Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

Just as dawn broke, a series of urgent gong sounds shattered the tranquility of the guardhouse.

Xu Hao flipped over and leaped up, his movements faster than his thoughts.

Li Da, who was sleeping next to Xu Hao, was still half asleep when Xu Hao kicked him in the butt, which woke him up. In his panic, he almost put on the wrong trouser leg.

On the training ground, Instructor Lin stood with his hands behind his back, with two baskets of shiny hardwood strips beside him.

"The Chen family doesn't support useless people." Instructor Lin's gaze swept over everyone, his voice not loud, but it carried a chilling undertone. "The job of a bodyguard is earned with one's life."

He pointed to the basket of wooden planks beside him and said, "To live long, your skin and flesh must be tougher than a knife. Today we're practicing 'striking,' two people per pair, take off your clothes!"

The early autumn morning breeze carried a chill, and a group of shirtless men stood in the middle of the field, raising goosebumps all over their bodies.

Xu Hao and Li Da were in the same group.

Li Da gripped the two-finger-wide strip of hardwood, his hand trembling slightly. Looking at Xu Hao's thin back, he hesitated to make a move.

"How...how can I possibly do this..."

"Snapped!"

With a sharp crack, a bloody ridge instantly erupted on Li Da's back.

Instructor Lin withdrew the wooden stick from his hand and said coldly, "If you don't hit him, he won't be able to train."

"If he encounters bandits and is beaten to death by a hail of punches, will he hate you?"

"Um?"

Li Da grimaced in pain, tears welling up in his eyes.

He turned to look at Xu Hao, his voice trembling with tears, "Brother Xu, please bear with it. I'm doing this for your own good."

Xu Hao assumed a horse stance, gritted his teeth, and whispered, "Use your strength, don't hold back."

"Snapped!"

The wooden stick struck my back, and a burning pain exploded in my spine.

Xu Hao grunted, but didn't dodge.

This kind of pain is nothing compared to hunger or being trampled underfoot.

He adjusted his breathing and remembered the word the old beggar had taught him—lock.

As the pain caused his blood and qi to surge, the heat that should have dissipated was forcibly sealed by his pores and locked under his skin.

With each lash, the muscles twitched instinctively, yet were held back by the pent-up blood and energy.

A pig-like scream came from the side.

Luo Bao rolled on the ground, his face covered in snot and tears. The old guard opposite him, caught up in the excitement, laughed and whipped him, yelling, "Run? Where do you think you're going? Stand up straight!"

Jiang Hu and the others around him practiced while pointing and commenting as if they were watching a monkey show.

"Look at that pathetic sight, he's about to pee himself."

"These peasants are only fit to carry heavy loads."

Jiang Hu licked the vegetable leaves from between his teeth and swayed as he walked over. When he passed behind Xu Hao, he suddenly stopped.

The talisman on Xu Hao's chest suddenly felt hot.

An extremely faint sound reached his ears—the snapping sound of Jiang Hu's upper arm muscles suddenly tensing, accompanied by the sound of blood and qi rushing rapidly to his elbow.

Jiang Hu is about to make his move!

Before Xu Hao could even process what was happening, his body had already reacted.

Just as Jiang Hu extended his elbow and was about to strike Xu Hao in the back, he pretended that his knees buckled and he collapsed forward as if all his strength had been drained.

"Ouch!"

Xu Hao landed face-first, getting a mouthful of mud, and the wooden stick in his hand flew out, hitting Li Da's foot.

Jiang Hu's elbow strike missed its mark, leaving him with nowhere to redirect the force. He swayed slightly, his face turning pale.

He originally used hidden force in this attack. If it had hit the target squarely, the kid would have been coughing up blood for half a month, if not dead. He didn't expect the kid to be so lucky and fall down just in time.

Coach Lin frowned and looked over: "What's going on?"

Xu Hao slowly got up from the ground, squatted down, and rubbed his calf in pain: "Coach, my leg... my leg cramped up. That wooden stick was too strong, I lost my balance."

Jiang Hu glanced down at him and sneered, "Useless trash. You can't even stand up straight, you should go back to sweeping the floor."

After saying that, the wariness in his eyes disappeared, and he turned and sauntered away.

Xu Hao lowered his head, using the act of brushing the dust off his body to conceal the cold glint in his eyes.

If that elbow strike had landed squarely, even with the "lock" technique, I'd probably have lost half my life.

This feud has run deep.

After morning classes ended, everyone lined up to collect their medicine.

Each person had a small earthenware jar containing a dark, black "black jade paste" that had a pungent herbal smell.

Li Da looked at the crisscrossing red marks on Xu Hao's back with heartache: "Brother Xu, you couldn't control yourself just now..."

"It's alright." Xu Hao gripped the earthenware jar tightly, his eyes shining. "This is a treasure; you can't buy it outside even if you have money."

This is the Chen family's secret medicine, specially formulated to treat bruises and sprains, and can also strengthen the skin.

Back in room number two, Xu Hao sat on his bunk and applied the ointment to his back.

The ointment felt cool to the touch, but then transformed into scalding heat that penetrated deep into the flesh.

Xu Hao immediately sat cross-legged and silently practiced the "lock" mantra.

However, because it is far from the blessed land, it does not have the effect of "harmonizing qi and blood" and cannot be stacked. But because Li Da's strike was in place, the medicinal power immediately penetrated the skin as soon as it entered the body.

The medicinal power that would normally take a whole day to absorb was consumed by 30% in just half an hour.

Xu Hao touched his arm. Although the redness and swelling had not subsided, the skin felt tough and resilient like cowhide when pressed, with a strong rebound.

The body transformed by this blessed land is like a dried-out sponge, able to absorb any amount of water it's given.

At lunchtime, the canteen was filled with the aroma of meat.

In addition to the ever-present braised pork, each person also had a bowl of dark red soup in front of them—blood ginseng soup.

This is a valuable commodity for replenishing the qi and blood of the nurses.

Jiang Hu sat at the other end of the long table, finished his soup in a few gulps, and his triangular eyes began to dart around slyly.

He slapped Luo Bao on the back of the head, startling Luo Bao so much that he almost buried his face in the bowl.

"Xiao Luo, this ginseng soup is too heaty. You are too weak to handle it."

Jiang Hu, with a forced smile, reached out and took the half-full bowl of ginseng soup from Luo Bao's bowl. "Brother Hu is sharing the burden for you, no need to thank me."

Luo Bao gripped the chopsticks, his knuckles turning white, but he kept his head down and didn't dare to utter a sound.

Jiang Hu smacked his lips smugly, then glanced at Xu Hao.

The bowl in front of Xu Hao was already upside down.

He was holding an empty bowl, licking the last bit of soup off the rim with his tongue, then let out a loud burp, gave Jiang Hu a good-natured smile, and revealed a set of white teeth.

Jiang Hu's lips twitched, and he cursed inwardly, "A starving ghost reincarnated."

Having no excuse to lash out, he had no choice but to give up in frustration.

As night fell, some people gathered together chatting in room number two of the T-shaped building, while others lay on their beds lost in thought.

Xu Hao lay on the outermost side of the dormitory bunk, feeling his blood and qi surging wildly within him like a mouse, his energy was frighteningly high.

Although the Chen family mansion is nice, with meat and medicine available, it is ultimately under the watchful eyes of others, making one feel constrained.

Moreover, it's too slow.

Even with the Black Jade Ointment, relying solely on routine training is far from enough to protect oneself or even turn the tables on a seasoned veteran like Jiang Hu.

We must return to the Martial Temple.

This blessed land has the blessing of "Martial Arts Training Efficiency +30%", and also...

Xu Hao touched the thin talisman in his pocket, and the conditions for upgrading the blessed land came to mind: repair the doors and windows, and practice martial arts.

If he upgrades the blessed land to the next level, it might produce new treasures or even stronger buffs.

He touched the few coins of silver he had hidden close to his body; they were his advance wages.

He propped himself up and moved closer to Li Da and Jia Bao, who were chatting.

He made an excuse that the doors and windows of the house were making noise when he opened and closed them, and asked how to repair them if they were broken.

Although the two laughed at him for worrying unnecessarily, they still explained to him how to do simple carpentry work and what tools to use.