Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 35 A True-Hearted Friend

When Dujuan received Zhou Ye's 15 taels of silver as tuition, she smiled like a greedy little kitten. Her two big, dark eyes were already narrowed into slits.

"Senior brother, I've already registered! Would you like the daily lunch set meal? It'll be convenient for you to practice all day at the martial arts gym. It's paid monthly. The standard set includes one ounce of meat, enough rice and steamed buns to fill you up, for 2.5 ounces per month; the deluxe set includes five ounces of meat, plus an extra small meat dish, for only five ounces per month!"

So they serve lunch here? That's much more convenient. But to maintain my "poor guy" persona, I can only eat a little better at night.

"Then I'll keep the usual way. But Senior Sister Du, I don't deserve to be called Senior Brother. Since you joined the sect earlier, shall I call you Junior Sister?"

This Du Juan must be a close junior of Du Keyuan. Anyway, saying a few nice words won't take much effort.

Sure enough, Du Juan covered her mouth and laughed non-stop: "Senior brother, I haven't even started yet! Don't you know that you can only formally learn martial arts after you turn fourteen? They all call me junior sister."

"Hehe, then I'll be shameless enough to accept."

"Oh, right. What else? Would you like some training uniforms from our martial arts school? They have our school's logo on them, and they look really impressive! Only 1.5 taels!"

"Then let's get one!"

This is Zhou Ye's philosophy of blending in with the world. If others buy it, he buys it too; it doesn't make him seem special. But he certainly wouldn't wear it outside, much less show off. He's too busy keeping a low profile to even think about it.

"Then just pay up! Senior Brother Zhou is so generous."

"Alright, alright! I know you're just a little money-grubber." Zhou Ye, both amused and exasperated, pulled out another four taels of silver.

"Senior Brother Zhou, everything is done. Remember, after you reach the Qi Refining stage, you can buy Qi and Blood Powder and Qi and Blood Pills from me. I'll give you a discount, okay? Hehehe..."

Zhou Ye: "..."

As Zhou Ye left, he vaguely sensed that this Fenglei Martial Arts School had a distinct style: it was obsessed with money!

But the result was good. I finally got accepted into a formal martial arts school and can finally begin formal martial arts training…

The next day, Zhou Ye arrived at the Fenglei Martial Arts School early. After a short wait, the other apprentices arrived one after another. They noticed the new companion and chatted with Zhou Ye for a few moments out of curiosity.

Two people were particularly enthusiastic; they were about the same age as Zhou Ye.

There was a man named Huang Sheng. He was also an orphan, raised by his uncle. However, his uncle's family was poor and had many children. He had worked as a porter at the docks for several years, finally managing to save up this money.

Another person was named Wu Jun. His family situation was slightly better. At least his parents were still alive. However, the tuition for martial arts training was borrowed from all his relatives and friends, meaning the whole family was heavily in debt.

They had both joined the martial arts school two or three days prior. Knowing Zhou Ye's family situation, the three of them came from similar humble backgrounds and were essentially from the same cohort, so they had a lot in common.

Perhaps Huang Sheng was a genius; he found the feeling of Qi in just one day.

"Let me tell you, it only took me a day! I heard that no one has been better than me in recent years," Huang Sheng said excitedly. "After I achieved Qi Sensing, I even caught the attention of Master Du. He rewarded me with a plate of fried dough sticks."

Wu Jun, however, was somewhat disapproving: "Come on! Didn't you only feel the qi the next morning?"

"That's a whole day, isn't it? I only started cultivating on the morning of the first day," Huang Sheng argued. "Unlike you, who didn't feel any Qi until the third day."

"Fine! You win."

"Of course! I was carrying heavy loads on the ship when I was 12, doing just as much as the adults. They all said I was incredibly strong. When I become a martial arts master, I'll help my uncle get a bigger house in the city, and I'll buy my younger siblings delicious food. Hahaha!"

"You can definitely do it," Wu Jun sighed. "I'm just a little worried. What if I can't get into the right form? How can I face my parents then?"

"Don't worry, you can do it. Not only do we need to reach the level of internal strength, but the two of us... oh right, and Ah Ye too, we need to reach the level of 'manifest strength' together! Then we'll become superior beings!"

"But I'm really not as good as you! Actually, I'm already quite satisfied to be able to enter the ranks of martial arts and become a guard for a wealthy family. I heard that I can earn several taels of silver every month."

"Then you have to give it your all!" Huang Sheng encouraged. "Just like me, if you don't give it your all, where will your future be? Train for several more hours every day, until you collapse from exhaustion!"

"That won't do. Weren't we told to act within our capabilities?"

"Don't listen to them. How can we compare to rich kids? We have to work even harder than them! Besides, I'm strong, I'll be fine. This opportunity to join the martial arts gym was earned through my own hard work!"

"Uh-huh."

Although he didn't know what "qi sensation" was, Zhou Ye still found it interesting. These two friends still had such genuine personalities; they were still young men full of fighting spirit.

"Ah Sheng, Ah Jun, how many people are in our group?"

"Quite a few have come. About 20 or so in the last 10 days, I think?"

"So many?"

"Actually, it's not that many. We accept those who don't want to go to other martial arts schools. Most of them are people like us who live outside the city."

"So how many people can feel the Qi? How many can enter the state of internal strength?"

"Most people can sense the Qi, it's just a matter of time. Master Du said that if you can't sense the Qi within ten days or enter the state of Jin within two months, it's better to give up. Just like with Qi sense, only occasionally will someone be eliminated. But entering the state of Jin is much more difficult. Our martial arts school can only pass three or four people at most! I heard that the martial arts schools in the inner city are better, they have more than half of them."

"What about Ming Jin?"

"It's even harder to achieve the Ming Jin level; at most, one in ten people can do it. Our martial arts school is basically broke. Once most people have reached the Ming Jin level, they need to find work. Many people just give up..."

After listening to Huang Sheng and Wu Jun's explanation, I learned that when you first enter the realm of "Jin" (a level of internal energy cultivation), you're actually similar to an ordinary person. Only by reaching a higher level can your strength increase rapidly.

Therefore, for less important jobs, a martial artist who has reached the "Entering the Core" stage is pretty much qualified, at least much cheaper. And while both are at the "Entering the Core" stage, although they are still within the realm of ordinary people, the difference between just entering the Core and reaching the "Perfect" stage is perhaps greater than the difference between a human and a dog.

Once you reach the level of Ming Jin (明劲), it's a qualitative leap. You can take on a group of ordinary people one by one. Even if you encounter a martial artist who has entered the realm of Ming Jin, you can basically crush them.

Therefore, if an ordinary person attacks a martial artist with a knife, even a martial artist at the level of internal strength will die. But if the knife strikes a martial artist at the level of external strength, it will at most break the skin and rarely injure vital organs.

Of course, Ming Jin martial arts masters are highly sought after by various powerful forces. In terms of income, they earn several times more than those who have entered the Jin realm.

After understanding all this, Zhou Ye seemed to be deep in thought. If that's the case, then his current strength should be equivalent to the entry-level expert... right?

Perhaps he won't reach the highest level of entering the realm of internal strength, but at least he can contend with ordinary martial artists who have entered the realm of internal strength.