Longevity Martial Arts: Obtain Golden Affixes at the Start

The next morning, Hong Lang arrived in town with the silver in his pocket.

Breakfast stalls have been set up on the street, and the aroma of mutton soup, carried by the rising steam, wafts far and wide.

Hong Lang sat down at a roadside stall, ordered three steamed buns and a bowl of mutton soup, paid four coins, and began to eat.

Under the influence of "Dragon Spirit and Tiger Might," his appetite far exceeded that of ordinary people. After eating three pancakes, he was only half full, and his stomach was still empty.

Left with no other choice, Hong Lang ordered three more flatbreads and ate them with mutton soup, finally filling his empty stomach.

After eating and drinking his fill, he bought three more pancakes and put them in his pocket as provisions before heading straight to the grand mansion in town.

From afar, a black plaque with gold lettering hangs high above the entrance, bearing the four large characters: Cangfeng Martial Arts School.

Qingxi Town is not large, with only four villages under its jurisdiction and a total population of no more than a thousand. Naturally, such a small town only has the Cangfeng Martial Arts School as a place for martial arts practice.

If you want to find another martial arts school, you have to go to a nearby town, which Hong Lang obviously doesn't have the skills for.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward and gently knocked on the door. With a creak, the door opened a crack, and a young servant in his twenties poked his head out.

"What is it?"

Hong Lang quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "I wish to become your disciple and learn martial arts. May I ask how much your esteemed institution charges?"

The young servant looked him up and down and said slowly, "Ten taels of silver excluding food and lodging, twenty taels including food and lodging, thirty taels including food, lodging and medicine, plus a monthly stipend of one tael of silver."

Hong Lang nodded, took out eleven taels of silver from his bundle, handed it over with both hands, and said respectfully, "I want to become your disciple."

The young man took the money, weighed it, and after confirming that the weight was correct, led Honglang into the lobby.

"Come with me." He was kind and showed no sign of anything unusual about Hong Lang's rough clothes.

Hong Lang followed closely behind, surveying his surroundings.

This is a two-courtyard house. The courtyard is spacious, paved with blue bricks, and exudes a remarkable air, showing that the owner of the martial arts school is quite wealthy.

In the open space in the front yard, various weapons, wooden stakes, and sandbags were placed, clearly for the disciples' daily training.

A dozen or so people were practicing on the brick ground. Upon closer inspection, nearly half of them were dressed like Hong Lang, in coarse cloth clothes worn year-round for manual labor, clearly indicating that they were also from ordinary families.

In a corner of the courtyard, a man in his thirties was lying on a deck chair.

He had fair skin and delicate features, and didn't look like a martial artist at all; instead, he looked like a pampered rich young master.

A young servant stepped forward: "Master, someone has come to ask to become your apprentice and learn martial arts."

The man glanced at Hong Lang and asked casually, "Where are you from? How old are you? How do you make a living?"

"A resident of Taiping Village, 18 years old, who makes a living by chopping firewood."

The man said calmly, "Ah, a woodcutter..."

He made no attempt to hide the contempt in his tone.

The woodcutter, who can't even afford meat, probably came here with his savings accumulated over many years, hoping to change his fate by learning martial arts.

He had seen too many poor people like this; they lacked resources and had weak foundations, and very few of them could make a name for themselves.

Learning martial arts is not such a simple matter. It requires a lot of money and nourishment with medicinal soup!

The man, too lazy to ask any more questions, simply called out, "Chen Nuo!"

A young man in his early twenties stepped out from the group of people practicing and bowed, saying, "Master!"

"Take him around and teach him manners and basic skills!" The man waved his hand, then closed his eyes again and lay back down on the recliner, as if the arrival of the flood was just a trivial matter.

"Yes, Master!"

Chen Nuo agreed and turned to Hong Lang: "Junior brother, come with me, I'll show you around."

He led Hong Lang on a walk around the courtyard.

The first courtyard is the training ground, and the second courtyard is the disciples' dormitory.

In addition, there are also canteens, pharmacies, and other facilities, providing everything you need.

After familiarizing himself with the environment, Chen Nuo began to introduce martial arts knowledge to Hong Lang.

"There are three fundamental realms in martial arts: Blood Refining Realm, Marrow Cleansing Realm, and Meridian Opening Realm. You've probably heard of them. To put it simply, it all boils down to one word: perseverance!"

"boil?"

"Yes, you need to temper your qi and blood, temper your muscles and bones, temper your internal organs, and temper them until they are ready. Then you can break through the barriers and undergo earth-shattering changes with each level you pass."

Hong Lang asked, "Then how should we endure it?"

"In the early stages, you rely entirely on stance training to build a solid foundation. For example, our martial arts school's Hunyuan stance training. As long as you practice diligently, your skill level will naturally improve step by step."

Chen Nuo paused for a moment, then said, "Besides basic training, food and medicine are the most crucial. If you eat poorly, you won't become a martial artist even if you train hard for ten years. As the saying goes, two parts training, three parts diet, and five parts medicine."

"Our martial arts school's herbal medicine costs three qian of silver a bowl. If you need it, you can buy it at the pharmacy."

Hong Lang nodded. He only had a little over one tael of silver in his hands. Let alone medicine, it would be difficult for him to even afford pork that cost fifty coins a pound every day.

It seems that the most urgent task is to find a way to make money, otherwise, let alone break through to the Blood Refining Realm, it will be difficult to even maintain the physical strength for daily training.

Chen Nuo continued, "Our master is called Shen Shan, and our master's wife is called Tang Chen."

"Disciples who have entered the Blood Refining Realm will be taught by their master's wife, but she is not here today. Disciples who have not entered the Blood Refining Realm are mostly taught by us senior disciples, and the master will occasionally come over to give some pointers."

"I started learning a year earlier than you, so I'll teach you the basics. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me."

Hong Lang was somewhat puzzled: "Why is Master's wife teaching a disciple with higher cultivation? Is her cultivation higher than Master's?"

Chen Nuo smiled mysteriously: "It's a long story, you'll understand as you stay longer! Alright, enough of that, let me teach you the basics!"

After saying that, Chen Nuo bent his legs slightly, straightened his back, and remained motionless as if rooted to the ground.

"This is the Hunyuan Stance Exercise. It looks simple, but it is actually quite complex. It has the ability to nourish blood and strengthen the body. Once you have enough blood and qi, you can attempt to break through the barriers. If you succeed, you will enter the Blood Refining Realm."

"But you must remember that there are risks involved in trying to pass the test. If you fail, your body will be severely damaged and it will take a long time to recover."

Hong Lang quickly asked, "What are the chances of successfully passing this test?"

"About 10% or 20%. If supplies are insufficient, and we can't even get meat, let alone medicine, then the chance of success is probably less than 10%."

Hong Lang was shocked; he never expected the chances of success to be so low.

It seems that the path to martial arts training is far more difficult than he imagined.

Chen Nuo continued, "This Hunyuan Stance Exercise has a total of twelve movements. I'll demonstrate it for you."

Hong Lang squatted down, mimicking Chen Nuo's posture.

At first, he thought it was nothing special, but in less than thirty breaths, his legs began to tremble slightly, and a sore, numb, and swollen sensation ran from his knees, through his thighs, all the way to his waist and abdomen.

Chen Nuo reminded him from the side, "Don't straighten your knees too much! Use the inside of your thighs to push!"

Hong Lang gritted his teeth, his legs trembling like a leaf.

After completing the twelve movements, Hong Lang's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Chen Nuo was somewhat surprised: "Brother Hong, you were able to complete all twelve stances on your first try. Have you practiced before?"

Hong Lang rubbed his thigh: "It's probably because I walk a lot on mountain roads, so my lower body is relatively stable."

Chen Nuo was puzzled. He had taught many woodcutters and hunters, but none of them had ever been able to last for half an hour on their first try.

When it was noon, everyone went to eat. Hong Lang took out three pancakes from his pocket, ate them, and continued practicing his stance training.

"Brother Hong, if you keep training like this, you'll ruin your health sooner or later!"

Hong Lang turned around and saw a young man walking over. He was Feng Hu, the son of Feng Jiacai, a landlord in Taiping Village.

He smiled broadly: "Martial arts training shouldn't be too aggressive. Your strenuous training... is very harmful to your body!"

Hong Lang sneered inwardly. He knew Feng Hu somewhat; he was always an opportunist. His current enthusiasm was definitely not for any good.

Feng Hu, feeling rebuffed, chuckled awkwardly and said:

"Brother Hong, if you don't mind, how about joining my Feng family? As long as you sign a small contract, we can give you a monthly allowance so you can buy some meat and medicine."

"I saw that you were able to learn all twelve stances on the first day. As long as you have enough resources, you will most likely be able to pass the test. We are from the same village, so we should help each other."

Hong Lang was on high alert. Unsolicited kindness was always suspicious, and Feng Hu's overtures were definitely up to no good.

He said calmly, "I don't know what kind of contract it is?"

Feng Hu took out a piece of white paper from his pocket and handed it to Hong Lang: "This is it, take a look."

Hong Lang took the white paper and slowly unfolded it. His eyes swept over the writing on it, and his face instantly darkened.

Damn it!

A contract of servitude!!

The contract states that the Feng family will give him one and a half taels of silver each month, but the price is that Hong Lang must unconditionally obey all instructions from the Feng family for five years.

If the contract is breached, a penalty of one thousand taels of silver must be paid.

Isn't this just selling yourself into slavery?

What a clever scheme!

He wanted to buy out a servant with the potential to become a martial artist by spending only eighteen taels of silver a year.

Just trying to fob off beggars!

Hong Lang said coldly, "Brother Feng, thank you for your kindness, but I need to continue practicing my stance, so I won't keep you company any longer."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and ignored Feng Hu.

Feng Hu hit a wall, shook his head, and turned to chat with his other fellow disciples. During their conversation, he frequently pointed in Hong Lang's direction, seemingly gossiping behind his back.

In the afternoon, several fellow disciples came over to greet him. They were all ordinary disciples like him. Hong Lang responded with a few words and continued to squat in his stance.

By the time of You Shi (5-7 PM), it was already dark, and everyone dispersed.

Hong Lang continued practicing his stance training, sweat dripping from his body and wetting his feet.

Feng Hu was not giving up and tried to invite Hong Lang to dinner again, but Hong Lang refused outright.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. As a time traveler, he naturally wouldn't go to a trap.

Hong Lang practiced until 7 PM before dragging his tired body out of the martial arts gym.

As soon as he got home, he couldn't wait to open the panel, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that the progress had increased!

[Next draw progress: 2%]

Although it only increased by 2%, it gave Hong Lang a sense of confidence.

If you keep practicing, you'll eventually accumulate enough progress to draw more entries.

The gold attribute already made his physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary people; what kind of effects would the higher-level colored attributes have?

Hong Lang couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

With a creak, the door was pushed open again.

Qin Jiuzhen was standing at the door with Li Tao'er in her arms. Li Tao'er's eyes were red and there were still traces of tears on her face.

Upon seeing this, Hong Lang immediately understood that Qin Jiuzhen had probably found out about taking the money!

Upon seeing Hong Lang, Li Tao'er burst into tears: "Mother, you said that was my dowry, so it's my money. I can use it however I want!"