First Cultivation: Fierce Tiger Fist Initiated!

The newcomer was Shi Yong.

During the day, he had shaken his head and sighed, saying that they had no hope of cultivating martial arts.

Yet he had sneaked over by himself that night.

"So he wants to learn martial arts too." Mo Chen could not help smiling.

Everyone wanted to rise above the rest. He could understand that.

After all, a soldier who did not want to become a general was not a good soldier. As a grown man, who could willingly spend a lifetime holed up in the woodshed chopping firewood?

Seeing Shi Yong climb over the wall to secretly learn martial arts, Mo Chen sat down behind the millstone.

Shi Yong certainly would not be leaving anytime soon, and Mo Chen did not want to alert him.

So Mo Chen simply opened the system panel.

[Name: Mo Chen]

[System Level: First Tier]

[Martial Art: Fierce Tiger Fist (Not Initiated)]

[Wealth: One tael]

[Martial Art Cultivation Progress Available for Exchange: One month.]

[Equipment Slots Available: One]

Mo Chen looked at the martial arts section on the panel and froze. "Fierce Tiger Fist?"

He had not expected the name of this martial art to appear on the panel.

"I just finished secretly watching Fierce Tiger Fist, and it was added to the panel?"

It seemed this fist technique was already complete and required no internal cultivation to support it.

At that thought, Mo Chen's breathing quickened, and excitement surged within him.

"System, exchange for one month of cultivation progress!"

[Ding! Exchange successful!]

The system prompt had barely faded.

With a swish, the panel vanished.

In its place, Mo Chen's consciousness entered a massive Martial Arena.

The Martial Arena seemed to hang amid endless dark Chaos. It was shaped like a bagua, with a divine beast statue seated in each of the eight directions, all fierce and baleful, suppressing the eight quarters.

At the center of the Martial Arena, Mo Chen clearly saw another version of himself, cultivating without rest day and night.

[Day One: You practiced Fierce Tiger Fist, copying the tiger while drawing a cat. Your posture was crooked, your movements stiff and sluggish. After a day of practice, you barely became familiar with it.]

[Day Five: You had become thoroughly familiar with Fierce Tiger Fist. You no longer forgot the next movement after finishing a punch, but you were still sluggish and your punches lacked force.]

[Day Seven: You trained your fists too fiercely. Your muscles were so sore that you could not get out of bed.]

[Day Fifteen: You secretly watched martial arts practice every day and began correcting your own movements. Gradually, you worked out the proper punching patterns and force-generating techniques of Fierce Tiger Fist.]

[Day Thirty: Because you persisted in practicing punches and horse stances without rest day or night, humbly learned from others, and promptly corrected yourself, Fierce Tiger Fist finally barely crossed the threshold into initiation. Your strength greatly increased!]

Your wealth was insufficient to cover the cost. Cultivation progress exchange terminated.

(Note: To continue exchanging for martial art cultivation progress, please earn more silver.)

Mo Chen withdrew from the Martial Arena and opened his eyes.

In an instant, he sensed astonishing changes in his body's muscles.

His once flabby belly had somehow developed four faint abdominal muscles.

The biceps on both arms had also bulged into slight curves.

Mo Chen clenched his fists and suddenly felt the urge to punch the millstone to pieces.

The effects of the martial art simulation progress were astounding, as though Mo Chen had personally practiced this fist technique in the real world for an entire month, day and night.

"Fierce Tiger Fist has only barely entered initiation without internal cultivation, yet it has already doubled my strength and physique. What about fist techniques with internal cultivation? How powerful would they be?"

Mo Chen still did not know much about the realm divisions of Great Mystic martial arts.

But from what the guards had said, he could roughly guess their levels of strength.

Once Fierce Tiger Fist was cultivated to mastery, one could supposedly unite the muscles of the entire body as one. That was Flesh Tempering Realm within the Body Tempering Realm.

And those at the Flesh Tempering Realm were already considered outstanding among the guards.

As for the Skin Tempering Stage, one could already be called a deputy commander.

Did that not mean that most guards had, at best, only cultivated one martial art to minor mastery and had yet to reach Flesh Tempering?

"My Fierce Tiger Fist has already entered initiation. If I can find a way to earn some more silver within a month and cultivate further... then perhaps I may be able to join the guard squad someday."

If he became a guard, he could receive one tael of silver in wages every month, nearly twice what he earned now.

Mo Chen's eyes lit up.

His ambitions were not great. He did not even dare dream of placing among the top three in martial contests. All he wanted was to join the guard squad soon and leave the woodshed behind.

At the very least, becoming a guard meant not only higher wages, but also plenty of time to practice martial arts.

Compared with being a servant in the woodshed, the position of guard was undoubtedly much more suitable for him.

As Mo Chen adapted to the changes in his muscles, he hid behind the millstone and pondered how to make money.

Just then.

Another faint set of footsteps came from the direction of the Chore Servant Courtyard.

Mo Chen raised a brow and saw Shi Yong, who had been lying on the wall to secretly learn martial arts, leap down in panic and dash behind the millstone in a flash.

Their eyes met.

"Mo Chen?" Shi Yong jumped in fright, his face full of astonishment.

"Shh—!" Mo Chen quickly raised a finger to his lips and pulled Shi Yong closer.

Shi Yong then sat directly beside Mo Chen. The two leaned against the stone mill, staring at each other in speechless silence.

The furtive footsteps drew closer.

Both Mo Chen and Shi Yong could not help sneaking a look.

Then, a thin, frail figure clambered onto the wall with difficulty.

"Little Five?" Shi Yong did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Mo Chen grinned. "Brother Shi, do you think Brother Li will come too?"

Shi Yong's mouth twitched. He shook his head. "I don't think so. He's the leader in the woodshed, and he earns more than any of us."

Yet the moment he finished speaking.

Li Dazhuang's figure appeared soundlessly.

However.

Little Five did not notice Li Dazhuang's arrival. Instead, Li Dazhuang was startled out of his wits when he saw Little Five lying atop the wall.

"Damn it, why is someone on the wall?!"

Though moonlight illuminated the night, he could not make out that it was Little Five at all.

Guilty and nervous, he hurriedly ran behind the millstone in a panic.

And so—

Three pairs of eyes met.

Shi Yong wore a strange expression, his gaze complicated.

Mo Chen grinned broadly, revealing sixteen gleaming white teeth.

Li Dazhuang stood dumbfounded, staring at Mo Chen and Shi Yong behind the millstone with a completely bewildered expression.

"Good evening, Brother Li. Are you here to relieve yourself too?"

Mo Chen greeted him with a cheerful smile.

Li Dazhuang froze for a moment. Once he understood, he hurriedly nodded awkwardly, taking the offered way out. "Y-Yes, I'm here to relieve myself too. You guys as well?"

"Yeah," Shi Yong said with a forced smile. "I drank a little too much water before bed. I nearly couldn't hold it and wet the bed..."

"Hahahahaha..."

All three of them let out dry, awkward laughter.

On top of the wall.

Little Five was intently watching the guards practice their horse stances. When he suddenly heard a strange burst of muffled laughter, he jumped in fright and turned around to search.

His eyes swept the surroundings, but he could not see any other figures. Little Five's face turned pale with terror, and his scalp prickled.

Could someone have discovered me?!

Fearful, he no longer had the heart to secretly study martial arts and hurriedly slid down from the wall.

The moment he looked up, he spotted the millstone not far away. Without a second thought, he rushed toward it, intending to hide behind the stone mill and observe the situation first.

The result was—