Start Eating

The next day, Zhou Ming rose early.

After stepping outside, he found the water vat and washed up simply.

Once he was done, Zhou Ming was just about to leave the courtyard and buy a few steamed buns from the market.

He had skipped dinner last night and was famished now.

Just as he was about to set off, a servant came to deliver a message.

"Everyone, gather at the training ground in one incense stick's time. Anyone who fails to arrive before then will be eliminated immediately."

The courtyard instantly erupted in noise.

"Looks like they're about to teach Stance Training. You need to eat your fill before practicing." Zhou Ming muttered, then immediately ran out of the escort agency.

Only with a full stomach would he have the strength.

The time it took for one incense stick to burn passed quickly.

Zhou Ming ate four large meat buns and arrived early at the outer courtyard's training ground.

Looking at the incense that had already burned out, Zhou Ming turned to glance at those still strolling leisurely along the corridor, then raised his eyes to see Head Escort Wang's increasingly dark expression.

He muttered under his breath, "I reckon it's time for a chicken-killing display to scare the monkeys."

Sure enough.

Head Escort Wang shouted, "Time's up! Anyone who has not stepped onto the training ground is eliminated!"

The crowd behind them instantly burst into commotion, racing toward the training ground as though their lives depended on it.

Yet more than ten people were knocked to the ground one by one by two young escorts, then dragged away.

Zhou Ming did not pay them much attention. He simply stood quietly at the very front.

An escort holding a roster stood beside Head Escort Wang and asked, "Head Escort, may we begin?"

Head Escort Wang gave a slight nod.

Having received the order, the escort with the roster stepped forward and said, "Silence!"

At once, the scattered conversations around the training ground fell silent.

The escort then looked at the roster and said, "When your name is called, go lift a stone disc. Choose however heavy a disc you can manage. The standard is to raise it to chest height."

"Zhao Qian."

As his name fell, a somewhat short young man with bulging muscles walked toward the stone discs at the side.

After trying several stone discs, he finally chose one.

"Up!" Zhao Qian roared, veins standing out on both arms.

He directly lifted the heavy stone disc against his chest.

"One hundred and sixty jin."

The escort recorded it on the roster as he spoke.

He then called the second name. "Sun Li."

Another muscular brute stepped out from the crowd.

Watching this simple test, Zhou Ming understood that it was meant to measure each person's strength.

"Are they testing how strong we are?"

"What use is there in testing us now? We haven't even practiced Stance Training yet. At most, we can only lift around a hundred jin."

"Exactly. I heard Martial Artists have the strength of a thousand jin."

"Don't worry, there must be a reason. Stance Training can increase your strength. They're recording everyone's starting strength now."

"Didn't you notice? All the names called so far belong to people who joined yesterday. Those of us who arrived half a month early were recorded long ago."

"I reckon these nearly two hundred people are the new recruits the escort agency is taking in this year. No one else will be joining afterward."

"Oh? How do you know?"

"Because no one was eliminated during the previous half month."

"So that's how it is! Then that must be it. Once the testing is done, they'll probably start teaching Stance Training."

"Fan Daniu, one hundred and eighty-three jin."

"Yang Shu, one hundred and forty-eight jin."

"Zhou Ming, one hundred and fifty-two jin."

"Shen Mu, one hundred and seventy-eight jin."

As time passed, everyone finished their test.

Head Escort Wang looked over the people in the training ground and announced, "The testing is over. Now it's time to eat."

With that, Head Escort Wang led the way toward the escort agency's dining hall.

At the mention of food, the training ground became noisy as everyone followed closely behind Head Escort Wang.

By the time the tests were done, it was already lunchtime.

If you weren't eager to eat, there was something wrong with your head.

The moment they entered the dining hall, the fragrance of meat wafted over them.

"Meat! Beef, a whole bowlful!"

As the first person to collect his meal emerged carrying a tray, a wave of uproar swept through the hall.

Seeing the meat in that person's bowl, Zhou Ming swallowed as well.

Ordinary people in this world could generally only eat meat once a week. Some poorer families only had meat once every half month, or even once a month.

Even the large meat buns he had eaten that morning were only called large meat buns.

There had only been a smear of minced meat inside, no bigger than a fingernail.

A moment later, Zhou Ming took his meal, found a seat at random, and began eating.

Chen Shu and Fan Daniu then came over carrying their food and joined Zhou Ming.

The three did not exchange pleasantries. All they did was lower their heads and shovel food into their mouths.

Once everyone had taken their seats and started eating, Head Escort Wang said loudly, "Keep eating. Just listen with your ears."

"You all chose to join the Dragon Soaring Escort Agency, so you must know something about us. But becoming an escort of the Dragon Soaring Escort Agency naturally comes with requirements. After all, what we want are capable escorts, not useless trash that falls with a single punch."

"For the next half year, the escort agency will train you without conditions, until you meet the assessment standards."

"Of course, though it is without conditions, if your Stance Training shows no progress after a month, that proves you are unsuited to martial arts—without aptitude or comprehension. Then leave on your own. Don't think about continuing to eat and live here for free."

Hearing this, everyone nodded one after another.

Over the past few days, they had all learned some information from one another.

The escort agency would indeed train them without conditions, but training them cost silver, so there would naturally be assessment requirements.

Still, the escort agency could not possibly train everyone unconditionally for all six months. The strong would rise while the weak were cast aside, and only around a hundred people would be selected from among them.

The rest would gradually be eliminated over those six months.

After pausing for a moment, Head Escort Wang continued, asking loudly, "Does everyone know what matters most in martial arts?"

"I know—aptitude and comprehension!"

"Talent. Martial arts require talent."

"..."

For a moment, opinions flew in every direction.

As Head Escort Wang listened to the answers throughout the dining hall, he sometimes shook his head and sometimes nodded.

"What everyone said is right, but also wrong. Aptitude and comprehension are certainly important, but those are gifts bestowed by Heaven."

"But what if Heaven did not give them to you? Does that mean ordinary people can never practice martial arts in their entire lives?"

Head Escort Wang's words struck heavily into everyone's hearts.

The entire dining hall fell deathly silent.

Before anyone could ask a question, Head Escort Wang raised the bowl full of beef in his hand and shouted, "If you want to practice martial arts, it's simple. One word: eat!"

"That's right, eat. Turn what you eat into your own blood and vitality, then excavate your body's potential—temper blood, temper flesh, temper skin, temper tendons, and so on. We must dig out our body's potential bit by bit."

"Take porters, for example. They carry goods, and carrying goods consumes strength. So how do they replenish that strength? Only by eating!"

"But what you eat also matters. You must eat meat. Anything that flies in the sky or runs on the ground will do."

"But for those who have only just entered the martial path, beef is still best! Beef is the most nourishing at this stage."

"That is enough for now. Once you finish eating, gather outside. I'll teach you Stance Training."

After taking two steps, Head Escort Wang paused and continued, "Since there are assessments, there will be rankings. Starting today, the three strongest people will receive an extra bowl of beef and ox marrow soup."

After hearing Head Escort Wang's words, the escort beside him opened the roster.

"Fan Daniu, Shen Mu, Chen Su. After you finish eating, go to the window and collect an extra bowl of beef and ox marrow soup."

"Oh, right. Little Li, introduce the dining hall to them." After giving this instruction, Head Escort Wang left the dining hall.

Escort Li held the roster, looked around, and smiled. "Besides the meals provided free by the escort agency, an extra bowl of beef and a bowl of ox marrow soup cost one hundred copper coins. Don't think it's expensive. Both the beef and the ox marrow soup are simmered with other medicinal ingredients."

The moment that price was announced, the entire dining hall erupted into an uproar.

Escort Li ignored them and continued, "Once you practice Stance Training in a while, you'll understand everything."