"Crack!"
Zhao Han kept chopping. In truth, after his Mad Saber Nine Forms improved, he still needed to chop fifty more logs.
Mad Saber Nine Forms [Simplified, unranked martial arts, Beginner 0/50, chop fifty logs]
With the Skin Refining Realm as his foundation, Zhao Han chopped wood incredibly quickly. Before long, he had finished the fifty logs.
But he still didn't get up.
Mad Saber Nine Forms [Simplified, unranked martial arts, Proficient 0/100, chop one hundred logs]
"Looks like me and chopping wood are locked in a showdown today!"
"Er Gouzi, go get more logs. As many as you can carry! My big axe has been thirsty for ages!"
"Huh? O-okay."
Er Gouzi was dumbfounded. Could a person really get hooked on chopping wood? Why didn't he feel that way?
But thinking about it, he really did envy Skin Refining Warriors. They never got tired, no matter how much they chopped.
He was just an ordinary person. After chopping that much, his hands and feet would be sore, and he might even dislocate something and lose all strength.
Zhao Han spent the rest of the afternoon chopping wood.
Until around six in the evening.
Mad Saber Nine Forms [Simplified, unranked martial arts, Mastery 0/1000, practice the saber forms ten times amid howling gales and torrential rain]
"Howling gales?"
Zhao Han froze. This simplified Mad Saber Nine Forms was pretty strange. It wanted him to practice in a storm, but where was he supposed to find howling winds and torrential rain in this weather?
It seemed like it hadn't rained in half a month.
Shaking his head, Zhao Han decided to focus on the Black Wolf Fist instead. It was simple, and he could see the finish line.
As soon as he stood up, Zhao Han felt his strength increase a little.
His strength, legs and feet, and skin had all grown stronger or tougher.
The boost wasn't huge, but it was noticeable.
After all, he'd only practiced three unranked martial arts. There was still room to improve.
Since I don't have martial arts of good quality or a high level,
I'll make up for it with quantity. Once you have enough of it, quantity can sometimes rival quality.
That might not work for products made in factories on Blue Star in my previous life. Bad quality was bad quality, and defective goods were still defective goods. Don't give me the excuse that you made a lot of them.
No matter how many there were, they were all substandard goods, fit only to be sold off cheaply.
But in this world, it was completely viable!
Because practicing more brought a very noticeable boost.
With the system's simplification as a huge cheat, Zhao Han was least afraid of biting off more than he could chew.
At the Cafeteria, Zhao Han joined the end of the queue under the curious gazes of the older apprentices and waited to be served.
He didn't see Liang Feng. Since Liang Feng was an official disciple, he probably got better food.
A laborer served the meals, ladling out three dishes and a soup, each in a small bowl set on a wooden tray.
For the staple, people could choose either four plain steamed buns or a bowl of white rice.
The three dishes were two meat dishes and one vegetable dish.
Scrambled Eggs with Chives counted as a meat dish, as did stir-fried lettuce stem with pork. Stir-fried Water Spinach was the vegetable dish.
The soup was cabbage and tofu.
Cabbage and tofu seemed to be a standard pairing in this world. They were everywhere.
But people here ate lettuce stem far too often. No wonder night blindness was so common. Even Skin Refining Warriors could hardly avoid it.
Zhao Han grumbled to himself, but when he ate the stir-fried lettuce stem with pork, he still cleaned his plate.
"Good heavens, this is delicious!"
The cook knew what he was doing. He was far better than the cook who made the Poisonous Snake Gang's giant-pot dishes.
Seeing Zhao Han wolf down his food, the surrounding apprentices couldn't help showing their disdain.
This newcomer looked like a Starving Ghost reincarnated. Had he gone three days without food, or not seen meat for half a month?
He could afford the three taels of silver, yet couldn't afford food? Was it really that good? It wasn't even as tasty as what my family's cook makes.
The others complained among themselves, putting Zhao Han in the wealthy commoner category.
Anyone who could study martial arts at Mad Saber Martial Arts School, even by gritting their teeth and pinching every penny, was at least a wealthy commoner.
Ordinary people and the poor couldn't begin to afford the steep fees.
Most of those present came from families that traded goods, ran shops, or held well-paid jobs. Some had relatives who were Martial Artists.
In any case, their incomes could cover the cost of practicing martial arts.
Only a handful came from powerful families. They didn't eat in the cafeteria, but went somewhere better.
Their families had passed down fairly strong martial arts, yet they still came here to train. They were mainly looking to build connections and befriend Martial Artists with potential.
Everyone else—the people eating here—were the ones truly relying on martial arts to get ahead and climb the social ladder.
"Burp!" It had been a long time since he'd eaten so well. When he finished, Zhao Han couldn't help letting out a satisfied burp.
"Ah, that three taels of silver was well spent." Zhao Han nodded, satisfied with the meal.
Someone else would handle the bowls and wash them, so Zhao Han simply dusted himself off and left.
"This newcomer is way too... shabby."
"He looks like some country bumpkin who's never seen the world. That's how village folk are."
"I bet he'll regret spending those three taels. He's probably heartbroken already."
"His family must be drowning in debt, scraping the money together from every corner. I guarantee he'll come crawling back home after a month."
Several people even started betting on Zhao Han's future, unaware that he'd scraped that money together by killing people.
"Practicing the Black Wolf Fist here seems like a bad idea. I'd better find a dark alley outside and train in secret."
Zhao Han glanced at the Training Ground, then headed for the gate.
Old Man Mi was hunched over in his chair, eating his meal.
His food was the same as the laborers', not the apprentices'.
There was no meat, only stir-fried wild greens and cabbage and tofu soup.
It looked like the laborers had hired him too. He wasn't some well-connected person who'd been brought in to watch the gate.
"His skin is all wrinkled at seventy or eighty. He looks rather pitiful. Is this what they called a widower in ancient times?"
A widower was a man who grew old without a wife or whose wife died before him. His life was lonely and unsupported, miserable and bleak.
A few widowers in modern times were different. They collected their pensions and traveled all over. They couldn't have had a more carefree life.
Zhao Han sighed. This damned chaotic world.
In times of chaos, how could anyone stay untouched? Everyone was caught up in the turmoil.
Zhao Han couldn't help feeling sympathy for him.
He took a half-pound strip of dried meat from his clothes—or, in truth, from the System Space—along with half a flatbread, and offered them to Old Man Mi.
Old Man Mi looked up at Zhao Han, puzzled.
A strip of dried meat and half a flatbread—what was this supposed to mean?
"Old Man Mi, I'm just hoping to get acquainted. Please accept this little gift."
"I often come back late at night. Sorry for the trouble, but could you leave the gate open for me in the future? That way, I won't have to climb over the wall."
Old Man Mi paused, then gladly accepted the dried meat and flatbread. He waved a hand and said with a smile, "That's no trouble at all. I'm an old man; I don't sleep much anyway. What's wrong with staying up a little later to leave the gate open for you?"
"Sorry for the trouble." With that, Zhao Han left.
Watching Zhao Han go, Old Man Mi carefully inspected the dried meat and found no poison on it.
He inspected the flatbread just as carefully. It was poison-free too.
Old Man Mi wolfed down the dried meat and flatbread in a single bite. He didn't look old and feeble at all.
"What on earth did this kid come to Mad Saber Martial Arts School for?"
"He wants me to leave the gate open for him? I've never closed it after I go to sleep."
"Hmph. I don't care who you are. If you get in the way of me taking the Blade Ghoul, you're dead."
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