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That day, Wei Yuan went to find Li Degui and said seriously,"Master Li, can you check if my basic training is up to standard?"
"Alright," the old man nodded. "Show me your horse stance."
Wei Yuan spread his legs, feet planted firmly like roots in the ground. His stance was steady.
In the next instant, without warning, Old Li suddenly raised his hand and struck Wei Yuan in the chest with a palm.
Wei Yuan instantly felt a tight pressure all over his body as a powerful force slammed into him. The air was forced right out of his lungs, and he was sent skidding backwards, his feet scraping across the ground.
Shhhhhh—
Wei Yuan finally stopped, still holding the horse stance. But now, he was a full ten steps away from where Old Li had been standing.
"Not bad," the old man raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Barely passed."
Wei Yuan snapped back to his senses and couldn't help feeling a bit excited.
"Master Li, does that mean I can start learning actual moves now?" He still remembered what Li Degui had said—focus on basics first, then learn techniques once the foundation was solid.
"You can. Starting tomorrow, I'll begin teaching you some moves," Li Degui said with a rare smile. "Oh, but keep in mind—now that you're learning techniques, the monthly fee goes up to five taels of silver."
Wei Yuan was speechless.
Li Degui's face turned serious. "Also, you need to eat more meat. And I'm not talking about regular meat—I mean beast meat."
Wei Yuan frowned. "What kind of beast meat?"
The old man chuckled mysteriously. "I've got some right here. One tael of beast meat for one tael of silver—honest price. You're still young, but even so, you must eat at least one tael of beast meat a day."
Wei Yuan felt like he was being robbed. He hesitated. "Is it really that necessary?"
Li Degui just gave him a cryptic smile.
That evening, Wei Yuan rode his mule back to the Earth Temple. He needed to dig up the silver he had hidden.
He hadn't visited the temple in a long time.
Ever since he moved into the Qin family estate, he'd only come back a few times.
Can't blame him though—life at the Qin residence was sweet. People waited on him, and he got to soak in a hot bath every night before bed. Nothing beat that feeling.
For someone like him, constantly training, he'd be drenched in sweat by the end of the day. Go two days without a bath and you'd start stinking. Clothes also needed regular washing.
With people handling all those chores, Wei Yuan's days were basically a dream. He was living too comfortably to even want to go back.
As the sky darkened, a thin mist spread through the wilderness.
Wei Yuan dug up his stash—thirty taels of silver, plus some mountain ginseng and lingzhi mushrooms worth around 150 taels.
"Five taels a month to Li Degui. And one tael a day just on beast meat…"
But Wei Yuan wasn't like most people. He had the Divine System. Ever since unlocking the 'Glutton God's Mouth', his appetite had skyrocketed. He ate way more than average, and that meant spending more too.
If he calculated everything, his silver stash might only last him a little over a month tops.
Thinking about it, Wei Yuan couldn't help glancing in a certain direction.
"In a few months … I have to figure out a way to kill that white tiger," he made up his mind.
The mist thickened, and night fell fast.
Wei Yuan prepped some feed for his mule, gave it a quick meal, then did a simple wash-up before heading to bed.
It was mid-summer. The heat was so intense that people would sweat even at night.
The old temple didn't have much ventilation.
But he didn't dare leave the door open, worried that wild animals might wander in.
Also, the countryside was full of huge mosquitoes, and their bites would leave nasty, swollen red bumps.
Wei Yuan checked his mosquito net for holes, and once everything looked good, he lay down.
His bed had only a thin bamboo mat, already frayed at the edges.
He stripped off his clothes and lay on the mat completely bare. In the sweltering heat, he slowly drifted off into a half-dreaming sleep.
He didn't know how much time had passed…
Suddenly, Wei Yuan jolted awake. His whole body felt cold. An eerie chill filled the broken-down temple.
"Why's it so cold?"
He sat up. Everything around him was pitch-black. That icy feeling wrapped around his body, and goosebumps covered his skin.
He reached for his clothes next to the pillow and put them on in the dark.
And right at that moment—
Thin strands of glowing light slipped in through the door cracks.
Wei Yuan squinted. The light was a faint blue, like fireflies—but way brighter. It pierced straight through the darkness.
He pulled the mosquito net aside and was about to get off the bed when—
Rustle—
Something fell off the net.
He looked closer—and his face changed instantly.
"…Ice shards?"
The mosquito net was covered in a layer of frost. This was far beyond any normal cold, even in the depths of winter
That strange blue glow continued streaming in through the door, lighting up the temple.
In the glow, Wei Yuan scanned the room—and froze.
The floor, the walls, the pillars, the doors… everything was coated in a white frost.
Even his breath came out in visible puffs.
"....."