A Bird Without Feet-It Flies or Dies

"Brother Luo."

"Jiang... Junior Brother Jiang."

Ever since Jiang Shu had caught Old Man Chou's eye, successfully reached Qi and Blood Circulation, and obtained the Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine, he would occasionally notice Luo Yongcheng looking at him during moments of leisure, his eyes filled with complicated emotions. It was as though he wanted to say something, yet forcibly held it back.

"Another senior brother achieved Whole Body Qi and Blood Great Circulation this month. With one formidable opponent gone, Brother Luo should have the Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine in the bag this time."

"Mm. I hope so."

Luo Yongcheng's voice was low. Since his last defeat, followed by Old Man Chou's pointed hints, the drive within him had plummeted in just one month. His entire body seemed to radiate a heavy air of decline, as if he had already reached his twilight years.

"Junior Brother Jiang, do you think I should really keep practicing martial arts?"

"Brother Luo, do you have a choice?"

As his friend, Jiang Shu naturally knew Luo Yongcheng's true circumstances.

As the young master of Luo Family Pharmacy, although he had been born prematurely and lacked innate vital essence, he had nevertheless grown up in a well-off household, never wanting for food or drink. Compared with refugees who could not even fill their stomachs, his physical constitution was still several cuts above theirs.

For his sake, his grandfather had left Pingling County several times to gather herbs from the deep mountains.

Finally, two years ago, he successfully formulated a medicinal meal—Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine.

Nourished by the Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine, Luo Yongcheng soon became no different from an ordinary person.

Luo Family Pharmacy had also swiftly made a name for itself throughout Pingling County with this medicinal meal. The silver it earned each month was more than ten times what it had been before.

Yet a common man committed no crime, but was condemned for possessing jade.

In less than half a year, Luo Family Pharmacy had caught the eye of the wealthy Yao Family. Ruffians from both the Outer City and Inner City began gathering before the pharmacy, stopping anyone who came to buy the medicinal meal.

Anyone who bought it would be beaten by the ruffians that very day.

Even when they reported it to the authorities, the constables at the County Government turned a blind eye.

The ruffians only beat people; they did not steal the medicinal meals. They would merely be locked up for a few days before being quietly released again.

From then on, Luo Family Pharmacy's business grew worse and worse, and they could only survive on their previous savings.

In a fit of anger, Luo Yongcheng had come to Hungry Tiger Martial Hall to practice martial arts, hoping to become a martial artist and revive the pharmacy.

He trained diligently day and night without missing a single day, for exactly one year.

But he had started too late. As for how long it would take before he became a martial artist, no one knew.

"Brother Luo, I once heard that somewhere in this world, there is a kind of footless bird. It has no feet, only wings. Throughout its life, it can only fly and never land. It stakes everything on a single throw—if it does not fly, it dies."

"In Pingling County, we are the same."

Jiang Shu's voice was low. On the field, apprentices had already begun exchanging blows.

"The wealthy households of the Inner City, the gangs of the Outer City—if we want to get past them, we can only fly. We cannot stop."

After saying that, he stood quietly. During his first month at Hungry Tiger Martial Hall, Luo Yongcheng had told him much about the county's circumstances. He had grown ever more grateful for his caution, for never taking modern items to Pingling County's pawnshops for an outright sale.

Unlike the county towns of the dynasties in his previous life, this was a world where Martial Dao reigned supreme.

Apart from the County Government, the wealthy households that possessed Bone Forging martial artists were the heavens of Pingling County.

Most pawnshops, pharmacies, restaurants, and even martial halls in the county had wealthy households backing them.

Cheap goods could not fetch high prices at pawnshops.

As for valuable items, he feared that the moment he stepped out of the pawnshop, people from the wealthy households would already have their eyes on him.

In Pingling County—

or rather, in this world—the only thing one could do was practice martial arts.

Practice martial arts without end.

Until one reached Bone Forging and beyond.

"Next round: Jiang Shu, Yuan Chengcai!"

"My turn, Brother Luo. There is no other choice."

Jiang Shu took a deep breath and walked to the center of the courtyard.

The more he learned about this world, the more fortunate he felt to have been reborn on Xuanxing. In the Xia Kingdom, there was a stable social order. Even with the world changing now, the Xia Kingdom continued to uncover talented martial arts practitioners while maintaining stability.

Its Martial Dao system could already be considered exceptionally fair.

So long as one had talent, one could obtain martial arts resources at any university.

But in this world, in Pingling County, even the most basic resource for practicing martial arts—meat—was firmly monopolized by the wealthy households. No matter how many years of family savings ordinary people spent to train at martial halls, even if their talent was unmatched, they could at most become Skin Grinding Realm martial artists.

And then?

Then, naturally, they would be recruited by the wealthy households and become their retained martial artists.

It could not be called dragon slayers eventually becoming evil dragons.

This was the only path for ordinary people.

If a single county town was already like this...

What about the territory of an entire commandery?

What about the territory of an entire province?

Peering at a leopard through a tube, one could see the spots on its body.

"Please."

"Please."

After exchanging polite fist salutes, Jiang Shu reined in his thoughts. His body swayed slightly, like a hungry tiger about to leave its den. A chill immediately gathered in his eyes.

As though the person before him was not a fellow disciple.

But prey waiting to be caught.

"Ah!"

With a roar, Yuan Chengcai leaped into the air and pounced fiercely at Jiang Shu!

He had achieved Qi and Blood Circulation last month.

The first time he stepped onto the platform, he had been defeated within a few moves. This time, facing Jiang Shu, who had achieved Qi and Blood Circulation even later than him, he was determined to win.

Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine.

It was his turn now!

Jiang Shu spun and sprang at him from the side.

In full view of everyone, Jiang Shu naturally would not take out any lime powder. But his minor-success Tiger Form Three Styles were more than enough to handle Yuan Chengcai, who was clearly still only at the beginner level.

Yuan Chengcai had never expected Jiang Shu to attack from the side and was caught completely off guard.

He was suppressed by Jiang Shu from the very start.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After several exchanges, Yuan Chengcai was forced farther and farther back. Jiang Shu's fists and kicks were fierce and savage. Having killed before, he understood even better that the Tiger Form Three Styles needed to carry a breath of killing intent within them.

The more timid and hesitant one was when using the Tiger Form Three Styles, the more one bound one's own hands and feet!

In just a few breaths, Yuan Chengcai was driven back three steps by Jiang Shu's ferocious punch, retreating beyond the drawn white circle.

"The winner is Jiang Shu."

Half an hour later.

The martial hall's sparring matches ended.

Perhaps Jiang Shu's words had worked. Once he took the stage, Luo Yongcheng fought more and more fiercely as well, winning his match and successfully earning a dose of secret medicine.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Jiang."

After Old Man Chou had finished instructing the apprentices and returned to his room to rest, Luo Yongcheng seemed to have made up his mind and took the initiative to approach Jiang Shu.

"Junior Brother Jiang, would it be convenient to go out...?"

"Mm."

A little less training time would not matter. Jiang Shu nodded, stretched his body, and followed Luo Yongcheng out of the martial hall.

The two walked and soon arrived at the Luo Family Pharmacy.

The pharmacy, once bustling with business, was now so deserted that birds could nest at its gate. Only a few hooligans still loitered outside it as usual.

"Junior Brother Jiang, you've seen the situation. If I want to keep my family's pharmacy, the only chance lies in me becoming a martial artist."

"Old Man Chou praised you last month, and this month you directly won the sparring match. I know you need to train and are in urgent need of Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine too. But if I... if I can receive more than two doses of secret medicine a month... perhaps I can achieve the Whole Body Qi and Blood Great Circulation within two months."

"By then, even if I still fail to catch Old Man Chou's eye and cannot become a formal disciple, I'll still receive one dose of Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine every month. My martial training progress will speed up immensely."

"I know that for martial practitioners like us, offering silver to buy secret medicine is an insult to you, Junior Brother Jiang. So I am willing to offer my Luo family's secret recipe in exchange for your support with secret medicine over the next year."

Inside the pharmacy.

Luo Yongcheng took out a writing brush, dipped it in ink, and swiftly wrote across a sheet of paper.

Before long, he had finished writing out a secret recipe.

At the very top of it were four striking words:

Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine.

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