Free Web NovelChapter 8: Chapter 8: The Ins and Outs of Martial Arts
Early the next morning, Xie Yuan, carrying a bundle of firewood, knocked on Zhu Dongming’s door.
"Yuanzi... you’re up early."
Zhu Dongming glanced at the firewood in the basket and nodded.
"Just leave it there."
His courtyard was already piled with firewood, all of which Xie Yuan had sold him recently. He didn’t actually need any more for the time being.
However, he still planned to accept it.
As Zhu Dongming was taking out copper coins from his sash pouch to count them, Xie Yuan stopped his hand and shook his head.
"Brother Zhu, this firewood is a gift. I just wanted to ask you about something."
Zhu Dongming paused, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Go on."
"Brother Zhu, you ventured out to the county seat back in the day. Do you know much about martial arts?"
Understanding dawned on Zhu Dongming. He looked Xie Yuan up and down, then nodded.
"Yuanzi, you’re thinking of practicing martial arts?"
"Yeah."
Zhu Dongming nodded. He didn’t ask why. His eyes lifted slightly as he seemed to fall into his memories.
"Alright. Fine. I knocked around out there for a few years and learned a move or two. I couldn’t even say I made it past the threshold, but I know the basics. I’ll tell you about it."
Hearing this, Xie Yuan immediately gave him his undivided attention.
"When it comes to martial arts, the introductory stage usually starts with ’Skin Training.’"
"Skin Training, just as the name suggests, is about toughening the skin, making it more and more resilient until it’s like cowhide. A dull blade can’t cut it, leaving only a white mark. If you reach great mastery and develop ’copper skin,’ you become virtually impervious to blades and spears."
"At this stage, it’s not just your skin that’s tough; your strength will also transform. Three to five burly men would be no match for one of your hands. That’s when you’re a true Martial Artist—a First Training Martial Artist."
Xie Yuan listened intently, catching the key phrase.
"First Training?"
"The Four Great Trainings are Skin, Flesh, Tendon, and Bone. Skin Training is the First Training. With each level after that, a Martial Artist undergoes a transformation, gradually transcending the ordinary."
’So it’s not low-fantasy martial arts, but an Extraordinary Martial Dao...’
Xie Yuan asked:
"Then what’s after the Fourth Training?"
"What’s after the Fourth Training? I’ve only heard whispers, things like the Qi Blood Transformation and the Heaven and Earth Bridge."
Zhu Dongming shook his head.
"That’s too far off. Those are things for the Major Sects and great families to consider. It’s already a huge stroke of luck just to become a First Training Martial Artist."
Xie Yuan asked reflexively:
"Is it that hard?"
"What do you think?"
Zhu Dongming scoffed.
"Yuanzi, you’ve had a few full meals and already you’re talking big."
"In town, the masters of the three martial arts halls are only at the Second Training level, but that’s enough for them to open their own schools, teach disciples, make a fortune, and command respect. Zhang Da was only a First Training, yet he was able to go to the county seat, secure a position as an official, and escape this godforsaken valley."
"Over the years, plenty of people from our village have tried to learn martial arts, myself included. But how many actually became Martial Artists? It’s all a goddamn scam..."
Xie Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then prompted him.
"Brother Zhu, tell me more."
"The three martial arts halls in Panlong Town are the Black Tiger Fist Hall, the Divine Weapon Hall, and the Iron Armor Gate. The cheapest is the Iron Armor Gate, and the initiation tea ceremony fee is ten silver taels."
"But if you think you can master martial arts for just ten silver taels, you’d be dead wrong."
"Ten silver taels gets you three months. No refunds if you fail to learn. They’ll teach you, sure, but what do you think is the most important part of training? Do you think it’s whether they’re willing to teach you?"
Seeing the agitated look on Zhu Dongming’s tanned face, Xie Yuan thought for a moment before venturing, "Whether you have the talent to learn it?"
Zhu Dongming rolled his eyes and shouted, "It’s about whether you have money! ’Poverty for scholars, wealth for warriors’—practicing the Martial Dao is just a way to burn through money! Medicated baths, strengthening tonics... with those, your progress is doubled! Without them, you won’t learn jack shit in three months!"
"But all of that costs silver! A single medicated bath costs a few silver taels at minimum. A tonic costs at least several hundred copper coins, and the good ones can easily run you ten or twenty silver taels."
"People only hear that they can learn for ten silver taels. They scrape the money together and show up all excited, but how could they know about all the other expenses? Having your money go down the drain is the best-case scenario. What’s worse is when someone isn’t satisfied after three months, so they go home and keep forcing their training. They end up with a body full of injuries and ruin the rest of their life."
"Take Niu Dazhuang at the village entrance. He hurt his back trying to train on his own, and now he groans with every step. His wife couldn’t stand it, so now she’s bringing Zhang the Second into her house every day. You know what I’m talking about."
"Yuanzi, take my advice. The martial path isn’t an easy one to walk. You’d be better off giving up on the idea now. Save up some money, find a wife. That’s better than anything else."
Seeing that Zhu Dongming was speaking from the heart, Xie Yuan didn’t argue, just gave a noncommittal chuckle.
"I was just asking. Anyway, thanks, Brother Zhu."
Zhu Dongming watched Xie Yuan’s retreating figure, his expression unreadable. He just shook his head slightly.
Then, he took out his hunting bow and began to slowly oil and maintain the string.
’That kid, Xie Yuan... he’s got ambition, a ruthless streak, and a fast axe. Maybe if I put a crew together, I should ask him...’
Xie Yuan thought to himself as he slowly walked home:
’So there are this many catches to joining a martial arts hall. It’s a good thing I asked. The hearts of these martial arts hall masters are black. They lure people in with ’low prices’ and then make their money on the supplementary sales. Then again, a martial arts hall isn’t a charity.’
’I shouldn’t have to worry about whether I can learn or not; as long as I can get my foot in the door, it’ll be fine. But I have absolutely no money for medicated baths and tonics... No, I don’t even know how long it will take to save the ten silver taels for the initiation fee.’
He sighed. It was just as Zhu Dongming had said: the most crucial thing for practicing martial arts was silver.
’First, I have to save money.’
When he got home, Xie Yuan saw his door was open. His brow furrowed, and he quickened his pace, just in time to see a local thug walking out with a strip of his meat.
"Well, well, Yuanzi, eating meat now are we... OUCH!"
With a grim expression, Xie Yuan grabbed the axe by the door and struck the thug’s right hand hard. As the man cried out in pain, Xie Yuan snatched the meat back.
"Xie Yuan, are you fucking—"
The thug clutched his hand, about to lash out, but his voice trailed off.
Xie Yuan gripped the axe, staring at him coldly.
’Shit, why is his gaze so terrifying?’
The thug shuddered. He couldn’t quite describe the look in Xie Yuan’s eyes. It was as if he were looking at him like... like... freeweɓnovel.cøm
Like a woodcutter looking at a log. Right.
Humiliation turned to anger, and he lunged for the meat with his left hand.
THUD.
Xie Yuan’s axe was too fast for him to react. It slammed down, missing his left hand by a hair’s breadth and splitting a piece of firewood on the ground in two.
"Get lost! Next time, I won’t use the back of the axe."
The thug leaped back in fright, his face a mixture of red and white. He spat out a threat:
"You just wait! I’ll teach you a lesson next time!"
With that, he scurried away from Xie Yuan’s home.
Xie Yuan took the meat back inside and re-hung it, his expression grim.
’I can’t leave anything of value in the house... I can scare off scum like that, but what if Zhang decides to get serious?’
’I have to save money as fast as possible, but all I know is Chopping Wood. Should I go deeper into the mountains to find more valuable trees?’
After some thought, Xie Yuan decided to stick with the iron poplars for the time being.
Zhu Dongming had said the mountains weren’t safe lately; it was best not to wander around.
The best thing to do now was to get his Chopping Wood progress to one thousand as quickly as possible and advance to the next level.
That way, his ability to find and chop trees would improve dramatically, which would certainly speed up his money-saving progress. And who knows, he might even gain a new ability that could change his circumstances.
