Chapter 12: Mechanism
In the early morning, before dawn.
In the backyard of the Deng residence.
Deng Ziyang was standing in place, drawing in a breath and releasing it as though a surging power was swelling and then retreating within him.
Gradually, everything calmed.
He slowly opened his eyes; a glimmer of brilliance passed through his gaze.
“So soon!”
He clenched his fists, thinking, “This stance technique that the old man taught me really has some trick to it.”
It seemed that it was time to leave the Huo Residence.
Although that old fox Huo Chengkun still refused to formally accept him as a disciple, Deng Ziyang hadn’t gained nothing during these years at the Huo Residence.
After making his decision, he felt completely relaxed and went back inside to change clothes.
“Young Master.”
Outside the door, a close attendant reported to him, “Last night after you went to bed, Third Master Qi and Second Master Peng got into a fight.”
“What’s the cause this time?” Deng Ziyang asked calmly.
It was only natural that his subordinates had conflicts—after all, as the big brother, he often had to settle their disputes.
“Second Master Peng mocked Third Master Qi for losing twice to an unknown nobody. Third Master Qi couldn’t stand it, so they fought.”
“Did Qi Jun get hurt?”
“No… Young Master, this time it was Second Master Peng who lost to Third Master Qi, even lost a move.”
“?”
Deng Ziyang paused while washing his face. “Is this really true?”
“Absolutely.”
He dropped the towel and hurried out to find Qi Jun and Peng Ruizhao.
They were the strongest among his brothers, ranked by strength.
Peng Ruizhao had always been stronger than Qi Jun—whenever they sparred, Qi Jun would suffer.
But this time, Qi Jun had actually landed a move?
He found Peng Ruizhao, who was still half-asleep. Under questioning, Peng’s face flushed as he said loudly, “Last night I drank too much, I was careless…”
“So you really lost a move?”
“…”
Deng Ziyang didn’t ask further. Instead, he said, “In a moment, have them spar again.”
“All right,” Peng Ruizhao agreed eagerly.
So Deng Ziyang had someone bring Qi Jun—and they sparred again.
After dozens of exchanges, Peng Ruizhao still had the edge. He snorted coldly, “See? Last night I was just careless…”
Deng Ziyang asked Qi Jun, “Why did you suddenly break through? You actually managed to trade strikes with Second Master.”
Previously, Qi Jun would lose after only a dozen moves.
Qi Jun, after losing again to Peng Ruizhao and feeling somewhat resentful, replied, “It must be because he’s been drinking more lately and slacked off.”
Deng Ziyang considered for a moment, then said, “That sparring partner, Chen Ming, is quite something.”
Qi Jun fell silent.
In truth, he knew well that losing twice to Chen Ming was probably the real reason—but he wasn’t willing to admit it.
Deng Ziyang proposed, “I want to invite him to come train with you two. What do you think?”
Neither Peng nor Qi objected.
…
“Invite me to be a sparring partner?”
At noon, after finishing today’s training, Chen Ming left the Huo Residence and ran into Deng Ziyang.
Hearing his invitation, he felt like a pie had just dropped onto his head.
He thought, Such a good thing?
Seeing his stunned expression, Deng Ziyang smiled and said, “Of course I’m not going to let you work for free. I’m not as stingy as that old Huo Chengkun. Training isn’t easy—you’ll definitely need Vitality Pills. I’ll give you three pills every month. All you need to do is spar three rounds with them every day.”
Not only would he get a sparring gig brought to him, but he’d also earn some Qi‑Xue Dan.
This was truly a good person.
Chen Ming sighed inwardly, grasping Deng Ziyang’s hand. “Say no more. I’ll give it my all.”
Seeing how readily he agreed, Deng Ziyang was quite pleased. “It’s a deal.”
This was a true win-win.
After that, Chen Ming once again boarded Deng Ziyang’s carriage and headed to the Deng residence.
That afternoon, he stayed at the Deng residence until dusk before leaving.
He returned home in Deng Ziyang’s carriage, full of joy and carrying 50 experience points he’d earned.
…
In the days that followed, Chen Ming went to the Huo Residence in the mornings and to the Deng family in the afternoons.
He was raking in experience points like crazy.
Soon enough, he discovered a hidden mechanism.
As long as he fought someone with a higher level than himself, he would receive at least 10 experience points no matter how many times he defeated them.
Indeed, fighting enemies above one’s level was the true way to progress.
At the Deng residence, Deng Ziyang’s eight core brothers were all higher level than he was. His role was primarily as their sparring partner.
Thus, every afternoon at the Deng residence, he earned 30 experience points.
Combined with the 15 from the morning, he was making 45 points per day.
By that calculation, in just over a month, he’d have enough experience to upgrade “Iron Horse Stance” to the level 5 in one go.
Five days flew by.
That morning, just as Chen Ming entered the Huo Residence, he was stopped again by Huo Qianqian’s maidservant. “My lady wants to see you.”
The little maid glared at him with clear displeasure.
“Lead the way.”
Chen Ming was quite curious to see what Huo Qianqian planned to do to him.
It was the same secluded little courtyard as last time.
Huo Qianqian had changed into a light green martial outfit. Her expression was stern. When she saw him, she shouted, “Today, I’m going to wipe away my shame. Prepare yourself!”
She didn’t even give him a chance to speak and attacked right away.
So she had remained quiet all these days just to wait until her injuries healed and seek revenge personally?
Chen Ming’s impression of this spoiled young lady shifted slightly.
In this world, after suffering a loss, it was quite rare not to rely on one’s family to take revenge.
And to her credit, Huo Qianqian’s techniques had become more fluid and much stronger than last time.
However, he wasn’t the same as before either. It was even easier for him to deal with her offensive attacks.
After thirty moves, he finally caught a flaw and flicked her on the forehead.
“Ah!”
Huo Qianqian cried out in pain, covering her forehead and glaring at him fiercely. But she didn’t attack again—she just stormed off in a huff.
[You have defeated a level 8 enemy again and earned 30 experience points.]
So that counted as a surrender?
“Huh? Still 30 points?”
Chen Ming was surprised.
He remembered that he got 30 points the last time he defeated Huo Qianqian too.
“Is it because her level is much higher than mine?”
He had been saving up his experience points without putting them into “Iron Horse Stance,” so he was still at level 5.
Which meant, the System was encouraging him to challenge stronger opponents.
…
After that, every morning, Huo Qianqian would send her maid to intercept Chen Ming and drag him into another bout.
As time passed, her moves became more polished, and it was getting harder for Chen Ming to handle her. By the sixth fight, he almost lost a move.
Left with no choice, he upgraded “Iron Horse Stance” to the level 4 that very night.
[Level: 7]
[Current Points: 145]
[Technique: “Iron Horse Stance” (Level 4 1/1000+)]
[Martial Arts: “Three Talents Fist” (Mastery 10/500+), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Beginner 12/100+)]
With that, the experience point yield from Deng Ziyang’s side naturally dropped.
There was no helping it.
Fortunately, he had been doing very well as a sparring partner for the beginner class boys these past few days.
Huo Chengkun even took notice and praised him once.
He took the opportunity to suggest being a sparring partner for the intermediate class, and Huo Chengkun agreed.