Chapter 73: The First One

The wind is quite boisterous.

Luo Zijun walked along the road, feeling his ears filled with that gentle and pleasant voice from just a moment ago.

His mind, too, was entirely occupied by that delicate and beautiful face.

Damn it!

That woman actually wanted to ruin my Dao heart!

"Bang!"

With one punch, he shattered that face in his mind, and his mind instantly cleared!

Go to the Martial Arts Hall!

Clutching a large sum of money, he soon arrived at the Martial Arts Hall.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

He stepped forward to knock on the door.

It was still that bare-chested, burly Han who came to open the door.

Seeing him return after leaving, the Han frowned: "What else is the matter?"

Luo Zijun said: "I wish to become a student and practice martial arts."

"Become a student and practice martial arts?"

The Han was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "We allow people to pay to practice martial arts here, but there is no need to become a student, and we do not take on disciples."

As he spoke, he shouted inside: "Junior Brother Yang!"

Hearing the call, Yang Kaiming hurried over. Seeing the person outside the door, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Brother Zijun, why have you returned?"

Luo Zijun cupped his hands: "Brother Yang, I went back and thought about it, and decided to come here to practice martial arts."

Yang Kaiming was taken aback upon hearing this and asked: "Has Head Constable Li agreed?"

Luo Zijun took out a bulging money pouch: "I have money."

Yang Kaiming glanced at it, hesitated for a moment, and said with a smile: "Come in, I will go ask Liu Shifu."

Since there was money, things were easy to handle.

They were all adults; since this youth had brought money and decided to come practice martial arts, he naturally would not stop him.

As for Head Constable Li, the two were not close to begin with, so he did not fear any repercussions from the other party.

Luo Zijun took the money and entered the small courtyard.

Yang Kaiming walked quickly into the middle house. After a moment, he came out and called: "Brother Zijun, Liu Shifu asks you to come in."

Luo Zijun hurried into the room.

Sitting in the room was an old man wearing a gray robe, who was brewing medicinal herbs. One could see a scar running across the old man's forehead, his hair was gray and disheveled behind him, and his expression looked quite stern.

"You want to practice martial arts?"

The old man asked while poking at the firewood, not looking up.

Luo Zijun said: "Yes."

The old man then looked up, glanced at him, and sized up his entire body before saying: "Your physique is only suited for studying. If you truly want to practice martial arts, I will say the ugly words first: two months from now, if you have not reached the Skin Refining realm, even if you pay, I will not keep you. As for the money you paid previously, not a single coin will be refunded."

Luo Zijun cupped his hands and said: "This junior understands."

The old man poked at the firewood for a while longer before saying to Yang Kaiming: "Take him to register, collect the money, and choose a technique; I will come over later."

"Yes, Liu Shifu."

Yang Kaiming gave Luo Zijun a look and led him away.

The two went to the house in the back.

Yang Kaiming whispered: "You should first pay for one month of silver to try it out. If you really cannot keep practicing, just give up immediately so you don't waste the rest of the silver. Under normal circumstances, we all need one or two months for Skin Refining, and it also requires a Medicine Bath. Skin Refining is not the same as being initiated; you also need to coordinate it with an Inner Cultivation Method. Only after your Internal Energy is initiated and combined with Skin Refining can you break through to the next realm."

Luo Zijun said: "My Internal Energy is already initiated."

"Oh?"

Yang Kaiming was stunned upon hearing this: "You have already practiced an Inner Cultivation Method?"

Luo Zijun nodded and said: "My brother-in-law taught me."

Yang Kaiming smiled: "That is good. If your Internal Energy is already initiated, then the speed of Skin Refining can be accelerated. Two months is definitely enough to succeed."

The two arrived at the back room.

Yang Kaiming went to find the contract and handed it to him, saying: "Read it through first, and if there is anything you don't understand, you can bring it up. If you feel there are no problems, pay the money and press your handprint. Once that is done, you can choose your technique. Liu Shifu will come over later to see which technique suits you and provide some guidance."

Luo Zijun took the contract, read it carefully, and seeing there were no issues, he pressed his handprint.

Then he poured the silver out of his money pouch.

Yang Kaiming picked up the silver, weighed it on the scale nearby, and asked him: "Will you be eating here at noon or in the evening? Meals require extra payment."

Luo Zijun thought for a moment and said: "I will eat at home."

He planned to go to the Academy in the morning and come out to practice martial arts in the afternoon. He would eat something simple at noon, and in the evening, he would either eat at home or buy food outside.

This place was truly too much of a rip-off; he did not dare eat here.

Yang Kaiming nodded, did some calculations, and returned ten taels of silver to him.

Luo Zijun had only had one hundred and ninety taels in total, plus the twenty taels he had just borrowed from Liu, which was just enough for the registration fee.

Now, he only had these ten taels of silver left on his person.

He had to earn money quickly.

Yang Kaiming put away the silver and the contract, then led him to the backyard and told him: "Since you are already initiated, I will only talk about techniques for after initiation. There are four sets of external techniques you can practice now: first is Crane Fist, second is Tiger Fist, third is Arm-Through Fist, and fourth is Kaishan Fist."

"They are all fist techniques?"

Luo Zijun was puzzled.

Yang Kaiming smiled: "Naturally, they are all fist techniques. Your main focus now is Skin Refining, so you naturally need fist techniques to coordinate with the refining of your whole body. If you want to practice other techniques, you must wait until after the Second Realm. There are also two sets of Inner Cultivation Methods, but if you have already practiced an Inner Cultivation Method, I suggest you do not change it lightly, otherwise the results you have accumulated previously might turn to ash. Of course, that is only a very small chance; you decide for yourself."

Luo Zijun thought for a moment and said, "Then I won't change my Inner Cultivation Method."

Yang Kaiming nodded and began to explain to him the differences between the four sets of fist techniques and where their focuses lay.

"Crane Fist, as the name implies, is as light and elegant as a crane; it is the most beautiful to perform..."

Luo Zijun listened attentively, occasionally interjecting with questions.

Yang Kaiming explained very patiently.

After a while, that Martial Master Liu walked over from the front room.

Martial Master Liu was named Liu Zhangqing, and his Thunderbolt Fist was superb; he had already stepped into the realm of Martial Master several years ago, but because he was injured while out searching for spiritual herbs, he could not advance further, so he came to Lin'an City and opened a Martial Arts Hall.

"Have you chosen your technique?"

Yang Kaiming quickly said, "Liu Shifu, Brother Zijun has practiced an Inner Cultivation Method before and has already entered the gate; now he only needs to choose an external technique."

"Oh?" A hint of surprise appeared on Liu Zhangqing's face, and he nodded: "It seems you still have some talent for martial arts. Some people get a hot head and want to learn martial arts, but end up wasting half a year without succeeding in either Skin Refining or entering the gate of internal cultivation. Zijun, have you chosen your fist technique?"

Luo Zijun cupped his hands and said, "Liu Shifu, this junior chooses Kaishan Fist."

The moves of Kaishan Fist were the most fierce and sharp, requiring greater strength and having the strongest explosive power, which best suited his identity as a tough man.

"Kaishan Fist?"

Liu Zhangqing was stunned for a moment, looked him up and down, and shook his head: "Not very suitable. Kaishan Fist is fierce and sharp, requiring more physical strength and Internal Energy, and this fist technique focuses on offense while neglecting defense; your physique is not quite up to it..."

Yang Kaiming, who was on the side, also said, "Brother Zijun, the one who opened the door for you earlier was Cao Shixiong, and he also practices Kaishan Fist. Look at his body; he was born burly and strong, with great power and strong defense. Only that kind of physique is suitable for Kaishan Fist."

Luo Zijun hesitated for a moment, and before he could speak, Liu Zhangqing said, "Then you can try it first; practice for a few days, and if you feel it doesn't work, you can change it. Since you have already paid the money, you can practice all four sets of techniques and choose the one you like best. As for whether you can succeed, that depends on yourself; don't blame this old man when the time comes."

Luo Zijun cupped his hands and said, "This junior understands."

Liu Zhangqing said no more, walked to an open space nearby, and said, "This old man will perform it once first; watch carefully, and if you feel it is too fast, bring it up, and this old man can slow down the moves."

Luo Zijun nodded.

!

"Swish!"

Liu Zhangqing threw a punch, and a booming sound actually appeared in the air.

As he threw his second and third punches, the dust and leaves on the ground were actually swept up, beginning to spin around his body without stopping.

Luo Zijun watched with surging emotions and thought to himself: As expected, practicing martial arts is impressive!

I want to learn!

After Liu Zhangqing finished the set, his face was not red, he was not panting, and the dust and leaves around his body slowly landed on the ground without touching him at all.

"You first set your stance and practice one move at a time. Starting tomorrow, Cao Shixiong will teach you and help you point out your mistakes. If there is still something you don't understand, you can ask this old man."

"If you haven't memorized the moves, you can ask Yang Shixiong. As for the medicinal baths and some pills needed to nourish your body, you can also ask him."

After Liu Zhangqing finished saying these things, he left.

Luo Zijun complained inwardly: Is this the teaching worth two hundred taels?

Yang Kaiming said from the side, "Brother Zijun, I will perform it once; watch carefully. Although I haven't practiced this set of fist techniques, I still remember the moves."

Luo Zijun thanked him and quickly watched carefully.

The moves Yang Kaiming performed were very steady, but compared to that Martial Master Liu, they obviously lacked a lot of power and imposing momentum.

Luo Zijun carefully memorized every move and action in his mind.

Yang Kaiming performed it twice in a row and taught him what medicinal herbs to use for baths and what pills to take at the current stage.

Luo Zijun memorized them all one by one.

Although he couldn't afford them now, he would definitely buy them in the future.

After Yang Kaiming left, Luo Zijun began to practice.

At noon.

He did not eat and continued to practice the fist technique.

During this time, Yang Kaiming came once, guided him through a few moves, and then left again.

Luo Zijun practiced until evening.

He went to the back to take a bath, greeted Liu Shifu and the others, and then left the Martial Arts Hall.

A day of practice left him exhausted, almost collapsed.

Brother-in-law did not lie to him; practicing martial arts is indeed very bitter.

He originally thought that practicing martial arts would be as easy as practicing the Inner Cultivation Method before, but now it seems it is not that simple.

And this is only the most basic training.

I fear it will be even more bitter in the future.

But even so, he would never give up.

He had already died once before, and now that he finally had a chance to start over, he absolutely had to protect his own life well.

Here, only by being strong oneself can one survive.

Only by surviving can one successfully complete the mission.

"So hungry!"

He didn't eat at noon and practiced for a whole day; now he was almost starving to the point of collapse.

Before practicing martial arts, he had never been this hungry.

Must buy some meat to eat.

Practicing martial arts requires eating a lot of meat so that one can have more strength to practice and more effectively refine the body.

He spent one tael of silver to buy some cooked beef and two large roasted geese to take back.

When he reached the intersection, Wang Shen saw him and quickly greeted him enthusiastically, wanting to give him fruit to eat: "Literary Star, come quickly, Auntie got fresh fruit today, take it back and eat it."

Luo Zijun quickly thanked her, not daring to go over, and waved his hand: "I haven't finished the last batch yet."

After saying this, he hurried away.

The setting sun fell upon him.

He looked up at the horizon, feeling that today's sunset glow was exceptionally beautiful.

At the same time.

In the Hidden Book Pavilion of a certain Academy, several young women gathered together, looking at a new book that had only arrived that morning.

"This book is written so well; I finished reading it this morning and felt so heartbroken inside... Zhang Sheng actually betrayed that Young Lady who loved him..."

"The ending is so tragic; I really thought the two of them could be together lovingly... I don't know what the author was thinking."

"I think it's quite good; only then does it seem realistic..."

"I'm going to the bookstore to buy a copy tonight too; there's only one here, it's not enough for us to read..."

"I want to buy one too!"

Bao'an Hall.

Su Qingling was also at the counter, looking at the new book she had just bought that afternoon.

Su Dafang came over and asked, "Are you sure this book was really written by that kid? It's truly strange, how did that kid suddenly become enlightened and turn into a Literary Star?"

Su Qingling ignored him and continued reading quietly.

Even though she had already read it once.

And she was the first person to read it, other than him.

(End of this chapter)