We're practicing all martial arts, so why did you switch to easy mode?

Chapter 5, Eighth Disciple, Qin Hao
Because he went to a brokerage firm, Su Chen found a suitable place, a courtyard house, in less than an hour.

The house is in a good location and is relatively independent, but the price is a bit expensive, costing half a tael of silver per month. The other party did not agree to short-term rental, so Su Chen had no choice but to rent it for six months.

Paying three taels of silver at once made Su Chen feel a little distressed.

Fortunately, they finally had a place to stay in the outer city.

Afterwards, Su Chen took some time to buy some daily necessities and brought the things he had packed earlier into the new house.

He didn't go back to his old house, fearing he would be discovered by the Blackwater Gang, so he packed his things in advance and stored them at an inn.

In the afternoon, Su Chen arrived at the martial arts school.

As soon as he entered the martial arts school, he found everyone gathered together. Upon closer inspection, he learned that someone had mastered the Iron Wire Fist.

"I think his name is Qin Hao. He's only been practicing for less than half a month, but he's already mastered the Iron Wire Fist. He's incredibly talented!"

"We both started learning about this two weeks ago, but I haven't even gotten started yet."

"There's no comparison; they're exceptionally talented."

The crowd discussed amongst themselves, their voices filled with envy.

Standing in the crowd, Su Chen's eyes flickered as he watched Qin Hao being ushered into the inner courtyard.

From these people's conversations, Su Chen roughly understood the difficulty of practicing Iron Wire Fist.

The difficulty of mastering Iron Wire Fist varies from person to person; those with talent can master it in ten days to half a month.

Those without talent may not achieve anything even in a year or two.

Once mastered, a thin line of blood will appear on both arms.

Qin Hao's talent is obviously extremely high; he mastered the Iron Wire Fist to the 'Iron Wire' form in just half a month.

Even among the many disciples recruited by Hong Ming, he was an outstanding one, no wonder he was highly regarded by Hong Ming.

Thinking this, Su Chen looked down at his arm, where a thin line of blood, as thin as a wire, was faintly visible.

If Hong Ming knew that Su Chen had mastered the 'Iron Wire' technique in just thirty minutes, the one who would be enjoying the limelight right now would not be Qin Hao, but Su Chen.

"What are you all looking at? Hurry up and cultivate, maybe you can even master the basics as quickly as Junior Brother Qin!"

At this moment, Li Mo walked over and shouted loudly at the crowd.

The students quickly dispersed and began practicing on their own.

In the afternoon, the martial arts gym became Qin Hao's personal showcase, and Hong Ming expressed his high regard for Qin Hao without reservation.

He boasted that if Qin Hao could stabilize his bloodline within a month, he would accept Qin Hao as a formal disciple.

The Hong Family Martial Arts School has many registered disciples; if you include those who left, there are at least a hundred.

However, there are only seven formal disciples, the last of whom is Li Mo, whom he accepted two years ago.

This promise made the young Qin Hao extremely excited, and he practiced martial arts even more diligently.

I heard from others that Qin Hao was the son of a merchant and did not have a high social status.

It was a long and arduous journey for me to come to the martial arts school, and now that I have the opportunity to become a disciple, I naturally dare not slack off in the slightest.

Perhaps spurred on by Qin Hao, everyone's passion seemed to be ignited.

They were like wild beasts in heat, cultivating with ferocity and savagery.

However, compared to everyone else's diligent practice, Su Chen's attitude was somewhat lazy.

It wasn't that Su Chen didn't want to cultivate, but rather that the results of cultivation were too poor, so it was better to use cheat codes.

So after cultivating on his own for a while, Su Chen gave up cultivating.

Anyway, his purpose in coming to the martial arts gym today wasn't to practice.

"Junior Brother Su, is there some problem with your cultivation?"

At this moment, Li Mo, who had seen Su Chen stop cultivating, came up to him and asked in confusion.

Seeing that Su Chen wasn't cultivating, he guessed that the other party must have encountered a problem, hence the question.

"Senior Brother Li, I'm fine." Su Chen shook his head. "Is it because of Qin Hao?"

Su Chen was taken aback by what he heard. Li Mo raised his eyes slightly and muttered to himself, "This is the first time I've seen Master so happy since I joined the martial arts school."

Hearing this, Su Chen asked, "Senior brother, is Qin Hao's talent very strong?"

"Impressive! You haven't even started practicing the fist technique yet, so you don't know how difficult it is. Qin Hao was able to master it in half a month. His talent and aptitude are probably the strongest among you. Even among the formal disciples, no one can compare to him."

Li Mo exclaimed in admiration, completely unaware of Su Chen's change in expression.

"Senior brother, besides Qin Hao, what's the shortest record?"

"It must be the senior brother. I heard he succeeded in cultivating in just one month."

"Then, senior brother, how do you know if you've mastered the Iron Wire Fist?" Su Chen asked curiously.

Li Mo remained silent for a while. He wanted to tell Su Chen not to be too ambitious, but when he thought about the disciples' performance that afternoon, he didn't want to dampen Su Chen's enthusiasm.

So he said, "According to Master, to practice Iron Wire Fist, as long as a line of blood appears on your hand, you have successfully taken the first step."

Only when the bloodline is completely stable can you be considered to have truly mastered the basics.

Then, the color changes from light red to red, signifying entry into the inner sanctum. The color changes from red to deep red, signifying completion.

Finally, when it completely turns black, it reaches perfection.

He paused for a moment, then added, "However, each of these four stages is very difficult. An ordinary person may not be able to get started even after several years, and even if they do get started, they may not be able to reach perfection."

At this point, he thought of Qin Hao.

It's worth noting that it took him more than two months to master the basics, while Qin Hao did it a month and a half earlier, which is enough to show how talented Qin Hao is.

"Alright, stop asking so many questions. Your task now is to quickly learn the stance training so I can teach you the boxing techniques."

Seeing Su Chen's silence, Li Mo assumed he was upset, offered a few words of comfort, and then left.

"A month?"

Su Chen murmured to himself, seemingly lost in thought.

"If I hadn't been cheating, I probably would have sought out Master Hong sooner, since I could have gotten preferential treatment in terms of resources. But it seems there's no need to rush now."

He shook his head, dispelling the thoughts from his mind. Then, taking advantage of the absence of others, he left the martial arts gym.

Li Mo, who had been guiding everyone, finally got a moment's rest when he glanced around and couldn't see Su Chen.

He opened his mouth, then managed to utter a single sentence: "That kid!"

For the next few days, Su Chen's life became a monotonous routine.

At home and in teahouses.

Except for mealtimes, Su Chen spent most of his time at the teahouse.

"Sir, here are your peanuts and tea."

The waiter had gotten used to Su Chen's presence. He would come every morning and leave every evening, sitting there for the entire day.

He ordered a plate of peanuts, then held a book in his hand, occasionally dipping his fingers in tea, seemingly practicing calligraphy on the table.

For ten consecutive days, Xiao Er had come to know Su Chen.

Ignoring the waiter's gaze, Su Chen focused on the book, learning the language of this world.

The script of the Great Qian Dynasty is somewhat similar to that of the Tang Dynasty, but not entirely the same.

The original owner of this body had never been to school, so she was basically illiterate.

So Su Chen took advantage of this time to go to the bookstore and find a few books on recognizing characters, and began to study on his own.

With the knowledge accumulated from the previous world, Su Chen learned most of the writing system of the Great Qian Dynasty.

At the same time, he studied while observing the actions of the person opposite him.

That's the location of the Blackwater Gang's headquarters.

(End of this chapter)