Well then, let’s practice. Practicing might get you killed, but not practicing will get you killed even faster. There weren’t many choices to begin with—barefooted people aren’t afraid of those with shoes.

Brian Carter decided to learn boxing from Lily while also making time to practice flying sword techniques.

Chapter Twelve: Learning Boxing

“Hah! Hah! Hah!”

Brian Carter was practicing boxing on a secluded patch of open ground outside the village.

“Zimen Boxing” was a low-grade Yellow-tier martial art, which came with some basic cultivation techniques. With persistent hard work and thorough mastery, there was a chance to advance to the first level of internal strength and officially step onto the path of a martial artist. However, due to the limitations of the manual itself, advancement required time and accumulation.

On the path of martial arts, in some ways, talent isn’t the most important thing—the most important thing is actually resources.

Among the masses, countless people with talent never get the chance to shine due to a lack of resources, and end up fading into obscurity, unable to even make use of their own gifts. It’s like a poor child who can’t even get enough to eat—how could they have the strength to practice martial arts?

Living in poverty-stricken, remote areas, busy all day just to fill their stomachs, there are tens of millions who spend their whole lives stuck at this stage.

As for hoping that one day a reclusive master will suddenly appear, pat your head, and praise, “Your bones are extraordinary, a beam of spiritual light shoots from your crown—you’re a once-in-a-million martial arts prodigy”...

Such odds are truly slim, about as likely as a daydream.

Therefore, for an individual, once you’ve set your direction, tireless effort is the only sure way to stand out.

In life, you compete with others, you compete with the heavens—competition is everywhere.

Without courage, how can you stand your ground? Without hard work, where can you find a place to settle? Only when your own strength is great enough will you have a future.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

His steps were steady, his punches precise—this was already the thirtieth round.

The “Zimen Boxing” techniques were simple, with no flashy moves. Though low-level, it was solid and reliable, very suitable for beginners. Precisely because of this, when Lily taught Brian Carter, it wasn’t too difficult, and Brian Carter could understand and grasp it.

It’s worth noting that teaching is a skill in itself.

Brian Carter shifted his steps, and when he reached the edge, he suddenly punched out, striking a pine tree in front of him.

Bang!

A dull thud sounded, the trunk shook, and the snow piled on the branches was shaken loose, falling down and turning his hair and eyebrows white. He looked just like an old man.

This scene happened to be seen by Lily, who was walking over. She couldn’t help but laugh and called out in a crisp voice, “Big brother, stop practicing and come inside for dinner!”

“Alright, let me do one more round, then I’ll come back.”

Brian Carter replied, but his hands and feet didn’t stop, and he began the thirty-first round of practice—back then, he had painstakingly saved up spirit rice, just hoping for such a precious chance to become a martial artist; now that his dream had come true, he wasn’t willing to waste even a second.

Lily heard him, quietly stuck out her tongue, and stood prettily to the side, waiting.

After finishing this round, Brian Carter finally stopped, slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, and left the small grove to return to the village for a meal.

The food was simple: besides rice, there was a plate of wild vegetables and a plate of beast meat. The wild vegetables were foraged, and the meat was hunted.

After recovering from her injuries, in order to earn resources for living, Lily dressed as a boy and went out hunting with the village hunters. With her first-level internal strength, she was more than up to the task.

She went hunting, while Brian Carter stayed in the village—the situation had reversed, and now she was the one taking care of Brian Carter.

There was no helping it. At the moment, Brian Carter was just a novice. Before he had cultivated enough skill, his hunting efficiency was far inferior to Lily’s, and it would even be dangerous for his life.

As the saying goes, “Shame leads to courage.” If he wanted to change this “living off a woman” situation, the only way was to work hard—really hard!

You had to remember, even though the Zhou family hadn’t made any moves recently, who knew if they might search all the way to Kuangbei Village? If they came knocking, things would get very dangerous.

If there were a better place to go, Brian Carter would have already taken Lily and left Kuangbei Village, moving to a village even farther from Zhongnan City. After all, staying in one place too long was very unsafe.

After eating and resting for a bit, Brian Carter threw himself back into hard training.

Cultivation consumed a lot of energy, so when he was tired, he would take out some spirit rice to eat. He still had several pounds left, and would eat a few grains from time to time to replenish his energy—the effect was quite good.

Those born into good families usually ate spirit rice as a staple, absorbing its spiritual energy, which was even more beneficial and made their cultivation progress much faster.

This was the huge advantage of having resources—winning right from the starting line.

Usually, Lily also practiced boxing, but her intensity was much lower than Brian Carter’s. She had been stuck at the first level of internal strength for a long time, blocked by a bottleneck. Simply practicing “Zimen Boxing” wouldn’t help her break through—she needed to find an opportunity.

Brian Carter originally wanted her to eat spirit rice to supplement her nutrition, but the girl firmly refused. There wasn’t much spirit rice left—barely enough for one person’s cultivation, and splitting it between two would make it even less.

After an hour, Brian Carter, drenched in sweat, took a nap to restore his energy.

In the afternoon, it was time to practice flying sword techniques.