[Martial Arts]: White Ape's Six Changes (Entry-level 30/800)
Su Yu frowned slightly as he looked at the progress on his panel.
'It's still too slow... and my body is reaching its limit.'
Days of pushing himself to the limit had left his muscles in a constant state of soreness and tension, like a bowstring pulled taut, ready to snap at any moment.
Just then, a rich medicinal aroma wafted over on the wind.
"Everyone, stop! This week's Herbal Decoction is here!" Aunt Liu's booming voice echoed through the front courtyard. Behind her, several attendants carried two steaming wooden buckets filled with Bone-Strengthening Soup!
Everyone's eyes instantly blazed with fervor, their gazes fixed on the two wooden buckets like starving wolves spotting fresh meat.
The Herbal Decoction!
Su Yu's interest was piqued. The Herbal Decoction was a secret formula unique to each martial arts school, brewed from a variety of medicinal ingredients. It aided martial practice and accelerated the recovery of one's Qi and Blood—exactly what he needed right now.
Before long, Su Yu received his bowl of the Herbal Decoction. The liquid was black as ink and exuded a potent medicinal aroma.
Just then, Xu Feng, whom he hadn't seen in a few days, arrived in the front courtyard and beckoned Su Yu over.
"I had some family matters to attend to these last couple of days, so I wasn't at the school," Xu Feng explained, then instructed, "You've received your Herbal Decoction, correct? Drink it, then perform a set of the Pile Skill for me."
Su Yu nodded and downed the Herbal Decoction in one gulp.
He instantly felt a fire in his belly as a wave of heat spread throughout his entire body.
"First Form, White Ape Seal!"
Su Yu dared not delay. Harnessing the decoction's power, he immediately began performing the stances.
This time, it felt completely different!
The "dragon" of his spine no longer felt heavy, and his skin didn't sting as it stretched. The decoction's power acted like a lubricant, making every movement fluid and seamless.
After completing a full set, steam vented from the pores all over Su Yu's body. He exhaled a puff of white breath, feeling a sense of pure exhilaration.
[Skill Level +1]
'I gained a point of Skill Level just like that?'
Su Yu was thrilled. This was countless times faster than his usual progress.
'If I had an unlimited supply of this Herbal Decoction, wouldn't I be able to break through in no time?'
"Not bad." Xu Feng gave a rare nod. "It seems your body's weakness actually allows for better absorption of the medicinal power. This Herbal Decoction strengthens the bones and generates blood. Only with its help can you be considered to have truly begun your martial arts training."
Su Yu nodded and asked eagerly, "Senior Brother, how often is this Herbal Decoction supplied?"
"One dose a week." Knowing how eager he was, Xu Feng added, "If you feel that's not enough, you'll have to buy more yourself. It's one tael of silver for two doses. Three doses a week should be enough to support your basic training."
'One tael of silver for two doses?'
Su Yu's heart sank when he heard the price. 'So expensive.'
'If I take three doses a week, that's an extra four taels of silver a month!'
'My entire fortune is just a little over one tael of Broken Silver. That means I can only afford to buy two more doses at most!'
'Is this what they mean by "the pen is for the poor, the sword is for the rich"...'
'I have to make more money!'
After Xu Feng left, Su Yu became like a tireless machine, using the lingering effects of the decoction to train frantically.
[Skill Level +1]
[Skill Level +1]
...
In a single day, his Skill Level had risen by a full 10 points!
Besides Skill Level, the Herbal Decoction gave Su Yu another surprise: his Breakthrough Point accumulation had also increased!
[Breakthrough Point]: 0 (Progress 10%)
'Breakthrough Points get harder and harder to accumulate. For this Herbal Decoction to add 5% directly... the future looks promising!'
'At this rate, I'll be able to accumulate another full Breakthrough Point in less than a month!'
'When that happens, maybe Casting Net can break its limit again!'
...
「Deep in the quiet night, Room C-3.」
Lying in bed after a cold shower, Su Yu felt much less fatigued than usual.
'The benefits of this Herbal Decoction are incredible,' he thought. 'Not only does it provide more Qi and Blood for training, but my body also recovers faster. This means I'll have even more time to practice the Pile Skill.'
This further solidified Su Yu's resolve to buy more of the Herbal Decoction.
"Hey, tomorrow's a rest day. You guys going home?" Ma Fei asked idly, his leg crossed over his knee.
From the corner, Wang Hu scratched his head and said in a thick, rumbling voice, "My ma made some flatbread. I gotta go home and eat."
"Going home for flatbread?" Ma Fei rolled his eyes. "Where do you even live? Don't tell me you're walking dozens of miles over mountain roads just for a piece of flatbread."
Wang Hu scratched his head again. "It's not far," he said quietly. "My home is right on Liu Xiang Street."
"What?" Ma Fei shot upright, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "Liu Xiang Street? You're from the city?"
"Yeah..." Wang Hu shrank back, his voice becoming even quieter.
A complex series of emotions instantly flashed across Ma Fei's face.
Shock, jealousy, resentment...
'No wonder this big oaf is unassuming in his training but still progresses faster than me! Turns out he's some young master from the city. Who knows how much extra Herbal Decoction he's been drinking on the sly!'
"A city boy, squeezing into a communal bunk with us. What's he trying to prove..." Ma Fei muttered, a flash of resentment on his face. He ignored Wang Hu and turned to Su Yu.
When he heard Su Yu lived in Qingxi Village, Ma Fei's face instantly broke into a smile. "Ah Yu, we're practically neighbors! I live in She Bay Village, right on the bank of the Black Water River."
"Ah Yu, since we're headed the same way, why don't we go together tomorrow morning?"
"Alright," Su Yu agreed.
'I do need to head back,' he thought. 'There's no money left at home, and I need to try my luck at the Black Water River again.'
'If I get lucky and catch another valuable White-Scaled Fish, or an even more precious treasure fish, maybe I'll have the silver taels to buy the Herbal Decoction.'
"By the way, what's your family do, Ah Yu?" Ma Fei asked, completely ignoring Wang Hu as he chatted with Su Yu.
"We're fisherfolk."
Hearing this, Ma Fei's smile widened. "Well, that's great. We both come from fishing families then."
...
「The next morning, a thin mist shrouded the main road.」
Su Yu and Ma Fei set out from the city together.
Ma Fei didn't stop complaining the entire way.
"Ah Yu, tell me, what kind of racket is this? We paid ten taels of silver, and the master never even shows his face, while the Senior Brothers just go through the motions. We're nothing but leeks in a field, harvested one batch after another!"
"I've heard that in the Inner Courtyard, there aren't just Martial Artist Senior Brothers, but also apprentices who got in through connections. They get to eat meat and drink soup every day—they even eat Spirit Deer Meat like it's a staple! And look at us, eating pig slop and working ourselves to death!"
"This world is so goddamn unfair! For poor folks like us, trying to turn our lives around is harder than climbing to heaven!"
Su Yu listened in silence, nodding occasionally but not saying much.
He knew Ma Fei was probably right, but 'complaining wouldn't solve anything.'
Thankfully, in less than an hour, a few landmark old trees with crooked trunks appeared up ahead.
"We're here. That's She Bay Village up ahead."
Ma Fei was about to say his goodbyes when he noticed a large crowd gathered at the village entrance. The sound of a woman wailing could be heard amidst the noisy chatter.
'Did something happen?'
Su Yu frowned and quickened his pace to investigate.
As he pushed through the crowd, a nauseating stench hit him full in the face.
A corpse lay on the muddy ground.
No, to be more precise, it was a human husk, completely drained of its fluids.
The victim's entire body was a ghastly grayish-white, their skin stretched taut over their bones. Their eye sockets were sunken into two black pits, and their mouth was agape as if they had witnessed something utterly terrifying before death.
The entire body looked like a fly sucked dry by a giant spider—twisted, shriveled, and unnaturally light, exuding a cold, sinister aura.
"Is that... Li Er?"
"What a terrible fate! He went fishing at the Black Water River last night, and this morning he's gone. They just dragged him back from the riverbank, said he was as light as a set of old rags!"
"This is no drowning... He clearly ran into something... unclean!"
The faces of the onlookers were deathly pale as fear spread through the crowd.
"It's all the fault of that damned Water Snake Gang! If they weren't forcing us to pay protection money every day, Li Er would never have dared to go down to the river in the middle of the night!"
Su Yu stared at the desiccated corpse, and his heart gave a sudden, violent lurch.
'This aura...'
He recalled the black stone he had seen in the reed marsh. The aura emanating from the corpse was terrifyingly similar to the aura from that stone.
"Senior Brother Ma, take care."
Su Yu didn't dare to linger. After a hasty farewell to the pale-faced Ma Fei, he took off as if his feet had grown wings, sprinting in the direction of Qingxi Village.
'She Bay Village isn't far from Qingxi Village. If there's trouble here, Qingxi Village might not be safe either!'