A day off

"Qi-Blood Pills should speed up the Black Seal's formation, right?"

At that thought, Mo Yun tightened his grip on the porcelain bottle, tucked it securely against his body, and turned toward his assigned work area for the day.

After taking a Qi-Blood Pill, he would need to practice stances or punches immediately to assimilate its medicinal power. This clearly wasn't the time to try it. He would have to wait until work ended and he returned that evening.

As a menial worker, he had plenty to do, with practically not a moment's rest all day.

Another busy day was about to begin, and I still had to spend half a month in that hellhole of a Forge Room...

Crouching Tiger Manor had a hand in quite a few industries, but weapon forging and pill refining were its main businesses.

For certain reasons, he had recently been assigned to the forge, where he tended the fires and cleaned several furnaces.

With Commander Li holding me up, I might not make it in time-

Glancing at the sky, Mo Yun's expression tightened, and he immediately broke into a brisk run toward the Forge Room.

His job required him to enter the earthfire chamber before the furnaces were fired up, scrub the fire residue off their walls with a specially made long-handled brush, and add smokeless charcoal and earthflame stone as instructed. Then he had to stay there all day, tending the fires to keep them lively but not fierce, while assisting several master smiths.

So, although he was a menial worker, his position was quite important. If he arrived late, none of those furnaces could start operating.

A short while later, Mo Yun arrived at the Forge Room panting, just in time, and a wave of scorching heat immediately struck his face.

It was this hot before the furnaces had even been fired up. Thank goodness it was already late autumn. I couldn't imagine how hot it would get in summer...

Sniffing the somewhat acrid smell of sulfurous stone, Mo Yun let out a heavy breath, hurried over to the furnaces under his care, and bent to his work.

After quickly cleaning the furnaces and placing smokeless charcoal and earthflame stone in the center of each firebox in the specified proportions, Mo Yun wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking considerably more relaxed.

The preparations were finally done without a hitch or any delay. The furnaces could be fired up on time. Otherwise, losing wages would be the least of my worries. A beating from the foreman might be more than I could take...

As though something had occurred to him, he couldn't help grinning. "This feels much easier now. I've even got room to spare. A couple of days ago, I would've been exhausted by this point."

Mo Yun knew this was a sign of the slight improvement in his physical fitness after reaching the introductory level of the test fist technique.

In fact, his physique now exceeded that of the average adult man, though he still needed a few more days of conditioning before it would be suitable for martial training.

Next came tending the fires, adding fuel, and helping the smiths-working the bellows, carrying water, hauling materials, and so on. None of it took much skill, and the work wasn't especially heavy. It was just a matter of putting in the hours...

At that thought, Mo Yun couldn't help frowning as he recalled the rumors that Crouching Tiger Manor was extraordinarily dangerous, with injuries and deaths occurring from time to time.

The work in the Forge Room was already among the heavier jobs, but even someone in poorer shape wouldn't be worked to death. Where had those rumors come from...?

I'd take it one step at a time. Even if there really were hidden dangers, I'd already begun learning martial arts. As long as I worked hard, trained diligently, and broke through quickly, I'd at least have some ability to protect myself if trouble really came.

Mo Yun slowly exhaled a stale breath, shook his head, and stopped dwelling on it.

Meanwhile, the resonant bell announcing the start of work rang out, and burly, solidly muscled men strode into the Forge Room with their upper bodies bare.

Time passed, and a day went by in the blink of an eye.

With the sun slanting westward and crimson clouds filling the sky, Mo Yun stretched as he walked out of the Forge Room and headed straight for the nearby dining hall.

That morning, someone had brought him a wooden token. With it, he could get special meals on the second floor of any dining hall in the Servants' Court. Not only were staple foods supplied without limit, but he could also have one meat meal each day.

This was a privilege granted to menial workers who had qualified to learn martial arts.

At lunch, Mo Yun had already used up his meat allowance for the day on a substantial dish: an entire roast goose!

Even with the energy demands of martial training, eating a whole roast goose had left Mo Yun's stomach rather stuffed.

Of course, that wasn't the point.

The point was that, with meals like these, his Black Seal was clearly forming much faster!

If I kept eating like this, at the Black Seal's current rate, I'd get another black point in ten days or so at most... Wait, I still had the Qi-Blood Pills!

At that thought, Mo Yun hurried his steps.

After hastily finishing dinner and returning to the communal sleeping quarters, Mo Yun tidied up a little, then headed toward the rear mountain with the porcelain bottle of Qi-Blood Pills tucked into his clothes.

The residential area wasn't particularly suitable for martial training. The rear mountain, not far from the Servants' Court, was clearly a good choice, provided he didn't venture too deep. Otherwise, he might encounter danger late at night.

Upon reaching the rear mountain, Mo Yun immediately uncorked the bottle, took out a Qi-Blood Pill, and swallowed it.

In an instant, he felt a scorching current of warmth pour into his body and surge through every limb and bone.

Soon, his whole body had turned red, his pores opened, and heat kept rising from him, his entire being radiating a feverish warmth.

"Hiss! This pill seems a little potent..."

Mo Yun took a deep breath and hurriedly focused his mind. Then he settled into position and began practicing stances and punches over and over, absorbing the Qi-Blood Pill's medicinal power.

At the same time, the Black Seal on his wrist lit up, visibly filling toward completion.

"It really works!" Mo Yun's eyes lit up, and excitement crept into his expression.

Over the following days, Commander Li came every morning during the hour of the Rabbit to teach them martial arts, spending roughly two hours each day.

For the first few days, he taught only the Tiger-Crouching Stance. Once they were all proficient in it, Commander Li began formally teaching the Tiger-Crouching Fist.

Mo Yun soon discovered that his progress with the Tiger-Crouching Fist was rather slow, so he devoted more time to the original test fist technique.

Time passed, and half a month went by in the blink of an eye.

Mo Yun rose early and focused on the virtual panel as he washed.

Over the past half month, he had worked during the day, made time to train on the rear mountain at night, and arrived at the Martial Training Ground an hour earlier than everyone else each morning.

Hard work always brought its rewards.

[Physique 3.6, life 2, defense 2.3, spiritual power 0]

[Martial arts: Nameless Fist Technique (minor attainment), Tiger-Crouching Fist (not yet initiated), Tiger-Crouching Stance (not yet initiated)]

[Special abilities: none]

[Available points: black 1, white 0]

In half a month, he had finally advanced the test fist technique from an initial grasp to minor attainment, and both his physique and defense had increased to some extent.

Meanwhile, the White Mark had filled again, reaching roughly fifteen percent.

In addition, he had gained one black point, and the Black Seal had filled halfway once more.

Better meals, together with the aid of Qi-Blood Pills, had greatly increased the speed at which his Black Seal formed.

After washing, Mo Yun tidied up briefly and prepared to leave the Mountain Manor.

Today was his day off. As agreed, it was time to go back and see his older sister.

Before that, of course, he intended to spend a point and make a breakthrough in the Tiger-Crouching Fist!

His expression sharpened as Mo Yun fixed his gaze just after the Tiger-Crouching Fist entry in the martial arts section. A plus sign soon appeared.