Settlement

"How do we trade?" someone asked.

Zhou Yang smiled. "You get three bowls of meat a day, one with each meal. Sell them to us, and we'll pay you ten copper coins a day. Sell all three months' worth at once, and we'll give you a tael of silver outright.

"For the Body-Strengthening Soup worth a tael of silver, I'll pay six hundred copper coins. Sell all three months' worth at once, and I'll give you two taels."

Some looked tempted, swayed by Zhou Yang's words.

If they were doomed to fail anyway, why not exchange these things for money?

"What do you say, Junior Brother Xu?" Zhou Yang looked at Xu Yang beside him.

Xu Yang remained unmoved. "Sorry, I still want to practice martial arts."

After all that talk, it turned out he wanted to buy their provisions on the cheap. Of course, what Zhou Yang had said was probably true, too.

But Xu Yang was different. He had the Martial Longevity Panel.

"Don't think I'm trying to trick you. If you don't believe me, ask Senior Brother Sun Tao when he comes tomorrow, or go ask Master Lin. Apart from Lu Ren, none of you really have a chance. Exchanging your resources for money is the wise choice," Zhou Yang said.

He did indeed want to buy Xu Yang's and the others' meat and Body-Strengthening Soup cheaply, but everything he had said was true, without a single lie.

In his eyes, aside from Lu Ren, none of them could become martial artists—not Xu Yang, nor even Zhang Yong, whose Bone Root was C-grade.

"Ask someone else, Senior Brother Zhou. I have no plans to do that for now."

Having rested enough, Xu Yang simply stood and left.

Seeing that Xu Yang refused to play along, Zhou Yuan's expression darkened, but he still said, "If you change your mind, Junior Brother Xu, you can come find us brothers anytime."

He had not expected Xu Yang to agree immediately anyway. After all, this was only his first day of training, and he was still dreaming of becoming a martial artist. Once he had battered himself bloody against that wall for a few days, he would naturally change his mind.

In the blink of an eye, the afternoon passed. Constantly cycling between training and resting, Xu Yang had no idea how much sweat he had shed.

All he remembered was drinking at least ten jin or so of water. His whole body was sticky now.

Of course, the results were gratifying. At first, he had only been able to hold the Turtle-Snake Great Stance for two or three minutes. Now he could last about five minutes at a time, and many parts of it were beginning to flow together.

His legs were trembling now, as though he had been ravaged a dozen times. He barely managed to drag his exhausted body to the bathhouse and wash away the stink of sweat before it was time for dinner.

This meal tasted even better than lunch, and he ate even more.

Threads of warmth spread from his stomach into every limb and bone, gradually dispelling his exhaustion.

Nobody sitting with him spoke. Everyone was utterly worn out, even Lu Ren. Luo Dehu, who had been bouncing all over the place, was now like an eggplant wilted by frost, equally unwilling to talk.

To his surprise, despite the Zhou Yang brothers' earlier flowery sales pitch, he noticed during the meal that nobody had sold their food.

Perhaps they're afraid the Huang Family will hold them accountable.

The prices the Zhou Yang brothers offered were not low. If everyone could resist the temptation, the underlying reason was probably still the Huang Family.

After resting a while longer, everyone recovered some strength, then stood and left the dining hall together.

Although things had turned unpleasant at noon, they still acted as a group, coming and going together.

Even the five who had no allotment of Body-Strengthening Soup accompanied Xu Yang and the other four to the Medicine Hall to drink theirs. Only then did they all leave the Mighty Far Hall together.

By the time they stepped out of the Mighty Far Hall, the sky was already darkening.

As expected of Body-Strengthening Soup that costs a tael of silver for three bowls. Its effects really are remarkable.

The Body-Strengthening Soup was beginning to take effect. Xu Yang felt his body heat up, sweat seeped out, and his skin turned red.

Their group dwindled as they walked. Once they left the city, it turned out that only the youth named Qian Jiaxing lived outside the walls like him. Everyone else lived in the city.

The two walked a little farther before Qian Jiaxing headed in another direction, and they parted ways.

By the time Xu Yang returned to White Stone Ward, barely any light remained between heaven and earth. Everything around him was silent, without even a dog's bark.

After all, most people could barely feed themselves. How could they afford to keep dogs?

As he pushed the door open, Xu Qing darted over and asked eagerly, "How did it go, big brother? Were you selected?"

Her voice actually trembled as she spoke.

Only she knew how much Xu Yang had suffered over the past six months for the sake of practicing martial arts. Mining had left his hands constantly covered in blood blisters.

If he had not been selected, she dared not imagine how desperate Xu Yang would feel.

Xu Yang rubbed the little girl's head and nodded firmly. "I was selected. My Bone Root even placed in the third tier. I've already spent a whole day training at the Mighty Far Hall."

"Ah... you were selected! That's wonderful!"

Xu Qing shrieked with excitement, her cry piercing the night.

"Keep your voice down!" Startled, Xu Yang rubbed her head again.

Only then did the little girl rein herself in a little, though she was still brimming with excitement. "Once you become a martial artist, you can outshine that nasty Yang Jun. Then Xu Lao'er will regret it until his guts turn green. Neither of us should pay him any attention..."

"Mm!"

Xu Yang nodded firmly. "Hurry and eat. You don't have to wait for me anymore. From now on, I'll be eating all three meals at the Mighty Far Hall."

Xu Qing nodded, picked up her bowl, and began eating.

Xu Yang sat beside her. After some thought, he said, "Don't tell anyone else I've started practicing martial arts for now. If someone asks, just say I've gone to work in the city."

If word got out that he had begun training, there were two possible outcomes. One was that it would intimidate Li Hu, making him abandon his designs on Xu Qing.

Of course, the other possibility was that Li Hu would fear retaliation if Xu Yang became a martial artist and snuff him out in the cradle.

They might have spoken cordially before, but given the chance, everyone around White Stone Ward would gladly kill members of the Three Harmonies Gang.

The Three Harmonies Gang pissed and shat on everyone's heads, skimming away a fifth of their yearly earnings. Everyone hated the gang to death.

The best approach, then, was to keep a low profile for now and wait until his training bore fruit.

"Mm!"

Xu Qing knew nothing about these considerations, but she would not go against Xu Yang's wishes.

During the fifth night watch, Xu Yang woke.

Instead of the muscle aches he used to feel the day after overworking himself in the mines, he felt comfortable all over and full of energy. Even his strength seemed to have increased a little.

The first thing Xu Yang did was look at the Martial Longevity Panel.

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 52]

So many points!

Yesterday, he had taken part in the Huang Family's selection, learned the Turtle-Snake Great Stance at the Mighty Far Hall, and trained desperately for an entire day. The points he received exceeded his expectations: the settlement had awarded him fifty.

In the past, it would have taken him almost two months to earn that many points.

His earlier conjecture had been correct. Only by practicing martial arts could he truly put the panel to use.

Of course, he had done quite a few things yesterday, all beneficial to martial dao longevity, which was why he had received so many points at once. He probably would not earn this many in the future unless he obtained a new cultivation technique or did something else that benefited martial dao longevity.

Others have a one-in-ten chance of becoming a martial artist. For me, it's a certainty.

The generous point reward gave Xu Yang tremendous confidence.

He climbed out of bed and ate the food Xu Qing had left over yesterday to ease his hunger. Then he sat on a stool and summoned the panel again:

[Comprehension: 21]

[Bone Root: 22]

[Cultivation: None]

[Technique: Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Not yet initiated (0/5)]

[Skill: Mining lv.3 (283/400)]

[Remaining lifespan: 57]

[Martial Dao Longevity Points: 52]