Sword from Songshan

Chapter 2: Strengthening
The nights are short and the days are long in midsummer. Near the hour of Xu, the sun slowly sets into the eastern mountain.

Although night had fallen, the earth, which had been scorched all day, still emitted bursts of heat. Even if one lay on a reed mat, the heat made it difficult to fall asleep.

There were more than 30 households in Shihe Village, with only a few lights on. Almost all the men, women and children in the village gathered on the abandoned river dam at the entrance of the village to enjoy the cool air.

A few old bachelors were lingering among the women, sniffing the female sweat in the air with their nostrils wide open. After a few times, they became annoyed and uttered a few dirty words, which were a counterattack and a teasing, causing the women to curse.

Under the bright moonlight, a few disheveled children were playing and fighting around.

Behind a haystack not far away, a young man and woman were hugging each other and rolling into a ball.

Drink~ha~!

In the quiet night, several loud shouts suddenly rang out.

Everyone couldn't help but frown. It was already evening, and he was still practicing his stupid kung fu. He really had no place to use his energy!

He is so idle, let's see which girl will be willing to be with him in the future!
In comparison, the window with light coming through it at the west end of the village is actually more practical.

"No, no."

There were two thatched houses and a small courtyard surrounded by gravel and earth. Lu Nanxing, shirtless and wearing only a pair of shorts, put away his posture and shook his head.

The move just now, 'Rabbit Rolling and Eagle Flipping', although it looked similar to what the martial arts candidate had practiced, the power he used was completely wrong.

Picking up the "secret book" from the ground beside him, he turned to the last page, and read it in the moonlight, stroking his chin and thinking.

This so-called secret book was completely hand-drawn by Lu Nanxing after he took a sneak peek. He had already mastered the first thirty-five pages, leaving only the last page.

Trying his best to recall the details of how Wu Juren practiced this move during the day, Lu Nanxing pondered for a while and tried again.

As Lu Nanxing moved, a flow of energy in his body flowed along the direction of his strength, using his tendons and bones as pathways.

However, as soon as the energy rushed out of the waist with the force, it retracted.

"Hehe, the waist strength is right."

Lu Nanxing grinned, thought for some time, and started trying again.

The waist and horse remain unchanged, but this time the shoulders are slightly lowered.

I don’t know how many times I tried this, but the energy flowed farther and farther as I exerted force.

Drink~ha~!

The hour of Hai was about to pass, the residual heat of the day had dissipated, and the villagers went home one after another and went to bed to rest. But just as they lay down, they heard loud shouting.

It's the dead of night and he's not sleeping himself, not only is he disturbing others. How annoying!

I have told him this many times, but every time he agreed to it in person, he would act the same way again.

If he was driven out of the village, this fatherless and motherless person would inevitably be gossiped about. There was nothing we could do but let him go on like this.

He turned over in anger and closed his eyes tightly.

I was in a daze and didn't know what time it was, but the shouting seemed to have stopped.

"Haha~! I did it!"

In the small courtyard, Lu Nanxing laughed heartily as he felt the power released from his fingertips.

He finally mastered the last move of the Thirty-Six Moves of Eagle Claw Grappling!

"Thanks to this little tripod."

It was already late at night. After practicing all night, Lu Nanxing was really tired. He scooped a bucket of cold water from the water tank, tilted his head back and drank half of it, and poured the remaining half on his body.

He took a long, deep breath and sat down on the ground.

Close your eyes and look inward, and deep inside your body, you will see a small tripod rising and falling slightly.

It is five or six inches high and emerald green all over. It is not made of copper or iron, but carved from wood. However, it is as lustrous and smooth as jade.

The shape is simple and unpretentious, and the outside is decorated with eight patterns, namely: toad, mink, snake, crane, centipede, grass, earth and stone, and smoke.

In fact, Lu Nanxing is a time traveler. He was originally an ordinary white-collar worker. More than two years ago, he traveled to this world and became the young Lu Nanxing of Shihe Village.

After occupying this body, he also took over all the memories of the original body. Although he has no parents, fortunately he has learned the skill of collecting herbs and can barely support himself.

Once when he followed the villagers into the county town to sell medicine, he overheard a storyteller talking about the Five Mountains Sword Sect. Only then did he realize that he had traveled through time and space to the martial arts world of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

Just ask, which man doesn't have a dream of being a martial artist? Who doesn't want to roam the world with a sword and be respected by everyone as a young hero?
However, the road ahead is long and the reality is in front of us. Before becoming a knight, we must first live like a human being, right?

On one hand, there are various taxes and corvées imposed by the government, and on the other hand, there is oppression and humiliation by gangs. As an ordinary citizen, I can't even guarantee food and clothing, let alone dignity. I live worse than a dog.

The ancients were used to accepting their fate, so Lu Nanxing did not comment. However, as a modern man, he absolutely did not want to live in such a miserable way!
If I want to get rid of the current situation, after much thought, there are only two ways: literature or martial arts.

Lu Nanxing doesn't like reading, and this is a world of martial arts, so isn't practicing martial arts the right thing to do?
However, martial arts is not so easy to practice.

If they are not master and apprentice, they will not easily teach. Even if they become apprentices, they will often hold back with the idea of ​​teaching their apprentices to starve the master to death.

Lu Nanxing is an ordinary citizen who has trouble filling his stomach. Where and how can he become a disciple?
You know, becoming a disciple is not as simple as bowing your head, there are many practical problems involved.

Famous sects will not accept those who do not have excellent qualifications and character.

Small sects and schools will not accept those who cannot afford the gift of becoming a disciple.

The underworld gangs will not accept anyone who doesn't risk their life.

Lu Nanxing didn’t know what his qualifications were. In fact, with his current status, he couldn’t get in touch with those famous sects.

As for the apprenticeship gift, he had no money.

Fight with all your might? Oh, he couldn't bear to do that.

While he was hesitating, he happened to see a martial arts candidate practicing martial arts, and he couldn't help but have the idea of ​​stealing his skills.

But who knows, stealing skills is not that easy.

If you copy someone blindly, your result will only be somewhat similar.

After several attempts, Lu Nanxing was extremely disappointed and was about to give up.

Until one day when he went into the mountains to collect herbs, he was accidentally bitten by a sea urchin.

This snake is extremely poisonous and is also known as the rotten meat king. Lu Nanxing has no antidote and is in danger of dying as he watches the poison spread.

Unexpectedly, the small wooden tripod appeared at this time.

The snake venom that was originally wreaking havoc in the body was instantly sucked up by the small wooden tripod like a whale swallowing a dragon, and then after some fiddling, it became a purer poison!
"Refining poison?"

It was not until then that Lu Nanxing knew of the existence of this small tripod and his face was full of surprise.

He bought this small wooden tripod at a roadside stall. He didn't think of it as a bargain at the time, he just thought it was the right size to put on the table.

Unexpectedly, I traveled through time with him and possessed such miraculous effects!

With this small wooden tripod, he will be immune to all poisons!

Lu Nanxing was of course happy to have such a new ability, but he didn't care too much about it.

After all, he is just an ordinary person and will only have a few chances of being poisoned. There is no practical significance in being immune to all poisons.

But he never expected that a few days later, when he was bored and tried to practice Eagle Claw Hand again, the poison in the small wooden tripod actually started to move!
After many attempts, Lu Nanxing gradually discovered that the toxin would only flow when he was practicing martial arts, and would not harm his body. Moreover, the toxin did not move randomly, but moved along his tendons and bones following his strength.

Tsk~!

Under the guidance of the poison, the Eagle Claw Hand, which had been unable to perform its functions properly, finally found the completely correct way to exert its power!
After being surprised, Lu Nanxing suddenly realized.

The small wooden tripod can actually teach him how to exert his strength!
So, in the next two years, Lu Nanxing went to the county town whenever he had the chance, and after selling the herbs, he would go to watch the martial arts candidates practicing martial arts.

Hard work pays off. After practicing bit by bit, I finally learned all 36 moves of Eagle Claw grappling techniques!

"I finally got it done."

Thinking back, Lu Nanxing couldn't help but sigh.

Who would have thought that just by peeking, he actually mastered a martial art!
(End of this chapter)