A Martial Saint in Chaotic Times: Starting with Grinding Proficiency

As the sun sets, it dyes the turbid Caohe River a dazzling orange-red.

On the dock, laborers lined up in a long queue, waiting for the foreman to distribute their wages for the day.

Zhou Yuan stood in the group, his expression calm, though his slightly drooping eyelids concealed his emotions.

"Next, Zhou Yuan."

A foreman with a burly face sat behind a table, grabbed a string of copper coins, and casually tossed a few into a wooden box next to him.

"The offerings to the River God must not be neglected."

The foreman threw the remaining copper coins in front of Zhou Yuan, and the coins scattered all over the ground, making a crisp sound.

The laborers around him all kept their heads down, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

Zhou Yuan didn't say a word, but bent down and picked up the copper coins from the ground one by one.

He glanced at the tallest mast on the dock, where a corpse was hanging, swaying in the wind.

That was a laborer who tried to rebel a few days ago, accused of colluding with mountain bandits.

Nobody believed it, but nobody dared to say it either.

After putting the money away, Zhou Yuan turned and left, with Li Hu and Zhao Erbao immediately following.

"Yuanzi, how much was deducted this time?" Li Hu asked in a deep voice. He was tall and his muscles were bulging under his coarse cloth shirt.

"Same as always, 30%." Zhou Yuan replied calmly.

"Damn it, these bloodsucking beasts!" Li Hu cursed under his breath.

Zhao Erbao, who was thinner, tugged at Li Hu's sleeve. "Brother Hu, keep your voice down. Do you want to go up to the mast and get some fresh air?"

Li Hu snorted and said nothing more.

The three were childhood friends and all lived in Wuni Alley, so their way home was conveniently on the same route.

The dim, yellow afterglow lengthened the shadows of the three people, and also widened the distance between them regarding their future.

"I won't be coming to the dock next month," Li Hu suddenly said.

"Oh? What good business has Tiger found?" Zhao Erbao asked, intrigued.

"I've asked someone to help me; I'm going to join the Black Tiger Gang." Li Hu puffed out his chest. "Rather than being bullied by these foremen, I'd rather be the one bullying them."

Zhao Erbao showed a hint of envy on his face, but then shook his head. "My mother won't let me join any gangs, it's too dangerous. She used her maternal uncle's connections to get me an apprenticeship at the Desheng Pawnshop in the inner city."

"A pawnshop apprentice? That's a good place!" Li Hu was also a little surprised. "Don't forget your brothers when you make it big in the future."

"Of course." Zhao Erbao smiled, then looked at Zhou Yuan, who had been silent all along.

"Yuanzi, what about you? What are your plans?"

Zhou Yuan stopped and looked at the alleyway ahead, where sewage was flowing everywhere.

"I want to join a martial arts school."

The air fell silent instantly.

Li Hu and Zhao Erbao looked at each other, then their expressions turned to disbelief.

"Yuanzi, are you still asleep? Practicing martial arts?"

"Exactly! Do you think practicing martial arts is like street fighting? That stuff is incredibly expensive! The apprenticeship ceremony alone costs several taels of silver, not to mention the medicinal baths and tonics afterwards. How could a family like ours afford that?"

"Besides, martial arts training requires natural talent and physique. In this muddy alley, I've never heard of anyone making it big. In the end, they all come back with their tails between their legs and go back to doing whatever they used to do."

Li Hu patted Zhou Yuan on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Yuanzi, listen to my advice, stop daydreaming. With your health, you should just get back to work."

Zhou Yuan did not refute, but simply looked ahead silently.

In his field of vision, a virtual panel that only he could see was quietly floating.

Name: Zhou Yuan

[Realm: None]

[Technique: None]

[Martial Arts Skills: None]

[Panel: Heaven rewards diligence]

With effort, you will surely reap the rewards.

This is his greatest source of confidence.

He is not from this world; he only recently traveled here from Earth.

The original owner of this body was also named Zhou Yuan. He came from a well-off family, but his family was destroyed and his family perished in the war.

Spoiled and pampered, he couldn't stand the hard labor at the dock. He was crushed to death while moving cargo, which allowed him to take over the job.

Seeing that Zhou Yuan remained silent, Li Hu and Zhao Erbao also felt a bit bored and stopped bringing it up.

The three of them turned into Blackwater Alley.

There are thirty-six alleys in the outer city, and Blackwater Alley is one of the most chaotic ones.

Robbery and vendettas were commonplace for them, which is why the three of them always traveled together.

The alley was dark and deep, and the houses on both sides were crooked and gave off a strange smell of mold and decay.

I hadn't gone far when three people came towards me.

The leader was a bald man with a face covered in pockmarks; he was none other than Wang Laizi, a notorious thug in the area.

Two shady-looking henchmen followed him. The three of them had just come out of a door with a tattered lantern hanging on it, and the prostitute, Widow Cao, was still smiling seductively at them from the doorway.

"Hey, isn't this Zhou Yuan?"

Wang Laizi recognized the three people at a glance, and with a sidelong glance, he blocked their way.

"Heard the canal gang paid out wages today? What's up, guys? A bit short on cash lately, want to lend me some?"

Li Hu immediately stepped forward, blocking Zhou Yuan and Zhao Erbao.

"Wang Laizi, what do you want to do?"

"I don't want to do anything." Wang Laizi chuckled and rubbed his hands together.

"I just want to get closer to my brothers."

Li Hu took a deep breath and suddenly lowered his voice, "Wang Laizi, I advise you not to do anything reckless. Chen Daoba of the Black Tiger Gang is my cousin, and I'm officially joining the gang next month."

Wang Laizi's smile froze on his face.

Chen Scarface? A notorious ruthless figure in the Black Tiger Gang; street thugs like him are not to be trifled with.

He looked at Li Hu suspiciously, as if trying to determine the truthfulness of his words.

Li Hu remained calm and straightened his back.

Wang Laizi hesitated for a moment, then finally waved his hand and said, "Get lost."

Li Hu, pulling Zhou Yuan and Zhao Erbao along, quickly walked past him.

Watching the three figures hurriedly leave, Wang Laizi spat.

"Damn it, you guys are lucky."

"Brother Lai, are we just going to let them go like this?" one of his henchmen asked unwillingly.

"How much money could those poor porters at the docks possibly have?"

Wang Laizi was a little annoyed; the easy money he was about to make had slipped away, which made him very unhappy.

Another henchman with a pointed face and monkey-like features came up to them, a fawning smile on his face.

"Brother Lai, actually, there might be some money to be made in Zhou Yuan's family."

"Oh?"

Wang Laizi became interested.

"I've heard that his family used to run a silk shop in the inner city. Although they suffered from the war, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse; they must still have some wealth hidden away. And..."

The henchman paused, then winked and said, "He also has an older sister named Zhou Ting. Her figure, her looks... wow, compared to that widow Cao from earlier, she's a celestial being descended to earth, a hundred times better!"

"Oh? He has an older sister?"

Wang Laizi immediately became interested, a lewd glint flashing in his eyes.

"Yes, it's a pity that he broke his leg and became a cripple, so he was dismissed from the brothel."

"A cripple?"

Wang Laizi licked his lips.

"A cripple is better; he can't run away."

......

At a three-way intersection, the three stopped.

"Yuanzi, you heard what I just said. Do you want to come with me to the Black Tiger Gang? With me protecting you, it's better than being a slave at the docks."

Li Hu looked at Zhou Yuan intently.

Zhou Yuan shook his head. "Tiger, I appreciate your kindness, but I still want to walk my own path."

He knew very well that Li Hu's words were mostly boasting and that he didn't know any Chen Scar at all.

If he really joined the Black Tiger Gang, he would start from the very bottom as cannon fodder, living a life of constant danger, which was not what he wanted.

"Alright, everyone has their own ambitions."

Li Hu didn't insist, and patted him on the shoulder.

"If you need anything in the future, just let me know."

"Take care of yourself."

After parting ways with Li Hu and Zhao Erbao, Zhou Yuan returned alone to his home deep in the mud alley.

It was completely dark outside, and no lights were on in the house; only moonlight streamed in through the dilapidated windows.

Zhou Ting, the older sister, was sitting on the edge of the bed, sewing a handkerchief by the faint moonlight.

She lowered her head, her expression focused, her slender fingers flying across the fabric.

Zhou Yuan's heart clenched suddenly.

The Zhou family was once quite well-off. But a few years ago, a war broke out, and the parents were killed by the soldiers, and all their wealth was looted.

To escape the soldiers, my sister fell from the attic and broke her leg, which left her with a chronic illness.

In this family, only the two siblings remained, relying on each other for survival.

"You're back?"

Hearing the noise, Zhou Ting looked up, a gentle smile on her face.

"Um."

Zhou Yuan responded and placed the wages on the table.

"Sister, it's getting dark, stop embroidering, it'll hurt your eyes."

"It's okay, just a few more stitches."

Zhou Ting put down her work, slowly stood up, and limped off to prepare dinner.

Dinner was extremely simple: two dry, hard black steamed buns and a bowl of wild vegetable soup with no visible oil.

Zhou Ting picked up the few remaining vegetable leaves from her bowl and put them into Zhou Yuan's bowl.

"Yuanzi, eat more. You work hard at the docks."

Zhou Yuan ate silently without refusing.

"Oh, by the way, Wang from the grocery store came this afternoon," Zhou Ting suddenly said.

Zhou Yuan paused for a moment while chewing.

Wang is the mother of his nominal fiancée, Song Fang.

"She said...she said Song Fang recently went to the Feiyun Embroidery Pavilion in the inner city."

There's a rule in the embroidery workshop: newly arrived embroiderers cannot get married within three years.

She said she didn't want to hold you back, so... she wanted to call off the engagement between our two families.

Zhou Ting's voice was soft, tinged with a hint of guilt.

"I've already agreed."

......