Fists whooshed through the air, the sound ringing out again and again in the courtyard.
The youth was bare-chested, and his somewhat slender frame erupted with astonishing strength.
He sank his waist into a horse stance and thrust his fist like a spear, striking the air with a crisp crack.
The wind from his fists howled as it tore through the air, making the greenery in the courtyard sway incessantly.
His eyes flashed, and he slowly breathed out. He could not help recalling what his master, Zheng Sihai, had said to him three months ago.
"Shuwen, practicing martial arts depends on aptitude and comprehension.
"Aptitude lies in the sinews, bones, and skin. Some people are born with large frames and sturdy sinews and bones. That's good aptitude.
"Comprehension means having a good head on your shoulders, being clever enough to infer three things from one. Give someone like that a little guidance, and they'll understand how to practice.
"Your comprehension is excellent—the best among all the disciples I've taken in.
"But you wandered from place to place in your early years, and your physical foundation suffered for it. You have no hope of achieving great mastery in martial arts in this lifetime.
"Let it end here. Your eldest senior brother will recommend you for a position as a martial guard at the Zhou Family estate.
"The master of the Zhou Family, Zhou Feixiong, is known as Zhou Bancheng. He has a vast fortune. As a martial guard in his household, great wealth and glory may be out of reach, but at least you won't have to worry about food or clothing."
That day, after Fang Shuwen walked out of Zheng Sihai's room, his smile had been full of bitterness.
He considered himself probably the most miserable transmigrator of them all.
It had been a full nineteen years since he transmigrated into this world.
Things had been fine when he was first born. His parents were both alive, and they had a modest fortune.
Who could have expected that, on a trip back to their hometown to visit relatives, they would be attacked by mountain bandits? He had been separated from his parents.
Afterward, an old beggar had picked him up and used him as a prop for begging, hoping to win people's sympathy.
Thanks to that, he had not starved to death. He had grown to the age of five or six, going hungry one meal and eating his fill the next. But the old beggar still was not satisfied. He wanted to break Fang Shuwen's limbs, because taking him out to beg on the streets that way would bring in more silver.
Unfortunately for the old beggar, years of eating in the wind and sleeping under the open sky had left him frail and sickly. At the thought of the good life ahead, he grew so excited that he suffered an epileptic fit before he could break Fang Shuwen's limbs.
While he lay on the ground unable to rise, Fang Shuwen felt around on him and found the sheet-iron knife he carried for protection. Under the old beggar's disbelieving gaze, he slit his throat with one stroke.
From then on, he had struggled to survive alone on the streets.
As a transmigrator, he often knew and understood more than others. On that basis, he could actually have lived better than most people.
But there were things he could not do, and dared not do.
In this age, local tyrants were everywhere, and experts were as numerous as clouds in the jianghu. They leaped to great heights and descended at will, ran across rooftops and walls, and often regarded human lives as no more than blades of grass.
If he showed how extraordinary he was and used heaven-reaching means to amass a great fortune at such a young age, people with ulterior motives would surely take notice.
Without the strength to protect himself, he would be unable to keep anything, including his own life.
So he could only struggle on the streets like everyone else. If he was lucky, he got a meal; if he was not, going hungry for two or three days was commonplace.
That was to say nothing of having to fight with other beggars. He was young and weak, and he had lost count of how many vicious beatings he had taken.
Several times, he had narrowly escaped death.
It was then that his foundation had been damaged.
He had muddled through until he was eight or nine before finding work doing odd jobs at an apothecary. The shopkeeper had taken pity on him for being so young and liked his quick wits and sweet tongue. Not only did he provide food and lodging, but he also gave him a little spending money each month.
He stayed until he was fifteen, when he had saved enough silver. Only then did he bid the shopkeeper farewell and join the Four Seas Martial Hall, becoming Zheng Sihai's disciple and gaining the chance to practice martial arts.
He had studied for four years, only to be told, "Let it end here."
He could not accept it. How could he?
He had grown wild like a weed, and possessed a tenacious spirit that would not yield no matter how many times it was bent.
He had to live well, at least better than most people. He dared not claim he would become rich enough to rival a kingdom, but he had to amass a vast fortune.
Martial arts were the foundation on which he could establish himself and make a living. At this point, he dared not hope to stand at the pinnacle of the jianghu and look down upon the world.
But he had to be able to look in every direction and find no one who dared bully him!
Yet the greatest hurdle before him then was not his failure to master martial arts, but the fact that he had run out of money.
He had scraped by for those four years by skimping on food and clothing, and by then he was penniless.
A single coin could stump a hero. It was not as though he had never thought of looking for his birth parents.
The problem was that, with his current martial skills, leaving the city alone would be no different from courting death.
So whatever ambitions and hopes he had, he had to set them aside for the time being.
Following his eldest senior brother's arrangements, he used his introduction to a retainer of the Zhou Family and became a martial guard at their estate.
Returning to the present, Fang Shuwen picked up his clothes from the ground.
"Master, I'm afraid you wouldn't believe it even if I told you.
"I've now cultivated [Jade Serenity Skill] to the fourth level.
"[Four Seas Dragon Fist] and [Plum Blossom Loose Hands] are also beginning to show signs of reaching a state of pure mastery.
"My cultivation, which had stagnated for so long, advanced by leaps and bounds in just three months.
"I haven't... stopped here.
"After all, who could have imagined that my golden finger as a transmigrator would suddenly activate when I became a martial guard for the Zhou Family?"
With a thought, a translucent panel appeared before him.
[Guard System!]
[Host: Fang Shuwen]
[Current guard mission: serve as a martial guard for the Zhou Family for three months.]
[Time remaining until mission ends: half a shichen.]
[Host's first guard mission detected. Newbie reward activated!]
[Newbie reward: aptitude and comprehension increased fivefold while serving as a martial guard for the Zhou Family! Automatically canceled upon leaving the Zhou Family or after three months.]
"Only half a shichen left."
Fang Shuwen frowned slightly. The system had appeared the instant he became a guard for the Zhou Family.
The newbie reward was so generous that Fang Shuwen suspected the system had designs on him.
Perhaps it was because he had weathered so many storms over the years that he was far more cautious than most.
So the instant he obtained the system, his first thought was not that he was about to take off... but that a great calamity might befall the Zhou Family within three months!
If he became a martial guard for the Zhou Family, he might get caught up in it.
But the thought only flashed through his mind, and he paid it no further attention.
There was no other reason: the newbie reward was simply too enticing.
For someone with a damaged foundation, it was an irresistible temptation.
Besides, there was room to maneuver. If something did happen, and it was within his ability to deal with, he was willing to fulfill his duties as a martial guard.
But if it exceeded his capabilities, he would certainly withdraw.
Nothing in this world was more important than the life he had endured countless hardships to preserve until now.
But now it seemed he had been overthinking things.
The three months had passed without a ripple.
After getting dressed, Fang Shuwen returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and continued cultivating [Jade Serenity Skill].
For the past three months, he had worked tirelessly, ignoring everything except the necessary patrols.
Every day, he practiced his fists and cultivated. Had he not done so, even with his aptitude and comprehension improved, it would have been extremely difficult to make such great progress in so short a time.
The final half shichen slowly passed as he meditated.
Even now, he did not want to waste the time he had left with fivefold aptitude and comprehension. After all, he did not know what reward the system would give him when the three-month mission ended.
If the reward was unsatisfactory, what he had gained over these three months would be the foundation on which he established himself and made a living for the near future.
"I'm going to take a piss."
The voice he heard belonged to Song Li.
Song Li and Fang Shuwen were partners. The Zhou Family had a vast household and estate, and many martial guards.
Two people made a pair, and five pairs made a team.
To cover the Zhou Family estate, with guards rotating between day and night shifts, required sixteen teams.
Fang Shuwen silently circulated his skill and paid him no mind, listening as the footsteps gradually receded.
Not long after Song Li left, the countdown officially reached zero.
[Ding! Mission to guard the Zhou Family complete. Calculating reward!]
[Ding! Reward calculated successfully!]
[Congratulations, host. You have obtained Muscle Tendon Change at grand completion!]
[Claim it immediately?]