Chapter 4

【Martial Dao Longevity Points: 2】

The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to look at the panel; his Martial Dao Longevity Points had increased by one.

It wasn’t a big surprise; since crossing over, he had only been able to get one point per day most of the time.

Don’t underestimate this one point. If used to add to his lifespan, this point was one day of life.

In other words, if he didn’t use the points elsewhere, relying on this guaranteed point, as long as nothing unexpected happened, he could live forever. In a sense, he was already immortal.

“Stay at home and wait for Brother’s good news!”

Using the pork belly his uncle had brought yesterday to make breakfast, Xu Yang changed into his only decent set of clothes and pushed the door open to leave.

The rising morning sun had already climbed over the mountain, casting a golden glow on his face.

Facing the morning sun, Xu Yang felt for the first time that the sun wasn’t scorching, but carried a warmth.

“A-Yang, dressed so neatly, are you going on a blind date today?” A neighbor’s aunt who was up early saw Xu Yang’s attire and couldn’t help but joke.

“Auntie, I’m just going to the city to take care of some business.” Xu Yang revealed his white teeth.

Many people greeted him along the way, and he responded to each one, most of them curious about his clean clothes.

After leaving White Stone Ward, his pace quickened.

Zhou Shunchang had already told him in detail where the Huang family courtyard was. It took about a quarter of an hour to enter the city, and another ten minutes or so to successfully find the Huang family courtyard.

Xu Yang had thought not many people would come, but after reporting his name and entering the Huang family courtyard, he saw that the large courtyard was packed with people—at least a hundred, all youths of sixteen or seventeen like him.

Everyone stood in the courtyard, restrained, not daring to walk around.

Xu Yang didn’t know anyone, so he stood to one side. People continued to arrive, and the bone structure check hadn’t started yet.

“This brother, I am Luo Dehu. May I ask your name?”

A voice suddenly sounded from the side. Xu Yang turned to look and saw this person who called himself Luo Dehu cupping his hands at him. He immediately returned the gesture politely: “I am Xu Yang.”

Luo Dehu’s gaze swept over Xu Yang’s cupped hands, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared: “So it’s Brother Xu Yang. Long heard of you, long heard of you…”

After saying this, as if he hadn’t been the one to initiate the conversation, he silently walked away.

Xu Yang was somewhat baffled. The next moment, he looked at his own palms, which were rough, cracked, and lined with black dirt from mining, and understood something thoughtfully.

He had a handsome face, and because he worked in the mines year-round, away from the sun, his skin was fair.

Plus, he wasn’t dressed badly today, so at a glance, he looked like he had some family background, which was why Luo Dehu had come to make friends.

But once he revealed his hands hidden in his sleeves, his identity as a mud-legged peasant digging for food in the dirt was exposed, so Luo Dehu didn’t even bother to pretend and went directly to make friends with others.

“Is it really this realistic?”

Xu Yang shook his head inwardly, not paying too much attention.

About a quarter of an hour later, several people walked out from the Huang family’s back courtyard. The leader was a white-haired old man with his hands behind his back, looking quite imposing. Of the other two, one was Xu Yang’s uncle, Zhou Shunchang, holding a book and a pen, and the other he didn’t recognize.

“Come up one by one. Those with a bone structure of ‘Ding-Upper’ or higher stay; those below ‘Ding-Lower’ leave directly.” The old man announced loudly.

“It actually requires Ding-Upper!”

“This requirement is too high!”

As soon as the old man spoke, the crowd exploded, many people looking grim.

Xu Yang was also a bit surprised.

Through previous eavesdropping, he knew that bone structure was divided into four grades: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding, each subdivided into Upper and Lower.

Ding-Lower was the worst, followed by Ding-Upper, and the best was Jia-Upper.

He didn’t know which grade his bone structure, raised to twenty-two, belonged to, but seeing the crowd’s reaction, even Ding-Upper, which was second from the bottom, was likely very rare.

“No bone structure!”

“No bone structure!”

……

The old man didn’t care about anyone’s reaction and started checking. Xu Yang finally understood why everyone was reacting so strongly.

The old man checked five or six in a row, all of whom had no bone structure. Not even one met the threshold of Ding-Lower. It wasn’t until the eighth person that a Ding-Lower finally appeared, but it was still a fate of being eliminated.

In fact, a Ding-Lower bone structure already had the possibility of becoming a martial artist, but the Huang family clearly didn’t want to invest in such bone structure.

“Bone structure Ding-Upper, you may stay.”

When it reached the eleventh person, a Ding-Upper finally appeared.

This person was overjoyed and ran excitedly to Zhou Shunchang to register his information.

Time passed, and five people had been selected to stay, but most were Ding-Upper, with only one reaching Bing-Lower.

“Bone structure… Yi-Upper!”

After another youth covered in patches went up to be checked, the old man announced Yi-Upper. Everyone looked at the youth in shock, and even the master checking the bones showed a hint of surprise.

In an instant, the youth’s face flushed red, and he trembled all over. Even big shots from the Huang family were alarmed and ran over personally.

The bone checking continued, but out of ten people, it was basically hard for one to reach Ding-Upper.

Finally, it was Xu Yang’s turn!

He walked to the master and stood still, and the master reached out and grabbed his shoulders to knead them.

The master looked old, but his strength was beyond Xu Yang’s imagination; his fingers felt like steel needles that could pierce his flesh.

“He’s probably a martial artist too.”

Xu Yang endured the sharp pain, letting the master check him from head to toe, kneading his bones inch by inch.

“Bone structure Bing-Lower!”

Finally, the master announced Xu Yang’s bone structure. Zhou Shunchang, who had been staring at him, was overjoyed and even stood up excitedly. Xu Yang actually had talent, and it was a pretty good Bing-Lower bone structure.

With a Bing-Lower bone structure, as long as one was willing to spend money on cultivation, the chance of becoming a martial artist was high.

This wasn’t just changing Xu Yang’s fate; he would also change his own, because Xu Yang was his nephew.

The main reason Xu Laoer would treat others’ sons well even if he wasn’t human was that there were too few people with the potential to become martial artists, and one couldn’t miss the chance to curry favor.

“He’s actually Bing-Lower!”

In the crowd, Luo Dehu secretly regretted his previous behavior. The mud-legged peasant he looked down on actually had a Bing-Lower bone structure. He shouldn’t have turned his back before the results were out.

“Can’t be so reckless in the future. But… he shouldn’t know why I acted like that just now, so it doesn’t count as offending him.” He thought to himself.

The main thing was that he hadn’t been checked yet; he might not lack the bone structure for martial arts himself.

“It’s only Bing-Lower. Yi-Upper is indeed amazing.”

Xu Yang pondered. His bone structure had been raised from two to twenty-two, yet it was only Bing-Lower. The Yi-Upper bone structure, which was two grades higher than his, should be above fifty according to the panel’s data.

Of course, it could be more.

“Uncle!”

While thinking, he came to Zhou Shunchang and bowed respectfully.

“Good lad, you’ve really given me face.”

Zhou Shunchang couldn’t hide the smile on his face: “Practice hard in the future; don’t waste this bone structure of yours.”

With a nephew like Xu Yang who had good bone structure, his status in the Huang family would be very different in the future.

Scribbling down Xu Yang’s information, Xu Yang retreated to join the other selected youths.