Chapter 72: Cheng Lei Practices Martial Arts

After the curtain fell on his eldest brother's wedding, Cheng Feng had originally planned to stay for two more days before heading home.

However, on the morning after his eldest brother's wedding, the new bride specifically came to serve tea and pay her respects to her parents-in-law. Only then did Cheng Feng have the good fortune to see his sister-in-law's true appearance—Liu Juan was delicate in features and graceful in temperament; she was swift and orderly in handling household chores. Not only that, but she was also a good cook and had a gentle, pleasant personality, with no faults whatsoever, making her a perfect match for his eldest brother's honest and simple nature.

After the bride had finished serving tea to her father-in-law and mother-in-law in turn, an unexpected scene occurred: she actually took the initiative to pick up a teacup, walked toward Cheng Feng, and indicated that she wanted to serve him a cup as well!

Facing this situation, the Cheng couple and his eldest brother did not take offense; after all, the various changes the family had experienced over the past year were almost entirely due to Cheng Feng. Especially that heavy ten taels of silver, which had allowed Cheng Fu to hold his head high and lead his son to propose marriage. If it hadn't been for Cheng Shu falling in love with Liu Juan at first sight and being a perfect match, Cheng Fu might have still been busy picking and choosing!

Seeing this, Cheng Feng hurriedly waved his hand to decline. Helplessly, as his new sister-in-law and family members kept urging him, he had no choice but to drink the cup of tea.

Liu Juan's family was naturally not foolish. When they had agreed to this marriage, it was partly because of the generous gift of five taels of silver, but a more important reason was their optimism about Cheng Feng's future prospects.

After all, judging by the potential Cheng Feng had shown, if he were to truly rise to prominence and achieve success in the future, would he really abandon his own brother? Therefore, no matter how you calculated it, this was a deal that could only profit and never lose!

Cheng Feng had even specially brought a jar of fine wine as a gift when he returned this time.

When he left, he felt exceptionally relaxed and at ease; as a son, he was naturally happy that there was a joyous event in the family.

In truth, Cheng Feng was as clear as a mirror in his heart—he was very aware of the predicament his family currently faced: there were only three rooms in total, and previously the three brothers had lived together, which was lively and noisy.

With the eldest brother getting married, a separate room definitely had to be vacated.

If he and Lao San both continued to live at home, it would be hard to say how their future relationship would be handled.

He couldn't exactly have himself and Lao San listening to the goings-on through the wall next door! That would be too embarrassing.

Did they really think Cheng Feng had never eaten pork?

The house was indeed a bit small.

And since his third younger brother would be going to the county town with him to make a living in a few days, the eldest brother and sister-in-law would be left at home to take care of their aging parents!

Fortunately, Cheng Feng had always been very attentive toward his own family and would never be the least bit negligent.

After two days of brief contact and interaction, Cheng Feng felt that this sister-in-law was quite decent in her conduct and could be called a sensible person.

Since that was the case, he had nothing to worry about! Thus, he packed up a little and set off on his return journey, heading back to the county town.

Time flew like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, the monthly dividend day arrived once again.

However, as expected, the dividends for this month were lower than before. After some calculations, it was found that after deducting various expenses, the actual net profit was only seventy-two taels of silver.

Of this, the Martial Arts Hall received twenty-eight taels and eight qian, while Shopkeeper Mei and Cheng Feng each received twenty-one taels and six qian. Before this, Cheng Feng had seven taels of silver left in his hand, so he now had a total of twenty-eight taels and six qian.

Regarding the distribution of this money, Cheng Feng followed his usual practice: he set aside twenty taels as an emergency fund for unexpected needs, used four taels for household expenses, and left only four taels and six qian for his own daily use.

The Small Medicinal Pill he took daily to nourish his kidneys could not be stopped; whether one's waist strength was powerful was crucial for a cultivator.

Cheng Feng, in particular, valued this highly and had to maintain it carefully.

He dared not stop the spending on this aspect.

Ever since stepping into the Blood Refining Realm, Cheng Feng had poured all his energy into the Thunderous Blood-Bursting Art.

He had long since memorized the introductory tips and related knowledge of this technique, but no matter how hard he tried, the Panmian remained completely unchanged.

Because a skill could not be formed, he naturally could not add points to it.

Helpless, Cheng Feng could only choose to continue "bitterly practicing" his Basic Blade Technique, hoping for a breakthrough.

All of this was seen by Wang Tieshan, and every time he saw Cheng Feng's diligent and focused appearance while practicing, he would show a satisfied smile.

Because Cheng Feng's speed of progress was truly too fast, it could be described as "a thousand miles a day." Such obvious improvement undoubtedly proved that Wang Tieshan's decision to let him join the Martial Arts Hall was very wise, and it also reflected from the side that this Martial Arts Hall Master indeed had extraordinary discernment.

It was just a pity that they did not know that there existed a special creature in this world called a "cheater."

Cheng Feng was only doing this to shake his master, hoping that he would say he was gifted, which would serve as evidence of his own improvement.

For Cheng Feng, effort was for the sake of forming a skill that the Panmian would acknowledge.

As long as a skill was formed, he could add points and take off.

It had been ten days since he returned to Room One, and his Fortune Points had increased by twenty.

Basic Blade Technique (Proficient 42/200)

Every day, Cheng Feng could feel his usage and understanding of the blade rising.

And that Blade Technique Manual called the Gale Blade did not make a skill appear on Cheng Feng's Panmian either.

Cheng Feng was not in a hurry.

He was truly helpless regarding his own aptitude.

Fortunately, he had broken through to Blood Refining.

He was no longer a low-level soldier of the second realm.

After finally waiting for the dividends to be distributed, Cheng Feng immediately went to find the person in charge of the Martial Arts Hall without stopping, stating that he had a younger brother at home interested in learning martial arts, and asked if they could invite a patient and strict Outer Disciple to teach him.

Although the Martial Arts Hall stipulated that every child needed to pay two taels of silver as tuition upon enrollment, considering Cheng Feng's status as an Inner Sect Disciple's family member, they could grant a certain degree of preferential policy.

After returning home, Cheng Feng specially bought several bolts of cloth to bring back so that his sister-in-law and mother could sew new clothes for the whole family.

Immediately after, he couldn't wait to take his third younger brother to the Martial Arts Hall to formally apprentice and learn the arts. It only cost three taels of silver per month to enjoy the room and board provided by the Martial Arts Hall.

In this way, he had successfully secured a future for his third younger brother. For now, he would let him practice martial arts with peace of mind, and when his own strength was greater, he would look for other paths more suitable for development.

After all, only by mastering the ways of making money could he realize his plans.

Relying solely on brute force to protect his family while being alone was simply not advisable.

Only by having power, by building a massive force, would it be possible to protect his family and obtain the information Cheng Feng wanted.

Otherwise, Cheng Feng was truly afraid that his Panmian would sit idle without information.

That would truly be a pearl covered in dust.