The next day, early in the morning, Yang Jing arrived at the martial hall.
As before, he was still the earliest among all the disciples to arrive.
Many disciples felt that he had already exhausted his potential. No matter how hard he worked, it would be impossible for him to break through to Anjin. Rather than continuing on like this, he would be better off finding another way out as soon as possible. Still burying his head in martial training at the hall only made him seem foolish.
These opinions from others could not shake Yang Jing’s resolve in the slightest.
The effects of the panel had already been verified.
He only needed to train a martial art or cultivation method to its limit, and he could break through realms without encountering any bottleneck.
This meant that although his cultivation speed was slow, as long as he was given time, he would certainly be able to go very high and very far.
After Yang Jing had trained for half an hour, the number of disciples in the front courtyard of the martial hall gradually increased.
Fourth Senior Brother Liu Maolin also arrived. Seeing Yang Jing still focused on training just as before, his gaze shifted slightly. He gave a faint nod, then took off his upper garment and walked over to Yang Jing’s side with a smile. “Junior Brother, you’re training quite diligently.”
Hearing his voice, Yang Jing immediately withdrew his fist and turned around, a smile appearing on his face. “Fourth Senior Brother, you’re here.”
“Come, give me a hand.” Liu Maolin set up his boxing stance, his eyes sharpening. “Let me see whether you’ve trained this force of yours solidly or not.”
Yang Jing did not hesitate either. He sank his waist and dropped his elbows, unfolding the opening stance of Mountain-Collapsing Fist. “Please instruct me, Senior Brother.”
The moment their fist winds met, the difference between them was clear.
Liu Maolin’s punches looked effortless, but when they reached close range, they carried a sticky force. Yang Jing’s Mingjin was fierce and forceful, yet with a light tug from Liu Maolin, it was always diverted away.
“Pay attention to your waist and hips.”
Liu Maolin turned his wrist, avoiding Yang Jing’s fist edge, and lightly tapped Yang Jing’s waist with his fingertips. “Mountain-Collapsing Fist emphasizes ‘not moving even if a mountain collapses before you.’ Your steps are too floating. Your roots aren’t planted firmly, so your force scatters.”
Yang Jing’s heart stirred. He adjusted his footwork according to Liu Maolin’s words, and sure enough, he felt his lower body become much steadier.
When he punched again, Liu Maolin suddenly changed moves. His fist edge slid past beneath Yang Jing’s ribs, and the gust of force it brought up made Yang Jing’s skin tingle. “Mingjin doesn’t only need hardness. You also have to know how to withdraw it. It’s like driving a stake. You don’t just have to smash it deep; you also have to be able to draw your force back. Otherwise, your next punch will have no follow-through.”
As he spoke, he demonstrated. When Anjin circulated through his body, his clothes actually bulged slightly, and wherever his fist wind passed, the bits of grass on the ground were swept into spirals.
Yang Jing watched intently, committing every detail to memory. A great realization dawned in his heart. “So the process from Mingjin to Anjin is actually hidden within this give and take.”
The two exchanged more than a hundred moves. Liu Maolin kept seventy percent of his strength in reserve the entire time, yet he allowed Yang Jing to comprehend the fist principles of the second level with increasing clarity.
When the final move was withdrawn, Yang Jing was panting, but his eyes were astonishingly bright. “Many thanks, Senior Brother! I think I understand what ‘force penetrating the flesh and texture’ means now!”
Liu Maolin smiled and handed him a cloth towel. “As long as you understand. The martial path is like climbing a mountain. Each step has its own scenery. Don’t be impatient. Climb slowly.”
Yang Jing nodded.
Liu Maolin unscrewed a waterskin and handed it to Yang Jing. Only after watching Yang Jing gulp down more than half of it did he speak unhurriedly. “Junior Brother, how is the matter of your nominal post going?”
Yang Jing handed the waterskin back and shook his head helplessly. “A few households have approached me, but the price they offered was only seven or eight taels a month. I want to wait a little longer. If there really isn’t anything better, I can only choose one among them.”
Liu Maolin frowned when he heard this. “Junior Brother, you have just entered Mingjin. This is precisely the time for laying your foundation. You can’t lack food supplements or medicinal supplements.”
After saying that, he paused slightly, then continued, “You know my family runs a medical hall and medicinal herb business. We often have jobs transporting herbs, and occasionally we run into some blind petty thieves. My father just happens to be looking for a reliable martial artist to help look after and escort the shipments. You wouldn’t have to go many times each month; mainly, you’d be there to hold the field.”
“I’d like to invite you to take on the title of retainer at my family’s medical hall. You’ll escort medicinal herbs twice a month, with a monthly stipend of ten taels of silver. In addition, there’s some ferocious beast meat stored in our medical hall’s warehouse. We’ll give you another ten jin of bear meat each month. What do you think?”
After Liu Maolin finished speaking, his bright gaze fell on Yang Jing.
Over the past few months of contact, his impression of Yang Jing had been very good. Yang Jing was focused and steady in his work, earnest and serious, and he possessed a kind of resilience of his own. Even if condemned by everyone, he remained neither anxious nor impatient.
Yang Jing had qualities that made people feel at ease.
Even if he made no further progress in martial arts in the future, he would still be worth this price. After all, even among the many geniuses favored by the great families, not all of them could necessarily knock open the door leading to Anjin, while Yang Jing was already at Mingjin now.
A Mingjin martial artist of excellent character was fully worth ten taels of silver and ten jin of bear meat per month.
The Liu family dealt in medicinal herbs, which involved the escort of precious herbs. They valued the conduct and integrity of those escorting the shipments even more highly.
Yang Jing raised his head and looked at Liu Maolin, his eyes filled with surprise.
Ten taels of silver?
That was two or three taels of silver higher than the monthly stipend offered by the other households currently inviting him to take a nominal post.
And more importantly, there were an additional ten jin of bear meat each month. This could already be considered a form of support beyond the nominal post.
As far as Yang Jing knew, the price of ferocious beast meat was absurdly high.
Taking bear meat as an example, each jin cost more than five hundred large coins, close to one tael of silver per jin.
The sauced bear meat he had eaten at Jufu Restaurant last time had made Yang Jing feel that his subsequent training progressed extremely quickly.
If he could receive ten jin of bear meat every month, and also buy some ferocious beast meat himself, then his speed in breaking through to Anjin would definitely become faster by a large margin.
“This… this is too valuable…” Yang Jing had to admit that he truly was tempted.
But precisely because Liu Maolin’s relationship with him was too close, he hesitated all the more.
Liu Maolin was more so trying to think of ways to help him.
“Junior Brother, don’t think I’m being polite with you or deliberately offering you a high price. You can go ask around yourself. The prices our Liu family offers the guards and retainers we recruit are all like this.”
Liu Maolin patted Yang Jing on the shoulder and said, “Besides, when you help the medical hall transport medicine, you may sometimes encounter bandits. This is truly earning money with your own ability, not taking it for nothing. What’s more, with a Mingjin expert like you around, my family’s medicinal herbs will have an extra layer of protection. This is mutually beneficial.”
Seeing that Yang Jing was still somewhat hesitant, Liu Maolin smiled again and said, “If you feel bad about it, then train your skills more solidly. If we really run into trouble in the future, just don’t drop the ball.”
Looking at the sincerity in Liu Maolin’s eyes, Yang Jing also began to smile, and that trace of hesitation in his heart gradually dispersed.
He knew how rare this opportunity was. It was not only the monthly stipend of ten taels of silver, but also ten jin of precious ferocious beast meat. All of these would play an extremely crucial role in his martial training afterward.
He took a deep breath and cupped his hands solemnly. “Many thanks, Senior Brother!”
Seeing Yang Jing agree, Liu Maolin immediately laughed aloud. “Hahaha, that’s more like it. This afternoon, I’ll take you to the medical hall to meet my father. It just so happens that there’s a batch of medicinal herbs to be delivered to the outskirts of the city tomorrow. There shouldn’t be any danger. You can follow along first and familiarize yourself with the route.”
Hearing this, Yang Jing nodded solemnly.
That afternoon.
Wazi Township, Yang Family Village.
Old Master Yang was squatting in front of the main room, smoking his dry pipe.
Liu Cuiling was tidying up the bowls and chopsticks by the stove.
Grandmother Qin was wiping down a few farming tools in the courtyard.
At this moment, the courtyard was silent. There was only the sound of wind blowing through the branches.
From time to time, the three of them glanced toward the sturdy plow ox in the corner of the courtyard.
Liu Cuiling came out of the kitchen. Looking at the brand-new bedding on the ox’s back, her brows furrowed again.
“What exactly is the Ning family plotting?”
Qin sighed. “They sent over an ox for no reason at all. My heart just keeps feeling uneasy.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Liu Cuiling took up the thread. “Not long ago, they were still looking as vicious as fiends. In the blink of an eye, they’re greeting us with smiles. How could there be such a good thing? Don’t tell me they’ve dug a pit and are waiting for us to jump in.”
Old Master Yang knocked out the ash from his pipe bowl and said in a deep voice, “It’s a good ox, but where it came from…”
He did not continue, but the worry in his eyes was plain to see.
They were still anxious over the two mu of superior farmland north of the village, and now such an ox had arrived. Instead, it felt as heavy as a stone pressing down on them.
They knew all too clearly that with that Master Ning’s stingy nature, he would never give benefits to tenant households like them for no reason.
As they were speaking, the peddler Yang Laosan’s call came from outside the courtyard gate. “Auntie Yang, there’s a letter for your family!”