The sun rose, casting warmth.
At Yellow Wood City, a breakfast stall stood outside Prosperity Martial Arts School.
A group of youngsters in green martial arts overalls gathered around a table, eating.
Zhou Heng was one of them.
He was enjoying salty tofu pudding and fried breadsticks.
Having been a transmigrator for two and a half years, this was the only way for him to reminisce about life on Earth.
Of course, there were other activities for him to reminisce about life on Earth in Great Qara, which was similar to ancient China.
The only problem was that he could not afford such lifestyles.
He was poor.
Money was needed for his martial arts practice instead.
It added up to a fair bit.
Moreover, no accommodation was provided.
The rental rates in Yellow Wood City were rather steep too.
He had to be prudent even when concerning breakfast expenses.
These days, Zhou Heng was just an ordinary apprentice in Prosperity Martial Arts School at Yellow Wood City. He had yet to qualify as a martial artist nor take in disciples of his own and teach them. Naturally, he did not have a stable income.
Furthermore, he did not want to trouble his family.
In his current life, his parents were merely ordinary folk living in the mountains. They survived by means of farming and weaving. As such, they did not have a lot of money. Sending him to the martial arts school in the city to acquire martial arts skills already placed a huge strain on their savings.
As such, Zhou Heng often worked as a part-time guard and manservant to earn money.
However, the amount of money an apprentice in a martial arts school could earn was also limited. After paying off the martial arts school fees, the remaining money was barely sufficient for him to cover his daily needs.
"If only I'm able to advance to the ninth class. Even the minimum wage of a martial art practitioner is ten taels of silver per month. Meanwhile, a ninth class martial artist guard earns even more than that."
Zhou Heng made the calculations and figured out that should his earnings increase in the future, he could order two bowls of tofu pudding, one salty and one sweet, and he could alternate drinking them. Furthermore, he could also order four sticks of fried breadsticks.
He could eat them all.
Perhaps he could even afford a house located on the outskirts of Yellow Wood City.
Then, he would no longer need to tiptoe to the reading of the landlord's mood.
As Zhou Heng pictured his bright future, a plate was placed right in front of him.
A huge, fluffy, white bun was on the plate.
He lifted his head to take a look.
A good-looking teenage girl of about sixteen to seventeen years of age appeared before him. She was fair-skinned and her cheeks were rosy red.
She was the one who had just served him the bun.
The teenage girl blinked her long eyelashes. Her gaze fixated on Zhou Heng, and she smiled as she said, "Big Brother Heng, the bun is for you."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left. She continued with her tasks at the stall.
She was the daughter of the stall owner.
Her name was Yun Xiu.
It was said that anyone who practiced martial arts at a certain huge martial arts school in the country, were all talented people who had hopes of joining the Ninth Class before twenty.
Occasionally, she would help out at the breakfast stall in the morning whenever she visited her family.
Each time whenever Zhou Heng was around, she would offer him a meat bun.
A few youngsters sitting close by Zhou Heng started to tease them.
"Yun Xiu, why don't we receive any buns?"
"Exactly! You're being unfair to us, Ms. Xiu!"
"Why is Zhou Heng the only one getting free buns? Do you have certain feelings for him, Ms. Xiu?"
Yun Xiu rolled her eyes at them and said with a smile, "That's because the rest of you are not as good-looking as Big Brother Heng!"
Handsome?
Those few looked in the direction of Zhou Heng.
Whew!
Indeed, he looked more handsome than the rest of them!
He was about sixteen or seventeen years old. He had a lean figure, prominent and smooth features, a pair of finely arched eyebrows and enchanting eyes, coupled with rosy lips and white teeth.
If he changed into better clothing, he would most definitely be a dashing lad.
A very handsome one!
"Hehehe!" Zhou Heng pointed at his face and smiled as he said, "Don't be jealous, I was born with this."
"Bah!"
The people around him instantly booed at him.
Among them was a plain-looking teenager who had a studious look.
He was Yu He, Zhou Heng's bosom friend at Prosperity Martial Arts School.
"Zhou Heng, I heard that you've registered for the Wang family's temporary guard selection competition," Yu He said worriedly, "Can you please don't go?"
"Huh?" Zhou Heng wolfed down Yun Xiu's bun in two or three bites. Then, he asked in puzzlement, "Why not? The salary is ten silver taels. Besides, I've asked Master Lin. He told me it's a low-risk job."
More often than not, he only earned up to two silver taels per month. Sometimes, he would not even get two silver taels. Here was a chance to get ten silver taels in one go which was about half a year's income.
He had asked around before this. Once he figured out that it would not be too dangerous, he signed up for that competition.
After all, the decision made was closely-related to his future standard of living, including his plan of buying a house.
Since he had been transmigrated over here and unable to return in the near future, he might as well live his life seriously.
"The job itself may be low-risk. But the selection competition is very dangerous." Yu He shook his head. He frowned and said, "I've heard that Sun Zhengpin from Unity Martial Arts School has signed up for that competition.
"Sun Zhengpin has been practicing martial arts for ten years and almost reached the ninth class. He's a well-known top fighter among the unranked martial artists under thirty in Yellow Wood City. You're no match for him.
"Besides, he excels in sword fighting. He has completed one of the Ninth Class Saber Techniques known as the Thirteen Autumn Rain Swords. He's ruthless. Most of the people he defeated were either killed or badly wounded. I'm afraid that you'll also… If you're in need of money, I can…"
"That won't be necessary," Zhou Heng interrupted Yu He.
He finished the remaining tofu pudding and placed five coins on the table. He stood up, smiled, and said to Yu He, "I'm actually looking forward to the selection competition. I've longed to meet the infamous Sun Zhengpin.
After hearing his words, Yu He smiled bitterly and said, "I know that I cannot stop you from this. You're passionate about martial arts, bold, hardworking, and you won't back down from a challenge. But you must be very careful, Sun Zhengpin is very strong."
"No worries." Zhou Heng patted Yu He's shoulder. He smiled and said, "Sun Zhengpin is strong, but I'm not weak either. Eat your meal, I'll go back to the martial arts school to continue my training."
"Let me know if you're in need of money." Yu He laughed and continued, "My family is rich."
"Don't worry." Zhou Heng waved off the offer with his back facing Yu He and continued heading toward Prosperity Martial Arts School.
As an ordinary apprentice of the martial arts school, Zhou Heng did not have his private martial arts training room.
As such, he could only train together with other apprentices inside a big hall of the martial arts school.
It was breakfast hour in the morning. The rest had yet to turn up.
Zhou Heng was the only one there.
He regulated his breathing and his expression turned solemn.
The playful demeanor he had outside was no longer seen.
He was an eccentric person, but when he practiced martial arts, he became incredibly serious.
Ever since he witnessed two people soaring in the sky to fight against each other two years ago and crushed a kilometer-tall mountain, he decided to persevere and work hard at practicing martial arts.
This was unlike the ancient world. Instead, high-class martial artists were capable of performing miracles. It could even be known as a world for immortals!
If he wanted to live a better and stable life and if he wanted to know why he had transmigrated to this world and also if he could return to Earth, he must be equipped with great martial arts and great strength!
Clank!
Zhou Heng drew his saber. The morning sunlight shone on his saber through the window. His body practically glowed.
He got into his starting stance. His saber moved as he went through the forms. His movements were steady, like how a mighty man would split mountains!
His aura was intense!
This was the Ninth-Class Saber Technique, Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Techniques. It was taught by Prosperity Martial Arts School to the naturally talented apprentices.
Zhou Heng could perform each move accurately. The movements of his saber were very smooth and unhesitant. The saber moved with an imposing momentum. It showed that he had already mastered the skill close to perfection.
He was going to rely on this technique during the selection competition.
It was just as Zhou Heng had said to Yu He. Sun Zhengpin was very strong, but he was no pushover.
Moreover, he would like to know if he could improve his level of cultivation for this saber technique via the selection competition in order to achieve perfection.
If an unranked martial artist wanted to advance to the ninth class, not only must he reach a certain level of cultivation, he had to also possess clear features of power and perfect the cultivation of one of the ninth class martial arts.
'But what is the definition of perfection? The word itself is ambiguous. It would be great if I could see a progress bar.'
Zhou Heng thought to himself.
Actually, he had successfully mastered the saber technique half a year ago. This had even been ingrained into his muscle memory. Even if he was distracted, his movements would be the same. But he still did not know when he would attain absolute perfection.
At that moment, he suddenly heard a peculiar notification in his own brain.
"You've been practicing hard for the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. The level of familiarity increased by 1."
"You've been practicing hard for the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. The level of familiarity increased by 3."
"You've been practicing hard for the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. The level of familiarity increased by 2."
"You've been practicing hard for the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. The level of familiarity increased by 2."
"You've been practicing hard for the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. The level of familiarity increased by 1."
"Congratulations! Your continuous practice of martial arts has triggered Heavenly Rewards and increased your insights for the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique significantly. The level of familiarity increased by 10."
"Congratulations! You've maxed your level of familiarity with the Ninth Class Twelve Mountain Splitting Saber Technique! You'll be granted a Bronze Lucky Bag."
"Bronze Lucky Bag is a bag equipped with literally everything. Once you open it, you'll gain a reward you will not expect."
"Do you want to open the Bronze Lucky Bag?"
Zhou Heng was stunned.
He was stupefied.
He could not quite control his facial expressions anymore.
He was dumbfounded.
'What the heck?!
'What's happening?'
'System?
'I have a cheat?'
He selected "Yes" subconsciously.
He opened the Lucky Bag.
"Congratulations! You're very lucky! You've been rewarded with the special Eighth Class Solo Nine Swords—Broken Sword Style!