Shen Xiu's gaze locked, and the vivid image of that senior brother sending a few-hundred-jin water buffalo flying with a single punch instantly flashed through his mind, stirring an eager impulse in his heart.
Thus, Shen Xiu wanted to try out that senior brother's stunt as well, though with some restraint.
He immediately jumped down the riverbank.
Then he walked light-footedly over to the ox.
The ox was still leisurely chewing on water weeds, completely unaware of what was about to happen to its bovine life.
Just as Shen Xiu approached on tiptoe, he suddenly whipped around in a fierce, swift turn!
Taking advantage of the ox's inattention.
With lightning speed, he grabbed one of its legs with each hand, exerted force, and hoisted the beast right off the ground in a split second.
Before the ox could react, still with half a blade of grass clenched in its mouth, the abrupt change in scenery left it utterly dazed. It stared up at the blue sky with wide, uncomprehending bovine eyes.
A moment later, it snapped back to its senses.
Treading the air with all four hooves kicking wildly toward the sky, looking panic-stricken, it let out a terrified bellow of "moo," entirely bewildered by what had just occurred.
Beneath the beast, Shen Xiu felt only a heaviness in his arms, but he could still manage. He carried the large yellow ox forward a few more steps before setting it down.
The moment the ox hit the ground, it gave a fierce kick and trotted away.
Then it stood far off in the distance, staring with two massive, terrified, and bewildered eyes at the bipedal creature that had just hoisted it up.
Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying for a cow!
In a flash, it recalled a good little companion from its youth, who had just been peacefully grazing by the river not long ago before being slapped flying into the distance.
That terrifying memory of the figure resurfaced, and the large yellow ox immediately began to tremble in its limbs, huddling by the riverbank and shivering.
It wanted to run away from home; it wanted to leave this river!
This surely counted as the strength of an ox now.
Ignoring the frightened ox frozen by the riverbank, through this experiment Shen Xiu understood the chasm-like gap between Body Tempering and Tendon Refining.
It wasn't that he was weak; it was simply that Senior Brother Lin Yuan was too strong.
Shen Xiu mused that he would still need to consume more of that Monster Tonic Soup in the future. If not for that bowl of Monster Tonic Soup pushing him that final step, stepping into the Body Tempering realm would have taken another few days.
His experiment concluded, Shen Xiu returned to the quarters.
The moment he stepped into the courtyard, Wang Si, who had just emerged from his room, instantly fixed his gaze on Shen Xiu and couldn't look away for a long time.
"Shen Xiu, you're not right. You are very not right."
Wang Si circled Shen Xiu twice, his eyes darting all over him as he muttered to himself.
In just the span of an afternoon, he suddenly felt his roommate had somehow become a bit different, though he couldn't quite put his finger on where the difference lay.
Shen Xiu merely smiled without answering, instead asking him, "How is your practice of the White Tiger Fist coming along?"
The martial art Wang Si had originally chosen was the White Tiger Fist. Back then, Shen Xiu had tried to dissuade him and analyzed the reasons why, but Wang Si hadn't listened and chose the White Tiger Fist anyway.
Hearing Shen Xiu bring it up, Wang Si's expression flushed with shame.
"Don't mention it. I'm actually starting to regret it. To this day, I can't even display half of its power. If I had chosen the Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming Skill like you, I could have learned it right along with you."
Yet once a martial art was chosen, it could not be changed.
Wanting to switch was out of the question unless one became a formal disciple.
At this, Shen Xiu could only pat him on the shoulder in comfort.
That afternoon, he resumed his daily chores. The most prominent change brought by his breakthrough in realm was that doing these physically demanding tasks no longer felt exhausting at all.
After bustling about for an entire afternoon, Shen Xiu still felt completely at ease—this was presumably the benefit of the Body Tempering Realm.
Yet as time went on.
Its drawbacks gradually began to manifest. After reaching the First Realm: Body Tempering, Shen Xiu discovered that his appetite had multiplied several times over.
The rations originally allotted by the hall were barely enough to sustain him.
Now, between the provisions assigned to a miscellaneous chore disciple and his occasional purchases of meat, he watched the silver coins accumulated in his pouch vanish at a visible rate.
Regarding this, Shen Xiu felt rather helpless. As a miscellaneous chore disciple, one naturally faced the predicament of lacking resources, unless one managed to become a formal disciple.
Yet the assessment for formal disciples was still two months away.
Left with no other choice, Shen Xiu had to lower his standards and squeeze out more time to guide others in exchange for remuneration.
Yet even these earnings had attracted the eyes of others.
"Shen Xiu, I heard you've been instructing quite a few registered disciples lately!"
One morning, just as Shen Xiu stepped into the back kitchen carrying two wooden buckets, he heard Steward Yú's grating voice.
With a beaming smile, Steward Yú continued, "Well, kid Shen, do you know the rules for taking on jobs in our Jínhóng Martial Hall? Since you carry the status of our martial hall's disciples, the earnings from any jobs you take on must be split with the hall. Just think about how much silver you ought to hand over to me."
Shen Xiu's expression remained unchanged. He pondered for a moment before replying.
"Steward Yú, when the hall prescribes task revenue splitting, doesn't that refer to tasks undertaken by formal disciples? It doesn't seem to mention miscellaneous chore disciples. It's not that I'm unwilling to hand anything over, but there are no relevant written rules in the hall. Why don't you go ask the Hall Master to add one, Steward Yú? Once I see it, I'll surely comply strictly."
Shen Xiu's reply was neither servile nor overbearing, but Steward Yú's face grew progressively darker and exceedingly displeased.
Ask the Hall Master to add one? Hall Master Yang Jinhong had been injured the previous year while fighting off the Chihuo Bandits roaming nearby, and due to recuperation, he had barely been seen since.
Now that he had recovered, he had gone into seclusion for several months in order to break through to the Guicang Realm—where was he supposed to find him? Even if he weren't in seclusion, Yú wouldn't dare approach him over such a trivial matter.
Unwilling to look at Steward Yú's obstructive figure any longer, Shen Xiu sidestepped him and headed toward the well to draw water.
Having stayed in the Jínhóng Martial Hall for over a year, Shen Xiu had roughly figured out the hall's rules.
The profit-splitting rule mentioned by Steward Yú indeed existed, but it applied exclusively to formal disciples.
The Jínhóng Martial Hall wasn't a charitable institution. Once a miscellaneous chore disciple passed the assessment to become a formal disciple, they received a higher monthly stipend, an ample supply of meat and fish, and medicinal tonics to aid their cultivation.
They were also freed from tedious chores, but in return, they were required to complete a few tasks assigned by the martial hall each month.
The earnings from completed tasks were then split three-seven with the martial hall, with the disciple keeping thirty percent and the hall taking seventy.
Shen Xiu couldn't really judge such rules; after all, most martial halls in this world operated this way.
Some were even far more vicious.
Moreover, it was a willing arrangement—you wanted the opportunity to learn martial arts, while the martial hall wanted a hefty sum of silver; neither side could truly be blamed.
In the days that followed, Shen Xiu maintained his rhythm, practicing the Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming Skill and tempering his physique every day.
Having just entered Body Tempering, he still had a long way to go before the first body-quenching and the two subsequent ones, but by instructing a few disciples besides Jian Shuhao, his pouch finally managed to keep him from starving.
Soon, a month passed, and the atmosphere inside the martial hall suddenly turned somewhat peculiar.