Advancing to Attack, Retreating to Defend

The Golden Goose Technique primarily trained the muscles and bones of the legs.

It was an extremely difficult technique, with very high requirements for talent and comprehension.

Lin Zheyu had built a solid foundation with the Bull Fist. His muscles, flesh, and skin were full and taut, and he had already reached the Bone Forging Realm, so he found the initial practice fairly easy.

The Golden Goose Technique had eight levels. Once one reached the peak of the third level, their strength could reach the pinnacle of Organ Refining.

At the fourth level, one's strength reached the Blood Energy Realm.

After that, every time one advanced a level, the Blood Energy throughout the body underwent a qualitative transformation.

If one could cultivate the Golden Goose Technique to the peak of the eighth level, they could achieve four Blood Energy transformations within the Blood Energy Realm.

There were very few martial artists who excelled at leg techniques.

Leg techniques capable of reaching the level of four Blood Energy transformations were especially precious.

Although it was only a mid-tier second-rate martial art, its value was already comparable to that of top-tier second-rate martial arts.

When leg techniques were mastered to a high level, one could advance to attack and retreat to defend, coming and going like the wind and naturally standing in an invincible position.

In the courtyard,

Liang Song had drawn dozens of circles of various sizes on the ground.

More than a dozen wooden posts, each about twenty centimeters in diameter, had been set up on the ground. Lin Zheyu stood atop them, moving swiftly from one to another.

From time to time, he leaped down from the posts and darted back and forth among the circles with an unusual footwork.

This was the distinctive footwork of the Golden Goose Technique.

To master the Golden Goose Technique, one first had to learn its unique steps.

Under Liang Song's guidance, Lin Zheyu spent more than three hours committing every step to memory.

But his movements were still a little clumsy, and he would need to spend a great deal of time practicing.

"Take a break. You can't rush things."

"Practicing martial arts takes patience. You have to balance exertion with rest."

"Rest for a while, then go back and get ready for your storytelling. Come back tonight, and we'll continue sparring." Liang Song called a halt.

Lin Zheyu stopped, panting.

He checked the data in his consciousness. His progress in the Golden Goose Technique was good.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence]

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 6

Skills:

Bull Fist (Proficient 3%)

Golden Goose Technique (Uninitiated 68%)

After a morning's practice, he was only thirty-two progress points away from mastering the Golden Goose Technique.

With a little more effort tonight, he would be able to master it.

Thanks to his experience practicing the Bull Fist, Lin Zheyu was no longer a novice in martial arts. He had picked up the Golden Goose Technique quickly.

But this was only the beginning.

The Golden Goose Technique was much harder to practice than the Bull Fist. Once he reached the second level, his progress would slow.

He would need to spend a great deal of time training the flexibility of his legs until they were as nimble as his arms.

I don't need to rush the Bull Fist. I should raise the Golden Goose Technique's level first.

Lin Zheyu pondered to himself.

As a technique focused on legwork, the Golden Goose Technique let him advance to attack and retreat to defend. Even if he ran into a powerful opponent, he could still escape with his life.

More than ten days had passed since his last breakthrough.

Lin Zheyu had now saved up twelve taels of silver.

What held back the speed of his improvement wasn't a lack of Source Power, but a shortage of silver.

Without enough silver to buy medicinal ingredients, after using Source Power to improve, he would have to spend a long time replenishing his Blood Energy and building up his physique.

I need to find a way to broaden my sources of income.

Lin Zheyu thought to himself as he headed home.

He needed to change his outfit before going to the Bidan Tea House to tell stories.

By the time he arrived at the Bidan Tea House, the place was already packed.

Lin Zheyu noticed quite a few unfamiliar faces among the crowd. One group in particular caught his attention.

"Steward Wu, who's that middle-aged man?"

Lin Zheyu pointed to the man seated at the center table.

He looked like a refined middle-aged gentleman, with several beautiful women accompanying him and several burly men standing around him.

One of them was Jia Yanyong, whom Lin Zheyu had seen the day before.

Jia Yanyong's eyes were bloodshot. His tiger-like eyes were narrowed to slits, and his vision had yet to fully recover.

"That's Xu Jingwu, the leader of the Flying Rainbow Gang," Steward Wu said.

Lin Zheyu nodded, as if he had expected as much.

He had beaten up Jia Yanyong yesterday, and now the other party had come looking for him.

Fortunately, the Bidan Tea House was Lin Zheyu's home ground, so he wasn't too afraid.

After all, Liang Song was here too.

Lin Zheyu looked toward Liang Song by the window. Master Liang was staring out at the street in a daze.

"Is he very strong?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"You haven't gotten on his bad side, have you?" Steward Wu asked, looking tense.

If Lin Zheyu had only offended Jia Yanyong, Steward Wu wouldn't have been worried at all.

He had only suggested that Lin Zheyu stay temporarily in Wu Family Village because he'd been concerned that Lin Zheyu, alone, might be bullied.

But offending the leader of the Flying Rainbow Gang was another matter.

The Flying Rainbow Gang had many members, and its leader had powerful backing. If Lin Zheyu had truly offended Xu Jingwu, it would be a real problem.

"I don't think I've offended him?" Lin Zheyu said.

"That's good." Steward Wu breathed a sigh of relief. "How did you get involved with Gang Leader Xu?"

"Yesterday, after I finished telling stories and was on my way back, I ran into Jia Yanyong."

"Jia Yanyong told me that Gang Leader Xu liked my stories and wanted me to go to the Flying Rainbow Gang this morning to tell him one."

"I was really happy to hear that someone wanted to hire me to tell stories. It meant I could earn a good deal of money, right?"

"But when I asked how much he'd pay, Jia Yanyong said there'd be no money. He said it was my honor to tell stories for Gang Leader Xu, so why would I expect payment?"

"I figured that if they wanted me to tell stories for free, there was no way I'd agree, so I turned them down."

Lin Zheyu spoke innocently.

Steward Wu: "..."

As he listened to Lin Zheyu's account, Steward Wu opened his mouth, then suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say to you."

"What kind of person is Gang Leader Xu? Even without payment, plenty of storytellers would jump at the chance to perform for him."

"If your stories please Gang Leader Xu and earn his favor, you won't have to worry about your future."

Steward Wu said regretfully.

He glanced toward Xu Jingwu and quietly advised, "You'd better tell a good story today. If it goes well and you earn Gang Leader Xu's favor, your big break will have arrived."

Steward Wu was a good man. Although he was worried about losing Lin Zheyu, his best draw for attracting customers, he still had Lin Zheyu's future in mind.

That was why Lin Zheyu had insisted on staying at the Bidan Tea House in the first place.

Steward Wu treated him with sincerity, and Lin Zheyu returned it in kind.

"By the way, besides that, you two haven't had any other disagreements, have you?"

"Oh, Jia Yanyong wanted to beat me up and drag me away by force, so I had no choice but to defend myself."

"While defending myself, I threw a handful of chili powder into his eyes. I don't know if he's gone blind."

Lin Zheyu said, glancing at Jia Yanyong, whose eyes were narrowed and still looked somewhat red and swollen.

Steward Wu: "..."

He didn't know what to say.

Refusing to go was one thing, but beating someone up too—that was a real slap in the face.

In the martial world, sometimes people fought just to save face, to settle a score.

Steward Wu sighed. Young people really were brash. When something like this happened, they couldn't just go charging in.

He patted Lin Zheyu on the shoulder and told him to focus on his storytelling.

If things got out of hand, he could only ask the owner to intervene and smooth things over. That should solve the problem.

But afterward, they might have to pay a lot of silver.

"Don't worry, Master Liang is here too. It'll be fine," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

Steward Wu glanced at Liang Song and inwardly shook his head.

He knew Liang Song was skilled, but even his abilities had limits.

As far as he knew, Liang Song would be doing well if he could take on ten men at once. What could he do against the Flying Rainbow Gang's members, especially with their powerful leader there?