Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

"Smack..."

With a lash of the whip, Lin Yuan suddenly found the right rhythm that matched his strength, and he was overjoyed, feeling both pain and pleasure.

After a slight adjustment, he continued to punch and leap forward as if no one else was around, with the faint sound of his fists and feet cutting through the air.

The surrounding disciples all secretly observed him.

Seeing that he had entered a state of complete absorption, Coach Hong unusually refrained from striking him again. He simply watched him practice his boxing quietly, and even though there were still many non-standard parts in his moves, he still did not make a move.

After a few quarters of an hour, Lin Yuan quickly grasped the feeling of his strength and energy working together. He continued to practice and felt that he had inexhaustible strength and boundless energy in his chest.

His punches, unabated, not only did not weaken but became even stronger.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yuan felt his blood and qi surging, his aura becoming powerful, his fists clenching like autumn wind, and his feet shaking the dust.

For the first time, he felt that martial arts could shake the heavens and earth, and even if it was only slightly, it gave him a sense of accomplishment.

"Snapped!"

Suddenly, Coach Hong lashed out with his whip. The long whip, like a snake, wrapped around his waist, pulling him out of his reverie. The whip then spun him around several times like a top, instantly draining his strength.

Lin Yuan immediately lost his balance, landing on his buttocks and lying on the ground. His chest was still heaving, and he was panting heavily. He knew that he had just reached the point of overdrawing his energy and blood, and continuing to practice might damage his muscles and bones. That's why Coach Hong forcibly stopped him.

So, enduring the pain, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to Coach Hong, feeling a swelling sensation in his hands: "Thank you, Coach!"

"Your Qi and blood are strong, and you've just begun the body tempering process. You don't need to practice this morning."

Seeing that he was improving under his guidance, Coach Hong was in a great mood and couldn't help but say one more thing.

Lin Yuan felt as if he had heard celestial music, and he savored the feeling of his blood and qi surging around him. This was the beginning of his body tempering, a sign that his blood and qi were strong.

He has reached the threshold of becoming a beginner martial artist.

I am a martial artist now!

Upon hearing Instructor Hong's words, Hu Cai immediately disregarded the possibility of being punished and ran to Lin Yuan's side. While massaging Lin Yuan's muscles and skin, he congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations on your breakthrough, Junior Brother!"

"Thank you so much for your help, senior brother. Let's go to Chunfeng Tower for lunch."

"Ha, that's great! Congratulations on your breakthrough, Uncle." Zhao Sheng saw that Instructor Hong had ignored Hu Cai and ran over as well. He was very happy to hear that there was a big meal.

None of the other disciples came, nor did Lin Yuan invite them.

……

The morning session has ended.

Lin Yuan and his two companions first went to see Doctor Meng. The thirty doses of medicinal diet prescribed last time had been used for more than a month to save money, and now there was only one dose left. They needed to get a new prescription and medicine today.

Zhao Sheng's medicine was about to run out, just like his. Holding the prescription in his hand, he sighed, "Why can't this prescription be used more often? Only thirty doses are too few."

"If you go to a martial arts school outside, you could eat the same prescription until you die. But what's the use? You can't break through to the Martial Master realm. Now that you've broken through to the early stage, the efficacy of the medicinal diet will be greatly reduced. Don't be stingy with this little bit of money and delay your martial arts path," Hu Cai warned.

"Senior Brother Hu is right." Lin Yuan had his own thoughts and analyzed further, "When we use medicinal cuisine to temper our bodies, our physical cultivation level will break through rapidly, and our muscles, bones, skin, and flesh will also change accordingly. These changes can be good or bad. Regularly having a martial arts doctor diagnose us is to prevent us from damaging our muscles, bones, skin, and flesh."

"I see?" Zhao Sheng exclaimed in surprise.

"Especially the internal organs. If we accidentally injure our internal organs while practicing martial arts and don't realize it immediately, allowing the injury to develop, it will be difficult to continue on the path of martial arts in the long run. Wasn't Li Tingzuo's path to becoming a martial arts master ruined because of this?" Lin Yuan gave another example.

Upon hearing his uncle's example, Zhao Sheng immediately lost his temper.

After listening attentively, Hu Cai nodded in praise, saying, "I hadn't thought about these things before. Junior Brother Lin is indeed a good reader; what you said makes perfect sense."

"Alright, it's our turn!"

The three of them immediately entered the clinic.

After Hu Cai and Zhao Sheng finished their examinations, it was Lin Yuan's turn. Doctor Meng examined him, then smiled and nodded at Lin Yuan:

"Hmm, not bad! You've mastered the basics of Body Tempering so quickly; you're a diligent child. Your body has also recovered well, you've become much stronger, your internal organs are all normal, and you have no hidden injuries. You're doing quite well. Now that you've mastered the basics of Body Tempering, I'll increase your dosage."

"Thank you, doctor." Lin Yuan took the prescription and paid five taels of silver for the consultation.

The three of them went to the Wutang Pharmacy and bought ten doses of medicinal cuisine.

Lin Yuan's medicinal cuisine has increased to six qian and five fen of silver per serving this time, and ten servings will cost a total of six liang and five qian of silver.

Fortunately, there's still some ointment left at home, enough to last for another month or so.

He did the math and found he still had over ninety taels of silver left, enough to train for another six months without much trouble.

According to Hu Cai and Zhao Sheng's experience, it takes about two or three months to go from the initial stage of body tempering to the early stage.

It took Lin Yuan more than two months to go from zero to basics, and he suddenly realized that the process of going from zero to one was actually very difficult.

Once he spends all the money he has, he will become a martial artist in the early stage of Body Tempering, and he can't help but feel a little excited.

The three returned to town.

Lin Yuan immediately invited the two to Chunfeng Tower to celebrate.

Since everyone there was familiar with us, we ordered some affordable dishes this time, which saved us some money. We only spent eight and a half qian of silver.

In the afternoon, the three of them went to Hu Cai's courtyard to practice martial arts together.

Now that Lin Yuan has broken through his cultivation level, he can now compete with the two in terms of moves, but he loses more often than he wins.

"Junior brother, do you still remember? After you tempered your body, you were supposed to be my sparring partner, right?" Hu Cai brought up the old story again.

"Of course." Lin Yuan nodded, then added, "But be careful, don't hurt me!"

"Don't worry, I'll hold back," Hu Cai assured, patting his chest.

"Count me in!" Zhao Sheng loved fighting and was quite enthusiastic about it.

This is quite different from Lin Yuan, who only wanted to quickly temper his physical body and improve his cultivation level. These two, on the other hand, particularly enjoyed fighting and competing to see who could outdo the other.

The three quickly became immersed in the world of martial arts, experiencing exhaustion, fulfillment, joy, and growth.

……

Early the next morning.

Lin Yuan hadn't gotten out of bed yet when a servant came to call him; it turned out that his elder brother had come to carry firewood.

He got up early and went to the side gate, where he saw his elder brother unloading firewood and taking a wild deer out of the wood and letting the servants take it.

"Brother, you're here so early again. Did Dali catch this?"

"Yeah, he's got some skills at managing this. Sigh, his girlfriend broke up with him, and now no woman wants to marry into the mountains." The older brother praised him and then sighed.

"People strive for higher positions, just as water flows downhill; it's only natural." Lin Yuan couldn't do anything about it.

"By the way, there's an epidemic in the village lately, so if you don't have to go back, don't get infected. If you need anything, I'll bring it to you," the older brother instructed.

"Is everything alright at home?" Lin Yuan asked in surprise.

"Everything is fine at home. These past few days, your sister-in-law has kept Gou Dan locked in the house, afraid that he would run out."

"What kind of epidemic? It's not a plague, is it?"

"Just like every year, when autumn and winter come and the weather gets cold, everyone in the family gets sick. But this year the epidemic is a bit severe; several people in the village have died. It's like having a funeral every day!"

Upon hearing about the funeral, Lin Yuan's interest was instinctively piqued, but the thought that most of the villagers were poor, uneducated, and untrained in martial arts immediately dampened his enthusiasm: "Didn't they see a doctor?"

"Hey, where would we get the money to see a doctor? Most families are still borrowing money for their autumn taxes this year, and we don't even have much to eat. Where would we get the money to see a doctor?" the eldest brother sighed.

"Sigh." Lin Yuan sighed as well, "Have we paid our autumn taxes yet?"

"Hey, don't even mention it!" The eldest brother slapped his thigh, looking utterly dejected. "Our family's Lin Lao Jiu has run away from the mountains, and it's really caused us a lot of trouble. We had to share the autumn tax with his family. To be honest, he's a close relative of our clan, but who knew that his mother would die of the plague this time, and he would secretly run away."

Daliang implemented the Lijia system in the lower-level villages, with ten households forming a Jia, and a Jia head appointed. The ten households in a Jia supervised each other and were held jointly accountable.

Within a certain area, if someone evades taxes by going into the mountains, unless it is discovered beforehand and they are caught and handed over to the authorities, the rest of the people will have to clean up their mess and pay back the taxes.