At late night,
Merin is sitting cross-legged on his bed on the floor.
He circulates the inner energy according to the route of the Life Qi technique.
Life Qi technique is a middle-level technique.
Even if its combat power is at the same realm as lower than Low-Ranking Samurai, it doesn't mean it is easier to cultivate than low-level techniques.
The difficulty of the Life Qi technique is the same as other middle-level techniques.
But as he cultivates the two low-level techniques, and widens all the respective energy veins.
He discovered he had already widened 80% of the required energy vein.
And with the Golden Spring potions, he widened the last 20% in three days.
If his energy veins were not injured, this would good thing. He would start thinking about how to quickly advance to the High-Ranking Samurai realm.
So, before he thinks of advancement to the High-Ranking Samurai realm, he would have to heal all his injuries.
To heal quickly, he circulates the inner energy nonstop.
He didn't care, even from the tears on the energy veins, a trickle of inner energy escapes every time inner energy passes through tears.
The reason Life Qi's inner energy is composed entirely of healing factor.
So, escaping from the tears, it cannot harm his body.
The only drawback to using this method to heal his energy veins is the rapid consumption of inner energy.
Normally, he wouldn't dare use such a method. But that changed after they hunted a Snow Scale Deer.
While eating it, he noticed something unusual— the meat held massive amounts of energy.
Higher than other beast meat.
Curious, he tested it.
He cut a precise 1-gram slice, ate it, and compared the surge of energy it brought with a single vial of Golden Spring Potion.
The result startled him.
One gram of Snow Scale Deer meat held about 30% of the energy found in an entire vial of potion.
Now, he sits cross-legged before a plate stacked with twenty such fried pieces.
Every time he senses his inner energy nearing depletion, he pops a piece into his mouth—fueling his recovery one bite at a time.
And chews, while he circulates his inner energy.
He senses the tissue around the tears in the energy veins as they regrow to close the tear.
It's slow but continuous, providing energy to the tear, speeding up the process.
He calculates the speed at which the veins would heal back.
If he continues to circulate his energy continuously for three months, his injury will heal.
He finds that when his injury healed at the same rate, he would be able to advance again to the Middle-Ranking Samurai realm.
The circulation of his inner energy is also refining his inner organs.
As the Life Qi refines the internal organs, to advances from ordinary people to the Middle-Ranking Samurai realm.
While circulating his inner energy, he starts to think about the Bull Boxing and the Cloud Sword techniques.
He starts to visualise himself practising the Bull Boxing technique.
He was able to understand the Iron Body refining technique using this method.
So, he decides to try a fighting technique.
If it succeeds, then the time required for him to master the two techniques would be shortened.
But for a middle-level technique, understanding the body's movement in the technique is not important.
To master a middle-level technique, one would have to understand the artistic conception of the technique.
Even, one fully masters the body's movement in a middle-level technique, if they don't understand the artistic conception behind the technique, they wouldn't be able to master that technique.
And is the opposite, if one understands the artistic conception contained in a middle-rank technique, then they have already mastered the technique.
All techniques are created for comprehending an artistic conception.
Every technique is derived from an artistic conception.
First, an artistic conception is understood, then a technique is created.
Mastering low-level techniques cannot comprehend artistic conception because the techniques are fragmented, not containing enough steps to comprehend the artistic conception.
His goal is to comprehend the artistic conception in the two techniques.
But he doesn't know any other way than to master the movement in the technique, to sense the artistic conception in the technique, and then comprehend it.
He asked Asuna for advice on any other way to comprehend the artistic conception.
She doesn't know any other way except mastering the movement in the technique or comprehending through artistic conception, pattern drawing.
Artistic Conception Pattern drawing is are drawing drawn on a surface by someone who comprehended an artistic conception.
By looking at the picture and visualising the pattern in the mind, the artistic conception can be comprehended.
He doesn't have an artistic conception of pattern drawing, so the only way to keep on grinding to master the movement in the technique.
According to Asuna, if he wants to comprehend an artistic conception through visualising an artistic conception pattern, then he has to join a force containing an artistic conception.
She mentioned that in the Yao Region, artistic conception can be bought at an auction or a store.
But hearing the danger about the Yao Region from books and Asuna, he had decided to only enter their after he broke through to the Great Samurai Realm.
If he has to enter before then, he would be at least when he becomes a High-Ranking Samurai.
But it never came to his mind not to travel in the Yao Region.
As this world contains only two continents, the Yao Continent and the Western Continent others are small islands.
And human lives, in the eastern edge of the Yao continent, called the Seven Kingdoms region, which is only around 5% of the Yao continent.
And the Western continent, which is fully inhabited by humans, is only slightly larger than the human region.
The human race didn't in massive number never inhabited the Yao region because it is dangerous, and the Yao Race are stronger than humans.
And the natural energy inside the Yao region is greater and wilder in the Yao Region.
Ordinary humans living their catch a disease or mutation in their body.
Only a human when their cultivation realm reaches Middle-Ranking Samurai they can live inside the Yao region without any worry.
Merin chews on another meat piece. This is his tenth number before he went back to continue visualising the Bull Boxing Technique.
He opened his eyes and froze.
He hears footsteps on their roof.
He would've shouted, but he heard more than one footsteps on his roof.
The first thought that comes to his mind is that it is there for them.
He crawls toward Asuna sleeping on the bed.
He whispers near her ear." Asuna! Asuna! Wake up."
In the dim light from a lamp burning at the other side of the room.
Merin spots Asuna's eyes open, but when he finds that she opens her mouth to speak.
He acts without thinking and covers her mouth with his palm.
Asuna struggles under his palm. Merin whispers. " Don't speak loudly."
Merin withdraws his palm from over her mouth. Asuna whispers." What are you doing?"
Merin hears another footstep, but not from their house, but from the roof beside their house.
The village buildings occupy a small space, and the gaps between buildings are not wide enough.
Most are wide enough for a single person to walk through the gap in between.
So, he can hear footsteps from beside them. " Listen carefully."
Merin notices Asuna's eyes widen. " Did you hear?"
Asuna nods." What are we going to do?"
Merin says," I don't know, but we have to escape from the village."
Asuna says," Did they come for us?"
Merin stands up and starts getting dressed." How can I know? And they may come for us, but can also be for the guest that arrive today."
Asuna also starts to get ready.
They have to dress together in this room. As other rooms are dark and have large ventilators from where light from inside the house can be seen from outside.
She says," Turn to your back."
Merin turns back and finishes getting ready as at last he sheaths his sword.
Merin hears," Are we going to escape?"
Merin says," They may have come for us. Without finding us, they may leave the villagers alone."
He hears her footstep and then her voice." From where are we going to escape?"
Merin spots the bow and arrows. It would be better for me to fight with a bow and arrows.
With his injury, he cannot display his full strength. " From that window." Pointing to the window beside the burning lamp.
They then walk toward the but before opening the window. They extinguish the lamp and then open the window.
But they don't immediately leave the house through the window.
But wait for a few minutes, and he leaves the house, and Asuna follows behind him.
----
Around an hour ago, outside the Yamoto village.
People with masks on their faces peeked at the village from the treeline even in is dead of the night.
And men keep on appearing.
A man walks into the group, and every person shows respect by bowing.
The man walks to the front of the group and stands beside another person. " No.6, are you sure the healer is in this village?"
The other person, No.6. " Yes, I followed two soldiers to reach here. After they enter the village. I roamed around the forest surrounding the village and sometime later, a villager left the village and entered the forest. I followed the villager and found a hidden clearing inside the forest, where a woman lives."
The man says," How can you tell the woman is Fairy Xialing?"
No.6. says," Herbs are grown in the hidden garden. And in the hut of the woman, I found healer books, potion refining equipment and other medical objects."
The man says," Then even if she is not Fairy Xialing, she is a healer."
No. 6 nods.
The man signals for all the people in the group to come closer. " We will attack the village posing as bandits. But remember, our goal is to kill the Fairy Xialing and the two soldiers. They must not escape from the village. If other villagers escape, don't stop them."
Another person snorts. The man says," No.1. Do you have any problem with my plan?"
No.1 speaks, and a female voice sounds," You are too soft-hearted. No.0."
No.0. says," What do you mean?"
No.1. says," In the dead of the night, how are we going to identify who is Fairy Xialing and two soldiers from the rest of the village?"
No.0 is silent for a moment and then says," Our number is not enough to kill all the villagers."
No.1. says," When fighting when does numbers matter? We have six Middle-Ranking Samurai, and the rest are all Low-Ranking Samurai."
No.0. looks at every member of the group." All of you agree with No.1." Some shake their head, but more in the group nod in affirmation.
No.0." Then some of you will guard the gates and stop any villagers from escaping. We will spread out in the village and, with my signal, launch an attack simultaneously."
Then the group starts running toward the village in the cover of the night. They first target the two gates. The Middle-Ranking Samurai divides into two groups and climbs around the two gates.
The Villagers guarding the gates are low-ranking Samurai and are unalert. The intruders choose an assassin method, and the guards are killed in a short time and silence.
Then, with a signal from the intruder inside, the rest outside climb the wall to enter the village.
And then like a cherograph plan without any conversation among the intruders spread out in the village, running through the streets or above the roofs of the houses, all in maximum silence.
After some time, the group gets into position and waits for the signal from No.0.
Among the intruders, No.13 stands beside the door of a quiet house, body tense, every muscle coiled as she waits for No.0's signal.
Her eyes scan the stillness, the falling snow muting the world. Then, somewhere in the distance, she hears the faint snap of a string.
She pays it no mind—probably one of the others reading their bow.
But the thought dies as a sharp pain blooms in her neck.
Her hand shoots up, fingers brushing the wooden shaft of an arrow buried deep. Panic flares. She opens her mouth to scream—to warn the others.
But no sound comes. Only blood.
It spills over her lips, warm against the cold, and she slides to the ground, her body crumpling soundlessly into the snow.