These past four years Zhi Feng has meticulously trained both his body and mind.
Training the body is no complicated affair all he had to do was perform some basic movements that utilized his body weight such as push-ups and squats, running around the hills for both stamina and speed, and stretching his body for flexibility. He couldn't do much more due to his age and underdeveloped body. So despite being stronger and faster than the other children in the village it is not by a huge margin.
His mind however has seen a huge improvement due to a weird discovery he's made. "I can think much faster, retain more information, and think more clearly." He says to himself. But another reason is the beginning of his studies at the Flowing River Academy. The Flowing River Village can afford to build an academy, even if it can barely be called that, due to its advantageous location near the flowing river which provides an ample amount of food that they can both eat and trade.
At the Flowing River Academy Zhi Feng has learned to read and write Chinese. "With the help of old man Jing I've learned calligraphy and am now quite proficient in it." Old man Jing is one of the few academy teachers and is the only one who can do calligraphy. 'When I heard that I immediately tried to convince him to teach me. Finally, after a few weeks of bothering him and experiencing a lot of refusals, he finally agreed to teach me.' Zhi Feng reminisces to himself.
Calligraphy is one of the four arts of the Scholar's Four arts. They were the four main academic and artistic talents required of the aristocratic ancient Chinese scholars. So they were naturally highly regarded.
I have also made a shocking discovery during the lessons in the academy. It seems that I'm no longer on earth but in an entirely different world. This new world is much bigger than Earth and bears the name Divine Sky world. It has five incredibly large continents each having the average size of Earth's land surface. It has the western tiger continent, the eastern turtle continent, the southern phoenix continent, the northern dragon continent, and the central continent.
That is not the only thing. Martial arts exist and they're not the kind of martial arts you're thinking of. I'm talking of the martial arts that flatten mountain ranges and lift up rivers. Being a martial artist is the most lucrative position in this world, it doesn't matter where you're born and how wealthy your parents are if you're able to become a martial artist you can change your fate. A martial artist is able to enjoy riches and glory beyond the imagination of ordinary people. To ordinary mortals, even a martial apprentice is a dragon among men.
Every child gets tested when they are ten years old. That is when the meridians have grown sufficiently strong enough to be scanned by a martial stone.
"Tomorrow is the day I and the children of the same age will get tested. No matter what I must become a martial artist." Zhi Feng tells himself.