Before nightfall, Cui Hao hurried home. Starving, he knocked on the door. "Sister Yun, is dinner ready?"
"It is." Su Yun ushered him inside. "It's still hot. You can eat right away."
A moment later, Cui Hao was tucking into a hot meal, wolfing it down. He felt more and more keenly just how important it was to have a woman at home.
"Brother Hao," Su Yun said, "I went to the village entrance to draw water this afternoon. Three ruffians working for Zhou Menghu stopped me and asked if I wanted to borrow money. I ignored them."
"Loan sharks?"
"Looked like it."
Not just anyone could lend money. You needed someone strong to protect you, and that person was probably Zhou Mengyue.
Clearly, Zhou Mengyue planned to follow in his brother's footsteps and keep tormenting Willow Tree Village.
After dinner, Cui Hao lit the oil lamp, took the still-warm Broken Fist manual from his clothes, and studied it carefully.
Senior Brother Sun Cheng had said this was a butchered version. Only by using it to enter the 'Mortal Martial Realm' would he qualify to be taught more profound techniques.
As far as he knew, the martial realms were divided into three major levels: Mortal Martial, Clear Force, and Dark Force.
Each major level was further divided into five minor levels: early, entry, minor mastery, major mastery, and perfection.
The Mortal Martial Realm was only the beginning of the martial path, but from Master Xu Dian's attitude, Cui Hao would be lucky just to reach it.
Su Yun didn't know that her husband had gone to the martial arts academy today. She brought over a wooden basin of hot water and set it by Cui Hao's feet. "Brother Hao, let me wash your feet."
Cui Hao lifted his gaze from the manual and glanced at Su Yun, who was crouched beside him. His first impression was that she was big. "Thanks for your effort, wife."
"Brother Hao," Su Yun said as she took off her husband's shoes, "you've changed so much I hardly recognize you."
"What do you mean?"
Su Yun smiled. "You're just so different from before. If we didn't spend every day together, I'd think you'd been replaced by someone else."
Cui Hao didn't explain. He let his mind sink into the manual.
Broken Fist had five forms: Mountain Collapse, Flag Split, Shake the Mountain, Break Formation, and Falling Star.
Take the first form, 'Mountain Collapse,' for example.
It required gathering the strength of the whole body into a single point, like a giant siege hammer, and striking head-on in the purest, most savage way.
There was no finesse to it. You overwhelmed your opponent with sheer strength, smashing their defenses, weapons, and even their will to fight.
The key to practicing it was to sink the shoulders and drop the elbows, drawing power up from the ground.
Seeing that her husband's mind wasn't on her, Su Yun undid a button, revealing a glimpse of red underneath.
"Brother Hao, I've finished washing your feet. It's cold, so let's go to bed early."
At last, Cui Hao noticed that Su Yun was acting strangely today. "Sister Yun, is something wrong?"
Su Yun's cheeks turned red. "What could possibly be wrong?"
Cui Hao reached out and pulled open Su Yun's collar. "A new undergarment?"
Su Yun lowered her head shyly.
"Sister Yun, you're putting yourself in danger like this."
Before long, they were in bed. Without the pressure of rent money or the oppression of a local bully, Su Yun was completely immersed in the moment. Beneath the covers, they tossed and turned, the bedclothes churning like a river in flood.
After a long while, the covers were thrown back, and a wave of heat rose into the air.
"Sister Yun," Cui Hao asked, holding his wife in his arms, "are you happy?"
Su Yun rested her chin on her husband's chest and nodded.
Cui Hao looked at his panel.
[Bedchamber Arts: Entry] [Progress: 70/300] [Effect: Physique +5, distributable progress points +29]
The progress bar had been at 50 before. Now it was up to 70.
His distributable progress points had been +20 before. Now they were +29.
Hiss! Cui Hao sucked in a breath. Could Su Yun be some kind of sacred constitution? What a tonic!
"Brother Hao," Su Yun said softly, "should we bring Lingdang into the family?"
"From now on, I'll be hunting and practicing martial arts. I won't have the time to take a concubine."
"Look at Aunt Li's family. More people means more money, while our family only has..." Su Yun finally caught on. "What... practicing martial arts?"
"That's right, practicing martial arts at Zhanhong Martial Arts Academy." Cui Hao reminded his wife, "Don't tell anyone. It'll invite gossip, and they might ask us to lend them money or something."
Thinking of how her husband had carried away the wine jar that morning, probably to sell it, Su Yun promised not to tell anyone.
The next day, the sun had just peeked over the horizon. After eating rice, Cui Hao brought two flatbreads and a water gourd and arrived at the academy early.
Yesterday, Senior Brother Sun Cheng had told him to come early today. Cui Hao had listened and arrived ahead of time.
Sun Cheng was already training his strength. Two other senior brothers and a senior sister were also hard at work.
"Junior Brother Cui," Sun Cheng said, lifting a stone lock over his shoulders and squatting up and down, "the point of martial arts is to beat other people. And to beat them, the most important thing is to see who's stronger, who's faster, who can land their hits more accurately...and who can take more punishment."
"So the most important thing for you right now is to train your strength. Get stronger, and you'll hit harder."
Cui Hao understood. He looked around and spotted the lightest stone lock. Walking over, he picked it up and started training his strength.
"Slowly, take your time," Sun Cheng reminded him in the morning light. "Remember what I'm about to tell you. It goes along with strength training."
"Please, Senior Brother Sun."
"Strength does not spring from muscle, but from marrow. Qi does not rest in the chest, but flows down to the heels. Train your strength as if moving a mountain: advance by a grain of millet each day, and one day the mountain will topple."
Cui Hao repeated the words, committing them to memory. Then he asked, "Senior Brother Sun, when does strength training end?"
"When you can lift the Number Two stone lock and do fifty squats with it, you move on to practicing forms and stances, building up your qi and blood. Once your blood reaches a certain thickness, it'll break through the qi barrier and bring you into the Mortal Martial Realm."
There were plenty of stone locks nearby. "Which one is the Number Two stone lock?"
Sun Cheng glanced at a heavy stone lock about the size of a barrel and jerked his chin toward it. "That one."
Cui Hao put down the smallest stone lock and walked over to the big one. He wrapped both arms around it.
"Junior Brother Cui, that weighs two hundred jin. You can't lift it yet."
"New kid," Liu Yan, who had bought the chick, warned him, "don't overestimate yourself. You'll regret it if you hurt yourself badly."
Cui Hao gave a low shout. The stone lock slowly rose off the ground. He held it for two breaths, straining, then set it back down.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Cui Hao wasn't bothered. His panel had refreshed.
[Broken Fist (Fragment): Early] [Progress: 1/100]
He figured the panel had been activated by the combination of studying the manual last night and training his strength this morning.
He switched to a smaller stone lock and kept training. By the time the sky was fully bright, his whole body ached and he was completely spent.
"Not bad," Sun Cheng said, walking over to praise him. "You lasted much longer than I did the first time I trained."
That reminded Cui Hao.
The effects from reaching entry level in archery—[Soreness -5, Arm Strength +5, Accuracy +5]—and the effects from reaching entry level in bedchamber arts—[Physique +5]—had been helping him without his even realizing it. Otherwise, he would have collapsed much sooner.
Not bad! Not bad! Cui Hao was thrilled. They were all practicing martial arts, but he had a cheat. His progress was bound to be much faster.
Still, he couldn't get carried away. He quickly asked Sun Cheng, "Senior Brother Sun, I forced myself to keep going. Could I have hurt myself badly?"
"You need to be careful. It's especially easy to hurt yourself when you're just starting strength training. Go home and get a good rest. Have someone give you a massage."
"Oh, right," Sun Cheng added, remembering something. "If you can, take a medicinal bath. It'll ease the soreness."
Cui Hao agreed.
Before you continue