My Silver Is All Stained with Blood

The training yard was not large, only about half a mu.

High walls surrounded it on all sides, with sandbags, stone locks, wooden posts, and similar equipment arranged in the corners.

At that moment, seven or eight figures were practicing their punches with their heads lowered. Judging by their forms, their fist techniques were more nimble and unpredictable than the Golden Ape Fist.

From the sounds they made, three of the young men had exceptionally fierce fist techniques. Every movement and stillness stirred up winds from their fists that tore through the air. They had likely already broken through to the strength of a thousand jin and become Grade Martial Artists.

Su Xinghe could not help sighing inwardly.

The Veteran's Trade House was indeed formidable. Those three looked to be only around twenty, and one of them even had the youthful face of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old.

The pride he had felt from getting started overnight faded away.

That little old man outside had been right. His age was a hard flaw. Though he had a teensy bit of talent, compared with geniuses backed by major powers like these, he still had to work harder.

Su Xinghe's arrival did not attract their attention.

Nor did he intend to disturb them.

He headed straight for the corner where the sandbags and wooden posts stood.

Since he had finally found a place to test himself, he naturally wanted to know how strong he was.

His gaze settled on the dozen or so force-testing stone locks arranged in a neat line, each carved with a number.

The smallest weighed fifty jin. He lifted it over his head with one hand effortlessly.

At one hundred jin, he had to use a little more strength.

At one hundred and fifty jin, his left hand began to wobble, but he could still raise it one-handed.

At two hundred jin, his left hand could only curl it to his chest, while his right hand started swaying unstably once it passed his shoulder.

Finally, he hefted the two-hundred-and-fifty-jin stone lock, then set it down helplessly. Since he had never trained specifically for this, blindly challenging heavy weights could easily lead to injury.

After testing his strength, Su Xinghe found a slightly more open corner and assumed the stance for his fist technique.

A full set of Golden Ape Fist took more than ten minutes. After four rounds, he only felt his blood and qi surging, his entire body burning hot.

The several bowls of noodles he had eaten that morning had long since been digested, and a fierce hunger rose in his stomach again.

Remembering that he had mainly come today to learn the way and familiarize himself with the place, he did not continue. He planned to rest for a while before returning to the compound and finding time to eat something to replenish himself.

Taking advantage of the time, Su Xinghe began observing the other people's fist techniques.

That way, he could learn from others' strengths to make up for his weaknesses and verify things against one another.

By then, several more people had joined the practice yard. Among them were the young Brokerage Guild apprentices who had been with him on the third floor yesterday.

Clearly, after only one night, they had yet to even touch the threshold of the fist technique.

Their moves were halting and clumsy, their forms badly distorted.

One young man surnamed Sun was riddled with flaws even in the most important breathing rhythm. For a moment, Su Xinghe even felt the urge to give him a few pointers.

After all, the nine of them had spent all afternoon discussing things together yesterday. They could be considered fellow disciples of the same intake. He had only learned of the side courtyard's training yard from them as well.

Sun Jie barely completed a set of movements. Just as he was preparing to find a shady corner to catch his breath, he spotted Su Xinghe resting nearby, watching him with a thoughtful expression.

"Brother Su."

At his call, the other companions with furrowed brows also stopped what they were doing and looked over.

The main reason was that the Golden Ape Fist, a true martial art, was simply too difficult. These beginners could not find the method of Qi Circulation and exertion described in the manual at all.

"Morning, Brother Sun."

Su Xinghe nodded in greeting as well.

It seemed his name could no longer be kept hidden. Fortunately, Great River Gang disciples and Brokerage Guild apprentices usually had no dealings with one another.

As long as he endured these next half a month, once he reached Inner Tempering and gained the ability to protect himself, it would not matter whether he was exposed or not.

"I never expected that not only was your spearwork outstanding, Brother Su, but your talent for martial cultivation is also the envy of others."

"If the proprietor had discovered you earlier, you might already be a martial artist by now."

They had inadvertently seen Su Xinghe practicing earlier, and he had been practicing the Golden Ape Fist they had only learned yesterday. His proficiency had been nearly on par with the veteran disciples in the training yard.

Thinking of how they could not even grasp the breathing rhythm that matched the verse formula, they felt somewhat ashamed.

"Not at all, Brother Sun. You flatter me."

Su Xinghe hurriedly replied modestly.

Compared with those veteran disciples, he was a novice too.

Seeing them gathered together discussing fist techniques, the others also came over.

"Hello, Brother Su."

"Morning, Brother Su!"

"Hello, everyone."

"Brother Su, you practice so well. Do you have some kind of secret?"

"A secret?"

Su Xinghe was taken aback.

He seemed to have no secret to practicing fists. He simply buried his head and trained hard. At most, he occasionally checked whether any experience points had arrived.

Realizing that his talent might be extraordinary, Su Xinghe felt excited inside. With the Diligence Compensates for Dullness Fate as well, his future progress would only grow faster and faster.

But soon, the smile on his face gradually faded.

He had been careless...

He should not have acted so differently in front of a group of apprentices.

The tree that rises above the forest will be felled by the wind.

Knowing when to hide his abilities was the way for an ordinary man without power or influence like him to survive.

Back in the Great River Gang, everyone had been ordinary people practicing jianghu martial arts, and the gap between them had not been great. No matter how skilled his spearwork was, he had only been faster by a sliver.

That sliver could not change anything. He would still die if others surrounded and attacked him.

But martial artists were different.

A difference of one minor realm meant a difference of a thousand jin in strength. The change between them was as heaven overturning and earth upending.

Once someone too monstrous revealed themselves, they would become the target of all. Not only would hostile forces target them, even the teammates around them would grow jealous and harbor resentment.

Fortunately, this was only his first day learning martial arts, and those standing before him were merely a bunch of inexperienced rookies.

He said evenly,

"I trained all night. Somewhere in that muddled state, I happened to grasp a little feeling for how to exert force."

He would fool them for now if he could. In the future, he would need to be more restrained when practicing fists here.

"What? You trained all night!"

"Brother Su, you took pills, didn't you?"

The crowd cried out in surprise.

Some were suspicious, while others sighed in admiration.

Sun Jie suddenly said sourly,

"So Brother Su is a rich man after all, able to afford Qi-Replenishing Pills that cost ten taels of silver per bottle."

"From now on, this little brother will follow you. When you're in a good mood someday, give me a couple to taste too."

The apprentices beside him immediately lit up at the mention.

They were all Brokerage Guild apprentices, so they naturally knew about the Qi-Replenishing Pills their own house sold. They were rare goods, resources controlled by the Martial Dao Bureau.

"Yeah, yeah! We'll all follow Boss Su from now on. If you loosen even one finger, Boss, we'll soar into the sky right where we stand."

"Boss Su, I'm treating today. Tonight, let's go out for drinks and celebrate for you!"

They all came from the Brokerage Guild. Though they were young, their ability to read people and their way with words were both first-rate.

By then, Su Xinghe had become wary, so naturally he would not tell the truth.

He looked toward the rear courtyard warehouses, his expression turning cold as he said,

"What money? I'm just a gang disciple who eats today without knowing if I'll see tomorrow. All my silver is stained with blood. Sometimes, I'll fight someone to the death over a single copper coin."

"You can follow me if you want, but when it comes time to hack people down, don't pretend you didn't hear me call!"

The youths were startled by the sudden chill in his tone, and even more startled by what his words implied.

Only then did they belatedly remember that the man before them was different from apprentices like them in the Brokerage Guild. He was a ruthless underworld tough who licked blood from the edge of a blade and killed without blinking.

The sort who would not lose out even by a single copper coin.

"Brother... Brother Su... you all talk. I'm going to practice fists."

They looked at one another, their steps gradually retreating.