Chapter 13: Debts Must Be Repaid
“Grandpa, look at this move—‘Rhinoceros Gazes at the Moon.’ Am I doing it right?”
“Grandpa, why can’t I generate the kind of force you described?”
“Grandpa, why does this Four Symbols Fist feel so clumsy?”
“……”
Early in the morning, Huo Qianqian was pestering Huo Chengkun with question after question.
He was so overwhelmed by the barrage that his head spun. Hastily, he said, “Sweet granddaughter, you're asking so many questions all at once—how can I answer them all? Ask them one by one, and I’ll answer them one by one.”
Huo Qianqian stomped her foot. “You’re so dumb. Forget it, I’ll just go ask First Senior Brother instead.”
With that, she ran off with a thump thump thump.
Huo Chengkun could only shake his head where he stood. “Still so impatient.”
But then, he became puzzled. Why was she suddenly so serious about practicing martial arts?
The old servant beside him noticed his confusion and proactively explained, “Lately, Young Miss has been waking up before dawn every day to practice her forms. She’s been extremely diligent.”
“Oh?”
Huo Chengkun found it odd. “Why the sudden change?”
This granddaughter of his—while she couldn’t exactly be called lazy—had never been particularly enthusiastic about martial arts.
In fact, her natural talent was quite exceptional. It’s just that she liked to play around too much.
He couldn’t bear to be too strict with her, so he had always let her be.
The old servant chuckled and said, “She’s about to get married. Maybe she’s worried that she won’t be able to keep her husband in line after the wedding.”
“When did this start?”
“Around a month ago. At the time, she had a quarrel with Seventh Young Master, and after that, she changed.”
Huo Chengkun recalled that about a month ago—just before Seventh Junior Brother left—the two of them had indeed had a fight.
Now interested, he stood up and said, “Come, let’s go see how much she’s improved in the past month.”
So, master and servant headed to visit Zhao An, the eldest disciple.
In Zhao An’s courtyard, Huo Qianqian was consulting with him on martial arts.
Huo Chengkun stood at the entrance, not going in to disturb them.
After watching for a while, he was inwardly astonished. His granddaughter’s stance training had made great strides, having already reached the fifth level. Her Four Symbols Fist had also become much more refined, no longer the superficial display it had been before.
His elderly heart was deeply comforted.
This headstrong granddaughter of his had finally come to understand the importance of martial arts.
Afraid of distracting her, he quietly left with the old servant.
……
Unknowingly, Huo Chengkun strolled to the training grounds and paused at the entrance to watch for a moment.
In the center, a crowd had gathered, cheering from time to time.
He peered through the gaps in the crowd and saw two people sparring.
One of them was none other than Chen Ming.
“Huh?”
Huo Chengkun was startled. Chen Ming’s stance training had actually broken through to the level 4.
How was that possible?
If he had such cultivation, why had he lied to him last month, claiming his stance was only at the second level?
The more Huo Chengkun watched, the more intrigued he became.
Chen Ming’s Three Talents Fist was already at an expert level.
During the match, he handled it with ease. It didn’t even look like a fight—it was more like he was feeding moves to his partner.
“Did I misjudge him before?”
“Or did he have some fortuitous encounter after he left here?”
After watching for a while longer, Huo Chengkun left with his retinue.
After walking a short distance, the more he thought about it, the more it didn’t sit right. He said, “Tomorrow, give Chen Ming one… no, two Qi and Blood Pills as payment for serving as a sparring partner.”
“Yes, sir.”
The old servant responded, though he found it odd—why was the old master suddenly being so generous?
A single Qi and Blood Pill cost fifty taels of silver. Two meant a hundred.
The master voluntarily offering payment—this was truly unprecedented.
Huo Chengkun suddenly remembered something else and asked, “By the way, that Deng Ziyang hasn’t come back, has he?”
The old servant replied, “He hasn’t been here in half a month. I heard he switched to a different stance training and is now already a ranked martial artist.”
“Heh, that walking plague is finally gone.”
Huo Chengkun had no intention of getting involved in the muddy waters of the Giant Tiger Gang.
He still wanted to live a few more years.
……
【You have once again defeated an LV7 opponent and gained 5 experience points.】
Chen Ming had just defeated the last trainee from the intermediate class.
Seeing the notification before his eyes, a hint of satisfaction appeared on his face.
He had discovered that as his level increased, the minimum experience points gained from defeating enemies of various levels also changed.
Currently, he was Level 7.
Enemies below Level 7 yielded only a minimum of one point.
Same-level opponents gave at least five points.
Enemies one level higher gave at least twenty points.
Two levels higher yielded thirty points.
As for those three levels higher, he still didn’t know.
In the intermediate class, five people were the same level as him, and two were one level higher.
There were also a few trainees from the advanced class who came to spar with him daily, some of whom were one or two levels above him.
Due to limited energy, he no longer sparred with students from the beginner class.
Just from sparring with these students every day, he could now earn nearly 140 experience points.
Half a month ago, Huo Qianqian had also reached Level 9 and contributed 30 points to him each day.
This yield far exceeded his previous expectations.
Chen Ming suddenly realized that deliberately suppressing his level might not always be a good thing.
With this thought in mind, he left the Huo Residence.
A carriage was already waiting at the gate.
Upon boarding the carriage and arriving at the Deng Residence, he stepped inside and saw Deng Ziyang, dressed in black, coming out to greet him.
Chen Ming exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “Brother Deng, you’re out of seclusion?”
Ten days ago, Deng Ziyang had mentioned he was going into seclusion, and now he was already out.
Moreover, he now gave off a completely different aura than before. Even with a smile on his face, he exuded a certain pressure, as if his edge could no longer be concealed.
Chen Ming understood instantly and congratulated him, “It seems Brother Deng has successfully broken through. From now on, you’re a true martial artist. Congratulations!”
Deng Ziyang’s expression remained composed as he smiled and said, “I’ve only taken one step ahead. I’m sure it won’t be long before you catch up, Senior Brother.”
The residence had already prepared a grand banquet, and his group of brothers were all beaming with joy, celebrating their eldest brother’s success.
On such a joyous day, the afternoon sparring session was naturally canceled.
After the meal, Chen Ming took his leave.
As he sat in the carriage, he felt a bit regretful. “Just a little more.”
He had previously agreed with Deng Ziyang to spar three times a day and had even volunteered to go a few extra rounds.
Naturally, they had no reason to refuse.
As a result, he had been earning twenty experience points daily at the Deng Residence.
After half a month, he had accumulated a total of 2983 experience points. He was just seventeen points short of fully upgrading Iron Horse Stance to the fifth level—completing it and breaking through to become a true martial artist.
“Looks like I’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Chen Ming thought to himself that whether he broke through today or tomorrow didn’t really make much difference.
As the carriage turned into the alley, a commotion suddenly broke out.
He didn’t pay it much mind, until the coachman said, “Young Master Chen, something seems to be going on at your house.”
“Hm?”
He pushed open the carriage window and saw a few delinquent-looking youths surrounding his front door, shouting loudly, “Debts must be repaid—this is the natural order! Chen Rui, you borrowed two hundred taels from our boss, and now with interest it’s ballooned to five hundred taels. Time to pay up!”
His older brother, Chen Rui, was standing guard at the door with a medicine hoe in hand, his face flushed red, locked in a standoff with the group.