Practice, rest. Practice, rest.
After nearly two hours of continuous training, Xun Xie's body demanded a break. The side flips remained unconquered.
Still so much room for improvement.
These basic exercises were just foundation work. Of course they couldn't tailor training to each person - different physiques, different comprehension levels, different talents and motivations.
Individual instruction? Ha!
It made perfect business sense to Xun Xie. Talent was one thing, but money was another. This wasn't like renting rooms with limited space - while there was a ceiling, the barrier to entry was much higher. Give one person leeway on payments, and soon everyone would want to pay next month or run up debt for several months.
Pure profit loss.
So the system was simple: get everyone to an acceptable baseline for learning core martial arts. If they quit halfway, someone new would fill their spot the next day.
His job now was getting this undernourished body to that baseline.
But even that proved challenging. This was just preparation - the real training hadn't even begun.
Watching the others practice, Xun Xie sighed. "Seems my martial arts talent is decidedly average."
He left the Hu residence.
Before lunch, he decided to explore the streets. After all, today he had his Treasure hunting cheat.
"Seven steps east, beneath the wall's heel, 0.3 meters down - a piece of broken silver."
"Sixty-three steps north, in the red apricot tree - a lost purse caught on a branch."
...
Xun Xie moved carefully, collecting treasures when no one was looking or paying attention.
By noon, he'd swept through most of Broken Wind Square's streets and alleys.
The haul: eight points of silver in broken pieces and copper plates, a rusty jade bracelet, gold-plated earring, silver ring, and a partially complete refined glass necklace, plus other damaged precious materials that would fetch a decent price.
Converting it all to silver taels would net him enough for several months of training.
Satisfied with his morning's work, Xun Xie headed to lunch.
Blue Grain Town had several renowned restaurants with generations of history.
He chose the nearby "Jeweled Rice Pavilion."
Their signature "lotus leaf glutinous rice chicken" was legendary - and priced accordingly, beyond most people's means.
When the dish arrived, the lotus leaves contained all the fragrance until that moment of unveiling, when rich aromas escaped. A honey-like glaze coated the dish like silver jelly.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Xun Xie's mouth watered. One bite confirmed everything - fragrant, smooth, the chicken melting on his tongue. Words couldn't capture the flavor.
"It lives up to its reputation." He savored every bite.
Life could be worse.
The afternoon brought more side flip practice, with gradual progress.
The day passed thus.
Without the Great Clarity cheat, Xun Xie questioned his basic competence.
At least the others weren't far ahead of him.
Great Clarity was simply too powerful, too broken - letting him advance rapidly in no time. Without that supernatural acceleration, adjustment was difficult. It wasn't quite 'super' level, but it was like being in a perfect flow state constantly. Now focusing took real effort.
Super abilities probably waited in the thousand and ten-thousand criticals. How he yearned for that maximum multiplier.
The next day.
Weng!
Weng!
Xun Xie watched the glowing wheel with desperate hope.
"You spun the lottery wheel and won Invisibility."
"Duration: 1 day."
"Critical not activated, zero critical obtained."
"Invisibility active for 1 second."
Xun Xie: "..."
"Motherfu-!"
After a string of curses, he stormed off toward his daily practice, face dark as thunder.
One second? Invisible Xie couldn't even sneeze in that time. Too annoyed to even test it.
The next day.
"Thank you for your patronage!"
"No Duration. Daily Spin consumed."
"Critical unavailable."
The following day brought the same result. His mood turned black.
Even prehistoric worlds had scam artists. Let me meet whoever designed this rigged system - Xie will redesign their face.
This day.
Great Clarity - with thousand times critical!
Oh Lady Luck!
Thou hast not forsaken me!
Energized and grinning, he bounded up to practice outside the temple before heading to town.
Side flip +1000
Side flip +1000
Side flip +1000
...
Side flips? Mastered!
Front flips? Done!
Backflips? Please - child's play!
Continuous combinations flowed like water.
Basic skills? Is that what they call these? Thousand-crit Xie really is something else.
Normal Xie struggles for days, but plug-in Xie just breezes through.
He moved like unleashed lightning, conquering the eighteen poses with perfect precision. Each movement flowed naturally, as if martial arts ran in his blood.
"Those somersaults ain't bad," Yun Shan called out. Hard to miss in a crowded courtyard.
Right. Public training has its downsides.
"Grew up in the mountains," Xun Xie explained. "Climbing trees, catching fish. Makes it easier."
Next time I activate the great clarity mode, I better practice when and where no one's around. The disparity between no plug-in Xie and plug-in Xie is too abysmal. Who made plug-in Xie so awesome? Especially 10,000 critical Xie - he was a monster.
Though I haven't met him yet.
"Some learn quick," Yun Shan nodded, unsurprised after seeing Xun Xie's earlier progress.
"How long can you hold horse stance now?"
"One stick of incense," Xun Xie replied.
Great Clarity might make him a genius learner, but it couldn't instantly strengthen his body. This frame was still too weak.
That would take time - good food, proper rest, natural growth.
"Young yet. Plenty of time," Yun Shan said, watching him with new interest.
Those moves look... different. Like some immortal's dance... must be seeing things.
Basic exercises can't look that good.
Unaware he'd shown too much, Xun Xie's decision to train alone proved wise. He hummed softly as he headed home.
His body might be at its limit, but genius Xie wouldn't waste this rare god-tier buff! He grabbed the book left by that venomous woman for her sister. Between his modern language knowledge and the cheat, progress came fast. The beginner's text, with its simple pictures and large characters, grew clearer by the hour. In one day, he jumped from complete illiterate to basic reading level - insane progress! And this wasn't even max critical! With a proper scholarly text, scholar Xie might have emerged.
Another dawn.
Xun Xie woke naturally, spinning the wheel with familiar excitement.
Half chance of nothing, a high chance of zero critical, and slim odds of winning. Still, can't help getting excited each morning - this youthful body's enthusiasm is infectious to the mind.
The wheel stopped at the hourglass.
What's this power?
"You spun the lottery wheel and won the grand prize, 10 second Robbery."
"Effective Duration: 1 day."
"Critical not available."
"Active for 10 seconds."
Xun Xie: "Robbery in 10 seconds? What's that even mean?"
"And they call this a grand prize?"
His brain short-circuited trying to make sense of it.
