Drawing a Three-Hundred-Pound Bow

"Whew!"

Shi Yi finished an hour of training.

In that short while, his strength had grown again, and the blood essence in his body had risen with it.

The results were even better than in the morning.

This had to do with the meat soup he had eaten at noon and the bowl of Blood Nourishing Powder he had drunk.

The flesh and blood in that meat soup contained blood essence, but the Blood Nourishing Powder naturally had an even greater medicinal effect.

"In martial cultivation, besides understanding the cultivation method, one also needs cultivation resources."

"Poor scholars, rich warriors—that is the principle."

"At my current cultivation speed, I can break through to the Blood Essence Realm within six days."

Shi Yi roughly estimated his cultivation progress. It had improved again since before.

"This really is a happy trouble."

Shi Yi shook his head slightly.

Others could hardly wait to break through to the Blood Essence Realm and become Martial Disciples, yet he needed to conceal himself.

"I still need to confirm whether others can detect it once I break through to the Blood Essence Realm."

Although Shi Yi was in no hurry, if no one could detect his breakthrough, he could choose to break through first.

As for revealing it publicly, that could wait.

In this world, increasing one's strength meant gaining another means of preserving one's life.

Anyang Martial Arts School might be a layer of protective skin, but it was not absolutely safe.

"This little brother, I am Yu Daqiang. May I ask your esteemed name?"

The tall, thin Yu Daqiang approached Shi Yi and took the initiative to greet him.

"Shi Yi."

Shi Yi glanced at him and replied with cupped fists.

The other man's blood essence was not strong. Among the more than fifty people training in the front courtyard martial arts ground, his blood essence was fairly ordinary as well.

In Zhao Cheng's words, this man basically had little chance of breaking through to the Blood Essence Realm.

People like these would generally train at Anyang Martial Arts School for three months, then have no choice but to leave the school and make a living elsewhere.

"So it's Brother Shi Yi. I've been training at the martial arts school for over a month, but I haven't seen you before, Brother Shi Yi. Did you just come to the school to learn martial arts?"

"Where is Brother Shi Yi from?"

"Is your natural talent exceptionally good?"

With a smile on his face, Yu Daqiang fired off question after question.

He looked friendly and eager to get close.

"Brother Yu, are you conducting a household registration check?"

Shi Yi countered, impatience showing on his face.

He did so deliberately. The man's string of questions had already displeased Shi Yi. What stranger came up and interrogated someone like this?

Besides, through his Double Pupils, the fake, practiced smile on the man's face looked painfully false, stirring disgust in him.

Asking about everything—did this man really take him for some ignorant young greenhorn?

Though Shi Yi did not know the man's purpose, he knew this person was not someone worth befriending, nor was there any need to befriend him.

"Not at all. I simply found Brother Shi Yi pleasant to look at and wanted to get closer to you."

"Earlier, I saw Senior Brother Zhao Cheng personally teaching Brother Shi Yi martial arts, and he even took Brother Shi Yi to the dining hall to eat. Could Brother Shi Yi be Senior Brother Zhao Cheng's relative?"

Yu Daqiang hurriedly waved his hands, then continued asking with that fake smile.

Though he could tell Shi Yi did not want to chat with him, he pretended not to notice.

Yu Daqiang was a thug of the Five Tigers Gang. He had been arranged to enter Anyang Martial Arts School to learn martial arts and investigate the situation inside the school.

The moment Shi Yi arrived, he had been accompanied by Zhao Cheng, an Inner Disciple. It was obvious that Anyang Martial Arts School valued him.

That was why Yu Daqiang had taken the initiative to approach Shi Yi and probe into his background. Asking directly might seem somewhat presumptuous, but it was also the fastest and most convenient method.

At the very least, Yu Daqiang had gained something by now.

"Brother Yu should ask Senior Brother Zhao Cheng about that himself. Then you'll know the answer."

"Also, I need to continue training."

Shi Yi looked at him coldly, making no attempt to hide that he was sending him away.

This man had come over asking about everything and probing into his background, which displeased Shi Yi and made him better understand the mixed bag within the martial arts school.

If Yu Daqiang had come to discuss cultivation, Shi Yi might have exchanged a few words with him. But he had no interest whatsoever in a topic like this.

It was like a stranger walking up and demanding your personal information. Who would give it to him?

All that could be said was that Yu Daqiang neither knew how to conduct himself nor had any manners.

"Haha, then I won't disturb Brother Shi Yi's training!"

Yu Daqiang was not embarrassed. After laughing it off with a fake smile, he turned and left.

When he turned his head, a cold gleam flashed through the corner of his eye. It did not escape Shi Yi's notice at all.

This was a man with ill intentions, and one with little depth. He seemed to have a few tricks, but they were exceedingly shallow.

Yet this was what most bottom-rung people in this world who wanted to climb upward were like.

They had not studied, and no one had taught them. They could only grope their way forward little by little through life.

Shi Yi had spent more than ten days in this world pretending to be a blind beggar. It had shown him more of people's true faces and let him see the nature of this world more clearly.

The strong devoured the weak. That was the truth of this age.

The weak would only choose to throw their fists at those even weaker than themselves. Bullying and exploitation were their first choices; they would never feel pity for those weaker than them.

"I only want to cultivate in peace. I hope your crooked schemes won't affect me."

"Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Shi Yi thought silently to himself.

He knew that wherever there were people, there was a jianghu. He did not want to cause trouble, but if someone brought trouble to him, he was not afraid of it either.

After coming to this world, Shi Yi had already prepared himself to kill.

His moral bottom line was higher than that of the people in this world, but it had its limits. Once those limits were crossed, he would act.

In this age, one's moral bottom line needed to be more flexible to live better and longer.

As Shi Yi recovered his strength, he organized the insights he had gained from today's training. His harvest from the first day of cultivation had exceeded his expectations.

The path of martial cultivation had opened before him.

He could now be considered to have stepped onto the path of the extraordinary.

Only after he broke through to the Blood Essence Realm and reached a strength of three hundred pounds would he truly enter the gates of martial cultivation.

Zhao Cheng had told Shi Yi that a strength of three hundred pounds meant being able to lift a three-hundred-pound weight with one hand. Being able to draw a three-hundred-pound bow also gave Shi Yi a clearer understanding of the Blood Essence Realm's power.

This had long surpassed the limits of ordinary adults. Even for well-trained professional athletes, after making all kinds of preparations beforehand, very few could draw a three-hundred-pound bow.

Yet Shi Yi now needed only a little more time cultivating to achieve that step, surpassing countless well-trained professional athletes.

And this was not the limit of martial cultivation. It could only be considered the beginning.

Zhao Cheng had told Shi Yi that only after breaking through to the Blood Essence Realm could one cultivate the subsequent moves of the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Strength Training Fist.

Though the later moves were harder to cultivate, once mastered, they would bring greater increases in strength and unleash even more powerful combat ability.

Among those who had stopped training on the martial arts ground, some watched Yu Daqiang and Shi Yi from nearby. After Yu Daqiang left and they saw Shi Yi's indifferent expression, no one chose to come over and strike up a friendship.

In many people's eyes, Shi Yi's background might not be simple if an Inner Disciple of the martial arts school like Zhao Cheng personally taught him. Since Shi Yi had shown that he did not wish to speak with others, there was naturally no need to force themselves upon him without knowing better.

Some people did not need to humble themselves and curry favor, but they could not afford to make enemies.

Yu Daqiang was a fine example.