Chapter 7 The Troubles of the Young Wang Anfeng

Having left Li Bo's residence, Wang Anfeng first sold the chopped firewood, then fed the pigs at the innkeeper's, and afterward curled up in his own house to study the Buddha beads in his hand.

He vaguely remembered that it was after putting on the wrist guard that he arrived at Shaolin, so now that the wrist guard had turned into this string of beads, it should be somewhat similar.

But no matter how he flipped it over and over, there was no response at all. Frowning and pondering for a moment, the youth cradled the wood-like beads and tentatively spoke out:

"I want to enter the Shaolin Sect, to find Master Yuan Ci..."

"Beep—Young Hero, your online time today has already exceeded one hour, you cannot enter the great Jianghu world before twelve o'clock today, please come back tomorrow."

As expected, the crisp and pleasant female voice arose near his ear. Since he had anticipated it, this time Wang Anfeng didn't jump, but he still looked at the Buddha beads with surprise and curiosity on his face:

"Could it be that there is a girl living inside this bead… But how can she fit inside?"

"Is it like what Li Bo said, some kind of ingenious contrivance?"

"Is the outside world really that interesting?"

The youth lay down on the bed, flipping the Buddha beads in his hand, feeling a strong desire for the outside world for the first time in his heart. Thinking that he could see Master Yuan Ci again tomorrow, he felt overjoyed. However, at this moment, his heart suddenly leaped, and he rolled over and sat up, exclaiming:

"Bad! Bad!"

"Master Yuan Ci told me to swallow the Qi-absorbing pills and practice Inner Strength, but I haven't trained..."

He hurriedly grabbed the rough porcelain bottle from the wooden table and held it in his hand. Following Master Yuan Ci's previous instructions, he sat cross-legged, calmed his mind, and then carefully opened the bottle stopper. He was greeted by a fragrance that made his body feel warm. Seeing that it was getting dark outside, he put it directly into his mouth and swallowed it without water.

As soon as the elixir went down his throat, it turned into a fairly large flow of heat that surged into his meridians. The silent Inner Qi in his Dantian was stimulated and surged, carrying the power of the elixir. Driven by Wang Anfeng, it rapidly circulated within his body along the route of Yi Chan Gong.

When the heat from the elixir dissipated, he took out a second pill and put it in his mouth. After three hours of meditation, where most would have grown impatient, he, a first-time martial arts practitioner with a pure mind, actually found it enjoyable.

He opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. There wasn't much change in his Inner Qi, but it seemed to have stabilized a lot. He was just about to feel joy when a thunderous rumbling noise from his stomach, an unprecedented feeling of hunger, nearly floored him. He quickly tumbled off the bed, reheated the leftover cornbread in a hurry, and gulped it down. Only after getting something in his stomach did he feel much more comfortable. He let out a sigh of relief, only to see that he had completely devoured the food meant to last two days, and also felt a headache coming on.

If he was going to eat like this after every training session, the silver coins he earned from chopping wood and feeding pigs would hardly be enough to fill his stomach, let alone provide for Li Bo. A wave of annoyance washed over him, his face fell, and he stood in front of the stove, looking at the empty steamer with a frown and sighed:

"Ah~"

..................

Lying flat on the bed with his eyes wide open, Wang Anfeng stared for several hours, unable to sleep, until the first light of dawn appeared and the neighbor's rooster strutted and crowed crisply. Only then did he realize that he had been lying in bed for an entire night.

Yet he still had no ideas in his head. With a sigh, suddenly a thought entered his mind.

He might not know, but perhaps his master would have a way!

A hint of light sparked in his eyes, and Wang Anfeng picked up the string of beads, speaking hurriedly, "Miss, I want to enter Shaolin!"

"Beep—Please find a comfortable environment, the grand world of Jianghu will be opened for you shortly..."

Accompanied by a crisp and pleasant female voice, Wang Anfeng's body was enveloped by a ray of light and disappeared without a trace, not even the Buddha beads remained on the spot, as if there had never been a young man tormented by hunger and his own soaring appetite, unable to sleep all night.

Wang Anfeng only felt a blur before his eyes, and when he reappeared, he found himself sitting on a bed, with the area around already brightly lit. He could hear the sounds of martial monks practicing their punches outside, and while still slightly dazed, someone pushed the door and entered. The man had a serene face, with a hint of Jianghu heroism—it was Ci Yuan. Seeing Wang Anfeng, he nodded gently and said:

"It seems you have awakened. Follow me, as today I will teach you the basic fist techniques of our Shaolin Sect."

"Master..."

Upon seeing Ci Yuan, Wang Anfeng first respectfully saluted, then followed the young monk, hesitating as he walked. Finally, he gritted his teeth, reached out to tug on the hem of Ci Yuan's monk robes and said timidly:

"Master... I have a matter I wish to ask you about..."

"What is it?"

"It's just... it's just..."

Wang Anfeng's face flushed with embarrassment, he bit his teeth and whispered like the buzz of a mosquito, "After practicing the 'Yi Chan Gong,' my appetite has grown tremendously. I—I want to know if there is any way to earn some silver coins. Otherwise... otherwise, I might not even be able to afford food..."

"Food?"

Ci Yuan's face briefly showed surprise as streams of blue data began to race through his eyes—eating in the game served to replenish stamina and had recovery and buffing effects, much like special elixirs, but the boy's words seemed like a problem from the real world, unable to be processed by the main server, with only character-based responses possible. However, the game character's settings should not include things from the real world, right?

The young monk's step froze, his dark pupils turning a deep blue. Once severed from the server, due to Wang Anfeng's words and an inexplicable force, errors began to appear in the program, disrupting the original settings continuously.

As his body began to tremble slightly, a vast and primordial force emerged from the inception of this world and instantly appeared in the real world, covering the small village. Every conversation between the people turned into data, converging together. This force disappeared in the blink of an eye, but the knowledge of the real world transformed into system data, accessible to many central characters in a comprehensible way.

The data streams in Ci Yuan's eyes collapsed instantly, and his eyes returned to their calm, dark shade, though they seemed more vibrant than before. After a moment of bewilderment, his gaze fell on Wang Anfeng's worried face. The monk seemed puzzled, as if recognizing who he was, and then he chuckled softly:

"No worry, don't fret, I just thought of something..."

"You mentioned earning money for food... that's quite simple. The Jianghu is vast with many different crafts. You can learn some life skills, whether it's cooking delicious food or gathering herbs to make elixirs, all of which can ensure you live well 'outside'..."

"For instance, we in Shaolin focus on External Cultivation, which is quite suitable for logging and mining. It not only earns some silver coins but also allows for practicing martial arts."

"Logging and mining? Practicing martial arts?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Anfeng first felt a touch of relief, but then he heard the words "practicing martial arts" and his expression froze with surprise. The young monk in front of him turned his body to the side, his lips curving into a meaningful smile that made the boy shiver under the sunlight.

"That's right, practicing martial arts."