paranoianovel Chapter 1: Setting the Foundation and Cultivating Vitality?
Chapter 1: Setting the Foundation and Cultivating Vitality?
Chen Ye opened his eyes.
What comes into view are mottled walls, a kang (a heated brick bed) that can accommodate four people sleeping together, and a dim light filtering through the torn window paper.
His mind was completely blank.
Am I working overtime?
Where is this?
The next second, a flood of fragmented memories rushed into his mind.
Jing Dynasty, the ninth year of Shenwu.
The Gao family, Chen Ye...
Eight minutes later, after processing all this information, he sat on the edge of the bed, utterly dejected, staring at the spider web under the roof beam above him, and let out a long sigh.
crossed.
He was neither a prince nor a rich young master, but an ordinary low-ranking servant in the Gao family.
Fine.
He sat up and stretched his unfamiliar body.
Young and fit.
His hands and feet were rough and calloused; he was good at manual labor.
"What are you dawdling for, kid?" someone yelled from outside the door. "Hurry up!"
"Coming," Chen Ye responded instinctively.
Recently, the head of the Gao family had a sudden whim and selected a group of clever and reliable servants from the manor to give them a chance to practice martial arts.
He was lucky to be chosen.
Chen Ye jumped off the bed and followed the crowd into the central courtyard.
……
A large group of people stood in the courtyard of the Gao family's house.
They were all servants selected from various parts of the Gao family, just like Chen Ye.
The oldest looked to be in his early twenties, and the youngest looked to be only thirteen or fourteen years old.
The servants whispered among themselves, excitedly discussing the martial arts training.
"I heard they've contacted us this time to teach us kung fu!"
"Of course. It was Zhang, the bodyguard appointed by the patriarch, who personally taught him."
"If I learn a couple of moves, I'll be able to walk around with my head held high."
Chen Ye observed silently without uttering a sound.
A bald, burly man stood directly in front of him.
The other person's muscles were bulging and knotted, as if they were cast from refined iron, and he stood there like an iron tower.
Even from five or six steps away, you could feel the fierce aura emanating from the other party.
This is the kind of oppressive feeling you get when your hands are stained with blood.
Zhang Tieyi.
Chen Ye retrieved the name from the original owner's memories.
He is the head of the Gao family's guards, and this time he has been ordered by the family head to serve as their instructor.
Zhang Tieyi's sharp gaze swept across the crowd, and the noisy courtyard instantly fell silent.
"Among all the families in Qinghe County, the Gao family is not the largest in terms of wealth and influence! Why then do countless people still try so hard to enter the Gao family every year?"
Zhang Tieyi answered his own question: "Because among all the families, only my Gao family doesn't hold back! As long as you perform well enough, you'll have the opportunity to be rewarded with martial arts training!"
"Most of you, if not for the Gao family, would never have even scratched the surface of martial arts, even if you fought to the death!"
"Today, I am passing on my skills on behalf of the family head. Remember this kindness well! From now on, serve the Gao family well!"
The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard around them.
Children from poor families mature early; who doesn't know what a solid skill means?
What's more, it's a martial art that can defy fate!
"Although our Gao family is a secondary sect, our Tiger-Capturing Fist is domineering and fierce. In terms of power, it is no less than the family martial arts of those second-rank high-ranking sects!"
"But to learn the skills, you must first learn the stances. Watch carefully!"
Zhang Tieyi stood with his feet staggered, his hands clenched into fists, and steadily assumed a stance.
Chen Ye stared intently.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary cow or horse, filled with curiosity about martial arts, which he had never been exposed to before.
"Standing in a fixed stance mainly trains a person's spirit, eyesight, and waist and stance foundation."
"Relax your shoulders! Keep your neck straight, don't hunch your back! Imagine there's a thread suspending your skull!"
"Hold this position for half an hour!"
At Zhang Tieyi's command, everyone clumsily began to imitate him.
Chen Ye followed suit, but a hint of disappointment crossed his mind at this unremarkable stance training.
This is far from the martial arts techniques that I had imagined, which involved flying through the air and traversing the earth with sword energy.
Half an hour, an hour.
It doesn't sound long.
During the first incense stick's burning, most people were still thinking about how to distribute their strength.
From the second incense stick's time onward, all that could be heard was uncontrollable panting.
By the third incense stick's time, most of their legs began to tremble slightly, the kind that they couldn't control no matter how hard they clenched their teeth.
With a "plop".
Some people couldn't hold on and fell.
Immediately afterwards, one after another, there were "plop" sounds.
Several people in the courtyard suddenly collapsed.
They all looked like they had been pulled out of the water, their clothes completely soaked with sweat.
Chen Ye gritted his teeth, a stubbornness or ruthlessness welling up inside him, and pressed his trembling knee down half an inch, then forcefully nailed it back to its original position.
"breathe……"
Chen Ye tried to adjust his breathing.
He had run a marathon in his previous life and knew that when a person is at their limit, the more they gasp for breath, the more oxygen-deprived they become, and they need to make their breathing follow the rhythm of their body.
After repeating this several times, Chen Ye was surprised to find that the soreness in his legs had actually lessened slightly.
It didn't disappear; rather, it raised the threshold for that soreness through breathing.
Chen Ye didn't bother to figure out the principle behind it; he only knew that this would allow him to last longer.
By the fourth incense stick had burned.
Zhang Tieyi had already left sometime earlier.
Besides Chen Ye, there were only three other people standing in the courtyard.
The fifth incense stick.
Two more fell down.
The last guy who fought him turned blue and purple with frustration. He held on for half an incense stick's time before finally collapsing straight down, his eyes rolling back in his head.
Someone quickly went up to help him.
Chen Ye was still standing.
He didn't know why he was still holding on.
Zhang Tieyi is gone, and no one is watching over him. Even if he gives up, no one will say anything.
But he didn't.
Because he felt that his body's limits had not yet been reached.
It's not a subjective assumption, but a fact that we haven't arrived yet.
At the sixth incense stick's time, Chen Ye's legs began to tremble uncontrollably, as if they had been broken, and he completely lost sensation.
He knew that this was the real limit.
"call……"
Chen Ye knew the principle that too much of a good thing is bad, so he decisively dropped his stance and let out a long breath.
Once that breath was released, his legs felt like two lumps of mud, and he couldn't stand up at all.
Chen Ye quickly sat down, leaning against a nearby pillar, his chest heaving violently.
Sweat dripped from his chin onto the ground, leaving a small, dark dot.
Just then, a strange sense of comfort welled up from within my flesh and blood.
wrong.
It's not a feeling of comfort.
There is a warm current emerging.
Chen Ye's expression froze.
He noticed a golden spot, like a wheat awn, suddenly appear in his field of vision.
The next moment, a soft curtain of light, like silk being caressed by a gentle breeze, silently unfolded before him.
He was stunned.
Name: Chen Ye
Current martial art: Qi Cultivation Technique (Not yet mastered)
[Realm: None]
[Lifespan can be pawned to obtain corresponding cultivation progress]
[After pawning, you need to pay double the price to redeem your lifespan; this is only applicable to those with talent, luck, and wealth.]
Current remaining life expectancy: 3 years and 61 days
Chen Ye stared at the last line of text, his expression changing slightly.
Three years and sixty-one days.
He only has three years left to live!
And now, this [Pawning System] requires him to risk his life to gain cultivation?
Chen Ye was speechless for a moment, and even wanted to laugh.
Is this just because they think he'll live too long?
But before he could laugh, his gaze shifted upwards and he noticed another line of information.
[Peiyuan Gong (Beginner Level)]
It's Peiyuan Gong, not Qinhu Quan!
Chen Ye narrowed his eyes slightly.
Is the technique itself flawed, or has the system "translated" Tiger-Capturing Fist into Vitality-Nourishing Technique?
Or was Zhang Tieyi lying on purpose?
If it's the latter, then there's a big problem.
Chen Ye suppressed his surprise and agitation, and his expression returned to normal.
After resting for a while, everyone left one after another, and under the steward's instructions, they cleaned the latrines, swept the courtyard, drew water, carried water, and led the horses and cattle to water...
They were busy until the sun was setting before they could finally rest.
By the time he climbed onto the earthen bed that evening, Chen Ye was exhausted and didn't even have the strength to speak.
Seeing his behavior, his roommates lost interest in getting close to him and wisely kept quiet.