Senior Brother Zhou was a real glutton.

A much bigger glutton than himself, in fact.

When Qin Fang was full, he watched as Senior Brother Zhou continued to gorge himself. At least seven or eight catties of meat had gone into his stomach, yet he showed no signs of being full at all.

The master’s wife, on the other hand, seemed completely used to it. She watched from the side with a gentle, kind smile. "Slow down, slow down. There’s still more."

Qin Fang could only stare, dumbfounded... This was almost four or five times his own appetite.

He had bought over ten catties of pork belly when he came this morning. The master’s wife had apparently cooked it all in one go. He and the master’s wife hadn’t eaten much; most of it had gone into Zhou Xing’s mouth. In the end, not only had Zhou Xing finished the entire table full of food, but he had also stuffed down two or three large steamed buns before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Master’s wife, your cooking is incredible!"

He exclaimed in admiration.

The master’s wife chuckled and chided him, saying he just knew how to sweet-talk her.

Then he turned to Qin Fang and said with a smile, "Junior Brother Qin, that appetite of yours won’t do. For a Martial Artist, eating is the most important thing. Only by eating a lot can you develop your strength. Your Pile Skill has already taken root; what you lack now is a foundation. Only with a solid enough foundation can you improve quickly, reach Mingjin, and maybe even go further."

"How do you build a solid foundation? You have to eat."

Zhou Xing’s words left Qin Fang secretly speechless...

’Are all Martial Artists such big eaters?’

Qin Fang nodded. "Yes, Master told me that as well..."

"Mm... as long as you know. Come on, we’ve had our fill. Let’s go practice."

Zhou Xing patted his belly.

Hearing that it was time to practice, Qin Fang’s eyes lit up, and he quickly agreed, "Alright."

The two returned to the courtyard.

Then, Zhou Xing began to seriously teach Qin Fang the Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist, and Qin Fang learned with equal seriousness.

Before they knew it, an hour had passed.

Zhou Xing stopped and said with a smile, "Your comprehension is truly excellent... You’ve memorized the Techniques. Remember the key points I told you. The spine is the bow, the fists and feet are the arrows... Most Mingjin Stage Leaf Skills are based on these same key points."

Qin Fang committed it to memory.

’...The panel hasn’t recorded it yet.’

’It seems I need to ponder it seriously on my own before it will appear.’

"It’s getting late. I still have things to attend to at the Government Office Entrance, so I’ll be going,"

Zhou Xing said.

Qin Fang quickly replied, "Alright, thank you, Senior Brother."

"Don’t mention it. Come visit the master’s wife more often when you’re free; I come by occasionally too. If you have any problems with your Cultivation and Master isn’t available, you can also come find me. I live at..."

He gave his home address.

Qin Fang carefully memorized it.

"I’ve got it, Senior Brother."

"Mm."

Zhou Xing nodded, then smiled and said his goodbyes to the master’s wife before leaving.

Qin Fang walked him to the door and watched until he was far in the distance, only then letting out a light sigh.

A flicker of light passed through his eyes...

’Senior Brother Zhou Xing’s reaction is different from what I imagined.’

’He should have already figured out that I’m the one who killed Wang Long and his men.’

’But it seems he has no intention of pursuing the matter in his capacity at the Government Office.’

’He even taught me a Fist Technique...’

After thinking for a moment, he let out a light breath and turned back into the master’s wife’s home.

His master didn’t return for lunch. After moving the chopped firewood into the kitchen, Qin Fang also said his farewells and left.

’...Senior Brother Zhou Xing seemed to approve of him.’

’But to be honest...’

’Call me paranoid or whatever you want.’

’After all, this was the first time I’ve met my senior brother... I can’t bring myself to trust him completely.’

’...I trust Master because everything he has shown from the very beginning has convinced me.’

’But this senior brother... it’s our first meeting, and given his position, it’s hard for me to trust him completely.’

But right now, he had no other options.

The only thing Qin Fang could think of and do... was to raise his Cultivation as quickly as possible.

Then, no matter what situation he faced, he wouldn’t be completely powerless to resist.

Returning to his own home, Qin Fang gritted his teeth and consumed another Qi Blood Pill.

After another round of Standing Pile, he began to seriously contemplate the ’Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist’ that Zhou Xing had taught him.

’The spine is the bow...’

’The limbs are the arrows...’

’Grand openings, grand closings...’

’The power must not be rigid...’

Qin Fang pondered.

Without him realizing, the sky grew dark.

At a certain moment, he suddenly threw a punch and felt an indescribable sense of clarity. A faint whistling sound came from his fist as it cut through the air.

Qin Fang’s eyes lit up, and he quickly looked at the panel...

’Ox Demon Mountain-Opening Fist (Low-grade Fist Skill) (entry-level): 1/500’

’The panel recorded it!’

Qin Fang broke into a smile and let out a long breath, a weight lifting from his heart.

’...Finally, the panel recorded it.’

But as soon as he relaxed, Qin Fang felt aches and pains all over his body.

His whole body felt sore and weak, and fatigue washed over him like a tide.

Qin Fang froze for a second, his feet even stumbling involuntarily.

Then he frowned.

"It seems I can’t take too many Qi Blood Pills in one day... Although the pills provide extra energy, my body is too weak and my stamina is too poor. If I take too many, not only will the effects be diminished, but I might even overdraw on my body’s reserves..."

He took stock of his body’s various sensations.

He glanced at the panel again.

The first Qi Blood Pill this morning had increased his proficiency by 16 points.

But the one this afternoon only increased it by 11 points.

The effect was clearly reduced.

’It’s clear that my body’s condition during Standing Pile is also very important.’

’An increase of 27 proficiency points in one day...’

’Doesn’t seem like a small increase, does it?’

’But this consumed two of my Qi Blood Pills!’

He had a total of nine Qi Blood Pills, and now only seven remained...

These Qi Blood Pills cost ten taels of silver each.

With his one hundred and twenty-odd taels of silver, even if he spent it all on Qi Blood Pills, he could only buy twelve more.

"The poor pursue literature, the rich pursue martial arts... I finally understand..."

The thought made Qin Fang wince.

Master had said that he would understand the meaning of "the poor pursue literature, the rich pursue martial arts" once he truly began his Cultivation.

Now...

He was truly feeling it.

Shaking his head, Qin Fang let out a light breath. He didn’t feel particularly hungry, probably because of the Qi Blood Pill he had taken earlier.

Seeing that the sky had already darkened, he decided to skip dinner and go straight to his room to rest.

Continuing his Cultivation would be of little use; his body was already overdrawn for the day.

’I’ll have to train with a plan tomorrow.’

’Otherwise, my efficiency will be very low.’

’Not just the Pile Method and the Fist Technique.’

’There are also the Darts... I’m just a little bit away from reaching the next stage.’

’I need to reach the next stage as soon as possible.’

He thought.

...

At the same time Qin Fang went back to his room to rest, Elder Wu also returned home.

He was the resident physician at Huichun Hall and saw many patients every day, so he usually came home quite late.

The master’s wife had already prepared dinner, and while they were eating, she started talking about the day’s events.

Elder Wu, who was in the middle of a drink, paused when he heard this.

"Qin Fang came today?"

The master’s wife smiled and nodded. "He did. He came specifically to shovel snow and chop firewood for me... You weren’t wrong about that boy. He’s a good kid, loyal and righteous."

She was clearly very pleased with Qin Fang.

Who doesn’t like a grateful child?

Upon hearing this, the lines on Elder Wu’s brow relaxed a little.

Then he heard the master’s wife continue, "Zhou Xing also paid a visit today."

"Zhou Xing came too?" Elder Wu’s just-relaxed brow immediately furrowed again.

He hadn’t forgotten about the matter with Wang Long.

The whole reason he hadn’t introduced Zhou Xing and Qin Fang was that he still hadn’t figured out how to handle this situation.

’I can’t believe they both came to my house today!’

’And they even met?’

"Mm, those two boys hit it off quite well. They even practiced their Cultivation together today... Zhou Xing taught Qin Fang a Fist Technique."

The master’s wife said with a smile.

At first, Elder Wu looked surprised, but when he heard this, his brow furrowed.

"Zhou Xing... taught Qin Fang a Fist Technique?"

Elder Wu hadn’t taught Qin Fang any Fist Techniques precisely because it wasn’t time for him to be practicing them yet.

At the very least, he had to reach the entry-level for his Pile Method before practicing fist skills would have any meaning.

Otherwise, the more he practiced, the more ingrained his mistakes would become.

Once a way of generating force becomes a habit, it requires even greater effort to change, yielding half the results for twice the effort.

But after mastering the Pile Skill and internalizing the kung fu, there would at least be no major errors in his method of generating force. Only then would practicing fist techniques yield twice the results for half the effort.

’Zhou Xing taught Qin Fang a fist technique?’

’How many days has Qin Fang even been practicing the Standing Pile?’

’Isn’t this just reckless?’

Elder Wu’s brow tightened.

His wife was still chattering on. "Yes, but I didn’t really understand what they were saying. Zhou Xing also said that Qin Fang has high comprehension, that his kung fu has already taken root, or something like that..."

"What?"

Before she could finish, Elder Wu interrupted her.

She looked up to see Elder Wu staring at her. "What did Zhou Xing say about him?"