Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

"Manager Cai, it's nice to meet you in person. My name is Shen Qing from Hongshan Village. I hope for your continued support in the future."

"Hmm." Cai Jia Sheng hummed softly, continuing to focus on his work.

"Manager Cai is busy now, I'll bother you later when you're free. Goodbye."

Shen Qing didn't mind and decisively led his men to leave through the back courtyard.

There would be other days.

For their first interaction, Shen Qing decided to use a small amount of money to test the waters, to see if this manager was really usable.

If they didn't get along well, if he wasn't very useful,

then there would be no choice but to have the Song family replace him with someone new.

"Xiao Hu, come here, this is what you've earned this time." Stepping outside the courtyard, Shen Qing pulled out seventy large coins and handed them to Tian Xiaohu.

After distributing the coins, Shen Qing instructed, "We're going to stay in the county to practice Martial Arts for a few days. You'll go with me to the market later to buy the things for the village, see if you can catch a ride with someone else to bring them back first, and I'll settle the payment when I return."

Tian Xiaohu, without any pretense, accepted the seventy large coins and nodded seriously, "I've got it down, I won't mess up your affairs."

"Hmm, if you're not busy when you get back, you could go learn some arithmetic from Zhang Shuyuan."

"Arithmetic?!" Tian Xiaohu's brow furrowed, he hadn't expected that handling a task would require learning such things: "That's so troublesome…"

"Don't you want to advance yourself? If you do, you'll need to know these things."

"I'll follow your advice."

Having given these instructions, Shen Qing took Tian Xiaohu to the market. They purchased all the various items the villagers wanted and handed them over to Tian Xiaohu to take back.

Luckily, the items bought by the village this time weren't too numerous, and Tian Xiaohu could carry them all by himself.

After sending Tian Xiaohu off, Shen Qing also made a trip to the rouge shop and spent one tael of gold on some fine rouge.

It was about time his aunt Shen Xiu should be back.

Just as his eldest sister said, his aunt had helped him a lot and deserved to be thanked in person.

A grand gift deepens the bonds of friendship.

To give is to receive.

Having visited Linfeng Hall many times, Shen Qing and Shen Xiaohu had become much more familiar with the place and no longer felt the restraint they had the first time.

They didn't need A Fu to escort them; they went into the courtyard, familiarly tied their dilapidated horses in the stable, and each went to practice Martial Arts in the yard.

Ouyang Tiezhu wasn't seen in the inner courtyard, and Shen Qing wasn't in a hurry to look for him.

By now, he had skillfully increased his mastery of the Wind Defying Finger technique to ninety-two, just eight points shy of breaking through the bottleneck.

If he hadn't miscalculated, practicing with the Wooden Dummy for one or two Shi Chen should be enough to achieve it.

He would break through the Wind Defying Finger movement technique first.

Shen Qing took off his coat and, dressed in a short outfit, he directly approached the Five Person Stance.

Most of the seven or eight people in the inner courtyard had been practicing the movement technique for a long time and were mostly still at the Three Person Stance level.

Only a sparse few were at the Five Person Stance.

This individual, sporting arched brows and sharp eyes, was fairly handsome, though somewhat portly.

If Shen Qing remembered correctly, this person should be Xiao Zhi, a cook who earned his living from the Song and Dong Family's business.

Their ages were similar, and he had been practicing body training here for nearly half a year.

In the back courtyard, before Shen Qing arrived, he was the one with the most potential for learning Martial Arts.

Seeing Shen Qing approach the Five Person Stance, Xiao Zhi greeted him with a smile, "Junior brother, are you also here to practice the Five Person Stance?"

Shen Qing responded casually, "Hmm, just practicing casually."

Standing in front of the Five Person Stance, Shen Qing's expression turned serious; he subconsciously widened his stance slightly, rooted like an old pine to the ground.

Without a prolonged preparation, Shen Qing suddenly moved.

His gaze sharpened, and his form moved as swiftly as a darting rabbit.

All the movement techniques Ouyang Tiezhu had taught him were deeply embedded in his mind, and he replicated them flawlessly at this moment.

Unlike Ouyang Tiezhu, however, Shen Qing's movements were noticeably more ferocious.

Bang, bang, bang.

With swift actions like cascading rain, he continued dodging, kicking, slapping, and weaving around the dummy...

A pair of hands fell on different parts of the wooden dummy like raindrops, making a dull yet forceful sound.

What was even more rare was that his stance was very stable.

Even when he turned and dodged, it was as if he were walking on water, hardly causing a ripple.

Inside Hongshan Village, after spending about seven or eight days, Shen Qing had mastered this complex movement technique to perfection.

At the beginning, he had to occasionally pause to adjust his breathing and think about the next move's connection.

But now, every one of his actions had become smooth and natural, as if these techniques were already integrated into his blood, becoming a part of his instincts.

Bang!

At the final blow of the Five Person Stance, there was still a remnant stickiness, not quite perfect.

Shen Qing stopped and started over from the beginning.

Sweat slid down his forehead, dropping onto the floor tiles, making a crisp sound.

Bang Bang Bang!

The dull noises began again.

The wooden dummy trembled slightly under Shen Qing's onslaught, as if it was about to topple over at any moment.

Xiao Zhi, having finished his practice, couldn't help but curiously look towards Shen Qing, where he could only see streaks of residual images crisscrossing.

There weren't too many secrets within Linfeng Hall.

Ever since Shen Qing entered the inner courtyard, word about him had spread, knowing he was Li Linfeng Lady Qi's close nephew and also that his Martial Arts were highly gifted.

They had always heard of him but never dealt with him directly.

Today was his lucky day; he saw Shen Qing practicing the Five Person Stance, and it was truly an eye-opener.

If he remembered correctly, it was hardly more than ten days since he entered Linfeng Hall, and he had already trained to this extent.

True Martial Arts material indeed! Absolutely monstrous!

All disciples in the inner courtyard paid to learn skills, with very straightforward purposes; how much they learned entirely depended on their skill without too many other concerns.

The commotion from Shen Qing's side was significant; as soon as he stepped into the inner courtyard, he had already attracted a crowd's attention.

At that moment, Shen Qing was completely immersed in his self-forgetful practice, hardly paying any attention to the gazes of others.

Breakthrough! Breakthrough! Breakthrough!

A simple belief continuously ran through his mind.

After practicing for about one more Shi Chen.

"Bang!"

Following the final forceful side kick, Shen Qing steadily caught the wooden dummy's onslaught.

A full sense of joy suddenly shone in his eyes.

[Skill: Wind Defying Finger (Entry Level)]

[Progress: 100/100 points]

[Status: can be enhanced]

[Note: Winter training on the ninth cycle of nine days, summer training in the hottest days, continuous practice can master the skill, increasing the skill proficiency.]

Unknowingly, Shen Qing had already trained this Martial Art to the first checkpoint. He couldn't help but lick his lips, his face full of anticipation.

"Wind Defying Finger, break through for me!"

A muffled boom sounded.

Shen Qing felt his whole body shake.

Suddenly, warm currents surged inside his body, like the melting snow in spring, roaming throughout his body.

He felt the Qi-Blood inside him tumbling, muscles trembling slightly, as if trying to break free from some kind of restraint.

Shen Qing couldn't help but slowly lift his foot and fiercely stepped forward.

His muscles erupted with astonishing power at that moment, dust flew up from the ground, and fine cracks appeared on the thick floor tiles.

That single step made Shen Qing feel a refreshing sense of liberation from bondage.

All sorts of movement techniques thoroughly fused in his mind.

The movement technique for Wind Defying Finger was accomplished!