Chapter 2

Everything went much more smoothly than imagined; Zhou Shuo used thirty glass shards, exchanging them at the pawn shop for thirty small gold ingots, and also took a few books from Wan An's place—Wan An that old guy, although he patted his chest and said the Dao Scripture and Martial Scripture were his own collection, but in fact the Martial Scripture and Dao Scripture were not old in color; as for the other two martial manuals, one《Small Circulation Power Fist》, one《Swift Wind Sword Technique》, their handwriting was also fresh and new, completely newly written.

Although he had been ripped off, but things are better than nothing, Zhou Shuo didn't say much, after finishing the transaction of the thirty glass shards, he entrusted someone in Jade Capital's pawn shop to buy a household registration, then brought the remaining gold ingots and the pile of books he bought back to the modern era, starting to continue his reclusive life; this time he didn't go to be a code slave; instead, he studied martial arts and Dao arts.

Although he had a plan for modest wealth and contentment, when something more tempting was placed before him, Zhou Shuo still reached out without hesitation; in the Chinese people's bones, there is an extraordinary longing for martial prowess and chivalry, and even more so for higher Dao and law, needless to say.

In fact, Zhou Shuo already knew much about the Dao arts and martial arts of the Yang Shen World from reading《Yang Shen》, but some things cannot be clarified by just a few words in the novel; it's like the novel mentions that Hong Yi, a scholar with no strength to truss a chicken, becomes Yi Zi, but it doesn't describe his daily life—eating, drinking, defecating—and it's as if the novel should be about nothingness, yet Zhou Shuo, through a door, went from his own world to that world just the same.

Many things in the world cannot be explained; Zhou Shuo also didn't want to put it into words. After returning home, he first carefully read the Martial Scripture and Dao Scripture twice, then gritted his teeth and began cultivating martial arts according to the movements in the《Small Circulation Power Fist》manual whose difficulty is comparable to yoga.

Just as if the supposed virtual Yang Shen World had been fully realized, Zhou Shuo began practicing the Small Circulation Power Fist; after enduring the bodily pain of the initial movements through gritted teeth, he completely changed from his previous decadence of sitting long hours at the computer typing, and his whole person began to regain vigor.

Besides practicing fists, with his energy overly abundant, Zhou Shuo also bought bows and arrows and the《Archery Canon》from the Yang Shen World's Guanshao Hao to train archery, bought a house in Jade Capital, bought a horse to practice horsemanship; since knives couldn't be bought in Great Qian, he ordered a long sword online in the real world to practice Swift Wind Sword Technique; in short, he did everything he could, constantly using various skills to drain his abundant energy; when money ran out, he sold glass, after all there were plenty of suckers.

Within three months, Zhou Shuo could properly control his tendons, skin, and muscles; his whole body could perform high-difficulty moves such as aerial flips and one-arm push-ups; according to the manual, this meant his martial arts training of tendons, flesh, and skin had reached perfection, only the speed was somewhat unexpectedly fast.

The progress of his training speed left Zhou Shuo a bit dazed, but soon he also discovered the cause: specifically, it was due to spacetime—the Yang Shen World and the real world are not the same world; the two worlds, or rather the planets, differ in aspects such as thin air and gravity; the Yang Shen World's environment is overall superior to the real world's, and living in the real world's relatively harsh environment, Zhou Shuo's physique is stronger than that of the Yang Shen World's natives, so his cultivation proceeds relatively quickly.

"Seize!" The arrow lodged in the bullseye, the arrow feathers trembled slightly, Zhou Shuo maintained his posture, watching the trembling arrow feathers he exhaled; compared to his progressing martial arts, his Dao arts have made no progress at all, although he could, according to the teachings of the Daoist scriptures, gather his thoughts and adjust his mental strength and five senses, but he could never achieve soul departure.

Taking another breath, Zhou Shuo stilled his distracting thoughts, clamped a few feathered arrows between his fingers, then, using the continuous-shot method, in one breath he entrusted his distracting thoughts to the arrows, nailing them to the poplar tree target in the courtyard, then reopened his eyes, and the distracting thoughts rose again.

"How am I supposed to find the next cultivation method!" Zhou Shuo looked at the longbow in his hand, bent over to pick up the quiver, stepped forward to take down and collect the feathered arrows stuck in the targets one by one, feeling a bit dejected, wondering how he should proceed from here.

At first things went somewhat smoothly, leaving him puzzled, but Zhou Shuo is now truly worried, because before martial arts reaches the human level, one must train flesh, tendons, membranes, bones, organs, marrow, and exchange blood; the Small Heaven Circulation Power Fist, the martial art of the Great Qian Dynasty army, only trains the three layers of muscle, tendon, and membrane, and if he wishes to advance further, he must find a cultivation method.

Zhou Shuo trained continuously for three months; aside from the imperial palace, he had basically covered all of Jade Capital City, visited every major bookstore, yet he hadn't found a single martial manual. The books sold in the stores are basically all regulated; Jade Capital, as the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty, has even stricter controls, and although this world venerates strength and cultivators are abundant, the regulation of Dao arts, martial arts, and martial manuals is no less strict than modern firearms control in our homeland.

Wanting to reach superior martial arts and Dao arts, Zhou Shuo thought carefully and found only two options: first, to join a sect, but those sects accepting disciples first require a clean background, and his origins are obscure, so that won't work; second, to enlist, join the Great Qian Army, go to the northern border to fight the Yunmeng and YuanTu peoples, earn military merit and receive rewards, but likewise, in this world enlisting is essentially becoming a slave with no difference.

"If not, then let's try again today!" Zhou Shuo put the bow and arrows and target away, turned his head to tidy his attire; nowadays he has been growing his hair long, wearing travel clothes, fastening his waistband with a jade pendant, making his appearance no different from that of a native of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Having tidied everything, Zhou Shuo wore blue-and-white travel clothes, with tassels hanging from his waist, used a flat-topped cap to press his not-so-long hair at the back of his head, and strode out of the house. In Jade Capital City, there are three lively spots: first, the skybridge; second, the Confucian temple; third, the commercial street. The area near the skybridge is where the lower classes gather; the Confucian temple is lively during assembly periods; the commercial street is where commerce congregates, and there he might encounter some luck.

Thinking of running into some luck at the commercial street, Zhou Shuo quickened his pace; his house is located in a lone lane at a corner of Jade Capital City, this place is right under the emperor's feet, the city often has constable patrols, few dare to cause trouble, so he also lacked vigilance, but just as he was about to step out onto the street, two figures suddenly swayed into view before him.

"Two gentlemen, this is!" Zhou Shuo looked at the figures that had suddenly appeared before him, his heart skipped a beat, he instinctively stepped back, and with a wary gaze looked at the two figures that had suddenly appeared; they were two Daoists, not particularly striking in appearance, one with a beard, the other with a narrow, elongated face, their hair all tied up in topknots on their heads, fastened with jade hairpins, wearing black gauze robes.

"'No birth parents, Void homeland, benefactor, I offer my respects.' The bearded Daoist made a bow."

"'Polite, if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way.' Upon hearing the eight characters 'No birth parents, Void homeland,' Zhou Shuo felt his scalp tingle, he immediately turned to run, but he forced himself to stay, for if he ran off, those two Daoists would ambush him from behind, no joking matter."

"'Please stay here, benefactor, naturally there is business.' The narrow-faced Daoist smiled and nodded."

"'I don't think I have any business with you two; I've always believed in Buddhism and not in Dao.' Zhou Shuo looked at the two Daoists, flatly refused, the No-birth Dao and Void Dao—these two heretical cults that have recently risen in the Great Qian realm; as for such cults, he has always believed in staying away from them."

"'That's it; Buddhism is originally Dao, benefactor, don't look at our Daoist robes—we serve the Void God, the Void God is the source of the world, the No-birth Old Mother is the primordial ancestor of creation; whether Buddha or Daoist venerable, they must bow. Forgot to introduce myself, I, a humble Daoist, Xuan Ye.' The narrow-faced Daoist smiled and nodded, his demeanor very calm."

"'I, a humble Daoist, Wu Kong.' The bearded Daoist had a blank expression."

"'If Buddhas and Daoist venerables must bow, has the Void God reached the other shore?' Zhou Shuo's mouth twitched as he raised his voice; sometimes he felt that cultists were truly insane, spouting nonsense without basis, but the question is, why would anyone believe such limitless bragging?"

"'The Void God is the source of the world; why need to reach the other shore, and where in this world is there an other shore? Benefactor, don't raise your voice, the nearby residents are already asleep.' Daoist Xuan Ye's face always bore a faint smile."

"'Today we have come; I, a humble Daoist, and my brother are the representatives of the Void God; please benefactor, enter our teaching.' Daoist Wu Kong said sternly."

Facing the two black-clad Daoists, Zhou Shuo's eyes widened sharply, he looked toward the two Daoists' backs, the two Daoists' eyebrows twitched at the same moment, they couldn't help but turn their heads to look, seeing one of them become distracted, Zhou Shuo, without a word, moved both hands, his fists shooting straight at the two men's faces, however, before his fists touched flesh, he felt a gust of yin wind brush his face, his entire consciousness became dazed, and his fists unconsciously slowed.

"'Dao arts!' Feeling his consciousness slow, Zhou Shuo forcibly raised his energy, gritting his teeth he bit down hard on his tongue, a salty tang instantly filled his mouth, the pain summoned back his consciousness; just as his consciousness returned, a slight pain rose in his abdomen, and he sprawled out, mouth askew, flying backward."

"'Benefactor, you, who knew no martial arts three months ago and have only trained to the skin-refining stage, we two know, but we two are not easy to deal with.' Xuan Ye retracted his kicked right foot, his face bearing a faint smile."

"'You've been surveilling me?' Zhou Shuo rubbed his abdomen, stood up, forcibly swallowed the bloody saliva in his mouth, feeling the cut on his tongue from the bite, he looked at the two Daoists, a hint of panic in his heart, wondering if even the Gate of Transmigration has been discovered."

"'If we didn't know a bit about your background, how would we dare to come and invite you into our teaching?' Xuan Ye smiled and raised his right hand."

Seeing Xuan Ye raise his right hand, Zhou Shuo's will instantly became dazed; he had been careless, he absolutely must not be captured alive, he had practiced the Small Heaven Circulation Power Fist and the Swift Wind Blade Technique; Dao arts cannot inflict physical harm before they can control objects; he wanted to counter-kill, to counter-kill, holding the thought of counter-killing, Zhou Shuo lost control of his body—damn it, where's the promised counter-kill?