Early in the morning, a thin layer of ice coated the stone steps behind the martial arts school's back mountain.
Li Xuan carried two half-person-tall wooden buckets, stepping with steady composure down the slippery stone steps.
The shoulder pole trembled slightly, but almost no water splashed from the buckets.
This was the result of him applying his potential to his physique last night.
When breaking through the 1.0 threshold, the changes in his body were far more pronounced than during any previous attribute allocation.
From the back mountain spring to the martial arts school kitchen was a three-li mountain path; it used to take him a full quarter of an hour to walk, but now he could finish it in half a quarter of an hour.
Moreover, he was not tired.
Li Xuan adjusted his breathing, allowing his vital energy to circulate slowly through his body along the meridian pathways.
This was a trick he had figured out while chopping firewood and carrying water—treating the physical labor itself as a form of cultivation.
One trip, two trips, three trips.
By the time the sun climbed to the treetop, he had already carried six trips of water, and the eight large water vats at the kitchen entrance were completely full.
"Kid, you're fast today."
The Fat Cook bit on a straw stalk, leaning against the kitchen doorframe as he looked him up and down. "Yesterday I saw you panting three times in a single trip, and today you're acting like nothing's wrong. What good stuff did you secretly eat?"
Li Xuan put down the shoulder pole and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I just slept soundly, that's all."
"Is that so?" The Fat Cook narrowed his eyes. "I heard that yesterday during the outer courtyard lecture at the Martial Lecture Hall, you listened pretty intently, kid?"
Li Xuan's heart tightened, but his expression remained calm. "I was just joining the crowd to watch the excitement, how could I understand any of it?"
"Couldn't understand?" The Fat Cook snorted and pointed at Li Xuan's shoulder. "Then how come when you were carrying water, the way you exerted force from your waist and legs matched the exact pattern of the 'Iron Fist Charging Stance' Master Zhou demonstrated?"
Li Xuan froze.
He had indeed tried to incorporate the cultivation technique while carrying water, but he felt he had done it extremely subtly, never expecting a cook to see through it.
Seeing his expression, the Fat Cook grinned broadly. "Don't panic, I used to hang around the outer courtyard for three years back in the day. It was only after I broke an arm that I came to the kitchen to make a living."
He patted his left arm, and a faint metallic collision sound came from within his sleeve. "Your method of exerting force is right, but it's too forced. The timing of thrusting your waist forward was half a beat too early, and your vital energy didn't keep up."
Li Xuan was silent for two breaths, then cupped his fists. "Please enlighten me, Master."
"Enlighten my ass." The Fat Cook turned and walked into the kitchen, his voice drifting out. "If you really want to learn, honestly hand over twenty Contribution Points, and I'll teach you two real moves. As for now... get lost and chop firewood!"
Li Xuan stood in place, watching the Fat Cook's back disappear into the kitchen.
In a corner of the firewood yard, the firewood was piled up like a small mountain.
Li Xuan gripped the axe handle, feeling the grain of the wood.
Today the old handyman had changed his axe; it was three catties heavier than the previous one, with a longer handle that required both hands to wield.
"This is the 'Mountain Breaker Axe', used by outer courtyard disciples to train their strength."
The old handyman squatted under the eaves smoking a dry tobacco pipe, the smoke blurring his face.
"Steward Zhao gave special instructions for you to use this to chop. Finish chopping this pile in a day, and I'll log five Contribution Points for you."
Li Xuan looked at the pile of firewood.
At least three hundred logs, each as thick as a thigh, with wood as hard as iron.
A normal handyman using an ordinary axe could chop fifty logs at most in a day.
"Think it's too much?" The old handyman exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Not much." Li Xuan shook his head, gripping the axe handle tightly with both hands.
The martial arts school would not grant benefits to handymen for no reason; if he wanted Contribution Points, he had to produce corresponding value.
Good enough.
He could just test where his limits were now that his physique had broken through 1.0.
Li Xuan took a deep breath, circulating his vital energy according to the pathway.
This time, he did not deliberately control it, instead concentrating all his attention on the axe.
His waist and legs sank, his arms pulled back, and the axe was raised above his head—
Crack!
The firewood split in half at the sound, the cross-section as smooth as if it had been planed.
Li Xuan did not stop.
The second axe, the third axe, the fourth axe...
By the twentieth axe, his arms began to ache. Yet he did not slow down; instead, he adjusted his breathing, synchronizing the rhythm of his vital energy circulation entirely with his chopping movements.
Raise the axe—inhale, vital energy ascends.
Chop down—exhale, vital energy descends.
With each cycle, the soreness and swelling in his muscles lessened by a fraction.
The axe felt lighter and lighter in his hand, like an extension of his arm.
"Huh?"
Across the yard, several handymen who were chopping firewood stopped what they were doing.
They looked at Li Xuan with complicated gazes.
Too fast.
From morning until now, in less than a shichen, Li Xuan had already chopped nearly fifty logs.
And he was using that notoriously difficult-to-handle Mountain Breaker Axe.
"Brother Liu, look at that kid..."
A thin fellow with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks sidled up to Liu San, lowering his voice. "Isn't he a bit demonic? Yesterday he was just like us, and today he's like a completely different person."
Liu San said nothing.
He was in his thirties with a scar on his face, holding the longest seniority among this batch of handymen.
He had worked at the martial arts school for five years, forever stuck in the position of a handyman and unable to rise.
It wasn't that he didn't try hard; his aptitude was simply too poor.
He had practiced Body-Forging techniques for three years and couldn't even pass the first hurdle of the outer courtyard assessment.
He had resigned himself to his fate, wanting only to be a leader among the handymen to skim off a bit more oil and water in the future.
Yet now a Li Xuan had come along.
In only half a month, he had transformed from a sickly invalid into this state.
If he let him keep going like this, would Steward Zhao even have him in his eyes anymore?
"Brother Liu?" The thin fellow asked again.
Liu San spat a mouthful of saliva onto the ground and hoisted his axe. "Get to work!"
Yet his eyes remained fixed intently on Li Xuan.
At midday meal, Li Xuan received two dark flour steamed buns, one more than usual.
This was the reward for completing extra work.
He held his bowl and squatted beneath the old locust tree, and the moment he took a bite, three people came over and sat down beside him.
Liu San, the thin fellow, and a burly, thick-waisted brawny man.
"You're Li Xuan, right?" Liu San grinned, revealing yellow teeth. "The new guy?"
Li Xuan nodded and continued eating his steamed bun.
"Do you know the rules?" The thin fellow chimed in. "The new guy has to hand over thirty percent of his Contribution Points to Brother Liu for the first three months. That's the rule of our firewood yard."
Li Xuan put down his bowl and looked at Liu San. "Does the martial arts school have this rule?"
"The martial arts school doesn't, but I do!" Liu San patted his chest. "I call the shots in this yard. Hand over the payment, and I'll guarantee your safety. If you don't..." He pointed to the corner of the yard. "See that pit? Last month, someone who didn't know better fell in and broke a leg, and he's still lying in bed right now."
Li Xuan looked in that direction.
There truly was a pit—not large, but in a very tricky location right behind the firewood pile where it was completely invisible at night.
"How much?" Li Xuan asked.
"You got five Contribution Points today, right?" Liu San held up three fingers. "Hand over three. From now on, hand over thirty percent every month."
Li Xuan fell silent.
Handing over three today meant they might demand five tomorrow.
More importantly, once he showed weakness, he would never be able to hold his head high in the yard again.
Li Xuan looked at Liu San, sizing up his opponent carefully.
Height roughly five feet eight inches, half a head taller than himself.
His arms were thick and sturdy, but his shoulders showed a clear asymmetry, likely caused by exerting force on one side year-round.
His chest rose and fell unevenly when breathing, and his right lung seemed to have a chronic ailment.
His standing posture was loose, his feet splayed outward, and his knees slightly bent—joint deformations caused by long-term heavy labor.
His strength was probably around 0.8, physique 0.9, and agility unlikely to exceed 0.7.
And as for himself, his strength was 0.88, physique 1.01, and although his agility was only 0.57, he had the cultivation technique augmenting him, making his force exertion more precise.
The most crucial aspect was spirit—his 1.6 spirit attribute made his powers of observation far surpass ordinary people, allowing him to see through his opponent's flaws during combat.
His chance of winning was at least seventy percent.
"Brother Liu," Li Xuan spoke, his tone calm. "The Contribution Points are what I earned through work, and I can't give them to you."
Liu San stared at Li Xuan for three breaths, then suddenly laughed. "Fine, you've got guts. Then let's change the method—spar. According to the martial arts school's rules, grievances among handymen can be resolved on the sparring platform. If you win, you walk around me whenever you see me from now on. If you lose, you hand over all your Contribution Points and break a leg besides."
The surrounding handymen all looked over.
Some shook their heads, while others gloated with schadenfreude.
Liu San was bullying a newcomer. Having spent five years at the martial arts school, he possessed rich fighting experience; how could Li Xuan, who had only been here for half a month, possibly be a match?
"What, scared?" Liu San stepped forward, his shadow enveloping Li Xuan. "If you're scared, honestly hand over the points and be punctual every month from now on. I'll guarantee your safety in the yard."
Li Xuan slowly stood up.
He was half a head shorter than Liu San, but once he stood straight, his spine was as straight as a spear shaft.
"Fighting is fine," Li Xuan said. "But the stakes aren't equal. If I win, you walk around me whenever you see me from now on, and split this month's Contribution Points with me in half. If I lose, I give you all the Contribution Points and break both legs."
The entire crowd erupted in an uproar.
"Both legs?"
"Is this kid crazy?"
"Breaking one leg and recovering for three months can still heal, but breaking both legs ruins you for life!"
Liu San's pupils contracted, but seeing the expectant gazes of the people around him, he knew he could not back down.
If he retreated, the prestige he had accumulated over the past five years would be completely ruined.
"Good!" Liu San gritted his teeth. "Deal! The space in the yard is small, let's head to the back mountain. It's spacious there, and nobody will feel bad if things get broken."
Li Xuan nodded and took the lead, walking toward the back mountain.
He did not walk fast, adjusting his breathing as he went.
The increase in stakes just now had been intentional; scaring Liu San off would be best, but even if it failed, it would plant hesitation in his heart.
In a struggle between martial artists, mindset was vital.
For now, the effect was ordinary.
But it was enough.
Before you continue