The sky was covered with dark clouds, and they pressed down heavily, as if they were within reach. Thunder rumbles and rainstorms are coming. At the foot of Datong Mountain, a teenager is struggling to tie up two piles of firewood. He looked at the sky from time to time, and the movements in his hands invisibly sped up a lot.

The boy was only fifteen years old, with a delicate face, long hair and a shawl, a straight nose, and angular lips. But the hands were thick and powerful, and they did not correspond to his age.

When the bundle of firewood was ready, the young man picked up the firewood and ran towards Songjiazhuang at the foot of the mountain with a quick step. He didn't care about the sweat on his face, he just wanted to send the firewood back quickly.

Seeing that Zhuang Yuan was in front of him, the young man's eyes showed a hint of joy, and he quickened his pace. But at this moment, there was a sudden thunderclap in the sky, and suddenly, bean-sized raindrops fell all over the sky like pearls with broken threads. In a moment, his coarse cloth shirt was soaking wet. Songjiazhuang in the rain was no longer very real, and the young man pressed the firewood in front and behind with both hands, and once again accelerated his pace.

Songjiazhuang covers an area of hundreds of acres, the scale is large, hundreds of houses are undulating, and the outside is a two-zhang high wall, which protects all the houses inside. In an area near the southeast corner, there is a large separate courtyard, which is made of large buildings and all bluestone structures, which are very different from the houses in other places. This is the residence of Song Haoran, the owner of Songjiazhuang, and the other houses are inhabited by people with foreign surnames and other surnames.

Lu Cheng picked up Chai He, and the direction he went was Song Haoran's residence. He was a handyman in Songjiazhuang, and one of his daily jobs was to chop two loads of firewood from Datong Mountain. In addition to that, he picks up water, sweeps the floor, and in short, as long as there is chores, he has to do it.

"Cheng'er, why don't you come back sooner. At the side door, there was an old man with gray hair who was looking out from time to time, and when he saw Lu Cheng carrying firewood, he ignored the pouring rain, and immediately rushed into the torrential rain, and forcibly took the burden on Lu Cheng's shoulders with a look of disgust.

"Dad, it's okay. Although Lu Cheng insisted on picking, the strength in his father's hands was something he couldn't refuse.

Lu Zhong is the outer surname of Songjiazhuang, a martial artist with three layers of internal strength, and he is also considered to be in the middle and upper reaches of Songjiazhuang's Zhuang Ding, Lu Cheng has not even reached the first level of internal strength, and he can't resist at all.

"Go back and change your clothes, lest the cold invade your body. Lu Zhong picked Chai He to the firewood room, and said to Lu Cheng who came with concern. I am a person with three layers of internal strength, and a little rain is nothing. But Lu Cheng is just an ordinary person now, and he hasn't even reached the first level of internal strength, so he is not a martial artist at all.

"It's okay, I'll go back with you later. Lu Cheng smiled innocently, just took off his shirt and twisted it vigorously at the door. He could feel his father's love, although he had never seen his mother since he was a child, but his father and his two godfathers gave him much more love than the parents of other children.

This firewood room is very large, and the firewood in it is piled up, but it does not feel messy. All the firewood was stacked in a neat and orderly manner. The firewood that had been split was tied to a square and stacked against the wall.

"Old Lu, this firewood is wet, and it can't be put into the firewood room. Suddenly there was a voice at the door that was neither yin nor yang, it was Song Ping, who was in charge of the miscellaneous courtyard. His surname is Song, although he is a Zhuang Ding like Lu Zhong, and he has no internal strength, but his status is higher. Because his surname is Song, he is a relative of Song Haoran.

"Brother Ping, please come in, it's raining outside. This firewood is just a little rainwater, and it will be fine if it is left here to dry overnight. When Lu Zhong saw Song Ping, although he was disgusted in his heart, his face was full of smiles. If it weren't for Lu Cheng, he would have been disdainful of Song Ping.

"I won't come in, Lao Lu, although Lu Cheng is your son, but no one in the village is related to him? Song Ping frowned, he had a few miscellaneous servants under him, and his power could only control these people. In terms of status, Lu Zhong may be above him, but Lu Cheng is his subordinate, and Lu Zhong does not dare to have a temper in front of him.

"Yes, yes, Cheng'er is still young, and I have to ask Brother Ping to take care of me more. "Lu Zhong is twenty or thirty years older than Song Ping, but in front of Song Ping, he is like a junior.

"Lao Lu, I know you feel sorry for your son, but can you protect him for the rest of your life? If you really want to protect him, you should let him take over your shift as soon as possible. Song Ping glanced at Lu Cheng and said with a sigh.

Lu Cheng is also a child of Songjiazhuang, he is almost fifteen years old, and he has not even reached the first level of internal strength, so he is simply a waste material. That is, Lu Zhong still treats him as a treasure, and in his opinion, Lu Cheng is destined to be a miscellaneous servant for the rest of his life. In two years, if Lu Cheng can't enter the first layer of internal strength, I'm afraid he will be like himself, and he will always be an ordinary person.

Listening to Song Ping's complaints, Lu Zhong could only laugh from time to time. In fact, it is normal for Chai He to rain a little, and the weather in Datong Mountain is changeable, and it is common for it to be sunny and rainy for a while. But if Song Ping wants to hold on to this, he can't help it. In the end, Lu Zhong agreed, and when he sent a monthly order to invite him to drink, he left satisfied.

"Dad, this Song Ping is a snob, why are you so polite to him?" Lu Cheng and several other miscellaneous servants had long seen that Song Ping was not pleasing to the eye, relying on their surname Song, they were arrogant in the village, and often punished them for no reason.

"It's okay, isn't it just a drink. Cheng'er, has your internal strength cultivation progressed?" Lu Zhong asked, he whispered to Song Ping, but he didn't want his son to be wronged.

But Lu Zhong also felt that what Song Ping said made a little sense, and he should urge Lu Cheng to cultivate. He is sixty-two this year, and he has no other extravagant hopes in this life, as long as his son can have a good life. I don't dare to have too high expectations, just be like myself and become the Zhuang Ding of Songjiazhuang.

It is not so easy for ordinary people to become Zhuang Ding, and they must at least have a layer of internal strength. Here, strength represents everything, like he has three layers of internal strength, so he can work in Songjiazhuang for a lifetime. Songjiazhuang is one of the three major families in Datong County, with a hundred years of inheritance. In addition to the dozens of inner disciples of the Song family, there are also hundreds of foreign surnames Zhuang Ding. Most of these Zhuang Ding are the internal strength of the first and second layers, and there are only about a dozen Zhuang Ding of the third layer of internal strength, and as for the fourth layer, there is only one, which is Sun Boyang, the leader of the Zhuang Ding.

This Zhuang Ding power should not be underestimated in the entire Datong County. You must know that there are three families in the entire Datong County, except for Song Haoran of Songjiazhuang, who is the seventh layer of internal strength, and the other two first masters of the family are only at the peak of the sixth layer. Although there is only a slight difference between the peak of the sixth layer and the seventh layer of internal strength, it is this little bit that is an insurmountable barrier. Many people can't break through this barrier in their lifetime. This also makes Songjiazhuang the strongest in the entire Datong County, although it is at the foot of Datong Mountain.

Lu Zhong is a master of three-layer internal strength, and he is at the middle and upper level among the Zhuang Ding in Songjiazhuang, and there are three taels of silver coins per month. If there is no Lu Cheng, he can make his life very nourishing. And if Lu Cheng can reach a layer of internal strength, he can become the Zhuang Ding of Songjiazhuang, and he no longer needs to be a miscellaneous servant. At the end of the year, the master gave a piece of meat or a few feet of cloth, which was considered a great gift.

After leaving the village, Lu Zhong and his son returned to their own home. Before Lu Cheng was born, Lu Zhong, like other Zhuang Ding, lived in the courtyard. Zhuang Ding, who became a family and settled down, may be a child of a foreign clan of the Song family, so he will build a house and settle down outside Songjiazhuang.

With hundreds of years of inheritance, there are already hundreds of such independent houses outside Songjiazhuang. Along with this, there are liquor stores, grocery stores, blacksmith shops, bun shops, leather shops and other shops. If you look at it from a bird's-eye view from the sky, Songjiazhuang is not far behind a town. Of course, most of these shops are controlled by Songjiazhuang, and if outsiders want to do business here, unless they ask Songjiazhuang to become a shareholder, it is basically impossible.

Their home was a small courtyard with a small wooden door, only slightly wider than a human shoulder. The door is not locked, it opens as soon as you push it, and after entering, you can hold a stone lock next to it, even if it is locked. There was a small courtyard inside, with another stone lock and two thick wooden stakes that Lu Zhong was practicing. Although there is also a courtyard wall, it is only less than a zhang high, and it is also rammed, which is not the same as the courtyard wall of Songjiazhuang. There are two rooms inside, with straw on top. The home is not big, but after all, it is your own, and you will feel very warm if you live with your relatives.

Such houses can be seen everywhere in Songjiazhuang, after all, no one can build a house with bluestone bricks and tiles like Songjiazhuang. The people who live alone outside are all derived from the inner village of Songjiazhuang, and their work is still attached to Songjiazhuang, but they live an independent life outside.

"Cheng'er, you are fifteen years old this year, if you can't enter the first layer of internal strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to become a martial artist again in this life. Lu Zhong sat at the dining table made of wood and said earnestly. Since he was five years old, he wanted Lu Cheng to cultivate his internal strength, but until he was fifteen years old, he never succeeded in breaking through the first layer.

He had wondered countless times in his heart, could it be that Lu Cheng was born unsuitable for martial arts training? To talk about wisdom, Lu Cheng entered the public private school in Songjiazhuang at the age of five, and after the age of ten he worked as a handyman in Songjiazhuang. If it weren't for his limited ability, he would have sent Lu Cheng to the county seat to go to the county school a long time ago.

"Daddy......" Lu Cheng secretly complained and looked at Lu Zhong helplessly.

"Cheng'er, I'm here for your good. If you don't work hard, you'll really have to do chores for the rest of your life. Lu Zhong hardened his heart and said sternly.

It's not that he's not interested in cultivating internal strength, it's that as long as he cultivates, he won't be able to settle down, and he will soon "go astray."