Handling

The night was so thick it could not be dissolved.

The courtyard was terrifyingly quiet.

Only Jiang Qinghe's heavy breathing could be heard, along with the rustling of the night wind sweeping through the old tree's branches.

He dragged the three heavy corpses beneath the old tree and picked up an iron shovel.

"Scrape, scrape, scrape—"

The sound of the shovel biting into the earth was especially piercing in the silent night.

Jiang Qinghe mechanically repeated the digging motion, sweat continuously sliding down his chin.

When the pit was waist-deep, he shoved the three corpses in one by one.

Qiu San and the others' twisted limbs lay tangled together, the thick stench of blood mingling with the earthy reek of soil.

Jiang Qinghe suddenly felt his stomach churn. Supporting himself against the old tree beside him, he vomited.

Even after living two lives, this was still his first time killing someone. His body naturally felt some discomfort.

The night wind swept past, carrying away some of the oppressive heat.

Jiang Qinghe wiped the filth from the corner of his mouth and slowly raised his head, his gaze gradually turning cold.

In this world where martial strength reigned supreme, the strong devoured the weak—the only law of survival.

Either become a wolf that devoured others, or a sheep waiting for slaughter.

Live well, then make his fists bigger and stronger.

Scum like Qiu San had blocked his path to survival. They were stumbling blocks and deserved to be killed!

Once that thought flowed freely through him, Jiang Qinghe's heart abruptly relaxed.

He slowly rose, patted the mud from his hands, and turned to enter the inner room.

He poured all nine taels of silver he had searched from the three men into a coarse cloth money pouch, tied it tight, and tucked it into his clothes.

Sure enough, nothing came faster than the windfall of killing and taking lives!

Jiang Qinghe could not help sighing.

"Twenty-eight taels of silver in total. I've gathered enough for Wanping Martial Academy."

He suppressed the urge to head to the academy immediately. After thinking it over, he decided to remain at the tavern for a few more days.

Within a day or two, news of Qiu San and the others' disappearance would surely spread.

If they had only just vanished and he, the honest laborer who had clashed with them, immediately quit and left, it would be far too conspicuous.

At such a critical juncture, any unusual action could arouse suspicion.

"Besides, these next few days are perfect for continuing to train the Wood Splitting Skill in the back courtyard and making further progress."

Jiang Qinghe clenched his fist, feeling the power surging through his body. A flicker of anticipation flashed in his eyes.

I wonder what improvements breaking through to the next realm will bring.

In this world where the strong devoured the weak, every additional shred of strength meant another shred of capital to stand firm.

Had it not been for the increased strength brought by the Minor Accomplishment Wood Splitting Skill during that fierce battle with Qiu San and the others, the one lying beneath the tree now would probably have been him.

Over the next two days, Jiang Qinghe chopped firewood in the tavern's back courtyard on time as usual.

Yet his movements were completely different from before.

The heavy iron axe seemed weightless in his hands. As he swung it, his motions flowed like drifting clouds and running water, carrying a strange rhythm.

Every strike was incomparably precise, powerful and heavy.

Crack!

A hard log as thick as a bowl shattered in his hands like a brittle dead branch, its break smooth and even.

Only a few days ago, the same firewood quota would have taken Jiang Qinghe most of the day.

He would be drenched in sweat, his arms sore and swollen, before he could barely finish it.

Now, he cleared the log pile, heaped like a small mountain, in just an hour or two.

After finishing everything, only a light sheen of sweat covered his forehead. His breathing was steady, and he looked completely at ease.

"Grrrumble..."

His stomach began to growl.

"Time to eat."

Jiang Qinghe stopped, casually wiped his face, and headed toward the kitchen.

The moment he crossed the kitchen threshold, he heard several laborers in the corner whispering among themselves. Instinctively, he slowed his steps and pricked up his ears.

"Have you heard? That plague god Qiu San hasn't shown his face for two days straight! Even his two loyal lapdogs have vanished with him!"

The speaker was the oldest laborer in the kitchen. He had suffered Qiu San's bullying before, and there was unconcealed glee in his voice.

"Heh! That's really strange! Think about it—wasn't he beaten until he was crawling all over the floor by that kid Jiang just a couple of days ago? Could he have felt too humiliated to stay and slunk off on his own?"

A younger laborer guessed.

"No, no!"

Another well-informed laborer immediately lowered his voice in rebuttal.

"I've got a relative who makes his living on the streets. He saw it with his own eyes! The night the tavern closed, Qiu San took his two lackeys and headed straight for the alley by Yihong Courtyard. They were staggering as they walked. He must've stuffed some ill-gotten silver into his pocket again and crawled into some whore's bed to drink himself into a drunken dream!"

"Pah! Serves him right!"

The older laborer spat bitterly.

"With that rotten body hollowed out by wine and women, if he keeps carrying on like this, sooner or later he'll die on top of a woman! Heaven has opened its eyes—the retribution never misses. He bullied us every day. He deserves it!"

Listening to the scattered chatter and snickers, the tightly drawn string in Jiang Qinghe's heart quietly loosened a little.

Without showing any reaction, he took his food and silently walked to sit in a corner.

It seemed no one in the tavern had connected Qiu San's disappearance to him, the honest and dull laborer.

Over the years, his image as someone meek, submissive, and swallowing every insult had long been deeply ingrained in everyone's minds.

Even the conflict from two days ago had merely seemed like an unusual act of resistance from someone driven to desperation.

Who could have imagined it?

Who would have dared believe it?

That this insignificant laborer, on that moonless, wind-lashed night, had risen in fury, harvested three lives, and buried them deep beneath the old tree in the back courtyard?

What was more, the conflicts between the gangs of West Street had grown increasingly fierce in recent days.

Amid such chaos, the disappearance of a mere three people was like tossing a few pebbles into a rushing river—not even a splash would rise.

As the sun gradually sank, the tavern closed. The laborers gathered in twos and threes in the back courtyard, preparing to leave through the small gate and return home.

Jiang Qinghe continued chopping wood in a corner of the back courtyard, paying no heed to the gazes of the passing workers.

Those curious, astonished, mocking, and indifferent looks were nothing more than drifting clouds to him.

The body's former owner had been dull and taciturn in this tavern, and because Qiu San had often bullied him, no one had dared get close to him. He had long grown accustomed to such isolation.

At that moment, all his attention was immersed in training the Wood Splitting Skill.

"Whoosh—hiss—!"

The shriek of the axe blade ripping through the air became faster and faster.

Crack! Crack! Crack—!

The crisp sounds of firewood splitting rang out in an unbroken chain.

The progress on the panel slowly rose with every swing of the axe.

At last, an hour later, the invisible barrier was broken through.

A thread of cool breath rose from his dantian once more and flowed through his limbs and bones.

[Realm: Body Tempering Realm (Not Initiated)]

[Skill: Wood Splitting Skill (Major Accomplishment - 0/4)]

[Potential Points: 3 (Settled according to the degree of effort put into training that day. The current realm can obtain 0–1 point)]

[Lifespan: 60. Burning 1 point of Lifespan at the current realm can obtain 1 Potential Point]

After three days of bitter training, he had finally reached Major Accomplishment, and his accumulated Potential Points had also reached three.

The changes brought by the breakthrough were immediate.

Jiang Qinghe could clearly feel that his body had become noticeably more robust, his muscle lines harder and smoother.

The sense of power surging through his body was far stronger than it had been at Minor Accomplishment.

He let out a long breath and carefully savored it.

The pleasure brought by such transformation was intoxicating.

Jiang Qinghe's gaze swept over the unchanged line at the bottom of the panel: [Lifespan: 60].

Thinking that he would be unable to use the ability to burn Lifespan in exchange for Potential Points anytime soon—perhaps for a very long time—his mind stirred.

Following the principle of out of sight, out of mind, he hid that line of text.

Then he walked to the corner of the back courtyard, beside a large wine vat that stood half a man tall, dark and heavy.

His ten fingers curled like hooks, firmly gripping the rough rim of the vat.

"Up!"

Power burst from his waist and abdomen, and the muscles in his arms bulged.

The two-hundred-jin weight that once required at least three laborers working together to lift—

he easily raised it into the air using only thirty percent of his strength, steady as a boulder and utterly effortless.

My physical strength... has already surpassed six hundred jin.

Jiang Qinghe silently estimated.

Such divine strength, if placed in his previous life, would have shattered every human record of strength and shocked the world.

But in this land where martial arts flourished and powerful figures emerged one after another...

perhaps it had only just reached the threshold of initiation.

It might even still be some distance from the realm of a true Martial Practitioner.

From initiation to Major Accomplishment, the Wood Splitting Skill seems to have brought me nothing but a pure increase in strength, with no other changes. Most importantly, my realm has displayed Not Initiated from beginning to end.

Jiang Qinghe pondered inwardly.

It seems the Wood Splitting Skill is not part of the orthodox martial path... Perhaps only after entering Wanping Martial Academy will I learn the true answer.

He shook his head, temporarily suppressing those thoughts and no longer dwelling on them.