Get Strong! Get Strong! Get Strong!

Staring at the dilapidated earthen house before him, Lin Yi's gaze turned vacant, and his thoughts couldn't help but wander.

Actually, life hadn't always been this miserable.

His father in this life, Lin Haichuan, was an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist at Peak Eighth Rank from a remote county under Guangling Commandery. He wasn't exceptionally strong, but he was a prominent figure in the county. He ran a martial arts school, with dozens—perhaps even a hundred—disciples following him to learn martial arts.

Every year, not counting anything else, tuition alone brought in a net profit of two or three hundred taels of silver after expenses. Add in all the extra earnings, and his annual income reached at least four hundred taels—forty or fifty times that of an ordinary person.

His mother, Ji Xuan, was the daughter of an old Juren Scholar. She couldn't exactly be called widely read, but she could read and write, making her utterly different from a countrywoman.

In the county, a family like theirs wasn't among the truly wealthy and powerful, but they were unquestionably upper-middle class.

But everything changed two years ago, after Lin Yi revealed his talent and entered Guangling Martial Academy in the Commandery City.

The Commandery City was the absolute center of Guangling Commandery, spanning a thousand li in every direction. Living there was anything but cheap.

Forget food, fuel, and daily expenses—even renting an ordinary house cost nearly ten taels of silver a month.

On top of that, Lin Yi practiced martial arts every day. The Martial Arts Academy didn't charge tuition, but tempering his qi and blood, taking medicine to refine his body, and feeding his Swallow Gold talent—all of it cost money!

There was no other way. To support his son's martial training, Lin's father had to give up the peaceful life of running his martial arts school in the county and come to the Commandery City to make a living as an escort. He braved wind and rain every day, risking his life at swordpoint, all to earn another one or two hundred taels of silver a year.

His mother also pinched pennies and gradually changed from a pampered lady who never lifted a finger to a housewife who could handle every chore.

But even so, the family's income still failed to cover its expenses each year, forcing the quality of their life to decline again and again. They moved three times in two years.

At first, they settled in Shizi Market, a fairly prosperous part of the Commandery City. Then, after only half a year, they moved to the more distant and remote North Gate Alley.

By more than half a year ago, they had moved again, this time to Liuer Street, a slum notorious throughout the Commandery City. They lived in a drafty earthen house beside a foul-smelling ditch, enduring its stench day and night just to save two taels and five mace in rent each month!

Of course, it wasn't as if none of the great lineages in the Commandery City had taken an interest in Lin Yi's talent and offered to fund him.

But although Lin Yi's saber talent was high, his aptitude for physical cultivation was truly poor—a glaring weakness. So their conditions had been extremely harsh, practically no different from selling himself.

With his cheat at his side, Lin Yi naturally refused. His parents refused too, so the family had no choice but to suffer together.

"Haah!"

With a sigh, Lin Yi looked at the dilapidated wooden door just a short distance away. He quickly wiped the bitterness from his face, then forced a smile and walked up to the house, pushing the door open.

But in the next instant, the smell of blood suddenly invaded his nostrils.

"Dad! What happened to you?!"

The scene inside made Lin Yi's expression change.

Inside the shabby living room, the pungent smell of medicine and blood filled his nostrils.

His father, Lin Haichuan, sat on the bed where he and Ji Xuan usually rested, his face contorted with pain. A terrifying saber wound stretched from his chest all the way to his lower abdomen, flesh gaping open. It had nearly split him from top to bottom.

His mother, Ji Xuan, had swollen, reddened eyes as she applied medicine to him.

The moment they saw Lin Yi return, both of them quickly wiped the pain and tears from their faces.

Lin Haichuan even forced a smile and said,

"Yi'er's back. Don't worry, I'm fine. We just ran into those bandit brats from the White Horse Bandits while escorting a shipment."

"Hmph! Those little bandits actually dared to stop a convoy from Zhenyuan Escort Agency. They were asking for it."

As he spoke, Lin Haichuan seemed to be showing off—or perhaps trying to reassure his son. He looked rather pleased as he said,

"Under Chief Escort Lin's leadership, we crushed the White Horse Bandits in one battle. And your dad made a real name for himself in that fight. I took on three men at once and beat them all!"

"Don't let how bad I look fool you. These are only flesh wounds. Those three bandit brats I fought had it much worse!"

"I split one of their heads in half. He died right there. Another lost a leg and was later killed by the other escorts from Zhenyuan Escort Agency."

"The last one got away, but I took one of his arms. Most of his martial arts were probably ruined too. He's a lot worse off than I am. Cough, cough..."

At the height of his excitement, Lin Haichuan seemed to have pulled at his wound and couldn't stop coughing.

Seeing this, Lin Yi hurriedly patted his father's back to help him catch his breath. His heart aching, he forced a smile and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Dad, you're amazing! No wonder you're my dad, Lin Yi!"

"Haha! Of course! Of course! Cough! Cough, cough!"

Lin Haichuan laughed, then broke into another fit of coughing, prompting his wife to scold him.

Watching them, Lin Yi's heart ached even more. He simply took over from his mother, applying medicine to his father while looking at the dreadful wound and worrying silently:

No! I can't let Dad keep working for the escort agency. If he gets hurt today, then again tomorrow, he might suffer a serious injury someday—or even lose his life.

The only thing I can do now is gather enough silver as soon as possible and see if I can evolve a talent that boosts my physical aptitude.

Even if I can't evolve a Crimson Grade Talent, as long as I can get a Pure White Grade Talent, I'll have a chance to pass the Martial Arts Imperial Examination and earn the title of Martial Scholar within half a year. Then life will get much easier for my family.

The Martial Arts Imperial Examination was one way the Tianshan Sect recruited powerful martial artists from its territory. It had three levels: Martial Scholar, Juren Scholar, and Jinshi Scholar.

Martial Scholar was the lowest of the three levels, but in the eyes of ordinary people, passing the exam was like a carp leaping over the dragon gate!

Not only would a successful candidate gain privileges such as being exempt from bowing before officials, having his personal taxes waived, and being protected from severe punishment, he would also receive fifty taels of silver in Martial Arts Subsidy Silver each month for free.

Fifty taels a month came to six hundred taels a year!

Lin Haichuan was an escort for Zhenyuan Escort Agency, risking his life at swordpoint every day, yet even he would struggle to earn that much in a year. That showed just how prestigious the title of Martial Scholar was.

Of course, the title came with plenty of benefits, so the requirements were naturally high.

Generally speaking, a candidate needed to reach Peak Seventh Rank in overall combat strength to pass with certainty. At Late Seventh Rank, he would have some chance of passing.

"And Late Seventh Rank?"

Lin Yi's eyes gleamed.

"That level may seem far beyond my reach, but once I evolve a talent that boosts my physical aptitude, Late Seventh Rank won't be far away!"

Though Lin Yi's cultivation was currently low, his Martial Skill was extraordinarily high.

His Sixth-Rank Martial Art, Bright Moon Saber Art, had reached Great Accomplishment. In terms of Martial Skill, that was enough to rival a Seventh-Rank Martial Art at Completion!

What was more, Lin Yi stood at the very peak of that level. He was formidable enough that, if one looked only at Martial Skill, even many Peak Seventh-Rank martial artists—and some Sixth-Rank Martial Artists—couldn't match him.

That was precisely why Lin Yi could fight on par with an ordinary Early Seventh-Rank expert despite only having the cultivation of an Eighth-Rank Early Stage martial artist. It was also why he had so easily cut off the arm of the Eighth-Rank martial artist Lustful Woman Yan Ji earlier that day.

If he advanced Bright Moon Saber Art to Completion in a few months, then even most Sixth-Rank Martial Artists would be inferior to him in Martial Skill!

That being the case, all Lin Yi needed was to evolve a talent that boosted his physical aptitude and raise his cultivation to Eighth-Rank Late Stage within half a year.

Then his overall combat strength would naturally soar straight to Late Seventh Rank—and he would be formidable even among those at that level. He would certainly have a chance of passing the Martial Arts Imperial Examination and becoming a Martial Scholar.

"So the only obstacle now is the sixty-eight taels of silver needed to evolve the talent."

At the thought, much of the joy that had just risen in Lin Yi's heart faded.

Sixty-eight taels of silver wasn't a lot for him, but it wasn't a little either.

If he could keep getting lucky in the days ahead, catching a few more criminals like Lustful Woman Yan Ji, he could gather the sixty-eight taels in just a few days.

But if luck wasn't on his side and he couldn't catch any criminals, he would have to rely on his family's support. That could delay things by a month or two, or even longer.

Based on Lin Yi's experience, the latter seemed more likely.

After all, Guangling Prefecture City was the absolute center of the thousand-li expanse of Guangling Commandery. Its public order was quite good. Where was he supposed to find that many criminals to catch?

"Forget it. I'll do what I can and leave the rest to fate!"

With a soft sigh, Lin Yi finished carefully applying medicine to his father. Then he planned to return to his room and systematically review the criminal investigation knowledge he had learned in his previous life, so he could find criminals as quickly as possible in the days ahead and save up the sixty-eight taels of silver needed to charge his panel.

But just as he stood up, his father, Lin Haichuan, called out to him.

"Hey! Yi'er, don't rush off."

"Hm? Dad, what's wrong? Did I miss a spot when I was treating you?"

Lin Yi stopped and quickly asked, concerned.

"No! My son's a genius from Guangling Academy. How could you possibly mess up applying medicine? You're practically more effective than the legendary elixirs!"

Lin Haichuan said proudly. At the same time, he felt around on the bed with his arm.

Before long, he had produced several silver ingots. Then he grinned at Lin Yi and said,

"Heh heh! I was so busy getting my wounds treated that I forgot to tell you. I earned merit for the escort agency in that battle, so Chief Escort Lin specially allowed me to rest at home for ten days and recover properly."

"He also paid me this month's wages in advance. Add that to the reward for helping the escort agency drive off those bandit brats and the money for recuperating, and it comes to eighty-five taels and seven mace. Heh! That's almost as much as I made in the previous two months combined."

"Keep five taels and seven mace for your mother to cover the household expenses. You take the remaining eighty taels."

"Dad! I..."

Staring at the four gleaming silver ingots in his father's hand, shining so brightly they dazzled his eyes, Lin Yi felt his vision grow blurry.

At that moment, he felt hardly any excitement at receiving the silver. He had only one thought—

Get strong!

Get strong!

Get strong!