I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 8: The Secret of Martial Arts

The next morning, Xie Yuan knocked on Zhu Dongming's door carrying a bundle of firewood.

"Yuanzi...it's so early."

Zhu Dongming glanced at the firewood in the basket and nodded.
"Leave it alone."

There was already a lot of firewood in his yard, all of which was sold by Xie Yuan recently, but he didn't actually need it for the time being.

But he was still prepared to accept it.

Zhu Dongming was taking out coins from his bag and counting them. Xie Yuan held his hand and shook his head:
"Brother Zhu, this basket of firewood is for you. I just want to ask you something."

Zhu Dongming paused and said thoughtfully:

"explain."

"Brother Zhu, you have been to the county town before, do you know anything about martial arts?"

Zhu Dongming suddenly realized, looked at Xie Yuan for a few times, nodded and said:
"Yuanzi, do you want to practice martial arts?"

"Ah."

Zhu Dongming nodded, without asking why, and raised his eyelids slightly, as if he began to recall:
"Okay, that's fine. I was out there for a few years and learned a few tricks. Even though I can't even say I'm an entry-level person, I know a little bit. Let me tell you about them."

When Xie Yuan heard this, he immediately became very alert.

“When practicing martial arts, the entry level stage often starts with ‘skin training’.

"The so-called leather training, as the name suggests, is to train the skin to make it more and more tough, gradually like cowhide, which cannot be cut by a dull knife, leaving only white marks. And if you reach the highest level, you will develop a body of 'copper skin', which is invulnerable to swords and guns.

"At this time, not only the skin becomes tough, but also the strength changes. Three or five big men can't defeat one of his hands. They are real warriors, and they are practicing warriors."

Xie Yuan listened carefully and caught the key words:

"One practice?"

"Skin, flesh, tendons and bones are four major trainings, and training the skin is one of them. With each subsequent training, a warrior will transform once, and gradually become extraordinary."

It sounds like it’s not low-level martial arts, but extraordinary martial arts...

Xie Yuan asked:

"What comes after the fourth practice?"

"After the fourth practice? I've only heard of it once or twice, about things like Qi and blood transformation and the bridge between heaven and earth."

Zhu Dongming shook his head:
"That's too far away. It's something that only the big sects and big families consider. It's a great fortune to be able to become a warrior once you have practiced."

Xie Yuan said subconsciously:

"Is it that difficult?"

"Do you think?"

Zhu Dongming sneered:
"Yuanzi, you've only had a few full meals, but your breath has become heavier.

"There are three martial arts schools in the town. The masters are only at the level of second-level martial arts. They can open a school to teach disciples, make a lot of money, and have a high status. Zhang Da is only at the level of first-level martial arts. He can also go to the county to seek an official position and escape from this poor mountain valley.

"Including me, there are many people in this village who have learned martial arts over the years, but how many of them have become martial artists? They are all fucking liars..."

Xie Yuan was startled when he heard this, and then continued:

"Brother Zhu, tell me in detail."

"There are three martial arts schools in Panlong Town: Black Tiger Fist School, Divine Weapon School, and Iron Clothes School. The cheapest one, Iron Clothes School, charges ten taels of silver for entrance tea.

“But if you think you can learn kung fu with ten taels of silver, you are totally wrong.

"Ten taels of silver for three months, no refund if you can't learn. They are teaching things, but what do you think is the most important thing in martial arts training? Is it whether they teach or not?"

Seeing the excitement on Zhu Dongming's dark face, Xie Yuan thought for a moment and asked tentatively:
"It depends on whether you can learn it or not?" Zhu Dongming rolled his eyes and said loudly:

"It depends on whether you have money! Poor in literature, rich in martial arts, martial arts is a way to burn money! Herbal baths, tonic soups, these things will make you get twice the result with half the effort! Without these, you won't be able to practice anything in three months!
"But all this costs money! A medicinal bath costs at least a few taels of silver, and a tonic soup costs at least a few hundred coins, and at most ten or twenty taels of silver.

"Others only heard that they could learn martial arts for ten taels of silver, so they gathered the money and came to my house. Who knew there were so many tricks behind it? It's still good that the money is wasted. I'm afraid that after three months, you won't be convinced and go home to continue practicing hard, which will injure you and ruin the rest of your life.

"Niu Dazhuang, the one at the entrance of the village, injured his waist while practicing martial arts, and he groans when he walks. His wife couldn't stand it, so she brings Zhang Laoer into the house every day, as you know.

"Yuanzi, listen to my advice. It's not that easy to practice martial arts. Give up as soon as possible. Save some money and find a wife. That's better than anything else."

Seeing that Zhu Dongming was speaking sincerely, Xie Yuan did not refute him, but just laughed:
"I'm just asking. Okay. Thanks, Brother Zhu."

Zhu Dongming looked at Xie Yuan's back, his eyes changing, and he just shook his head slightly.

Then he took out his hunting bow, oiled the bowstring, and slowly maintained it.

"Xie Yuan is a man of determination, ruthlessness, and a sharp axe. Perhaps we can look for him to help us build a team..."

Xie Yuan walked slowly towards home, thinking:

"There are so many things to do when you go to a martial arts school. It's better to ask. These martial arts schools are wicked. They attract people with 'low prices' and then sell supporting products to make money. After all, martial arts schools are not charity organizations.

"Whether I can practice or not, I shouldn't worry about it, as long as I can get started. But I don't have the money for medicinal baths or tonic soups... No, I don't know how long it will take to save up the ten taels of silver for the tea."

He sighed. It was indeed as Zhu Dongming said, the most important thing in practicing martial arts was money.

You have to save money first.

Arriving at the house, Xie Yuan saw that the door was open. He frowned and walked forward quickly. He just happened to run into a village thug who was walking out carrying a piece of meat.

"Hey, Yuanzi, you can even eat meat... Ouch!"

Xie Yuan frowned, picked up the axe by the door and hit the thug's right hand hard, and while he was in pain, he snatched back the meat strip.

"Xie Yuan, you're going to rebel..."

The thug covered his hands and was about to explode, but his voice became smaller and smaller.

Xie Yuan held the axe and stared at him coldly.

Damn, why does this guy look so scary?

The gangster was startled. He didn't know what to say about Xie Yuan's eyes. Looking at him, it was like, it was like...

Like a woodcutter looking at a log, uh.

He suddenly became a little angry and stretched out his left hand to grab the meat.

boom.

Xie Yuan's axe was so fast that he had no time to react. It chopped down past his left hand and broke a piece of firewood on the ground into two pieces.

"Get lost! Next time you come, I won't hit you with the back of the axe."

The thug jumped back in fear, his face turned red and white, and he said something cruel:
"Just wait, I'll teach you a lesson next time!"

After saying that, he trotted away from Xie Yuan's house.

Xie Yuan went back into the house and hung the meat up, his face not looking very good:
"You can't leave anything at home... These scum can be scared, but what if Zhang wants to get serious?
"I have to save money quickly, but I only know how to chop wood. Can I go into the mountains to find more expensive trees?"

Xie Yuan thought for a while and decided to focus on Tie Yang first.

Zhu Dongming has already said that the mountains are not peaceful recently, so it’s best not to run around.

The best way now is to increase the wood chopping progress to 1,000 as soon as possible and advance to the next time.

In this way, his ability to find trees and chop wood will increase again, and his progress in saving money will definitely be accelerated a lot, and maybe he will have new abilities that can change his situation.

(End of this chapter)