What a lucky world!

Chapter 8: You know nothing about my strength!
"Zhang Mu?"

Instructor Wang, with his white beard, looked at Zhang Mu and nodded. "Mr. He has already said hello. You can study in the outer courtyard for a month, free of charge. However, there will be no Qi and blood meals. Do you want to add them yourself?"

He Bilai agreed to let him come to practice, but only waived the fifteen taels of tuition fee, and meals were not included.

"Teacher Wang, is food important?" Zhang Mu hesitated for a moment, "I don't have much money on me..."

Upon hearing this, Instructor Wang looked at Zhang Mu strangely, then said, "Using innate martial luck requires energy. Acupoints will also absorb energy after they break through. This energy comes from food."

"If there is no energy supply, then what is lost is one's own essence, which is not worth the loss for a martial artist."

"The Qi and Blood-boosting food our escort agency provides comes from wild beasts from the mountains outside the city. These beasts are nourished by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Even if they haven't transformed into demons, their blood and Qi are very abundant, making them an excellent supplement for cultivation." Instructor Wang paused, "However, the initial consumption is not large. If you are short on silver, you can eat more ordinary food, which will have a replenishing effect."

Zhang Mu hesitated for a moment, then thought of the side effect of the fox demon's evil spirit entering his body and devouring his vitality. He said nervously, "Can I pay in installments?"

"Ah?" Instructor Wang was also stunned.

"I'll order ten days' worth of food for the escort agency, five taels of silver!"

"Ah?" Instructor Wang reacted for a moment before smiling and shaking his head. "As expected of someone from the accounting department, you're quite good at accounting. But we don't have a precedent for this. I'll go ask the manager for you."

In fact, in the eyes of Instructor Wang, Zhang Mu's martial arts training at this age was a waste of money. He would probably return to the accounting office in a month.

But young people always hold some unrealistic fantasies. It would be better if they were taught a lesson by reality.

"Alright, enough small talk." Instructor Wang's face turned serious as he said, "Next, let's talk about cultivation."

Zhang Mu perked up and quickly stood up straighter. Wasn't it just for this little bit of useful information that he had been busy these past two days?

"Please keep this first." Instructor Wang took out a booklet from the drawer and handed it to Zhang Mu. Zhang Mu took it and saw that the other party gestured for him to open it and take a look. He opened a few pages and found that it actually contained a map of the human meridians.

"This is a map of the human body's meridians and acupoints," Instructor Wang said. "The maps vary slightly between different factions, but the twelve meridians and the acupoints on them are the same."

"The first step in martial arts is to 'see yourself.' You must memorize the contents of this atlas and, in conjunction with your innate martial luck, achieve the level of inner vision. Only then will you be considered a qualified martial artist. Do you understand?"

Zhang Mu nodded seriously.

"To ascend to the path of martial arts, one must first be able to harness the innate martial luck within one's body. This method of harnessing it is called the Martial Classic."

"The martial arts classics in the world are as numerous as crucian carp crossing the river, and there are also differences in strength and weakness. Even if one has average talent, a superior martial arts classic can improve the efficiency of cultivation."

"The martial arts manual of my escort agency is called the Green Pine Fist Manual. Using this manual to control your innate martial luck will make it more resilient, like a green pine tree in a strong wind." Instructor Wang then took out another booklet and handed it to Zhang Mu, saying, "You can practice according to the instructions here. I will be by your side today to correct you. If you encounter any problems later, you can ask me."

"However, this Qingsong Fist Manual must be returned to me in one month. During this period, you are not allowed to copy it, and you are not allowed to pass it on to others."

"I understand." Zhang Mu took the booklet and started flipping through it immediately.

The Qingsong Fist Manual records a set of boxing techniques with a total of thirty-six moves. After seeing Instructor Wang's expression of agreement, he immediately began to practice the movements according to the above.

"You're standing the wrong way. You need to feel the power coming from the ground, like a pine tree!"

"Silly, stand like a pine tree, but that doesn't mean you have to be as stiff as a stone pillar. Relax your body a little!"

"Yes, punch upwards!"

"Remember, the upper part is empty and the lower part is solid, and all the force should go from the bottom to the top!"

Under the guidance of Instructor Wang, Zhang Mu took a full hour to finish the thirty-six moves. He was already sweating and panting.

"You've got a good understanding. It only took you an hour to complete the whole thing the first time." Instructor Wang sipped his tea and said, "Too much is as bad as too little. Rest for a while before continuing."

Zhang Mu collapsed to the ground. Instructor Wang looked at Zhang Mu, who was sweating profusely. He put down the teapot and said, "With your comprehension, as long as you replenish your Qi and blood sufficiently, I estimate that you will be able to fully master the Qingsong Fist Sutra in about twenty days."

"Then you will be able to sense and control your innate martial luck."

"Twenty days?" Zhang Mu was stunned for a moment, then said seriously, "I will try my best."

……

Zhang Mu practiced from early morning to dusk, taking breaks and fighting for the entire day. In the middle of the day, he went out with other apprentices who did not have customized wild game meals to eat a meat meal, which cost him 200 coins, which made him feel very distressed.

When the sun set, Zhang Mu dragged his tired body back to his residence, took out the sesame cake he bought on the road from his arms, and started to eat it.

"Twenty days..." Zhang Mu sighed as he ate, recalling Instructor Wang's assessment of him. After a day of practice, he truly felt his body's need for Qi and blood. "If the escort agency agrees to installments, ten taels of silver would be just enough to cover twenty days' expenses."

"Forget it, let's wait and see tomorrow whether the escort agency agrees or not!"

After Zhang Mu finished eating the pancake, he gulped down a bowl of water, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep when he felt sleepy.

But Zhang Mu's sleep was not long. Just after midnight, a sound similar to the sound of Mario, the game character in his previous life, hitting gold coins rang in Zhang Mu's mind, waking him up.

"Ding!"

Zhang Mu opened his eyes. At this time, the snoring of his neighbors in the courtyard was rising and falling, sometimes soft and sometimes loud. He sat up from the bed and checked around. There was no sign of anything falling.

"The Secret List?" Zhang Mu's mind moved, and he quickly gathered his energy and concentrated his mind, closing his eyes.

The Tianji Ranking slowly emerged in his mind.

Zhang Mu carefully observed the Tianji List and soon found something different.

The original scroll was divided into three parts. The top part was a bird's-eye view map, representing the range of the list search. The middle part was the ranking, and the last part was a river map representing the number of challenges.

But now, between the ranking and the river map, there was a tortoise shell pattern, and a number was written on the tortoise shell pattern -

"one"!
"What is this?" Zhang Mu looked at the tortoise shell pattern in confusion. Suddenly, the name of Zhang Mu, who was ranked 95th on the list, lit up.

This sudden change made Zhang Mu slightly stunned. He reflexively focused his mind on his own name, and then a message emerged in his mind.

[Human Meridian Acupoints Diagram: (Incomplete) This diagram depicts the meridians and acupoints in the human body. Is it deductive?]

[Qingsong Fist Classic: A fundamental martial arts classic, with the effect of strengthening innate martial luck. Do you want to deduce it?]

Zhang Mu hesitated for a moment, then decided to choose the Qingsong Fist Sutra for deduction.

After all, Instructor Wang said that the meridian acupoint maps are different for different forces, but the twelve main meridians and the acupoints above are the same. The "remaining" probably refers to other meridians, so there is no need to rush to deduce it.

As soon as he chose the Qingsong Fist Sutra, the four words "Qingsong Fist Sutra" immediately shone with light.

The next moment, Zhang Mu felt that countless scenes of practicing Qingsong Fist Sutra flashed through his mind. Information such as where the force was applied incorrectly, where the posture was wrong, how to adjust for better results, etc. flashed through his mind like a meteor shower.

When everything was over, Zhang Mu felt that he had memorized every move of the Qingsong Fist Sutra. He then focused on the Tianji List. The numbers on the tortoise shells disappeared, and only one tortoise shell remained on the Tianji List.

Zhang Mu quit the Tianji Ranking, ran out of the house, and began to perform the Qingsong Fist Sutra in the yard. At this moment, Zhang Mu's body seemed to have practiced it countless times, and his moves were as smooth as flowing water, just like a green pine tree, unyielding in the wind and rain, and proudly facing the snow and frost!
After finishing the whole set of moves, Zhang Mu felt a surge of heat in his body. Zhang Mu was not unfamiliar with this heat. Although he could not sense it normally, it was nurtured by him bit by bit to become so big.

His innate martial luck!

"Can I drive the innate martial luck?" Zhang Mu was stunned at first, then he became ecstatic.

Instructor Wang had said before that even if everything went well, it would take him twenty days to sense his innate martial luck. However, it was only the first day, and he had already done it!
But after a brief moment of ecstasy, Zhang Mu forced himself to calm down. He returned to the house, poured himself a glass of water, and began to think about this sudden change.

First of all, it was obvious that the reason why he mastered the Qingsong Fist Sutra in an instant was due to the "deduction" from the previous Tianji List.

In other words, in addition to detecting the strength of people around you and improving your own martial luck, the Tianji List can also help deduce the knowledge you have mastered.

It really deserves to be called the "Heavenly Secret List".

However, judging from the changes in the Tianji Ranking just now, deduction requires the consumption of Turtle Shell Points.

So, how did the tortoise shell points come about?
"It can't be the monthly settlement reward, right?"

Zhang Mu thought of many possibilities, but after thinking about it, he found that only this statement seemed to be the most logical.

If I'm not mistaken, the "ding" sound occurred around midnight, which happened to be the first day of the new month.

If you think about it from this perspective, maybe you can get a higher ranking and get more Turtle Shell Points next month.

"Interesting." Zhang Mu's mouth just curled up, but suddenly his expression became a little strange again.

"Then how am I going to explain this to Instructor Wang tomorrow?"

(End of this chapter)