Heaven's Will Was Hard to Defy

[You had no particular strengths. You only knew how to work hard.]

[You worked hard at martial arts, rising early and training late, and you did not neglect your studies either. You read for no other purpose than learning to recognize characters, which allowed you to pursue both literary and martial studies.]

[Five years later, you finally sensed internal force.]

[Liu Daye worried day and night that you would ruin the Changfeng Martial Arts School's reputation. When he heard this happy news, he was so delighted he nearly cried.]

[You continued practicing your fist techniques at the Changfeng Martial Arts School.]

[Liu Bai was still the same Liu Bai, painstakingly precise when teaching, though she occasionally revealed a goofy smile. Liu Daye was still the same Liu Daye too, coming by every few days to peddle new "packages": "Anniversary special!" "Spring Festival bonanza!" "Limited-time Mid-Autumn discount!"]

[In the thirtieth year, you were forty-five, and your hair was already graying. That year, chopping the tree earned you the white trait Iron Knees-kneeling never hurt, no matter how long you did it. Ideal for admitting fault and scrubbing floors.]

[Had you been young, you might have agonized over whether to equip this or Thick-Skinned.]

[But now you were old, and free as well. No one could bear to have you kneel before them.]

[Day after day passed. Your internal force grew increasingly powerful, and you could now use the Changfeng Fist. Although you still could not beat Liu Bai, you could already exchange a dozen or so moves with Liu Hei. Occasionally, you thought of Nanny, of the Marquis's Household, and of those three pieces of jade still hidden in the mouse hole.]

[But all that felt like something from a previous life, so distant it seemed unreal.]

[Senior Sister Liu Bai-no, she was the school's new head now.]

[Liu Bai ran the school and continued teaching you martial arts.]

[Liu Family Ferry was right under the emperor's nose, and the troubles at the frontier could not reach you here. It was just that, a few days earlier, you had heard that everyone in the neighboring town had died overnight.]

[Deeply struck by the fickleness of fate, you found the courage to ask about Nanny.]

[Only after spending a considerable sum of silver did you meet an old woman who had once served in the Marquis's Household. She did not know you, but she knew Nanny. Since you had paid her, she sighed and told you about Nanny.]

[The kitchen was indeed a lucrative post, but it also demanded caution every single day.]

[Careful as Nanny had been, she had still fallen into a trap. Before the secret came to light, she had called in every favor she had to send you away.]

[Grieving, you erected a cenotaph for Nanny at your residence. There were no bones, no belongings, only a wooden tablet inscribed with "Spirit tablet of my adoptive mother, Rong Shi."]

[That same year, Liu Bai came to you and told you the school was about to close down.]

[You had foreseen this day as early as when Liu Bai took over. You simply had not expected it to come so soon.]

[When accepting students, Liu Daye had never considered talent, much less character. As long as they paid enough silver, he accepted them all.]

[Thus, this generation of the Changfeng Martial Arts School had only two and a half capable people: you, Liu Bai, and, of course, the unreliable Liu Hei counted as the half. You looked at Liu Bai, then at Liu Hei. In the end, you could only sigh and take up the burden of promoting the Changfeng Martial Arts School in Liu Daye's place.]

[Standing at the school's entrance, you gazed at the plaque bearing the words "Changfeng Martial Arts School" and sank into thought. In your previous life, you had been a corporate drone working nine to nine, six days a week. In this life, you were a martial arts school salesperson.]

[Fate really did have quite a sense of humor.]

[The next day, a peculiar sight appeared on the streets of Liu Family Ferry: an old woman with graying hair, dressed in training clothes covered in patches, stood at the school entrance holding up a wooden sign.]

[The sign read: Changfeng Martial Arts School Grand Opening Bonanza! Free seven-day trial! Thirty-day package for just one tael of silver! Lifetime apprenticeship special: fifteen taels! The first twenty to sign up receive a free set of training clothes!]

[Passersby stopped one after another, whispering among themselves:]

["Who's this old lady?"]

["Someone from the Changfeng Martial Arts School, I suppose? I've never seen her out here hawking before."]

["A free trial? Really?"]

[You smiled, unmoved by the winds from all eight directions. If Liu Daye could hoodwink people with these tricks back then, why couldn't you? Besides, you were someone who had seen the world. In your previous life, the streets had been full of gym flyers. You could recite ten sales pitches with your eyes closed.]

["Ma'am," you said, stopping a passing woman, "I can tell at a glance that you're blessed with good fortune. You have children at home, don't you? Send them here to learn martial arts. It'll strengthen their bodies, and they can defend themselves too. These are troubled times. It's always good to know a little kung fu..."]

[The woman stared blankly at you and nodded instinctively.]

[You struck while the iron was hot. "Sign up today for a free trial. It won't cost a penny! Bring your child over to try it. You only pay if you're satisfied!"]

[Before she quite knew what was happening, you had ushered the woman into the school.]

[Liu Bai stood in the courtyard watching this, her jaw nearly hitting the ground.]

[Two hours later, you had successfully brought in seven people for the "free trial," three of whom paid deposits on the spot.]

[You wiped away your sweat, turned to Liu Bai, and said, "We'll keep going tomorrow."]

[Liu Bai, who had long since been left gaping: "..."]

["Junior Sister Jiang," she managed to say, "did you... used to do this for a living?"]

[You thought it over and answered earnestly, "You could say that." Back when capitalists were squeezing you dry in your previous life, who hadn't been forced to hand out flyers and recruit people?]

[The days passed like this. You brought in customers by day and trained by night, dragging the Changfeng Martial Arts School back from the brink of closure by sheer force.]

[In the fortieth year, you were fifty-five. Looking back, you still found it astonishing. Were you really the ultimate, utterly unbeatable unlucky loser? Forty whole years! You had chopped the tree forty times and never once seen a trait that wasn't white!]

[After questioning yourself, your heart grew as still as water again. White it was, then. Staying alive was enough.]

[Business at the school flourished, and you no longer had to stand at the entrance bringing in customers every day. Liu Bai passed the position of school head to her eldest disciple and devoted herself to teaching fist techniques. You became the school's "honorary elder." In truth, you were just an idler, practicing a little each day, playing with cats, and occasionally giving pointers to the new young apprentices.]

[You chopped that lousy tree year after year, and every year, it gave you another white trait. Until...]

[In the fifty-second year, you were sixty-seven. You finally obtained a green trait!]

[You sat straight up in bed, nearly throwing out your old back. But once you got a clear look at the trait's description, your old back still failed to escape unscathed.]

[Crippled Spirit Root: Universally acknowledged as the worst Spirit Root, one of the five-element Spirit Roots. It possessed all five attributes, but its aptitude in every attribute was pitifully low. Still, equipping it would allow you to cultivate!]