Proficient Mantis Fist

Afternoon:

Chu Qing did not practice martial arts.

Instead, he went to catch mantises.

A hundred of them...

You watched a mantis fight.

Five hundred of them...

You watched a mantis fight.

A thousand of them...

Night fell, and the profession slot flickered:

Chu Qing

Realm—Tendon Refining 0/15%

Martial Art: Mantis Fist Mastery—Daily Hundred Practice, Swallow Secret Medicine, Thousand Day Great Completion.

Promotion Conditions: 1: Watch Mantis Fights a Hundred Times, 2: Swallow One Mantis Fist Secret Medicine.

Chu Qing let out a breath.

At last, he did not have to eat mantises anymore.

It was just that these promotion conditions were somewhat difficult.

"The first condition is easy enough."

"But this second condition..."

The sky had only just dimmed, and it was still early before the gangs went to war.

After thinking it over, Chu Qing decided to go to the Martial Hall first.

In the vast training ground, only seven or eight young men and women were exercising.

Chu Qing spotted Shi Tiezhu at a glance.

The burly young man leaped and shifted about, his moves quite fluid.

"He's about to be Initiated."

At that moment, Shi Tiezhu also saw Chu Qing.

"I thought he'd given up."

"Who knew he was secretly training extra?"

"But... he's no match for me."

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Chu Qing leaped and shifted, and the Proficient Level Mantis Fist allowed him to mobilize more of his sinews and bones.

His progress came faster.

The major sinews in his arms, hands, and feet burned hot and tingled.

The sensation was unmistakable.

Under normal circumstances:

Practitioners progressed step by step and would not feel things so clearly.

But Chu Qing had started at the Proficient Level.

The training effects were nearly a hundred times faster than Initiated level.

Only then could he precisely sense which parts were being strengthened.

One round...

Three rounds...

Five rounds...

Grrr!

His stomach was hungry.

Chu Qing took off running for the Great Dining Hall.

Shi Tiezhu froze.

"He left after only five rounds?"

"This guy... won't do."

Shi Tiezhu gave up on Chu Qing completely, continuing to leap and shift as he trained in earnest.

Great Dining Hall:

Chu Qing wolfed down his food while observing his surroundings.

He discovered:

The ragged young men ate only the free meals provided by the dining hall.

The young men and women in cloth clothes would spend money on a serving of braised pork.

"The poor value learning, the rich value martial arts!"

"If you are born poor and cannot even fill your stomach, what can you use to keep pace with the wealthy?"

After swallowing more than ten corn cakes and five or six bowls of greasy vegetable soup, Chu Qing felt full.

He moved his limbs, brimming with strength.

Distinct bands of muscle had appeared on his arms and legs.

When he clenched his fists, his knuckles cracked explosively.

"My strength has increased."

Chu Qing

Realm—Tendon Refining 0/20%

Martial Art: Mantis Fist Mastery—Daily Hundred Practice, Swallow Secret Medicine, Thousand Day Great Completion.

Promotion Conditions: 1: Watch Mantis Fights a Hundred Times, 2: Swallow One Mantis Fist Secret Medicine.

The Tendon Refining progress in the realm panel had risen by 5%.

And just now, he had performed Mantis Fist five times.

"At the Proficient Level, one round raises it by 1%."

"What if it reaches Great Completion?"

"What about Perfection?"

"Other people need three to five days, even ten days, before they can become Initiated and take the Preliminary Exam."

"I... if I train with a Great Completion or even Perfection Level fist technique, my chances will be much higher."

At that moment, Chu Qing desperately wanted to promote his Mantis Fist.

Senior Disciple Brother and several close fellow disciples were eating at the Small Canteen.

Medicinal beef stew, secret chicken soup, fish and shrimp, mutton, all manner of nourishing ingredients—everything was there.

"Senior Disciple Brother, do you think any of these fools can pass the Preliminary Exam?"

One fellow disciple gnawed on a roasted lamb leg, his mouth glistening with grease.

Senior Disciple Brother frowned and said softly:

"Do not call them fools."

The fellow disciple muttered, "They were fools to begin with."

"I trained for half a year back then and still did not pass the Preliminary Exam."

"They cram for one month and still dream of passing?"

"If that is not foolish, what is?"

The other fellow disciples laughed. "Out of the hundred and eighty spots each year, Fortified Village Disciples, powerful nobles, and wealthy merchants' children take up seventy or eighty."

"Thousands fight over the remaining twenty or thirty spots."

"How many can pass?"

Senior Disciple Brother tapped the table and said softly, "Watch your words!"

One fellow disciple sighed:

"Once you enter the Martial Academy, you soar into the heavens in a single bound."

"If I had been willing to buy a few portions of secret medicine back then, I definitely could have trained several more Iron Sinews. Maybe I would have gotten in."

A fellow disciple took a sip of medicinal stew and sighed:

"Do you know Zhao Hu, who was in my cohort?"

"Three years ago, he tested into the Martial Academy. Now... the grass on his grave is taller than I am."

Senior Disciple Brother frowned. "Zhao Hu? He had decent aptitude. How did he die?"

"He refused to be a dog."

"The Fortified Village Disciples smashed every bone in his body."

"Then they forbade merchants from selling his family a single grain of food, and they starved to death alive."

Everyone fell silent, and the room grew quiet.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The knocking shattered the silence.

"Who is it?"

"Senior Disciple Brother, it's me, Chu Qing."

The door opened, and Chu Qing cupped his fist in salute.

"Senior Disciple Brother, I would like to ask about secret medicine."

Senior Disciple Brother looked him up and down. He found him familiar, but secretly shook his head.

One fellow disciple curled his lip and said coldly, "You're in ragged clothes and tattered shoes, too stingy even to wear straw sandals."

"You have money to buy secret medicine?"

"Get out. Do not disturb us while we eat."

Chu Qing cupped his fist and said nothing.

Senior Disciple Brother sighed. "One portion of Mantis Secret Medicine costs fifty taels of silver."

"Bring the money, and I'll give you the secret medicine."

"Thank you, Senior Disciple Brother."

Chu Qing backed away and shut the door.

Faint voices drifted from inside:

"Ragged clothes and tattered shoes—he has money to buy secret medicine?"

"Even after eating secret medicine, he may not be able to enter the Martial Academy."

"And if he enters the Martial Academy, won't he still become someone's dog?"

"I fucking want to be a dog, but I do not even have the means!"

"Watch your words!"

Night fell. The Blood River Gang and the Iron Foot Gang sent several hundred thugs and lackeys to slash at one another.

As a lackey, Chu Qing should have gone.

But he did not.

Instead, at the gang headquarters, he practiced his fist technique before Fatty Jin, the Money Hall Master.

He leaped and shifted, his moves smooth and fluid, the wind whistling from his fists.

After finishing a set of Mantis Fist, Chu Qing cupped his fist and said:

"Hall Master, I trained all day without resting even once."

"Three days. At most three days, and my Mantis Fist will be Initiated."

"In the remaining twenty-odd days, I will definitely train Iron Sinews and pass the Martial Academy's Preliminary Exam."

"If I join the Martial Academy, I will surely repay the gang's debt."

Fatty Jin pondered.

His subordinates had tricked Chu Qing into borrowing usury loans, and he had only learned of it afterward.

He had cursed them out at the time.

"Chu Qing, ragged clothes and tattered shoes."

"He cannot even afford food. Can he enter the Martial Academy? Can he repay his debt?"

"A losing deal!"

But looking at him now, there seemed to be hope?

In one day, he had made Mantis Fist whistle through the air and was about to become Initiated.

Not bad.

Even if he failed to test into the Martial Academy, he could still become a low-level gang enforcer and slowly repay his debt.

"Mm... you have put your heart into it."

"Go on. Keep working hard."

Chu Qing cupped his fist. "Hall Master, if I had one portion of secret medicine, not only could I become Initiated ahead of time, I could train more Iron Sinews before the end of the month."

"Then my chances of passing the exam would be greater."

The corner of Fatty Jin's mouth twitched.

One portion of Mantis Fist Secret Medicine cost fifty taels. He had eaten three portions back then and trained three Iron Sinews.

But... he still had not tested into the Martial Academy.

"No!"

Chu Qing said earnestly, "You have already invested several dozen taels in my entry money. Invest another several dozen, and if I am lucky enough to test into the Martial Academy, it will bring you heavenly benefits."

"Even if I cannot get in, with Mantis Fist, I can still do many things for you."

Fatty Jin sneered. "Plenty in the gang know Mantis Fist. Even more work for me."

Chu Qing said softly, "But, Hall Master, the money belongs to the Gang. I belong to you."

Fatty Jin pondered, weighing the gains and losses.

Chu Qing decided to add more fuel to the fire.

"Quan drifted through half his life, regretting only that he had never met a Wise Lord. If Hall Master does not disdain me, Quan is willing to acknowledge you as my Godfather!" (A famous Lu Bu quote. Real men understand.)

The fat all over Fatty Jin's body trembled as he sighed.

"What I wanted wasn't a godson..."

"Forget it. You don't need to call me Godfather. The Gang will lend you this money."

Chu Qing was delighted.

"But this is the last time you'll borrow money."

"The next time you want to borrow money, repay your debts first."

Chu Qing cupped his fist. "Yes!"

Repay the debt first next time?

What a joke.

Money I borrowed with my own ability—why should I repay it?

Next time, I'll show you what sunk cost means.

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