Longevity Martial Arts: Obtain Golden Affixes at the Start

"You dare to talk back!" Qin Jiuzhen's eyebrows shot up, and she raised her hand to strike Li Tao'er's face.

Hong Lang stepped forward and shielded Li Tao'er behind him: "Sister Qin, it's all my fault. Tao'er is still young and doesn't understand. I will definitely find a way to pay back the money!"

Qin Jiuzhen slowly lowered her raised hand, her tone still serious: "The money... you used it?"

"Mm." Hong Lang nodded.

Qin Jiuzhen's voice suddenly rose: "That was Tao'er's dowry, and you're just using it like this?"

Hong Lang scratched his head, a hint of embarrassment on his face: "I'll save up as soon as possible to pay Tao'er back. I'm working on it every day now..."

"How much can you earn in a day chopping wood?" Qin Jiuzhen interrupted him before he could finish, her tone tinged with helplessness. "With that little income, when will you ever save enough?"

"I..." Hong Lang fell silent. He really only had firewood as his source of income, and he didn't know what Qin Jiuzhen was thinking.

With the bonus of "Dragon Spirit and Tiger Might", his income far exceeds that of ordinary woodcutters. Assuming he can save seventy coins a day, he can save up twelve taels of silver in half a year.

However, nowadays he has to practice martial arts every day, so he doesn't have much time to chop wood, and it's hard to say how much income he can earn.

With tears welling in her eyes, Li Tao'er said, "Mother! I..."

Qin Jiuzhen glared at Li Tao'er, then looked at Hong Lang and said slowly, "Actually, this matter is easy to resolve. Since you used Tao'er's dowry, you have to take responsibility for Tao'er."

Li Tao'er was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood Qin Jiuzhen's implied meaning. Her cheeks flushed red, and she lowered her head, glancing at Hong Lang out of the corner of her eye, her heart pounding.

Qin Jiuzhen smiled slightly: "When you have achieved mastery of martial arts and Tao'er turns sixteen, you will marry her. Are you willing?"

Hong Lang was stunned. He hadn't expected Qin Jiuzhen to be so direct. He had thought that Qin Jiuzhen would look down on a woodcutter like him.

With Li Tao'er's looks, she could easily find a wealthy family to marry into.

"What? You don't want to?"

Hong Lang snapped out of his daze, nodded emphatically, and said earnestly, "Sister Qin! I... I will definitely practice martial arts diligently so that you and Tao'er will no longer suffer!"

Li Tao'er said firmly, "Brother Lang, I'm not afraid of hardship with you!"

Qin Jiuzhen smiled and tapped Hong Lang's forehead with her finger: "You, just take good care of Tao'er, I don't need you to worry about me."

Hong Lang blushed, scratching his head and speechless, while Li Tao'er buried her face in Qin Jiuzhen's arms in embarrassment.

……

As dawn broke, Honglang was awakened by hunger.

It's a side effect of "Dragon's Essence and Tiger's Ferocity".

This word gave him abundant blood and energy, but also an insatiable stomach.

He ate three pounds of rice last night to stop his hunger, but he didn't expect that the hunger would come back after only a few hours.

"We need to find a way to get some meat to eat, otherwise our bodies simply can't withstand the strain of martial arts training."

Hong Lang rubbed his stomach, got up, steamed a pot of rice, ate it, and then went out with a wood-chopping knife.

Before going to the martial arts school, he needed to chop some firewood to sell for money; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to afford even rice, let alone meat.

As the saying goes, "A half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home," and he now understands this saying all too well.

He still chopped four bundles of firewood and sold them for forty coins.

Hong Lang tucked the copper coin into his pocket and hurried toward the martial arts school.

When I arrived at the martial arts school, there were two people sparring in the courtyard, their moves swift and decisive.

One of them was a girl of fifteen or sixteen, with striking red hair, holding a halberd that was taller than herself.

The other person was about the same age as Qin Jiuzhen, and only slightly shorter than Hong Lang.

She wore a light blue tight-fitting vest and black leggings, exuding a neat and dashing heroic spirit. Her skin was not as fair and tender as Widow Qin's, but a healthy wheat color with a luster from being exposed to the wind and sun.

On her left cheek was a scar about three inches long, which added to her fierce and sharp appearance.

Her figure was just right, neither as plump as Widow Qin nor as slender as Li Tao'er. Her posture was upright like a pine tree, clearly indicating that she had practiced martial arts for many years.

Hong Lang guessed that this must be his master's wife, Tang Chen.

He didn't continue watching and went to the side to practice his stance training.

After standing for half an hour, I only felt a slight throbbing pain, which is a significant improvement over yesterday.

He took out a pancake from his pocket and ate it, and his strength was restored in no time.

It's incredibly powerful and vigorous!

"Good foundation, are you new here?" Tang Chen walked over.

Hong Lang bowed and said, "Replying to Master's wife, my name is Hong Lang, I am eighteen years old, and I just entered the sect yesterday."

"Have you examined the bones?" Tang Chen asked.

Hong Lang shook his head.

Tang Chen cursed inwardly. Shen Shan was becoming more and more perfunctory. He was too lazy to even feel the bones. His mind was probably no longer on the martial arts school!

She stepped forward and pinched Hong Lang's shoulders, lumbar spine, arms, thighs, and calves, making Hong Lang grimace in pain.

"Seventh-grade martial arts talent..." Tang Chen nodded. "You've got the makings of a martial artist. What does your family do for a living?"

Hong Lang respectfully replied, "I have no parents at home, and I make a living by chopping wood."

Tang Chen gave an "oh" and sighed inwardly, "What a pity!"

Possessing the seventh-grade martial bone, yet born into the lower class, martial arts training is extremely expensive and labor-intensive. People from the lower class cannot invest much money in martial arts training, and it is difficult for even one in ten people to successfully break through the barrier.

But ultimately, Tang Chen was delighted to see such talent, so he patiently gave Hong Lang a few pointers on the key points of the Hunyuan stance training before turning to teach the girl how to wield a halberd.

Hong Lang thanked his master's wife and resumed practicing the Hunyuan stance. Sweat quickly soaked his back.

Before long, the wealthy young men arrived one after another.

They saw Hong Lang squatting on the stake and started discussing it amongst themselves.

"This guy's really hardworking! How long do you think he can keep it up? Ten days? A month?"

"I saw him selling firewood on the street this morning. He had four bundles of firewood with him. He probably went into the mountains before dawn. What a poor woodcutter!"

"A woodcutter who can't even afford meat wants to learn martial arts? I bet he won't last three days before he ruins his body."

"How about we take a gamble? Let's bet on whether he can last ten days. The loser treats everyone to a meal at Songhelou!"

"..."

Honglang could hear these discussions clearly.

He was so focused on practicing that he completely ignored these people.

With the [Dragon Spirit and Tiger Might] in hand, whenever he gets tired, he only needs to rest for a short while before he can start squatting again.

However, he was so hungry that he went out and bought five pancakes and put them in his pocket. Whenever he was hungry, he would take one out and eat it, so that he would not miss a moment of his training.

[Next draw progress: 3%]

At this point, Hong Lang had a rough idea of ​​what was going on; this progress was probably the same as his progress in martial arts training.

Once you reach 100% proficiency, you can enter the Blood Refining Realm and draw affixes again!

With this in mind, he practiced even harder.

"Good morning, Junior Brother Hong!"

"Good morning, Senior Brother Chen!"

Seeing that Hong Lang was covered in sweat, Chen Nuo reminded him:

"Junior Brother Hong, it's good that you're working so hard, but you also need to find a way to make some money. Drink more medicinal soup every day, and at least make sure you have enough meat every day. Otherwise, this high-intensity training will eventually wear your body down!"

Hong Lang shrugged, looking rather helpless.

He also wanted to taste what the medicinal soup tasted like, but he couldn't afford it!

A bowl of medicinal soup costs three qian of silver. He would have to chop forty bundles of firewood to afford just one bowl, even if he didn't eat or drink anything else. He simply couldn't afford such an expense.

Under Chen Nuo's guidance, Hong Lang felt that he was making faster progress and could now stand in the stance for a quarter of an hour without his breathing becoming steady.

Hong Lang practiced until dark, and only stopped when everyone had left. At this point, the progress bar had reached 4%.

Tang Chen watched Hong Lang's retreating figure and sighed softly.

This child is indeed very hardworking and has excellent aptitude, but how far can a woodcutter go on the path of martial arts?

Let alone nourishing tonics, they probably can't even eat a full meal of meat a few times a year. No matter how good their constitution is, it's hard to withstand the delays caused by resource scarcity.

"Hong Lang, go back and rest early. When it comes to martial arts, too much of a good thing can be bad."

"Okay, Master's wife, I'll head back now!"

Hong Lang left the martial arts school and didn't go straight home. Instead, he went straight to the meat stall and spent twenty coins to buy four ounces of fresh pork, intending to give Qin Jiuzhen and her daughter a nice extra meal.

As soon as Li Tao'er entered, her eyes lit up when she saw the pork: "Meat! Great! We've got meat to eat!"

She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten meat.

Hong Lang ruffled her hair and laughed, "From now on, you'll be able to eat meat every day!"

Before long, the room was filled with the aroma of meat, and the three of them sat around the table.

Li Tao'er swallowed hard, carefully picked up a small piece of meat, and the juices melted on her tongue. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and her face was full of satisfaction.

Qin Jiuzhen only took a small bite before putting down her chopsticks.

Seeing this, Hong Lang quickly urged, "Eat more!"

Qin Jiuzhen gently shook her head: "You practice martial arts all day long, which consumes a lot of energy. You should eat more."

Hong Lang picked up his chopsticks, first placing a piece on Qin Jiuzhen's plate, then on Li Tao'er's. He looked at the two of them and said, "If you want to eat, eat together!"

After finishing her meal, Qin Jiuzhen sent her daughter out, closed the door behind her, and her expression became serious.

Seeing her like this, Hong Lang quickly asked, "Sister Qin, what happened?"

Qin Jiuzhen clutched her clothes with her calloused hands and stammered, "Master Jiang from Anfu Village... wants to take me as a concubine."