Chapter 2 - 1: Great Dao is Simple, Archery, Mu City

[Great Dao is Simple: Level 1]

[Lin Chang’sheng: 16/55]

[Cultivation: None]

[Cultivation Technique: None]

[Skills: None]

[Spend a certain amount of silver taels to simplify cultivation techniques, martial arts, etc.]

[Status: Yin Qi Invasion]

"Yin Qi Invasion! No wonder!"

Seeing the status bar on the panel, Lin Chang’sheng’s heart skipped a beat.

The physician couldn’t cure his illness—turns out, he’d been contaminated by Yin Qi!

But now that he had this panel, Yin Qi should be able to be expelled—his body might actually recover!

"Spend a certain amount of silver taels to simplify cultivation techniques and martial arts?"

Lin Chang’sheng stared at the panel, falling into deep thought.

Silver—he had none.

But—

Lin Chang’sheng remembered that his late mother had left behind, at the bottom of the chest, a pair of jade bracelets, a pair of jade rings, and a pair of white jade pendants. Those could be pawned in an emergency. But before he had strength, he didn’t dare try—if he took those things to the pawnshop for silver, Iron Yang from the Cyan Snake Gang would definitely find out.

He didn’t have any cultivation techniques or martial arts either.

Martial Dao experts always kept their techniques a secret. But, if you wanted to learn martial arts and cultivation techniques, you could go to Iron Hand Martial Arts Hall in the city. He’d heard that as long as you had silver, you could pay to get in and learn how to cultivate!

Lin Chang’sheng had heard that the entry fee for Iron Hand Martial Arts Hall was 10 taels of silver.

So, he had to find a way to get some silver first.

.........

Lin Chang’sheng’s house was two li behind Sister Zhen’s Noodle House.

The next day, before dawn, he went to help at the noodle house. In the afternoons, the shop closed for a break.

"Chang’sheng, go to my place and bring back the rolling pin from the yard."

Sister Zhen was kneading dough. She turned her head and said to Lin Chang’sheng.

"Okay."

Lin Chang’sheng nodded and headed to Sister Zhen’s home, which sat two li behind the shop. It was a small courtyard with three tiled rooms. He opened the iron gate and looked for the rolling pin in the yard.

"A bow?"

Suddenly, Lin Chang’sheng spotted a bow covered in dust in a corner of the yard. It looked sturdy. As a kid, Lin Chang’sheng had loved bows and arrows, making his own from bamboo and hemp rope. So, when he saw this bow, he was instantly curious.

He picked it up, drew the empty string, aimed into the distance, and mimicked a shooting posture, flicking it a few times just for fun.

Unable to put it down, Lin Chang’sheng admired the hunting bow, then finally set it aside, found the rolling pin, and returned to the shop.

"Skill discovered: Archery. Spend 1 tael of silver to simplify archery?"

Suddenly, Lin Chang’sheng saw a notification pop up in the corner of his panel—with a ’Yes’ and a ’No’ button.

The panel showed: [Skill: Archery]

"Just by flicking the bow, I got the Archery skill?"

"Spend 1 tael of silver to simplify archery? After simplification, what will it become?"

Lin Chang’sheng opened his eyes wide in surprise, but he was definitely looking forward to it.

"Looks like I’ll have to take the jade bracelet, jade rings, and white jade pendant to the pawnshop in West City and sell off a few pieces!"

Lin Chang’sheng mulled it over and secretly made up his mind.

He only had just over 200 wen coins right now.

That jade bracelet—

If he tried pawning it at an East Street pawnshop, Iron Yang would definitely hear about it.

Better to go to West City, where it wasn’t Cyan Snake Gang turf.

To be safe, he decided to sell things off in batches.

.......

Afternoon.

Lin Chang’sheng put on a big hat, wrapped himself in loose clothes, pulled down the brim, took a jade bracelet and a pair of white jade pendants, and went to the Timely Rain Pawnshop in West City, Mu City. He sold them off for good, got 7 taels of silver, and snaked his way home through alleys, making sure he wasn’t followed, before finally returning to his place on East Street.

Keep in mind, in times like these, 7 taels of silver could feed a family of three for a year and a half. Better to be careful.

Back home, Lin Chang’sheng couldn’t wait to lock his door.

"Simplify Archery!"

Lin Chang’sheng confirmed by pressing ’Yes’.

[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Archery... Simplifying... Simplification complete... Archery == Touching the Bow!]

When the simplification succeeded, a prompt popped up on the panel.

[Great Dao is Simple: Level 1]

[Lin Chang’sheng: 16/55]

[Cultivation: Unranked 0/100]

[Cultivation Technique: None]

[Skill: Archery (Entry Level 0/100)]

[Spend a certain amount of silver taels to simplify cultivation techniques, martial arts, etc.]

[Status: Yin Qi Invasion]

"There’s a skill bar for archery progress now? Does that mean... just touching the bow increases my progress?"

Lin Chang’sheng’s eyes lit up. He remembered that bow at Sister Zhen’s house—she’d said her late husband used it for hunting. Why not go borrow it and try touching it?

"Chang’sheng, if you want to practice with the bow and arrows, just take it!"

At Sister Zhen’s, Yan Zhen heard Lin Chang’sheng wanted the bow lying in the corner and handed it right to him.

"Thanks, Sister Zhen!"

Lin Chang’sheng took the bow, said goodbye to Yan Zhen, and hurried home, trying out touching the bow once.

Right away, he noticed the panel data had increased by 1 point: [Skill: Archery (Entry Level 1/100)].

Lin Chang’sheng immediately held the bow in his left hand, gently caressed it with his right, and watched as his archery skill shot up, steadily increasing until he reached proficiency!

[Skill: Archery (Proficient 1/500)]

At the same time, a flood of archery techniques, tips, and experience flooded his mind, fusing perfectly with his awareness.

Right then—

Lin Chang’sheng felt like he’d been practicing archery for half a year!

At the same time, his eyesight and hearing both improved markedly, and even his strength seemed to get a bit of a boost.

"With this Great Dao is Simple ability, if I can get a Qi and Blood cultivation technique and simplify it, this Yin Qi Invasion on me might just be cured!"

While stroking the bow, Lin Chang’sheng’s heart brimmed with hope for the future.

Generally speaking—

Yin Qi Invasion is most afraid of strong qi and blood. If I can make my qi and blood robust enough, I’ll definitely get rid of this Yin Qi Invasion!

He was done living like a sickly weakling!