From then on, Henry Walker let go of his desire for revenge and never mentioned it again. He paid fifty gold to the authorities and built a hut by the water on the gentle slope beneath Fengling Peak of She Mountain, where he took up residence. Every morning and noon, he diligently taught Caleb Carter the “Still Water Heart Sutra,” urging him to practice it with dedication. In the afternoons, he instructed him in military strategy and the essentials of military affairs. He collected river sand, mixed it with tree resin, and used a wooden tray to create the terrain of various commanderies, explaining the art of warfare and conquest to him on the sand table. Among these, the regions of Qingzhou, Donghai, and Yongning were described in the greatest detail. It was clear that, though he could not completely defeat the Yongning forces, his heart was set on the world at large. His inability was due only to the times not favoring him. At night, he circulated qi throughout his body, exploring the meridians, and used innate elixir qi to expand Caleb Carter’s channels.

By the time the Grain Rain festival arrived the following year, the elixir qi flowing through Caleb Carter’s meridians, though as fine as threads, was continuous and unbroken, never leaving the acupoints, and was quite different from ordinary elixir breath. Henry Walker carefully investigated for many days before discovering that it was a spiraling elixir qi, spinning in a helix as it moved, unlike the usual way true qi forms into strands.

Henry Walker was a master of elixir qi. Though he did not fully understand the reason, he knew that when elixir breath circulated in this manner, its efficiency was greatly increased and its speed much faster. In just a few months, Caleb Carter’s meridians had improved significantly; when circulating qi, there was no more blockage, and the meridians had expanded. This was partly due to Henry Walker’s daily practice of circulating qi to cleanse the meridians, but the spiraling elixir qi also played a major role. Thus, it was clear that Caleb Carter had encountered something extraordinary beneath the walls of Bayang City, turning misfortune into blessing. There are hundreds of internal cultivation methods in the world, and dozens of top-tier elixir breath techniques; the Astonishing Spirit Formula is one of them. The ancestors created it by following their nature and the Dao, and though it has been improved over generations, it is still not perfect. At the life-and-death moment beneath Bayang City, Caleb Carter’s breath moved on its own, but his body’s meridians were almost imperceptible, making it difficult for the breath to circulate, so the spiraling elixir breath naturally arose to penetrate the Shaohai acupoint.

Henry Walker knew that this kind of spiraling elixir qi was a tremendous breakthrough for current elixir qi techniques. However, he had no time to study it himself, so in his final days, he imparted all his knowledge of elixir breath techniques to Caleb Carter without reservation. He sternly warned him, saying, “As long as you have not achieved great mastery in elixir breath techniques, you must not reveal the secret of the spiraling elixir breath to anyone—not even to those closest to you.”

After a brief pause, he sighed quietly and admitted, “If not for the hatred that consumed my heart, I too would have found it hard to resist coveting it.” With that, it was as if a heavy burden was lifted from his heart. He turned, placed the snow-white tall cap from the table on his head, gently smoothed the flowing ribbons and tossed them behind him, and spoke softly: “My ancestors once charged the enemy at Qinghe, driving back the ferocious Hulan tribe from the north, wearing no armor, only tall caps and broad sashes, hemp robes of blue, and wielding giant black halberds, pointing to the sky and earth. For thirty years after, the Hulan tribe dared not look south. When my ancestor was slandered and died in disgrace, the clan moved to Boling, and only then did the Hulan tribe seize the Hulan grasslands and keep them from returning to the Central Plains. Yet, because of my ancestor’s reputation, the Hulan tribe still dared not invade deep into the heartland.”

As Henry Walker spoke, he chose his words carefully, each one powerful and resonant, exuding an awe-inspiring presence, as if commanding thousands of troops on the battlefield. Yet, his tone soon softened. “For more than ten years, I have been blinded by hatred, leading the Qinghe charge to slaughter the people of the two Huai prefectures, destroying my ancestor’s good name with my own hands, and yet I could not stop.”

At this moment, Henry Walker no longer had the imposing presence he had just shown. Tears glistened in his eyes, his shoulders trembled slightly, his back was hunched, and he seemed overwhelmed by endless regret. After a long while, he calmed down a bit, looked at Caleb Carter with hope in his eyes, and spoke earnestly: “The world has already fallen into chaos. The new dynasty’s inner court is weak, and the commanderies south of the Huai River are no longer under its control, fighting each other for land without a single day of peace. Bandits are everywhere; the strong seize cities, the weak plunder the countryside. The people are destitute and rise up in resistance, but lack the strength to succeed. The great clans send troops to suppress them, and those who survive often become wandering outlaws. The emperor is old and dying, the young heir is still a child, and the powerful relatives of the court—like the Gu family of Su Chuan Valley, wolves and tigers—are almost certain to bring unrest to the great clans north of the Huai as well. The remnants of the old dynasty have been recuperating in Nanping Commandery for over forty years, their desire to restore the throne growing ever more obvious. The Hulan tribe has long coveted the Central Plains, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Such calamities are beyond the power of any one person to resolve. If you can use the art of the charge, then use it; if not, then pass it on to a worthy person to help bring peace to the land.”

Caleb Carter knew that he had been trapped in hatred for more than ten years, and over the past half year had gradually come to regret his life’s actions. With so many burdens upon him, his resolve to die was already firm. Whether or not he could kill John Bolton on this journey, Henry Walker would not return alive. Yet he could not bear to part, his eyes filled with tears. When Henry Walker finished speaking, he nodded in agreement, but could not stop his tears from falling, clutching the corner of his blue robe, unwilling to let go.

Chapter Eight: The Soaring Swan

Henry Walker twisted the twin halberds together, and the giant black halberd that Caleb Carter had caught a fleeting glimpse of beneath the walls of Bayang City suddenly appeared. Henry Walker laid the massive halberd across his knees, gently stroking its shaft. The halberd’s entire body gleamed with a subdued luster, as if emitting a black radiance—strange and mysterious.

Henry Walker sat facing the wall, quietly waiting for dusk to fall. John Bolton, seeing that Henry Walker had made no moves in Jiangjin City for half a year, was no longer as vigilant as before. Recently, with the fighting at Clark growing intense, all the best men of the clan had been sent to reinforce the front. Henry Walker learned of this and knew the time had come. If the battle continued to go badly, John Bolton would personally go to the army to supervise; if the situation improved, those elite fighters would gradually return. Henry Walker had stayed in his thatched hut for months, on one hand passing on all he knew to Caleb Carter, and on the other, quietly waiting for such an opportunity to arise.