Peerless Bearing

Cheng Yang slowly opened his eyes. The sight that met them was a roof framework built of thick logs, their grain rough and bearing the smoke-stained marks of years gone by.

Unfamiliar to the extreme.

Where the hell did that truck-kun send me?

He sat up, his head still somewhat throbbing.

The bed board was hard as rock, layered with a thin, old cotton mattress that made his back ache with pressure.

Heaven... or hell?

Just as he was pondering, the push of a door sounded. A woman walked in carrying a basin of water, her eyes locking onto his.

Upon seeing that he had awakened, the woman almost lost her grip on the basin in her hands, her eye rims instantly flushing red.

"Xiaoyang, you're finally awake!"

It was as if something in Cheng Yang's mind had been gently plucked. A name naturally surfaced: Lin Xia, his mother in this lifetime.

It was also at this exact moment that he truly realized he had neither gone to heaven nor descended to hell, but had transmigrated. His past life's wisdom had awakened.

Lin Xia hurried over to the bedside, leaning down to examine him closely while reaching out a hand to test his forehead. "Xiaoyang, how is your body feeling right now? Is anything hurting? You must tell your mother!"

"Mother, I'm fine." Cheng Yang shook his head.

His body truly had no major issues, save for being exceedingly weak.

His limbs were sore and devoid of strength, the gaps in his bones feeling as though they were filled with lead. Every single movement took effort, much like taking off ten consecutive times.

Gazing at his pale face, Lin Xia knitted her brows in heartache. "Are you hungry? Mother will go make food right now."

Watching his mother turn and head out the door, Cheng Yang leaned against the head of the bed, beginning to sort through the information in his mind.

The reason he had fallen unconscious was because he failed a breakthrough in martial arts.

Eager to break through, his vital Qi and blood had suffered a backlash, sending him into a deviation and knocking him out cold for two days.

Still, it could be considered a blessing in disguise.

His memories of a past life had awakened along with him.

If nothing goes wrong... I should probably be expelled from the martial hall by now.

He had trained at Spirit Crane Martial Hall for three months, having paid three months of tuition.

The rule was simple: within three months, break through to the Skin Tempering Realm, and you could stay to become a formal disciple; if you failed to break through, you had to renew your tuition to keep learning.

The problem was that his family background in this life was poor enough to rattle, and even those three months of tuition had been borrowed.

Where on earth would he get the money to pay it a second time?

And so, clinging to the final few days, he had embraced a do-or-die mindset and risked his life to force the breakthrough.

In the end, he still failed to break through.

Failing at martial arts meant that his future prospects for turning his life around were utterly gone.

A family background already poverty-stricken, coupled with his father's accidental passing, meant his days would only grow narrower and harder.

A ruined start right out of the gate. This really is bad enough.

If I hadn't awakened the memories of my past life, I'm afraid this world really would have chewed me up without leaving a single bone chip behind.

Yet on the other hand, even with awakened memories, I don't possess some grand ability to overturn a desperate situation.

When all is said and done, I was just an ordinary wage slave in my past life with no special talents.

Cheng Yang tugged self-deprecatingly at the corner of his mouth. Just how much weight he carried was something he knew very well in his heart.

But...

I might be trash, but I have a cheat.

As his voice trailed off, deep within his pupils, rows of text slowly materialized.

[Destiny: Peerless Bearing]
[Effect 1: Starting today, training for one day equals one year.]
[Effect 2: You possess no bottlenecks whatsoever on the path of cultivation.]
[Effect 3: Your innate talent will gradually strengthen as time passes.]
[Spirit Crane Stance: Beginner (90/100)]
[Spirit Crane Fist: Beginner (55/100)]

Training for a day equaled a year for anyone else. Training for a hundred days meant equaling a hundred years for others.

Naturally, this was not the end. In the future, as time marched on, this effect would grow even stronger.

Overpowered?

Cheng Yang felt it was all right.

When he read web novels in his past life, some golden fingers made people invincible right from the start. That was what you called overpowered.

By comparison, his cheat still needed a bit of a buff.

How nice it would be to just fast-forward to "I don't eat beef"...

Fantasies aside, Cheng Yang quickly set a small goal for himself: to train his martial arts until he was peerless in the world, fighting every unmatched opponent across the realm, and incidentally, not eating beef.

With a goal, a person had something to strive for.

The road ahead would be paved entirely by sweat and hard work.

Cheng Yang's spirits lifted, and he felt as though his entire body was pumped full of strength once more. Yet the moment he stepped down from the bed and walked a few steps, his legs turned to jelly, and he nearly crashed straight to the ground.

Leaning against the wall as he walked to the outer room, a wave of meat fragrance drilled straight into his nose, making saliva bubble in his mouth and causing his stomach to rumble in response.

Meals were already laid out on the dining table. Two dishes and one soup, plus a bowl of pearly white rice.

Lin Xia was wiping sweat from her forehead beside the table, looking at him with a smile. "Are you starved? Eat up."

Cheng Yang did not rush to pick up his chopsticks. Given their family's financial situation, a meal like this meant another day lost from their dwindling reserves.

"Mom, why aren't you serving yourself?"

"Mom isn't hungry. You damaged your body practicing martial arts, so you need a proper nourishment boost. There's more in the pot, serve yourself if it's not enough."

A warmth bloomed in Cheng Yang's chest. But he could not bring himself to eat alone while letting his mother watch from the side. After a few words of persuasion, Lin Xia finally scooped a small bowl for herself with reluctance.

Only then did Cheng Yang pick up his chopsticks and dig in with large bites.

The moment the food entered his stomach, it was immediately crushed, digested, refined, and transformed into a pure stream of energy that fed back into his limbs and bones. A flush of color rapidly returned to his pale face, and his strength ticked upward bit by bit.

After a whirlwind feast, only a thin film of grease remained on the plates on the table, while the sickly, ghostly pallor on his face had faded by more than half, his eyes regaining their vigor.

Seeing this, Lin Xia was both startled and overjoyed. "Xiaoyang, your complexion looks much better."

"It's all thanks to Mom. The food you cook is too delicious." Cheng Yang split into a grin.

"Whether it's delicious doesn't matter, as long as it helps you recover." Lin Xia smiled as she cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.

Cheng Yang lowered his head and rubbed his stomach. Even though he had eaten several bowls of rice, the space inside still felt completely hollow.

It seems it's not just my cultivation; my destiny trait has also upgraded my capacity to digest and absorb.

His stomach and intestines could now digest roughly a year's worth of an ordinary person's food in a single day.

Outrageous as it was, he was already cheating at life, so anything was possible.

A pleasant surprise.

Cheng Yang stood up, loosening his muscles and joints. The sense of weakness had faded by more than half.

He could even stand in stance and throw punches, looking nothing like someone who had just woken up from a faint.

Shall I strike while the iron is hot and do some training?

Once the thought arose, he could no longer suppress it. Even so, he planned to practice behind his mother's back so as to spare her the worry.

Just as he thought about returning to his room, a burst of ill-tempered pounding suddenly echoed from outside the courtyard gate.

"Who is it?" Lin Xia put down her bowl, preparing to go open the door.

"Mom, wash your dishes, I'll get it." Cheng Yang took a step ahead.

Lin Xia did not agree; she wiped her hands and followed him out together.

The mother and son had just reached the courtyard when the gate was kicked open with a loud bang.

The crossbeam used to secure the door latch snapped into two halves, wood splinters scattering everywhere.

Cheng Yang furrowed his brow as a few figures entered his line of sight.

His heart skipped a beat.

The debt collectors had arrived.

The leading man was a head shorter than the fellows behind him, but his head was unusually large.

This man was named Liu Yuan, the Cheng family's creditor, and also a member of the Golden Tiger Gang.

Qinglin County was crowded with various gangs, and the Golden Tiger Gang was one of them.

"Master Liu." Lin Xia forced a smile onto her face.

"Kid Cheng, I heard your martial arts breakthrough failed?" Liu Yuan's gaze landed on Cheng Yang.

"Thank you for the laugh, Master Liu." Cheng Yang took a deep breath.

"Since the breakthrough failed, when do you two plan to pay back the silver you borrowed from me?" Liu Yuan said as he casually twiddled his fingers.

"Master Liu, didn't our family borrow it for a year? The time hasn't come yet, has it..." Lin Xia's voice tightened.

"Time?" Liu Yuan let out a scoff. "Time is naturally up to me to decide. What, do you have an objection?"

The mother and son fell silent. Even if they had objections, they dared not voice them.

On Old Kui Street, the Golden Tiger Gang's rules were the law, and ordinary folks like them were merely meat on a chopping board waiting to be sliced.

"Fine, since you have no objections, that makes things easy. Within three days, I want to see twelve taels of silver," Liu Yuan added airily, "If you can't cough it up, use this courtyard as collateral. Rather than selling it to outsiders, you might as well sell it to me."

The expressions of both mother and son shifted drastically.

This courtyard had been left behind by Cheng Yang's grandfather, and selling it would fetch at least a dozen-odd taels.

The problem, however, was that this was not only the mother and son's final sanctuary, but also the roots of three generations of the Cheng family.

Short of absolute desperation, they could never target it.

Yet in Lin Xia's eyes, things had already reached the end of their rope. Her son had lost his martial arts bets, so he had to bear the consequences of losing.

"Master Liu, allow the two of us to consider this a bit longer." Lin Xia gritted her teeth and spoke.

"Hmph, then consider away. Remember, you only have three days." Liu Yuan gave a cold hump, turned on his heel, and strode off with his lackeys.

Lin Xia stood frozen in place, feeling the world spin around her. Her whole body swayed like a scrap of paper, and she almost collapsed.

Cheng Yang's eyes were sharp and his hands fast; he rushed forward and caught her.

"Mom, are you alright?"

"Mom's fine..." Lin Xia's voice trembled. "It's just that this ancestral home of the Cheng family is going to be ruined in my hands.

When I pass on, how am I going to face your father and your grandfather..."

As she spoke, she began to sob.

While comforting his mother, Cheng Yang held back a surge of bottled-up frustration in his heart.

It was one thing to be bullied in his past life, but to have a cheat code in this life and still get ridden roughshod over him—this was a grievance he could not swallow.

Mom, I'm going to protect this yard. He swore silently in his heart.

Creeak...

The courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside.

"Who?" Cheng Yang abruptly pulled his mother behind him, his vigilance spiked to the maximum—could Liu Yuan have turned back, dropping all pretense entirely?

"Brother Yang, it's me." A dark-skinned youth poked his head in, scratched the back of his head with some embarrassment, and said, "Looks like I came at a bad time."

"Haozi? What are you doing here." Seeing that it wasn't Liu Yuan and his gang, Cheng Yang felt a weight lift from his chest.

Haozi, full name Wang Haowen, was a childhood friend Cheng Yang had grown up with on Old Kui Street.

"Auntie." Haozi greeted Lin Xia.

"Little Hao is here, come on inside and sit." Lin Xia wiped her face and recovered some of her composure.

The three of them entered the house. Lin Xia went to the kitchen to wash dishes, leaving the two of them to talk in the main room.

"Haozi, you came all this way, is something the matter?" Cheng Yang asked.

"Didn't I hear that you hurt yourself practicing martial arts, Brother Yang? I came to check on you.

Seeing that you're fine, Xiaoxue and I can finally rest easy."

"Where's Xiaoxue? Didn't she come with you?"

"She has too much work, couldn't get away."

"Oh."

Xiaoxue was also one of Cheng Yang's few friends, a female friend, but not a girlfriend.

"Brother Yang, this is a little something from Xiaoxue and me." Haozi pulled a washed-white gray cloth pouch from his bosom, undid it, and handed over two taels of scattered silver inside.

"You guys are..." Cheng Yang started, then quickly pushed it back. "I can't take this money."

"Brother Yang, you've been practicing martial arts for three months; your family savings are probably almost exhausted.

Take these two taels of silver; it'll be enough to tide you and Auntie over for a spell." Haozi refused to take no for an answer, shoving the money pouch firmly into Cheng Yang's hand.

Cheng Yang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words caught in his throat. In the end, he only managed two words: "Thanks."

"Psh! What are you standing on ceremony with us for? We've been brothers for years." Haozi waved a hand, broke into a wide grin, and said, "Friends should help each other out, right?"

Cheng Yang's Adam's apple bobbed, his eye sockets stinging slightly. In this kind of world, finding a few friends who treated you sincerely was too damn hard.

He had originally thought that upon learning of his martial arts failure, Haozi and Xiaoxue would slowly grow distant, but they hadn't. Not only had they not distanced themselves, they had even delivered charcoal in the snow.

He had locked this debt of favor away in his heart.

"I'll pay you guys back as soon as possible." Cheng Yang's tone was solemn.

Haozi smiled carelessly, lowering his voice as he asked, "Brother Yang, what did those dog-less bastards of Liu Yuan's want when they came to find you today?"

"Nothing, they just came to check on how my health was doing. After all, my family still owes him money." Cheng Yang didn't tell the truth.

"That guy is that kindhearted?" Haozi wore a look of disbelief.

"Who the hell knows." Cheng Yang brushed it off with a laugh.

After chatting a bit longer, Haozi rose to take his leave.

"Alright, Brother Yang, I'm heading out. I'll come back next time."

"Next time you come, my treat. We'll have a proper feast."

"Next time, huh..." Haozi froze, his expression blanking for a fraction of a second before he returned to normal. "Sure, I'll hold you to it, Brother Yang."

Cheng Yang caught the oddity in his expression. "What's wrong? Got something on your mind?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm off, Brother Yang! Auntie!" Haozi waved, turned, and strode out of the courtyard.

Watching the retreating figure of his friend, Cheng Yang felt a lingering sense that Haozi had kept something back.

Yet right now, he couldn't afford to worry about that—he could barely keep his own head above water. Only by growing stronger first would he have the capability to help his friends.

"Mom, I'm heading out for a bit."

"Your body isn't fully healed yet, why are you going out?" Lin Xia tensed up again.

"I left some things at the martial arts hall, I need to go get them."

"...Then go and come straight back."

"Got it."

Twilight stained the edge of the sky, the setting sun sinking inch by inch as a dark greenish-blue canopy of heaven gathered golden light toward the horizon.

Clutching the silver taels whose warmth had not yet faded, Cheng Yang first stopped by a shop to exchange them for a bundle of dried meat, then walked all the way along the street to the small river outside the city.

The river surface rippled with silver-dust light, moonlight spread out pure and clear across the entire expanse.

He bent down to wash his face, and when he straightened up, he caught the reflection of a young face in the water.

The facial contours were sharply defined, the space between his brows carrying a trace of unvanquished youthful vigor.

His eyes were slightly elongated with upturned outer corners, and the top lip bore a few days' worth of unshaven stubble, forcibly suppressing three parts of that green rawness and revealing a rugged, masculine edge.

Cheng Yang examined himself for a moment, deciding this face was quite pleasing to the eye—somewhat similar to his past life's visage, but with more sharp angles and looking much more like someone who practiced martial arts.

"Alright, back to business."

He shook the stray thoughts from his mind, brushed the dust from his robes, took two steps back, slightly bent his knees, straightened his spine, and dropped into his stance-work by the riverside.

The moonlight draped across his shoulders, stretching out an elongated shadow.

Peerless Bearing, let me see where your limits lie.

Cheng Yang slowly closed his eyes.