Chapter 8: Short Staff Entry

Nearly two hours passed, and on the Panel, the Short Staff's Proficient level finally reached Entry level.

In theory, a swing of the Short Staff should add a bit of Experience Value, so it shouldn't take this long.

But later, Jiang Cheng felt his entire right arm painfully swollen, making his motions imprecise, so only after every few chops could he gain a little.

Fortunately, effort rewards the diligent, and the Proficient level finally rose to the next rank.

【Short Staff: Entry (0/300)】

In an instant, Jiang Cheng felt a flood of information appear in his mind, as if he had trained the Short Staff for several months.

His gaze dropped down, landing on his right hand gripping the Rolling Pin.

First, his grip was wrong.

When holding the Short Staff, one must not grip it flush at the very tip; there should be a fist-length distance from the staff's end.

The reason is simple.

If the hand holds the staff at its tip, in Real Combat the Short Staff can easily slip out and fly away due to rapid swings or violent impacts.

Losing one's weapon in a fight, the consequences need no further explanation.

And keep a hand free.

Although it shortens the attack range a bit, it benefits technique; at close range, one can also use the staff's tail to Smash or Pound, delivering greater power.

Besides that, there is the enemy-monitoring stance and several Short Stick Technique moves.

The enemy-monitoring stance, as the name suggests, is the way of facing an opponent.

Primarily using a diagonal-step relaxed posture, the back leg is slightly bent, spirit highly alert, one hand holds the Short Staff, the other empty hand protects vital facial points; whether the staff is in front or behind depends on personal habit, but generally in front, which gives a larger attack range and aids in seizing initiative and controlling distance.

As for the Short Stick Technique, besides the Chop he has been practicing, there are three other moves.

The first move is Staff Flourish.

It is like Sun Wukong, swinging the Golden Cudgel in a dense, impenetrable manner.

Staff Flourish also involves swinging the Short Staff, the faster the better.

Generally this technique has little killing power; it mainly helps beginners grasp the staff's nature and train wrist agility, allowing attacks from unexpected angles.

The second and third moves are Lift and Sweep.

Chop is a downward swing; depending on angle, it splits into forehand Chop and backhand Chop.

Lift is an upward swing; likewise, it divides into forehand Lift and backhand Lift.

Sweep is a horizontal swing, also divided into forehand Sweep and backhand Sweep.

These are the extra pieces of information that appeared in Jiang Cheng's mind.

"Too bad there is no footwork; if the Short Staff reaches Proficient level, the footwork information should unlock,"

Jiang Cheng thought to himself.

Including combination moves, power-generation mechanisms, techniques, insights—none have unlocked yet.

At just Entry level, even if a thug with a dagger blocks the way, it's best not to act, just endure for now.

"By the way, let's see how much Experience Value a Chop adds now."

Jiang Cheng felt a stir, gripped the Short Staff tightly, and slammed a fierce downward Chop, the sound of slicing through air ringing immediately.

【Experience Value +0.5】

On the Panel, a line of information floated up.

"It decreased by half, and the Experience Value needed to reach the next Proficient level became three hundred points; with each iteration, the difficulty rose sixfold,"

He tried a backhand Chop.

Although he'd only practiced a few times, his motion was smooth, producing the slicing sound directly.

【Short Staff Experience Value +0.5】

"Experience Value is the same."

Jiang Cheng, thoughtful, quickly understood.

After reaching Entry, these newly acquired skills he already knows, but they are not yet Proficient.

To verify, he tried a forehand Sweep.

Sure enough, Experience Value increased by 0.5 points. "By this count, one must practice 600 times to reach Proficient level; tonight, that's definitely impossible."

Jiang Cheng yawned, feeling utterly exhausted, yet his brain still buzzed with excitement.

"If I'm out of stamina, then I'll just practice Staff Flourish,"

Jiang Cheng closed his eyes, and opened them again quickly.

This Staff Flourish, like Chop, also splits into forehand and backhand.

Forehand Staff Flourish moves from top to bottom, requiring the wrist, elbow, shoulder, even the whole body to act.

Backhand Staff Flourish goes from bottom to top, rotating the Short Staff.

Putting aside other things, showing off style is a skill.

Jiang Cheng, though it was his first practice, performed the moves decently, spinning a few to a dozen circles without issue; only the speed was a bit slow.

And at that moment, Experience Value rose by a point or two.

He tried the backhand Staff Flourish again; it was much harder than the forehand, the rotation slower, yet he managed it.

Suddenly, the Old Man's voice sounded.

"Xiao Cheng, it's getting late, go to sleep; there aren't many sweet potatoes left at home, you go buy some tomorrow morning,"

"Oh, okay, Grandma, I'll go buy them first thing tomorrow morning,"

Jiang Cheng smiled in agreement, and placed the Rolling Pin back where it belonged.

The Old Man looked at him, and with an almost imperceptible voice, sighed.

That sleep, Jiang Cheng slept soundly.

Although the current situation is not good, he firmly believes that in the future, he and the people around him will surely be able to live a good life.

At dawn, Jiang Cheng woke up, washed up, finished breakfast, and then set out pushing his tricycle.

He wasn't going to set up a stall, but to go onto the street and buy one or two hundred jin of sweet potatoes.

With such weight, he couldn't carry it back, so naturally he needed the tricycle for transport.

The old man watched Jiang Cheng go off into the distance, suddenly remembered something, hurried back inside, glanced at the kitchen—the rolling pin was already missing.

"This child..."

The old man stood frozen, not knowing what to do.

For some reason, she felt that after this serious illness, her grandson's personality had changed somewhat.

Of course, he was still just as filial and sensible, but now Jiang Cheng had an extra something she couldn't understand.

Just like now, Jiang Cheng walks with his head high and chest out, nothing like before when he walked with his head down, timid and fearful.

She didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

After thinking, she decided to go next door to consult Chen Sao for advice.

Jiang Cheng, walking on the road, had indeed brought the rolling pin.

The Poor District during the day isn't absolutely safe; there are also some robberies, especially the original owner, who on the way back from buying raw sweet potatoes in the daytime has been extorted many times.

Carrying the rolling pin, even if he doesn't intend to fight anyone, pulling it out at least has some deterrent effect.

He knows the old man worries, afraid he'll get into a private brawl with those thugs and get hurt.

But his idea is indeed different from the old man's.

Nobody likes being oppressed; where there is oppression, there is resistance.

If he didn't have the proficiency panel, perhaps over time he'd be worn smooth, like the vast majority of people in the Poor District, being bullied and exploited day after day, year after year.

But he does have the proficiency panel, yet he's still being face‑slapped by a gang of hooligans—that's too embarrassing for a transmigrator.

Anyone who dares to reach out at him had better be ready to have their hand broken! After more than ten minutes, Jiang Cheng finally pushed his cart to the street in front of the grain shop.

On the whole street, there's only this one grain shop, so no matter when you come, there are always lots of people.

It's said this shop was opened by a certain family in the city, with a powerful background; the street has changed hands among several gang bosses, none of whom dare to mess with this shop, and even when buying grain you dare not take less.

At this moment, several burly men stand at the shop's door, glaring with fierce eyes at everyone who enters, as if saying, "Don't cause trouble—I'm watching you."

(End of chapter)