Chapter 13: Carrot and Stick

"What's your name?" Tang Yan asked.

"My name's Chang Tie!" the big man answered in a gruff, booming voice.

"What's your current cultivation level?"

"Ninth grade of the Primary Realm!"

"When did you join our Tang Clan?"

"Three years ago!"

"What was your cultivation level three years ago?" Tang Yan pressed.

"Still ninth grade of the Primary Realm."

"So you've been with our Tang Clan for three years, training hard at the Training Grounds for three years, and your strength hasn't improved in the slightest?" Tang Yan's words cut like a blade, pressing relentlessly.

"This…" Chang Tie thought carefully and realized it was indeed the case. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that Tang Yan had pointed it out so bluntly, he felt quite ashamed. Trying to salvage some face, Chang Tie argued, "Cultivation on the martial path is inherently difficult. Not advancing is perfectly normal."

"How do you train yourself every day?" Tang Yan asked.

"I train starting at six every morning — weighted at three hundred pounds, running five laps around the grounds. Then I practice my swordwork for four hours and spar with others for two hours!" As he spoke of his training, Chang Tie puffed out his chest with pride. His training volume was no less than any other guard's.

"You've trained like this every day for three years?"

"That's right."

"When you sparred with others before, did you hold back and not go all out?" Tang Yan asked.

"We're all brothers — you stop when you've made your point. If someone got hurt…"

"Bullshit!" Tang Yan leapt to his feet. "You hold back against him now, but when you're on a real battlefield someday, who's going to hold back against him? By not going all out to help him improve, are you helping him or harming him? You all receive regular Pill supplies and generous salaries from our Tang Clan, yet your strength has stagnated! That's why I say you're all useless! Every last one of you — Fuck — useless! And not just useless, but stupid!"

"Of course, you're probably thinking: who is this scoundrel young master to lecture us? So let me tell you exactly what gives me the right — I am the First Young Master of the Tang Clan. Even if I do absolutely nothing, my grandfather will provide for me and protect me!"

"But what about you? Most of you come from ordinary families and have mouths to feed. If you don't work hard, you'll only ever earn the most basic salary. Your wives and children will only ever live ordinary lives! You won't have enough resources to nurture your descendants. And if your children turn out to be scoundrels like me, Tang Yan, they'll be completely finished!"

Hearing this, the assembled Tang Clan guards felt a wave of gloom wash over them. Tang Yan's words were harsh, but they were undeniable facts.

Though they served as Tang Clan guards and earned more than ordinary people, they could only ensure their families lived slightly better than average. Giving their children access to the same resources as the clan's own disciples was clearly beyond their means.

Watching the reactions of the crowd, Tang Yan was quietly relieved that they hadn't grown numb and indifferent. He raised his voice and roared, "I believe many of you are in the same situation as Chang Tie — your training routine has never changed. Three hundred pounds of weight three years ago, three hundred pounds today. Even if you had another hundred years, you'd remain stuck in the Primary Realm, never setting foot through the gates of the Yellow Realm!"

"I can say this with certainty because you've grown too comfortable — you've lost the courage to pursue the martial path to its peak! Chang Tie, let me ask you: when you first started weighted training, how much did you carry?"

Chang Tie's gut was twisting with regret. Why had he let impulse get the better of him and provoked this ancestor? He could have just stood quietly below with everyone else and taken the scolding. Endure it and it would pass — so why had he been so foolish as to come up here and embarrass himself?

"Ten pounds," Chang Tie said, all the earlier defiance gone from his voice.

"You went from an ordinary person to ninth grade of the Primary Realm, your carrying weight going from ten pounds to three hundred. So why haven't you kept increasing the difficulty? Why not carry three hundred and fifty pounds every day? Once you're used to that, push it to four hundred, and keep increasing from there. Tell me — over these three years, wouldn't your strength have reached the Yellow Realm?" Tang Yan demanded.

At this question, not only the other guards but even Mo Yanjun began to reflect.

"It… it probably would have!" Chang Tie said, flushing with shame.

"You can still reflect, you can still feel shame — that means there's hope for you yet! Yun City is a powder keg right now. One spark and the great families could erupt into open warfare. If you want to survive the battles to come, you have no choice but to train with everything you have, make yourselves strong enough to crush all opposition. Only then can you ensure your own safety! Only then can you spare your families the agony of worrying about you! Only then will you not be called useless by a scoundrel like me!"

Tang Yan's gaze swept across the grounds and landed on a wooden post.

"How much does that post weigh?" This time Tang Yan directed the question at Mo Yanjun.

"One hundred and twenty pounds."

"How far do you think I can carry it?" Tang Yan asked.

"About…" Mo Yanjun furrowed his brow and calculated. "Less than a hundred meters, I'd say."

The guards inwardly scoffed — a hundred meters was being generous. This pampered young master who had lived a delicate life his whole life — whether he could even lift it was another question entirely.

"Up!" Tang Yan walked over, gathered his strength, and heaved the wooden post into his arms, then began walking forward.

One meter, two meters, three meters…

The guards silently speculated — would the First Young Master give out within ten meters, or would he quit within twenty?

Ten meters… twenty meters… fifty meters… eighty meters…

Tang Yan used not a single trace of True Qi, relying entirely on his physical strength alone. It was fortunate that he had been tempered by the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron, leaving his body exceptionally powerful.

Even so, Tang Yan felt as though his strength was being drained with every step. Each stride made his entire body tremble, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans poured down like rain.

The guards had initially been waiting to see the First Young Master make a fool of himself, but as Tang Yan stepped forward one pace at a time, the mockery in their eyes had long since vanished, replaced by shock, astonishment, and respect.

When Tang Yan reached a hundred meters, his body was swaying badly — yet he kept walking forward!

One hundred and one meters, one hundred and two, one hundred and three… Finally, at one hundred and thirty meters, Tang Yan set the post down.

Dragging his exhausted body, Tang Yan walked back to the front of the formation, swept his gaze across everyone, and said between heavy breaths: "When I stepped past that hundred-meter mark, I was in the same state you're all in right now — convinced I had hit my limit.

But when I took one more step beyond that hundred meters, I broke through my current self!"

Whoosh — after a brief silence, every guard burst into applause simultaneously, the sound thundering across the grounds.

"Perhaps you believe three hundred pounds is your limit. But I'm telling you — human potential is limitless. Only by constantly pushing that potential will you keep advancing!"

His own weakness, combined with the Tang Clan's position at the bottom of the Four Great Families, left Tang Yan with not a shred of security. And in this moment, Tang Yan finally made his decision: he would build the Tang Clan's power, and make the Tang Clan a true great family of Yun City — the greatest family of all!

Having said so much, Tang Yan finally dangled the reward: "In this world, only by constantly growing stronger can we gain more. Don't blame your origins. If life is hard, blame yourself for not working hard enough! In my capacity as First Young Master of the Tang Clan, I make this promise to everyone present — anyone who breaks through to the Yellow Realm will have their salary tripled from its current base!"

"Starting from the Yellow Realm, for every grade broken through, monthly salary increases by one hundred taels of silver! Each month, first-grade Pills will be provided based on performance! And if anyone reaches the fifth grade of the Yellow Realm, their children will be welcomed into the Tang Clan and nurtured from a young age!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere across the entire grounds exploded. Every heart surged with excitement.

Right now their monthly salary was only a few dozen taels of silver. Reach the Yellow Realm and it would instantly triple?

If they worked hard enough, wouldn't their families be able to live better lives, and their children have brighter futures?

"The Young Master is wise!" In that moment, everyone shouted from the bottom of their hearts.

No one rises early without a reason — Tang Yan, having lived two lives, understood this principle deeply. Seeing that everyone's passion had truly been ignited by him, he bellowed, "Let me say it once more: the Tang Clan does not keep useless people. This plan of mine also comes with requirements. The training ahead will be grueling! Extremely grueling! Prepare yourselves for something like hell. If anyone wants to quit, stay where you are. If you want to become strong and are willing to accept the training, take one step forward! I'll count to…"

Boom! Before Tang Yan could finish his three-word count, a thunderous sound rang out as every warrior stepped forward in perfect unison, and the entire Training Grounds shook.

Seeing the fierce determination in their eyes, Tang Yan knew his goal had been achieved. He asked one final time: "I ask you one last time — are you ready for hell?"

"Ready!" One hundred and twenty voices answered as one, their cry soaring straight to the heavens.

"Every nation has its laws; every army has its rules! From now on, everyone assembles at six every morning. Latecomers are out!"

"From now on, you answer to me alone. Anyone who disobeys orders is out!"

"Anyone whose strength still hasn't reached the Yellow Realm after six months is out!"

"…"

Tang Yan's expression was stern and commanding. His words gave the guards the strange feeling that they had just enlisted in an army.

"Now, everyone on my order — pick up a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound post, form up, and run ten laps around the Training Grounds. If even one person fails to finish, everyone's lunch is cancelled. If we haven't started running within one minute, everyone's lunch is cancelled. Begin!"

At Tang Yan's command, everyone sprang into action with urgency, quickly finding their posts, forming up, and breaking into a run around the Training Grounds.

In the distant pavilion.

Two elderly men watched the Training Grounds in stunned silence.

After a long while, Old Master Tang finally asked, "Old Mo, take a good look — is that white-robed young man my grandson?"

Hearing Old Master Tang's words, Uncle Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Master, that is indeed the First Young Master."

Receiving Uncle Mo's confirmation, Old Master Tang's eyes sharpened, and he asked in a low, measured voice, "Tell me — after that rascal's rousing speech, what do you think will become of our Tang Clan's guards?"