Chapter 4 - 4 4 Yang Chun Skill

Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Yang Chun Skill Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Yang Chun Skill Chen Jie walked out of his dilapidated home and turned back to glance at the ramshackle house. He couldn’t help but mutter, “Sure feels like a place stripped bare.”

Chen Jie wasn’t a pessimist. He had endured tough times before. Back when he had dropped out of middle school, he had nothing to his name. But through diligently working with his own two hands, he eventually earned financial stability and freedom.

He had known poverty and wealth, understood the reasons behind destitution, and learned how to prosper. Because of this, he wasn’t lost about what lay ahead.

However, for now, the top priority was solving the issue of food and shelter.

With this thought, Chen Jie headed straight for the mountain behind his village.

On the way, Chen Jie looked at the crops in the villagers’ fields—half-ripe and half-yellow. Judging by this, it seemed like another bad year. Who knew how much grain the villagers would have left after paying taxes to the government?

Behind Xiantao Village lay a large mountain called Dahei Mountain, which was part of the Daba Mountain Range. The mountain was teeming with dangerous beasts, and from the halfway point upward, a deadly poisonous haze lingered, making it impossible for ordinary people to venture inside.

Even the renowned Master Martial Artist from town dared not enter the toxic haze easily.

Rumor had it, however, that treasures could be found within the poisonous haze. It was said that someone once harvested a blood-red Lingzhi mushroom from there, which a Master Martial Artist bought for ten silver taels, bringing sudden riches overnight.

It could be said that the mountain was a place where both opportunity and peril coexisted.

Still, none of this concerned Chen Jie. His destination today was a gully located at the foot of Dahei Mountain.

Chen Jie quickly arrived at Black Bear Gully as indicated in the intelligence report.

Black Bear Gully derived its name from the claims that some had seen bears in the area.

Upon arrival, Chen Jie noticed a dense forest of towering trees. Villagers refrained from coming here to gather firewood because of the taxes enforced by the government.

These trees in Black Bear Gully belonged to the government, and villagers were required to pay a firewood tax every year. The more they cut, the heavier the tax.

The villagers faced more than a dozen types of excessive taxes annually, to the point they couldn’t even afford to eat.

*Contemplating this world’s oppressive taxation system, Chen Jie could only think of one phrase: “Harsh governance is as ferocious as a tiger.”*

Black Bear Forest contained an eclectic mix of trees, though locust trees were concentrated in a single area. Chen Jie soon arrived at that spot and discovered a rabbit that had killed itself by crashing into the base of a large locust tree.

Chen Jie picked up the rabbit—it was surprisingly heavy, weighing about seven or eight pounds. Once skinned and cleaned of its internal organs, it would still yield three to five pounds of meat, enough to eat for a couple of days.

*Thinking about this, he felt a bit of relief. At least the issue of meals for the next two days was now resolved.*

*He thought about the two sisters at home, imagining their joy over getting to eat some meat. It warmed his heart.*

As Chen Jie pondered this, he prepared to head back but stopped after a few steps. *Thinking about the guarded expressions on his sisters’ faces, he decided to find a tree root to sit on for a while and give them some time to cool off.*

*Perhaps leaving them out of sight brought them more joy than his presence did.*

With that thought, Chen Jie leaned against a large tree and summoned his system.

Earlier at home, the situation had been too urgent for him to carefully examine the system. Now he took this moment to explore it more thoroughly. After all, this system was vital for his future survival and livelihood.

He perused the system.

Say what you will, but he managed to find something useful.

First, the intelligence system was currently at Level 1. It provided five pieces of daily intelligence, though the conditions required for upgrading it were unknown.

Second, the intelligence seemed to be based on personal encounters. For instance, if he saw, touched, or passed by something, it counted. However, it remained unclear whether things he merely overheard or thought about would trigger updates to the intelligence.

Third, and Chen Jie’s favorite aspect of the system, was the inclusion of his personal attribute panel.

“Panel.”

He summoned his panel.

[Chen Jie]

[Realm: Not yet admitted]

[Cultivation Technique: Yang Chun Skill]

[Evaluation: You seem to have studied some medical techniques, but apparently not really.]

*The sparse information on the panel left Chen Jie feeling awkward, particularly the overly verbose evaluation at the end. What did “I seem to have studied some medical techniques but apparently not really” even mean?*

*Was the system playing Schroedinger’s medical knowledge with him?*

One piece of information, however, grabbed Chen Jie’s attention—the mention of Yang Chun Skill. This had to be a secret martial arts manual!

Martial arts manual—Yang Chun Skill—he actually possessed such a treasure!

*Chen Jie pondered for a moment and suddenly recalled something. On his seventh birthday, his grandfather had taught him a breathing technique.*

Yet due to laziness, he hadn’t taken the lessons seriously and merely dabbled for a few days. Shortly thereafter, his grandfather suddenly passed away, and Chen Jie completely gave up on the practice.

Wait! That day, his grandfather had given him an old, yellowed book. Yes, that must have been the book containing Yang Chun Skill!

With this realization, Chen Jie abruptly stood up.

Then he rushed back home.

Back in his previous life, he had read enough novels to understand the significance of cultivation techniques in ancient times, especially in this high-grade martial arts world.

As for how Chen Jie knew this world held high martial arts, he had memories confirming it. Here, the most revered individuals were the Master Martial Artists.

Master Martial Artists possessed unmatched strength that could easily lift boulders weighing hundreds of pounds and leap onto rooftops effortlessly.

Even the county magistrate showed deference to Master Martial Artists.

Because of this, nearly every villager aspired to learn martial arts, though most fell short of even entering the realm.

*This was because the resources for learning martial arts were monopolized by the government, noble families, and Jianghu guilds. Unless one joined the army, became a servant to a noble family, or apprenticed to a Jianghu guild, there was virtually no access to martial arts training.*

As for martial arts schools... such places were scams for the ignorant.

*Commoners dreaming of genuine instruction had to sell themselves to one of these three powerhouses.*

*Those willing to impart martial arts weren’t looking for money—they sought loyal lives willing to fight for them.*

*Thinking you could afford lessons was laughable. Without martial power, how would you even manage to keep money?*

*Fine, let’s say you inherited wealth like Chen Jie did—those in power could still take it from you with just one word.*

If you lacked the strength to shield yourself:

The government could impose specific taxes on you, and refusal meant rebellion against the court.

Guilds could extort protection fees, and refusal would bring enforcers after you.

Noble families could demand reparations, and refusal meant being squeezed through their vast network of connections until suffocation.

Even street thugs could lure you into gambling, leaving you stripped of everything.

Chen himself was a living example.

*So, in a world like this, without martial strength, all efforts were futile. Yang Chun Skill was his ticket to changing his destiny.*

*This manual had to be found!*

*If he wanted to survive in this world, learning martial arts and growing stronger were his only options!*