chsdbacks Chapter 4 Stinginess
Chapter 4 Stinginess
The layout of the military service office's storage room is different from other places.
Its biggest difference is that the person sitting behind the counter is Wei Jinlin.
Although he already knew it was Wei Jinlin, Lu Ming still felt a strange sensation as he entered the storage room.
Wei Jinlin, Director of the Military Service Department, concurrently serving as a martial arts instructor and steward of the miscellaneous goods room.
Lu Ming suddenly realized that in the past two weeks since entering the Martial Arts Department, he had only seen Wei Jinlin, apart from the disciples, in the entire department.
Could it be that the entire Military Service Division... no, no, it shouldn't be. I haven't seen anyone from the Public Kitchen, but there should be chefs there.
After all, Wei Jinlin couldn't possibly be in charge of feeding four hundred disciples all by himself. As a martial arts master, he didn't need to be a cook.
"Here you go." Lu Ming walked closer to the counter and saw Wei Jinlin glance at him and push a package that had already been prepared on the table over to him.
He peered through the open opening of the package and saw two sets of white training clothes and about nine wooden plaques inside. There seemed to be nothing else there.
Lu Ming asked, "Master Wei, the wooden plaques might break during training. I wanted to ask if I can get a new one if it breaks?"
Wei Jinlin said calmly, "These are specially made wooden plaques. Using them for training will prevent your hands from getting injured, but they're not cheap. If you break all nine plaques and still can't break through, you'll have to buy more."
Lu Ming: "..."
It seems there's no need to say anything more.
He suddenly realized that Wei Jinlin, a mere official, was not only acting as a martial arts instructor, but he also refused to hire anyone to look after the storeroom, doing it himself. Wasn't that just being stingy?
They want to earn all their money themselves.
When the wooden training plaques ran out, the disciples had to buy more with their own money.
Expecting him to reward you with some medicine is simply impossible.
However, Wei Jinlin hadn't made any promises, so Lu Ming didn't hold any resentment.
He was secretly relieved that Li Youning had sent him medicine, otherwise things would have been quite difficult. Now he had at least ten doses of medicine as a safety net, enough for him to use for a month.
He then took his leave.
Back in my little courtyard, I could hear a series of thumping sounds, shouts, and panting all around me. Everyone was busy reading.
Lu Ming had also been unable to hold back any longer. In the morning at the martial arts arena, everyone had to line up to practice, and most of the time they were practicing footwork, movements, and so on on their own, so they couldn't practice much at all.
Moreover, he was unwilling to expose his Heavenly Leakage Divine Power, so he couldn't strike the Black Leakage Point when practicing in the martial arts arena, which made it somewhat difficult to do so.
Anyway, he already had enough time to train for four hours a day. So in the morning at the training ground, he only practiced basic movements and didn't do any stance training.
At this moment, he took out nine wooden plaques and hung them on the nine puppet posts according to the positions specified by Wei Jinlin.
As the wind blew, the wooden sign swayed gently, colliding with the wooden stake and making a clattering sound.
In his field of vision, there was a small wisp of black smoke in different locations on all the wooden signs; those were the black leaks!
The black hole refers to a flaw. He hadn't examined the wooden plaque closely before, but now, after scrutinizing it and comparing it to his own hand, he was immediately surprised.
These wooden plaques, brown in color, are surprisingly soft to the touch, rather than the usual hard and brittle ones.
Each wooden plaque appears to have a hollow section inside, but the location varies; some are in the middle, while others are at the beginning, end, or even the side.
These hollow spaces are clearly the key to breaking the wooden sign.
However, the hollow parts of the different wooden plaques were different, and with the three-breath time limit, he definitely didn't have time to test them one by one.
So Wei Jinlin's goal was probably to help them figure out a technique that would allow them to shatter the wooden sign with a single blow, no matter where the hollow part of the sign was.
It must have been tough!
Lu Ming thought to himself, but at the same time he also felt a sense of excitement about the challenge; that's what makes it interesting.
He was really looking forward to seeing what kind of power he would eventually develop!
He released the wooden sign with both hands and retreated outside the Nine Palaces Stakes.
Without hesitation, he waded through the mud and entered the nine-square-shaped stakes, using the same technique he had used to strike the wooden stakes, and reached out to hit the wooden plaque.
"Huh?" The wooden sign was blown away by the wind and missed. Lu Ming was taken aback. There was such an effect. It seemed that it was also testing their perception and accuracy.
He casually pressed down on the red dot of the wooden stake, where there was also a black hole.
Thud!
The black hole dispersed slightly when he struck it, then quickly closed up again.
He paid no heed, feeling the wind beneath his feet as he gained momentum from the black hole. His waist twisted, his toes pointed inward, and with a swift, sweeping step, he darted to another wooden stake.
"Thud!" He struck the wooden sign on the stake with his palm strike, and the sign swung upwards violently.
Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat; striking the wooden plaque felt like hitting a cowhide. He had already given it his all, yet he had only managed to deflect the plaque.
Becoming a martial artist is indeed not easy; it requires diligent study and hard work!
He sighed inwardly, and without hesitation, continued driving the wooden stake into the next one.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap...
After a round of the Nine Palaces Wooden Stakes, Lu Ming only managed to hit four wooden stakes, and the time was delayed for about five breaths!
"Huff, huff..."
I felt as if the tight cotton inside my body was slowly releasing, and I was sweating profusely, feeling thoroughly refreshed.
Lu Ming thought to himself, "Although this is my first time trying the wooden nine-palace stake formation and I did it only so-so, my skill is improving!"
and……
[Evolving acupoint supernatural power (12/1000)...]
Practicing the stance in front of Wei Jinlin once also added a little acupoint experience. Now, practicing again will increase it to 12 points!
By practicing the Nine Palaces Living Stance, he can not only increase his martial arts skills each time, but also gain experience in acupoint supernatural abilities.
The double harvest made him quite satisfied.
"Continue!" He applied some ointment to his hands and feet, rested for a while, turned around, and stepped into the Nine Palaces Stance again.
He needs to practice hitting nine wooden plaques within three breaths first, and then try to shatter all the wooden plaques within three breaths.
Three breaths and nine breaks are the standard for passing the Nine Palaces Wooden Tablet. He is still far from that.
"Tap! Tap! Thump! Tap..."
The sound of hammering, hitting wooden stakes or signs, could be heard coming from the courtyard.
Puddles of sweat dried and then became wet again, leaving irregular marks on the ground under the gradually setting sun.
[It's evolving...]
[Evolving acupoint supernatural power (40/1000)...]
"Phew~"
After completing the final Nine Palaces stance exercise, Lu Ming felt extremely sore all over, and sweat poured down his face. He knew it was time to stop and he couldn't practice anymore today.
However, upon seeing that his acupoint supernatural ability experience had reached 40, a smile immediately appeared on his lips.
He now has enough medicine for injuries, and at this rate, he will be able to evolve his acupoint supernatural power again in less than a month.
Meanwhile, during his last few steps on the wooden nine-square stakes, he had already struck all nine wooden stakes. However, the time allotted was still only five breaths.
He felt good about the progress. After all, it was just the beginning; he could practice slowly from there.
He applied the medicine, rested for a while, and then went inside to take a shower.
When he came out, he had already taken off his gray training clothes and changed into a white silk training suit. The silk felt very smooth to the touch, which made him feel refreshed.
He has never worn such nice clothes before.
With his supernatural abilities panel, he believed that this white training uniform was just the beginning, and that he would enjoy better clothes and a better house in the future.
He thought to himself.
Seeing that it was getting late and it was almost time for dinner, I opened the door and went out.
However, since the communal cooks hadn't yet sounded the alarm to call for a meal, not many people came out at this time; many were still diligently practicing in the courtyard.
Lu Ming strolled around the small courtyard area and came to a grove of trees behind it.
Suddenly he saw two disciples in gray training clothes, one tall and one short, surrounding another disciple who was also wearing gray training clothes in the woods. They seemed to have unfriendly expressions.
"Li Hu, I heard you're good at finding things?"
The tall man said to the disciple who was surrounded, "Young Master Shen instructed us to find the ant nest, but we can't find it. Could you please help us?"