Tiger Python Force

Half a day later.

Steward Fang and Xiao Shan had finished sorting through all the travelogues.

"Young master, you really don't want them?"

"I really don't. I really don't."

After confirming seven or eight times, the young maid still didn't believe him, and neither did Steward Fang. Chu Ming was thoroughly at a loss for words.

"Young master, this old servant knows I'm being a bit long-winded, but I still have to say it again. The price these travelogues will fetch is very different from what they cost to buy. Are you really sure..."

"Enough, enough. Should I go sell them myself?" Chu Ming said with a frown.

In the original owner's memories, the old steward had been quite steady. How had he become so long-winded?

"Xiao Shan, help the young master back to his room to rest. This old servant will go sell them."

Help him?

He could walk just fine.

Good grief.

As night drew near, Steward Fang finally returned.

"Young master, the twenty-six travelogues brought back three volumes of poetry and books, as well as two taels of silver."

"Only three volumes?"

Chu Ming paused, slightly taken aback. He knew secondhand travelogues weren't worth much, but the original owner had bought them all at high prices. Old things really did depreciate everywhere...

"General Theory of the Book of Songs, Collection of Classics and Histories, Complete Treatise on Agricultural Administration..."

Three volumes was three volumes.

Taking the poetry and classics with him, he returned to his room and read by lamplight.

The General Theory of the Book of Songs was filled from beginning to end with poetry and songs. In his previous life, it would have been perfect for lulling him to sleep.

Things were a little better now. Chu Ming held out until the Hai hour, a little past eleven, before he truly couldn't keep going.

Although [Reading] let him read ten lines at a glance and remember everything he saw, his body was weak and his mental strength insufficient. Studying for several hours straight was already his limit.

Fortunately, his [Reading] progress could increase again. By the end of the night, it had reached 31.

After resting for a night, Chu Ming practiced [Wind-Slapping Palm] in the morning. In the afternoon, he began reading the three volumes of poetry and classics.

"Steward Fang, why don't you try talking to the young master? Yesterday, after eating his morning porridge, he stood in the courtyard and slapped at the air. He didn't rest afterward, either. As soon as he went back inside, he started reading poetry and books..."

"He's even more obsessed than he used to be with travelogues..."

Xiao Shan said worriedly, carrying a bowl of morning porridge.

"Alas... I'll talk to him when he comes out," Steward Fang sighed to himself.

If he let the young master keep practicing like this, he would truly have failed Madam.

Before long.

"Young master, this old servant has something to say..."

"Later." Chu Ming waved a hand. Before Steward Fang could finish speaking, he walked to the middle of the courtyard and began practicing his palm technique.

[Wind-Slapping Palm (Beginner)]

[Progress: 92/100]

93...94...95...96...99...

[Wind-Slapping Palm (Minor Achievement)]

[Progress: 1/100]

"Phew... I finally advanced."

A flicker of delight crossed his eyes.

"I just wonder how powerful it is."

He scanned the courtyard and spotted a wooden post in the corner.

"What's the young master doing?" Xiao Shan wondered aloud, watching him. "Is he going to split—"

Bang!

Before Xiao Shan could finish, her young master struck the wooden post with his palm.

"Young master!" Her face instantly turned deathly pale.

Splitting a wooden post with his bare hand would break it.

Yet just as she ran over, the post split in two.

Xiao Shan froze in place, at a loss.

Y-young master... had split a wooden post with one palm?

It wasn't just Xiao Shan. Steward Fang, who had still been considering how to persuade him, was also staring in astonishment.

The post was meant for chopping firewood. It wasn't especially hard and had plenty of cracks, but splitting it was still no easy feat for an ordinary person.

And he had watched with his own eyes as the young master—whose foundation was damaged and who needed help just to walk—split it with one palm!

And that palm strike... had been swift and fierce. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed to be a palm technique.

Had the young master really stumbled upon a palm technique by slapping at the air these past few days?

Impossible!

The martial path was difficult. Without a strong physique and proper instruction, trying to invent a martial skill out of thin air was like a fool's dream.

Unless he was... a genius!

The young master? A genius?

How had he never noticed?

Or had the young master simply been obsessed with the wrong things before, and now he'd finally had a breakthrough?

A late bloomer...?

No, sixteen... that wasn't really too late.

"Steward Fang, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

With [Wind-Slapping Palm] at Minor Achievement, the technique had gained some real power. It couldn't kill someone with a single strike, but it could hurt them now. It was no longer just for show.

Chu Ming was fairly satisfied. Using most of his strength, he had split the post. A full-force strike would be even more powerful. At least now, he had some ability to protect himself.

It did take too much out of him, though. After that strike, he would probably have to spend the rest of the day grinding [Reading].

Steward Fang came to his senses, his eagle-like eyes settling on the young man in the middle of the courtyard.

"This old servant's legs have been growing increasingly unsteady of late. Yesterday, I happened to recall a method for strengthening the body. I wonder if the young master would allow this old servant to set aside some time each day to practice it."

"Ah, Grandpa Fang, your legs really are unsteady?" Xiao Shan asked with concern. "From now on, Xiao Shan can do the grocery shopping."

"..." The wrinkles on Steward Fang's face twitched.

This little girl...

At that, Chu Ming's eyes lit up. "Of course. Practice as much as you like."

The old steward had finally relented.

It sounded as if Steward Fang wanted to practice to strengthen his legs, but surely he really meant to show Chu Ming something.

"Thank you, young master."

Steward Fang walked to the center of the courtyard.

"Grandpa Fang, should Xiao Shan help you?"

"..." Steward Fang's face darkened. As he walked, he almost seemed to have a bit of trouble with his legs.

It was all in his head.

A smile tugged at Chu Ming's lips. The old steward was now experiencing the mental anguish of being helped by someone.

But in the next moment, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by solemnity.

"What this old servant practices is called Tiger Python Force. It's nothing particularly powerful, but it can promote circulation and improve the body."

As he spoke, Steward Fang demonstrated the technique.

"Tiger Python Force has twelve forms, and each form is divided into ten movements..."

Did he think I wouldn't remember?

Chu Ming stood to the side, watching Steward Fang's movements, slow to the extreme. They looked just like an old man practicing tai chi in a park in his previous life...

But clearly, Tiger Python Force wasn't a way of overcoming strength with softness.

After Steward Fang finished the set, his movements gradually quickened, and each form grew more ferocious. The final two forms, in particular, carried the might of a tiger roaring through the mountains.

"Would the young master like to give it a try?"

The time was right, and Steward Fang no longer tried to hide his intentions.

Since the young master had managed to comprehend a fairly powerful palm technique on his own, and his condition hadn't worsened, that meant he could practice Tiger Python Force.

If the young master really was a genius, perhaps he could master Tiger Python Force in half a year, before his life force ran out, and then cultivate body-tempering techniques to use the martial path to mend his damaged foundation...

"Steward Fang, the young master only just recovered from being ill. He's already been slapping at the air—practicing his palm technique—all morning. How can he practice this Tiger Python Force too...?" Xiao Shan tried to catch his eye.

She seemed to be saying: Grandpa Fang, I asked you to persuade the young master to stop practicing, not to get him practicing with you!

"All right, I'll give it a try." Chu Ming had rested for a while, and his strength had recovered a little.

"Young master, Tiger Python Force has many movements. I'll demonstrate it once more..."

"No need. I remember."

His ability to remember everything he saw applied not only to books. He had memorized all these movements after watching them once.

Steward Fang stepped aside, a smile on his face.

Tiger Python Force had many movements, and they were complicated and difficult to perform. He'd remembered them after seeing them just once?

Steward Fang didn't point it out. He simply watched in silence, thinking that if the young master forgot, he would demonstrate them again.

Chu Ming walked to the center of the courtyard and began: setting his stance, planting his feet, clenching his fists, swinging his arms...

[Tiger Python Force (Beginner)]

[Progress: 1/100]

"Here it comes."

Sure enough, new text appeared on the panel.

[Progress: 2/100]

[Progress: 3/100]

...