Realm-Hopping Martial Master

"Old Li, I heard that Zhao Tai ran into a tough guy in Bicao Lane, got beat to death, and his body was burned."

"That's not even the half of it. The coroner said he was burned so bad they could only tell his head had been smashed. Serves him right! But that tough guy's outta luck too, people saw he's got a buzz cut. Now Poison Tooth Hall is looking all over the outer city for someone with short hair."

"Yeah, so while Poison Tooth Hall is busy looking for a killer, you could talk to the folks at the security firm, get them to step in, go sweep at their place, wouldn't that be better than Poison Tooth Hall? It's too easy to get bullied over there."

"No way. I've worked there over ten years, and sure, I've got connections. But you can't just spend that so easily. At Green Snake Gang I'm just emptying chamber pots and sweeping, not out killing anyone. Nobody's gonna die. Even without money, I've got a bit saved up."

"You gotta save favors. In case something really bad happens, there'll be somewhere to ask for help. Brother Jiang, this old man had too much to drink and ran his mouth a bit... These days, following Scholar Qin doesn't get you anywhere. You gotta learn martial arts, you gotta eat meat. Anyway, Scholar Qin's leaving soon, Brother Jiang, you wanna learn martial arts or not? If you do, I'll take you to the security firm tomorrow, ask the martial masters there to teach you a thing or two..."

"Even if you don't learn much, getting stronger means you'll get sick less. Medicine's expensive these days..."

*He wondered whether Old Li had a low tolerance or if this wine was really that strong.*

Old Li just collapsed on the table and passed out while talking.

Jiang Shu glanced around the shabby little house, picked up Old Li, set him on the bed, and covered him with a blanket.

He walked out of the shack.

Within Qu She Alley.

No one was around. It was dead silent.

The cold moonlight washed over Jiang Shu's body.

Jiang Shu shrugged off his coat, then Tiger Form Three Styles—Pounce! Lift! Slice!

*Running into trouble from Zhao Tai had left his thoughts blocked.*

*Kill! Kill! Kill!*

*But just killing Zhao Tai—nowhere near enough!*

*Hall Master Zheng was still out there! Poison Tooth Hall was still out there! Green Snake Gang was still out there!*

*Old Li still had to empty chamber pots for him.*

*And he himself—maybe one day they'd start watching him again.*

*In the end, nothing had really changed!*

*How could he truly clear his mind and break free?*

*Just fight, just train, only by getting stronger as fast as possible!*

Jiang Shu threw a punch!

Qi Blood Sensing, Qi Blood Transport, circulating Qi and blood throughout his body!

*Three months of training, yet he was still only at Qi Blood Sensing!*

*Too slow! His progress was just too slow!*

*He couldn't afford to set his sights on Xuanxing.*

*On Xuanxing, his current realm—even slow progress would be solid. With luck, he could even get into the academy.*

*Shine during college entrance exams, become number one in the whole school!*

*But so what!*

*Martial artist!*

*He had to become a martial artist!*

*Only by doing that could he really have a place in Pingling County!*

*A semi-transparent panel appeared in his mind.*

The moon shone as Jiang Shu stood in stance, breathed, and punched, repeating again and again.

There were no points to add.

So... he'd just grind it out!

Sweat poured off him, but not even the biting cold could stop Jiang Shu's dedication to training.

He seemed to fall into a kind of trance.

Pounce! Lift! Slice!

Every move struck from a different angle, and even as he did it he kept the Hungry Tiger Breathing Method running.

He finally realized the biggest difference between the Hungry Tiger Cave Stance and Hungry Tiger Breathing Method versus the Horse Stance.

It wasn't that they were harder to master or had a higher ceiling than Horse Stance.

It was that Hungry Tiger Cave Stance and Hungry Tiger Breathing Method both needed killing intent inside!

Of course, body coordination mattered.

*But if you lacked that killing intent—*

*Even if you maxed out your stats with the panel, you might not bring out your true power!*

*Having full strength—*

*Didn't mean you had full fighting power!*

"Hoo!"

Jiang Shu drew back his fists, slowly returning them to his belly, lifted, pressed down.

On the panel,

Jiang Shu——

Da Jing Dynasty language/writing, entry-level (998/1000)

Horse Stance, small success (596/1000)

Hungry Tiger Cave Stance, entry-level (230/1000)

Hungry Tiger Breathing Method, entry-level (230/1000)

Tiger Form Three Styles, entry-level (160/1000)

Two Realms Shuttle Countdown, 00:00

*Compared with before crossing, everything but language had improved. Especially Tiger Form Three Styles, bursting forward in barely more than ten hours, proficiency rising by almost a hundred points.*

Jiang Shu finished, slowly adjusting his breath.

In the distance, the night watchman's calls faded in, then drifted away.

He returned to the room—and shuttled across.

Xuanxing, seven in the morning.

Jiang Shu threw on an ordinary cotton long-sleeved shirt and pushed open the door.

*Though Mom and Dad both drove—one for Didi, one running a shop—it only looked like freedom. In reality, both made meager wages and had to rise early; they left before six every day.*

*As for his little sister, she'd probably still be sleeping—especially in winter, when she seemed to go into hibernation like some animal. Before ten, there was no way she'd crawl out from her warm covers.*

Jiang Shu poured himself hot water from the kettle, drank two big cupfuls on an empty stomach.

He unlocked his phone, tapped on the chubby grass-bun icon, transferred another fifty over, and typed, "I'm heading out to train, order whatever takeout you want."

He glanced at his balance.

2222.3.

*Looked like it was about time to start making money...*

Jiang Shu pocketed his phone. With Two Realms at his disposal, there were so many ways to make cash.

Like in Pingling County, where meat was crazy expensive—a jin cost a tael of silver.

A tael of silver was about fifty bucks on Xuanxing.

But a jin of meat only cost about twenty here.

Flip it once, and that's more than double the profits!

Same with silver and gold—the exchange rate was ten to one in Pingling County, but on Xuanxing it was a hundred to one.

Take silver in Pingling County, swap it for gold, then exchange it on Xuanxing for silver again.

Start out with ten taels of silver and walk away with a hundred—that easy!

*But, having valuables invites trouble.*

*He wasn't even a martial artist yet—dealing in meat or gold in Pingling County, that took some guts.*

*Not a single government official, rich family, or gang in the city would sit idly by and let someone make a fortune right under their noses.*

*No way to expose wealth that didn't match your strength or connections in that world.*

*But in Xuanxing...*

*A thought flashed in his mind.*

Jiang Shu went to a breakfast stall, devoured four stacks of soup dumplings, two fried dough sticks, and a big bowl of pork noodles.

The wind was biting cold.

The ring river, its last thin layer of ice melted, shimmered under the morning sun.

At this hour, the place was deserted, almost nobody about.

A few yards away, the traffic noise filtered through the trees to Jiang Shu's ears.

He set his Horse Stance deep and steady.

Practice Horse Stance at the ring river, shuttle home, train at Hungry Tiger Martial Hall, shuttle across, stand by the river again.

Eat meat, wash in clear water.

Each day he left himself only three or four hours to sleep, and three or four to rest.

He spent fifteen hours a day training.

Finally, a little over half a month later—

The last day of February.

It was eight in the morning.

Inside the park, Jiang Shu opened his eyes.

*It was like water hitting boiling point—the kettle's lid blown off by steam!*

*Holding strong in Horse Stance, Qi and blood roared, waves of heat rushed through him.*

*A bulge rose on his skin, moved under his command—starting from his left chest, winding slowly along his body.*

After a moment, Jiang Shu took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

A long cloud of white vapor shot out like an arrow.

Qi Blood Transport!

Done!