, the cultivator’s body was perfect, unbreakable, without drawbacks, blade-proof, sword-proof, water-proof, and fire-proof. Even five horses could not tear the body limb from limb. The cultivator’s body could be used as a human-shaped weapon. Cutting a general’s head between thousands of horses and soldiers would be as easy as winking.
The 100th Bone Refining layer was the peak of bone strengthening cultivation. At this layer, when a cultivator slightly exercised his body, there would be a sound of bones exploding coming from the body. From that, the cultivator moved on to the next layer, the Body Purifying Layer.
Now, Qi Shi was at the ‘90th Bone Refining Layer’, almost at the 100th Bone Refining Layer of the body strengthening layers, becoming perfect.
“Yeah, I am accumulating steadily.” Qi Shi boasted without shame. He breathed with a medicinal fragrance. Apparently, there were still a few medicinal properties unrefined inside his body.
Qi Shi’s rapid improvement in the past two months had no business with his natural endowment, but with that ‘white tiger bone strengthening medicinal pill’.
“Accumulating steadily?” When Xiao Han heard Qi Shi say this without any shame, he was almost angered to the point of cracking the inner and outer corners of his eyes.
But Xiao Han could not to debunk Qi Shi to his face. He had to bear with it.
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