A New Skill

If this had been Li Yuan half a month ago, he probably wouldn't have been able to dodge that club.

But now, he kept his feet planted and merely leaned his upper body to the side, letting the club skim past his ear.

At the same time, Li Yuan reached out with his right hand, seized Wang Three Scars' wrist with pinpoint precision, and twisted hard.

"Ow!" Wang Three Scars screamed. It felt as though his wrist had been clamped in iron pincers, and pain stabbed straight to the bone.

The club fell from his hand, and Li Yuan caught it.

"How dare you lay a hand on Third Brother!"

"Break that brat's legs!"

Seeing this, the other ruffians drew their short clubs and rushed forward as one.

"Brother Yuan, watch out!" Chicken Brother cried.

The ruffians behind him saw what was happening and came charging over, cursing.

Li Yuan didn't retreat. He pressed forward, swinging the short club in his hand and aiming only for their joints.

"Thwack!" He brought the club down on the shoulder blade of the first ruffian to charge him. The man's arm immediately drooped, and he howled in pain.

"Smack!" He backhanded another across the cheek, spraying blood from the man's mouth and nose and sending him staggering backward.

In the space of a few breaths, three men had already fallen, groaning in pain.

The two ruffians left saw how fierce Li Yuan was. They held their clubs but didn't dare come closer, their faces pale.

Chicken Brother gaped from the sidelines. He'd never seen Li Yuan this ferocious before.

Wang Three Scars grimaced in pain but still tried to sound tough. "Y-you brat, do you know who's backing me? Yan Xiang!

"His brother, Yan Ning, is an expert who's reached the Three Stages of Skin Refining.

"You laid a hand on me today, and you'll never make it in this county again."

At that, Li Yuan brought his club down on Wang Three Scars several more times, beating blood from his mouth and nose as he howled without pause.

"Even if Yan Ning were your father, I'd still beat you today."

"You worthless dogs who only know how to bully the poor!"

"If you've got so much nerve, why don't you go demand money from an expert at the Three Stages of Skin Refining? Huh? Don't want to?"

"P-please spare me, Master Li! I was wrong, Master Li! I won't dare do it again!"

Seeing that Li Yuan wouldn't be cowed, Wang Three Scars immediately gave in.

He was genuinely afraid Li Yuan would beat him to death.

Once he figured they'd had enough, Li Yuan went over and gave the other ruffians a thorough beating too, until every one of them was groaning and begging for mercy.

These men usually only bullied the poor, who couldn't fight back. The moment they ran into someone fiercer and more reckless than themselves, they folded faster than anyone.

If it weren't broad daylight and so close to the busy market, Li Yuan would have liked to beat the lot of them to death.

Li Yuan snorted and turned to Chicken Brother, who was still staring in a daze. "Chicken Brother, come here."

Chicken Brother hesitantly stepped forward.

"Stomp on him a few times." Li Yuan pointed at Wang Three Scars on the ground. "Wasn't he acting all high and mighty just now? Go on, get some of your anger out."

Chicken Brother hesitated, but under Li Yuan's encouraging gaze, he finally mustered his courage and went over to stomp hard on Wang Three Scars a few times.

"That's for bullying people! That's for collecting protection money!" Chicken Brother cursed as he stomped, growing more satisfied with every kick.

Wang Three Scars didn't dare fight back. He could only curl up and take it.

"If I catch you collecting money by force again, I'll beat you every time I see you. Let's see if that money covers your medical bills."

Li Yuan bent down and picked up the money pouch, then surveyed the ruffians sprawled on the ground. "Today was just a light punishment. If I catch you collecting money by force again, it won't just be your hands that get broken. Now get lost!"

The ruffians were pardoned as if by imperial decree. Supporting each other, they fled in a sorry state, not even stopping to pick up the clubs they'd dropped.

As for whether Yan Xiang would retaliate later, Li Yuan would deal with that when the time came.

Before he'd started practicing martial arts, he'd had to endure it when he couldn't beat these ruffians.

But if he still didn't dare fight them after taking up martial arts, what was the point of learning it?

If he was afraid of this and that, he might as well spend his whole life holed up in some mountain village, a nobody enduring a lifetime of other people's abuse!

Li Yuan had been an orphan from the start, with no one to worry about. He wasn't afraid of these people taking revenge on his family. If they had a problem, they could come straight to him.

As for Yan Xiang, he'd swallowed Li Yuan's money. Sooner or later, he'd have to spit it back out—with interest.

Chicken Brother watched them flee into the distance and grabbed Li Yuan's arm excitedly. "Brother Yuan, w-when did you get so strong?"

"By practicing martial arts. It's the only way to protect yourself in this world."

"I'm going to practice martial arts too."

The scene had shaken Chicken Brother to the core.

Before, he'd only paid lip service to the idea and had been on the fence about it. Now, he'd finally made up his mind.

Quite a few vendors outside the alley had seen Li Yuan beating the men, and every one of them applauded.

"Good! You gave them what they deserved, Brother Yuan. They needed a good beating."

"Brother Yuan looks a lot sturdier than before. Looks like he's been eating well."

"Go on, Xiao Yuan. Watch out in case they get Yan Xiang to come after you."

Li Yuan was a hunter who often came to the market to sell his goods, so everyone had gotten to know him over time.

These ruffians only bullied people like them, who had families to support, making their lives miserable.

After seeing Chicken Brother safely to the county gate, Li Yuan returned to the Five Animals Academy, ready to keep honing his stance work.

Back in the courtyard, he went to his spot and picked up a Stone Lock to practice.

Third Senior Brother Zhao Qin was there too. The two nodded to each other.

[Skill: Five Animals Fist Stance (Beginner)]

[Progress: 80/300 points]

After practicing with the Stone Lock for a while, Li Yuan felt the warmth and soreness of qi and blood slowly flowing through his muscles and bones. He put the stone down and wiped away his sweat.

"Just practicing blindly probably won't be enough. I need to understand the principles to get twice the result with half the effort."

Li Yuan pondered this, then asked Third Senior Brother Zhao Qin where the study was.

Zhao Qin pointed to a quiet room on the eastern side of the back courtyard. "Over there. But it's mostly full of books. Pretty dry stuff. Hardly any of the junior brothers want to read them."

They said they didn't want to, but the real reason was that most of them came from poor, uneducated families and couldn't read.

Li Yuan hadn't known many characters himself, but after awakening his Past Life Memory, he found that the writing here wasn't all that different from the writing in his previous life.

That was how he'd learned to recognize it.

Li Yuan thanked him, then headed to the study.

He went to the little study in the back courtyard, planning to read the Five Animals Secret Manual during his break.

It also held copies of the different forms of the Five Animals Fist, along with notes from previous practitioners, for the disciples to borrow and study.

The study was small, with only a table and a chair, and a few bookshelves lined one wall.

Several stacks of thread-bound books and bamboo slips were neatly arranged on them.

Li Yuan picked up a copy on the Tiger Form of the Five Animals Fist and began studying it.

The Tiger Form emphasized strength. Combined with his Archery, it meant he had nothing to fear at either close or long range.

It would also improve his chances of success when hunting large game in the mountains.

Li Yuan became absorbed in his reading, and before he knew it, his whole mind was immersed in the text.

Just as he finished, closed the book, and shut his eyes to reflect on what he'd read,

his mind suddenly cleared, as though some invisible barrier had been broken.

[Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself.]

[You focused on studying martial theory, grasped its essence, and applied what you learned by analogy]

[Skill: Literacy (Beginner)]

[Progress: 61/500 points (cannot be advanced)]

[Effect: Your comprehension has improved slightly.]

"A new skill? I reached Beginner so quickly?"

Li Yuan opened his eyes, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He stared at the newly displayed skill and thought to himself.