Chapter Three: The Power of Wealth
Over the following month, Qin Yi diligently attended the morning classes, watching Uncle Pine demonstrate the Five Qi Converging Fist with utmost seriousness each day. At last, half a month ago, he managed to memorize all the movements, breathing rhythms, and repetitions of the entire routine.
During the latter half of the month, aside from fulfilling his daily chores, he devoted nearly all his remaining time to practicing the Five Qi Converging Fist. Whether it was due to his rather ordinary aptitude, he could not say, but while some managed to perform the entire set smoothly within five or six days, and even the slower ones succeeded within ten days, there remained a significant gap between them and true entry-level mastery—being able to flawlessly perform the set nine times out of ten. Still, they were far ahead of Qin Yi.
Fifteen days had passed for him, and he had yet to succeed even once—let alone reach entry-level proficiency!
“Adjust your mindset. Remember where you just made a mistake, and do it again!” As the sun set over the training grounds, Qin Yi assumed the opening stance, inhaled and exhaled, and began to move through the sequence.
A few minutes later—
He let out a long breath, a surge of quiet joy welling inside him.
He had done it!
He was certain he hadn’t made a single error in any step.
“Ding… Technique successfully performed. ‘Martial Sage Gold System’ is now online!”
Hearing the voice in his mind, Qin Yi’s expression changed. Waves of shock crashed through his heart: “I have a cheat too!”
“System!”
Qin Yi:
Five Qi Converging Fist: Uninitiated
Energy: 0 (Recharge with grain, meat, medicinal herbs, etc. to obtain energy points)
“Simple and direct!”
“I just wonder how much I need to recharge to get one energy point!” Qin Yi called the system interface several times, discovering it only brought up the system panel and had no other reaction.
At least he understood how to recharge: by touching the item to be recharged, the system would absorb it.
A message in his mind informed him that the better the item, the more energy points he would gain. For instance, basic grains yielded very little, while high-quality meat and superior medicinal herbs would offer much more.
…
Half a month later.
At the foot of Mount Qingwei, among the temple’s fields.
A youth in a gray Taoist robe raised his steel fork, eyes fixed on four smoking rat holes within five meters of where he stood.
Suddenly, movement came from an inconspicuous, smoking rat hole two meters away. A fat rat burst out, fleeing at full speed.
The youth took a single step forward, thrusting his steel fork at the escaping rat.
With a squelch, the fat rat was impaled through and through, dying instantly.
Qin Yi hurried over, picked up the fork, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, then crouched, placing his right hand on the rat and silently intoning, “Recharge!”
The rat’s corpse vanished without a trace.
He quickly called up the system panel.
At last, after half a month of effort, he saw results.
Qin Yi:
Five Qi Converging Fist: Entry-level +
Energy: 1 (Recharge with grain, meat, medicinal herbs, etc. to obtain energy points)
“Half a month, over fifty pounds of various meats recharged, and I’ve only gotten one energy point.”
Seeing the plus sign after “Entry-level,” Qin Yi understood—consuming one energy point would allow him to advance.
In the past half month, besides raiding birds’ nests and catching rats, frogs, snakes, and fish, he had toiled away at the Five Qi Converging Fist. Two days ago, he finally reached entry-level mastery, completing ten perfect repetitions in a row!
“I don’t know what effect advancing will have, or how long it will take.” Qin Yi mulled it over. The main temple was crowded and noisy; here would be better.
“Upgrade!”
The single energy point vanished, turning to zero. Instantly, a warm current spread from his heart to his organs. In his mind, a phantom figure practiced the Five Qi Converging Fist, rising before dawn to train, day after day, braving wind and rain for three years until finally stopping.
When the warmth faded from his organs, Qin Yi returned to himself, amazed by the strange sensation.
“About ten minutes,” he estimated.
He checked the panel again. As expected, it had changed.
Qin Yi:
Five Qi Converging Fist: Proficient (Entry-level, Proficient, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Mastery)
Energy: 0 (Recharge with grain, meat, medicinal herbs, etc. to obtain energy points)
“Proficient. But what does that really mean?”
He tried another round of the Five Qi Converging Fist. This time, the movements flowed naturally, as if he’d practiced them for three years.
After one set, he felt no exhaustion as before—his breath steady, his face unchanged.
“It doesn’t seem my strength has increased, but my endurance definitely has.”
It was like how running three laps around the field used to leave him gasping, but now he could run six laps without feeling tired.
Just then, voices sounded in the distance—Zhang Broadsword and a few others: “Silang, the sun’s setting. Time to head back!”
“Alright, I’m coming!” He picked up his steel fork and headed their way, soon catching up.
“Silang, why are you always digging for rats lately? If you can’t catch fish, that’s fine, but don’t tell me you’re actually eating the rats you catch?”
“…”
Actually, what Qin Yi was doing wasn’t so unusual. Most people working in the fields below the mountain weeded, fertilized, or turned the earth, and their tasks were usually done by noon. Afternoons were spent idling about; some even found a shady spot and napped. Occasionally, someone would try to catch a bird or fish to supplement their meals, but both were scarce and hard to find.
Qin Yi gave a few vague replies and fell silent, his mind preoccupied with whether his endurance had truly increased.
He soon confirmed it: climbing back from the fields to Qingwei Temple, he felt no fatigue whatsoever. Before, he would have been utterly exhausted by the time he reached the summit.
He hurried to the dining hall for a meal, bathed, attended the evening class for an hour, and finally returned to his dorm.
Lying in bed, Qin Yi considered his next step—continuing to find ways to improve the Five Qi Converging Fist.
“The rat holes in the fields are getting harder to find. In the mountain forests, aside from the numerous birds, there are hardly any large animals left. If I want to quickly earn more energy points, it’ll be even harder than before.”
Food prices had risen, driving many villagers to join the ranks of hunters. Except for the remote deep mountains, the animals in the nearby forests had been hunted nearly to extinction.
If not for the rat holes in the fields, he really wouldn’t know where to find enough meat to recharge the system.
As for grain and medicinal herbs? Those required money!
He only had three hundred copper coins left—the sum Old Qin had given him when he first entered Qingwei Temple.