Proficient Mantis Fist

Chu Qing

Realm—None

Technique: Mantis Fist, Beginner—fifty practices daily; proficiency in a hundred days.

Promotion Condition: 1. Swallow one hundred mantises. 2. Watch a mantis battle.

Chu Qing was speechless.

Good heavens, he still had to eat mantises.

If he kept advancing, would he have to eat thousands, even tens of thousands of mantises?

Fortunately, it was mantis season. If it were winter... he would not even be able to find their corpses.

Forget it. For the sake of promotion, eat.

One...

Ten...

Fifty...

Chu Qing moved through the grass. Whenever he found one, he ate one; whenever he found a pair, he ate both.

Crunch!

He swallowed another mantis.

Swallowing one hundred mantises complete.

Chu Qing let out a breath.

Eating mantises had finally come to an end, for now.

Now, it was time for the second Promotion Condition:

Watch mantises hack at each other.

The mantises slashed at one another, twisting and leaping.

One minute...

Two minutes...

One mantis chopped off the other mantis's head.

The fight ended.

You watched a mantis battle and completed the promotion conditions.

The next second, the Profession Slot refreshed:

Chu Qing

Realm—None

Technique: proficient Mantis Fist—one hundred practices daily; mastery in a thousand days.

Promotion Condition: 1. Swallow one thousand mantises. 2. Watch ten mantis duels.

Chu Qing...

The Promotion Conditions were becoming more and more perverse.

Still, for Proficient Level Mantis Fist, Chu Qing decided to keep eating.

One...

Ten...

Fifty...

His mouth burst with pulp.

Disgusting!

Fucking disgusting.

He could not eat another one.

He still had to eat another nine hundred and fifty mantises to advance.

Terrifying.

He grabbed a handful of green grass and chewed it a few times. Only then did the bursting-pulp sensation fade.

"Proficient Mantis Fist seems like it should be enough, right?"

Chu Qing decided to try it.

He assumed a fighting stance, twisting and leaping.

At first, his limbs were stiff and every movement felt uncoordinated.

But proficient Mantis Fist began to take effect.

The first round was rigid.

In the second, he adjusted his posture.

The third flowed smoothly.

By the fourth, it flowed like drifting clouds and running water.

Proficient Mantis Fist made his movements more precise and his limbs more coordinated.

As he twisted and leaped, not only did nothing hurt, his entire body felt comfortable.

When he threw a punch, the fascia in his arm stretched—comfortable.

When he kicked, the fascia in his leg felt comfortable.

The more he practiced, the better he felt; the more he practiced, the smoother his movements became.

His fists swept through the air, their wind sharp as blades, slicing grass blades into fluttering fragments.

Streams of heat spread throughout his body.

Who knew how long passed before Chu Qing felt his head spin.

"Damn it!"

He hurriedly stopped practicing and checked the Profession Slot.

He wanted to see whether it gave any hint as to why.

Chu Qing

Realm—Tendon Refining 0/10%

Technique: proficient Mantis Fist—one hundred practices daily; mastery in a thousand days.

Promotion Condition: 1. Swallow one thousand mantises. 2. Watch ten mantis duels.

A new line had appeared in the Realm section: Tendon Refining.

"The heat flowing through my body just now was refining my tendons?"

At that moment, his stomach rumbled.

He was about to faint from hunger.

"Right. The poor study literature, the rich practice martial arts."

"Mantis Fist tempers the tendons and bones. It must consume huge amounts of nutrition."

"I did not even eat breakfast, and I practiced Mantis Fist so many times. My nutrition was insufficient."

What should one do when one was in the wilderness and about to faint from hunger?

At that moment, Chu Qing thought of Bear Grylls again.

"When you're hungry, eat mantises."

"They taste like beef and crunch between your teeth."

The next second, Chu Qing rushed into the grass and wolfed down seventy or eighty mantises in one go. Only then did he recover.

"I can't practice here."

"I have to go to the Martial Hall."

The Martial Hall had food twenty-four hours a day.

And they fed people until they were full.

Chu Qing forced himself to return to the Martial Hall.

On the way, a group of thugs blocked him.

The leader had a face full of flesh and a burly build. His name was Liu Hai, Chu Qing's direct Minor Leader.

"Chu Qing, we're going to war with the Iron Foot Gang tonight. Remember to go to the docks."

Chu Qing secretly frowned and said:

"Brother Liu, I'm training at the Mantis Fist Hall."

"Tonight..."

"Hm?"

Liu Hai glared at him and sneered. "When the Gang acts, everyone participates."

"Don't say you're at the Mantis Fist Hall. Even if you went to the Martial Academy, you would still have to obey."

"Once you enter Blood River, you belong to Blood River for life."

"Understand?"

Chu Qing nodded. "Understood!"

He remembered that the previous owner of this body had signed a contract with the Blood River Gang. He was never allowed to leave.

"If the Blood River Gang disappears... does that mean I'll have left it?"

Chu Qing muttered.

More than ten minutes later:

Great Dining Hall of the Mantis Fist Hall:

Palm-sized corn cakes and vegetable soup slick with oil.

In his previous life, he would not have spared them a glance.

Now, he devoured them like a starving tiger.

Shortly afterward, a youth approached.

The youth wore cloth clothes and cloth shoes. His muscles knotted beneath his skin, his face was square, and he looked utterly honest.

His name was Shi Tiezhu, the son of a blacksmith.

He stood over Chu Qing and looked down at him.

"I practiced Mantis Fist thirty times this morning."

"And you gave up after only five times."

Chu Qing looked up, utterly puzzled.

Shi Tiezhu gritted his teeth. "You're dressed in ragged clothes, and you can't even bear to wear straw sandals. Your family must be desperately poor."

Chu Qing nodded.

His pockets were cleaner than his face right now.

Shi Tiezhu lectured him, "You should seize this opportunity and cultivate diligently."

"Practice at least thirty times a day. In ten days, you'll enter the Beginner stage of Mantis Fist."

"Only after entering the Beginner stage can you stretch your tendons and bones and have a chance to pass the Martial Academy's Preliminary Exam."

Chu Qing was surprised.

"Alright!"

"I'll work hard."

Shi Tiezhu was delighted. He patted Chu Qing on the shoulder and said:

"I'm going to practice fifty times this afternoon."

"In three days at most, I'll definitely enter the Beginner stage."

"When that happens, if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."

After saying that, he turned and went to find another youth in ragged clothes and tattered shoes, giving him similar advice.

Chu Qing suddenly understood.

"This guy is actually forming a clique? Buying people's hearts?"

He secretly shook his head.

This world had martial arts.

Then the true kingly path had to be power returning to oneself.

Instead of wasting time forming cliques, he would be better off cultivating more.

That afternoon, he continued practicing Mantis Fist.

Senior Disciple Brother led a group of people, personally guiding the youths step by step.

When he reached Chu Qing, he discovered that Chu Qing's movements were exceptionally precise and fluid.

"It's as if he's already entered the Beginner stage."

If he remembered correctly, the youth before him had only practiced five times that morning.

How could five practices be enough to enter the Beginner stage?

He must be suited to Mantis Fist.

One round...

Three rounds...

Ten rounds...

Proficient Mantis Fist tempered his tendons and bones several times more efficiently than the Beginner stage.

Likewise, it consumed several times more nutrition.

Before long, Chu Qing was hungry.

Great Dining Hall:

Chu Qing wolfed down his food like a starving tiger.

"Just a single Proficient Mantis Fist already required eating this much food?"

"When it reached mastery, great accomplishment, and perfection, how much more would it take?"

"Food!"

"I needed higher-grade food."

In the memories of his predecessor:

Martial artists had to consume secret medicines and medicinal meals.

He could not afford those, but... at the very least, he had to eat a piece of meat.

But he had no money left.

Where could he get meat to eat?

Just then, a group of youths came over.

They took out Silver Coin and handed it to the chef. "One serving of braised pork."

"Coming right up!"

A fragrant plate of braised pork was set on the table.

The youths wolfed it down.

Chu Qing watched with longing.

One of the youths saw this, looked him up and down, and sneered:

"Wearing hemp clothes and straw sandals—you'll never be able to afford meat in your life."

Chu Qing...