Mountain Lord's Blessing

The next day, after making breakfast for his mother, Duan Xuan hurried out of the house.

After crossing a large mountain, he arrived at Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall outside Yellow Snake County.

The sky had barely begun to brighten when Duan Xuan started practicing the Broken Mountain Stake Method.

Intense exercise caused lactic acid to build up in the muscles, and that soreness did not erupt immediately.

It had only gradually surfaced after he returned home last night. When he got out of bed this morning, the pain had nearly left him unable to walk.

Having found the spot where he had practiced his stance yesterday, he assumed the posture and strove to feel that spirit of charging ever forward, never admitting defeat.

His entire body felt as though it were about to fall apart, both upper and lower.

As if someone had pounded him thousands of times with a massive iron hammer.

But because the system had recorded the Broken Mountain Stake Method, Duan Xuan found the feeling needed to enter the stance with no effort at all.

He gritted his teeth. His body swayed unsteadily, but he never fell.

Duan Xuan knew perfectly well that this dizziness, weakness in his limbs, and tendency to feel faint were all caused by insufficient qi and blood.

Yet as he completed the Broken Mountain Stake Method from beginning to end, over and over again,

strength rose beneath his feet, and his qi and blood steadily increased, growing far faster than it was depleted.

Still, the pain in his body could not be wiped away by the growth of his qi and blood.

[Human effort earns reward; Heaven bestows recompense]

[Traps: Minor Mastery (11/100)]

[Hunting: Beginner (12/50)]

[Broken Mountain Stake Method: Beginner (3/300)]

Whether it was trapping, hunting, or the Broken Mountain Stake Method, he had to complete an entire set before it could increase by even one point.

As for traps, they only increased after he caught prey.

Duan Xuan thought that was only reasonable.

As his qi and blood slowly rose, the most obvious sign was that it turned into heat.

Wisps of steam rose from him, driving away the chill around Duan Xuan. In less than half a shichen, he was drenched in sweat.

Soon, disciples gradually entered from outside the main gates of the treatment quarters. The first thing they saw was the short, skinny youth in the training ground.

"Working so hard. Anyone who didn't know better would think he had Junior Brother Lin Hu's first-rate bone structure."

"Hah, I've seen plenty like him. He just wants to catch our attention, make Master think more highly of him, and get some extra cultivation. All I can say is, this fool is dreaming."

"He won't last more than a few days. I bet he's got two and a half days of novelty in him."

"I bet three days!"

Zhao Bastard and Zhao Hui emerged from the dormitory. The former had his arms folded, while the latter kept her head lowered.

They both glanced at Duan Xuan, but that was all. Neither paid him much attention.

Duan Xuan's qi and blood was far too weak in their eyes, vastly inferior even to that of an ordinary person.

Lin Hu and Liu Mingze, who had entered on the same day as him yet had to call Duan Xuan senior brother,

did not even spare Duan Xuan a glance, as though he had never existed.

Yet both of them paused every time they passed him, because whenever they saw this mud-legged peasant,

they remembered that simply because he had arrived a dozen minutes earlier, they had to call him senior brother. The two were filled with disgust.

"Master really takes in anyone. He lets every kind of trash stay in the courtyard!" Lin Hu said darkly.

Liu Mingze raised his voice. "Isn't that the truth? I heard Master used to be one of the greenwood heroes, a righteous man, so his heart overflowed with mercy. But some people ought to know their own limits!"

Once the two said this, the older disciples naturally knew who they were mocking with their barbed words.

But when they looked at Duan Xuan, they could not see the slightest trace of anger on his face.

Duan Xuan was like a pine sapling that had only just taken root, standing against the cold wind in that somewhat immature and slightly strange Broken Mountain stance.

It was as though gossip never reached his ears and provocative gestures never entered his sight...

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. Early spring's arrival brought little warmth to Yellow Snake County; instead, another heavy snow fell.

Day after day, Duan Xuan practiced the Broken Mountain Stake Method, becoming the one peculiar existence in Broken Mountain Martial Arts Hall.

The disciples' chatter grew quieter and quieter. By now, people believed the boy was neither putting on an act nor performing for show.

He was truly cultivating.

Thus, the mockery transformed into sighs.

"Junior Brother Duan Xuan's qi and blood is too weak!"

"If his qi and blood were stronger, cultivation wouldn't be this difficult."

"Who says otherwise? If Junior Brother's qi and blood were normal, Master wouldn't have said he'd have to leave if he failed to reach Bright Strength in two months."

Duan Xuan heard them, but he did not take them to heart.

That included what Chen Feng had said days ago when he checked the progress of the five new disciples.

"Without cultivating any martial arts manuals and practicing only stance work, Lin Hu and Liu Mingze entered Bright Strength after twenty-one and twenty-seven days respectively.

"Very good. Among all the martial arts hall disciples in Yellow Snake County, that makes you two among the very best.

"From today onward, you two are my, Chen Feng's, core disciples. If you successfully break through into Dark Strength, I will take you as my personal disciples!"

"Zhao Bastard and Zhao Hui have also done well. In another half month to a month, you should be able to reach Bright Strength too. Keep it up!"

"Duan Xuan, you came to the martial arts hall on the same day as these three junior brothers, didn't you?

"Sigh, I have seen your diligence. It is only a pity that your qi and blood is far too depleted.

"Even the stance method has merely stabilized your qi and blood at an ordinary person's level.

"It is no matter. Practice more. Even if you are no longer at the martial arts hall in the future, you can still practice this stance method at home.

"At the very least, it can nourish your body, so you will not fail to live past thirty in these troubled times.

"I have already told Zhang Chen to give you an extra coarse grain flatbread at lunch. You may eat it yourself or take it home to your mother."

Chen Feng had roamed the martial world for many years and run a martial arts hall for many more. He had never seen anyone with qi and blood as weak and frail as Duan Xuan's break through into Bright Strength.

The only thing he could do was live up to the word master and help these hard-fated people survive as best they could in these chaotic times.

After all, in troubled times, people's average lifespan was only twenty or thirty years.

Especially for children from impoverished places: malnourished year after year, doing both heavy and exhausting labor, their bodies had long since been drained dry.

To live a long life was difficult.

Duan Xuan was grateful in his heart for Chen Feng's help, but he was not affected in the slightest.

[Human effort earns reward; Heaven bestows recompense]

[Traps: Minor Mastery (94/100)]

[Hunting: Minor Mastery (5/100)]

[Broken Mountain Stake Method: Beginner (148/300)]

Soon. Very soon. Traps will soon enter Major Mastery, and the Broken Mountain Stake Method is about halfway to Minor Mastery.

I have to master the stance method before the second month arrives, break through the first threshold on the martial path, and enter Bright Strength.

Only then can I stay at the martial arts hall and continue cultivating.

But without a martial arts manual or the support of nourishing food and medicinal herbs, the progress from simply practicing the stance method is still too slow!

"Senior Brother, hehe, Senior Brother Duan. Master said he'll teach you and Zhao Hui's siblings fist techniques tomorrow. Come early. Don't be late!"

Lin Hu and Liu Mingze came out of the rear courtyard with smiles on their faces.

But when they came to inform Duan Xuan, their faces were full of disdain.

The two held themselves high and proud. Neither could accept that a piece of trash incapable even of reaching Bright Strength was their senior brother.

They had entered on the same day. He had only arrived the time it took for an incense stick to burn earlier.

Yet their seniority had somehow been lowered by a whole rank.

The thought irritated both Lin Hu and Liu Mingze.

Compared to Lin Hu's sarcastic insinuations, the tall, skinny Liu Mingze preferred a frontal attack. "When are you going to roll up your bedding and get out of the martial arts hall?

"Hurry up and leave. Calling you senior brother every day makes me sick.

"A mud-legged peasant is a mud-legged peasant. You ought to spend your entire life being trampled beneath others' feet.

"With qi and blood as weak as yours, what are you pretending to be hardworking for every day?"

Duan Xuan raised his eyes to look at the two of them and merely said flatly, "Got it."

Neither understood whether he was responding to Master teaching him fist techniques or conceding to their barbed mockery.

In any case, they felt that if they endured another month, this trash would surely have to get lost.

So they joked around as they went to find a place to practice.

That evening, after practicing the Broken Mountain Stake Method another three times, Duan Xuan took the coarse grain flatbread Zhang Chen had brought him and prepared to leave.

"Junior Brother, don't listen to Lin Hu and his lot. The Cold Mountain-Breaking Fist emphasizes charging ever forward and never giving up.

"On the martial path, I believe that so long as you do not give up on yourself, you can always make it. Be careful on the road. See you tomorrow!"

Duan Xuan felt warmth fill his heart. "Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang. I won't let it affect me. See you tomorrow!"

He walked across the county town's bluestone pavement, step by step, until he reached the road where mud and snow mingled together.

It was full of potholes, making every step rise and dip. It was harder to traverse than a deep mountain filled with traps.

But Duan Xuan had grown used to it. This was not because life had worn away his sharp edges.

Nor was it because he had lowered his head. Duan Xuan was fighting everything with silent action.

He had just reached home when, before he could even call out, he suddenly saw that the broken wooden gate of his thatched courtyard stood wide open.

He immediately hid the flatbread and cautiously walked inside.

The door to the house also creaked in the wind. Cold air poured straight in, scouring the already barely warm room into an icy chill.

"Oh, little Brother Duan, you're back! Come, come, come—look at what good stuff Scar has brought you."

On the ground lay a hide that seemed to be pieced together from who knew how many wild beasts.

Yet not a single piece was intact. Every one was incomplete, and waves of stench rose from them.

"Recently, your family has been actively paying tribute incense to the Mountain Lord and offerings to the mountain god. These are excellent hides bestowed upon you by the mountain god and the Mountain Lord.

"As long as you are willing to spend the time, with your old mother's skill, she can surely stitch together a fur coat worth more than a dozen taels of silver.

"Don't worry. Scar will personally help you sell it when the time comes. What do you say?

"Three taels of silver, and you can make four or five times that much!"

Two-Scar stood close to Zhou Fang. As he spoke, his vicious eyes remained fixed on her.

Clearly, he intended to coerce Duan Xuan into paying.

And the things laid out on the ground were not good hides at all.

What Mountain Lord and mountain god blessings? It was nothing more than this group's usual extortion racket.

Wait. In the past, these people would never come to extort us again after collecting tribute incense money twice.

This is practically driving people straight into a dead end. If they do this, won't everyone be unable to survive?

Duan Xuan suddenly recalled how gyms in his previous life would abruptly launch major discounted membership drives.

Money that could previously only buy a one-year membership could get two, even three years during the promotion.

Add a little more, and one could even get a five-year membership.

There was only one purpose: collect the money and run!

Could it be that another band of horse bandits is attacking? And aside from Two-Scar and Black Cat...

Firewood Dog was always inseparable from those two, yet he wasn't here today. Is he dead? Or is there something else?

His thoughts raced, but Duan Xuan had already made his decision. He quickly lowered himself and said, "We'll buy!

"Since Scar is personally going to help us sell the hides, of course we'll buy them.

"But Scar, give me a few days. Five days—five days will be enough.

"Let me gather the money. Is that alright?"

Two-Scar detected nothing unusual in Duan Xuan's words. He simply walked over and patted Duan Xuan on the shoulder. "Good boy.

"You really are the most filial son under heaven! Black Cat, let's go!"

Only after the two had vanished deep into the night did Zhou Fang begin to weep softly. "Those beasts from Wolf Stronghold.

"We just paid them two days ago, and today they came again to sell us this rotten garbage.

"Three taels of silver—how can we possibly come up with that?"

Duan Xuan hurriedly comforted his mother, patting her shriveled hand covered in needle wounds. "Mother, don't worry. Your son will handle it!"