Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Although he had successfully completed his Qi and Blood Refining and become a full-fledged Martial Artist, he’d been around the dojo long enough to hold the senior practitioners from the Inner Courtyard in even greater awe.

Especially after hearing about how badly Sun Fan had been beaten, he spent the whole afternoon dwelling on it. The more he thought, the more he realized just how cocky he’d been in the past. ℴℴ𝘮

”I knew you’d be in,” Zhou Xianchuan said with a chuckle, rubbing his hands together.

”Looking to spar?” Wan Ze stepped aside from the doorway. He had just showered, but if his buddy was itching for a fight, he was happy to oblige.

But no sooner had he said it than Zhou Xianchuan, who had just put one foot over the threshold, snatched it back as if he’d been burned.

He waved his hands frantically, shaking his head like a bobblehead. ”No sparring, no sparring! Training this late is bad for you!”

Wan Ze gave him a deadpan look. ”What kind of weird logic is that?”

With a perfectly straight face, Zhou Xianchuan started ticking off points on his fingers. ”Strenuous exercise late at night excites the sympathetic nervous system, causes an adrenaline spike, and increases your heart rate and blood pressure. All of that puts your brain in a hyper-aroused state. And then what? I can’t rest properly. I’ll just be tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. I’ll end up pulling an all-nighter or even getting insomnia. Then I’ll show up tomorrow with two dark circles under my eyes, feeling sluggish, with slower reaction times, and diminished training results. Long-term, it can even affect your endocrine and immune systems...”

He delivered the spiel with such conviction, adding at the end, ”I looked it up in the library. It’s totally scientific!”

Wan Ze: ”...”

He just leaned against the doorframe, crossed his arms, and said irritably, ”Then why aren’t you going to sleep? What do you want?”

Zhou Xianchuan gave another goofy grin, leaned in closer, and asked in a hushed voice, ”Ah Ze, is your new place set up yet? Last time we talked, you said you were buying furniture.”

”It’s all set up. I’m just furnishing it now,” Wan Ze replied. ”I just went to the Property Plaza today and ordered a sofa and a bed, plus some other small things. Everything should be delivered by next week.”

”Then I’ve gotta come over and hang out sometime!” Zhou Xianchuan immediately perked up, his eyes shining. ”You have to save me a good spot. I want to try out that new sofa of yours. Oh, right, how big is your place? Want me to give you some pointers on the layout? I’ve been looking at interior design stuff for months. I’m a wealth of theoretical knowledge!”

Wan Ze didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”Sure. I’ll let you know when it’s all ready.”

”It’s a deal, then!” Zhou Xianchuan nodded, satisfied. He then glanced out into the courtyard. ”You just finish training? Eaten yet?”

Wan Ze rubbed his stomach. It was only then he realized he’d been training since the afternoon and hadn’t actually eaten.

”Not yet.”

”Let’s go, let’s go! What are we waiting for?” Zhou Xianchuan grabbed his arm. ”I know this old barbecue joint nearby. I hear it’s super authentic. My treat!”

The two of them left the dojo and started walking down the alley.

There were no streetlights in the alley, only the faint glow from the windows of the houses on either side, leaving the path ahead hazy and indistinct.

Zhou Xianchuan walked ahead, chattering away about how delicious the barbecue place was. Wan Ze followed behind, giving noncommittal replies.

Just as they reached the mouth of the alley, someone was walking toward them.

The man was tall with a steady gait, and he moved with the crisp efficiency of a Martial Artist.

”Ah, Brother Lei?” Zhou Xianchuan stopped in his tracks, subconsciously straightening his posture. His voice held a note of careful politeness.

Lei Ming came over, a smile spreading across his face when he saw them. He raised a hand and clapped Zhou Xianchuan on the shoulder, the gesture light.

”Why so formal? We’re all brothers here. Just call me Brother Lei.”

He and Wan Ze knew each other well. They’d been through several life-or-death situations together, forging a bond that went beyond mere words.

And since Wan Ze and Zhou Xianchuan were best friends from their school days, that goodwill naturally extended to Zhou Xianchuan. He had a soft spot for the slightly pudgy kid.

Zhou Xianchuan felt a sudden warmth spread through his chest at those words.

”You guys eaten yet?” Lei Ming asked, looking between them. ”If not, perfect. The three of us can go together. I know a barbecue joint that makes some killer lamb skewers. The owner knows me, so he can get us a good table.”

Zhou Xianchuan glanced cautiously at Wan Ze. He didn’t know Lei Ming well. His impression of him was still stuck back when he first started learning to fight alongside Wan Ze. Back then, everyone had to properly address him as ”Brother Lei,” bow when they saw him, and speak respectfully. A senior was a senior; you wouldn’t dare try to get chummy with one.

But Wan Ze was talking to Lei Ming as casually as he would an old classmate, completely lacking that stiff formality between a senior and a junior.

”Sounds good. Fatty here was just saying he wanted barbecue. Maybe you two are talking about the same place,” Wan Ze chimed in naturally. ”Brother Lei, where’s this joint you’re talking about?”

”Not far, just on the next street over. About a ten-minute walk,” Lei Ming said, naturally falling into step between them. He slung an arm over Wan Ze’s shoulder, letting his other hand hang casually at his side as he turned to Zhou Xianchuan. ”Is that the one you were talking about?”

”It is, actually,” Zhou Xianchuan replied immediately.

”What a coincidence,” Lei Ming said with a hearty laugh.

Seeing this, Zhou Xianchuan gradually began to relax.

He was discovering that Lei Ming was actually pretty easy to get along with. He didn’t put on airs or act superior; everything he said and did had a down-to-earth quality.

So he ventured, ”Brother Lei, did you just finish training for the night, too?”

”You know it.” Lei Ming sighed with a smile. ”Master had me practicing the Pile Skill all afternoon. My legs are still sore from it. You guys have no idea. The requirement for that Pile Skill is to hold a stance for three hours straight without moving. If you move, you start over. I was on my fourth attempt today when I sneezed. I was forced to start over from the beginning. It was so infuriating.”

”Three hours without moving?” Zhou Xianchuan’s eyes went wide. ”Wouldn’t that kill you?”

”It’s tiring, but the Effect is real,” Lei Ming said with a smile. ”After you finish the Pile Skill and then throw a punch, you feel like all your Strength is growing right up from the soles of your feet. The force behind a punch is on a completely different level... You just finished your Blood Tempering, so you’re still practicing the Pile Skill, right? Let me tell you, there are a few key points you have to pay attention to... If you don’t believe me, ask Ah Ze. He’s even more of a monster.”

Zhou Xianchuan couldn’t help but look at Wan Ze.

He couldn’t imagine how the word ’monster’ could possibly apply to his best friend.

Wan Ze was fair-skinned and clean-cut, and in terms of good looks, he was on par with Zhou Xianchuan himself... ’How could he be called a monster? Brother Lei must just be jealous of us handsome guys.’

’Yeah, that has to be it!’