chapter 5

Lord Wu’an Manor, it’s strange that such a large home is only occupied by seven or eight people . Besides Bai Qi and his wife, Wei Lan, there’s only one housekeeper who stays year-round . There’s also a cook, horse groom, three servants, and a maid .

The inhabitants are few and the visitors similarly so, giving this manor an empty and desolated feeling . It was only recently that this house became a bit more lively .

Well, not really lively so much as noisy .

On this early morning, there was the sound of exhausted pleading in the main courtyard . “Mas-, Master . I, I feel… like… that’s enough . ”

A bright and beautiful woman in a male-style cyan robe was in the open field . The long black hair was clumsily tied with a cloth strap, swaying down to her waist . Although she looks beautiful, she currently lacked any sort of grace and posture, almost akin to a drunken man .

She was riding a tall horse . Her right hand grasped a long spear and a sword was strapped to her waist . She looked extremely exhausted and yelling at the old man sitting under the shade of the eaves .

She had been doing this for an hour . Even though her current body was much fitter than her modern one, there’s still the overwhelming feeling of fatigue from the intense training . Her clothes have already been drenched in sweat, her legs trembled, and the hand holding the spear felt numb and unresponsive .

The old man took a sip of the herbal tea and said leisurely, “No rush, we still have half an hour . ”

…

It’s been three months since Gu Nan first came to the Bai Manor to be a disciple . Since then, Gu Nan has integrated pretty well and is now a fully-fledged member of the household .

The Bai couple have a son called Bai Zhong, but Gu Nan heard that he only visits a couple times a year, if even that . Therefore, Lord Wu’an Manor has long held an empty feeling .

To be honest, when she first arrived, it was a bit frightening . After all, this was the home of a god of war .

But so far so good actually .

Wei Lan provided an adjacent room and made her feel comfortable . It was mainly the small things like reminding her about dinner or waking her up for training on the weekdays . It feels as though she’s just another person in this house, even she’s not clear of it herself .

But anyway, it’s quite carefree . There’s no one stalking her actions or breathing down her neck .

But what really pained her were her teacher’s habits . Bai Qi’s training regimen is focused on building a strong physique, and that meant daily physical training . Two hours in horse stance, and two hours of pole carrying . After that was practicing the spear over and over again . The fundamental movements of blocking, seizing, jabbing, thrusting, advancing, distancing, and etc . Practice this ten times, then a hundred times . After a day of this was all done, Gu Nan finally stumbled back to her room in the middle of the night . Her body didn’t even feel like her own and felt so weak that she couldn’t even exert the tiniest force .

But strangely enough, on the next day, her body would feel refreshingly light . The dreadful pain was gone, and she felt even more refreshed than before . After being weathered down for three solid months, Gu Nan can clearly feel her footsteps becoming swifter, like a breeze enveloping her hands and feet .

At the same time, Bai Qi started to send a few sets of military books for her to study .

But honestly, as someone who had a modern, exam-oriented education, Gu Nan didn’t have any trouble taking in these books . Moreover, it’s not like these basic books on war were hard to understand .

The only hard thing was learning the seal script to even understand these books . Although these characters looked somewhat familiar, two thousand years of refinement made the ancient characters very different from the modern ones . Half a month later, she had only barely reached proficiency, but even then, most things were unrecognizable .

Bai Qi looked at his disciple that collapsed on the grass with a pleasant smile . Touching his beard, he could now say that it was the right decision .

What began as an experiment transformed into gradually more rigorous training . But what surprised him was her sheer talent that bordered on insanity . Whether it be martial arts or military studies, he was shocked at every turn .

Regarding her martial arts, Bai Qi couldn’t believe it . How could a girl be so strong!

When the training first started, it was 500 jin . (300kg) Now, he estimates it to be six or seven hundred . In his current state, even he couldn’t win against her in strength . This is already comparable to back in his youth!

But then again, martial might isn’t only about strength, skill and technique are indispensable . However, that’s not to say having immense strength doesn’t help .

And finally, pure strength isn’t the same as internal strength . Using internal strength, the user can produce miraculous bursts of a couple thousand jin . It’s just that he doesn’t have any plans to teach her, nor has it ever been mentioned . The reason being that she’s already too old to begin learning .

But this matter can only be discussed at a later date . Besides, he has his own plans .

As for spear skills, Gu Nan has only learned for three months and had reached at least proficiency . Although to a master like him, there were still plenty of openings, it’s remarkable enough for most people . Furthermore, it’s remarkable in itself that such improvements were possible in this short of time .

If he could train all the farmer conscripts such skills in three months, he’d have an undefeatable army .

On the military studies, he was even more surprised . He had initially thought that there’d be difficulties, but there were hardly any at all . Occasionally she’d ask questions, but she still comprehended the basics with only self-studying . Even as he tested her, all of the questions were answered correctly . There was not a single fault, and he even considers himself a strict person!

He had originally brought her back to plug his guilty conscious for lacking a disciple, but now he’s really paying attention to this student . It’s difficult for him to believe, but she has most of the makings of a great general .

It’s rare .

Bai Qi picked up the teapot on the table and poured another cup for himself .

This type of person seldom appears in the world .

Thinking, he looked at the vast sky, the pearly clouds drifting slowly . His hand brushed his white beard and sighed .

I’ve gotten old .

“Mas-, Master…” A tired yell came from far away .

“…”

“Another half hour!” As Bai Qi took another drink .

——————————————————————

“Nan’er, are you okay? Come, drink this water first . ” In the inner court, Wei Lan looked at the near-lifeless Gu Nan laying on the couch . “Ai, don’t blame your master . He’s just doing this for your good . ”

“Yes, I know . ” Gu Nan forced out a weak smile, even though her body ached like a victim of a severe beating .

“And you too . A young girl like her, how can you be so unconcerned? If it’s this bad, no wonder why you had trouble finding disciples . ” Wai Lan glanced at Bai Qi standing nearby .

“Yes, yes it was wrong of me . ” Bai Qi glanced at Gu Nan as he said with a smile . Of course, it’s not like training would really get any easier .