Qi Force

"Five taels of silver."

Fang Zelin frowned at the sum the other man asked for, then nodded.

Five taels of silver would pay for half a year of lessons, including some liniment for bruises and a medicinal decoction once every three days.

Whether it was worth the money would depend on how well the man taught.

Still, judging by what Fang Zelin currently knew about the value of silver, he did feel that five taels was extremely expensive.

The purchasing power of a single tael of silver was still astonishing.

The local county magistrate, a seventh-rank official, only received an annual salary of forty-five taels.

Five taels it is, then. At least I'll first try out what martial arts here are all about.

Then I'll see whether I can bring the martial arts here into the real world.

As for which martial art to learn, Fang Zelin thought it over and chose sword techniques.

In the real world, he was disabled. He could hardly practice kicking techniques, though otherwise they would have been a good choice.

As for external body-hardening arts, from the man's brief description, they seemed rather inclined toward putting oneself through torment.

According to the man, external body-hardening arts naturally required extensive conditioning of the muscles and bones.

He was already disabled. There was no need to torment himself like that.

If his guess turned out to be wrong, he would have tormented himself for nothing. It would not be worth it.

After paying and arranging to return for lessons tomorrow, Fang Zelin turned and left.

Walking along the street paved with blue stone, Fang Zelin headed forward.

He could see many players along the way.

The main reason he could recognize them at a glance was that their behavior was simply too peculiar. They also shared a common failing: they were all penniless.

As a result, most of those who looked like refugees at first glance were players.

Yet the players could not compare with actual refugees, with their ragged clothes and hunger-gnawed appearance.

That left the players in a rather awkward position. They had not quite reached the level of actual refugees, yet they had no money on hand.

As Fang Zelin drew closer, he immediately heard their shouts.

"Have you heard? This game has finally unlocked quests!"

"Yeah! We spent so long figuring things out and never heard of any. I was getting desperate. Without quests, how are we supposed to earn money, level up, and learn martial arts?"

"That martial arts school in Anzi County is really famous. I asked around, and apparently half a year's tuition costs five taels of silver. If some rich player wanted to exchange money for silver, at the current exchange rate, it'd cost fifty thousand just to study for half a year!"

"If this game had taken any longer to unlock quests, I'd have started wondering whether its designers were idiots. Letting us into the game without giving us quests-how were we supposed to play?"

The players seemed rather worked up as they began discussing the quests they had each seen.

They talked about how many copper coins they could earn each day chopping timber in the mountains, for instance, or how much they could get for farming in the fields.

Some people's eyes shone as they listened.

Yet when Fang Zelin heard this, he felt something was very wrong.

Coming into a game to help other people farm-are you sure that doesn't make you a sucker?

That odd thought crossed Fang Zelin's mind. He glanced at the visibly enthusiastic players nearby, then turned and left without dwelling on it.

He had luckily earned his first pot of gold. If he made good use of it, he could definitely pull far ahead of these players.

But Fang Zelin's ambitions lay elsewhere. He was still thinking about verifying whether this world was real.

His passage through the group of players attracted no one's attention.

No one recognized Fang Zelin as a player.

The next day.

Fang Zelin arrived at the martial arts school and began practicing under the martial arts instructor's guidance.

Fang Zelin's request was rather unusual: he only wanted to see whether he could develop a little Qi Force.

Having accepted his money, the instructor was conscientious. He skipped the physical conditioning stage outright, taught Fang Zelin some introductory swordsmanship fundamentals, and also began explaining Qi Force.

If Fang Zelin truly wanted to comprehend Qi Force, medicinal decoctions would be indispensable later on. Perhaps the school could earn a little more silver from him.

Running a martial arts school involved more than teaching martial arts alone. There were other related ways to make money.

The man taught earnestly, and Fang Zelin studied with particular diligence.

By afternoon, he could smell Chinese medicinal herbs from far away.

The instructor beside him smiled at this. "You're in luck. You get to drink a medicinal decoction on your very first day."

As he spoke, he beckoned Fang Zelin forward. A short while later, they saw a large pot of medicinal decoction boiling away.

Bits of herbal residue were still visible in the roiling liquid.

Unlike some pungent Chinese medicines, this decoction carried a faint fragrance.

When the decoction was handed to him, Fang Zelin cautiously took a sip. It tasted slightly bitter at first, but then left a faint sweetness.

After tasting it, Fang Zelin downed the entire bowl in one go.

After finishing it, Fang Zelin was about to say something when he felt a surge of heat rise from his abdomen.

Fang Zelin was taken aback. Just as he was about to speak, the instructor strode over.

"This is your first time drinking the decoction, so the sensation will be strongest. Hurry, sit cross-legged and sense this trace of Qi Force. Let it travel through your eight extraordinary meridians."

Eight extraordinary meridians? How would I know where those are?

Fang Zelin froze at those words and was just about to ask about the eight extraordinary meridians.

The next moment, the instructor pressed his palm directly against Fang Zelin's back, and something like a force began helping guide him.

"Commit this to memory carefully. The first time Qi Force is guided is the most distinct. Afterward, the effect will diminish greatly."

At those words, Fang Zelin's heart tightened, and he hurriedly calmed his mind to feel it.

The sensation of Qi Force was extremely strong. Once Fang Zelin felt it, he immediately began committing it to memory with care.

Outside Anzi County, at the Yongding River.

The river surged and roared as it always did.

At that moment, a fisherman who had fallen into the water was being carried to the riverbank as though supported by an invisible force.

Once the fisherman had been delivered ashore, something like a whirlpool turned in the river, then vanished.

"Zhang Weichu, have you gone mad? You save every single person who falls into the water. Do you want to suffer the agony of drowning forever?"

At the river bottom, another water ghost stared at Zhang Weichu with a cold, sinister expression.

He too was a water ghost, and in a little while, he would have a substitute. Yet this Zhang Weichu had now thoroughly angered him.

We're both water ghosts. Once the time comes, just drown your substitute and go reincarnate. What are you trying to do, acting like this?

Could it be that you're planning to save my substitute when they fall into the water?

Then the two of us will stay at the river bottom together, suffering the agony of drowning forever?