Selected for the Inner Court

Perhaps because he had gone to bed early, Chen Ye opened his eyes before dawn. The snores of his roommates rose and fell around him.

He did not get up right away. Instead, he lay quietly in the darkness for a while.

The system was still in his field of vision.

The name displayed on the panel was still Foundation Cultivation Technique.

He remembered clearly that Zhang Tieyi had called it the Tiger-Capturing Fist, and that what he had practiced was the Tiger-Capturing Fist Fixed Posture taught by Zhang Tieyi.

There was no doubt about that.

As for whether this set of Gao Family boxing techniques had never been called the Tiger-Capturing Fist in the first place, or whether the panel had mistranslated it—

There was too little information. Trying to reason it out further would be a dead end.

For now, he needed to figure out the system.

Chen Ye rolled over, pushing aside his wild thoughts.

While the sky was still caught between night and dawn, he rubbed his eyes and climbed off the earthen bed. He felt around in the dark, slipped on an outer robe, and quietly crept outside, circling around to the vacant lot behind the house.

A few neglected haystacks sat there. Apart from the stray cats that came looking for food, no one ever came by.

The morning mist hung thick and hazy.

Chen Ye slapped his cheeks, clearing his head.

He took a deep breath and silently murmured in his mind, "Pawn. Two months of my lifespan."

A golden scale suddenly appeared in his field of vision. On its left and right pans, a blue and a red crystal weight appeared.

[Sixty days of lifespan deducted. Sixty days of cultivation provided.]

The status on the panel changed rapidly as well.

[Foundation Cultivation Technique (Not Started)] → [Foundation Cultivation Technique (Initiated)]

A familiar warmth surged without warning from deep in his abdomen, quickly spreading through his limbs and bones.

Wherever it passed, his sinews quivered and his bones and muscles hummed. It was like a spring thunderclap, awakening every inch of his flesh.

Chen Ye assumed the Fixed Posture stance again.

It was different now.

Yesterday, he had used sheer willpower to tell his body it had to stand that way.

Now, his body knew on its own how to stand that way.

His shoulders had sunk into place, his waist and hips had twisted correctly, and his stance was flawless.

It was as if he had truly trained hard for two months.

Sixty days of lifespan.

Two months of hard work, delivered in a single second.

Chen Ye slowly relaxed his stance, his breathing so steady that even he was surprised.

While he was at it, he used the only two taels of silver he had to test the Pawn System's buyback mechanism. He discovered that one tael of silver could only buy back four days of lifespan.

It was as black-hearted as those payday lenders from his previous life.

The Gao Family paid its servants two taels of silver a month.

That meant he would need to scrimp and save for three years and nine months to buy back one year of lifespan.

He had only three years left to live. No matter how he did the math, he came out at a loss.

Using silver to buy back lifespan could only serve as a temporary stopgap, not a long-term solution.

If he wanted to extend his life, he had to find another way.

"Since this world has martial arts, perhaps it also has an immortal-martial path, with elixirs and techniques that can prolong life."

"Breaking through in cultivation might extend my lifespan, too."

"If that's possible, then this Pawn Panel... could be put to great use."

Chen Ye set the matter aside for the time being and focused his thoughts.

The two taels of silver in his hand seemed to be gently lifted, then vanished with a soft rustle, as if they had never existed.

Chen Ye instinctively clenched his fist. It was empty.

The number on the panel quietly changed to [Three years and eight days].

The sky grew brighter.

By the time Chen Ye returned to the front courtyard, someone was already practicing.

Three or five people had spread out around the courtyard, each holding a stance. Their postures betrayed varying degrees of stiffness and clumsiness.

Some sank too heavily into their knees; others let their shoulders sag too much.

Chen Ye said nothing. He found a corner and calmly took up the stance.

After two months of cultivation had been poured into him, the exhaustion that had built up yesterday was gone. He could stand effortlessly for half an hour.

But he had already drawn some attention yesterday.

On top of that, the strange Foundation Cultivation Technique weighed on his mind. Today, he had no desire to stick his neck out.

Chen Ye held the stance for about the time it took two incense sticks to burn, then pretended to be exhausted, relaxed his posture, and sat beneath the veranda to rest.

Seeing that he was nothing special, the others nearby relaxed a little.

The days that followed flew by.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

For the past few days, another of the Gao Family's guards, Zou Rong, had been teaching them.

Compared to Guard Zhang's careful explanations, Zou Rong was far more perfunctory.

He simply took up a stance himself, had everyone follow along, and left as soon as he had practiced enough.

Without supervision, and with the novelty of martial arts practice gradually wearing off, the people in the courtyard grew lax, too. They began working for three days and slacking off for two.

The few who remained willing to put in the hard work made visible progress in their stances.

Chen Ye blended in with the others, keeping a low profile.

His progress was just fast enough to be considered good, but not enough to stand out.

On the eighth day, Zhang Tieyi, who had not shown his face all this time, finally arrived.

He stood in the courtyard and got straight to the point. "Fixed Posture is both hard and easy. If you have talent, you can get the hang of it in three or five days. If you don't, you might spend three or five months without a clue. You've been practicing for seven or eight days. It's time to see how you've done."

Zhang Tieyi's tone was even, but his words made everyone present tense up.

"Those who've done well will be selected for the inner court, and their monthly pay will go up by two taels. Those who haven't..."

Zhang Tieyi paused, leaving the rest unsaid.

But everyone understood.

"Take your stances!"

Zhang Tieyi's sharp bark cut through their thoughts.

The group had no time to think. They each took up their stance.

Zhang Tieyi started with the nearest person, kicking or pushing each of them with a moderate amount of force.

Most toppled over with a single shove, landing hard on the ground.

"Rejected."

"Rejected."

"..."

In the blink of an eye, most of them had been rejected.

Zhang Tieyi walked up behind Chen Ye.

Chen Ye could not see his expression, but he sensed that the presence behind him was different. There was a longer pause than before.

As he wondered about it, Zhang Tieyi suddenly raised his foot and kicked Chen Ye in the back.

That kick was clearly harder than the ones he had given the others.

Chen Ye felt a force crash into him. His center of gravity vanished, and his whole body pitched forward.

His knees instinctively twisted inward, his waist and hips sank, and he forcibly redirected the force.

His upper body merely swayed before he steadied himself. His stance held.

Zhang Tieyi said nothing.

Chen Ye stared at the floor tiles in front of him, feeling a chill at the back of his neck.

He silently counted to three before hearing a quiet "Pass" from behind him.

After speaking, Zhang Tieyi continued testing the next person, his expression unchanged.

Chen Ye held his stance, but his heart was beating faster than before.

He had noticed that Zhang Tieyi's kick had been heavier than the force he had used on the previous two people combined.

This did not seem like a test. It was more like he was verifying a suspicion.

Soon, everyone else in the courtyard had been tested. Of the fifteen or sixteen people, only four remained.

Facing them, Zhang Tieyi said coolly, "The rest of you, go back where you came from. The Gao Family doesn't keep idle hands."

The rejected servants looked dejected. Some were regretful, some unwilling to give up, and some secretly wiped away their tears with their sleeves.

No one spoke up for them.

Chen Ye stood with the other three who had been selected.

The three of them whispered to one another, their faces bright with excitement at having been chosen.

Chen Ye alone watched Zhang Tieyi's retreating figure, lost in thought.

As instructed, Chen Ye and the others had to move to new lodgings.

They were being moved from the lower servants' communal room to private side rooms in the inner court.

The four of them did not linger. Each returned to their former lodgings to pack their belongings.

Apart from a few changes of clothes, Chen Ye had practically nothing of value on him.

It took him less than the time it took half a cup of tea to go through everything in the room. Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a slender figure at the doorway.

The visitor was handsome and fair-skinned as snow, with her hair divided into sections and coiled into buns atop her head, the rest hanging naturally.

She looked no older than sixteen, yet her figure was already shapely. Her chest, in particular, was full and heavy, its generous curves rivaling those of a woman who had already given birth.

Chen Ye stole a fleeting glance, then quickly lowered his eyes, careful not to stare openly.

Gao Qiaoniang.

The Gao Family head's daughter, born to a servant woman.

Gao Qiaoniang's eyes turned, and she spoke in a crisp voice. "Your new room is ready. Come with me."

Chen Ye bowed and acknowledged her before hurrying after her.