บท 14: Chapter 14 Enhancing Qi-Blood, Literacy and Understanding Texts
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After practicing for a while, Shen Qing paused, sat in a chair for a short rest, balancing work and leisure.
Taking advantage of the faint light from the small window, Shen Qing picked up the blue booklet that recorded the Nine Skills Brocade Technique and buried himself in its pages.
He wanted to ponder some of its meanings and understand the content related to martial arts.
Life here was too isolated, information was very scarce, even to the point that they didn't know if the current ruler was a man or woman.
Shen Qing didn't want to miss any channel through which he could obtain information.
Unfortunately...
"I know too few characters, the content recorded inside is just bits and pieces, incomprehensible."
Having read through the whole book, he could only fully recognize the characters in the illustrated figures.
After all, it was an "authentic" book, with every figure vividly drawn, their actions extremely standard.
Thanks to his knowledge from a previous life, he could grasp some of the principles.
For the Chen Family Brothers, without a martial arts teacher to guide them, merely relying on this to master this martial art was a bit wishful thinking.
Seeing he couldn't decipher the words in the book or figure them out, Shen Qing decided to abandon that, continuing to ponder several times over the illustrated movements, imprinting them in his mind to continue his cultivation progress.
As time ticked by, another half a day's work passed, and Shen Qing's gaze fell upon the ink-like numbers that kept flickering in his vision, his heart filled with fervor.
Until at a certain moment.
[Skill: Nine Skills Brocade (Entry Level)]
[Progress: 101/100 points]
[Status: Can be improved]
[Note: A Refining Qi Blood Technique, continued practice improves progress, qi-blood reaches Great Perfection, strength becomes as mighty as a bull.]
Shen Qing's expression lightened up, a day's hard work finally led to a qualitative breakthrough from quantitative change.
The health cultivation martial art Nine Skills Brocade was at the stage where Shen Qing could break through its bottleneck.
Shen Qing wore a calm as still water expression, an indescribable majesty surrounding him, as he resolutely improved.
At the moment of his breakthrough, Shen Qing's whole body muscle instantly tightened, as if every fiber of his muscles was injected with infinite power.
The warmth inside Shen Qing's body, originally as thin as a hair, ignited at that moment like a spark, swelling instantly, growing from hair-thin to as thick as a pinky finger.
This warmth was not a simple blood flow but a representation of rolling qi-blood and accumulating strength within him.
As this warmth swelled, Shen Qing's qi-blood noticeably bolstered, with his complexion turning from pale to rosy, as if some invisible power was surging forth from within him.
Shen Qing's breathing rhythm gradually accelerated, every inhalation seemed to exhale impurities within him.
After a deep breath, the stirring penchant finally calmed down.
[Skill: Nine Skills Brocade (Skillfully)]
[Progress: 1/200 points]
[Status: Cannot be improved]
[Note: Continued practice improves progress, once qi-blood reaches Great Perfection, strength becomes as mighty as a bull, breath withdrawn like a silk thread.]
As the ink-like text appeared in his vision, a gleam of brilliance shone in Shen Qing's eyes.
Chen Tai and Chen An pondered without finding a way, and Chen Yuan expended massive efforts to barely grasp even a thread of the Nine Skills Brocade, yet in Shen Qing's hands, only after beginning practice, he had broken through another realm of it.
Clearly, he was nothing short of a "martial arts genius."
After breaking through the martial arts realm, Shen Qing felt waves of strength receding like the tide, his body suddenly empty, an intense fatigue setting in.
The qi-blood cultivated by a martial master wasn't generated out of thin air, it also required the nourishment of external things.
Shen Qing glanced under the bed, where Shen Fang had already set aside a portion of wild roe deer meat today.
He bent down to take that portion of meat, lighting up a cooking fire nearby.
As the flames roasted, the roe deer meat gradually emitted an alluring aroma, and the oil dripped into the fire pit, sparking bursts of fire and smoke.
When the roe deer meat was grilled to a golden crisp, Shen Qing called Shen Fang over to share the meal.
He eagerly ripped a piece off, the steaming roe deer meat releasing a rich flavor in his mouth.
The siblings savored it for a while.
Only after consuming more than half, filling his empty stomach, did he stop.
"Ah Di, lately everyone's saying that some fierce beast has come into the mountains, and the Chen Brothers suffered misfortune from their bad luck. For the foreseeable future, don't go into the back mountains. I learned some sewing from Aunt over the past few days, so I can mend things for others and earn a little for the household."
Shen Fang's face was full of worry, her almond eyes fixated on Shen Qing, afraid he wouldn't agree, "Aunt isn't a bad person, just doesn't speak well."
"I know."
Squatting by the fire, Shen Qing cautiously cupped a handful of dry grass ash and sprinkled it evenly over the glowing embers.
As the ash covered them, the firelight gradually dimmed, leaving only tendrils of blue smoke drifting into the night sky.
Shen Qing stood up, lightly dusted off his hands, his gaze lingering on the fire pit for a moment, then said, "For now, I'm mostly wandering familiar places around the back mountain, hunting some crossbows, can't venture deeper due to lack of skill. You don't worry."
"Okay."
Seeing her younger brother so assertive, Shen Fang no longer tried to persuade him further.
"I'm heading out for a bit, to the bookworm's house, I'll be back soon."
Shen Qing pondered and felt he still needed to figure out a way to learn more characters.
Not just to comprehend the contents of the Nine Skills Brocade.
As he knew, in the city's various martial arts halls and gangs, the treatment for literate and illiterate martial masters was completely different.
If he could learn to read, he would undoubtedly be paid more attention, with greater prospects.
As for the government officials, it went without saying, if one couldn't read, they wouldn't even be admitted through the doors.
In this world, despite its emphasis on martial arts, literary heritage hadn't broken off.
Shen Qing said, carrying the wild rabbit he caught yesterday in hand, as he strode out.
Zhang Shu Chi's house wasn't far from his home, at most fifty paces away.
Shen Qing arrived at the entrance of an earthen house and knocked lightly on the door.
Moments later, the wooden door opened.
Greeting him was a man in his forties or fifties, hair streaked with gray.
Carrying the wild rabbit, Shen Qing smiled amiably and said, "I caught a wild rabbit yesterday, thinking I couldn't finish it, so I'm bringing it to you, sir, hoping to request a favor from you."
"Come in, then."
Seeing that Shen Qing brought something, Zhang Shu Chi didn't make things difficult, stepping aside to let him enter.
Once inside, at a glance, Zhang Shu Chi's house could only be described as bare-bones, but the bookshelves filled with books set him apart from this village, suffused with a musty smell of damp pages.
Zhang Shu Chi's real name was Zhang Shuyuan, originally from Hongshan Village.
It's said that as a child, he was frail and sickly, unlike hunting, but back then his family had some means, so he studied for several years in a private school in the county, gaining some talent.
Later, he grew disenchanted with the village's livelihoods, wanting to settle in the county.
But settling in the county was no easy feat.
After a decade-long struggle, he remained unsuccessful, impoverished and destitute, eventually having no choice but to return to his hometown.
Relying on knowing some characters, he lived by writing couplets, letters, and calculating accounts for others in the village.
Because he held a book every day, never stepping out his front door or second door, carrying a book everywhere he went, the villagers called him 'the bookworm.'
"You came to me, asking me to do what? Write a letter or calculate accounts?" Zhang Shuyuan asked, picking up a book again after seating Shen Qing, habitually inquiring.
Shen Qing stepped forward, looked Zhang Shuyuan directly in the eyes, and earnestly said, "I want to ask you to teach me to recognize characters and read."
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