I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 14: Iron Gate, Prajna Temple

Inside the room, Xie Yuan touched the large silver ingot that seemed to be emitting precious light, with a look of satisfaction on his face.

This silver ingot is worth ten taels of silver!
He had never seen such a big silver ingot!
Zhu Dongming's words just now are still echoing in my ears:

"Yuanzi, the tiger was sold for more than 41 taels of silver. It could have been more, but we didn't have any connections. Those black-hearted merchants lowered the price, and there was nothing we could do. Zhou Feng also took the tiger leg bones, leaving the tiger skin for 17 taels, and the tiger penis for 15 taels... and so on. That's all.

"Old Fourth Wu was seriously injured. The doctor and medicine were paid out of this. There are more than thirty taels of silver left. We have discussed that you can take the lion's share, twelve taels. Is that okay?"

Zhu Dongming was being polite, but how could Xie Yuan not succeed?

They took all the damage, and I went up to use my skills to pick up a human head, no, a tiger head! With this harvest, I was very satisfied.

And the tiger leg bone is now in his hands.

This means that for a team of five hunting tigers, almost half of the harvest was taken by him alone!

Xie Yuan weighed the large silver ingot and two taels of silver coins again and again, and sighed with satisfaction.

The start-up capital for learning martial arts is there.

He couldn't wait to put the silver safely into his chest, and picked up the axe that Zhou Feng had just given him in the deepest part of his lapel.

The axe blade, which was as big as half a face, was brand new, smooth and flat, without any trace of grinding, and could almost reflect Xie Yuan's facial features;
The axe blade had a neat line, was very sharp, and shone with a cold light. It no longer had spots of rust and countless notches like an old axe.

This axe is obviously made of the best iron. In order to express his gratitude to Xie Yuan for saving his only child, Zhou Feng's father took out all the treasures in his iron shop.

However, the most eye-catching feature of this axe is the handle made of tiger leg bone.

Not only is tiger bone much stronger than wood, but Zhou Feng also polished it to a shine as jade. The crystal white axe handle inserted under the axe makes it look like a treasured ornament of a wealthy family. How can it look like a lumberjack axe?

Not only is it good-looking, the axe handle is solid, and with a good iron blade, it is just right for Xie Yuan to use now. Using this axe to perform axe skills will at least increase the power by a level.

The axe looks great, and Xie Yuan himself is even more outstanding. He stands holding the axe, as if holding a precious weapon, and stands out from the crowd.

You would never have thought that he was just a woodcutter.

Xie Yuan boasted for a while, then took out a strip of cloth and wrapped the white tiger bone axe handle in circles.

Firstly, it absorbs sweat and prevents slipping, making it comfortable and convenient to hold; secondly, it is a little more low-key so your wealth is not exposed.

Picking up the axe, Xie Yuan went out directly, walking briskly towards Panlong Town.

Panlong Town in the south is the nearest market town to their village. It is also the center of several surrounding villages and has a large population.

Beyond Panlong Town is Yunzhao County, the largest "big city" nearby that Xie Yuan knows of.

Due to the lack of transportation and information, the farthest place that people in the mountain villages would go in their lifetime might be the county town, or even just the town. It is hard to say what is beyond the county town.

Xie Yuan didn't know, but thanks to his parents' teaching, he could actually read. His parents moved to Xiaoshi Village from other places, and they could read and write. They taught Xie Yuan and his brother when they were young, but they died one after another due to poor health when Xie Yuan was very young. Xie Lun raised him with great difficulty, so he didn't have a deep impression of his parents.

When Xie Lun was a child, he took Xie Yuan to the market in town, so he knew the direction. This road was crowded and relatively peaceful, but Xie Yuan had a huge sum of money, and he never let go of his axe along the way.

After walking for half a day, Xie Yuan finally arrived at Panlong Town and breathed a sigh of relief.

Panlong Town is naturally much more prosperous than Xiaoshi Village. There are several streets running horizontally and vertically, with vendors and people coming and going. The streets are paved with bluestone slabs, and there are houses with blue bricks and black tiles on both sides. There is also a three-story restaurant in the center of the town, overlooking the other mountains.

Xie Yuan felt the rare atmosphere of fireworks, but did not walk around for long.

He held a heavy load of silver in his chest and walked forward with a clear goal in mind.

"At the east end of the street, at the east end of the street... got it."

Xie Yuan stood in front of a large courtyard and looked up at the plaque on it. "Iron Cloth Gate".

The gate is quite impressive...

While Xie Yuan was thinking, a disciple in gray came to the door and asked enthusiastically:
"Young man, do you want to learn martial arts? The iron cloth shirt of our Iron Cloth Sect is famous far and wide. It is the best in Panlong Town. Even people from Yunzhao County come here to learn from it. The price is not expensive, only eleven taels of silver."

Xie Yuan opened his eyes when he heard this:
"Eleven taels? Isn't it ten taels?"

The disciple smiled and said:

"That's all old news. Now the entrance fee is eleven taels of silver, which means you should practice martial arts wholeheartedly."

Xie Yuan was somewhat speechless, and deliberately muttered:

"The price increase is almost catching up with the Black Tiger Boxing Gym and the Divine Weapon Gym. Why shouldn't I go there?"

The disciple waved his hands repeatedly:

"Brother, you don't know that to practice martial arts, you must first practice yourself. The martial arts of those two families may look more impressive than ours, but won't they be knocked down if they are hit by a club? Unlike us, the Iron Cloth Sect, we have iron cloth clothes to protect our bodies and are invulnerable to swords and guns. We are invincible in a contest with others. You can only output when you are standing.

“Besides, the other two companies have also increased their prices.”

So it’s because of the unified price adjustment?

Xie Yuan found it a little funny.

However, he came directly to the Iron Gate because he had done his homework.

Firstly, as the disciple said, the other two schools have one boxing style and one weapon style, which are more exciting than the iron shirt style. But after three months of hard work, what can you learn? In the end, it's all in vain. It's better to strengthen your body with the iron shirt style - although in fact, most people can't get started.

Xie Yuan himself is skilled in axe skills and has no shortage of offensive means. It would be better for him to start with the iron shirt to defend himself and hone his physique to become a warrior.

Secondly, and the most important reason, the Tieyi Sect is much cheaper than the other two.

For the other two, the entry fee is at least fifteen taels.

The price of becoming a disciple can serve as a glimpse into the strength and popularity of several martial arts schools.

Xie Yuan asked again:
"Iron Shirt is just a common skill. Everyone in the martial arts world has practiced it. How can your Iron Shirt be any different?"

"Of course! You hit the nail on the head, brother. If it was just an ordinary piece of stuff, how could our Iron Cloth Sect establish its own sect with the Iron Cloth Shirt? Of course, my martial arts is a little special.

"Master Liu is a master of the second level of training. He used to be a lay disciple of the Prajna Temple. The 'Iron Shirt' he learned is actually the Prajna Temple's Kung Fu, which contains Buddhist rhymes and has some of the power of the Buddhist Golden Bell Cover. He is indestructible to swords and spears at the same level.

"So our iron vest is much stronger than the iron vests out there. You will never suffer any loss if you learn it!"

"Prajna Temple?"

what is that?
Xie Yuan asked as soon as he thought of it, but the disciple looked at him in disbelief, as if he was a savage from the mountains.

However, the disciple quickly looked at his gray clothes, retracted his gaze, and thought to himself, "He is indeed from the mountains."

He explained:

"Prajna Temple is the top sect in our Dali Dynasty... Well, a sect is a large martial arts hall. You can just regard Prajna Temple as one of the best martial arts halls in the entire Dali Dynasty.

"Its status in the Dali Dynasty is the same as our Tieyi Sect's status in Panlong Town."

(End of this chapter)