Chapter 3

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

[Level 1 Barren Land: 1/15 hectare (able to plant one spirit root)

Fertilizer: 1 bag

Spirit Root Source (1): Bay Tree (Crazed Bull Heavy Fist fully matured)

External Spirit Root (0): None

Spirit Plant: None]

There was no longer any fruit on the bay tree, but the information about the Crazed Bull Heavy Fist remained.

“Dad, I’ll need to build a small shack at the hillside plot so that I can train there whenever I’m back.” The farm was extremely important, and Chi Qiaosong knew that he had to watch over it all the time.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Mr. Chi had put a lot of hope into his son succeeding as a martial artist.

He then called his brother, who was working in the county, back to build the shack together. Mr. Chi had two siblings, a younger brother and a younger sister.

His sister was married to a man working at a grocery shop in the county.

The next day, Mr. Chi’s brother-in-law took a leave from work to help with the construction.

“Dad, Uncle, Uncle-in-law, I think I’ll also plant something here since I’ll be spending a long time here. Can you help me build a fence as well?”

“That’s easy!” Chi Qiaosong’s uncle chuckled and started to chop some bamboo up. “Our family will have to depend on you in the future, Qiaosong.”

“I think he’s going to become a big shot!” The uncle-in-law grinned. “Look at him. He just started learning martial arts a few days ago, and he’s already stronger than any of us.”

After mastering the Crazed Bull Heavy Fist, Chi Qiaosong’s strength had far surpassed his father’s.

However, he didn’t go around boasting about his newly found strength to others.

“Why don’t we get Qiaowu and Moshan here starting from tomorrow? They can train with me.” Now that he had fully mastered the skill, he could start to teach others.

Just knowing martial arts would not be enough for one to reach the highest spot in the Daxia Republic. One would need a group of followers as well.

There was an old saying—just as a dense needed the support of three stakes, an able follower would need the help of three other people. Therefore, if he could strengthen his family members, it would benefit him in the future.

“That would be great!” the uncle-in-law exclaimed. “I’ll have Yali send Moshan over tomorrow! Then, you can do whatever you want with him. If he dares to disobey you, just punish him!”

“Too bad Qiaoshui is still too young.” The uncle sighed.

Since the uncle married late, his son, Chi Qiaoshui, was only a year old. So there was no way the little boy could train in martial arts yet.

“Don’t worry,” Mr. Chi comforted. “Qiaosong would’ve gotten even stronger by the time Qiaoshui can begin to train.”

Mr. Chi had always felt that he owed his siblings a lot.

When Chi Qiaosong was born, Mr. and Mrs. Chi were both forced to work as laborers for the warlord. For the next six years, they only returned home twice.

At that time, Chi Qiaosong was taken care of by his uncle and aunt.

When his aunt married, his uncle took on all the responsibility of raising him.

With a child at his side, the uncle was not able to find someone willing to marry him. As a result, he almost gave up on marrying until he was introduced to his current wife three years ago.

Mr. Chi had four children. Chi Qiaosong was the oldest at 15 years old. The second child was the seven-year-old Chi Qiaowu, followed by Chi Xiaoya, now five years old, and Chi Qiaodong, who was two years old.

The uncle only had one child, one-year-old Chi Qiaoshui.

The aunt had three. Her oldest son, Wen Moshan, was seven years old, her daughter, Wen Ting, was four, and her youngest son, Wen Moshui, was three. She had also lost a baby once.

The older generations were fast and precise in their work.

They quickly built a shack out of bamboo and a fence surrounding the farm. They even moved a huge water vat to collect spring water for showering.

Chi Qiaosong had also chopped a piece of long wood and carved the word “Farmhouse” on it before hanging it on top of the door.

“Big brother! I got the hoe!” Chi Qiaowu shouted as he dragged a hoe behind him.

“All right! Let’s start plowing the land.”

“What?”

“What do you mean, what? Do you want to learn martial arts from me or not?” Chi Qiaosong scolded as he crossed his arms.

Chi Qiaowu pouted. He wanted to learn martial arts but didn’t want to work.

The oldest brother was unhappy with the little boy’s reaction and kicked his butt. “Come with me.”

Chi Qiaosong led his younger brother to a huge pagoda tree and pointed at it. “Look closely,” he said.

“What for?” Chi Qiaowu was still confused.

Chi Qiaosong gripped his fist tightly and pulled his fist back as if his body was a bow, and his fist was the arrow. Then, the fist suddenly launched forward as if the arrow had been shot.

With a loud boom, the punch landed on the tree.

With a cracking sound, the old pagoda tree started to break and fall.

Chi Qiaowu looked at the scene with his jaw dropped. It took him a while to recover his wits, and he quickly turned to look at his older brother as if he was looking at a god. “I want to learn it! I want to learn it!”

“Then, start plowing the land!”

“Right away!”

Being the son of farmers, Chi Qiaowu was used to plowing land and got to work immediately.

The next day, the aunt, Chi Yali, sent Chi Qiaosong’s cousin, Wen Moshan, over to the hillside plot. “My husband told me about it. Teach him well.”

“Don’t worry, Auntie!”

Chi Yali chatted with her brother for a while and hurried back to the county.

“What martial arts are you going to teach me?” Wen Moshan asked as he widened his eyes. He was looking forward to life in the mountains.

“You’ll have to start by plowing the land. See Qiaowu over there? Go join him. We’ve already prepared a hoe for you.”

Chi Qiaosong was now ready to plant some spirit plants in the field. However, he was too lazy to do it himself and decided to let his brother and cousin do it for him instead.

“I’m here to learn martial arts, not help out in the field!” Wen Moshan had grown up in the city, and his pride would not let him do farm work. He had always slightly looked down on his cousins too.

Chi Qiaowu, who was working, heard that and said, “Brother, show him what you can do!”

“Go back to work!” Chi Qiaosong scolded.

Yet, he still showed Wen Moshan how he brought a tree down with his bare fist. From that moment on, two young boys could be seen plowing the land by the hill.

Chi Qiaosong did not let them work too long.

The sun in April was already hot.

After an hour, Chi Qiaosong finally called the two young boys back into the farmhouse.

“Martial arts can be separated into external skills and internal strength. So I’ll start by teaching you two an external skill, the Crazed Bull Heavy Fist. If you guys can master this, then I can assure you that you’ll enter the Wrestler Plane.”

“What’s the Wrestler Plane?”

“Martial arts has six different planes. The Wrestler Plane is the first.”

“What plane are you in?”

Chi Qiaosong did not answer the two young boys’ questions. Instead, he continued to introduce. “A plane has different levels depending on one’s understanding of martial arts and the time they spent training.

“The Daxia Republic decided to rank each plane according to how they previously ranked their governmental officials. Every plane can be separated into three different ranks—the Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner Rank. Each rank can then be separated into three different grades—low, middle, and high. The grade of each martial art will directly affect one’s level and rank. For example, no matter how much one trains the Crazed Bull Heavy Fist, they can only reach the Beginner Rank of the Wrestler Plane.”

“So, big brother, what is your level?” Chi Qiaowu asked.

Wen Moshan nodded, as he was curious as well.

Chi Qiaosong’s eyelid twitched, and he gripped his fist tightly before saying, “High-grade Beginner Rank of the Wrestler Plane.”

Mr. Kong had once mentioned in his Crazed Bull Heavy Fist class that one would be able to reach the Wrestler Plane when they had learned the skill, but they would only be at the lowest level.

Their battle power would be around the Low-grade Beginner Rank of the Wrestler Plane.

However, since Chi Qiaowu had fully mastered the skill, he was definitely much stronger than those who had just learned it. Thus, he was confident that he had reached the High-grade Beginner Rank of the Wrestler Plane.