A Child Carrying Gold Through a Bustling Market

Ripples stirred across the lake's surface.

The small boat sped along.

A figure raced like a galloping horse, spray flying everywhere and carving a white trail across the water.

The cameraman had never imagined filming could be done this way. His mouth hung slightly open, his eyes stretched wide, and his heart pounded wildly.

Only his hands remained steady as he held the camera, instinctively recording it all.

With a long howl, Jiang Shu came running across the water.

This was real footage, not someone suspended by wires?

Jiang Shu, still out on the lake, had no idea how stunned the people on the opposite shore were.

His breath was taut, and his legs moved at an extreme frequency.

Having already achieved the Whole Body Qi and Blood Great Circulation, his speed had long surpassed the limits of modern sprinters. Within a few strides, he caught up to the small boat as it gradually slowed.

Before his body had fully fallen into the water, he fiercely drew in a breath and stepped onto the boat. Using that renewed leverage, he took several more steps across the water, flipped into the air, and landed steadily on the shore.

The entire process took only a few breaths.

Lake water had already soaked his socks.

But Jiang Shu did not care. Standing on the shore, he looked at the cameraman, who was clearly still frozen in a daze, and asked, "Did you get it?"

"Ah? Ah? I got it, I got it."

The cameraman hurriedly tapped save. When he looked at Jiang Shu again, his eyes were filled with profound doubt about himself.

After so many years in the business, he had thought he had seen enough!

He had even been present when a certain kung fu superstar leapt down from more than a dozen floors up.

That scene had left a deep impression on him, but in his understanding, it was still something human strength could accomplish. After all, descending diagonally from a building was, for an actor, more a matter of whether they dared.

Safety measures could be arranged.

Visual angles could be found.

But what had he just seen?

A man walking across the water!

This was no longer about daring or not.

It was about whether one could do it at all!

Could this be Martial Dao?

The cameraman's gaze could not help growing unfocused. He had paid attention when Xia Kingdom promoted Martial Dao, but he had always believed Martial Dao was simply the kung fu seen in martial arts movies.

Just techniques for hitting people. Even trained to the limit, it still came down to knocking someone over with a single brick.

But clearly, true Martial Dao was completely different from what he had understood before.

Just what he could see included the miraculous sight of running across water.

What about what he could not see?

A high school student could already do this.

What about those who had practiced martial arts for many years?

He hardly dared think further!

"I've finished what I needed to film. Is there anything else you need? We can shoot it all together."

Seeing that everyone had been stunned silent by him, Jiang Shu knew he had passed this test. He relaxed and spoke.

"Jiang Shu... just now, you... stepped on the water and came back? Has your Martial Dao already reached that level?"

Ye Zhenzhen looked at Jiang Shu, her voice trembling so badly that she began to stammer.

She knew Jiang Shu was formidable.

But what the hell was running across water?

"What are you thinking?" Jiang Shu shook his head. "Watch the recorded footage later and you'll understand. I stepped on the boat midway to borrow force. Without that, I would have sunk long ago."

This had been his first experiment, but today's experiment had also made him understand that in the early stages of martial arts, humans were still only human.

After taking just a few steps on the water, his entire body had begun sinking uncontrollably.

Had he not prepared beforehand and kicked off from the small boat—

Borrowing force from it once more—

By the time he had crossed even half the distance, the water would probably have reached his knees.

To truly walk upon water, he would likely need to become a martial artist at the very least.

Once he mastered Hungry Tiger Howling Mountain Force, with force released outward, drifting across water with lightness skill for a few dozen meters should not be a problem at all.

"That's still terrifying..." Ye Zhenzhen murmured. Then she suddenly grew excited and asked, "Jiang Shu, can one do this once the Horse Stance reaches Great Accomplishment?"

She had entered the Horse Stance in just over ten days.

Did that mean she could reach Minor Accomplishment in a month?

Then Great Accomplishment after a few more months!

If she had known she could do this, would her motivation for martial arts not have arrived long ago?

When the time came, she could sit on a yacht and show off in front of her girlfriends!

Thinking this, she felt extremely pleased with herself.

"Probably not." Jiang Shu looked at Ye Zhenzhen, who knew not what she was smug about, and answered concisely, "My Horse Stance has reached perfection."

In truth.

Even if Ye Zhenzhen's Horse Stance reached perfection in the future, she would still not be able to do what he had done today.

After all, his foundation had long since been replaced by the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall's Refining, Nourishing, Striking Three Methods.

The Horse Stance was ultimately only a refining method.

When Xia Kingdom promoted Martial Dao, it had already planned and calculated everything.

Even if someone wished to use the Horse Stance to violate martial prohibitions, how much could they accomplish with only refining methods and no striking methods?

A weightlifter might not necessarily defeat an ordinary boxer in a boxing ring.

A martial artist whose Horse Stance had reached perfection possessed only nine hundred pounds of strength.

In a fistfight, they naturally held an absolute advantage.

But what if they faced machinery, or even guns and cannons?

The Horse Stance had only one purpose.

To sense Blood Qi, circulate Blood Qi, and achieve the Whole Body Qi and Blood Great Circulation.

To learn Xia Kingdom's true Martial Dao,

one could only enroll in school or join the military and submit to Xia Kingdom's constraints.

After spending another two days filming the Martial Arts Promotional Video, Jiang Shu bid Ye Zhenzhen farewell and left.

From Xia Kingdom, he crossed into the Great Jing Dynasty.

Pingling County.

Jiang Shu left the Small Courtyard and headed straight to Zhou Family Restaurant.

After more than half a month of buildup, Zhou Family Restaurant's reputation had long spread far and wide. Before noon had even arrived, the restaurant's private rooms and main hall were already packed.

Customers were even lining up outside.

Besides supplying table salt and monosodium glutamate, Jiang Shu had taught Zhou Yang quite a few little things during this period.

For example, how to increase the restaurant's "table turnover rate."

For example, how to clear out an area for a "parking lot."

"Brother Jiang!"

The sharp-eyed waiter immediately reported Jiang Shu's arrival to Zhou Yang.

Before long, Zhou Yang came running out of the restaurant.

Over the past half month, the restaurant's business had exploded, and his martial arts progress had completely stalled.

He no longer went to the Hungry Tiger Martial Hall. The ten taels of silver he paid merely kept his name on the rolls.

Every day, he helped out at the restaurant.

Now, the person he admired most was none other than Jiang Shu!

"Brother Jiang, hehe, let me tell you about our restaurant's accounts for the past few days." Pulling Jiang Shu toward an empty private room specially reserved in the restaurant, Zhou Yang's fat face was all smiles. Table salt and monosodium glutamate had already shocked him greatly.

But Jiang Shu's later theories had been even more earthshaking.

Table turnover rate.

Parking lots.

And the membership system Jiang Shu had mentioned a few days ago!

He had only implemented it for two days, yet who knew how much gold and silver had already flowed into the restaurant's accounts.

Zhou Yang even felt that if Jiang Shu stopped practicing martial arts and switched to business,

all the money in Pingling County might end up in his pockets!

"Brother Jiang, it really is a pity that you practice martial arts."

Unable to stop himself from sighing again, Zhou Yang poured Jiang Shu tea and said, "Brother Jiang, why not come work at our restaurant instead? We can barely manage as things are. If you help us, Zhou Family Restaurant's business will become several times more prosperous!"

"With Old Man Chou backing us, the two of us joining hands would definitely rival an ordinary wealthy county household!"

Zhou Yang looked at Jiang Shu, his eyes burning.

What could martial arts really offer?

Without reaching Bone Forging, an ordinary Skin Grinding Realm practitioner was merely a retainer of some wealthy household.

And Bone Forging—how difficult was that?

There were countless apprentices across the county accepted as formal disciples by martial hall masters.

They could indeed all reach the Skin Grinding Realm and become true martial artists.

But how many could reach Bone Forging?

Without reaching Bone Forging, in Pingling County's Inner City and before the great households, they were no more than slightly larger ants.

In his view, rather than practicing martial arts, Jiang Shu would be better off staying by Old Man Chou's side and building a good relationship with him.

As long as Old Man Chou remained, Zhou Family Restaurant's business would remain prosperous.

"Zhou Yang, you've become obsessed with appearances."

"Martial Dao is the foundation."

"Do you know that if martial artists fail to enter the Viscera Training Realm, their Blood Qi begins to decline after forty? Looking at Old Man Chou's current condition, how do you think he compares to a genuine late-stage Bone Forging martial artist in his thirties or forties?"

Jiang Shu shook his head. "The Zhou Family can still rely on Old Man Chou's lingering prestige for support. But what if Old Man Chou is gone? A child carrying gold through a bustling market. What will the great households do when they see it?"

"If you want to support the Zhou Family for a lifetime, you can only practice martial arts yourself and reach Bone Forging yourself."

"On the path of Martial Dao, you may accept others' help for a time, but you cannot keep begging others forever."

It was as though a basin of cold water had been splashed directly over Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang abruptly came to his senses.

The immense amount of real gold and silver had smashed him senseless.

He had even neglected Martial Dao, the very foundation of his life.

Seeing that Zhou Yang could still heed advice, Jiang Shu nodded and said, "Last time, you told me the Yao Family would hold a birthday banquet in just over half a month. The birthday gifts will definitely include Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine from Luo Family Pharmacy. How has your investigation into this gone?"