stjorthotic Chapter 10 Poor Scholars, Rich Warriors
Chapter 10 Poor Scholars, Rich Warriors
Su Changming lay on the carpet in the middle of the living room, shaped like the Chinese character "太" (tai), staring blankly at the unlit Western chandelier on the ceiling.
The winter sun had long since faded, shrouding the entire Shenghai in darkness.
Although Ling kicked him to stop him from lying on the ground, Su Changming was truly exhausted and had no strength left in his body.
I really didn't want her to kick me again.
After lying there for three minutes without seeing anything, Su Changming gritted his teeth, used his elbows to support himself on the ground, and forced himself to stand up.
Then, slowly and gradually moved herself to the sofa, and then threw herself onto it.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief; now he could finally lie there forever...
At this moment, waves of soreness and tingling began to erupt throughout his body, and Su Changming felt his consciousness become hazy, wondering if he was about to see his great-grandmother.
Fortunately, this feeling didn't last long. An even stronger hunger struck, making him say goodbye to his great-grandmother early, as he needed to fill his stomach first.
"Gurgle—"
My stomach kept protesting, its rumblings sounding particularly loud in the quiet living room.
It wasn't just his stomach that felt empty; every cell in his body seemed to be craving energy.
Fortunately, although he doesn't usually cook, he still has the habit of stocking up on dry food because he has been studying abroad for many years.
Su Changming forced himself to pull out several pieces of Russian-style bread that were as hard as rocks from his suitcase, and then grabbed a handful of dried beef.
He no longer cared about being polite or respectable, and was even too lazy to boil water.
With the leftover tea in the pot now completely cold, he wolfed down the dry, hard food like a starving ghost being reincarnated.
The tough fibers of the dried beef are torn between your teeth, and the rough texture of the rye bread scrapes down your throat.
Foods that are usually hard to swallow taste exceptionally sweet at this moment.
While chewing, Su Changming even had the leisure to ask Ling in the gray space if she wanted some too.
The girl simply said with a look of disgust, "I won't eat it."
Alright, Su Changming didn't insist.
Ling's current state seems quite unusual; she appears to have little need for food.
After eating the equivalent of two meals for an average person in one go, Su Changming finally felt the burning sensation in his stomach subside a little.
After eating and drinking to your heart's content, sleepiness washes over you like a tide.
He dragged his heavy steps to the bathroom and took a quick hot shower.
Back in the bedroom, the moment my head hit the pillow, my consciousness completely went blank, and I was plunged into deep darkness.
……
It was late at night.
The old locust tree outside the window rustled in the cold wind.
Su Changming, lying on the bed, was breathing heavily, but his brows were still slightly furrowed.
Just then.
The golden mark on his chest, which resembled both a golden dragon and a long sword, suddenly emitted a faint glow.
The light wasn't dazzling, but it carried a strange rhythm, like breathing.
With each breath, wisps of golden light, barely perceptible to the naked eye, flowed from the mark, slowly merging into Su Changming's limbs and bones along his blood vessels and meridians.
The muscle fibers damaged by overstretching began to repair and reorganize at an astonishing speed under the nourishment of this light mist, becoming even stronger.
Within the hazy, gray space of consciousness.
The bell remained seated in the void.
She wasn't asleep; instead, she rested her chin on her hand, her eyes seemingly piercing through the void, quietly watching the sleeping Su Changming.
As she watched the spiritual substances gradually seep into the boy's body, a subtle softening appeared on her icy face.
"Although the foundation is poor, there is still some resilience."
The girl murmured something softly, then closed her eyes, and the faint golden light became even more steady and lingering.
……
The next morning.
Bright sunlight streamed through the gaps in the blinds and fell on Su Changming's face. He frowned slightly, then rolled over and hid in the shadows again.
It wasn't until quite a while later, when the sun was high in the sky, that he rubbed his eyes, yawned, and sat up groggily.
His eyes darted around the room unfocused, and then he saw a girl standing by the window, still dressed in her simple school uniform.
"Good morning, Ling!"
"Now that you're up, let's continue with today's lessons," Ling said calmly.
Su Changming, who was still in a daze, suddenly snapped to attention and became fully awake after hearing these words.
"Oh... yesterday's intensity was too high, should I rest today...?"
Before he could finish speaking, he stretched his body. He expected to feel aches and pains, but instead, he felt an unprecedented lightness and fullness.
What's going on?
Is my recovery ability really that amazing?
Although he didn't understand cultivation, he knew common sense.
With yesterday's level of training, an ordinary person would definitely not be able to get out of bed the next day, and it would be impossible to recover so quickly.
Su Changming turned his gaze to the girl standing by the window.
Bell simply said:
"Your body is too weak. If we wait for you to recover naturally, you won't be able to get started even if you practice until next year."
"Now that you've recovered, stop talking nonsense."
She pointed to the living room downstairs.
"continue."
Su Changming: "..."
The initial feeling of being moved vanished instantly.
However, having experienced the benefits of "destruction before construction," Su Changming had no complaints whatsoever.
After washing up, I immediately began a new round of standing meditation.
This time, although it was still painful, he clearly felt that he had more control over his body and could last longer than yesterday.
After morning classes ended, Su Changming felt that familiar hunger again.
"Dry rations alone won't be enough."
Ling looked at Su Changming, who was eating a cold steamed bun, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.
With a casual wave of her hand, a sheet of Xuan paper covered in writing floated down in front of Su Changming.
"What is this?" Su Changming picked up the paper.
Above, written in delicate, elegant calligraphy, were a series of names of medicinal herbs:
"Old ginseng (over 30 years old), tiger bone (or leopard bone), angelica, safflower, pangolin scales..."
"The recipe for the medicinal bath," Ling explained. "If you want to develop a body of steel, just taking beatings isn't enough. This recipe is called the Dragon Tempering Soup, and it's... a secret recipe passed down in my family. Soaking in it for an hour after standing in the stance every day can help you transform yourself."
"Also," she glanced at the steamed bun in Su Changming's hand, "starting today, stop eating these coarse grains and buy more beef, refined flour, and the like. Martial arts cultivation is something that can be built with money."
Su Changming looked at the flimsy prescription in his hand, then at the words "thirty-year-old ginseng," "tiger bone," and "pangolin scales," and his eye twitched involuntarily.
This isn't a prescription, it's clearly a bill!
……