Starting with the titmouse, seventy-two transformations

Chapter 3 Even sparrows can aspire to great heights.
In your first year, you broke through the eggshell and saw the first rays of sunlight. Half a month later, your wings grew in full, and you began to learn to fly. A few days later, you were already flying quite well.

Three days later, your parents kicked you out of the nest and never saw you again…

By the second year, you had become familiar with the surrounding woodland, and you spent your days carefree eating insects and singing with your companions.

Until one day, a flock of swans flew overhead, and you suddenly felt a longing to see a higher and wider sky.

So you flap your wings, use all your strength, and rush into the distance.

You left your home, left your flock of birds, and saw a new world. You couldn't help but sing out loud and express your feelings. Even sparrows have the ambition of swans!

Your cry attracted a hawk...

[You are dead. This simulation is now complete.]

……

what?
It's gone?
No, you can play it like this?

This is too cruel! The little sparrow had just sung its praises, proclaiming that "even sparrows have the ambition of swans," and then it was snatched away by a hawk...

Is this some kind of dark humor?
Liu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, his face showing a strange expression, a mixture of heartache and amusement.

He wanted to get revenge for Sparrow, but looking at the "0" after the [Spiritual Essence] column, he could only sigh helplessly.

Make bricks without straw.

From now on, I will never perform a deduction unless I have accumulated 20, no, 30, spiritual points; otherwise, it would be a waste of points.

I'm so angry!
The next morning, before dawn.

A dozen or so young servants were already standing in the martial arts training ground in the Tong family compound.

They were young, around fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in gray shorts, and stood in two neat rows.

A short while later, a one-armed ascetic monk who was at least 1.9 meters tall approached.

He wore an iron headband, a black monk's robe, a yellow gourd at his waist, and a string of white bone prayer beads around his neck. His hands and feet were thick and long, with bulging muscles, and a scar on his face, making him a fearsome sight.

"Is this the martial arts master? Even though he's lost an arm, I feel like he could crush me with just one finger!"

Liu Sheng mingled among a flock of sparrows, hopping and skipping on the eaves, slowly approaching.

He only has fifteen minutes, and it's hard to know how much he can learn.

"You little brats have struck it lucky, thanks to the Lord's grace in passing on your martial arts..."

Master Wu spoke, his voice powerful and resonant, making people's eardrums ache.

Liu Sheng felt dizzy and almost tripped and fell off the roof.

Once he regained his footing, Master Wu's booming voice rang in his ears again:

"Although this 'Black Tiger Fist' is only a low-level martial art, it integrates fighting and training, and is sufficient for you to use until the second realm..."

Oh, I forgot you little brats don't know anything. Let me explain briefly.

Martial arts begin with Qi and blood, and the first realm is the Qi and blood realm, which is divided into four stages: entry level, minor achievement level, major achievement level, and perfection level.

Those who reach the pinnacle of this realm possess the strength of a thousand jin, can draw a five-stone bow and fire in rapid succession, and can cover three to five zhang with each step…

"Chiji~"

Liu Sheng gasped and made a bird-like sound.

With the strength of a thousand jin, one can draw a five-stone bow and fire continuously, taking three to five zhang with each step, like a little superman; only then can one reach the pinnacle of the first realm.
How strong must Tong Bapi's youngest son, a second-realm martial artist, be?!
It seems I underestimated the strength of this world.

"...Practicing martial arts without stance training is like wandering around aimlessly. To practice martial arts, you must first establish a solid stance. The stance training of Black Tiger Fist is called Black Tiger Stance. Watch me!"

Master Wu let out a low roar, like a tiger's howl, filled with murderous intent.

He suddenly crouched down, his feet spread apart, one hand gripping his claw, like a ferocious tiger crouching, exuding an imposing aura.

"It felt like facing a ferocious tiger..."

Liu Sheng shook his feathers and hopped a few steps forward, a sense of accomplishment creeping into his mind.

With the "Sparrow's Eye" talent, Master Wu's movements were like slow motion, all laid out before his eyes, and he could see every detail of each movement clearly.

"Stand still, all of you! If you can't sense any vital energy within three months, go back to where you came from..."

Master Wu stood up and made the servants try standing in a stance. He kept correcting them with his rough movements, which made the servants scream.

"Time is short, so write it down first and practice it when you get back."

Liu Sheng carefully memorized the instructions, and as soon as he felt weak, he immediately spread his wings and flew away.

……

"hiss!"

Inside the room, Liu Sheng followed his memory and practiced the Black Tiger Stance. After standing for less than 30 breaths, his vision went black, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

(Note: One breath lasts approximately 6 seconds.)
Did I practice it wrong?
I was clearly following the movements taught by that martial arts master, so how could this be...?

So hungry!

The next moment, an intense hunger surged up, as if he hadn't eaten for over ten days, almost causing him to lose his mind. Half an hour later.

Liu Sheng chewed and swallowed the last piece of sparrow bone in his mouth before he could recover.

The few tits that Zhao Lei brought yesterday, along with the last bit of food left in the house, were all eaten up by him.

"Standing meditation cultivates qi and blood, which consumes the body. Only by replenishing with sufficient food can one continue; otherwise, it will harm the body, or even..."

Recalling the almost irrational feeling he had experienced earlier, he couldn't help but shudder.

No wonder poor people can't practice martial arts. Without enough food, especially plenty of meat to replenish the energy consumed during martial arts training, it would kill them.

To learn martial arts, you must first solve the problem of food.

In short, it's all about money!
"My dear grandson, are you still hungry? Grandma will go borrow some food. You stay home and rest..."

Granny Liu felt sorry for the grain she saw, so she took out a dusty cloth bag and went out to borrow grain.

Liu Sheng opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. After Granny Liu had walked away, he grabbed a wood-chopping knife and headed into the mountains.

It is currently the lean season, and every household is struggling to have enough food to spare.

Moreover, their family has now lost their land and their livelihood. In other people's eyes, lending them grain is like throwing good money after bad; who would be willing to lend it to them?
The old woman will likely return empty-handed, but she's stubborn and can't be persuaded otherwise.

In this world, it's better to rely on yourself than on others. With the blessing of "sparrow's eye," I refuse to believe I won't be able to eat meat.

Less than half an hour later.

Liu Sheng, panting heavily, stopped under a large tree.

This is a small hill behind the village, located on the outer edge of Black Wind Mountain, covered with shrubs and lush forests.

He transformed into a sparrow and flew over, which took only a short while, but it exhausted most of his strength.

After resting for a while, he caught his breath and took in all the movements within a ten-step radius with his eyes.

Scorpions, toads, ants, grasshoppers, tits, and... a vegetal snake that quietly swims toward the tits.

"This is huge, it must weigh over ten kilograms..."

Liu Sheng licked his lips, saliva gushing from his mouth. He tightened his grip on the wood-chopping knife, his pupils dilating, reflecting the snake's movements as if slowed down tenfold, allowing him to capture its trajectory...

They anticipated its next move!
Suddenly, he took a few steps forward, raised his wood-chopping knife, and swung it down forcefully, but the knife struck empty air.

The next moment, the snake shot out and pounced on the titmouse, but ended up delivering its neck to the blade!
"puff!"

The snake's head rolled off, splattering blood all over the ground and scaring away the scorpions, toads, and tits nearby.

"There is meat to eat!"

Liu Sheng rushed forward, grabbed the still writhing snake, bit down on the wound on the snake's neck, and sucked the snake's blood.

A moment later, he picked up the snake carcass and headed home. With those ten-odd pounds of meat, he and his grandmother could eat for two or three days without any problem.

Alternatively, you could exchange half of it for grain.

Most importantly, this experiment proved that "sparrow eyes" can greatly enhance hunting, especially within ten paces.

It can even predict the target's trajectory, thus enabling successful interception.

If we could find a suitable short-range throwing tool, within this distance, it would probably be able to hit the target every time.
"However, why can't I collect the essence of this cauliflower snake and activate the cauliflower snake transformation after I killed it?"

Liu Sheng looked at the essence emerging from the corpse of the snake and tried to collect it, but his brain was throbbing with pain, as if it were about to explode.

It seems that the body's "reserve capacity" is insufficient to activate the second transformed body.

To increase the body's "capacity" and accommodate more changes, the only way is to make the body stronger.

And the only way to make the body stronger seems to be... practicing martial arts?
In the end, it all comes down to practicing martial arts.

However, martial arts training is not something that can be achieved overnight, and you can't learn martial arts without money.

Therefore, in the short term, the only way to improve strength is to collect more "spiritual essence" and deduce the "Mountain Sparrow Transformation".

Back in the village, Liu Sheng found Zhao Lei and asked him about short-range throwing tools.

Zhao Lei looked at Liu Sheng suspiciously, then frowned and said:
"You're physically weak and not very strong. If you're good at throwing, a throwing knife would suit you better, but you have to be accurate..."

"Boom!"

Liu Sheng nodded, casually tossed his machete, and it flew out, cleaving a fly eight or nine meters away in two, neatly and evenly.

Zhao Lei's breath hitched, and his voice immediately softened:

"I never knew you had such a skill! I'm going into town tomorrow to sell some leather goods, why don't you come with me and we can get a few throwing knives to play with..."

Liu Sheng's lips curled up slightly, and a hint of anticipation rose in his eyes.

Shanyang County Town…

There should be quite a few old items... right?

(End of this chapter)