Introduction

Great Qian Dynasty, first year of Chengping, Yun Prefecture, Cloud Sun City, autumn.

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy leaned against the city wall, basking in the sun. His hunched body appeared somewhat strong, and his delicate face carried a hint of ferocity.

After all, Jiang Liu was known for his ruthless and reckless fighting style, which deterred the surrounding thugs and kids from approaching him carelessly!

With a thought, a deep blue light screen visible only to Jiang Liu appeared before his eyes.

Auxiliary System:

Name: Jiang Liu

Realm: None

Skills: None (Entry, Minor, Major, Perfection)

"Sigh! What kind of skill can be recognized by the system? It's been almost half a year since I got here, and I haven't learned a single skill?"

Jiang Liu muttered dejectedly, looking around. The weather was getting colder, and he needed to earn some money.

Otherwise, winter would be tough. The world was becoming increasingly chaotic, and business at restaurants and inns was declining, making it difficult even to find odd jobs.

As the sun set, Jiang Liu dragged his tired body back home, a mud house located in a remote corner of Flowing Cloud Alley, the only property he inherited from his predecessor.

He had almost lost it to his neighbors the day he transmigrated, but Jiang Liu's sudden awakening had scared them away.

Soon after, rumors spread that Jiang Liu had died and come back to life, which made the surrounding neighbors afraid to bully him, fearing misfortune!

After taking over the body, Jiang Liu gradually familiarized himself with the world.

Fortunately, he inherited the memories of his predecessor, could roughly recognize the writing, and spoke in a manner similar to his previous life, allowing him to integrate relatively quickly.

His predecessor's parents had passed away before Jiang Liu's transmigration, leaving him alone. The predecessor had buried his parents and, overcome with grief, provided Jiang Liu with the opportunity to transmigrate.

Relying on his previous work experience, coupled with his young age and eloquence, Jiang Liu helped restaurants and inns attract customers.

This barely allowed him to fill his stomach, as there was no fixed wage. He occasionally received three to five copper coins as tips from generous customers.

"Eight hundred and sixty-three," Jiang Liu counted his entire fortune. "Sigh! When will I have enough money to go to a martial arts school?"

Cloud Sun City was filled with martial arts schools. As long as you wanted to learn, you could always find one that suited you, provided you had enough money.

"Poor scholars, rich warriors." Jiang Liu had inquired all over the Western District and found that the cheapest martial arts school required an entrance fee of ten taels of silver, not including the cost of medicinal soups and meals during the training period.

One tael of silver was officially priced at one thousand copper coins, so ten taels of silver was ten thousand copper coins, which frustrated Jiang Liu.

"Don't run!" Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside, followed by a rustling sound, as if something had fallen near the wall of his house.

"He's over there! Chase him! Don't let him get away! He's tired of living, daring to steal from the Fierce Tiger Gang! We'll skin him alive when we catch him! Catch him alive! The gang leader has a reward!" A large group of Fierce Tiger Gang members roared past.

After they had gone far, Jiang Liu cautiously peeked out and saw something near the corner of the wall? It was wrapped in black cloth and would be invisible unless you paid attention, as it was too dark!

After fumbling to pick it up, Jiang Liu immediately returned to his house. Inside, he opened it and found a thin book with only a few pages!

No wonder it was wrapped in cloth, or it would have been lost while running around!

"Fierce Tiger Fist," the cover read in large characters. This was the Fierce Tiger Gang's fist technique? No wonder the Fierce Tiger Gang was chasing so closely!

Jiang Liu picked up the book and carefully flipped through it. There were a total of five moves, along with methods for generating power, routes for circulating energy, practice tips, and a recipe for a corresponding medicinal soup, totaling eight pages.

"Ding, martial skill detected, Fierce Tiger Fist, record?"

The system's voice sounded!

"Yes," Jiang Liu quickly replied in his mind.

Auxiliary System:

Name: Jiang Liu

Realm: None

Fierce Tiger Fist (Not initiated 0/10)

A look of joy appeared on Jiang Liu's face. It could indeed be recorded. He thought this Auxiliary System was useless.

Opening the book, he saw that it described the Fierce Tiger Fist as being improved by observing the movements of tigers and refined according to the body's movement habits, with a matching energy circulation method and a soup to replenish Blood Essence.

It also roughly introduced the realms of martial artists: before Ranked, there were four Body Refinement realms (Skin Tempering, Flesh Hardening, Bone Forging, Blood Exchange). After Ranked, there were ranks one to nine, with one being the lowest and nine being the highest! As for after the Ninth Rank, the book did not provide any information.

The beginning of martial arts was the four Body Refinement realms: Skin Tempering completion, skin as hard as old cowhide, impervious to ordinary blades! Flesh Hardening completion, muscles all over the body can be gathered and dispersed at will! Bone Forging completion, Blood Essence penetrates the bones, forming a Blood Essence protective layer! Blood Exchange completion, all waste blood and rotten blood are gone, as if reborn.

How can I get started? Should I practice the moves? Jiang Liu pondered.

Assuming a stance, he meticulously began practicing the first move according to the book. Because it was his first time practicing, the movements were not smooth and were very irregular. He practiced it more than ten times before getting it right! He saw that the panel had a reaction.

Fierce Tiger Fist (Not initiated 1/10)

Did it only have an effect when practiced with the correct movements? Practicing like this, Jiang Liu meticulously performed the Fierce Tiger Fist's standard movements from beginning to end, and there was another reaction.

Fierce Tiger Fist (Not initiated 2/10)

When he performed the correct movements for the third time, his whole body twitched in pain, as if all his strength had been drained! He must have overexerted himself, and he was still young and not getting enough nutrition.

Tomorrow, he would buy the herbs and brew the medicinal soup according to the recipe to nourish his body! Otherwise, practicing like this every day would easily cause a deficiency in his body's foundation and Blood Essence.

The next day, early in the morning, Jiang Liu felt a tearing pain all over his body! This was the aftermath of overexerting himself. Enduring the pain, he got up. Today, he needed to go to the pharmacy to buy some Fierce Tiger Fist soup to brew and replenish his body's Blood Essence deficiency.

That's right, he needed to find a place to dispose of the black cloth and the fist technique! Fortunately, the system had already recorded the fist technique! He also remembered the recipe for the accompanying medicinal soup.

Jiang Liu felt like his memory had improved significantly, perhaps due to the soul transmigration.

Jiang Liu walked along the depths of Flowing Cloud Alley, heading in the direction the thief had fled last night. Passing by a deserted house, he checked that no one was around and tossed the black cloth package into a corner of the wall.

Continuing forward, he stealthily observed his surroundings, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw no one. He exited the alley from the other end and turned towards the pharmacy.

Less than an hour after Jiang Liu left, a sleazy middle-aged man furtively entered Flowing Cloud Alley.

As he walked, he muttered to himself, "Where did it fall? Damn it! The information I finally got my hands on… I hope I didn't lose more than I gained!" He looked around as he went deeper into the alley.

"Aha! Here it is! Good thing I found it! Not a complete waste of time! Brother Bai, I will avenge you! Rest in peace! I'll take good care of your family!" The sleazy middle-aged man quickly stuffed the black cloth package into his arms, looked around, and, finding no one paying attention, quickly left.

Jiang Liu arrived at An Sheng Pharmacy. "Shopkeeper, I'd like to buy some medicine."

A pharmacy apprentice greeted him: "Sir, what medicine do you need?"

"Do you have Lifeblood Grass?"

"Yes, sir! How much do you need?"

"How much is it?"

"Ten copper coins each, sir. How many would you like?"

"Give me five, please! Wrap them up, I'll take them now."

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment!"

Jiang Liu, carrying five Lifeblood Grasses, went to other pharmacies and bought the remaining nine herbs he needed (one dose of medicine consists of ten herbs)! It cost him 500 copper coins in total. Money really doesn't last! Just buying five doses of medicine almost emptied his wallet.

Returning home, he placed the herbs into the earthenware pot in the correct order and began brewing.

Ding!

Medicine Refining (Uninitiated 1/10)

Hey! What a pleasant surprise! Brewing medicine also counts as a skill!

PS: Human martial artist strength levels: Initial stage, Body Refinement Realm (Skin Tempering, Flesh Hardening, Bone Forging, Blood Exchange). Intermediate stage, Ranked Martial Artist Realm, divided into First to Ninth Rank, Ninth Rank being the highest. Advanced stage, Grandmaster Realm, divided into: Minor Grandmaster, Major Grandmaster, Peak Grandmaster. And then there's the top stage, Martial Saint, which hasn't appeared on the entire continent in over a thousand years.