The Origin Story

The next morning, Niu Tan woke up early. He went out and started his meditation as was explained in the Jiang Clan's mental cultivation sutra.

When he went through the sutra in Jiang Fan's memory, he found that after deciphering the method and simplifying it, it wasn't all too difficult.

You used a specific breathing method to control your internal energy and circulate it to nourish your body. This process also slowly increased your internal energy.

After studying the sutra and practicing for a while, Niu Tan quickly understood the principles of this technique.

Through meditation, martial artists strengthened their mental strength which they then used to slowly control and direct the excess energy created by the body in the form of 'internal energy' or 'qigong'.

This is why martial artists required so many special herbs and food, to replenish the energy accumulated in the form of qigong.

As for why meditation and mental cultivation worked like this, he believed it to be some kind of special mutation, which explained why not everyone could be a martial artist and also the difference in people's talent levels.

He had theorized this back in his previous world where some people seemed to be psychic, able to see ghosts or interact with 'gods' and whatnot. Some people were just born mutated while others might need to awaken the mutation.

He would study this later. For now, he focused on his training.

Maybe because his mental strength was leagues above the previous host, he was very proficient and was able to quickly complete the training for the day.

Niu Tan also noticed a peculiarity. With all the meditation and mental strengthening, martial artists should have a brain with much better computation speed.

Why do they waste all that potential in trying to accumulate more power and get stronger?

He lamented at the wasted potential of this world.

No! I will start the school and create martial scientists and martial scholars. I will revolutionize this world if that's what it takes to realize my dream.

As he was lost in his lofty ambitions, someone tapped on Niu Tan's shoulder. He looked back startled, to find a kid looking at him with a wary but expectant gaze.

"Brother, wh-what are you doing?" Xiao Ran mustered up his courage to ask.

He had heard his parents talk about the new guest in the village probably being a martial artist from the cities. And since he seemed amiable, Xiao Ran wanted to ask Niu Tan about martial arts.

At most he would be rejected, it's better than not trying at all is what the 7-year-old Xiao Ran had decided.

Niu Tan looked at the kid. He could see the curiosity burning in the kid's eyes, the hunger for knowledge that he was all too familiar with.

"I am meditating. Are you interested?" Niu Tan asked gently.

Xiao Ran seemed to be in thought for a second before he nodded.

Niu Tan smiled, "Okay then come sit beside me in the same position as me. Close your eyes and breathe slowly."

Xiao Ran followed along. He would ask about martial arts after this meditation thing ended.

"Now focus on your breath and follow your breath from your nose to your lungs. Concentrate on the process." Niu Tan instructed as he observed the kid.

After a few minutes, Xiao Ran was fully immersed in meditation. Niu Tan was pleasantly surprised. He didn't expect a young kid to be so focused.

From his memories, Jiang Fan was very easily distracted and took very long to immerse himself in meditation at that age.

The kid seems to be a good seed. I'll try to rope him into my school. If his curiosity is channeled well, he will make for a great scientist, Niu Tan thought.

While the two were meditating, a voice suddenly startled them back to alertness.

"Xiao Ran! What are you doing here sitting around? Who will go tend to the fields and get water?" A man who looked like a grown-up Xiao Ran, presumably his father, was shouting as he ran toward the two.

Xiao Ran looked scared as he swiftly got up and ran while shouting, "I'll go get the water right away."

Niu Tan looked on as the kid fled and his father chased after him. This was the life of every village kid, working the fields and doing the chores. They didn't have any other option if they wanted to survive.

This reminded him of his own past.

Selvic, his past self, was born in the slums of South Africa. Having had eidetic memory since birth, he only had one traumatic experience after another growing up raised by street girls.

After his legs had enough strength to easily carry him around and he had full control over his body, the kid of four years who had taught himself how to read checked himself into an orphanage run by an American INGO.

Only then was his intelligence discovered and he was quickly hailed as one of the brightest minds in the world. His fall and disgrace due to an obsession came later but that doesn't matter.

Selvic or Niu Tan had never thought about it before but now that it was in front of him, he couldn't help but think about how many kids were out there waiting for an opportunity.

He was by no means a good or noble person. But if something he does can create some good while benefitting him, it wouldn't be too bad, he thought.

He would get great talents to do his work and the impoverished would get the chance they so desperately seek.

Niu Tan decided, he would start his school here in this village. It would be the start of a change that will sweep the world and bring it towards a technological revolution.

But ideals aside, Niu Tan was clearheaded and logical enough to know that starting a small school here in this village wouldn't magically help him accomplish his goals in a few years.

No matter how much the brains of the kids here were juiced up with internal energy, they would still require a systematic education of at least 6-7 years to reach a post-graduate level in one discipline.

With so many disciplines of studies, even if he were to only begin with the basics for each discipline, he wouldn't have enough time to teach them all in his lifetime.

So he had to think of something else.

The problems didn't end there though. This was a world ruled by martial arts so it would be hard to convince anyone to come study at his school when they could go study martial arts.

It didn't help that his students could be scholars but he wasn't teaching them to be royal scholars and officials and take the national examinations for scholars.

Additionally, he was just an unknown teenager, so it was very unlikely that he would get any students among those who can afford to let their children study.

This meant that he had to double down on his initial plans to teach poor and impoverished kids. But to let their parents send them to study instead of working as additional labor at home, he had to provide some incentives.

Building a school, funding it, paying salaries, and paying for the incentives for students to study all cost a lot of money. So, now he needed a medium for constant cash flow.

He could be like the typical transmigrator and create and sell alcohol, soap, clothes, food, and other things from his previous life. He would definitely make a lot of money.

But there were concerns about powerful martial clans or just some gangs taking over. Even if they didn't, with all the hassle of business, how was he supposed to focus on his school?

This was a problem he had to solve soon. So he decided to take a look at the nearby Carp Town the next day. He would see if there were any business opportunities there while also planning for his school.

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The next morning, with the direction provided by the village chief, Niu Tan woke up early and took off to Carp Town. The river carps fished in the nearby Huan River were somewhat famous in the area so the name supposedly stuck.

Although he wasn't a qualified martial artist yet, having been trained at a martial clan since young, Niu Tan's new body was sturdier and faster than most ordinary people's.

He reached the town in the evening without much happening throughout the journey. Xiao village was just that remote and poor. Not even small-time bandits bothered to go there.

Although it was called a town, Carp Town was just a slightly larger village in Niu Tan's eyes. They were better off than the Xiao Village but not by much.

There was just a 6 feet tall stone and mud wall that surrounded the town. It was probably only meant to keep beasts out of the town.

The houses on the outskirts were thatched mud houses. Only in the center of the town where there were some markets, one would find some better housing made of wood. But going by the memories of Jiang Fan, these were still too poor compared to the big cities.

Walking around the market, he didn't see too many shops, there were only the essentials like food grains, clothes, tools, blacksmiths, carpenters, and such. There were also some hawkers selling snacks. But overall, the economy couldn't be any more stagnant.

Since it was already getting dark, he decided to stay in an inn for the night.

He still had 2 silver taels that Jiang Fan somehow managed to keep in his pocket while being beaten to death and thrown into the river until he washed up to the Xiao Village.

He had tried to give one tael to the village chief as compensation for food and stay but the old man had refused. One silver tael could feed an entire family of four for a month after all.

After asking around, Niu Tan found the only decent inn in the whole town and walked in. The first thing he saw was a rather portly man in rather expensive clothing talking to his subordinates.

Judging by the carriages outside, they were probably a merchant caravan passing through the town.

"Get the carriage fixed by tomorrow morning. We will set off before sunrise!" the man irritably ordered.

Niu Tan didn't linger for long and booked a room and ordered some noodles before going to sit by the side.

The portly man had already noticed Niu Tan and his clothes. So, as soon as Niu Tan sat down, he walked over.

"Hello, friend. Are you perhaps in this shanty town because of a similar problem to ours?" Yan Qi, the portly man asked with a smile.

Despite being very fat, the smile on Yan Qi's face was very charming and not the least bit ugly or displeasing. This is an experienced merchant, Niu Tan thought.

"No, I came here by choice. I am planning to live around here permanently." Niu Tan said honestly. He wanted to talk more to this merchant who stuck out like a sore thumb in this town.

Yan Qi was instantly interested. A youth who seemed to be from a well-off family, coming to live this far out. There must be a story!

"I'm Yan Qi. You don't mind if I sit here, do you? I think we will have a great conversation tonight." Yan Qi asked but sat down before getting any reply.

"Sure. I think so too Brother Yan. I'm Niu Tan." Niu Tan went along with Yan Qi's fake familiar speech.

Yan Qi quickly ordered his subordinates to bring a bottle of wine. And the merchant and the youth then started drinking while chatting.

Niu Tan learned that Yan Qi was from a merchant family in Yan City, one of the 10 largest cities in the Qian Kingdom.

Normally not many merchants took the route around this town due to it taking a longer time than other routes. But Yan Qi saw that the route through this remote countryside was much safer even if it took a few days longer.

He just stopped trading perishable goods and used this route to avoid bandits and martial sects asking for protection fees. The strategy was working and Yan Qi was making a substantial profit.

Unluckily his caravan met some bandits this time and even though his guards easily fought them off, some of the carriage wheels were damaged and needed repair.

Listening to Yan Qi's story, Niu Tan thought highly of the merchant in front of him. Although it was not something like a great chess move, Yan Qi had effectively strategized and saved quite a lot of money.

But this also got him thinking about something else. Why didn't the merchants use the river for transport and travel?

The Huan River ran through the large Qian Kingdom, so it was a great transport route in Niu Tan's eyes. Not to mention all the other rivers it was connected to within the Qian Kingdom and some neighboring nations.

So Niu Tan voiced his doubts, "Why don't you guys transport the goods through the river?"

Yan Qi looked at Niu Tan as if he was asking why he was so dumb.

"Brother, the boats can't go upstream on such a long journey with so much cargo."

The moment Niu Tan heard Yan Qi's answer, he knew he had found his goose that laid golden eggs.

There weren't any large transport vessels for the rivers and seas yet in this era. They had boats for short distances but for long voyages and large cargo, the ships were not developed yet.

For the first time, Niu Tan was thankful for the muscle-brained martial artists who slowed down the technological innovations in this world.

He could capitalize on this opportunity and sell designs for galley ships to make a profit.

The only issue was that he wasn't strong enough individually to guarantee his own safety. If people got greedy for his ideas, he wouldn't have any way to keep himself safe at the moment.

"What if I say that I can help you design a large boat that can tread the river both upstream and downstream while carrying all the goods in your caravan right now and some more?" Niu Tan asked.

The slightly tipsy Yan Qi laughed out loud thinking it was a joke but he froze when he saw Niu Tan's serious face.

"Brother Niu, are you serious? Can you tell me more about it?" He sobered up instantly. He could already hear the gold flooding in from the distance.