Starting from Tianlong, Wudu Tianxia

May has arrived in the blink of an eye. At this time, the flowers are in full bloom, and the gentle breeze brings joy to people's hearts.

Nourished by the food at the Fan family's residence, Gao Yuan grew considerably taller in a short period of time.

He studied and practiced diligently every day, and the Northern Darkness True Qi accumulated in his chest grew from a hair to the size of a hemp rope, and when he wielded his palm, it already had a slight air of power.

However, he only refined the third of the sixteen illustrations.

During this time, he became very familiar with everyone in the Fan family, especially the servant boy, Shi Tou.

Because of Gao Yuan's exciting and intense "stories of the martial arts world," he almost completely became Gao Yuan's follower.

At dawn, the bronze bells on the eaves of the Fan residence were covered with golden light. When Gao Yuan arrived at the gate, a bright red sun was slowly rising in the eastern sky.

"The rising sun illuminates a new journey; it's time to set off."

The horses neighed in front of the carriage, and the driver, Old Hu, gently patted their necks twice.

Fan Bailing glanced at the rising sun, lifted the carriage curtain, and bent down to enter.

Looking at the slightly haggard Fan Bailing, Gao Yuan said reluctantly, "Teacher, take care on your journey."

"Why are you being so coy? I'm here at the invitation of Elder Chen Guyan of the Beggars' Sect to discuss important matters in Fengxiang Prefecture. It's not like I'm not coming back."

Gao Yuan knew a little about this matter.

The incident began a few days ago when the Western Xia built a fortress called Nao'e Fort on the border between the two countries. After learning about this, the prefect of Qingzhou gathered 3000 soldiers, including both Tibetan and Han troops, and led them under the command of Li Xin to attack the Western Xia. However, they suffered a great defeat.

The Beggars' Sect has received information that the Western Xia army is plotting an attack on Huanqing Road.

The reason we were invited by the Beggars' Sect is to discuss how to resist the invasion of the Western Xia.

Fan Bailing opened the carriage window and said again:

"I suppose my elder brother and the others will also be going. I'll take this opportunity to have a drink with them, catch up, and pay another visit to Chief Wang."

Fan Bailing closed the carriage window and gestured for Lao Hu to urge the horse on.

"You will be gone for about twenty and a half weeks. Uncle Fu will take care of everything in the manor. Without me watching over you, you must practice martial arts diligently and must not be lazy or negligent."

Gao Yuan cupped his hands in a respectful bow: "This disciple understands."

"Let's go back."

Old Hu gently tugged at the horse's rump, and in the soft morning light, the carriage gradually disappeared around the corner of the street. Soon, only the sound of hooves could be heard, but no one was in sight.

Once the carriages and horses were completely out of sight, everyone turned around and went back to the mansion at Uncle Fu's call.

Fan Bailing was a man of the martial world, and he would travel far away once or twice a year. Fu Bo and the others were used to this and it did not cause much of a stir.

After Fan Bailing left, Gao Yuan diligently practiced martial arts and studied chess theory every day, and would seek out Wang Sanlang to play chess whenever he had free time.

However, despite having the jade tablet to calm his mind and making him learn much more efficiently than others, he was still far behind Wang Xin, who had started learning chess at a young age and had already grasped the essence of the game.

In short, it's less about the two of them playing chess and more about Wang Sanlang feeding him chess pieces.

As for how two people with completely mismatched identities ended up together... it was mainly thanks to the stone.

After listening to Gao Yuan's tales of the martial arts world, the boy always liked to run up to Wang Sanlang and show off.

This back and forth piqued Wang Xin's interest, and the three of them gradually began to mingle together.

Although Wang Xin was born into an official family, he yearned for the life of a wanderer. He possessed both the etiquette of a gentleman and the chivalry of a wanderer. He did not care much about the so-called social hierarchy and did not look down on Gao Yuan, the beggar, and Shi Tou, the servant.

I greatly admire the concept of "the greatest heroes are those who serve their country and its people" as conveyed in Gao Yuan's story...

It was the seventh day of Fan Bailing's journey.

At the end of the day, Gao Yuan finished his journey to the Northern Sea and went to the outer courtyard to continue practicing grappling techniques.

After finishing one set of moves, he immediately resumed his attack from the beginning, showing no signs of the choking and vomiting blood that Fan Bailing had demonstrated during his practice.

Gradually, Gao Yuan's movements became faster and faster, and the withered leaves on the ground were blown into the air.

"call!"

Gao Yuan had never fought so thoroughly in front of Fan Bailing.

He felt the Northern Darkness True Qi circulating within his body, flowing into his limbs and bones, striking four or five times until his whole body was soaked in sweat before stopping and standing still to rest.

"The grappling techniques in Tianshan Zhemei are indeed extraordinary. Each time I practice them, I gain different insights. The opening and closing of the five fingers are specifically designed to seize weapons and pinpoint acupoints. It's a pity that the grappling techniques I've learned so far only cover some of the techniques for grabbing swords and other weapons..."

As he relaxed his muscles and bones, Gao Yuan's mind raced with thoughts.

"Tianshan Zhemei is nominally a palm technique and grappling method, but in reality it contains eighteen kinds of martial arts. It can be said to be profound and extensive. The more martial arts knowledge one has, the more potential one can unleash and integrate all the martial arts in the world into it."

"Mr. Fan is not using the right method. In addition to being unable to synchronize and balance the incantation with his own true qi, the most important thing is that he does not have the internal energy support to match the moves."

"Beiming and Tianshan Zhemei come from the same school, so naturally such problems do not exist."

"Furthermore, the jade tablet can calm my mind when practicing martial arts, so I can use it without any hindrance."

Splash!

Back in the west room, Gao Yuan fetched a basin of water and began to wash himself. It was a hot day, and if he didn't clean himself properly, he would soon start to smell bad.

He pays great attention to his personal hygiene.

After drying himself off, Gao Yuan patted his face. Fan Bailing was unaware that he could now perform the original moves and routines several times over.

His idea was to proceed at a normal pace.

Appropriate modesty can be a form of self-protection; if one acts too outrageously, it will inevitably arouse suspicion and investigation from those with ulterior motives.

He did believe in Mr. Fan's character, but explaining it was quite troublesome.

Moreover, the world is a dangerous place. Having spent several years in university, he knew all too well the greed in people's hearts and the allure of extraordinary skills, so he had to be cautious.

In the martial arts world, it's not just about the depth of martial arts skills; sometimes, even a seasoned veteran can be brought down by underhanded tricks.

Besides, he is currently a beginner in martial arts and has no experience in combat.

Although the Northern Darkness True Qi has a certain effect in resisting poison, he has not yet mastered it to a high level, and a packet of sleeping potion can knock him out.

"Brother Yuan, have you finished the homework the teacher assigned you?"

Shi Tou ran into the courtyard and saw Gao Yuan tidying up and getting ready to go back inside.

Hearing this, Gao Yuan turned around and saw that Shi Tou's arms were bulging. He smiled brightly and said, "Shi Tou, the front yard and the west room aren't far apart. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Shi Tou wiped his sweat and pulled out an oilcloth bag from his pocket: "Brother Yuan, have you gotten so engrossed in practicing martial arts and chess that you've forgotten everything else? The Bathing Orchid Festival is in two days. Uncle Fu asked me to bring you some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) so you can absorb some yang energy."

"The Orchid Bathing Festival? Ah..."

Opening the oilcloth bag, you'll find not only zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), but also some mugwort and calamus.

Gao Yuan suddenly realized that the Orchid Bathing Festival is actually the Dragon Boat Festival. It is called the Orchid Bathing Festival because there is a custom of bathing in a decoction of herbs such as mugwort and calamus on the Dragon Boat Festival to ward off evil spirits and plagues. Hence the name "Orchid Bathing Festival".

Of course, "Yulan" is the name used in the Xuzhou area. Other prefectures may call it Chongwu Festival or Changpu Festival. In any case, it is just a different name, but it is still the same old routine of eating zongzi, hanging mugwort, and drinking realgar wine.

Speaking of the Dragon Boat Festival, Gao Yuan was quite excited, after all, it was the first major festival he had encountered since his rebirth.

Some time ago, he was so engrossed in practicing martial arts and chess that he had no time to appreciate the local customs and culture of Xuzhou.

Seeing that Gao Yuan remained silent, Shi Tou took out two colorful ropes and said with a smug look, "Brother Yuan, look, Sister Gengyun bought these at the temple fair yesterday, and you got some too."

Sister Gengyun is the young lady of the cook's family in the Fan family. She is three years older than Gao Yuan and usually takes good care of them.

"Temple fair?" Gao Yuan caught the colorful rope, then flashed a set of white teeth: "Sister Gengyun doesn't usually have many odds and ends, and she gives them to you, and you just stupidly accept them?"

"It's alright. Since you're free now, Yuan-ge, why don't we go to the temple fair? We can see if there are any fruits or pastries to bring back for Sister Gengyun to try, as a return gift."

"But……"

After finishing his martial arts training and resting for a few moments, he would start learning chess and memorizing scores.

Seeing Gao Yuan hesitate, Shi Tou said as if offering a treasure, "It's alright. Have you forgotten that it was Uncle Fu who sent me? Uncle Fu said that there's no rush to learn martial arts and chess. Brother Yuan is always on edge. You should know that if you keep tense without relaxing, you'll exhaust yourself and damage your mind."

Before he could even refuse, he grabbed Gao Yuan and ran outside.

It was already late afternoon, and Uncle Fu had granted everyone a day off, but there were hardly any people in the mansion.

"Most wealthy families would give their servants a day off on the Dragon Boat Festival. The festive atmosphere and the richness of the customs were far beyond what we could have imagined in the past."

Gao Yuan was already tempted, so he simply let Shi Tou pull him out of the mansion.