A lucky cat fell from the sky.

Chapter 12 Scarface Talks Martial Arts

Wu Cheng looked confused. What did Senior Brother Tong mean?

What does it mean that a martial arts master is invincible?

How can they be considered invincible?

At this moment, Scarface got up from the ground, rubbing his shoulder as he spoke to Wu Cheng: "Brother, I didn't expect you to be so skilled; you actually managed to chase him away."

Seeing Scarface's appearance, Wu Cheng knew that he hadn't been knocked unconscious when he lay on the ground, but was pretending to be dead. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known that Senior Brother Tong had left.

However, he didn't expose this hidden meaning, but simply asked, "What do you mean by 'a martial arts disciple cannot be defeated by force'?"

Scarface seemed a little surprised that Wu Cheng didn't know this, but seeing Wu Cheng's sincere eyes, he knew that he wasn't faking it. Although he was puzzled, he still decided to speak up for him.

He patted his back as he went over and helped the third brother up.

He straightened the third brother's arm, then shoved it hard. After the third brother screamed, he was able to move his arm again.

Scarface handed a glass of wine to the third brother, and picked one up for himself: "Let's sit down, and I'll introduce you to the details slowly."

The three men sat down in the messy private room, each holding a wine glass. They each took a sip, and Scarface put his glass on the bar: "Have you heard of martial arts classifications?"

Wu Cheng shook his head.

He truly didn't know that without this system, he would have been nothing but a poor nobody. Now, with the system and Jin Wanliang's help, he finally had a decent start.

However, this good start did not change his problem of having a narrow vision, so he was eager to know the difference between himself and those martial arts practitioners outside.

"To put it simply, in Jiuyuan, everyone practices martial arts, but very few can truly make a name for themselves. Without inheritance or instruction, at most they can only improve their physical health."

“Take me for example. I didn’t teach anyone either. Although I attended martial arts classes for a few years, the teachers there weren’t very good. They weren’t willing to share their best skills. They were all like cats teaching tigers, holding back their secrets.”

"I guess most people are similar to me, and some are even worse. If you want to learn something real, you have to have the aptitude and find the right teacher. Otherwise, if you practice martial arts your whole life and become like that Tong Dali from before, that's the best you can do."

Wu Cheng already knew that Senior Brother Tong was called Senior Brother Tong, so it was a bit strange that Scarface would actually call him by name: "You know him?"

"I didn't know him, but then I remembered. This Tong Dali is quite famous in the Longqiu martial arts world. It is said that he was strong since he was a child. At the age of twelve, he could fight with adults without losing. By the age of twenty, he had almost no rivals in Longqiu. People say that he is very likely to reach the Martial Apprentice realm before the age of forty."

When Scarface spoke of the Martial Apprentice realm, his eyes were filled with longing.

Wu Cheng had absolutely no idea: "Just how strong is a Martial Apprentice?"

"I don't know how strong he is. I can't even beat Tong Dali, let alone a martial arts apprentice. But I've heard a saying that if you don't train as well as an apprentice, you'll have wasted your whole life."

"Some say that true martial arts training begins with becoming a martial arts apprentice. The strength of a martial arts apprentice is different from ours. I guess that's why martial arts apprentices are so invincible?"

"Different strengths?" Wu Cheng was increasingly confused. "There are differences in strength? How is that possible? If there really is a difference, then where is it?"

Scarface, of course, couldn't explain the problem, so he could only shrug: "Brother, don't pry. If I knew, wouldn't I become a martial arts apprentice?"

Wu Cheng thought about it and agreed, so he didn't delve any deeper into the matter of strength.

Scarface continued the previous topic: "One level above a martial apprentice is a martial artist, one level above a martial artist is a martial master, and one level above a martial master is a grandmaster. There is roughly one martial artist out of every hundred martial apprentices."

"It is estimated that among a hundred martial artists, one will not become a martial master, and among a thousand martial masters, it will be difficult to produce one grandmaster."

Wu Cheng wanted to ask about the differences between these levels, but before he could open his mouth, Scarface said, "Brother, don't ask me how strong they are. I've spent half my life wandering the martial world, and I've never encountered a martial artist, let alone someone stronger."

"However, when I was young and driving a truck, I did see a martial arts master make a move once. At that time, we were driving to Jiangyang, and the boss who entrusted us with transporting goods was a big shot in Linyang. He said that the road from Linyang to Jiangyang was quite chaotic, so he arranged for a master to escort the truck."

"When this expert arrived, we saw that he was a skinny old man with a sheepskin coat that was all matted and lumpy, so we called him Old Sheepskin. Old Sheepskin had a pipe in his waistband and staggered after taking a few steps. He looked like he knew nothing about martial arts."

“My fellow driver, Xiao Yang, and I are both young people who have studied martial arts for a few years. We thought we were pretty awesome if we knew a few moves of Wu Ba Cao, so we wanted to spar with him. But Lao Yangpi refused outright, saying that his kung fu was for fighting, not for sparring.”

“We all thought this old sheepskin was a troublemaker, so we looked down on him even more. When Xiao Yang and I ate special meals together, we wouldn’t include him. We’d just give him a bowl of plain noodles to tide him over.”

"We drove without incident until we entered Jiangzhou. During the day, it was fine when Xiao Yang was driving, but at night, when it was my turn to drive, we found that the road ahead was blocked by a plow."

"I stopped the car and jumped out to get the plow, but as soon as I got out, more than a dozen people jumped out from the roadside, each holding a pickaxe with two pointed ends. Without saying a word, they started hitting me with the pickaxes as soon as they saw me."

"Luckily, I reacted quickly and was fairly agile. After dodging a pickaxe, I ran to the truck. At that moment, those people came over and surrounded the truck. Several people jumped onto the truck bed and started throwing the goods to the side of the road."

"Xiao Yang and I tried to stop them, but we were held back by people with pickaxes. These people are ruthless. If we really dared to move, they would really dare to kill us."

"But I also thought later that if we had really been kidnapped by them, we probably would have died. Fortunately, Old Sheepskin got up at this time. He spoke to those roadblocks for a bit, saying that everyone makes a living by land and that they should do him a favor. But they completely ignored him."

"When Old Sheepskin realized he couldn't reason with him, he sighed and said that he was too old and had blood on his hands, which was really not worth it. But as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly reached out and snatched a pickaxe. He swung the pickaxe around and wherever he swung it, someone was crippled."

"Soon, all the dozen or so people blocking the way were brought down by Old Sheepskin, their fates unknown. Xiao Yang and I were dumbfounded. Only then did we realize that Old Sheepskin was a master."

"Later, Xiao Yang and I both wanted to become Lao Yangpi's apprentices, but Lao Yangpi said that he was just a martial arts apprentice himself, and martial arts apprentices don't take on disciples. However, he did pass on to Xiao Yang and me a unique skill to save our lives. It was thanks to this skill that I got to where I am today."

"For so many years I've been thinking that those dozen or so roadblocks with pickaxes are all strong and muscular, and they probably have blood on their hands. They're very fierce when they fight. I reckon Tong Dali wouldn't last long against them."

"Therefore, a martial apprentice cannot be defeated by force. This should be an absolute ironclad rule for those who have not reached the level of a martial apprentice."

Wu Cheng pondered for a moment. If he had enough gold coins, defeating Tong Dali would be easy, and dealing with a dozen or so roadblocks wielding pickaxes wouldn't be difficult either.

He gained a deeper understanding of the system. As long as he had enough gold ingots, he didn't need to worry about martial apprentices at all.