Coiling Dragon (Book 1)

Chapter 4

Book 1, Chapter 4 – Growth (part 1)

The spring wind came, turning green the poplar trees near the empty space outside of Wushan town. On the empty ground, a group of youths were ardently training. Almost a year had passed since the Dragonblood test, and Linley was eight years old now. Over the course of this period of time, Hillman clearly saw that Linley had only become even harder working!

"Well done, Linley! Hold it, hold it!" Hillman encouraged from the side.

Right now, Linley was only wearing trousers. His upper body was covered with sweat, and his body, as taut as a drawn bowstring, was lying on the ground. His hands were pressed fiercely to the ground, as straight as tree trunks, while the rest of his body was motionless. He was supporting himself from a push-up position, with just his hands and the tips of his toes! His entire body was taut!

The 'Static Tension' training exercise!

A very simple yet very effective training exercise. If a person could reach the level of being able to maintain this pose for an hour, then his body would no longer fear ordinary swords or sabres.

Drip, drip!

Beads of sweat rolled down from Linley's forehead. The sweat entered Linley's left eye, and he couldn't help but wince at the pain.

"Ley is really amazing. Just eight years old, but he's able to match the thirteen year olds in doing the 'Static Tension' exercise." Some of the children who had already given up were sprawled on the ground, chatting as they watched Linley.

"Ley, keep it up! Keep it up for the rest of us! Beat those thirteen year olds!" The golden-haired Hadley shouted from the side.

"Yeah, keep it up, Ley!" The other children started to chant as well.

Linley was on extremely good terms with the other kids. Although Linley was the child of a noble house, he was extremely kind to the children of commoners, and often helped them train as well.

"Gotta hold it. Gotta hold it." Linley constantly said to himself.

In the back of Linley's mind, the words his father said a year ago constantly echoed. "Linley, we are the family of the Dragonblood Warriors. As a member of the Dragonblood Warriors clan, you have an advantage, but also a disadvantage! The advantage is, even though the density of Dragonblood in your veins hasn't reached a sufficient level, your body will still be much stronger than those of most ordinary people. It might be very difficult for others to become a warrior of the sixth rank through training alone, but for you, it will be somewhat easier."

"However, your disadvantage is this. The descendants of the Dragonblood clan are not able to train battle qi according to normal manuals. This is because the blood in our veins is only suited to the training method inside the 'Secret Dragonblood Manual'. It conflicts with all other types of battle qi cultivation methods. Unfortunately, only those who have reached a certain density of Dragonblood are able to practice using the method within the 'Secret Dragonblood Manual'. Therefore, you will not be able to cultivate battle qi at all."

"Also, although in theory, anyone training the body can reach the sixth rank, that's just in theory. In practice, the number of people who accomplish this is very low. But for us, it is different. Even if the amount of Dragonblood in our veins is low, our starting level will be higher than others. Just from training alone, we can become warriors of the sixth rank. Your great grandfather, based on training alone, managed to become a warrior of the seventh rank!"

Linley remembered his father's words very clearly.

Linley growled to himself, "I'm stronger than everyone else now, only because of the Dragonblood in my veins. But since I can't practice battle qi, my only options are to work hard, and to work harder! Since great grandfather was able to become a warrior of the seventh rank, then I shall...I shall become a warrior of the eighth rank. Or even the ninth rank! Nothing is impossible!"