Protagonist Template

"Today, it was all thanks to you that I avoided getting beaten up. You're practically my own brother! Come on, come on, stop eating this stuff. I'll treat you to something meaty at noon."

Han Zheng had just taken his tray to get a dark rye bun when Li Sancheng grabbed him.

"Your father gave you silver?"

Li Sancheng's father had nearly emptied his savings just sending him to the Martial Arts Academy, so he hardly ever gave him spending money.

"Hehe, I hid away a little private money before. A couple days ago, I took it out for a small, tasteful gamble and won a bit."

Gambling dogs deserved no sympathy.

Rather than watching Li Sancheng lose all his hidden savings, Han Zheng figured they might as well gorge themselves and satisfy their appetites.

Still, before leaving, Han Zheng took two eggs from the Martial Arts Academy.

Those were good things. He could skip the dark rye buns, but he could not leave the eggs behind.

Li Sancheng brought Han Zheng to a small eatery with only three tables in total.

"Don't let this place's size fool you. They say the owner used to be a cook for some great family in Jingzhou Prefecture. His cooking is truly authentic."

Li Sancheng expertly ordered several dishes, and before long, the owner brought them over.

Han Zheng noticed that the owner was missing one hand. A spatula was tied to his wrist, its edge sharpened so that it could also serve as a kitchen knife.

Only after the owner had left did Li Sancheng lower his voice. "That owner is pretty unlucky too. I heard that when he was cooking for that great family, he was just a little late and let the young master go hungry. They chopped off one of his hands, beat him up, then threw him out to fend for himself.

"But really, it was because the servant in charge of purchasing hadn't delivered the ingredients in time. He got caught in a calamity that had nothing to do with him."

Han Zheng had heard of plenty of things like that as well.

Yet once those great families recruited servants, cooks, and the like, commoners still flocked to them like ducks to a pond.

In these chaotic times, working as a servant for a great family at least meant not worrying about starving to death or suddenly losing one's life.

Han Zheng sampled a few bites. The taste truly was far better than the random restaurants and taverns he had eaten at before.

"Brother, this time you're really going to rise above the rest. The academy master is focusing on training you. At the very least, Xiantian is within reach!"

Li Sancheng's voice carried envy, but no jealousy.

He had seen Han Zheng's efforts with his own eyes.

At the Martial Arts Academy, Han Zheng trained with meticulous seriousness. At home, he was even more diligent. It could be said that every day, aside from eating, he did nothing but cultivate.

Li Sancheng could not be as diligent as Han Zheng. What was there to envy?

Han Zheng shook his head. "It's still too early. At the very least, I need to learn the White Ape Through-Arm Fist first. Besides, those people in the other groups aren't weak either. The more it's like this, the less I can let up."

"That's true. I heard the academy servants say that the academy master once remarked in private that our batch of disciples is the best among all the batches he's taught in recent years."

Li Sancheng looked around, then lowered his voice. "If you want to surpass those people and learn the White Ape Through-Arm Fist, you really need to take another step forward. None of those guys are simple characters.

"Among the four of them, Lin Qing is the son of the County Yamen's Chief Clerk. His family is well-off, so he definitely doesn't lack money. I heard Chief Clerk Lin even wanted to send him to cultivate in a sect in Jingzhou Prefecture.

"Guo Mingyuan is the only son of Shopkeeper Guo from the grain store. Grain prices have gone mad lately, and the Guo Family is practically earning themselves insane. I heard Guo Mingyuan takes medicinal baths every day without interruption. His cultivation is simply piled up with money.

"The guy who uses the Iron Whip is named Chen Zhao. His family background is ordinary, but his talent is quite good. When he first entered, the academy master even personally praised him.

"And then there's Song Tianqing, the one who fought me. Damn, that guy is truly vicious when he strikes!

"But he's really someone, too. He's the son of the East City Song Family's head!"

Li Sancheng was a standard know-it-all. He had practically dug through every scrap of information on the Martial Arts Academy's disciples.

But when Han Zheng heard Song Tianqing's identity, he was stunned.

"The East City Song Family? Aren't they a collateral branch of the 'Heavenly Blade' Song Family of Shannan Dao? Even if they're only a branch, they're still a genuine martial family. Why would he come to a Martial Arts Academy to learn martial arts?"

"Because his birth was disgraceful. He wasn't even considered a bastard son of the Song Family. He was an illegitimate child."

Li Sancheng said in a low voice, "I heard his mother was only a Song Family servant. Song Kangyuan, the Song Family head, got drunk and acted wantonly, which was how Song Tianqing came to be.

"His mother was very plain-looking. Afterward, Song Kangyuan treated the matter as a humiliation. He gave his mother a little silver, then sent her away to fend for herself.

"After Song Tianqing was born, his mother truly could not survive any longer, so she brought him back to the Song Family.

"Although it was confirmed that he was Song Kangyuan's son, the matter was far too shameful.

"Song Kangyuan's principal wife flew into a rage and had his mother beaten to death on the spot. Until the moment she died, she did not even have the status of a concubine.

"So Song Tianqing had no standing in the Song Family from childhood. He was bullied everywhere, and his status was lower even than that of favored servants. No one taught him the Song Family's martial arts either.

"Once Song Family disciples turned sixteen, each of them could receive a shop. Song Tianqing naturally received one as well, but it was a failing shop that no one wanted.

"Yet that guy forcibly turned the shop around from losses to profits with nothing but a shopkeeper in his seventies. He even earned a great deal of silver, far surpassing the other Song Family disciples.

"But the Song Family is a martial family. Showing talent in business alone was useless.

"Those Song Family disciples detested him and tripped him up at every turn, leaving him unable to learn the Song Family's martial arts even now.

"In a fit of anger, he simply refused to learn them. He took his silver and entered Zhenwei Martial Arts School instead.

"Honestly, that guy may strike viciously, but I truly admire his ability.

"If I were in his place, I'm afraid I'd have been played to death long ago!"

Han Zheng rubbed his chin.

After hearing Li Sancheng out, he too felt that Song Tianqing was indeed someone remarkable.

This was clearly the Protagonist Template of a youth whom none should bully for being poor.

He might have a cheat, but this world was filled with countless geniuses and outstanding figures.

Even a small county town had many people who were far from simple.

If he became complacent just because he had the Gluttonous Crucible and believed his future was bright, that would be truly seeking his own death.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two returned home separately.

Over the next half month, Li Jingzhong indeed gave Han Zheng's group of five special attention, guiding and teaching them according to their individual traits.

"Han Zheng, your greatest advantage is the exceptionally solid and profound understanding you have of martial arts.

"Even when I first learned the Vajra Fist in my youth, I was not as proficient as you are now.

"So what you need to do now is bring that advantage to its utmost limit!

"The core of any martial technique is actually one thing: converting the strength in your body into the greatest possible destructive power.

"When you strike, sense the power in the Acupoints within your body. Sense the power your meridians draw forth.

"Completely integrate that power into your fist techniques, into combat and deadly struggle.

"I cannot teach you this systematically. You can only repeatedly draw upon your power and practice on your own, or adapt to it through combat and deadly struggle.

"Some people can only bring out eighty percent from ten percent of their strength, while others can bring out twelve percent from ten percent.

"When martial artists of the same realm fight to the death, such a gap is enough to decide life, death, victory, and defeat."

Li Jingzhong stood before Han Zheng and spoke gravely.

He was already very satisfied with Han Zheng's performance.

His cultivation had not fallen far behind disciples like Guo Mingyuan, who soaked in medicinal baths every day and had their cultivation piled up with resources.

His practical combat ability was formidable, and his comprehension of a martial technique like the Vajra Fist far surpassed that of the other disciples.

If not for Song Tianqing and the others being equally outstanding, Li Jingzhong could have decided to teach the White Ape Through-Arm Fist to Han Zheng right now.

"Yes. Thank you for your guidance, Academy Master."

Han Zheng answered respectfully.

Li Jingzhong nodded in satisfaction, then turned to guide the others.

Just then, the Martial Arts Academy's doors were knocked open, and a refined middle-aged man in his fifties, dressed in a long robe of green silk, stepped inside.

"Shopkeeper Chen, what brings you here today?"

Li Jingzhong approached him with a smile.

"To be honest, I came to ask Academy Master Li for a favor."

"Come, come, let's go inside and talk."

Li Jingzhong seemed to have a good relationship with the man. Smiling broadly, he pulled him into the inner hall.

Seeing Li Jingzhong leave, quite a few disciples began slacking off and simply sat on the ground to rest.

Li Sancheng sidled up to Han Zheng, somewhat curious. "That's Chen Baiqing, the owner of Shenghe Hall. What is he doing at the Martial Arts Academy?"

"Shenghe Hall? A medicine shop?"

Han Zheng thought about it. He seemed to remember that Shenghe Hall was a medicine shop.

"It's the largest medicine shop in all of Black Stone County!

"Other medicine shops only sell ordinary medicines, at most things like wound salve.

"Only Shenghe Hall sells Spiritual Medicine, the kind that martial artists can use for medicinal baths."

Han Zheng nodded in understanding.

Martial artists used medicinal baths to strengthen their qi, blood, and inner force. These medicines were not things like indigowoad root.

They were specially cultivated Spiritual Medicine, potent and rich in medicinal power, which only martial artists could digest.

If ordinary people soaked in such a medicinal bath, they would probably start bleeding from the nose within minutes, unable to bear such nourishment.

Inside the Martial Arts Academy's inner hall.

Li Jingzhong had someone serve Chen Baiqing a cup of tea before asking, "Shopkeeper Chen, just say whatever it is. We go way back, so there's no need for all this empty politeness."

When Li Jingzhong had first established himself in Black Stone County, he had also needed all sorts of Spiritual Medicine for medicinal baths to increase his strength.

At the time, Chen Baiqing had not yet taken over Shenghe Hall and was only responsible for dispensing medicine and seeing patients.

That was when the two met. Chen Baiqing had prepared several medicinal bath formulas for Li Jingzhong, and all of them had been extremely effective.

Li Jingzhong had also continued buying Spiritual Medicine from Shenghe Hall. The two had known each other for more than ten years.

Chen Baiqing sighed. "Our Shannan Dao has barren land. Not only do we need to import grain from Huainan Dao, but nearly all of Shenghe Hall's Spiritual Medicine comes from Huainan Dao as well.

"But now, the Incense Cult is causing quite a commotion in Huainan Dao. I heard they have even captured several prefectural cities, and the cities are filled with incense and offerings to their Attendants.

"The sects I previously worked with, the ones specializing in cultivating Spiritual Medicine, can no longer be contacted. Shenghe Hall is nearly out of Spiritual Medicine.

"Yet I previously made large contracts with the Shen Family, the Song Family, and even the Black Tiger Gang, Sky Eagle Gang, and Three Harmonies Gang. I agreed to deliver Spiritual Medicine to them at regular intervals, and I already took their silver.

"Now that the Spiritual Medicine supply has been cut off, forget all five coming to my door at once. Even if just one came knocking, I couldn't bear the consequences."

Li Jingzhong drew in a sharp breath.

"Shopkeeper Chen, you've made quite a mess of this.

"If it were only one family, I could use my reputation to mediate for you.

"But with all five together, why would they give face to the master of a Martial Arts Academy?"

Chen Baiqing hurriedly shook his head. "How could I ask you to mediate over such a major matter? In fact, I have already thought of a solution.

"Supplying Spiritual Medicine to all five families at once was indeed risky, and I was also afraid something might happen in Huainan Dao.

"So after signing the contracts, I found a Medicine Field in Jingzhou Prefecture to cultivate Spiritual Medicine, just in case.

"But that place is somewhat far away, more than five hundred li from Black Stone County, between Huainan Dao and Shannan Dao.

"There is an estate beside the Spirit Field. I already sent people there to guard it half a year ago. By my calculations, part of the crop should be mature now. It should be enough for an emergency.

"You know how things are these days. Forget five hundred li—even fifty li beyond the city is not guaranteed to be safe.

"The major Escort Agencies in Black Stone County have all gone out on escort runs, and there's no one available. I don't trust people from the gangs.

"So I could only come and ask you for help."