Fang Han

[Initial rating; it will rise later]

[Plot written by hand; slow-burn growth early on, decisive battles and killings in the middle, unrivaled under heaven by the end]

[May every reader strike it rich]

·

Great Qian Dynasty, Azure Cloud Outer City.

Deep in Mud Bay Alley, in the Outer City's slums, wind and rain had worn the earthen walls of the Fang Household's shabby courtyard into a pitted mess.

Inside the main room, the dim fish-oil lamp stretched their shadows long.

Young and old alike sat around a dining table with a chipped corner. The meal was simple: a pot of mixed-grain porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables.

The only meat, a bowl of braised pork, sat in front of Fang Han.

His grandfather, Fang Yuanshan, sat at the head of the table. His withered hand gripped the long-stemmed pipe that had been with him for over twenty years. He did not light it, only tapped it gently against the table's edge.

"Han, have you truly made up your mind to study martial arts?"

His grandfather's voice was low and hoarse. It struck every heart like a hammer.

Fang Han looked up at the deep furrows in his grandfather's face and nodded. "I have."

Fang Han had no choice. He had to study martial arts and become a martial artist.

Five days earlier...

Someone had ambushed him as he passed through an empty alley. A brick to the head had knocked him unconscious for three days.

When Fang Han woke, he awakened his Past-Life Wisdom and learned that, in his previous life, he had been a nine-to-five wage slave.

Those memories were so clear that it felt as though that life had ended only yesterday...

Looking back on his Past-Life Wisdom, Fang Han almost found it funny. Two lives, and he was still fated to be poor...

His gaze swept around the table. His grandmother, Madam Liu, had her brows tightly knit. Her lips moved, but she stopped short of speaking;

his mother, Chen Cui, kept her head down and piled braised pork into his bowl;

his elder brother, Fang Ding, stared at the pork in the bowl and could not help swallowing, though his dark, lean face showed nothing.

Fang Han could tell his brother wanted the meat. His Adam's apple kept bobbing up and down.

"Mother, I want meat too!" his little sister, Fang Rui, suddenly cried. She clumsily gripped her chopsticks and reached toward Fang Han's bowl.

Quick as a flash, Chen Cui stopped her and pulled her into her lap. "Be good, Rui. Your second brother is going to study martial arts. He needs meat to build up his strength. Once he becomes a martial artist, you can eat meat every day."

"Mother's lying! Last time, Second Brother was sick and needed meat to get better, and now he needs it again..."

"Little Sister!"

Fang Ding's muffled shout made Fang Rui pout. Tears welled in her eyes, but she did not dare make another fuss.

Something struck deep inside Fang Han as he watched.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan. He had never known what it felt like for a family to sit down and eat together.

Now he knew, and it hurt.

"I hear studying martial arts costs a great deal," Madam Liu said at last, fretting aloud. "I asked Butcher Li at the alley entrance this morning. His son studies at a martial arts school, and the fee for becoming a disciple alone is thirty taels!

"That doesn't include those medicines for replenishing Blood Qi. Times are hard, the world isn't peaceful, and we haven't heard from Han's father since he left town. With our family in this state..."

Madam Liu trailed off, but everyone understood.

Six people across three generations were crammed into this broken-down courtyard. His grandfather had injured his back hauling cargo at the docks when he was young and could no longer do heavy work. His father, Fang Ning, had gone into the mountains for work and had been out of contact for a year.

The family now relied on Fang Ding and Fang Han to earn money, with Fang Han fishing the Dragon King River each day to help cover their expenses.

Even so, saving a few taels in a year was out of the question. Whether the family could earn ten taels all year was uncertain.

The martial arts school's fee was thirty taels. Thirty taels would feed and clothe the whole family for three years.

Silence filled the room. Only the fish-oil lamp crackled.

Fang Han sighed inwardly. If it came down to it, he would find a way himself.

Before he could speak, Fang Yuanshan rapped his pipe against the table.

"He'll study!"

The old man's single declaration was firm as an axe stroke.

A light seemed to flicker in Fang Yuanshan's clouded eyes.

"A martial arts master felt Han's bones and found he has the constitution for it. Heaven has shown favor to the Fang Household!

"Three generations of us have lived in poverty. Farming, fishing, hauling cargo—which of those lets a man earn his next meal without bowing to someone else?

"If Han truly becomes a martial artist one day, our taxes can be reduced and our compulsory labor waived. From then on... we won't have to swallow that kind of humiliation anymore."

"But, old man..."

"No buts!" Fang Yuanshan cut his wife off. "I'll find a way to pay the fee."

Madam Liu opened her mouth, then said nothing more. She sighed.

"All right, all right. I'm an old woman, but I've saved up funeral money for decades. Put it together and let Han use it first. We're family. It makes no difference who spends it."

As she spoke, Madam Liu went into the inner room. After rummaging through her things, she brought out a tightly wrapped earthenware jar, muttering all the while.

"I don't know if it'll be enough. I hear the school wants some kind of initiation gift too, and a full set of gear will cost more money..."

Fang Ding suddenly spoke in his deep, muffled voice. "Next month, I'll join a boat crew on the water route to Cloud Prefecture. The pay's double."

Each word sounded as though he had forced it out of his chest.

Fang Han turned to look at his brother.

Fang Ding was three years older, but far darker, with rougher skin. The thick calluses on his hands had come from hauling cargo at the docks.

Ever since they were children, his brother had spoken little and worked the most. He gave anything good to eat to his younger siblings and had never complained once.

"Big Brother..."

"Study hard." Fang Ding did not look at him. He stared at the pickled vegetables before him. "The family's counting on you."

Warmth rose in Fang Han's chest. He lowered his eyes to the fragrant piece of braised pork in his bowl and fell silent.

This was his family!

Even with barely two coins to rub together, they would leave him their last bite of food.

His thoughts drifted back to the calamity that had struck him out of nowhere five days ago.

Five days earlier...

As usual, he had been fishing on the Dragon King River. Fortune had smiled on him: with one cast of his net, he had caught a Spirit Fish!

The fish was no bigger than his palm, its body silver-white and its scales glimmering with a faint azure-jade sheen in the sunlight.

Fang Han had seen this kind of Spirit Fish at the fish market. It was called an Azure Jade Silverfish, and one was worth thirty taels.

Thirty taels—enough to feed his whole family for three years!

Before Fang Han could celebrate or put the fish away, he spotted a small fishing boat approaching out of the corner of his eye. He recognized its owner.

It was Chen You, a young man about his age who also fished the Dragon King River for a living. They usually greeted each other when they met.

Fang Han vaguely remembered Chen You glancing at the Spirit Fish still caught in the net. He had said nothing, though. After a smiling greeting, he rowed away.

Fang Han had been wary at first, but when Chen You rowed off, he relaxed and headed back to shore.

He meant to take the Spirit Fish to market and sell it while it was still fresh.

But as he passed through an empty alley, a sharp pain suddenly exploded at the back of his head. He could not even scream before everything went black.

When he woke three days later, the Spirit Fish was gone.

Thinking carefully through the details now, Fang Han was certain Chen You had attacked him that day.

A flash of greed had crossed the man's eyes. Faint though it was, Fang Han had caught it.

Fang Han tightened his grip on his chopsticks.

This damned world was cruel!

A fish could get a man killed!

That was all the more reason for Fang Han to study martial arts.

Besides, when he had gone to the Outer City to buy medicine two days earlier, he had happened upon a newly opened martial arts school offering free bone assessments.

Fang Han had only meant to join the crowd out of curiosity. Instead, after feeling his bones, the master told him he had a Lower-grade Bone Constitution and could study martial arts.

At that very moment, a Panel had abruptly appeared in Fang Han's mind:

[Forged to Excel]

[Name: Fang Han]

[Age: Twenty-three]

[Bone Constitution: Lower-grade (cultivation possible)]

[Comprehension: 97]

[Realm: None]

[Martial Arts: None]

[Talents: Unyielding Practice (never regress), Rising Talent (increased comprehension)]

The Panel's appearance had thrilled Fang Han!

He had read plenty of webnovels in his previous life. He could make a fair guess at how the Forged to Excel Panel worked!

If he was right, once he began cultivating the Martial Dao, he would only move forward. Every gain he made through practice would be Proof Once, Permanent Proof!

All he needed was to enter the martial arts school and learn its techniques...

Fang Han pulled back his wandering thoughts and took a deep breath. He looked once more around the shabby main room: at his aged grandparents, his quiet elder brother, his frail little sister, and his hardworking mother.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, Big Brother."

Fang Han rose and bowed deeply to them. "I'll study martial arts with everything I have. One day, I'll give our family a better life!"

Seeing his grandson so earnest, Fang Yuanshan smiled, a rare sight, and tapped his pipe. "Good. That's the spirit."

Madam Liu opened the tightly wrapped jar and placed its copper coins and silver fragments in Fang Han's hands.

"Enough, enough. We're family; no need for speeches. Han, keep this money safe. Your grandfather will find a way to gather the rest as soon as he can."

Fang Ding said nothing. He only gave Fang Han a hard pat on the lower back.

Fang Rui blinked up at Fang Han. "If Second Brother becomes a martial artist, can he chase the bad people away?"

Fang Han paused, then smiled.

Yes.

Once he became a martial artist, he could protect not only himself but his family. He would never again have to fear a brick nearly beating him to death.

Looking at the Panel only he could see, Fang Han made a silent vow.

In this life, I will rise above my station!