Free Web NovelChapter 18: Chapter 18: The Second Son’s Force Cultivation
「One month later.」
The system popped up again.
[Second son Chen Shouye has achieved entry-level in the Martial Dao, advancing to Force Cultivation. Reward: Vajra Bone-Forger Ointment Recipe.]
"Another recipe?"
Chen Li was stunned. ’At this rate, I’ll have to open an apothecary sooner or later.’
The successive rewards made him notice something unusual.
The system’s rewards seemed to be related to the Martial Arts and Realms his two sons were cultivating.
’It seems that if I want to get rewards for my Inner Cultivation Method, I’ll have to have my children practice the Five Grains Qi Storage Technique.’
Chen Li quickly came to a conclusion.
He didn’t regret sending his sons to a martial arts hall to practice.
After all, it had taken him a full five years just to reach the entry-level of the Five Grains Qi Storage Technique.
His two sons were too young and playful. By nature, they weren’t the type who could sit still. Forcing them to train hard every day for five years with no signs of progress was simply impossible.
Thus, he turned his attention to his third child, his daughter Chen Shouyue.
Compared to her two older brothers, Shouyue was much quieter and more demure.
Even better, she was obedient. His wife, Song Ying, assigned her calligraphy practice every day, and after she finished, she would even ask Song Ying what to do next.
She wasn’t like the two rascals, Shouheng and Shouye, who would scribble their characters like chicken scratch and then run off and disappear the moment they were done.
However, his daughter was still too young to begin martial arts. He could only set the idea aside for now.
’The grand project of baby-making has to begin!’
Realizing that the system’s rewards were linked to his descendants’ Martial Dao Realms, Chen Li’s mind started buzzing with ideas. After all, more children meant more rewards.
That evening, he approached his wife to discuss the matter of a fourth child.
His wife agreed verbally, but Chen Li could sense her reluctance.
The difficult birth of their third child, Chen Shouyue, had not only damaged Song Ying’s constitution but also left her with deep psychological scars.
Over the years, her body had recovered a great deal with careful nurturing, but the psychological wounds were harder to heal.
Seeing Chen Li’s waning enthusiasm, Song Ying took the initiative and said, "Husband, you should take a concubine."
"You agree?"
Chen Li was taken aback. He never expected her to bring it up herself.
"Am I some narrow-minded woman who doesn’t understand the bigger picture?"
Song Ying lightly bit Chen Li’s shoulder, held it for a moment, then, with her face flushed red, collapsed heavily onto the pillow.
Since his wife had agreed, the matter of Chen Li taking a concubine was now on the agenda.
However, there were no suitable candidates at the moment.
This world placed great importance on matching social statuses.
Red-lacquered gates marry red-lacquered gates; bamboo gates marry bamboo gates.
But if a family was of equal status, why would they ever agree to let their daughter become a concubine?
As for ordinary farm girls, they spent their days in the fields, leaving their skin dark and rough, which Chen Li did not find appealing.
So, the matter had to be set aside for the time being.
...
A few days later, Chen Li received a letter his eldest son had someone bring back, informing the family that he had broken through to the Marrow Refining Realm.
After dinner, under the light of an oil lamp, Song Ying read the short letter over and over, sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning.
"Shouheng’s handwriting... it’s still so sloppy. Look at this ink blot, and the spacing of the characters... He was never serious when he learned to write."
A mother’s focus is always on the details.
"As long as we can read it, it’s fine. It’s not like we’re expecting him to pass the Imperial Examination."
Chen Li glanced at the letter and chuckled. ’After all, my own chicken-scratch handwriting isn’t much better.’
Song Ying sighed. "That Shouye is even more of a closed book. Not a single letter from him."
Her worry was plain to see.
"Don’t worry. The Mid-Autumn Festival is in a few days. I’ll go pick them up, and we’ll see them then," Chen Li comforted her.
...
In autumn, golden waves of rice once again covered the fields.
The Chen family’s grain yield this year was just over six hundred jin per mu.
Considering they had just experienced a drought last year, Chen Li was already very satisfied.
Every household in Lingxi Village was smiling.
After successive natural and man-made disasters, many families in Lingxi Village hadn’t made it through the lean season this year.
Those with land sold their fields. Those with too little land to divide among their family had no choice but to flee and become refugees.
The few landlord families in Lingxi took this opportunity to ruthlessly drive down prices and buy up a large amount of land.
During the most difficult period, the asking price even dropped to eight shi of grain for one mu of land.
Many villagers approached Chen Li, hoping he would buy their land at his previous price of eighteen shi per mu.
But Chen Li refused them all. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the land, but that he couldn’t take it.
With so many families waiting to sell their fields, he couldn’t buy even at fifteen shi per mu, let alone eighteen.
If he bought from one family, the others would pressure him to buy from them as well. His family didn’t have enough grain for that, and it would also mean making mortal enemies of the other landlords. Chen Li wasn’t foolish enough to get into a deal where he was guaranteed to lose.
The only exception he made was for the short-term laborers who had helped his family for years. He signed long-term contracts with seven or eight of them and gave each an advance of several shi of grain.
But that was a different situation.
That’s how this world was. The rich in land grew richer, and the poor in land grew poorer.
If you had little land, you didn’t deserve to live.
Many of the village elders had moved into the Jisi Kiln. All Chen Li could do was occasionally send them a bucket of thin porridge.
...
「Before the Mid-Autumn Festival.」
Chen Li went to the county seat again.
This time, it was because Liu Wende had written a letter, begging him to come and check on his son’s illness again.
Chen Li had no real solution for the son’s condition; he wasn’t a doctor, after all. However, he figured that even a good doctor would be helpless, or the illness wouldn’t have dragged on for so long.
At Liu Wende’s home, the scene was unchanged.
His son was bound with thick ropes, roaring madly. His condition hadn’t improved in the slightest.
Chen Li repeated his previous method, using his Inner Qi to briefly channel the boy’s energy, alleviating his pain and causing him to fall into a short slumber. Amid his gratitude, Liu Wende couldn’t hide the deep exhaustion and despair in his eyes.
Chen Li knew that the root of this affliction was difficult to remove and far beyond his own abilities. After offering a few words of comfort, he took his leave.
After purchasing festival goods, Chen Li went to the martial arts halls to pick up his sons.
Sitting in the ox-cart, Chen Shouheng couldn’t contain his excitement. He exclaimed with a triumphant grin, "Dad, the master has accepted me as his disciple!"
Chen Li nodded with a smile.
Zhou Zhen, the master of the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall, had already sent someone to inform him of this a month ago.
When one first joined the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall, they were only accepted as Registered Disciples. They were then observed for three years, with the primary focus on their character and the secondary focus on their aptitude.
Shouheng had reached the Marrow Refining Realm within three years of joining. Although his talent wasn’t top-tier, his character was magnanimous and he didn’t hold grudges. Master Zhou appreciated these qualities and was willing to accept him as a formal disciple.
Chen Li had, of course, gladly agreed.
He himself walked the path of the Inner Cultivation Method, but in all of Jingshan County, there was no one to guide him. He could only fumble his way forward on his own.
Even though he hadn’t been frugal this year, taking two doses of the Mysterious Black Tortoise Tribulation Secret Medicine every month, he still showed no signs of reaching Qi Storage Perfection.
The path ahead was a complete blur.
It was much better for his two sons’ Cultivation to be guided by a master.
"After reaching Marrow Refining, what medicine do you need to take?" Chen Li asked his eldest son.
Chen Shouheng replied, "It’s still the Foundation Strengthening and Essence Nourishing Medicine, but I feel like its effects are much weaker now. Before, when I took two doses a month, my progress didn’t fall behind much. But now, I have to take four doses a month, or I can’t keep up at all."
Chen Li understood. ’It seems the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall only has this one type of Secret Medicine.’
He then turned to his second son. "How is your Martial Arts training coming along?" freewebnoveℓ.com
Chen Shouye didn’t show off eagerly like his brother. He said calmly, "Dad, I’ve reached the entry-level of Iron Mountain Lean."
Chen Shouheng’s eyes lit up with interest. "Not bad, Second Brother! You reached Force Cultivation even faster than I did! Is the Kao Mountain Martial Arts Hall that intense? Quick, show Dad and me what you’ve got."
Chen Shouye nodded. Seeing that no one was around, he immediately jumped off the ox-cart and walked to a willow tree by the side of the main road.
He took a deep breath, his feet slightly apart and shoulder-width, his knees slightly bent. In an instant, his back straightened like a pine tree. A heavy, focused aura emanated from him, making him seem like a completely different person from his usual self.
He sank down slightly, shifting his center of gravity forward and turning his right shoulder. Then, his left foot abruptly pushed off the ground, his waist and hips generating force that drove the power of his entire body into his right shoulder, which he then slammed viciously into the willow tree.
"THUD!"
A dull, thunderous sound, like the beat of a war drum, echoed as the willow tree shook violently, its leaves rustling down. At the point of impact, the bark had split open, revealing several cracks and the pale wood underneath.
"You’re... a beast..." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Chen Shouheng watched with his mouth hanging open.
