Taishan Fist

[Ten-Thousand Questions Martial Arts Model activating...]

Buzz!

A fierce buzzing filled Xie An's head. Then an electric current surged through his limbs and bones with a crackling snap.

The shock launched Xie An straight out of his armchair. His arms and legs flailed beyond his control as he danced a "zombie dance."

After a long while, the numbness and stinging pain finally faded.

Xie An sat back down, gasping for breath.

He opened the panel again.

[I am Ten Thousand Questions.

I can construct a Martial Arts Grand Model, analyze flaws in martial arts, modify, evolve, and fuse them, and chart the optimal path.]

In his previous life, Xie An had often used AI models to handle documents. They were great for slacking off.

"How do I construct a Martial Arts Grand Model?"

[The host must first come into contact with a martial art. Based on its actual properties, I will construct a corresponding model, analyze its flaws, and modify, fuse, and evolve it according to the host's wishes. This will ultimately produce the optimal path.]

Now that was interesting!

But Ten Thousand Questions' answer was complicated and not very user-friendly.

Xie An decided to ask in the most straightforward way possible. "I don't want to work hard or suffer, but I do dream of becoming a martial arts master. You get me, right?"

[Understood! Charting the optimal path to realizing the host's dream... I can break down and deconstruct martial arts, then transplant them directly into the host's body.]

That sounded promising.

"Any side effects?"

[No side effects. It simply requires considerable computing power.]

Computing power?

"What's computing power?"

[The computing power consumed by Ten Thousand Questions Lv1 is the host's vitality.]

Wasn't vitality a person's blood, flesh, and bones?

Xie An's vitality was only 0.8, not even up to the baseline for an ordinary man. How many calculations could it withstand?

"Can you use someone else's vitality?"

[Not for now. Once the host's vitality grows strong enough to absorb the vitality of others, Ten Thousand Questions can use theirs for calculations.]

Xie An breathed a sigh of relief.

He was still at the starting line. A little hardship was understandable.

Once he grew stronger, everything would get better...

Just as Xie An was about to ask a few more questions...

"Hiss!"

A needle-like pain suddenly stabbed through his head. The world spun, and he collapsed to the floor.

It felt as though every drop of blood had been drained from his body.

Xie An opened the panel and looked.

His vitality had fallen from 0.8 to 0.2. The warning text had already turned red!

"I only asked a few questions... and burned through nearly all my vitality? That computing cost is ridiculous..."

"Looks like I can't chat with it anymore. For one thing, it costs too much computing power. And now that I understand what Ten Thousand Questions can do, chatting serves no real purpose. I should just have it analyze martial arts. Otherwise, I really won't survive..."

Before Xie An could finish speaking, his vision went black and he passed out.

When he woke again, daylight had already filled the sky.

Snow was still falling outside.

Qiu Lan sat beside the bed in a pink padded jacket, holding an earthenware bowl bigger than her face. Her cheeks puffed as she blew on the medicine inside.

"You're awake, young master!" Qiu Lan's eyes widened with delight when she saw him wake, and a smile spread across her face.

Her father had bought Qiu Lan for the household when she was six. She had attended Xie An for eight full years now and had become the personal maid he relied on most.

Xie An shook his heavy head. "Who carried me back yesterday?"

Qiu Lan scooped up a spoonful of medicine, blew it cool, and brought it to his lips. "You hadn't returned to the West Courtyard by midnight, young master, so I ran to the central courtyard to tell the master. He was beside himself with worry. He sent more than forty guards to search everywhere... They finally found you in the study. The master said... you must have been frightened by something outside yesterday, and you shouldn't go out for the next few days."

After drinking the medicine, Xie An opened the panel and checked his vitality. It had recovered to 0.3.

Still so low...

He had to replenish it quickly.

"Qiu Lan, I want chicken. Have the cook stew an old hen for me. Then go to the medicine shop and ask the shopkeeper for some fine ginseng roots, the older the better. Put them in the chicken soup and simmer them together."

Qiu Lan took the medicine bowl, beaming. "If you want to eat, young master, you must be all right. I'll arrange it now."

About four hours later, Qiu Lan came in carrying a large bowl of steaming ginseng chicken soup.

"This hen was raised for two years, and I added half a century-old ginseng root. It'll do you a world of good. Try it, young master."

The cook really knew her craft. The broth held the rich flavor of old hen and a strong scent of ginseng.

After only a few mouthfuls, Xie An felt much of his strength return. In the end, he picked up the bowl and drank heartily, then had Qiu Lan serve him two more large bowls.

Full and content, Xie An dozed for a while. When he woke again,

his vitality had recovered to 0.8.

It seemed that was his current limit. More nourishment would not raise it any further.

"Qiu Lan, help me dress. I'm going out for a walk."

A young master from a wealthy family never had to dress himself. Food came to his mouth, and clothes to his outstretched arms.

Qiu Lan worked briskly, soon dressing Xie An in a brand-new blue-green robe with a leather belt. A scented sachet and jade pendant hung at his waist, and silver-threaded boots patterned with clouds covered his feet. She tied his hair in a topknot and secured it with a mutton-fat jade hairpin.

When he looked in the full-length bronze mirror, he really did look the part of a wealthy young master.

"It's still snowing outside. Put on a fur cloak too, young master." Qiu Lan fetched a fox-fur cloak and draped it over Xie An before helping him out the door.

The Xie Residence covered a vast area. More than forty guards lived there, and with the servants, maids, kitchen staff, stablehands, and others, the household numbered over a hundred. His father lived in the central courtyard, while Xie An lived in the West Courtyard.

The east courtyard housed his second mother and youngest sister.

As soon as he stepped out of the main room, he saw Zhao Hu practicing saber forms in the courtyard.

Spotting Xie An, Zhao Hu hurriedly sheathed his saber and came over with a smile. "Feeling better, young master?"

Xie An nodded. "Mm. Where's Uncle Shui?"

Zhao Hu scratched his head. "He just got back from inspecting the Treasure Pawnshop. He's at the Martial Arts Training Ground now, testing the guards' skills."

"Let's go have a look."

Xie An led the way out of the West Courtyard and through several covered corridors to the Martial Arts Training Ground.

The training ground was large. Besides giving the guards a place to practice, it served as an unloading area for escorted goods.

Holding a hand warmer, Xie An stood beneath the corridor and watched more than forty guards grunt through their practice in the snow, sparring with one another. Uncle Shui stood nearby, offering pointers.

Whenever Uncle Shui spoke, the guards gathered around to listen respectfully.

Clearly, he held great standing among them.

Xie An walked slowly toward the training ground. Many of the guards spotted him and called out, "Young master!"

Only Uncle Shui stayed where he was, acknowledging him with a nod from afar.

Though Uncle Shui led the guards, he was no servant of the household. He and Xie Zhengtang were sworn brothers, and Xie An had always treated him as an uncle.

"Uncle Shui."

Xie An approached and cupped his hands.

Uncle Shui smiled. "Mingxi, you were frightened yesterday and even fainted in the study. You should be resting in your room. What brought you out into the snow?"

Xie An gestured to Qiu Lan and Zhao Hu. Understanding, they withdrew.

Xie An said, "Uncle Shui, I want to learn martial arts from you."

Uncle Shui nearly choked. He stared at Xie An in disbelief. "Mingxi, don't joke around. Learning martial arts means training through the dog days of summer and the coldest days of winter. Even then, it's hard to make anything of it, and you might ruin your health instead. You only need to take good care of yourself and inherit your father's vast estate one day. Why put yourself through that?"

Xie An sighed inwardly.

He had once thought the same thing. As long as he stayed alive and healthy... everything his father owned would someday be his.

But after what happened in Li Family Village, Xie An had changed his mind.

Uncle Shui seemed to recall something and added, "Even if Specters truly exist in this world, ordinary martial arts won't protect you from them. Mingxi, don't pin your hopes on that."

Xie An knew Uncle Shui did not believe he could master martial arts. He made no grand promises, merely smiled. "It's just a passing fancy. Uncle Shui, could you lend me a martial arts manual to look at?"

As Uncle Shui knew him, Xie An had never been particularly ambitious and could not endure hardship. Whatever caught his interest, the enthusiasm lasted three days at most. Then he lost all interest.

It had happened many times before.

He wanted to become a martial arts master without suffering for it... Where in the world could he find such a bargain?

Uncle Shui took him no more seriously this time. He decided to give Xie An an introductory martial art that was exceptionally difficult to practice, so he would retreat when he saw how hard it was. Once his brief enthusiasm passed, Xie An would stop asking about it.

With that in mind, Uncle Shui nodded. "I happen to have an introductory martial arts manual at my place called Taishan Fist. If you're interested, Mingxi, come with me and get it."