Senior Brother Zhou was a glutton, too.
And a much bigger glutton than Qin Fang.
By the time Qin Fang was full, Senior Brother Zhou was still wolfing down his food. At least seven or eight pounds of meat had gone into his stomach, yet he seemed not to know what being full meant.
Master's Wife, beside them, seemed to take it all in stride. She wore a kind smile. "Slow down, slow down. There's still plenty."
Qin Fang watched, dumbfounded... Zhou Xing had eaten four or five times as much as he had.
...He'd bought more than ten pounds of pork belly on his way over that morning, and Master's Wife had clearly cooked all of it in one go. She and Qin Fang hadn't eaten much; most of it had gone into Zhou Xing's mouth. And after polishing off a whole table of dishes, he'd stuffed down two or three big steamed buns before finally letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Master's Wife, your cooking is incredible!"
He praised her.
Master's Wife laughed and scolded him for always knowing how to flatter her.
Then he turned to Qin Fang and said with a grin, "Junior Brother Qin, you don't eat enough. For a martial artist, eating is the most important thing. You can only train up your strength by eating plenty. You've already got the Stance Skill under your belt, and now what you lack is a solid foundation... Only with a strong enough foundation can you improve quickly, reach Bright Force, and even advance beyond it."
"How do you build a strong foundation? You have to eat."
Zhou Xing's words left Qin Fang quietly marveling...
Could all martial artists really eat this much?
Qin Fang nodded. "Yes, Master told me that too..."
"Mm... As long as you know. Come on, now that we've eaten our fill, let's go train."
Zhou Xing patted his belly.
At the mention of training, Qin Fang's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied, "All right."
The two returned to the courtyard.
Then Zhou Xing began teaching Qin Fang the Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist in earnest, and Qin Fang studied just as diligently.
Before they knew it, an hour had passed.
Zhou Xing stopped and said with a smile, "Your comprehension really is impressive... You've memorized the moves. Remember the key points I told you: the spine is a bow, the fists and feet are arrows... The Leaf Technique at the Bright Force stage is built on these basic principles."
Qin Fang committed them to memory.
...The Panel still hadn't recorded it.
It seemed he'd have to ponder it himself before it appeared.
"It's getting late, and I've still got business at the yamen. I'll be off."
Zhou Xing said.
Qin Fang quickly replied, "All right. Thank you, Senior Brother."
"No need. Drop by Master's Wife's place when you have time. I come by now and then, too. If you have any questions about training and Master isn't available, you can come to me. I live at..."
He gave Qin Fang his address.
Qin Fang memorized it carefully.
"I've got it, Senior Brother."
"Mm."
Zhou Xing nodded, smiled, and said goodbye to Master's Wife before leaving.
Qin Fang walked him to the gate and watched him go. Only after Zhou Xing had disappeared into the distance did he let out a soft breath.
His gaze flickered...
Senior Brother Zhou's reaction was different from what he'd expected.
He should have figured out that Qin Fang was the one who'd killed Wang Long and the others.
But he didn't seem to plan to pursue the matter in his capacity as a member of the yamen.
He'd even taught Qin Fang a fist technique...
After thinking it over for a while, Qin Fang let out another soft breath and turned back into Master's Wife's home.
Master hadn't come back at noon, either. After carrying the chopped firewood into the kitchen, Qin Fang said goodbye and left as well.
...Senior Brother Zhou had acted as though he approved of him.
But honestly...
Call Qin Fang suspicious, or whatever else...
He'd only just met his senior brother. Qin Fang couldn't bring himself to trust him completely.
...He trusted Master because everything Master had done, from beginning to end, had convinced him.
But this senior brother... They'd met for the first time, and given his position, Qin Fang found it hard to trust him completely.
But he had no other options right now.
The only thing Qin Fang could think of—and the only thing he could do—was improve his cultivation as quickly as possible.
Then, whatever situation he faced, at least he wouldn't be utterly helpless.
Back at home, Qin Fang gritted his teeth and took another Blood-Qi Pill.
After practicing his stance once, he began earnestly pondering the Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist Zhou Xing had taught him.
The spine as a bow...
The limbs as arrows...
Wide, sweeping movements...
Don't let your strength become rigid...
Qin Fang pondered.
Before he knew it, darkness had fallen.
Then, at a certain moment, he suddenly threw a punch. A hard-to-describe sense of clarity coursed through him, and a faint whistle of wind came from his fist.
Qin Fang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly checked the Panel...
"Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist (Low-Grade Fist Technique) (Initiation Stage): 1/500"
The Panel had recorded it!
Qin Fang smiled and let out a long breath, his heart finally at ease.
...At last, the Panel had recorded it.
But the moment he relaxed, he felt pain all over his body.
His muscles were weak and sore, and exhaustion swept over him like a tide.
Qin Fang froze, and his feet even stumbled beneath him.
Then he furrowed his brows.
"Looks like I can't take too many Blood-Qi Pills in one day... Though the pills infuse my body with extra energy, my body is too weak and my stamina too poor. If I take too many, not only will the effects diminish, I might even overtax myself..."
He took stock of the sensations in his body.
Then he glanced at the Panel again.
The first Blood-Qi Pill that morning had raised his proficiency by 16 points.
But this afternoon's pill had only raised it by 11.
The effect had clearly diminished.
That showed how important his physical condition was when practicing his stance.
In a single day, he'd gained 27 proficiency points...
That seemed like a lot?
But he'd gone through two Blood-Qi Pills to get there!
He'd had only nine Blood-Qi Pills to begin with, and now there were just seven left...
Each pill cost ten taels of silver.
Even with the more than 120 taels he had, he could only buy twelve more if he spent every last coin on them.
"Poor scholars, rich martial artists... Now I understand..."
Qin Fang's teeth ached just thinking about it.
Master had said that once he started training in earnest, he'd understand what "poor scholars, rich martial artists" meant.
Now...
He understood all too well.
Qin Fang shook his head and let out a soft breath. He didn't feel particularly hungry, perhaps because he'd just taken a Blood-Qi Pill.
Seeing that it was already dark, he decided to skip dinner and go straight to bed.
There was little point in continuing to train. He'd already overtaxed his body for the day.
Tomorrow, he'd have to plan his training properly.
Otherwise, his progress would be slow.
And it wasn't just the stance and fist techniques.
There were the Flying Darts, too... He was only a little short of reaching the next stage.
He had to train them to the next stage as soon as possible.
That was what he thought.
While Qin Fang went back to his room to rest,
Elder Wu also returned home.
He worked as a physician at Spring Return Hall and saw plenty of patients every day, so he usually got home quite late.
Master's Wife had already prepared dinner. As they ate, she told him what had happened that day.
Elder Wu paused with his wine halfway to his lips.
"Qin Fang came by today?"
Master's Wife smiled and nodded. "He did. He came specially to clear the snow and chop wood for me... You were right about that boy. He's a good-hearted child who knows how to repay kindness."
She was clearly very fond of Qin Fang.
Who didn't like a child who knew how to be grateful?
Elder Wu's brows relaxed a little at her words.
Then Master's Wife continued, "Zhou Xing came by today, too."
"Zhou Xing came, too?" Elder Wu's brows, which had just relaxed, immediately knitted together.
He hadn't forgotten what had happened with Wang Long.
He hadn't introduced Zhou Xing and Qin Fang to each other because that matter had left him unsure how to handle things.
He hadn't expected both of them to come to his home today.
And run into each other?
"Mm. Those two boys really hit it off. They even trained together today... Zhou Xing taught Qin Fang a set of fist techniques."
Master's Wife smiled as she spoke.
Elder Wu had first looked surprised, but at that, his brows furrowed.
"Zhou Xing... taught Qin Fang a set of fist techniques?"
Elder Wu hadn't taught Qin Fang any fist techniques because it wasn't yet time for Qin Fang to practice them.
At the very least, he had to reach the Initiation Stage in his stance first. Only then would training in fist techniques be worthwhile.
Otherwise, he'd only learn the wrong way.
...Once he formed a habit in how he exerted force, correcting it would take even more effort. He'd get half the result for twice the effort.
But after mastering the Stance Skill and having his Martial Skill Embodied, his way of exerting force would at least be mostly correct. Only then would practicing fist techniques give him twice the result for half the effort.
Zhou Xing had taught Qin Fang a fist technique?
Qin Fang had only practiced his stance for a few days.
Wasn't that reckless?
Elder Wu's brows drew tight.
Master's Wife was still chattering on. "Yes, though I couldn't really follow what they were talking about. Zhou Xing even said Qin Fang had great comprehension and that he'd already gotten his Martial Skill Embodied, or something like that..."
"What?"
Elder Wu cut her off before she could finish.
He stared at her. "What did Zhou Xing say he'd done?"
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