“Oh?” Ye Kong stopped in his tracks and looked suspiciously at Ye Wen. Was this guy really so kind-hearted? Showing such courtesy for no reason, he looked just like a weasel paying New Year’s respects to a chicken.

“Eighth Brother, in a few days, it will be the monthly competition. Father will surely attend to watch. By then, won’t you get your wish?”

“Monthly competition?” Ye Kong really didn’t understand. After Ye Wen explained it all, things became clear.

Turns out Ye Haoran wanted to test his children’s martial arts skills and give them more real combat experience, so he established a monthly competition at the beginning of each month in the martial arts arena. During the competition, everyone paired off to spar and determine winners and losers. Winners even received rewards. Since Ye Kong had been an idiot before and hadn’t learned martial arts, he’d never participated.

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Ye Kong nodded. This would indeed give him a chance to see Ye Haoran. However, Ye Wen’s sinister intentions were also crystal clear. This bastard probably wanted to take the opportunity to beat and humiliate him during the competition.

“This competition has rules, right?” Ye Kong asked. The Ye family children varied greatly in age. If Ye Wen fought against eight-year-old Ye You, that would be completely unfair.

Seeing through his thoughts, Ye Wen smiled. “Of course. Every three years is an age bracket. Ye family children can only find opponents within their age bracket.”

Actually, Ye Wen only told him half the truth. In the competition, there was another rule: challenges. Regardless of age bracket, anyone could challenge you, and you couldn’t refuse, but you could find helpers.

When Ye Haoran originally established this rule, his purpose was to make the Ye family children help and cooperate with each other, not to become arrogant and isolated targets.

But Ye Wen exploited this loophole. Think about it: Ye Kong was an idiot, and all his brothers and sisters looked down on him. Where would he find helpers? The only outcome would be getting thoroughly beaten by Ye Wen.

Moreover, and more importantly, from now on every month he could legitimately beat Ye Kong bloody.

By then, even if Second Wife didn’t drive him away, he himself wouldn’t be able to take it and would voluntarily request to leave the Ye Manor. This was the poisonous sc[Read on Jormuntl]heme Ye Wen had献上 献上ed to Second Wife.

“But even if we’re grouped by age, I’ve never practiced martial arts at all. Do I still have to participate?” Although Ye Kong didn’t know Ye Wen’s plans, he didn’t want to take the bait either.

Oh, you’ve all been under the guidance of martial arts masters, practicing since childhood, and you want me, someone who’s never trained a single day, to fight you? Has my brain been waterlogged? Looking to get beaten for no reason?

But Ye Wen’s next words made him completely despair. “Without a legitimate reason, refusing to participate means expulsion from the Ye Manor!”

Ye Kong was extremely frustrated. So he was supposed to stand on the stage like a punching bag and let people beat him? Damn it, what kind of bullshit rule is this? Forcing me to commit suicide?

“Don’t be discouraged though. For each winner, Father will personally teach them a few martial arts moves and give reward money too. Ha ha, make sure you participate.” Ye Wen tossed out one more tempting carrot and left. After all, he had to guard against Ye Kong pretending to be crazy to avoid the competition.

Honestly, Ye Wen’s words were quite tempting to Ye Kong. He originally wanted to learn martial arts from Ye Haoran. If he won in the competition, it would happen naturally.

But Ye Kong was also self-aware. He’d never learned martial arts. What would he fight with? If he had his former robust body, plus his death-defying personality, he could give it a shot. But now with this twelve-year-old body, malnourished and skinny as a bean sprout, he’d only get beaten.

I must learn martial arts! I must get stronger!

Another voice roared and howled in his heart. To make Ye Haoran look at him with respect, to let his mother live a good life from now on, he could only give it his all! Even if he lost, he could still perform in front of Ye Haoran. Maybe he’d be willing to teach him then?

Walking from the inner courtyard gate back to the small house, Ye Kong had already made up his mind. Go! He had to go! He absolutely couldn’t go back to being an idiot. I, Ye Kong, have never been afraid of anyone!

“Kong’er, did you see the General? What did he say?” As soon as he returned, Chen Jiuniang rushed forward to ask.

Ye Kong couldn’t tell her about the competition, or his mother would worry herself to death.

“Mom, when Father saw that I’d recovered, you don’t know how happy he was. He said my body is currently too weak and not suitable for practicing martial arts. He told me to train myself first, and when I’m more robust, he’ll teach me techniques.” Ye Kong said with a smile. Chen Jiuniang didn’t suspect a thing and was so happy she nearly cried again.

“Mom, find me some thick cloth,” Ye Kong quickly said.

“What do you need cloth for?” Chen Jiuniang asked doubtfully.

“To train my body! Starting tomorrow… no, starting now, I’m going to start training my body! I must become stronger!”

Although Ye Kong didn’t have a martial arts instructor, he still understood the basic theories and methods of physical training from Earth.

To become an expert, you had to train your strength, reflexes, speed, flexibility, and ability to take hits. With these, even if he didn’t win in the upcoming competition, at least he wouldn’t lose too miserably.

Ye Kong used the cloth Chen Jiuniang found to sew a cloth bag, put over ten large roof tiles in each bag, then tied them to his legs and began weighted long-distance running training.

Weighted running, weighted squats – these were basic training for building strength, and also the most effective training.

With less than ten days left, time was tight and couldn’t be wasted, so the training intensity was naturally extreme. The roof tiles of Cangnan Continent weren’t light. The dark blue-green large tiles, over ten of them, weighed as much as two red bricks. He tied them to each leg.

Keep in mind he was only a twelve-year-old child. With the equivalent of two red bricks tied to each leg, at first he could barely even walk, but he still persisted.

Every day he ran a circle around the outside of the Ye Manor. He felt like his body was falling apart, but one belief supported him.

I must learn martial arts! I must get stronger!

“Kong’er, wipe your sweat. If it’s too heavy, put fewer tiles in.” Although Chen Jiuniang was happy her son was willing to work hard and improve himself, she couldn’t bear to see him push himself so desperately.

“Mom, it’s fine. I still have to do two hundred pushups.” Ye Kong gritted his teeth. He knew his training was somewhat too intense, but he also knew that to get results in the shortest time, he had to train beyond his limits. Only by exceeding his capacity could he continuously improve himself.

Again and again, surpassing his body’s limits.

Every night, when he lay exhausted on his bed, he felt sore all over. Every joint and every muscle ached terribly, but he was happy. He knew his muscles were growing, his joints were strengthening. That feeling like countless ants crawling in his muscles seemed to be his muscles getting stronger.

Over the following days, all the servants in the Ye Manor saw a small figure running on the paths in the morning, at noon frantically punching the fine sand ground in the small grove, and in the evening appearing by the pond, jumping in the water and swimming several laps.

“Didn’t they say the idiot got better? How did he get sick again?” The Cangnan Continent didn’t have this kind of training method. All this left the servants very confused.

“He must be an idiot again. What normal person punches sand for no reason? Doesn’t his hand hurt?”

“Yeah, this idiot really can take it. We can’t stand hitting it once, but he kept at it for half a shichen.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. The idiot has a bad temper. I don’t want to take his fist.”

End of the month, heavy rain. Bean-sized raindrops pounded down. Everyone hid inside houses. Even small animals retreated under trees.

But Ye Kong still ran in the storm, as if completely oblivious to the rain soaking his hair, clothes, and entire body.

The storm grew heavier. The whole world seemed gray and hazy, with nothing but the sound of rushing water in his ears. On the second floor of a building in the Ye Manor’s inner courtyard, a pair of well-dressed young men stunauthorized copyood by the window, watching Ye Kong running in the rain below.

“Brother, what’s he doing? Has he become even more idiotic?” Ye Wu, Second Wife’s other son, asked.

“He’s training his body. He wants to win in the competition.” Ye Wen said with a cold laugh.

“Train like this? Is he torturing himself?” Ye Wu asked in confusion.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is a method of external training for muscles, bones, and skin.” Ye Wen was quite clear-headed. He didn’t think Ye Kong was going crazy at all.

“A method of external training for muscles, bones, and skin? Didn’t Master teach us that martial arts work from the inside out?” After speaking, Ye Wu asked worriedly, “Brother, do you think he’ll succeed?”

Ye Wen snorted disdainfully. “Working from outside to inside, twice the effort for half the result, inferior methods, difficult to achieve great things!”

After speaking, Ye Wen snorted and pushed the window shut, walking back inside.

Ye Wu also laughed and followed. “Brother, let me have the chance to challenge him this time. I’ve wanted to beat the idiot for a long time. Beating him in front of everyone must feel great…”

“Ha ha, once a month. Don’t worry, you’ll have your chance.”

“No, I heard the third household’s Ye Long and Ye Hu also want to take the opportunity to beat him in public for fun. I’m afraid they’ll get to him first.”

Ye Wen laughed long and hard. “An idiot is an idiot. Everyone wants to beat him for fun. Who knows in whose hands he’ll die?”

The rain stopped in the evening. A moon as large and round as a tabletop rose up. This Cangnan Continent was different from Earth. On Earth, the moon was [visit our site]crescent more days than it was full and round.

But on Cangnan Continent, the moon was full more of the time. Ye Kong guessed it was a matter of the sun’s angle.

At this moment, he’d finished swimming and lay on a smooth large white stone by the pond. Breathing in the post-rain air, he could even feel the energy in the air – a powerful yet gentle force. This made him think once again of immortal cultivation.

“If I could absorb this thin force in the air and cultivate it for my own use, how powerful would that be?” Ye Kong couldn’t help but sigh.

These past few days, he’d gotten to know quite a few servants. Through indirect questioning, he was shocked to discover that only he could sense the power in the air. This made him firmly believe he could cultivate immortality.

However, without an immortal to guide him, he had absolutely no way of knowing how to absorb and cultivate spiritual energy. He had a treasure mountain but couldn’t use it, so he could only temporarily set aside this thought and focus on training his body.

After several days of overloaded training, the effects were quite significant. Although it had only been a few days, he clearly felt his arms getting thicker, his strength increasing, and a layer of blood-crusted calluses forming on his fingers.

“Competition, I’m not afraid of you!” Ye Kong shouted at the full moon.

An Kingdom Calendar, the second day of the eighth month. The day of the competition arrived.

“Mom, I’m going to the inner courtyard to see Father.” After breakfast, Ye Kong stood up to leave.

“Wait.” Chen Jiuniang stopped Ye Kong. Standing before him, she straightened his clothes while nagging, “Kong’er, when you see your father, don’t make him angry. If he scolds you a bit, just endure it. Whatever you do, don’t talk back to him.”

“Don’t worry. Mom, stop nagging.” Ye Kong walked out the door with a smile.

As Chen Jiuniang watched her son’s retreating figure, two lines of clear tears suddenly appeared on her face. She wasn’t stupid. From Ye Kong’s behavior these past days and the gossip ​Read on Jormuntl​that had reached her ears, she already knew her son was going to participate in the inner courtyard competition.

But to let Ye Kong train with peace of mind, she hadn’t said anything, pretending not to know. She just worried in her heart. Now that her son had recovered, these were things he had to face.

But as Ye Kong left, she suddenly had a thought. If possible, she’d rather her son continue being an idiot than have him get hurt.

Once again arriving at the inner courtyard gate, the guards had already received arrangements. They quickly came forward and led Ye Kong toward the martial arts arena.

The martial arts arena was in the northeast corner of the inner courtyard. It was a building with classical Tang-style architecture, covered in black tiles with high-flying eaves. A copper bell even hung under the eaves.

Inside the arena, the space was quite large. The Ye family children stood in several rows according to age bracket. In front of them was a square arena platform raised one meter above the ground. Behind the platform sat a long table decorated with rolling cloud patterns, and behind the table an ornate chair sat empty.

“I heard the idiot is coming to compete today.” Some Ye family child started the conversation, though no one knew who.

“Then we’ll knock him flat and send him back!”

“Ha ha, his brain isn’t empty anymore, so I’ll beat it empty again!”

“He’s been practicing running every day lately, with sandbags tied to his legs.”

“He probably thinks the competition is a long-distance race.”

“Ha ha.”

Ye Haoran hadn’t appeared yet, so the children chatted loudly. Everyone used the most disdainful language to mock this idiot.

“Eighth Young Master, Ye Kong.” Finally, after an announcement, Ye Kong walked in, his figure blocking the morning sun streaming through the doorway.

Hearing this announcement, the huge hall suddenly went quiet. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at Ye Kong entering.

“Ha ha, empty-head Kong has arrived.” The silence didn’t last long. After one mocking laugh, everyone burst into roaring laughter. Unbridled mockery, as piercing as rows of needles.

Ye Kong’s footsteps paused. He looked left and right at the dozens of youths standing inside.

These were all his brothers, born of the same father. But not a single one cared about his feelings. All of them mocked him wantonly. Perhaps, not one of them actually considered him a brother.

One day, you’ll all pay the price for today’s rudeness! Ye Kong thought as he walked to his age bracket.

“Does mocking an idiot really make you all that happy?” Suddenly a stern voice came from behind the platform.

The laughter disappeared instantly. Ye Kong finally saw his cheap father.

Ye Haoran had long occupied positions of authority, served in the military for decades. That tall, sturdy build, tiger nose and lion eyes, plus the pitch-black beard – one glance showed considerable power and prestige.

All the brothers were quite afraid of this father. They all lowered their heads without speaking. But Ye Kong wasn’t afraid at all. He raised his head to look.

Ye Haoran’s gaze was like lightning, his tiger eyes sweeping across everyone. But he clearly had little interest in Ye Kong. When his gaze swept past him, there wasn’t even the slightest pause.

He snorted coldly and stopped addressing the visit our site earlier matter, beckoning to the steward Ye Cai at his side.

The thin, shrewd Ye Cai quickly walked over, lit several incense sticks, and then Ye Haoran led the children in kowtowing to thank their ancestors.

After the simple ceremony, Ye Haoran announced that this month’s competition would begin. After speaking, his eyes seemed to sweep over Ye Kong, though it might have been nothing.

Damn it, old man, you clearly know I’ve never practiced martial arts, yet you don’t speak up. Aren’t you deliberately letting me get beaten? Ye Kong cursed inwardly but had no choice. He listened as Ye Cai announced the arrangements for each pair.

Ye Kong was matched against Ye Long from the third household. Looking at the tall, strong Ye Long, who was no less imposing than an adult, he groaned inwardly.

The first match was between brothers Ye Wen and Ye Wu. Basically nothing interesting. Ye Wen truly deserved to be one of the outstanding among the Ye family’s younger generation. Although he was clearly going easy on his full brother, Ye Wu still lost badly.

The second match was between Ye Hu, the second son of the third household, against Ye Kuang, the eldest of the fourth household. These two were about the same age with similar strength. Ye Hu was known for fierce, powerful strength, while Ye Kuang was famous for light, clever technique. The two fought for a long time with basically no major contact. But Ye Hu’s technique consumed more energy. Toward the end his stamina failed and he was somewhat winded. Finally Ye Kuang found an opening and kicked him off the platform with one foot.

“Third match, Ye Long versus Ye Kong.” Accompanied by steward Ye Cai’s loud shout, the most anticipated match began.