"Cui Hao, Wang Nian, Xiao Li," a senior disciple who had joined six months ago came over and loudly assigned, "you three sweep the courtyard."
"Wang Ji, Li Wu, you're cleaning the latrines today."
"Zhang Sai, Zhang Le, you're wiping down the corridor."
"..."
It was time for the daily cleanup after martial arts practice. The disciples got to work.
Just like learning the arts, practicing martial arts came with chores, including but not limited to washing the master's clothes, cooking for him, carrying water, chopping firewood, sweeping the courtyard, cleaning the latrines, and watering the vegetable patch.
A month flew by.
One evening, Cui Hao, dressed in a short martial arts outfit, went to the second row of stone locks. He wrapped both hands around one and began doing squats.
One, two, three... fifty!
Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breathing was heavy, but his movements remained steady. He could clearly feel the ache and strength in his thigh and abdominal muscles. This was tangible progress.
"Not bad, not bad!" came an approving voice from behind him.
Cui Hao set down the stone lock and turned around. Fourth Senior Brother Sun Cheng was walking over with a smile. "Junior Brother Cui, you're making faster progress than many others. You can start practicing sparring and stance work."
Cui Hao clasped his hands and bowed to Sun Cheng.
"Stance training is a basic way to temper your qi and blood. It lays the groundwork for boxing," Sun Cheng explained. "Starting tomorrow, practice your stance until you're exhausted each day. Spend the rest of your time practicing boxing and sparring, alternating between them. Build up your qi and blood as quickly as you can..."
Before Sun Cheng could finish, a sudden burst of excited shouts rang out. "He broke through! Junior Brother Xiao Li broke through! It only took him a month!"
Nearly all the disciples stopped what they were doing and turned as one toward the commotion.
At the center of the crowd stood a tall, handsome young man, surrounded by admirers like the moon among the stars. It was Xiao Li, who had joined the school at the same time as Cui Hao.
The others showered him with congratulations. Xiao Li smiled and returned each greeting with a clasped-hands salute. He did his best to remain humble, but the pride of a young man who had made his mark was impossible to hide.
Soon, Xu Dian heard the news and hurried over from the back courtyard. The disciples automatically parted to make way for him.
Xu Dian walked up to Xiao Li without a word, then squeezed several vital spots on his shoulders, arms, and ribs. He also asked him to demonstrate the moves of the Broken Fist.
After confirming that Xiao Li had broken through, Xu Dian's eyes flashed. He praised him aloud, "Good! Your qi and blood are abundant and flow freely. You've broken through the Upper Palate Gate and entered the Mortal Martial Realm! Xiao Li, you've done well!"
"It's all thanks to Master's careful guidance and the school's nurturing." Xiao Li bowed deeply, making himself as humble as possible.
"Don't be too modest. You have outstanding talent, and you're willing to work hard. Starting today, I'll personally guide you in the next stage of the Broken Fist and the circulation of your force."
"Thank you, Master!" Xiao Li bowed again, unable to hide his excitement. Receiving personal guidance from the master would make all the difference to his future prospects.
"Enough. Rather than envying others," Sun Cheng said solemnly as he walked over to Cui Hao and the other new disciples, "you'd do better to keep your heads down and train hard, laying a solid foundation for yourselves."
"Fourth Senior Brother," a chubby disciple who had only joined a few days ago couldn't help asking, "why does the school only give us two months? If we had half a year, or a year, we could all..."
Sun Cheng glanced at him and shook his head. "Two months is based on experience. If your qi and blood still aren't sufficient to sense the profound gate and attempt a breakthrough after two months, then your aptitude is truly mediocre, and martial arts aren't for you."
Listening to Sun Cheng's explanation, Cui Hao fell silent and unconsciously called up the panel in his mind.
Those rows of data were the source of his confidence.
[Archery: Beginner (150/300)] [Effect: soreness -5, arm strength +5, accuracy +5] [Reading: Beginner (170/300)] [Effect: reading speed +5, memory +5] [Bedchamber Arts: Beginner (299/300)] [Effect: constitution +5, assignable progress points +190] [Broken Fist (Incomplete): Beginner (120/300)] [Effect: constitution +5, resistance to blows +5] [Stealth: Beginner (190/300)] [Effect: scent -5, Light as a Swallow +5, use of shadows +5]
Setting the other skills aside, just look at Bedchamber Arts. Every time he finished, his assignable progress points increased. The more harmonious his love life was, the better Su Yun's mood, and the more points he gained.
Once, Cui Hao had deliberately upset Su Yun. Afterward, he'd gained only one assignable progress point from their love life.
Night had completely fallen. After a day of grueling practice, Cui Hao left the martial arts school and, as usual, trained his Stealth skill.
He didn't go out of his way to hide himself. Instead, he treated it as a daily exercise, making his steps lighter, keeping his breathing quiet, and blending more naturally into the night and the shadows along the street corners.
As long as he was willing to train, he would see results. The progress of Stealth on his panel increased slowly but steadily.
Along the way, he saw more displaced people huddled beside the road than in the previous few days.
Most wore ragged clothes and had gaunt, yellowed faces. With their families in tow, they temporarily huddled beneath the eaves of shops or in sheltered corners by walls, their eyes numb and despairing, with nowhere to go.
He returned to Willow Tree Village without a sound and went home.
"Brother Hao," Su Yun greeted him with growing warmth and fullness in her figure. "Wash your face. Dinner's almost ready."
A month of rest and relatively plentiful food had taken much of the haggardness from her face, and her skin had regained some of its luster.
Her eyes and brows had also gained a few more alluring, well-nourished curves. Her movements now held the fuller charm of a mature woman, making Cui Hao more and more reluctant to let her out of his arms.
After washing his hands and face with the warm water Su Yun brought, Cui Hao soon sat down to pork-fat rice and steamed smoked meat.
They both did hard physical labor and were famished, so they polished it off in no time.
After the meal, Su Yun efficiently cleared away the dishes, scrubbed the pot and washed the bowls, then went to the hearth to add firewood and heat the bathwater.
Cui Hao offered to stack the firewood in the courtyard, but Su Yun gently stopped him. "I can take care of these little chores. You've practiced martial arts all day. Go lie down and relax your muscles. I'll let you know when the water's hot, then give you a good massage."
Cui Hao felt a warmth in his heart and didn't insist. He returned to the bedroom and lay on his back on the wooden bed, which was covered with a clean, old quilt. Listening to Su Yun's soft footsteps and the firewood crackling outside, he felt the day's fatigue melt away.
Before long, Su Yun brought in the hot water. After helping him wash, she knelt beside the bed and began massaging his shoulders and arms with her still-slightly-rough, but exceptionally gentle hands.
Compared with a month ago, her technique had improved greatly. She applied just the right amount of pressure, knew how to find the acupoints, and put real care into it.
At first, it was an honest massage. But as the night wore on, with only the two of them there and their skin touching, the mood gradually changed.
Cui Hao turned, took his wife's hand, and met her shy, hesitant gaze...
Afterward, the panel refreshed, and the first skill reached the Minor Mastery level.
[Bedchamber Arts: Minor Mastery (1/600)] [Effect: constitution +10, assignable progress points +199]
In an instant, Cui Hao felt as though his body had undergone a silent transformation.
His muscle fibers seemed denser and stronger, his bones carried a faint sense of solidity, and his whole being felt a notch more vigorous.
He even had the illusion that if he threw a punch right then, he could smash a tiger to death!
He remembered how, a month ago, his constitution had increased by just 5 points from the Beginner-level Bedchamber Arts skill. After taking a punch from Zhou Mengyue, he'd been able to get out of bed and move around after only two days, resuming his training.
At the time, he'd thought he'd recovered quickly because he was young. Now that he thought about it, that "constitution +5" had probably played a huge part.
Now that Bedchamber Arts had reached Minor Mastery, his constitution had increased by 10 points outright!
Add to that the constitution +5 and resistance to blows +5 from Beginner-level Broken Fist... Cui Hao secretly reckoned that if he faced Zhou Mengyue's punch again, he might be able to get right back up instead of lying in bed for two days.
"Brother Hao..." Su Yun lay against her husband's chest and told him, "The Village Protection Squad came knocking again during the day. They knocked five times, but I didn't dare answer, so I didn't open the door."
At the mention of the Village Protection Squad, Cui Hao's thoughts stirred. Its three main members were all ruffians left behind after Zhou Menghu's death.
They'd later taken in some ruffians and displaced people. Once their numbers grew, they'd started by swaggering around and barking orders.
Over the last few days, they'd begun going door to door, demanding protection money under the pretext of "protecting the village from trouble caused by displaced people."
The people of Willow Tree Village were already poor. Where would they get money to spare? So far, no one had been willing to pay. But judging by how often they were knocking and how brazen they'd become, it was only a matter of time before they resorted to force.
Rather than wait for them to barge into his home armed and threaten Su Yun's safety, he'd be better off... striking first and eliminating the threat for good!
Looking at the assignable progress points Su Yun had brought him, Cui Hao hesitated between Archery and Broken Fist, then decided to put them into Archery.
He'd learned that Zhou Mengyue practiced martial arts at Guangchang Martial Arts Hall and had entered the Mortal Martial Realm. The difference in their realms made their close-combat abilities worlds apart, so shooting him by surprise was practically Cui Hao's only option.
Archery maxed out, and the panel updated.
[Archery: Minor Mastery (1/600)] [Effect: soreness -10, arm strength +10, accuracy +10, critical hit +1]
Previously, the effect had been soreness -5, arm strength +5, and accuracy +5, with no critical hit.
At once, a torrent of experience surged into his mind, more powerful and refined than any before!
Countless details flooded in: subtle adjustments to his draw and stance; how to judge wind speed and distance; how to aim at different targets; how to coordinate finger and arm strength; even a delicate awareness of how arrow materials interacted with air resistance...
It felt as though he'd trained on this path through countless seasons of bitter cold and scorching heat!
At the same time, a hot, tingling ache spread through both his arms. His muscles grew even stronger, and his control over his strength rose to a new level.
Even his eyesight seemed a little sharper, his sense of distance and space more precise.
And the newly added "critical hit +1" gave him the faint feeling that an arrow shot at a particular moment and in a particular state might carry unexpected piercing power or destructive force!
Before, hitting wild ducks and squirrels had still depended on luck and repeated practice. Now he had far more confidence! Within twenty paces, he could pretty much hit whatever he aimed at!
With good archery, enhanced arm strength, the constitution +10 from Bedchamber Arts reaching Minor Mastery, and the resistance to blows granted by Beginner-level Broken Fist... taking out a Mortal Martial Realm warrior by surprise... should be no problem, right?
Before you continue