Chapter 16: Twelve-Style Combined Technique

On the way back, Jiang Cheng still had a new discovery.

That was from the previous fight; the Short Staff's Experience Value increased by nearly 20 points.

And before that, after performing a set of combos, he only gained 3 Experience Points, and that was when his Short Staff level was at Entry.

After Proficiency increased by one level, practicing past moves would greatly reduce Experience Value, just like a roasted sweet potato.

And after Short Staff reached Proficiency, that set of basic move combos could add 1.5 Experience Points, which is not bad.

From this, one can see how huge the improvement from Real Combat is.

Jiang Cheng looked toward the Panel.

【Short Staff: Proficient (21/800)】

To reach Mastery Level, the required Experience Value also increased from the previous 300 points to 800 points, more than doubling.

Moreover, with the basic moves providing less Experience Value, Jiang Cheng felt that reaching the Mastery level might take some time.

Of course, if he followed his new discovery and improved efficiency through Real Combat, it could be several times higher, and besides, he had just searched over four hundred yuan in cash from those two people, not counting the seized weapons— isn't that much faster than him getting up early and staying up late to sell roasted sweet potatoes for money?

Those nightly hooligans are no good; going out to rob them, over time, perhaps the security of the Poor District would improve greatly— a case of multiple gains from one action.

This idea had just arisen when he rejected it.

As the saying goes, who walks by the river often doesn't get wet shoes?

Even if his Short Staff reached Mastery level, it's hard to guarantee no accident; plus he has family— if those hooligans were driven desperate and attacked the Old Man, causing harm, and he killed those hooligans in retaliation, what then?

Therefore, Jiang Cheng still decided to quietly develop and increase his strength.

Of course, if some clueless hooligan finds him, then don't blame him for being ruthless— just like those two earlier.

"Those two bear a grudge; who knows if they'll retaliate— over the next few days we still need to be careful."

Jiang Cheng thought to himself.

Gazing toward the not‑far distance, he could already see the Old Man's figure at the gate.

Walking closer and looking, he saw that not only Grandma was there, but also Chen Sao from next door.

Seeing him come pushing the tricycle, Chen Sao smiled and said: "Xiao Cheng, on your way back, did you run into any trouble?"

She knew Jiang Cheng carried a staff, fearing he might encounter hooligans on the road, leading to an argument and then a fight.

"Two or three people were eyeing me, but I walked fast and they didn't catch up." Jiang Cheng laughed.

"That's good, Jiang Nainai—I said Xiao Cheng knows what he's doing."

Chen Sao spoke softly.

The Old Man also breathed a sigh of relief, quickly letting Jiang Cheng push the tricycle inside to prepare dinner.

"Xiao Cheng, my meal is ready too— why not eat here? Although it's not as abundant as yesterday's." Chen Sao said proactively.

"No, no."

Jiang Cheng waved his hands repeatedly, "Right, Chen Sao, I borrowed your money a few days ago when I had a fever; I'll pay you back in a couple days."

Upon hearing that, Chen Sao's face changed, somewhat displeased: "Why bring this up all of a sudden? Did I pressure you?"

"No," seeing Chen Sao a bit angry, Jiang Cheng hurriedly explained: "Today the sweet potatoes sold well, and not repaying this money leaves me uneasy—I even dream about owing money when I sleep."

Chen Sao couldn't help but laugh, then realized something and put on a stern face: "You repay whenever you have money— no need to rush."

After saying that, she turned and went into her own house, closing the door.

The Old Man, hearing that, felt somewhat relieved, yet also worried.

After entering the house, she lowered her voice and asked: "Xiao Cheng, after paying back Chen Sao, where will the money for buying sweet potatoes come from? We also don't have much charcoal left at home."

Jiang Cheng naturally couldn't mention what happened on the way back; he smiled and comforted: "Then just buy less each time— originally buying a hundred jin at a time, now just a few dozen jin— first pay back Chen Sao; earning money isn't easy for her either."

"Fine, you handle it."

The Old Man nodded, also agreeing to repay the money first.

Jiang Cheng smiled.

The matters on the road, he definitely cannot say.

Including the several hundred yuan he robbed.

If it weren't for worrying about arousing suspicion, he could go over now and return the money.

However, he also had a vague worry in his mind: if in the future he extorted a lot of money from hooligans, it seemed he couldn't spend it freely— after all, explaining the source of the money is a problem; even if selling sweet potatoes boomed, in an hour he could only roast a few, earning not much money.

Immediately afterward, he felt somewhat amused.

He himself had only come into a small fortune, yet started worrying about how to spend a big windfall.

Moreover, where did the hooligans' money come from? Isn't it just from robbing others? Ill‑gotten gains.

Better to just sell sweet potatoes peacefully— without hooligan harassment, one can still earn some money.

Next, Jiang Cheng made an excuse saying he wanted a sip of vegetable soup, and while the Old Man went out to pick vegetables, he placed the two short staffs and two daggers behind him on top of the cabinet.

Including the several hundred yuan he had robbed.

After doing these, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After finishing dinner and resting for an hour or so, Jiang Cheng began training.

Through this real combat, he first did a while of push‑ups to warm up, then took out the short staff and performed a set of three‑move combo.

Experience Value increased by 1 point.

A message appeared on the Panel.

"Unexpectedly, it's a bit less than expected."

Jiang Cheng felt somewhat helpless.

Immediately after, a thought popped into his mind.

What if I add a bit more movement?

Four moves, five moves, six moves? And even more…

Jiang Cheng felt that he saw hope.

This looks difficult, but it's actually not.

Just after thinking, a basic combination quickly appeared in his mind.

They are all composed of three basic moves, making a total of twelve actions.

Straight chop, reverse chop, straight sweep, and the mirror-image move: reverse chop, straight chop, reverse sweep.

Straight lift, reverse lift, reverse sweep, and the mirror-image move: reverse lift, straight lift, straight sweep.

"Next, practice this combination, and the shorter the time, the better."

Jiang Cheng's mind floated up several pieces of information,

This combination, a Short Stick Master can finish it in about three seconds.

And those at master level can, within 1.5 seconds, unleash twelve strikes.

As for those even more skilled, able to do it within one second, in the true sense, the opponent gets hit by twelve strikes in the blink of an eye.

Note that these are all ordinary people; their physical fitness may be somewhat stronger than average, but they have not absorbed primal force, nor have they remolded their bodies by other means—this is the limit of ordinary people.

Jiang Cheng first familiarized himself with the moves, swinging them a few times.

Because the speed was slow, completing the whole set only increased his experience value a little.

Feeling it was about right, Jiang Cheng tightened his grip on the Short Staff, lifted his head, glanced at the wall clock, and when the second hand was about to reach the 12 o'clock position, he struck suddenly.

A sound of air being split kept echoing from the sky.

Jiang Chen's breathing quickened a bit, and they hurriedly looked at the clock.

Time—over eight seconds had passed.

"It's three times the three seconds."

A bitter smile appeared on Jiang Cheng's face.

Of course, if it were a novice, swinging a stick once per second would already be impressive.

"It should still be not proficient enough with the combination, but if one can finish this set in three seconds, it would definitely be Short Stick Mastery Level."

He lowered his head, looked toward the Panel, wanting to see how many experience points had increased.

(End of chapter)