I Just Want Outlive You, Don't Force Me to Beat You to Death

The next day dawned clear.

Chu Ning, wearing clothes that were obviously a bit too large for him, shouldered his bag to bid farewell to his old auntie as he headed for the school.

The clothes were left by his frugal father. The old auntie had re-tailored them in the past few days, reducing their size a bit, but they were still somewhat loose on Chu Ning.

It wasn't that they couldn't be tailored to fit more snugly, but he was at an age where he was growing, and if they were too tight, he probably wouldn't be able to wear them in a month or two.

"Old Auntie, you must eat more when you're at home by yourself, wait for Xiaoning to finish the six months at school, and then I can get a job with a salary."

"I will economize. You must practice martial arts diligently at school, be more forbearing when faced with problems, and don't act on impulse..."

Chu Ning listened quietly to his old auntie's instructions, even though she had already repeated them several times the night before.

"Well, old auntie, I'm off. Don't go back to eating grass."

"You little rascal, after you plucked all the grass in the courtyard yesterday, even if I wanted to eat it, there's none left."

Chu Ning chuckled. Weeds were tenacious in life, and with the recent rains, the courtyard had greened again. He worried that in his absence, his old auntie, to save money, might resort to eating grass again.

Not only had he plucked the grass yesterday, but he also borrowed ten taels of silver from neighbors to buy rice, filling the rice container to the top.

If he hadn't been accepted into the school, the neighbors might not have been willing to lend him money. But now that he was enrolled, they were much more amenable.

The neighbors all knew that as long as he stayed at the school for six months, he'd be able to work at the government office. Even if he couldn't stay the full term, having studied the secret martial arts techniques, he could make a living after leaving, either by working as a guard for a wealthy family or joining a gang as an enforcer, ensuring he could pay back the money.

There was still half an hour until Chen Time when Chu Ning arrived at the school. According to the dormitory list posted on the wall, he found his dorm number.

Room Yi Three.

It was a double room, with two wooden plank beds and an attached small courtyard featuring a stove, a bathing tub, and some stone stools.

His roommate hadn't arrived yet, so Chu Ning made his bed, put his clothes in the chest provided by the dorm, placed the herbs Director Huang had given him on top of the clothes, and after these arrangements, picked up a broom from the backyard to start sweeping the moss and weeds.

As he was sweeping, there was a commotion at the door of the dormitory as a young man carrying a large wooden box walked in.

The youth also saw Chu Ning, who was sweeping in the yard, quickly set down his box and hurried over.

"I'm sorry..."

Bang!

The young man was moving so fast he didn't notice the moss under his feet. He slipped, with his feet sliding forward and his upper body tilting backward. Fortunately, he reacted swiftly, tensing his waist to halt the fall, though the force might have been too strong, as he became precariously tilted forward.

In the end, he knelt firmly in front of Chu Ning.

Chu Ning: …

The young man: …

A quarter-hour later, the two had finished cleaning the moss and weeds from the entire courtyard.

Chu Ning also learned the young man's name: Ji Yang.

He was from Ji Family Town, below Daning County. Unlike Chu Ning, who only exercised by lifting stone stools, Ji Yang had been training in martial arts for two and a half years. Of course, it wasn't in the secret martial arts techniques, but a form of boxing to condition the body which he learned from a martial master in his town.

"Impressive, my brother."

"What?"

Ji Yang looked puzzled, but just then, the sound of a gong interrupted, saving Chu Ning from having to explain.

When the gong sounded, all the students had to assemble at the training field.

By the time Chu Ning and Ji Yang arrived at the training field, most of the students were already there.

A few minutes later, Instructor Chen arrived at the training field.

"From today forth, you are all students of the school. The Great Ancestor established this school to select talents. If you achieve something in the future, you should keep in mind the desire to serve our country."

Instructor Chen's expression was solemn as he looked northward, his hands clasped together in salute. Chu Ning and the others followed his example. After about fifteen seconds, when they saw Instructor Chen lower his hands, they all did the same.

"Next, I'll transmit to you the Martial Heart Method of 'Bull Demon Strength'. The Great Ancestor himself cultivated this secret martial arts technique and embarked on the martial path. 'Bull Demon Strength' has six levels. Today, I will teach you the first three levels of its verses."

Listening to Instructor Chen's words, the students became excited.

They had come to the school for this secret martial arts technique.

Instructor Chen then began to impart the verses of the 'Bull Demon Strength' Martial Heart Method to the students.

"Energy sinks to the dantian, circulated through the meridians, amassing strength first in the cauldron. One burst equals the force of ten..."

Chu Ning started to gather energy according to the breathing technique taught by the instructor, and quickly discovered a force colliding with his meridians within his body.

Is this the so-called 'true transmission in a single phrase, false teachings in an entire book'?

Chu Ning felt his strength increase by what must have been ten pounds at that moment.

Glancing at the other students from the corner of his eye, they seemed excited but not overly thrilled, which suggested they hadn't gained much strength.

Was he a martial arts prodigy?

Or was it the effect of the Longevity Fruit?

Instructor Chen scanned the excited faces, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask now. Those without five hundred pounds of strength in three months will be eliminated from the school."

This statement didn't worry the youths; they were all too thrilled with the acquisition of the Martial Heart Method. As for being eliminated...

Young people are always confident, not believing they would be without five hundred pounds of strength in three months.

No one had questions, and Instructor Chen, unconcerned, left directly.

Upon Instructor Chen's departure, the other students began whispering among themselves, but most were conversing in pairs, obviously aligned with their roommates.

"Chu Ning, let's head back to the dorm first."

Ji Yang gave Chu Ning a look, and Chu Ning knew that Ji Yang had something private to say to him, so he followed Ji Yang back to the dorm.

"Chu Ning, a martial master from my family is my older cousin. He told me that it's very important to start practicing the Martial Heart Method properly, it's best to combine it with medicinal herbs. That way, you lay a good foundation, and you'll gain more strength later on."

As he spoke, Ji Yang opened a chest, took out six packets of herbs, and offered them to Chu Ning.

Chu Ning waved his hands to refuse, and under Ji Yang's puzzled gaze, he opened his own chest and took out several packets of herbs as well.

The two exchanged a look and both laughed.

Ji Yang was surprised at the quality of the herbs in Chu Ning's packets. "These herbs are even better than mine, but I've never heard of a Chu family being a major household in Daning County," he remarked.

"These were bestowed upon me by an elder," Chu Ning explained briefly, realizing in his heart that he now owed Director Huang an even greater favor.

"I see. I was actually planning to share some insider knowledge about the school with you, but now it seems unnecessary. You probably already know," Ji Yang said.

Chu Ning really wanted to say he didn't know, but he thought better of it and remained silent.

After a short conversation, Ji Yang took care of starting the fire, while Chu Ning went to fetch water.

By the time Chu Ning had filled the water tank, Ji Yang had kindled the fire in the clay stove, added the herbs and water into a pot for decoction. They didn't just stand around waiting in the yard, but went to the school's dining hall.

The dining hall was ready with food, not much different from a modern school cafeteria. Each person took a tray to get food—one meat and two vegetable dishes, with rice enough to fill you up.

Chu Ning finished six large bowls of rice in one go, leaving Ji Yang stunned.

In Ji Yang's mind, if Chu Ning could afford such medicinal herbs, his family's financial situation must be good, and normally, people at their age usually eat just two bowls of rice per meal. Even those who practiced martial arts would eat more, perhaps three bowls, but six was beyond his imagination.

To Ji Yang, it seemed like other students came to the school for secret martial arts techniques, while Chu Ning was here to take advantage of the free meals.

Little did Ji Yang know, at home, Chu Ning could only afford three bowls of rice throughout the day, not even half full per meal. The more he ate, the faster his strength would grow. Now that he had a chance at free meals, of course, he would eat his fill.

Even these six bowls only made him feel seventy percent full, if not for the fact that eating too much would hinder his martial arts practice, he could have eaten eight.

After eating their fill, they left the dining hall and returned to their room, where the medicinal decoction was ready.

Pouring the decoction into their individual bathing tubs, they then added cold water to adjust the temperature before stripping and jumping in to soak.

While soaking, they both practiced the heart method of "Bull Demon Strength" as taught by instructor Chen.

After just one circulation of the technique, Chu Ning's eyes brightened. He glanced at Ji Yang, seeing that Ji Yang's expression had not changed with his eyes closed, he knew Ji Yang's experience was different from his own.

He could clearly feel that as he circulated the technique, when the qi in his body reached his limbs, there would be a warm current seeping in, joining the flow of qi.

This current of qi traveled from the governor vessel at the back up to the crown of the head, and then flowed down the conception vessel back to the Dantian.

With each circulation, Chu Ning could see the color of the medicinal liquid in his bathing tub getting lighter.

After twenty circulations, the decoction in Chu Ning's tub had become completely clear, so he didn't continue soaking and got out of the tub, noticing that Ji Yang's liquid was still a light brown color. He chose not to disturb Ji Yang and dressed to leave the dormitory.

The training ground was empty at this moment, not a soul in sight.

Chu Ning walked over to the row of stone weights arranged according to their mass and stood in front of a 150-pound stone weight. He squatted down, grasped the indented handles, and with a heave, lifted the stone above his head.

The stone weight was easily lifted.

A 160-pound stone weight was also lifted, albeit with some effort.

A 170-pound stone weight, however, was only managed above his head for less than five breaths.

Despite the failure, excitement was unmistakable in Chu Ning's eyes. To think his first day practicing "Bull Demon Strength" had increased his strength by nearly sixty pounds.

It was simply unthinkable.

Without further attempts or lingering on the training ground, Chu Ning quickly headed back to the dormitory.

He didn't know about others, but he believed such a dramatic increase in strength on the first day was definitely not normal.

Was it because the martial arts technique had allowed a greater release of the Longevity Fruit's energy stored inside him?

It seemed necessary to revise the coefficient formula for the rate of release of that energy storage.

When Chu Ning returned to the dormitory, Ji Yang had also emerged from the tub, looking utterly confident.

"Chu Ning, I feel like I could kill a tiger with my bare hands!" Ji Yang exclaimed, waving his fists.

"Do you feel your strength has increased?" Chu Ning asked curiously.

"Absolutely, although I don't know exactly how much, it should be around ten pounds," Ji Yang replied.

Ji Yang went to a stone weight in the yard and lifted a 220-pound stone weight with ease.

"My estimate was correct, it did increase by ten pounds. What about you, Chu Ning?"

"I should also have a baseline increase of ten pounds," Chu Ning replied.

His statement was actually a truth; sixty pounds could indeed be considered an increase with a baseline of ten pounds.

"If we can increase this much strength on the first day, then reaching 500 pounds in three months should be easy," said Ji Yang.

Ji Yang rolled his eyes. "It's not that easy. The remarkable effect today is because it's our first day with the martial arts technique. The further we go, the slower the growth will be. My cousin once said, training in martial arts is a long journey requiring constant practice to strengthen the bones and muscles, one step at a time."

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," Chu Ning added.

Ji Yang clenched his fists. "Exactly, that's what I mean. I didn't expect you to be so good at summarizing, Chu Ning. Let's work hard together and aim to become martial masters within three years."

Chu Ning: ...