The moon set and the sun rose, illuminating the earth.
Chen Yuan dragged himself out of bed before six o’clock. Ever since arriving in this world, he had completely kicked the habit of staying up late, following the natural law of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
He glanced at the settlement evaluation:
"Some people have a strong competitive spirit and hold a grudge after losing a single match. By giving Tian Peng a way out after the spar and winning him over with virtue, you avoided unnecessary trouble, aligning with the low-key principles. Low-key Points +8."
Added to his previous 9 points, he now had a total of 17 points, which he fed entirely into his brain.
He put on the Li Family uniform, fastened his belt, washed up, and headed out.
As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he saw a hunchbacked old woman passing by the door. She was struggling under the weight of a burlap sack, her steps faltering.
Seeing this, Chen Yuan stepped forward briskly, reaching out to take the sack from her shoulders. "Wang Po, let me help you carry this home," he said with a smile.
Wang Po also lived in Hundred Herbs Lane, making them neighbors. However, her only son had moved away after getting married. Unwilling to take her in, he only sent her a bit of money on time. Thus, Wang Po lived all alone in Hundred Herbs Lane, leading a destitute life. Whenever Chen Yuan ran into her, he would help out if he could.
"Ah, it’s Chen. Thank you so much." Relieved of her heavy burden, Wang Po looked up, her wrinkles smoothing out in a smile.
"It’s no trouble." Chen Yuan simply smiled.
Growing up in the countryside, he had always felt a sense of pity when watching the elderly villagers toil away. Some would carry hoes, sweating profusely as they rooted themselves in the fields; others, their backs bent under heavy loads, would trudge several kilometers to the town just to sell their crops. Later on, having been repeatedly battered by reality, he would often laugh at himself in his mind, thinking it idiotic to empathize with the suffering of others at such a young age. Yet, every time he witnessed such a scene, the compassion in his heart remained undiminished.
After helping Wang Po, Chen Yuan made his way toward the Huo Courtyard with a light step. He couldn’t skip breakfast. Although the Li Family offered better food, it cost money.
By shortly after six in the morning, quite a few disciples had already arrived at the Huo Courtyard’s Dining Hall. As the saying goes, train during the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter. Now, with the crisp autumn air, it was naturally the perfect time to train hard.
Tao Ping was, of course, among them.
Chen Yuan sat down across from him with his tray and smiled. "Morning, Senior Brother Tao."
Tao Ping gave a slight nod. "I didn’t see you at dinner yesterday. If you miss a meal, you can register it and make up for it later." Looking up, he noticed something different about Chen Yuan. "Huh? What’s with those clothes?"
Chen Yuan gave a faint smile. "It’s nothing, I came back and ate later. I went to the Li Family to sort out an affiliate position. Fortunately, I passed, so you won’t need to keep an eye out for job postings for me anymore, Senior Brother."
Tao Ping’s eyes flickered. "The Inner City Li Family? Congratulations, Junior Brother. It’s true what they say—true talent will never go unnoticed, no matter where it is."
Chen Yuan shook his head and laughed. "I have Senior Brother Huang to thank for the recommendation. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even been able to step over the threshold."
Tao Ping understood perfectly. "To strike iron, one must be strong. The fact that Senior Brother Huang was willing to recommend you proves that you possess extraordinary qualities."
After a brief chat, Chen Yuan took his leave. Today was his first day on duty, and it was always better to arrive early.
A quarter of an hour before 7:00 AM, Chen Yuan stepped into the Li Family compound and arrived at the Martial Arts Arena. There were even more people present than yesterday, but they were mostly new faces. He figured it was shift change time, and the people gathered here were from the night and morning shifts. The group from yesterday was likely the afternoon shift.
Fan Dajiang’s figure soon appeared as well. After briefly introducing the newcomer, Chen Yuan, he began handing out the morning shift assignments, directing his words primarily at him. Finally, he called out a name, "Kong Liang, take Chen Yuan around today and familiarize him with the Nursing Home’s affairs."
"Yes, sir," a man wearing a darker Nursing Home uniform replied as he stepped forward.
This must be the head of the morning shift for the Nursing Home.
Just like that, Chen Yuan began his first day on duty. As he had expected, it wasn’t particularly busy. The main tasks involved patrolling to maintain the safety of the estate, and occasionally helping out whenever the household needed some heavy lifting done.
He strictly adhered to his duties, working solidly for four hours before finally starting to slack off, practicing his Rocky Pile Skill in the Martial Arts Arena. Whenever a fellow Nursing Home guard got an itchy palm and asked him for a spar, Chen Yuan never turned them down. Meeting all challengers with his steady Xin Yi Liu He Fist, he quickly established his footing.
Once his shift ended, Chen Yuan changed his clothes and headed back to the Huo Courtyard, immersing himself in his martial arts training. His vitality and blood climbed steadily. Having a stable job was great; the biggest taboo of the low-key path was unexpected complications.
Under this monotonous routine, over a month slipped quickly by.
Nothing major happened during this time. He invested all the Low-key Points he earned into Comprehension, raising it from 12 to 27, gaining quite a bit of brainpower in the process. Even if his IQ wasn’t exactly 250, it wouldn’t be far off.
During this period, however, Chen Yuan devoted himself entirely to practicing his posture training, accumulating vitality and blood, and tempering his skin and membranes to fully exploit the advantages of his Root Bone. Since he had been bolstered by a triple income for the first half of the month, he could feast on beef without restraint. Chen Yuan didn’t have to worry at all about a deficit in vitality and blood. His progress in the Skin Stage was rapid; he would reach Minor Achievement in just a few days.
Chen Yuan figured that if he kept up this pace, he would be able to attempt breaking through the Bone Stage in another two or three months.
The conflict between the Golden Saber Sect and the Black Dragon Gang was still ongoing, with no significant change in the situation. The Black Dragon Gang was steadily losing ground, their territory constantly being eaten away. Gang transitions were perfectly normal, so Chen Yuan wasn’t overly concerned.
Now that he was an entry-level Martial Artist working at the Li Family’s Nursing Home, even if the Golden Saber Sect seized control of Hundred Herbs Lane, they wouldn’t dare act too presumptuously toward the Cheng Family. Furthermore, the Government Office was watching from above. Although they might turn a blind eye due to a collusion of interests, the moment any gang dared to cause a major disturbance, the Government Office would immediately show its true colors as a violent state apparatus.
Over at the Huo Courtyard, old faces departed while new ones arrived in an endless cycle.
Seeing no hope in breaking through the Skin Stage and having exhausted their family’s funds, the Zhou Brothers had no choice but to leave in dejection, choosing to join their cousin in a gang. A few days later, they both died. Their deaths didn’t cause much of a stir; everyone simply assumed it was the doing of the Golden Saber Sect, and the matter was hastily brushed aside.
Chen Yuan continued to practice his martial arts safely and steadily, just as usual, only now his coin pouch held a few extra coins of silver.
Though they were all sponsored by the Gu Family, their circumstances were drastically different.
According to Sun Chengjie, Cao Yan had attempted her breakthrough a few days ago but ended in failure. Fortunately, her foundation hadn’t been damaged, so she would likely try again soon. If Gao Mingchang hadn’t been injured by him, he probably would have attempted his breakthrough by now as well. Still, his attempt would happen within the next few days; after all, the Gu Family’s absolute limit was four months.
As for Sun Chengjie and Xue Anping, they were both holding their breath, planning to wait until the very last moment to make their attempts in order to maximize their success rate.
The most lamentable case, however, was that of He Qing. He had finally found a senior brother who shared his ambitions—a man of considerable strength who had reached Great Success in the Skin Stage and showed signs of transitioning to Bronze Skin. They were presumably planning to gamble their lives on that precious herb to break through the Bone Stage.
The two had gone up the mountain to hunt, brimming with confidence. The result, however, was that He Qing died on the spot, his body completely devoured, while the senior brother narrowly escaped with his life, relying on his Great Success skin-tempering physique.
According to this senior brother, there had indeed been a precious herb of considerable age, but it was guarded by two mutated beasts—one out in the open, and the other hiding in the shadows. They had used poison to take down the beast out in the open, but just as they approached to pluck the herb, they were caught completely off guard by the hidden beast suddenly lunging at them, forcing them to flee in a panic. Unfortunately, He Qing wasn’t quite as lucky as him.
Chen Yuan felt that the senior brother’s story was probably more or less true, but the specific details of how he managed to escape with only minor injuries were rather questionable. Whether he had betrayed He Qing, using his life to buy himself time to escape, remained unknown. However, since He Qing was already dead, there was no way to verify the truth, and the matter was ultimately left unresolved.
When Chen Yuan first heard the news, he sighed endlessly. He recalled the afternoon they had all first arrived at the Huo Courtyard, the five of them sitting together, chatting about their respective lives. He Qing had mentioned that his father had gone hunting in the mountains and had his arm torn off by a blind bear. He had later advised Xue Anping not to treat those stronger than himself as prey. Yet, in the end, he had died for doing exactly that.
The ways of the world were truly unpredictable.
Chen Yuan shook his head and resumed practicing his punches, only to remark what a cool, fine autumn day it was.