Da Zhou, had many martial artists.
Not all noble families had martial artists, but all noble families definitely possessed martial artists.
This saying was widely spread in Da Zhou, sufficiently illustrating the status of martial artists within Da Zhou.
It was said that the royal family of Da Zhou possessed a great grandmaster who had suppressed the world's luck for five hundred years, enabling them to maintain their position for such a long period.
This claim was something the original body had heard in market rumors unintentionally and its authenticity was doubtful.
Because in his memory, there were also claims that a great grandmaster could live for no more than three hundred years, which contradicted the previous statement.
But no matter which one, both were sufficiently attractive, and who would not want a lifespan of three hundred years?
However, what Wang Sheng needed most now was the martial strength of a martial artist.
Facing a family like the Sun Family that possessed martial artists, unless he himself became a martial artist and had enough martial strength to make them hesitate, feeling that the effort they invested was not proportional to the final gain, they might give up.
Only after becoming a strong figure among martial artists would the Sun Family really give up, and they might even apologize very politely at his doorstep, laughing and talking about the misunderstanding.
If his strength far surpassed the Sun Family, they would apologize very nervously and might even bring the person handling the matter, allowing him to deal with them as he saw fit.
This was the benefit of becoming a martial artist in this world.
These were the pieces of information Wang Sheng had searched from his memory, nearly considered common "street news."
Practicing martial arts was the best solution to problems.
In one month, as long as he reached a first-grade martial artist with the help of the progress bar, he could temporarily solve the troubles.
But as simple as this method sounded, in practice, it was very difficult.
Everyone knew that practicing martial arts could change fate, but why were martial artists still a minority?
Two reasons.
One was resources; the saying "the poor study and the rich practice martial arts" was not an empty phrase in any world. Martial artists before grandmaster level mainly refined their Qi-blood, but Qi-blood didn't come from nowhere.
Without sufficient resources to replenish Qi-blood, one would simply train oneself to death.
Hence, the vast majority of people couldn't even take the first step.
Having resolved the problem of money, one had to face the second barrier.
This world, the common knowledge about martial artists was still widespread.
But why was it still said that only noble families definitely had martial artists?
Because one of the criteria for a noble family was to possess a Cultivation Technique capable of training martial artists!
Without a cultivation technique, no Qi-blood power could be cultivated.
Meaning, even if you were wealthy, without a cultivation technique, you couldn't train your own martial artists and couldn't be considered a noble family.
Cultivation Techniques were the foundation on which noble families stood and were not easily leaked.
As for those external martial artists, either they had a huge opportunity, these martial artists would become the next noble family or be absorbed by noble families.
Or they were small fish who became martial artists through some coincidental opportunities, mostly first or second-grade martial artists, with little influence.
These two barriers were like deep abysses before Wang Sheng.
He seemed unable to cross either of them.
Resources, cultivation techniques — he had none.
"Is this still a dead end?"
Wang Sheng was somewhat disappointed.
But he quickly thought of something.
His progress bar meant that as long as he made an effort in something, there would definitely be a result.
Even a skill breakthrough could lead to a huge change.
What about martial arts, then?
Would practicing the martial arts in his memory to a breakthrough lead to a change?
Like radio calisthenics? Like military boxing? Or the martial arts from his previous life's memory?
Others might not remember these things, but Wang Sheng was no ordinary person.
From childhood, he watched his parents suffer from illness, which left a deep shadow on him.
Therefore, since childhood, Wang Sheng was extremely self-disciplined, and as he grew a bit older, he began seeking various theoretically viable health-preserving martial skills.
Friends mocked him, thinking he was being juvenile, still practicing martial arts?
Wang Sheng would just smile without explaining. He was simply afraid of death, nothing more.
Thanks to his good memory and many years of practice, he still remembered quite a few things.
He might be able to utilize continuous practice to brush out these martial arts' progress bar, paired with the effect of breaking limits with the progress bar, maybe even turning the fake into the real.
"This might actually work!"
Hope in despair was just like this.
"If this method works, then we just need to solve one problem, resources."
For many, the Cultivation Technique is insurmountable, but for Wang Sheng now, resources are. Without solving this issue, he dare not practice martial arts.
He only practiced martial arts to survive. If he were to deplete his Qi-Blood and end up practicing himself to death, that would be the ultimate joke.
Wang Sheng felt life was full of ups and downs.
Wasn't this messing with him?
Could it be that he needed to go into the mountains to find suitable resources—
Aren't mountains supposed to be full of treasures?
Of course, such thoughts were just whimsical, and he needed to find something more practical.
"I should see how much money I have left, maybe I can buy some meat to solve the problem and reach the level of a First Grade Martial Artist, that shouldn't require too many resources, right?"
Wang Sheng had practiced martial arts in his previous life, but only enough to keep himself healthy, thus he hadn't practiced deeply.
As for the martial arts of this world, let's not even speak about it; he was a complete novice, so he was unaware of how much funding martial arts practice generally needed.
Following the memory in his mind, he went to the place where he kept his money and took it out.
"Wow, I am unexpectedly wealthy!"
Wang Sheng originally thought that his original body didn't have much money, but after counting it, he realized there was quite a bit.
"I have about 50 taels in total!"
In this world, the purchasing power of silver was similar to that of the early Ming dynasty; one tael of silver could buy about two hundredweight of rice, approximately 380 pounds.
A modern person couldn't eat that much in a year.
From this comparison, one can see just how much money the original body had.
Wang Sheng quickly found the reason for having so much money in his memories.
The original body had started growing chrysanthemums at the age of ten, and each year he was able to make some money, and as he got older, he would occasionally follow others into the mountains to hunt for extra cash.
Moreover, he was the type who was satisfied with little; he lacked major vices, so every year, he was able to save quite a bit of silver.
Now he was just 21 years old, and in about 11 years, saving 50 taels was not impossible.
"Isn't it said that the harder you work, the luckier you get? Apparently, that's a lie."
If he were truly lucky, the original body wouldn't have been targeted by the Sun Family.
Wang Sheng was just lamenting, and right now, he really needed these silvers to solve an urgent issue, and he had to be thankful to his original body.
With 50 taels of silver, he could even buy over a thousand pounds of pork.
A First Grade Martial Artist wouldn't be exceeding normal limits; a thousand pounds of pork should be enough for him to replenish his Qi-Blood.*
Even if it ultimately wasn't enough, as long as his strength increased somewhat, entering the mountains to hunt wild beasts would become easier, and he could use the beast's meat as a supplement.
As for what to do if he spent all 50 taels of silver, that wasn't something Wang Sheng needed to worry about now. If not now, was he supposed to save it for redeeming himself later?
Using it to overcome difficulties was the king's way.
"Now that resources have been planned, should we solve the problem with the Cultivation Technique?"
Cultivation Techniques were still just an idea; now that resources were ready, the technique needed to be decided too.
Wang Sheng considered many options and eventually decided to utilize the Taoist Inner Core Skill.
Inner Core Skill was a term from the Taoist tradition, which might be unfamiliar to some.
But if you change it to "Refining Essence to Qi, Refining Qi into God, Refining God and Returning to Void, Refining Void and Merging Dao," many would understand.
Yes, from the beginning, he didn't plan on choosing martial arts as the Foundation Method but instead the Immortal Law.
Since he was going to rely on the "Golden Finger" to advance, choosing martial arts would lack ambition!
And Taoist Inner Core Skill was the Immortal Law technique Wang Sheng was most familiar with, naturally making it his chosen method.
He chose this technique for a very important reason, namely, the essence refining in Refining Essence to Qi.
Essence refining in Inner Core Skill means using one's body as a grand medicine, but how could you harvest such "grand medicine" without a strong physical constitution?
In this world, the way of Martial Artist's Qi-Blood could nourish oneself; there's the "grand medicine"!
Moreover, the Inner Core Skill has a stage before Refining Essence to Qi called Foundation Establishment.
Foundation Establishment is about identifying one's internal flaws to complete oneself, building the foundation for a towering cultivation.
And in Inner Core Skill, during Foundation Establishment, there's a stage called Qi Rushing to the Disease—the "Qi" in "Qi Rushing" can be substituted with Qi-Blood Power.
Impacting the disease focus requires a kind of power, not necessarily a specific kind of power, and Qi-Blood power is also sufficient.
Determining one's foundational technique is still the most crucial part of Inner Core Skill.
One Qi-Blood solves two issues.
Why choose anything other than Inner Core Skill?
As for methods of increasing Qi-Blood, Wang Sheng also had memories of these, still practiced on the morning he arrived in this world.
It was one of the ancient Guiding Skills associated with Inner Core Skill… Ba Duan Jin!