Money, Money, Money

Iron Cloth · Layer One: (1/500)

The text before Xie Yuan's eyes changed, displaying his breakthrough in realm.

Feeling that faint yet undeniably real thread of Blood Qi in his chest, Xie Yuan's lips curled upward slightly.

This meant that the Iron Cloth technique had crossed the threshold. It could nurture Blood Qi, strengthen the skin, and take the most crucial step onto the path of martial arts.

All things were difficult at the start. Many Registered Disciples paid ten taels of silver yet still could not find the threshold after three months, their money utterly vanishing like stones sunk into the sea.

Xie Yuan had felt Qi in just over three days. It could be said that he was exceptionally talented.

"Though there isn't much Blood Qi, I can try tempering my skin first..."

Just as he thought this, his head suddenly spun, and an intense hollowness rose from within his body.

The feeling ran deeper than hunger, as though weakness had seeped into his bones.

Xie Yuan swayed, barely managing to sit properly atop the woodpile. It took a long while before he recovered.

Uneasy and doubtful, he thought, "This... is what it means for the body to be depleted?"

It seemed one truly could not train too fiercely.

This was clearly his body's warning.

But why had this never happened before?

He had chopped wood every day before, sometimes from dawn to dusk. He had worked far harder then than now. At the time, he had been so exhausted he could not even lift his arms, yet after resting for two days, he would recover. He had never experienced this terrifying sensation of weakness running through his very bones.

After some thought, Xie Yuan understood part of the reason.

"Martial training squeezes out the body's potential... Martial artists lose lifespan before reaching a certain stage...

"It's like those top athletes from my previous life. Their bodies are practically inhuman, and they think they're incredibly healthy. Yet after retirement, they're covered in injuries and illnesses, and may not live long. It's all because they've overdrawn their bodies.

"This tiny thread of Blood Qi in my chest is the essence of my vitality and blood. It can be used to temper my skin and lead me toward the path beyond the ordinary, but it was condensed from my own vitality and blood.

"If someone has a robust body, the right cultivation method, and nutritional and medicinal supplements, the impact on their body will not be great. But for someone already depleted like me, this is nothing but overdrawing myself."

Having understood this, Xie Yuan sensed that thread of Blood Qi in his chest again, his expression complicated.

"One drop of essence, ten drops of blood. How much essence did this thread of Blood Qi cost me? It's drained me dry..."

No wonder martial arts required a strong physique. One truly needed a solid foundation to bear it.

And one truly needed Inner Strength to reach the higher realms. Otherwise, practicing martial arts without cultivating Inner Strength would simply consume one's life force.

"Inner Strength is too far away. I'd better save money and nourish my body first. Isn't it just fifty or sixty taels? What's so terrible about that? If worst comes to worst, I'll catch another tiger!"

Fifty or sixty taels was, of course, an enormous sum, and tigers were not creatures one could find whenever one wished.

But Xie Yuan neither wanted to nor could afford to give up.

After encouraging himself, he did not even have the strength to wipe down his body. He went straight into his room, fell onto the bed, and slept.

Early the next morning, Xie Yuan got up in a daze, still feeling hollow and exhausted, as though he had rewarded himself seven times in a row the night before.

"This is killing me. I need another day of rest."

It was not until the third day that Xie Yuan felt some strength return. He let out a long breath.

"Until my body has recovered, I can't train recklessly again."

He was unwilling to accept it, but he knew the bigger picture. Besides, he was not entirely without hope. Huo Da had already told him the method: save money. It would only take time.

But that was the only way, and he had to hurry.

After all, there were always eyes in the village watching him. At any moment, trouble might come knocking again.

When he had cut Iron Poplar before, Xie Yuan calculated that he could earn around two taels a month in gross income. But now his Chopping Wood had advanced.

Simply cutting Iron Poplar would bring in considerably more, but he had an even better target.

"Camphor Wood and Phoebe Wood are both fine materials for building houses and making furniture. How could they possibly sell for no more than firewood prices?"

Xie Yuan carried his axe and headed into the mountains.

There could not possibly be precious tree species in the shallow woods. If there had been any, the woodcutters from the surrounding mountain villages would have felled them long ago.

The few fine trees Xie Yuan had seen last time were deep in the mountains, around that clearing where Big Bugs roamed.

Calling it deep mountain country was not quite accurate. When they had hunted the tiger last time, they had expected the trip to take two days. Yet they encountered the tiger right at the edge of the deep mountains. Then Xie Yuan brought it down with three axe blows, and they made the round trip in a single day.

His interest in hunting had been piqued before, so Xie Yuan had asked Zhu Dongming about some basic knowledge of finding one's way, avoiding danger, and identifying animal tracks. Besides, winter had sent snakes, insects, and wild beasts into hiding. As long as he did not get lost, going a little deeper was safe enough.

He followed the marks from the last tiger hunt. The first time bred familiarity, the second time bred ease. In less than half a day, he saw the first tree he had marked down.

A massive Camphor Tree.

The tree naturally carried a fragrant scent. Not only was it pleasant to smell, it also repelled insects.

Families in town with some means loved using it for cabinets, bedframes, and the like. There was no need to worry about finding buyers for this wood.

"I'm taking you into town for a good life. If you have a spirit, then bless me with wealth."

Xie Yuan pressed his palms together and prayed silently for a moment before taking his Tiger-Bone Iron Axe in hand.

Dong!

Dong, dong...

The steady sound of chopping echoed through the forest. Yet after only a short while, there came a crack, and the towering Camphor Tree toppled feebly to one side, crushing two smaller trees beneath it.

"This axe is really something!"

Xie Yuan was pleasantly surprised. He had not properly tested it before, but now he found it sharper than he had imagined.

Camphor Wood could be used in construction. It was incredibly sturdy, yet it could not withstand more than a few strikes from his axe.

Zhou Feng had really done right by him.

Of course, Xie Yuan's Chopping Wood having risen another level also deserved credit. With both combined, felling these towering trees was no longer a problem.

Once the Camphor Tree fell, another problem arose.

How was he supposed to get such a huge tree out from deep in the mountains?

After looking it over, Xie Yuan thought, "I can only cut it into manageable sections and carry them out myself."

He had already planned this before coming and had considered finding people to help, but then he would have to share the profits.

Now that he had come in and seen it for himself, the tree was not overly thick. If he cut it into short sections, he could simply make a few more trips. If that did not work, he could split them in half again. He would find a way to get them out.

It was just that this wood was meant for furniture, not firewood, so he could not cut it too small.

Like those poor shopkeepers who could not bear to spend money hiring workers, Xie Yuan could only do everything himself.

The sound of an axe felling trees rose through the woods once more.

Not until Xie Yuan saw the sun dipping westward through gaps in the forest did he hoist a large section of timber onto his back and head out of the mountains.

"I'll count it as physical training..."

Xie Yuan had already confirmed that physical labor like Chopping Wood would only make him tired in the short term and would not drain his body. Eating more and sleeping more would restore him.

Only martial training, which squeezed out and stimulated Blood Qi, left him panicked to his bones.

Thus, he entered the mountains at sunrise with an axe and descended at sunset carrying timber. Ten days passed.

At last, he had cut the entire Camphor Tree into sections of fine timber. Then he borrowed a flatbed cart from the village, loaded it all up, and pushed it toward Coiling Dragon Town with some apprehension.

"If it can't sell for more than a tael, all this hard work won't be worth it... Wanting wood to sell for silver prices, am I being too greedy? Sigh, seven or eight hundred copper coins would do."

No matter how much time it took, as long as there was hope, he had the determination to move mountains like the Foolish Old Man.

Of course, that was assuming no one was eyeing him like a tiger stalking its prey...

When he arrived at the largest carpenter's merchant in town, Xie Yuan pushed over his cart of wood and asked for a price.

"You said how much???"