Sweat drenched Wu Jian’s back, chest, face, arms, and legs as he balanced most of his body on his arms, which were bent at a forty-five-degree angle. Meanwhile, he had tightened his core and spread his legs wide to form a triangle as he pressed his feet flat against the ground. This had the effect of working both his triceps, chest, and core muscles. Every time he lowered his body, his arms and chest felt like they were on fire, and the constant need to keep his stomach muscles tight caused an intense burning sensation to spread through his torso.

“Eighty-nine… ninety… ninety-one…”

One month had passed since Elder Wu Wei tried to force Wu Meiying into using her power. While the snake had been able to use his silver tongue and authority to get out of trouble, Father and Mother were wary of his antics and told Wu Meiying that she could refuse anyone’s request if they did not bear the family head’s official seal.

Wu Jian was also on the lookout for Wu Fei. Since he was the grandson of Elder Wu Wei, there was a good chance he was in collusion with the elder. Thinking on it, Wu Jian had always thought it odd that his half-brother had become so cruel toward him. It had not started until after he began spending time with Wu Fei. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but he believed that his half-brother had changed because of something Wu Fei might have done or said.

Of course, Wu Fei had not acted any differently since the elder tried to corner Wu Meiying, so perhaps he was just being paranoid.

“… One hundred.”

After doing one hundred of this kind of push-up, Wu Jian lifted his legs above his head, doing a complete handstand, and began doing push-ups again.

“Hah!”

“Hup!”

“Hyaaa!”

While he was doing handstand push-ups, Wu Jian was able to watch Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu spar, albeit, upside down. It was something they had only begun recently.

After she got the hang of falling and taking hits, Hou Jingshu had tackled actual combat with the kind of enthusiasm he never would have expected from a princess before meeting her. Even now, she wasn’t giving ground against Wu Meiying despite being clearly outmatched.

“Four. Five. Six…” Wu Jian grunted as he counted out loud. At the same time, he heard Wu Meiying talking as she sparred with Hou Jingshu.

“You’ll have to do more than just defend yourself if you want to defeat me!”

Wu Meiying threw another punch. It seemed like a simple straight, but as her first thunked against Hou Jingshu’s forearm, she grabbed the surprised girl and pulled her into a shoulder throw. Hou Jingshu screamed in surprise as she went down. Her scream was soon swallowed up, however, when her back hit the ground and all the air rushed from her lungs.

“Huff… huff…”

Despite the harsh fall, Hou Jingshu proved she had truly learned her lessons by managing to roll across the ground and land on her forearms and feet. She still had trouble standing up, however, and ended up sitting down on her rump when she tried, body slouching forward.

“Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four,” Wu Jian continued to count.

Straightening as Hou Jingshu breathed heavily, Wu Meiying smiled and waited for the other girl to get her breath back under control. She extended a hand as her partner leaned back and closed her eyes.

“Are you okay? Think you can keep going?”

Hou Jingshu looked up at the hand, then at the face beyond it. With a wince and a wry smile, she took the hand, allowing Wu Meiying to pull her up.

“No… I don’t think I can continue fighting right now… I think you might have broken my hip bone.”

“Surely you jest. I’d never break something during a simple spar, but I’m sure your backside will be a little sore tomorrow, considering how often you land on it.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?”

“Yours, for not being strong enough to stop me.”

“Grrrr. I really dislike it when you use circular logic like that.”

“Ara? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure you don’t.”

Wu Meiying had begun teasing Hou Jingshu a lot more as the days passed, which went to show Wu Jian that they were becoming closer. He believed this was a good thing. Not only was Hou Jingshu his fiancée, but he also planned on marrying Wu Meiying, so he felt it was important that the two have a good rapport with each other.

“Eighty-seven. Eighty-eight. Eighty-nine.”

Of course, he also just wanted them to get along. Wu Meiying never had a girl friend her own age. The only woman she was close to was Mother, and she was a lot older, which made it hard for them to relate. Having a friend that was the same gender and age gave her someone she could really connect with.

“One hundred…”

Taking a deep breath, Wu Jian lowered his feet back onto solid ground and stood up. The cool morning breeze caressed his sweaty back and sent goosebumps down his spine. It felt nice. He closed his eyes and allowed the gentle wind blowing through the clearing to cool down his burning body.

“Are you staring at Jian’s bare chest? That’s quite scandalous of you. I didn’t know princesses could be so bold,” Wu Meiying said, hand to her mouth as though to hide a mischievous smile.

“Eeep!” Hou Jingshu turned away from Wu Jian, her cheeks bright red. “I-it’s not like I’m staring at him. I was just… um… admiring his strength…”

“Admiring his strength, huh?” Wu Meiying giggled behind her hand. “You would be a lot more convincing if you weren’t blushing.” Hou Jingshu’s blush deepened as the other girl continued teasing her. “Don’t worry. I don’t blame you. I ogle Jian all the time.”

“M-Meiying!” Hou Jingshu shrieked.

“What? He doesn’t mind. Right, Jian?”

Having been put on the spot like this, all Wu Jian could do was shrug. “I don’t particularly mind…”

It wasn’t like Wu Jian didn’t understand where either of them was coming from. Perhaps it was because he had reached the age when puberty began really going into overdrive, or maybe it was because his mother had given him “the talk” not long ago, but he had caught himself staring at the girls several times during their training. If the feelings were mutual, he would feel a lot better about it.

“A-anyway, now that you are done exercising, perhaps you should spar with Wu Meiying?” Hou Jingshu suggested after coughing into her hand.

“I think we have time for a single match,” Wu Meiying said. She smiled at the thought of sparring with him. “What do you think? Are you up for a match against me?”

“Yeah. Sure. Do you want to place any stakes on this match?” asked Wu Jian.

“Stakes?” Hou Jingshu tilted her head.

“We like to bet something whenever we spar. It helps motivate us,” Wu Jian explained.

“Ah.” Hou Jingshu nodded.

Wu Meiying tapped her lower lip in thought. “Hmmm. I know! How about the loser has to kiss the winner?”

“What kind of stakes are those?!” shouted Hou Jingshu.

“Pass. We kiss all the time anyway,” Wu Jian said.

“What?!”

“Hmmm. Then how about if I win, you have to let me feel your body. And if you win… I’ll let you do whatever you want to me? Does that sound good?”

“That doesn’t sound good at all, you two! We are far too young to indulge in such inappropriate behavior!”

“I’m pretty sure you would let me do whatever I want to you anyway, so there’s no benefit on my side. And you know I’d let you touch me if you asked.”

“Wu Jian!!”

“I guess you bring up a good point. Honestly, I only mentioned those stakes because I wanted to see Jingshu blush,” Wu Meiying admitted.

Wu Jian crossed his arms and nodded. “I don’t blame you. She’s very cute when she’s embarrassed.”

“Right?”

“You two are horrible!” Hou Jingshu shouted, her cheeks glowing brighter than a paper lantern after the candle inside had been lit.

***

After washing up and getting dressed in a red and black hanfu, Wu Jian met up with Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu by the dining hall and entered. A lot of people were already present. The buzzing of conversation was a dull sound in his ears as they found a place to sit. It wasn’t long after they sat down that a maidservant, the same one who always attended to them, arrived with some congee, a bowl of fruit and nuts, and a side of honey.

Wu Jian was aware of the eyes on him as he sat between the two girls. He could feel the stares drilling holes into the back of his head. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he could have sworn people were glaring at him more than usual today.

I must be imagining things. People stare at me all the time. Hmm. I’m sure they’re glaring no more than usual. That must be it. I’m just being paranoid.

“Tomorrow is our day off, right?” asked Hou Jingshu as she scooped some congee onto her spoon. She had forgone the honey but liberally sprinkled nuts and berries into her food. After blowing lightly to cool it down, she placed the spoon in her mouth, then sighed in bliss. “This is delicious.”

“Anything would taste good when you’re hungry,” Wu Meiying said as she slipped her own spoon into her mouth. A smile lit up her face as the taste of berries, nuts, and honey touched her tongue. “But I agree, this is good. I do so love congee with honey. And yes, tomorrow is our day off. What do you two think we should do?”

“I would like to spend more time in the city,” Hou Jingshu said. “You two showed me around a bit, but I feel like we only scratched the surface. I would also like to visit the library and see if there are any books on cultivating and martial arts. As you know, my father didn’t let me learn any martial arts, so I don’t have my own style yet.”

“You’re not going to find anything good at the city library,” Wu Jian told her. “We’ll check the clan library after we’re finished with our lessons for the day. Tomorrow, we can travel into Zahn City and just enjoy ourselves.”

“We’ll need to tell Uncle that we are going out,” Wu Meiying said.

“I’ll tell him at dinner tonight.”

After finishing breakfast, the trio headed for the training hall, where they took turns sparring against each other for several hours alongside their peers. Then they headed for the library.

“I haven’t seen you kids in a while. Are you here for a new book?” asked Grandpa Son when the three kids entered the library.

“Grandpa Son, this time we’re looking for a martial art that will suit Jingshu,” Wu Jian said. “Can you think of anything that would work well with her?”

“Hmmm. She is a bit thin, but she has surprisingly dense muscles… girl, how often do you exercise?” asked Grandpa Son.

Hou Jingshu blushed only a bit at hearing her muscles being described as “dense.” That probably wasn’t something most girls wanted to hear someone say about their musculature, but because she admired strength, Wu Jian imagined she thought of it as a compliment.

“Um. I just started a month ago,” Hou Jingshu admitted.

“And your muscles have already become this firm?” Grandpa Son raised an eyebrow, mumbled something to himself, then nodded. “It looks like you might have a Perfect Physique.”

Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu all shared a glance. Each of them looked confused. None of them had ever heard of this Perfect Physique before. They turned back to Grandpa Son.

“What is a Perfect Physique?” asked Wu Jian.

As if he had been waiting for one of them to ask that question, Grandpa Son smiled and said, “A Perfect Physique is a unique and quite rare physical condition among cultivators whose bodies are uniquely suited for martial combat. Their bodies are perfectly maintained and balanced at all times, even when they don’t exercise at all, and they excel at using body enhancement techniques.”

There were many different kinds of techniques out there. Techniques were roughly divided into three categories based on their power, complexity, and how much chi was required to activate them. Earth techniques were the weakest. After Earth came Spirit—intermediate techniques. And finally, after Spirit came Heaven. Heaven techniques were the strongest, said to be capable of moving mountains, splitting seas, and controlling the heavens themselves.

Of course, Heaven techniques were rarer than a unicorn’s horn or phoenix feathers. A technique like that would never appear in a tiny country like the Shang Kingdom.

These categories were further divided into levels. Each category had three levels: low, middle, and high. A high-grade Earth technique would be stronger than a low-grade one, but it would be weaker than even the weakest low-grade Spirit technique.

“Body enhancement techniques are almost always Earth-rank since they only enhance a cultivator’s physical abilities, though I have heard legends of a Heaven-rank body enhancement technique,” Grandpa Son said. Then he chortled to himself and stroked his beard. “But you don’t need to worry about that right now. None of you will have to worry about techniques until you turn sixteen. For now, let’s find you a martial art style that is suitable for your body type.”

The Wu Clan had several different styles of martial art. This included weapon martial arts like styles for the yanyuedao and the ji. However, because they were a small clan, they were still lacking. There were around twenty different types of martial arts in total. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying had already gone through all of them and not one suited either of them, but maybe they would find something that would work with Hou Jingshu.

“Um, if possible, I would like to learn a martial art that utilizes a polearm weapon like a yanyuedao,” Hou Jingshu said, her tone uncertain.

Grandpa Son snorted. “Hmph. Do not be so hasty to pick a martial art for a weapon, child. While you can certainly learn how to wield a yanyuedao or any other weapon, you must first learn how to wield your body. Hmmm. However, if you are interested in picking up a weapon, then you won’t want to learn a more complicated martial art… I think I have something that will both fit your body type and desire to use a weapon. Follow me.”