Chapter 4: Spring Nourishing Art

Chen Jie walked out of his house, looked back at the dilapidated structure, and couldn't help but sigh, "It really is 'four bare walls'."

Chen Jie was not a pessimistic person. He had lived through hard times before; when he dropped out of middle school, he had nothing, yet through the tireless efforts of his own hands, he eventually managed to live a life free from want, achieving financial independence.

He had been poor and he had been rich. He knew why one was poor and understood how to become rich, so he was not lost regarding the future.

However, the most urgent task now was to solve the problem of food and clothing.

With that thought, Chen Jie headed straight toward the mountain behind the village.

Along the way, Chen Jie observed the crops in the villagers' fields. They were sparse and yellowing; it didn't look like a good harvest year. He wondered how much grain would be left for the commoners after the government collected its taxes.

Behind Xiantao Village stood a massive mountain called Great Black Mountain, which belonged to the Daba Mountain range. The mountain was filled with various dangerous wild beasts, and starting from the halfway point, it was shrouded in terrifying poisonous miasma. Ordinary people dared not enter the miasma at all.

Even the renowned "Martial Master" lords in town would not dare to venture deep inside.

However, it was said that there were treasures within the miasma. Someone had once picked a blood-red lingzhi mushroom inside, which a Martial Master lord immediately bought for ten taels of silver, leading to an overnight fortune.

It could be said that in this great mountain, opportunity and danger coexisted.

But that had nothing to do with Chen Jie. The place he was going today was a gully at the foot of Great Black Mountain.

Chen Jie soon arrived at Black Bear Gully, as indicated by the information he had received.

Black Bear Gully got its name because some claimed to have seen bears there.

When Chen Jie arrived, he saw that the forest was dense and the trees were thick. The villagers dared not come here to gather firewood easily because of the government's taxes.

The trees in Black Bear Gully belonged to the state. It was said that every year, the villagers had to pay a firewood tax to the government; the more they cut, the heavier the tax.

The commoners faced over a dozen types of exorbitant taxes and levies throughout the year, to the point where they could barely afford to eat.

Thinking of the headache-inducing taxes and levies of this world, only one phrase came to Chen Jie's mind: "Oppressive government is fiercer than a tiger."

The trees in Black Bear Forest were a mix of species, but the locust trees were concentrated in one area. Chen Jie soon arrived there and found a rabbit that had died from running into a tree at the base of a large locust tree.

Chen Jie picked up the rabbit. It was quite heavy, weighing about seven or eight jin. Once the fur and internal organs were removed, there would still be three to five jin of meat—enough to eat for a day or two.

Thinking of this, he felt relieved. At the very least, the problem of eating for the next couple of days was solved.

Thinking of the two sisters at home, being able to eat meat was something worth being happy about.

Chen Jie thought about heading back, but paused for a moment. Remembering the guarded looks the two sisters gave him, he found a large tree root and sat down.

Give them some time to calm down.

Right now, they probably felt happier not seeing him than seeing him.

Thinking this, Chen Jie leaned against the tree and pulled up his system.

The situation at home had been urgent, so he hadn't had a chance to look closely at his system. He might as well take this time to understand it; after all, this was what he would rely on to settle down and make a living in the future.

He examined his system.

To his surprise, he actually found something useful.

First, the current intelligence level of this information system was Level 1, providing only five pieces of updated information per day. He didn't know what the requirements for upgrading were.

Second, it seemed that the information only counted if he had experienced it himself—such as seeing, touching, or passing by. He just didn't know if things he had only heard or thought about could also be refreshed as information.

Third, and the point Chen Jie liked the most, was that this information system also came with a personal attribute panel.

"Panel."

He summoned his panel.

【Chen Jie】

【Realm: Not yet initiated】

【Cultivation Method: Yangchun Art (Spring Nourishing Art)】

【Evaluation: You seem to have studied some medicine, yet you also seem not to have studied it at all.】

The simple panel information made Chen Jie feel a bit awkward, especially the redundant evaluation at the end. What did it mean by "you seem to have studied medicine, yet you also seem not to have"?

Was it playing Schrödinger's medicine with him?

However, one piece of information caught Chen Jie's attention: the Yangchun Art. This must be a martial arts manual!

A martial arts manual, the Yangchun Art—he actually possessed such a treasure!

Chen Jie pondered for a moment and suddenly remembered that on his seventh birthday, his grandfather had asked him to practice a breathing and meditation technique with him.

But he had been lazy and hadn't studied it properly, fooling around for a few days before his grandfather suddenly died, and he had completely stopped practicing the breathing technique after that.

Wait, it seemed his grandfather had also given him a yellowed, old book that day. Yes, that was it—that must be where the Yangchun Art was recorded.

Thinking of this, Chen Jie stood up abruptly.

Then, he rushed home in a hurry.

In his previous life, he had read novels and knew the importance of a cultivation method in ancient times, especially in this high-martial world.

As for how Chen Jie knew this was a high-martial world, it was because he had memories in his mind stating that the most noble people in this world were the Martial Master lords.

Martial Master lords possessed strength unmatched by ordinary people; they could easily lift boulders weighing hundreds of jin and leap onto roof beams in a single bound.

Even the magistrate of the county had to show them a degree of respect.

Therefore, almost everyone among the commoners wanted to learn martial arts, but unfortunately, most had no hope of ever starting.

Because the resources for learning martial arts in this world were almost entirely monopolized by the government, wealthy clans, and Jianghu sects. To learn martial arts, one had to join the army, become a servant to a wealthy clan, or become a disciple of a Jianghu sect.

Otherwise, you simply couldn't learn martial arts or become a martial artist.

As for martial arts schools, how could such a thing exist? Even if they did, they were purely for swindling money.

If a "mud-legged" peasant wanted to learn the real stuff, they had to sell themselves to the three major powers mentioned above.

They didn't teach you martial arts to earn the little money in your pocket, but because they needed a pile of people to risk their lives for them.

As for saying you have money and can hire someone to teach you—that's a joke. Without the protection of martial power, how could you possibly have money?

Even if you took a step back and said you inherited wealth like Chen Jie, it would be a simple matter for these major powers to take your money.

As long as you don't have the corresponding martial power to protect it.

The government can tax you individually; if you don't pay, it's resisting the imperial court.

Gangs can collect protection fees from you; if you don't pay, they'll send people to deal with you.

Noble families can demand compensation from you; if you don't pay, they will use their connections to crush you.

Even street thugs can trick you into gambling and make you lose everything.

He himself was a living example.

Therefore, in such a world, without martial power, everything is in vain. And the Yangchun Art was the thing that could change his destiny.

So, this Yangchun Art must be found!

To survive in such a world, one must learn martial arts and become strong!

(End of chapter)