Fist Art Mastery

Having made his decision, he no longer hesitated.

With a thought from Fang Yue, the words before him immediately changed.

Acquire Talent: Beginner Fist Mastery

As the line appeared, Fang Yue seemed to feel that something had changed within him. Yet when he carefully tried to sense it, he found nothing different.

"So the Beginner Fist Mastery I traded ten aptitude points for is useless?"

Fang Yue could not help muttering to himself.

The next moment, his thoughts shifted, and he immediately began practicing the White Tiger Fist he had learned that day inside the room.

His fists clenched tight, his steps moved like a tiger and a dragon.

Fang Yue recalled the moves he had learned that day and performed them one punch and one stance at a time.

Half an hour later.

Fang Yue stamped his foot and suddenly threw a punch forward.

Bang!

The wind from his fist tore through the air with a violent, ear-piercing shriek, like the roar of a fierce tiger.

The table before him seemed to have been struck by a massive boulder. It shattered with a crash, exploding into splinters.

He had been practicing his fist art just now, wanting to see what this talent could do.

Sure enough, as he practiced the White Tiger Fist, he gradually discovered that his proficiency rose rapidly with each repetition.

Moreover, several parts that had originally been halting and awkward gradually became smooth and fluid.

More importantly, he found that the power of his fist art seemed to have increased.

The talent Beginner Fist Mastery had increased both the speed at which he cultivated the White Tiger Fist and its power.

By then, he had also realized the difference between aptitude and talent.

Aptitude represented potential—the upper limit of cultivation. The higher his aptitude, the higher the martial realm he could reach in the future.

Talent, on the other hand, was an inborn, unique ability in a certain area.

What Beginner Fist Mastery gave him was greater speed and power in cultivating the White Tiger Fist.

Having understood this, Fang Yue immediately snapped out of his cultivation.

Then he saw the scene before him and could not help crying out:

"Ah! Who smashed my family's table?"

But a moment later.

Seeing that he was still holding his punching stance, he immediately understood that he himself had smashed the table.

He must have been so immersed in cultivation just now that he had failed to rein in his strength and broken it!

"Mother will definitely be heartbroken when she comes back."

Fang Yue looked at the table that had been shattered by the shockwave and immediately felt somewhat vexed.

Before he could think of how to deal with it, Chen Shi's voice came from outside.

"Zhi'er, are you home? Mother brought back an egg. Come out and eat it."

The door then opened.

"Eh, Zhi'er, where's our table?"

Chen Shi had not yet reacted. When she did not see the table in the room, she thought Fang Yue had moved it away.

But she quickly spotted the scattered chunks of wood and several broken table legs.

Were those not their table?

Then how had their table ended up like this?!

"Ah! This is our table! How did our table get smashed?" Chen Shi immediately let out a shriek.

"What happened? What happened? Did something happen to our family?" Father Fang rushed in at that moment as well.

It turned out that when Father Fang and Fang Cheng returned that day, they happened to run into Chen Shi, so they came back together.

He had been sorting tools in the courtyard when he heard Chen Shi cry out and hurried inside.

"Our table is broken!" Chen Shi was almost in tears.

"I was practicing my fist art just now and accidentally broke it," Fang Yue could only admit.

"You broke it? How could you be so careless!" Father Fang immediately asked in a stern voice.

"You broke it?" Chen Shi asked again.

Fang Yue nodded.

Chen Shi's first reaction was surprise; her second was anger.

Real anger.

She swung down a fierce slap.

That slap landed squarely on Father Fang's shoulder with a sharp smack. She had clearly put a great deal of force into it.

At the same time, Chen Shi raised her voice, like a mother lioness guarding her cub:

"Fang Mu, why were you being fierce with my Zhi'er just now? He broke it by accident, so why are you scolding him?!"

Then, taking three steps in two, she hurried to Fang Yue's side and carefully lifted his arm. "Zhi'er, are you hurt? Tell Mother quickly—which hand did you use? Let Mother take a look."

Father Fang bared his teeth and rubbed his shoulder.

He could see perfectly well that Fang Yue was not hurt in the slightest. Neither of Fang Yue's hands was even red or swollen; he had not suffered the tiniest injury.

And Father Fang had not even said much. His tone had merely been a little louder.

Why was Fang Yue, the one who had done wrong, fine, while he was the one getting hit?

Father Fang clutched his shoulder. It burned with pain, yet he did not dare make a sound.

Because Chen Shi was watching him right then.

"Mother, Uncle Fang is going into the mountains to hunt for the next few days, so I won't be going to Uncle Fang's house for now," Fang Yue quickly said.

Sure enough, Chen Shi's attention was drawn away. She stopped examining Fang Yue's arm and stopped glaring at Father Fang.

"That's wonderful. Mother will have to make you some delicious food these next few days," Chen Shi immediately said.

Then, as though recalling something, she added, "Matchmaker Wang came to our house again today and asked what our family intended to do. I turned her down on the spot."

"With such a huge bride price, how could our family possibly agree to this marriage? What a pity, though. That girl from the Zhou family really was quite pretty."

Chen Shi sounded indignant, though there was still some regret in her voice at the end.

Perhaps it was precisely because the Zhou family's daughter from the neighboring village was so good-looking that they had demanded such a high bride price.

"Mother, missing out on my brother is their family's loss. My brother will definitely find someone even better in the future," Fang Yue hurriedly comforted her.

Only then did Chen Shi smile.

"Of course. Just look at who gave birth to him. Zhi'er must be hungry too, right? Mother will go make dinner now."

It was getting late, and the sun had already dipped westward.

If she did not start cooking soon, it would be dark.

Chen Shi immediately left the room. But as she passed Father Fang, she gave him another slap. "There isn't much work in the fields these next few days, so hurry up and make another table."

Father Fang was deeply wounded and could only bear it all in silence.

"Father, I'll help you tomorrow."

Fang Yue also felt a little embarrassed. He could not let his father bear the burden of his mistake alone.

"Mm."

Father Fang answered with a hum, then went out to continue sorting his tools.

And so, life became peaceful again.

Every day, Fang Yue continued to hold his stance and practice his fist art.

After that, he would find time to bring food to Widow Yu's home.

These days, Zhang Shu seemed to have resigned herself to her fate—or perhaps accepted reality.

She no longer cursed and made a fuss. She got along somewhat better with Widow Yu and her daughter.

With no quarrels or trouble, Fang Yue was able to have a little more peace and quiet.

Otherwise, with Fang Hu away now, if Zhang Shu caused any trouble, it would be difficult for him to explain himself.