On the way to the kitchen, his little brother Wei Geci let out a "ying" to say, "Bro, I've leveled up."
Wei Yuefu already knew without his little brother's reminder—after all, his little brother was his Companion Primordial Spirit.
He checked on his little brother's condition as he opened his panel.
With his little brother's leveling up, he now had a corresponding panel of his own.
[Companion Spirit Entity: Wei Geci]
[Destiny: Dao Transformation (Can fuse with one skill from an identity the one he's bonded to has taken over, replacing that skill to become its skill primordial spirit. Only one skill may be chosen per identity, and once chosen it cannot be changed; upon returning, the skill primordial spirit form is dispelled.)]
[Divine Ability: Creation (While in skill primordial spirit form, automatically raises the level of the skill it has fused with and replaced.)]
[Spell: All Realms (Presets one complete skill from an identity the one he's bonded to has taken over into the skill slot; upon returning, it is brought back and adapted into a spell provided to the main body of the one he's bonded to. Current skill slots: 0/1.)]
Compared to Wei Yuefu, Wei Geci's panel had no Name Register, and it also lacked a rank along with the three attributes of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
But like Wei Yuefu, he too possessed a destiny, a divine ability, and a spell.
It was just that these abilities most likely weren't originally his; they had been converted after he became Wei Yuefu's Companion Spirit Entity.
Until then, Wei Yuefu had never known why the world had ranked him third on the Heavenly Ranking.
Even though his little brother had Heaven Grade aptitude, what did that have to do with him, an Earth Grade? Never mind that his little brother was already gone, with only a spirit entity left.
So it turned out that his brother's power had to be fitted to his own destiny to truly unleash its Heaven Grade strength.
It was just that the restrictions were fairly significant: it had to be a skill of the person he'd replaced, and only one skill could be chosen per identity.
From now on, he'd have to be more careful about choosing skills for new identities.
As for the Ding Shoucheng identity, there was no need for that, since the martial arts in this world were all much the same, with little difference in quality.
The Layered Tower Art forged the physique and generated qi and blood, while the Pagoda Stance nourished qi and blood—these were the practice method and the nourishment method, respectively.
The Bright Hall Force was a combat method that circulated qi and blood through forceful moves.
The foundation was the Layered Tower Art; without it, the nourishment method and combat method that followed would both be useless.
Since the martial arts made no real difference, he would surely choose the Layered Tower Art as the foundation.
Rather than dreaming of some divine martial manual, he'd do better to think about how to eat well in this low martial world.
The saying that a scholar can be poor but a martial artist must be rich wasn't coined for nothing—eating well was the key.
But the crux of the problem was right here... In the entire Sifang Martial Arts Hall, only two and a half people could eat meat at every meal without limit.
One was the hall master Meng Wei, another was the eldest senior brother Meng Zhijie, and the remaining half was that little junior brother who had gone off to the prefectural capital.
"Ding Shoucheng" could only eat meat at one meal a day, and even that was a fixed portion.
Besides the rich food and meat, he also had to drink the great medicine—the two and a half got a bowl a day, while he got only one bowl a month.
Meanwhile, under Wei Yuefu's guidance, his little brother chose to activate, becoming the primordial spirit of the Layered Tower Art.
Once his little brother took on primordial spirit form, the clothes on his body began to change as well.
The clothes turned into a big mascot costume, and his already tiny face, squeezed by the costume, looked even cuter.
And looking closely, the mascot costume was a chibi white elephant.
Wei Yuefu couldn't help reaching out to rub his little brother's face. At the same time, a wealth of insight into the Layered Tower Art kept surfacing in his mind, and his own physique and qi and blood began to stir along with it.
Seeing this, Wei Yuefu had no choice but to temporarily suppress his little brother's cultivation to keep his physique and qi and blood from rising, allowing only the insight to grow.
Cultivation required enough nutrition; the improvement of physique and the growth of qi and blood did not simply appear out of thin air, and if left unchecked, it would train him to death.
Once he let his little brother go, the little brother perched on top of his head, puffed up and going "ying, ying, ying" to show his displeasure.
Wei Yuefu smiled—by then he had already reached the kitchen.
Once inside, he didn't care whether things were raw or cooked; anything edible, he stuffed into his mouth.
"I just knew you'd be in here." A voice full of vigor rang out, and the speaker went on, "Seems you really are all right."
"That doctor misdiagnosed it."
Wei Yuefu didn't even lift his head. Still eating, he went on, "I'm starving. I've got to eat first."
Of course he knew the one who'd come was Meng Wei. Seeing that he hadn't followed, Meng Mingzhu must have gone on ahead to report what happened.
Then, when Meng Wei waited and waited and Wei Yuefu still didn't appear, he naturally came looking for him.
"Eat up. In the match against the Yuanwei Martial Arts Hall this time, you did us a great service," Meng Wei said with a smile. "Eat your fill, and take it as your reward."
At these words, Wei Yuefu stopped what he was doing, lifted his head, and looked at Meng Wei. "The eldest senior brother's reward," he said seriously, "was a thirty percent cut of the Yuanwei Martial Arts Hall's holdings."
"The little junior brother's reward was you calling in a favor to send him off to the prefectural capital to make his career."
"I was beaten into serious injury, and when I came back, I was thrown into the woodshed like a dead dog."
"Never mind any medicine—I wasn't even given anything to eat. You just left me to live or die on my own."
"We're all your direct disciples, yet when it comes to my reward, it just becomes 'have a bite to eat' and that's the end of it?"
"Do you think that's fair?"
Ding Shoucheng had owed the Sifang Martial Arts Hall a debt of kindness, and he had already repaid it with his life.
But the one standing here was Wei Yuefu, wearing Ding Shoucheng's identity, and he naturally had no intention of indulging the man.
What needed to be fought for, he had to fight for—otherwise, how would he fulfill Ding Shoucheng's lingering wish?
Hearing this, Meng Wei couldn't help but stiffen, his expression turning to shock. He had never expected his third disciple—always so honest and dutiful—to speak to him in such a tone.
The disciple had even dared to open his mouth and ask him for things, so he instinctively refused.
But then he reflected that this third disciple truly had been diligent and conscientious all along, and that he himself truly had given him too little.
"Hahaha, Shoucheng, this injury of yours was worth it—you've even learned to ask me for things." Though displeased, Meng Wei kept a smile on his face as he said, "All right, then. What do you want?"
Although he was asking Wei Yuefu, he went on before Wei Yuefu could answer. "Tell you what—I'll allocate you ten taels from the hall, and let you rest for three days."
"I want ten percent of the Yuanwei Martial Arts Hall's holdings," Wei Yuefu said.
The paltry bit of money the man was offering—did he take him for a beggar to be fobbed off?
"What?" Meng Wei thought he had misheard. Once it sank in, his expression darkened. "Shoucheng, what nonsense are you talking?"
"If you hadn't lost your match, we wouldn't have been left relying on Zhijie and Qianjun to turn the tide—without them, we'd have lost this contest."
Shen Qianjun—that was the little junior brother's name.
Hearing this, Wei Yuefu was so exasperated he laughed.
"If the little junior brother hadn't driven the Yuanwei Martial Arts Hall to the wall, and if you hadn't taken his personal affairs and made them the hall's official business, how would this match have ever come about?" Wei Yuefu said.
"Fine, you went ahead and set up something so unfair—let it be; after all, the hall is yours."
"But you knew full well that the Yuanwei Hall's eldest senior brother—the one they call Iron Thread Hand—is no weakling, and you knew I was no match for him, yet you still sent me."
"Whereas the eldest senior brother could beat him with certainty, and the little junior brother had a seventy percent chance of winning."
Chapter 3