Becoming a Martial Saint: Starting with the Mountain-Breaking Fist

Huangshe County, Shetougou.

The snowflakes on the lower slopes, swirling with soil, were like shredded knives, scraping towards the higher slopes.

The wind was trapped in the serpentine ditch, unable to break free, hissing and flicking its tongue like a mad snake.

Several children dressed in tattered, coarse linen robes walked forward, their faces stinging with snow.

Despite having frostbite on their faces, no one felt any pain when the snow, though sharp, scraped against their skin.

He simply gathered his coarse linen robe tighter around himself.

"Damn it, these bandits are really making life unbearable. It's bad enough that we have to pay incense to the mountain god every month, but recently they've come up with some kind of mountain god worship."

It has to be submitted every two weeks.

"We have to pay every month, every year, but the prey has all gone into the deep mountains. How are we supposed to hunt? How are we supposed to make a living like this?" Zhao Rui said, cursing.

"My dad broke his leg in the mountains a couple of days ago. My family relies on my mom to make a little money by sewing and mending clothes."

"If... if those bandits come knocking again demanding money, I really don't know what to do." Liu Chunmei shrank back, her eyes glazed over as she looked around, afraid of being overheard.

The martial arts world is a place of exploitation, and the imperial court uses brute force to suppress the common people.

The combined taxes from all sides leave people no time to resist; all they care about is how to make a living.

In this place beyond the reach of the government, the gangs formed by the mountain bandits are the real "government authorities".

Throughout Snakehead Valley, gangs not only control the trading markets for game and animal hides.

  (Please remember the website 202s.tw for the fastest chapter updates.)

In order to exploit more extensively and seize power, they imitated the imperial court and formulated many treaties that were not in accordance with regulations.

For example, offerings to mountain gods and incense.

Ultimately, the goal is to continuously drain the people of Shetougou dry, ensuring they can never rise above their circumstances, yet they are forced to provide them with money for eternity.

If you don't pay, hmph.

You have to be careful when you go hunting in the mountains.

Whether wild beasts exist or not is unknown, but "wild ghosts" will definitely attack people.

At best, it could result in broken arms or legs; at worst, it could lead to the destruction of a family and death.

It was extremely common for a house to be set on fire, leaving the people inside roasted alive.

To deter others, they sold the leather directly on the street.

However, this skin is not animal hide!

Of course, if they obediently handed over the money, the family could continue to barely survive.

"They won't let people die, but they won't let them live either, just keeping the people hanging like this..."

"Keep paying money, keep barely surviving, over and over again, this is a vicious cycle!" Duan Xuan followed behind his two childhood friends, glancing at Zhao Rui who was cursing and swearing.

I glanced at her again; it was Liu Chunmei, a dark-skinned little girl with her neck hunched over.

He fell into deep thought for a long time.

I was transported to this world three years ago.

Because the father was quite skilled at hunting, the family of three lived a frugal but not difficult life.

However, the father and son had not been close for long when government officials came to the village.

A group of young and strong hunters were forcibly conscripted to collect beast pills for the nobleman.

Duan Xuan's father was among them.

Many years passed, and there was no further news. The officials remained silent, so Duan Xuan knew that his father would never return.

The father was the pillar of the family, while the original host was a lazy and good-for-nothing.

Duan Xuan did not recall any hunting techniques.

In other words, the pillar of the family had collapsed, and at that time, he was not the pillar!

The mother has difficulty moving her hands and feet, and she even broke her leg while searching for her father.

He is still bedridden and can only do some sewing and mending for Duan Xuan to sell.

There are at least tens or hundreds of thousands of impoverished families like this in Huangshe County.

Without money, you can't do anything.

It's impossible to get ahead through knowledge alone.

If you want to learn a skill, how can you expect to stand out from the crowd?

As for martial arts, it's all about real money.

Despite the abundance of martial arts schools, no one had considered this idea.

This is how it is in an era where martial arts reign supreme; the poor don't even have the right to resist.

Without exceptional talent, family support, or financial assistance, those at the very bottom will find it difficult to escape poverty, no matter how many lifetimes they have lived.

"Brother Duan, rabbit! Your little trap caught a rabbit!"

Liu Chunmei's barely audible exclamation interrupted Duan Xuan's thoughts.

Zhao Rui rushed over, tore the trap apart, and pulled out a gray rabbit that was still barely breathing.

Humanity rewards diligence, and Heaven rewards those who help themselves.

[Trap: Minor Success (5+2/100)]

Hunting: Beginner (12/50)

This is what makes Duan Xuan different from everyone else, ever since the day he traveled through time.

The eight characters "humanity rewards diligence, and heaven rewards reward" came to mind.

He then knew that this was his magic touch, and these eight words were his destiny.

No matter what you learn, you will definitely gain something. As long as you gain something, no matter how difficult the subject is, you will eventually succeed!

However, in the first two years after arriving, the original host's body was far too immature.

In addition, Duan Xuan was very short because he was fifteen or sixteen years old, which is the time when he was growing. However, his family could not provide him with the necessary nutrition.

Let alone hunting, even making a small trap takes a long time and a lot of physical effort.

But there were still some gains.

Seeing that the trap skill had increased by two points on the panel, Duan Xuan smiled knowingly.

He then let out a long sigh. In this cannibalistic world, what good is it to catch wild rabbits every day?

At most, it can solve the problem of food for myself and my mother.

They still couldn't survive; they were still exploited by bandits and by the ruthless and indifferent taxes levied by the imperial court.

"A hunter's tax? Utterly ridiculous!"

If you want to defy fate and survive in this chaotic world, you must learn martial arts.

Some system panels were so easy to learn that Duan Xuan became even more determined to learn martial arts.

Duan Xuan pulled out a small knife from behind the skin and deftly cut the rabbit into three pieces.

"Duan Di and Liu Mei, what are you two planning to do? Are you really going to spend your whole lives living a miserable existence in Shetougou?"

Zhao Rui bluntly said, "I don't want to risk my life for a wild rabbit or any other prey."

I was just happily grinning like an idiot all day.

My relative, an official from my county town, came to my house last night. He wants to take me over to do some copying.

Although copying books is tiring, it's better than not knowing where your next meal will come from.

Zhao Rui's family was better off than Duan Xuan and Liu Chunmei's; his parents were still alive, and his family owned a large piece of land.

Moreover, he has a relative in the county town who works as a minor official in the government.

At this moment, his voice rose several decibels.

Liu Chunmei shrank her neck and whispered, "My father and mother want to send me to the Wang family to be a maid."

I...I...I don't want to go...but we're starving, and my second sister and third brother need to eat..."

Liu Chunmei's family situation was much worse than Duan Xuan's and Zhao Rui's.

Because there are three children in the family, and she is the eldest, and unfortunately, she also has a younger brother.

Duan Xuan glanced at the two of them. Zhao Rui, needless to say, came from a well-off family, was bold, and knew quite a few characters.

If a relative of an official in the county town is willing to help.

Starting from the bottom is a decent way to live.

The Wang family is one of the top families in Huangshe County, and ordinary people can't get in even by trying to build connections.

If I could actually get in, even though it would be a lowly job, what's wrong with surviving?

"Brother Duan, what about you?" Zhao Rui patted Duan Xuan on the shoulder.

Liu Chunmei also cast a curious glance at her.

"I want to learn martial arts!"

"Huh? Learning martial arts?" Zhao Rui and Liu Chunmei were both stunned. Zhao Rui's voice was extremely loud: "Brother Duan, did you start too fast?"

How can you talk such nonsense? Practicing martial arts is a money pit!

Liu Chunmei nodded timidly. Although he didn't understand, he could tell from Zhao Rui's voice that learning martial arts must be very difficult.

Duan Xuan was even thinner than himself; how could he possibly manage to chop down this and that?

The three men carried the rabbit to check the other traps, but unfortunately, no more prey took the bait.

The sun quickly sank behind the mountain, and the three dared not linger any longer.

Braving the wind and snow that had brought them here, they walked home, their feet sinking deep into the snow.

When it was time to part, Zhao Rui tore off another piece of his rabbit and stuffed it into Duan Xuan's hand.

"Brother Zhao, you..."

"Stop talking nonsense, Liu Mei is gone!"

Liu Chunmei responded and said goodbye to Duan Xuan before heading to the other end of the village.

Duan Xuan shook his head and walked home.

It was freezing cold, and the roads were covered in hard surfaces.

The shoes woven from bits of grass creaked as you walked.

But as he walked, Duan Xuan immediately became wary.

It was time to start cooking, but none of the neighbors lit a fire.

Instead, wails came from the street in front of my house.

Realizing something was wrong, Duan Xuan stuffed the rabbit into his arms, keeping only the small piece Zhao Rui had given him.

"Old man, are you senile? How dare you come to hunt in the mountains within the territory of our Wolf Village?"

They even killed a red deer! Didn't they know that's a great tonic?!

The moment Duan Xuan arrived, he saw Old Li, the neighbor from the outskirts of the village, being brutally beaten by two ruthless thugs from the Wolf Village.

I don't know how long they fought, but now their noses and faces are completely distorted.

The ground was covered in blood, the eyes were lifeless, and only wails could be heard.

Old Li's wife and two children sat on the ground crying and wailing, while the neighbors all hid inside their houses, too afraid to come out.

They were afraid of getting caught up in undeserved disasters.

Standing in front of Old Li with his arms crossed was none other than Erbazi from Wolf Village.

Two knife scars on his face, along with his coarse, yellow teeth, made him look particularly frightening.

"Five taels of silver. I'll give you only one incense stick's time. If you can't produce it, I'll break your hands and feet!"

"Five, five taels? Scarface, you haven't even sold this deer yet. Where are you going to get five taels? Scarface, please have mercy and let my man go, Scarface!"

"Snap!"

Two-Scarface slapped Aunt Li so hard she flew away, her swollen face now even more swollen.

"These two kids are nice..."

"Scarface, you mustn't, you mustn't!"

Duan Xuan's face showed fear, and his heart was filled with disgust.

This scarred fellow is the fourth leader of the Wolf Stronghold. He is usually arrogant and domineering, and he personally led his men to collect the incense offerings from the Mountain Lord.

Almost every time, villagers would suffer, either their daughters would be abused or they would be extorted and blackmailed for various other reasons.

What truly infuriates the people of Shetougou is the mountain god worship ceremony held every two weeks.

All those various ways of collecting money were invented by Erbazi.

Old Li's family was being attacked. Duan Xuan silently walked past them, about to rush home.

"Hey, Brother Duan! Off hunting?" Erbazi called out to Duan Xuan, chuckling as he walked behind him.

"How come you're still so useless? You went all afternoon and only brought back this little bit of stuff?"

Look at your father, he went hunting for a nobleman in the palace and never came back. I think he gained the nobleman's favor and went to enjoy a life of luxury!

"Hey, Old Li, you've crossed the line! You can't cross the line! You know what happens when the rules are broken!"

Duan Xuan nodded repeatedly: "Scarface is right. I can barely feed my mother. I certainly wouldn't dare to overstep the rules. If there's nothing else, Scarface, I'll be going now."

"Wait, Brother Duan, your family's food is almost gone, right? The mountain god is about to be worshipped. Have you prepared the offerings? Do you want to borrow some from me?"

Don't worry, Scarface knows that ordinary people have it tough. My interest rates aren't high, and they're all clearly marked. I absolutely won't let you lose money, right?

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; are you going to sign now?"

In Duan Xuan's time, this kind of interest would be called usury, with interest compounding on interest.

The intricacies involved cannot be explained in a few words or a single document.

If you really get hooked, you'll find it's a bottomless pit when it's time to pay back the money!

Duan Xuan knew perfectly well what was going on. Seeing that Erbazi was serious, he quickly handed over half a rabbit leg: "My mother and I are barely making ends meet right now, so we won't trouble you, Erbazi."

"My brother will come to you again when he needs money in a few days, right? Here, this rabbit leg is a tribute to you, Scarface."

A flicker of displeasure crossed Erbazi's face. He grabbed the rabbit leg and muttered, "Get out! Get out!"

Duan Xuan glanced deeply at the Li family's house, then slunk away...