Time drifted away, and it had been three years since that battle in the small village where one person single-handedly fought against over a hundred horse bandits. Qin Yu had transformed from an eight-year-old child gritting his teeth in bitter training into a formidable Outer Strength Expert at sixteen—a designated adult on the Hidden Dragon Continent.
Little Lu was seriously injured and brought to Cloud Mist Villa by Qin Yu to recuperate, and Tie Shan was also brought to Cloud Mist Villa to start cultivating with the experts there. Having lost both parents, they settled down in Cloud Mist Villa, only occasionally returning to the village to check in.
Gentle breezes blew, carrying fallen leaves with them. At the entrance of Cloud Mist Villa, two guards were chatting and laughing with each other at ease.
"Ah Tian, it seems that the Third Prince has been out for nearly half a month this time, doesn't it?" an older guard said to another guard in his twenties, smiling.
The younger guard nodded with a smile, "Ever since the Third Prince returned three years ago, he often goes out, and it's common for him to be gone for ten days to half a month each time. But the Third Prince really trains hard. Whenever he comes back from outside, he spends all day in the villa training desperately." As he spoke, the younger guard felt a sense of admiration.
The older guard shook his head, "Ah Tian, that's what you don't know. You've only been here for a few years and have no idea how hard the Third Prince trains. When the Third Prince was only eight years old, the extent of his training was so terrifying that even we, the elite soldiers, couldn't bear to watch. At eight years old, you can't imagine, when other kids were playing, the Third Prince was training all day long. His training was much harder than that of the Fierce Tiger Army!"
The young guard nodded in agreement.
Initially, the elite soldiers and servants of Cloud Mist Villa felt affection and compassion towards little Qin Yu, but as they observed his extreme training, they grew to admire him more and more. Over the past three years, Prince Zhen Dong, Qin De, had only visited Cloud Mist Villa once.
"Ah Tian, look, the Third Prince is back!" the older guard suddenly said, his eyes lighting up as he pointed to the skies. The younger guard immediately looked up as well.
In the sky, a huge Black Hawk soared, its size dwarfing that of a regular hawk, looking even larger. The golden feathers on the head of the hawk resembled a crown, and its sharp eyes, like lightning, scanned all around with an awe-inspiring domineering aura. The talons gleamed with a cold light, with no questions about their sharpness.
Such a huge Black Hawk, if it stood on the ground, would be as tall as a person.
Atop this Black Hawk, a young man in black clothes was sitting cross-legged, but the hawk was flying so high that for a moment, his features could not be clearly seen.
Suddenly, the great Black Hawk dove down swiftly, and the young man stood up on the hawk's back. Now the guards below could fully discern the young man's appearance. He was about 1.8 meters tall, with well-defined facial features and always sporting a friendly smile. His body was clad only in a special black vest and a pair of black trousers, which accentuated the muscles of the young man's body.
"Little Black, go find some food for yourself," the young man affectionately patted the back of the Black Hawk and said. At about a hundred meters in the air, the young man amazingly dived directly from the back of the hawk toward the ground, his form flashing like lightning and landing on the ground in an instant, making no sound with his rapid descent.
"Greetings, Third Prince!" The two guards immediately knelt on one knee and respectfully greeted him.
"Uncle Lan, Ah Tian, you're on duty today, huh? Alright, I'm heading inside. We'll chat another time," Qin Yu said to the two guards with a smile, not insisting on the familiar guards to not kneel, as he understood that this was the rule of the Prince Mansion.
Qin Yu headed straight for the West Garden. All the servants he met along the way seemed very surprised to see him.
"Ha, as tough as it is to cultivate outside, it's not as comfortable as in the villa," Qin Yu said as he took off his black vest and threw it on the ground with a "bang!" The sound of the vest hitting the ground was surprisingly loud, as if it were made of steel.
The vest was woven from "Black Gold Silk," which was extraordinarily heavy. Black gold was immensely valuable, worth a hundred times more than gold. An Artifact Refining Expert had pulled black gold into threads and woven them into a vest. Such a vest, weighing a hundred pounds, was a priceless treasure. It was given to Qin Yu by Qin De during his last visit to Cloud Mist Villa. The Black Gold Vest not only protected the body but was also an excellent piece of weight training equipment, so naturally, Qin Yu was delighted to accept it.
Removing the protective arm guards and the leg guards, Qin Yu felt completely relaxed.
A pair of Xuantie Arm Guards, a pair of Xuantie Leg Guards, combined with a Black Gold Vest, the total weight amounted to three hundred pounds. Whether he was training outside or sleeping, Qin Yu never took them off. Now, he was about to enter the warm spring to thoroughly wash his whole body, and without the weight of three hundred pounds, Qin Yu felt incredibly comfortable.
"Haha, warm springs, I've missed you!" Qin Yu laughed heartily, his well-built upper body bare, as he jumped into the warm springs in his underpants.
"Phew, refreshing, truly refreshing," Qin Yu sighed contentedly, exhaling a long breath. Even though the hot springs of Cloud Mist Villa were miraculous enough to alter one's physique, Qin Yu, having soaked in them frequently since childhood, could no longer continue to improve his constitution. However, their efficacy in relieving fatigue was still exceptionally remarkable.
After lying comfortably in the water for half an hour, Lian Yan walked over to the West Garden.
"Little Yu, I knew you would come here as soon as you got back. You must be feeling completely relaxed by now. Why don't you come out?" Lian Yan said with a smile, having waited for half an hour, estimating that Qin Yu would be thoroughly at ease after his soak before coming over.
"Grandpa Lian, just a moment," Qin Yu replied. He washed the Black Gold Vest, Protective Leg, and Arm Guards he had left on the edge of the hot spring, then dashed to a room next to the spring, a room designated for changing clothes. Shortly after, Qin Yu emerged dressed in a fresh set of clothes.
Lian Yan looked at Qin Yu with kind and affectionate eyes, feeling a deep sense of contentment watching the youngster grow into an adult.
"Little Yu, your sixteenth birthday is just three months away. Your father, the Prince, will host a grand ceremony for your coming of age at the Prince Mansion. Remember, don't play around too much and miss it," Lian Yan said, laughing.
"Don't worry, how could I forget my own birthday? The coming-of-age ceremony will surely be packed with people," Qin Yu remarked, recalling his second brother Qin Zheng's ceremony four years prior, which had also drawn an overwhelming crowd.
"That goes without saying. The Princely Heir's coming-of-age ceremony is such an event that even the Emperor will send representatives to attend. Virtually all the nobles from the Chu Dynasty will be there," said Lian Yan with a smile, his voice tinged with a hint of pride considering the lofty status of Prince Zhen Dong in the Chu Dynasty—second only to the Emperor. "Alright, Little Yu, I won't disturb you any further. By the way, Little Shan and Little Lu have gone back to the village to visit. It's quite unfortunate that you missed them when you returned."
"Oh, I was wondering why I haven't seen Little Lu yet. Usually, she would have come looking for me the moment I got back. So, that's why," Qin Yu nodded and smiled, and after Lian Yan took his leave, Qin Yu headed to the familiar training grounds.
Next to the training area, there were stone blocks of varying weight, each one heavier than the last, ranging from a mere hundred pounds to over a thousand.
"Ha!"
Qin Yu's eyes suddenly sparkled, and with a low shout, his toes flicked a three-hundred-pound stone block soaring seven to eight meters into the air. He extended his right hand and braced the heavy stone with just one hand, holding it steady for nearly ten seconds before shaking his hand and tossing the stone aside.
"Wearing weights, holding three hundred pounds with a single hand—that seems to be my limit for now," Qin Yu internally assessed.
Lifting three hundred pounds with one hand meant the force of his punch could be terrifying—easily surpassing a thousand pounds, as the strength needed to lift something and the force delivered in a punch were entirely different. If Qin Yu were to face Wu Tuan again, he could definitely kill him without relying on the Fish Intestine Sword.
Wearing the weights, Qin Yu moved over to the cluster of sandbags at the center, surrounded by bags that would all move if one was touched, requiring high agility to navigate.
"Bang!"
With a sudden punch, Qin Yu set the nearest sandbag in motion, which triggered the others to move as well. Qin Yu shut his eyes and smiled as he easily pummeled each approaching bag with his fists.
Truthfully, Qin Yu's speed wasn't fast at that moment, but he was able to fend off every attack from the sandbags.
This was the marvel of movement technique; the approach of each sandbag caused a change in the wind, and Qin Yu, sensing these shifts in the air, easily parried each sandbag attack. In reality, burdened by three hundred pounds, it was nearly impossible for him to move as quickly as lightning. That would have been truly fearsome.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"…
Suddenly, a series of explosive sounds erupted as Qin Yu burst each sandbag with his punches. Finally opening his eyes, a satisfied smile graced his face. "This self-created movement technique—'Beidou Seven Stars Moonlight Dance,'—proves to be quite effective upon reaching great success," he said.
Qin Yu vividly remembered the battle that night, when he killed his opponent under the moonlight using the Fish Intestine Sword. This technique, blending the 'Seven Stars' fundamentals of Qimen Dunjia, was especially powerful in the moonlight, hence its name 'Beidou Seven Stars Moonlight Dance.' Once mastered, this movement technique offered not only the deceptive benefits of Qimen Dunjia to confound an opponent but also allowed movements without causing any sound, unimpeded by even the slightest breeze.