Chapter 50: A Mediocre Person (Please add to favorites and keep reading)

"Fifteen sessions a day, completed in thirty years. In other words... it will take approximately thirty years before I can become an Innate Martial Master..."

Seeing these words, Wei Tu's expression was a complex mixture of complication and joy.

The complication lay in the fact—

His previous Health Cultivation technique had only taken five years to master, yet this *Marrow Refining Scripture* required a full thirty years.

And his current age was only twenty-two.

The joy lay in the fact—

As long as he practiced step by step, once he passed the age of fifty-two, there would be a very high probability of him becoming an Innate Martial Master. At that time, he could extend his life by another generation, reaching an age of two hundred years.

An Innate Martial Master in his fifties would still be considered a young man, even in the State of Zheng.

Otherwise, when Elder Xue of the Martial Luck Pavilion tried to recruit him, he wouldn't have offered the price of becoming an Innate Martial Master before the age of fifty.

"Plans cannot keep up with changes..."

"If I can only become an Innate Martial Master after fifty, then I must put having children with Xinghua on the agenda."

Wei Tu sighed inwardly.

After he reached fifty and successfully extended his life, he would still be a vigorous "young man," but Xinghua might not be.

In thirty years, Xinghua would be nearing sixty; by then, even if she wanted to conceive, she wouldn't be able to.

Even if having children meant he might have to endure the sorrow of a white-haired person burying their black-haired kin, he couldn't... neglect Xinghua and deny her the chance to raise children.

When Xinghua grew old, the children would be the only solace for both him and her.

"If the next generation fails to master martial arts, there will still be the grandchildren. There is no need to be fixated on this one path."

Wei Tu made up his mind.

He couldn't decide not to have children just because they might potentially "fail to become useful" in the future.

With his current status, providing his children with a prosperous and stable life would be more than enough.

With these thoughts, Wei Tu stood up and ceased his meditation. He walked out of the cultivation room, hauled a bucket of well water to wash himself clean, and then entered the living quarters, crawling into Xinghua's bed.

"Brother Wei, there is still the fish bladder we bought today in the kitchen..." Xinghua's cheeks flushed crimson and her voice trembled slightly as she gave Wei Tu a gentle nudge to remind him.

"We won't need that anymore from now on."

"Including the pig bladder."

Wei Tu said with absolute certainty.

"Brother Wei, have you come to your senses?" Upon hearing this, Xinghua's face immediately lit up with joy.

She had been married to Wei Tu for nearly five years, but there had been no movement in her womb. She had been mocked in secret by neighbors several times, and even Cai Xia had privately suggested she visit a Chinese medicine clinic to fetch some fertility herbs.

However, in truth, she had grievances she could not voice.

For these five years, it wasn't that she didn't want children, but that Wei Tu had always insisted on waiting.

The two of them had been using pig bladders and fish bladders as contraceptive methods.

Fortunately, after today, she would no longer have to wait.

...

Things went exactly as Wei Tu had guessed.

Less than a month after his return from Sanyuan Township to the county town, the Regional Army Office issued military orders to attack a branch of the Martial Luck Pavilion.

This time, it was an emergency order, commanding the conscripted soldiers to set out within half a day without delay; any failure to comply would result in execution.

Because Wei Tu and Wei Fei possessed high martial skills and were Martial Scholars from the previous session, they both fell within the scope of the Regional Army Office's conscription.

Thus, at the third watch of the evening, a group of several hundred elite Regional Army soldiers, under the command of County Lieutenant Xu, filed out from the county gates and began their forced march through the night.

"These soldiers look like elites, but they have zero combat experience. I fear they will suffer greatly once they reach the battlefield..."

"Governor Wang is merely practicing military theory on paper..."

Along the way, Wei Fei and Wei Tu rode side by side. Wei Fei glanced at the soldiers following them on their forced march, shook his head, and spoke.

The number of Regional Army troops in Qingshan County was approximately three thousand on the ledgers, but the actual number of active personnel was only over a thousand.

Most of these thousand-plus men had become peddlers or laborers in the county town to seek other livelihoods due to the low and often unpaid wages of the Regional Army.

The current military order had summoned troops so abruptly that the Regional Army Office had no time to prepare. Consequently, besides a portion of the regular Regional Army, many of the conscripted men were merely domestic servants or martial instructors from local wealthy families.

Therefore, while these men appeared more courageous and robust than the regular Regional Army, they lacked endurance.

At the first sign of pressure, they would break into chaos.

"The Martial Luck Pavilion likely isn't much stronger than us either."

"They are merely a martial arts sect, not an enemy army on a battlefield; they are no different from bandits."

"Besides, we are only dealing with a single branch."

Wei Tu pondered for a moment and offered consolation.

If County Lieutenant Xu led this rabble into a hard fight, Wei Tu would definitely desert halfway through.

But he believed the Martial Luck Pavilion wouldn't be much stronger than their side; they might even be worse.

On the battlefield, it was simply a matter of seeing who was less incompetent.

As long as their side made fewer mistakes than the Martial Luck Pavilion, they would have a chance at victory.

"True, we are only dealing with a branch of the Martial Luck Pavilion. A single branch likely won't have many men or any great enemies!"

Hearing this, Wei Fei nodded and let out a chuckle.

Afterward, Wei Tu and Wei Fei remained silent, beginning to conserve their strength while waiting for the upcoming battle.

An hour later, the forced march came to a halt at a ridge. The commanding County Lieutenant Xu ordered the troops to sit and rest, extinguish their torches, and prepare their armor.

"Is this Baiyang County, Siyang Town?"

"The Martial Luck Pavilion branch is hidden here?"

Wei Tu spurred his horse forward. Using the bright moonlight, he glanced at the terrain outside the ridge and compared it with the map in his hand, thinking to himself.

He and Wei Fei were merely mid-level martial officers in the Regional Army and were not qualified to see detailed military orders; thus, they only learned the specific target location upon arriving at their destination.

From his high vantage point, Wei Tu looked down upon the entirety of Siyang Town. Combining this with the map, he attempted to estimate which of the many buildings in Siyang Town concealed the Martial Luck Pavilion branch.

But after looking for a long time, he could see nothing peculiar about Siyang Town.

Like many small towns of this era, Siyang Town was pitch black at night, with only a few wealthy households lighting night lamps.

"It seems I do not possess extraordinary military talent," Wei Tu mocked himself with a smile.

—The several volumes of military classics he had studied for the martial examinations were memorized perfectly, but in today's actual combat, after searching his mind, he realized he could not effectively adapt those books to the terrain to formulate appropriate tactics. At this moment... he was quite at a loss.

"If not for the 'Late Bloomer' destiny that can enhance my strength, I would likely still be mediocre and unremarkable..."

Wei Tu lamented inwardly.

Having spent only five years to bring his Health Cultivation to perfection and enter the Realm of Qi Sensing—achieving what his master, Dan Wu, had never managed in a lifetime—he had inevitably developed a sense of pride.

However, it was only now that Wei Tu suddenly realized how mediocre he truly was. Aside from the "Late Bloomer" destiny, he seemed no different from an ordinary person.

He was merely an unremarkable man.

Wei Tu spurred his horse away and rejoined the ranks of the forced march.

Soon, County Lieutenant Xu informed the group of the hiding place of the Martial Luck Pavilion branch.

"Liu Family Fort. Built against the mountain, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is situated in the northwest corner of Siyang Town, with a stream flowing through it, serving as a natural moat..."

County Lieutenant Xu said in a low voice.