Martial Saint: Starting with Accumulating Experience

Chen Feng reluctantly got up and walked towards the shopkeeper standing at the door.

Sun Qiang squinted and secretly observed. Only after seeing the shopkeeper let Chen Feng leave did he slowly get up, showing no signs of drunkenness at all, clearly sober.

"Hmph, you want me to pay up... wait another five hundred years."

Sun Qiang whistled and leisurely prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

A servant stopped Sun Qiang as he stepped out the door.

"Sir, you haven't paid your bill yet."

"Check, please! Didn't the person who came with me already pay?"

Sun Qiang was shocked.

The waiter shook his head and said, "He left without paying a single penny. The meal plus two jugs of wine cost two hundred and twenty coins. Please settle the bill, sir."

"You let him go without paying!"

Sun Qiang stared at the shopkeeper inside in disbelief.

Seeing his appearance, the servant's face darkened, and he called over others to surround Sun Qiang.

"Are you trying to dine and dash?"

"Wait, wait, there must be some misunderstanding. Is what you remember really our table? He really didn't pay? No, no!"

In the distance from the restaurant, Chen Feng, who had already left, was penniless.

He had almost spent all his savings on learning martial arts, so he had no spare money to treat people to drinks. If he continued to spend money recklessly, he wouldn't even be able to afford food.

"So Lin Yan also joined the Dragon Martial Arts Academy... Looks like I need to prepare early." Chen Feng's thoughts raced as he considered countermeasures.

……

Noon, Longxing Martial Arts School.

As the last set of exercises concluded, Chen Feng felt a new surge of power within his body, as thin as a hair, yet remarkably noticeable. It settled quietly in his dantian, like a beam of light in the darkness.

It is the power of Qi and blood.

This means he is already a quasi-martial artist.

Upon learning this, Zhao Shanyue praised it highly.

"I didn't expect you to have developed your Qi and blood in just a few days."

"Thanks to Senior Brother Zhao's guidance, Chen Feng is extremely grateful."

The other teenagers in the courtyard were incredibly envious.

"It's only been a short time, less than half a month, and he's already done it? What about all the time I've been practicing?"

"Didn't you say he had below-average physical attributes? Such rapid progress... even those with superior physical attributes might not be much better!"

"I...I really heard it clearly. Senior Brother Zhao said that his aptitude is slightly better."

"Oh no, we've been ignoring him these past few days, will he hold a grudge against us?"

"It was just a lucky breakthrough. It's probably because he studied the breathing technique more deeply that he broke through so quickly. Let's see if he can still do it so fast when he's refining his qi and blood. Maybe he'll still be stuck at this level when you become a martial artist."

"That makes sense. It seems I was overthinking it. He's just someone with average to below-average talent."

The way people looked at Chen Feng changed from admiration to pity and disdain. His talent was there, an obstacle he could never overcome.

Despite their disdain, everyone still went through the motions of offering their congratulations, creating a joyful atmosphere in the courtyard as everyone rejoiced at Chen Feng's progress.

Congratulations, Brother Chen.

Congratulations, Brother Chen.

Chen Feng responded to each point.

[My fellow disciples are saying one thing but meaning another... Experience +66]

Chen Feng: "..."

This system sometimes rings out at inopportune times.

"Alright, stay humble and don't be arrogant. Just because you've condensed your Qi and blood doesn't mean you'll definitely become a martial artist. You'll need to work even harder in the future."

"Chen Feng will keep this in mind."

"Come with me. Now that you have Qi and blood, you don't need to train your strength here anymore. You can start learning real skills."

Zhao Shanyue talked as he walked, with Chen Feng listening attentively beside him.

"Our Dragon Martial Arts School can teach two skills: one is staff fighting, specifically the Subduing Dragon Staff Technique, and the other is fist fighting, specifically the Five Elements Fist Technique. Which one would you like to learn?"

"Fist, I'll learn boxing."

Chen Feng did not hesitate.

His decision to learn martial arts was based on his own considerations.

First of all, once a martial artist loses his weapon, he will lose most of his strength. However, fist practitioners are different; they only rely on their own two hands.

Secondly, the path of a martial artist lies in self-cultivation; weapons are ultimately external objects.

In the end... the weapons were too expensive, and he couldn't afford them.

"Alright, only your master can teach you martial arts. When you see your master later, I'll call you Master, and you can call him Headmaster. You haven't become a martial artist yet, so you're not a formal disciple. Don't call him anything inappropriate. You must remember that."

"Chen Feng remembers."

After passing through the corridor, we arrived at a martial arts training ground.

This place is much larger than the previous bluestone courtyard. As soon as you enter, you see a group of shirtless men practicing boxing, and the wooden dummy is being hit with a loud clang.

Under the eaves on the north side, in a grand chair, sat an elderly man who exuded an air of authority without anger. A young man stood beside the old man, holding a cane, his sharp eyes occasionally sweeping across the courtyard.

Two maids stood quietly to the side, serving tea.

"Master."

As soon as Zhao Shanyue stepped across the threshold of the courtyard, he bowed to the old man. Chen Feng also bowed his head and respectfully addressed him as "Master."

The head of the martial arts school, Zhou Bingzhong, was a renowned martial arts master in Pingcheng, skilled in both staff and fist techniques, and had established a formidable reputation in his youth. The Longxing Martial Arts School he founded became one of the top forces in Pingcheng.

Zhou Bingzhong raised his eyes and swept them over the two of them. Chen Feng's body tensed up, as if he were being stared at by a fierce tiger. This almost tangible sense of oppression made it hard for him to breathe.

However, he still kept his head down respectfully, not daring to overstep his bounds in the slightest.

[Withstanding the pressure of an Awakened Martial Master... Experience +1000]

"Um?"

A glint of surprise flashed in Zhou Bingzhong's eyes.

"Good lad, you've got guts! You actually managed to withstand that. Not bad. What's your name?"

Chen Feng was taken aback, then realized that the question was directed at him, and quickly answered.

"Reporting to the Master, my name is Chen, and my given name is Feng."

"Chen Feng...not bad."

Upon hearing their master's praise, both the young man with the staff and Zhao Shanyue looked at Chen Feng with a different kind of expression. The apprentices practicing their boxing below were also secretly watching this scene.

"Mountain, is this a newly initiated disciple?"

"Reporting to Master, I just started as a disciple seven days ago."

Seven days... Upon hearing this, the young man with the stick's eyes flashed with joy.

Zhou Bingzhong nodded and said, "To be able to generate qi and blood in just seven days, you must have superior physique. Shan Yue, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"...After examining his bones, I determined that he has a lower-middle aptitude. Perhaps my cultivation is insufficient. I humbly request that Master examine him personally."

Zhao Shanyue said somewhat awkwardly.

Upon hearing that his physique was below average, Zhou Bingzhong's joy diminished somewhat, and a hint of regret flashed in the eyes of the young man wielding the stick.

Judging a person's potential by palpation is not something that easily goes wrong. Since Zhao Shanyue has determined it to be below average, then it can't be wrong. Even if it's not below average, it's at most just average.

It is far inferior to superior physical constitution.

Upon hearing that the student had a lower-middle physique, the other students stopped paying attention and focused on practicing their own boxing.

"Should I learn to use a staff or a fist?" the young man asked.

"Reporting to Senior Brother, he is learning boxing."

Zhao Shanyue answered for Chen Feng first.

Upon hearing this, the joy in the young man's eyes dimmed further, and he looked rather uninterested.

Zhou Bingzhong stood up from the chair, his entire aura emanating from him, making him appear like an ordinary old man.

"Chen Feng, listen carefully, I'll only say it once."

The other disciples also stopped what they were doing and quietly looked at the master.

The master personally teaches boxing, and only formal disciples who are already martial artists are qualified to do so. Others can only listen once when a newcomer is learning boxing, and they are not allowed to ask questions.

Chen Feng's eyes were bright and piercing, his gaze sharp and penetrating.

"Disciple understands."