Idle Gossip

Lying on the straw bed.

Qin Yan stared blankly at the roof and began planning his daily training.

First, he would practice the Basic Body-Tempering Technique for one shichen in the morning, then archery for another. In the afternoon, he would practice swimming and catch fish, making sure he had meat to eat every day.

At night, he would practice the Basic Body Tempering Technique for two shichen.

Later on, he could also replace the Basic Body Tempering Technique with strength or speed training.

That way, he could make sure his routine varied from day to day while quickly improving his physical attributes.

Despite the high-intensity training every day, Qin Yan wasn't worried about anything going wrong with his body.

After all, with Infinite Physique, his body's ability to take a beating was no joke.

Qin Yan even planned to try training past his limits to see whether he could speed up the improvement of his physical attributes.

The next day.

Song Bao and the other two arrived at Qin Yan's home early in the morning.

To their surprise, however, Qin Yan had already started training.

The movements of the Basic Body Tempering Technique trained the body's flexibility and coordination, as well as basic strength.

"Since you're already here, follow my movements."

The three hurried to nod, then happily began learning from Qin Yan.

After practicing for only a while, however, all three were drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

Though the movements were simple, they began to tire after practicing for a while, and the technique also placed great emphasis on stretching the muscles and bones.

For the boys, who had never practiced martial arts before, it was pure misery.

When Qin Yan helped loosen their muscles and bones, it really hurt.

Surprisingly, though, Song Bao had quite a bit of talent. After practicing for a while, his muscles and bones had loosened up.

He also picked things up the fastest, becoming the first of the three to learn all the movements.

Though they were tired and suffering, all three understood that this was a rare opportunity.

Perhaps they would be able to leave this remote mountain village someday.

Children in the countryside matured early, and at their age, they were already treated as adults.

Knowing this was a chance to change their fates, they naturally trained with great diligence.

Qin Yan watched them and nodded inwardly.

With the three of them helping.

When Qin Yan practiced archery, they tied a rope to the straw target and swung it from a treetop so he could practice shooting at a moving target.

In particular, Song Bao and the others watched with their own eyes as Qin Yan drew a one-shi bow to a full moon without a change in expression.

Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"My heavens! That's a one-shi bow! I doubt anyone else in the village could draw it that easily!"

At that moment, Song Bao and the others gazed at Qin Yan with faces full of admiration.

He released the bowstring, and the arrow shot out like a thunderclap, piercing the straw target in the blink of an eye.

Its force undiminished, it only stopped after striking a tree several meters behind the target.

[Consecutively hit a moving target at sixty meters. Proficiency increased by 1%.]

[Consecutively hit a moving target at sixty meters. Proficiency increased by 1%.]

[Consecutively hit a moving target at sixty meters. Proficiency increased by 1%.]

Over the course of the morning.

Qin Yan's archery proficiency increased by 9%.

[Two shichen of archery training. Strength limit increased by 0.1.]

[Archery (Entry Level): Proficiency 15%]

Effect: Hit rate increased by 15%.

At this rate, I should be able to raise my archery to the proficient level this month!

Qin Yan thought to himself.

He glanced at the three nearby. They were all sitting on the ground, looking as if they had nothing left to live for.

They stared at Qin Yan as though he were a monster.

His stamina was freakishly good.

He had trained in archery for two whole shichen without stopping once.

The three had taken turns moving the target for Qin Yan, while the other two practiced the Basic Body-Tempering Technique.

Their enthusiasm was gone, and each of them was like a dead dog.

Practicing martial arts wasn't as simple as they had imagined.

"You three should focus on building your foundations first. I'll teach you some fighting techniques later."

Qin Yan glanced at his fingers, which had been rubbed raw and were bleeding, and spoke calmly.

"Granduncle, here's a fish I caught today!"

As the sky grew dark, Qin Yan came to the village chief's house and brought him a grass carp weighing three or four jin.

Qin Zhaoyang's wife took the fish with a delighted look.

"Ah Yan, why are you being so generous? You're making me feel embarrassed."

"It's nothing. The old village chief has shown me kindness. This little thing is hardly worth mentioning."

Qin Yan smiled, unconcerned.

"Put it away!"

The old village chief gave his daughter-in-law the instruction with a smile. Only after she had left did he turn to Qin Yan and say with a smile, "Thanks to you, lad, our family gets to eat meat every day now."

The old village chief sighed with feeling. "I heard that Song Bao and those other boys are learning martial arts from you!"

"I've only taught them a few moves to strengthen their bodies!"

Qin Yan didn't dare make too much of it and answered very modestly.

"That's still a good thing."

The smile on the old village chief's face didn't fade. "Being willing to teach them so selflessly shows you've got a generous spirit.

I'm thinking more and more highly of you, lad."

After chatting with him for a while, Qin Yan went home.

"That Qin Yan is a good lad, bringing us nice things every few days.

We're in for some good eating from now on."

Qin Zhaoyang looked at the fish swimming in the wooden basin and said with a grin, "Dad, what do you think Qin Yan will bring next time?"

At those words, the old village chief's face darkened, and he slammed the table.

The bang startled everyone in the room.

Seeing the old village chief's expression, they immediately fell silent.

"Zhao Yang, you remember this: Ah Yan wanting to repay a kindness is his business.

You'd better not take it for granted.

It's true I've shown him kindness, but you'd better not think of using that kindness to demand repayment.

A debt of gratitude can be used up, so save it for the cutting edge of the blade."

The old village chief rebuked Qin Zhaoyang coldly, warning him not to entertain crooked ideas. At the same time, he felt somewhat disappointed in his son.

This boy was probably a lost cause.

He hoped one of his grandchildren would amount to something.

Qin Zhaoyang was now too frightened to let out a fart. He had been afraid of his father since childhood.

Seeing how stern his father was, he immediately nodded hard and said in a trembling voice:

"Dad, don't worry. I know what to do."

Meanwhile, rumors were running rampant in the village.

"Have you heard? That third boy in Qin Zhaolin's family is like a water ghost.

He dives underwater and doesn't come up for ages."

"Isn't he just? You haven't seen how fast that boy swims. He's so fast he doesn't seem human.

Maybe he's been possessed by a water ghost."

"Oh, stop it. Just seeing him gives me the creeps."

"Big brother, have you heard? That Qin Family boy has caused another stir."

The Qiao brothers sat together, a plate of peanuts set out on the table to go with their drinks.

Qiao Shansheng spoke in a low voice, a trace of wariness flashing in his eyes.

"That boy's strength is beyond ordinary people. I'm afraid he'll only get stronger.

Qin Zhaolin did say that boy of his had a talent for martial arts."

"He's just a little brat. We'll talk when Third Brother gets back from town!"

Qiao Shanhe snorted coldly, though he was indeed somewhat wary of Qin Yan.