Chapter 7: Cultivating Inner Vigor

"Oh, you must be new to martial arts. What you are practicing is a technique, not a body cultivation method which makes the body stronger and produces Inner Vigor." The man looked at Yoze with surprise.

"Inner Vigor? What is that?"

This was the first time that Yoze had heard of Inner Vigor. The martial artist that Yoze met never mentioned how people got stronger and raised through the ranks.

"Inner Vigor is a sort of energy that is produced as one practice a body cultivation method. For example, these men are practicing the Blazing Furnace martial art. The Inner Vigor that their body produces is as hot as fire and when paired up with a martial art technique can make for a deadly combination."

"To truly be considered a strong martial artist one must have a body cultivation and generate Inner Vigor. Typically the more Inner Vigor a person has the stronger they are."

"How do I get a body cultivation method?" Yoze's eyes shimmered as he hoped to get as stronger.

"They are hard to find unless you join a faction. But we are at one of the places that have some."

"Anyways I'll see you around."

Bidding farewell to the wall of flesh, Yoze felt his choice to come here was brilliant. After the training a little longer, Yoze headed to the conference room where he was meeting with the other advisors.

When he made it, he saw that he was the last one to arrive.

"Take a seat and we can begin the meeting." A middle-aged man with flawless skin noticed Yoze's arrival and beckoned him to take a seat.

Yoze sat down at the only seat remaining and waited for it to begin.

"We will begin with introductions. My name is Eric Lee, the senior advisor of the Martial Court Yard. I have been here for 10 years. " The middle-aged man with flawless skin introduced himself.

"I am Grewn also the senior advisor of the Martial Court Yard. I have been here for 8 years." The man that spoke was covered in thick clothing so Yoze wasn't able to see his appearance.

"I am Josh Lee, an advisor for the Martial Court Yard and I have been here for 3 years." A young man with stubble who looked no older than 20 went next.

"Leo Graham, advisor, 2 years." An older gentleman was the last to speak and kept his word short.

Yoze felt weird that their introductions were like they were in prison. But he obliged and introduced himself.

"I am Yoze Thunder, I am the recent addition to the advising team and I hope that we can all get along. "

"I like your spirit." Eric nodded his head in approval as he felt satisfied with Yoze's attitude.

"His spirit won't last so long," Grewn said with the same Vigor as an old man seeing a youth about to face his unavoidable wall.

"Don't be like that look Josh is still doing fine..." Eric took a look a look Josh's unkempt stubble, messy hair, and dark circles around his eyes before continuing.

"Nevermind. But Yoze is different I heard he is a martial arts enthusiast. Isn't that right, Yoze?"

Yoze was stunned by the fact that rumors that he liked martial arts was already spread but he didn't deny it since there was no reason to hide his interest.

"Yes, that was the main reason I chose to be an advisor for the Martial Courtyard. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of martial artists practicing their martial arts. And I have to say so far it has not been disappointing."

"That's good that you weren't forced here," Grwen commented seemingly shifting his opinion to match Eric's.

"Now that we have finished our introductions. I will tell you what we do around here. Simply put we are here to smile and act as puppets for the Martial Courtyard."

"I'm sorry but I seemed to have misheard you. Can you say that again?"

Yoze couldn't believe what he heard, acting as puppets. What did that mean? Wasn't he here to act as an advisor?

"You didn't mishear anything. We are scholars and we are at the Martial Courtyard. The center where all martial artists who work for the city guards are trained. "

"Even though we are placed here by the city government, internally we are just symbolic placeholders for the government to show the martial artists who is their boss. "

"As for actually giving advice, we don't do that. Because the martial artist of the Martial Courtyard view as us incompetent. We all are here either because we didn't do well on the exam or were forced here. So in a way, they are right to think we can't give them any useful advice." Eric finished his speech with a deadpan face as he looked at the shocked face on Yoze.

Digesting the news he just received, Yoze couldn't help but secretly sigh from disappointment but he quickly got over it. He mainly wanted to become a scholar to provide his father with a better life.

Now that he achieve it, even if it wasn't a particularly major position, he was still a scholar and was getting paid much more than most people. Even if he never got a pay rise, the amount of money he received would be enough to provide his father with an easy life and even support his hobby as a martial artist.

Even though he felt it was a pity to have run into a dead end in his career at the very beginning. He wasn't going to take the risk to try and stand out only to receive no reward and possibly a harsh punishment.

"This is what I get for choosing to take this advisor position at the Martial Courtyard. I have gotten an invaluable opportunity to collect martial art talents at the loss of becoming a famous scholar."

"Forget it, I should be happy enough that I will have more free time to focus on my martial arts and collecting talents. Plus, there is no point in taking a risk only to be kicked out." After accepting that he wouldn't become a famous scholar, Yoze turned his remaining focus on his martial arts and obtaining a body cultivation method.

Seeing Yoze quickly get over it, Eric and the others were impressed with his mental fortitude. It wasn't every day that they would see someone that was able to handle this impossible dead end in their career.

Every scholar had to work very hard to pass the scholar examination and to have a bright future as a scholar. To find out that a single mistake would result in their careers ending was too much for most scholars to accept and most of them quit.

So noticing that a fresh new scholar was able to quickly get over this disappointment made them see Yoze in a brighter light. But at the same time, seeing this potentially talented scholar being forced to rot in this courtyard cause them all to sigh with sadness.

"Hopefully he really likes practicing martial arts. Who knows maybe he will be the one capable of gaining the respect of these martial artists." 

After getting the main news out of the way, the rest of the meeting seemed to be tainted as Eric ended the meeting soon after. Even though the meeting ended in bad taste, Yoze was able to ask how he could get a body cultivation method from Eric.

"A body cultivation method? I don't know exactly what that is but you should be able to find one in the library. Normally to be able to take read something related to martial arts you would need to have made some contributions but as we are advisors we can take a look at the basic ones."

When Yoze arrived at the library, he saw an old man that wore loose clothing sitting on the floor. As Yoze walked closer to the library he noticed that underneath the old man's loose clothes was a well-defined athletic physique, making him aware that in the Martial Courtyard, anyone could be a martial artist.

"You are only allowed to read books on the first floor." The old man casually waved his hand as he looked at Yoze's skinny body with disregard.

"Thank you for telling me. Can I ask you where the body cultivation method books are in the library?"

The old man raised his eyebrows and made sure to look at Yoze's skinny body up and down until he made sure that hadn't mistaken Yoze for an ordinary person.

"You're interested in martial arts?"

"Yes, that's one of the reasons I chose to come here," Yoze said with a friendly smile.

"Alright then, they are in the back left. However, those are only the descriptions. If you want to check one out you need to bring it to me and I'll give you a copy of the book." The old librarian looked at Yoze with novelty.

"What do you know, a scholar interested in martial arts? I must be getting old if the new generation of scholars is finally acknowledging the importance of martial arts." The old librarian thought to himself as looked at Yoze in a better light.

"Thanks again."