Proving God begins with the principle that no effort is wasted.

Chapter 1 Chaotic World

Yu City, Reed Bend.

In the biting cold wind, the reeds rustled softly. A large boat, as tall as three people, was moored in the bay, its deckboards slamming heavily onto the dock. The men carrying the work each lifted a wooden crate about half their height and groaned as they moved it ashore.

Young Jiang Lan was among them. The hard edges of the wooden crates chafed his old wounds, and the new cracks throbbed with pain. He gritted his teeth and carefully stacked the crates.

I had just finished packing the last box when I suddenly heard a muffled thud next to me.

A laborer carrying a load fell straight to the ground, the wooden crate shattering upon impact, its contents scattering everywhere. Those around were stunned for a moment, then the foreman strode over, glanced down, and waved his hand expressionlessly: "Move it, don't block the way."

Two servants came up, each grabbing one arm and dragging the man to the side. Blood was still seeping from the corner of his mouth, and his face was as pale as paper.

Jiang Lan recognized him; his surname was Wang. He had just arrived last month, and like Jiang Lan, his family's breadwinner had died. She never imagined that after only a month, he would...

"Jiang Lan, you need to put some medicine on your hand." After carrying the last box, Li Antian wiped the sweat from his face, his voice full of exhaustion.

"One dose of medicine costs eight coins, and we only earn six coins a day after working ourselves to the bone." Jiang Lan tore off a piece of the coarse cloth bag from her waist, applied some of the herbs she had ground herself, and hastily wrapped it around the wound on her palm. "It's self-made, so it's worth it."

Li Antian craned his neck, scanned the surroundings to make sure no one was around, then leaned closer and whispered, "The Black Tiger Gang is coming to collect their 'lighting fee' again tomorrow night!"

The Black Tiger Gang, relying on their relationship with the nobles in the mansion, employs hundreds of thugs and is the living devil of this area.

On the fifteenth of each month, they would carry scarlet lanterns and go from house to house demanding money. The black "tiger" character with its claws bared on the lantern could scare children so much that they would cry all night.

Those who couldn't pay the debt would have their youngest son's fingers cut off first; if they still couldn't pay, their wives and children would be kidnapped to pay off the debt—there were never any exceptions.

"Thirty coins! This is the third time this month!" Li Antian's voice was filled with despair. "All the money I saved up over six months has been taken by them. How are we supposed to live?"

Jiang Lan's mother repeated these words countless times every night, looking at the half-empty money jar. The family's seed money for next spring was long gone.

Six months ago, my father broke his back while working hard at this very dock. After enduring half a month of hardship, he held Jiang Lan's hand in his final moments, his lips trembling for a long time before he finally managed to utter three words: "Your mother...you..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was gone.

On the night of the burial, Jiang Lan stood with his mother in front of the stone grave all night. The cold wind stung his face, and as he grew increasingly dazed, a line of burning golden characters suddenly flashed into his mind—

[Destiny Chart: Heaven rewards diligence; no effort is wasted]

From that day on, he considered every possible way out.

Studying? They couldn't even afford pen, ink, paper, and inkstone; the county teachers wouldn't hire peasants. Starting a business? They didn't even have capital, and were constantly exploited by officials and gangs. Honestly doing manual labor? The man surnamed Wang, just dragged away like a dead dog, is a living example.

These people at the bottom of society are like grass in a reed marsh, pressed firmly into the mud by the wind, never to rise again.

I want to live, I want to protect my mother, I want to stop being slaughtered by others—

Only by learning martial arts can one break free from this predicament with their fists.

"Jiang Lan, you're still young." Li Antian placed his rough hand on his shoulder, his voice hoarse. "Don't waste your life like us at this dock. Find another way out."

"The boss said that business hasn't been good lately, plus the government's miscellaneous taxes and the Black Tiger Gang's lamp money," Li Antian sighed, "starting the day after tomorrow, the daily wage will be reduced by one coin."

Jiang Lan's brows furrowed suddenly. After a long silence, she raised her eyes and said, "I plan to learn martial arts."

"Martial arts?" Li Antian was stunned, then panicked, "Jiang Lan, what nonsense are you talking about!"

"Your family can barely afford the light of the lamp, where would you get the money to learn martial arts?" Li Antian's voice tightened. "Er Gouzi from the next village saved up for two years to go to a martial arts school, but they said he wasn't cut out for it, so he wasted his money and is now drowning in debt! And that Zhou guy from the west of the city, he signed a ten-year contract with a martial arts school, and in the end he was so exhausted he vomited blood, and the school kicked him out without paying him a single penny!"

He became increasingly anxious as he spoke, fearing that Jiang Lan might also follow this path.

Jiang Lan listened quietly and then said, "I'm different."

Li Antian was taken aback: "How is it different?"

Jiang Lan offered no explanation.

He couldn't explain it. He pondered that line of golden text in his mind repeatedly, and finally understood its meaning—

[Destiny Chart: Heaven rewards diligence; no effort is wasted]

This is not just empty talk. It's real ability: for him, there are no qualification barriers or bottlenecks in any skill.

Others need to rely on their physical constitution and talent to learn martial arts, but he doesn't. As long as he's willing to put in the hard work, he'll definitely succeed.

This is his only trump card, and the source of his confidence to utter the words "martial arts".

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a heart-wrenching wail suddenly came from the depths of the reeds, mixed with the loud banging of a door, a man's cursing, and a woman's screams, drifting over on the cold wind.

Immediately afterwards, two scarlet lanterns swayed out from among the reeds, and the black tiger characters on the lanterns were particularly glaring in the dim light of the day—they belonged to the Black Tiger Gang.

Li Antian's face turned deathly pale instantly. He grabbed Jiang Lan and pulled her behind the wooden crate, whispering, "Don't make a sound!"

Jiang Lan held her breath and peered through the gaps in the wooden box.

There were five people in total: four henchmen with knives at their waists, surrounding the scarred man in the middle riding a bad horse—the deep scar on his left cheek that ran from his brow bone to his jaw was recognized by everyone at the dock; he was the most ruthless character in the Black Tiger Gang.

They kicked down the door of Widow Zhang's house next door. Widow Zhang screamed as she was pinned to the ground, and the child cried loudly in fright, clinging desperately to the door frame until his fingernails were split, crying out "Mother—".

Scarface Seven yelled at the top of his lungs, "The lighting fee for tomorrow night has gone up! Fifty cents per household! If you're short even a cent, we'll chop off your hand first, then rob you! You all know the rules!"

Widow Zhang knelt on the ground, weeping and pleading, "Sir, my husband passed away last year, leaving only me and my child. I really can't afford fifty coins..."

Before she could finish speaking, Scarface Seven kicked her in the stomach and waved to his henchmen, "If you can't come up with the money, take this kid and sell him to the mine; that'll settle the debt!"

The child was yanked away by the henchmen, his little hands flailing wildly in the air, his cries shrill and piercing. Widow Zhang rushed forward to grab his leg, but was kicked away, her forehead hitting the threshold, blood streaming down her face.

Jiang Lan crouched behind the wooden box, her fingernails digging into her palms.

He watched as the two scarlet lanterns swayed into the next house, the wailing and cursing continuing all the way. The direction from which the child was dragged away, the cries grew farther and farther away, finally disappearing into the wind.

Only after the group of people had gone far away did Li Antian breathe a sigh of relief, pull Jiang Lan to her feet, his hands still trembling.

Jiang Lan remained silent. He looked at the smashed door of Widow Zhang's house, the blood on the threshold, and the cries still drifting from the reeds. He understood perfectly well—

Next up is his family.

Looking at his pale face, Li Antian took out a small, dusty medicine bottle from his pocket and stuffed it into his hand: "Take this medicine and treat your hand properly."

Jiang Lan clutched the warm medicine bottle, her fingertips icy cold.

The golden words resurfaced in my mind—

Heaven rewards diligence; no effort is ever wasted.

The reeds swayed wildly in the wind, and the boy's thin figure stood on the dock, like a sword yet to be drawn.

He tucked the medicine bottle into his coat pocket and turned to walk back.

No matter how much the apprenticeship fee was, he would find a way to raise it. Even if it meant borrowing, stealing, or robbing—

Behind them, the dim yellow lantern on the dock was still swaying, illuminating the group of people who were pressed into the mud.