Chapter 1

In the second month of the Jianning era, in a residence in Fufeng Maoling, a young man with a furrowed brow paced anxiously in the courtyard, muttering to himself, "Hasn't she given birth yet? Why is it taking so long?"

The young man was about twenty years old, standing over eight feet tall, broad-shouldered and round-waisted, with a distinctive face that somewhat resembled the Qiang people.

His name was Ma Teng, with the courtesy name Shoucheng, and he was from Fufeng Maoling. He was a descendant of the Han dynasty's General of the Pacifying Waves, Ma Yuan. Unfortunately, apart from their illustrious ancestor, the Ma family had declined generation by generation.

By the time of Ma Teng's father, although he had served as the magistrate of Languan County in Tianshui for a few days, he was eventually dismissed from his post. After losing his position, his father stayed in Longxi and lived with the local Qiang people.

Being too poor to afford a wife, he eventually married a local Qiang woman, which is why Ma Teng looked like a Qiang person, as his mother was Qiang and he had half Qiang blood.

Later, Ma Teng's mother passed away due to illness when he was in his teens, and his father also died not long after.

On his deathbed, his father called Ma Teng to his side and said with a weak voice, "Teng, I am about to leave this world. Think of our ancestor, what a hero he was, saying, 'A man should die on the battlefield, wrapped in his horse's hide and returned home.' What a heroic statement! Alas, the Ma family has fallen to such a state, how can I face our ancestor?" As he spoke, tears streamed down his father's face.

"Father, this is not entirely your fault!"

"No, Teng, I am the sinner of the Ma family, I have no face to meet our ancestor, I am ashamed of our ancestors! But I have no more chance to do anything, I can only entrust it to you. You must promise me to restore the glory of the Ma family!"

"Father, I promise. I will do my best!"

"Good, I believe you will succeed. There is a box over there, it contains things left by our ancestor, now it is passed to you. Teng, you must take good care of it..." Before he could finish his last word, Ma Teng's father passed away.

"Father, Father, Father!" Although he was prepared, Ma Teng was still overwhelmed with grief at his father's passing. He knelt and bowed three times to his father, then stood up, wiped the tears from his eyes, and said to his father and to himself, "I will restore the glory of the Ma family!"

Afterward, Ma Teng prepared his father's funeral. Although his father felt he had no face to meet their ancestor, as a son, he still had to bury his father in their hometown. As the saying goes, "A tree may be a thousand feet tall, but its leaves will eventually return to the roots."

Ma Teng sold everything he could in the house, bought a coffin, and brought his father's body back to Fufeng Maoling.

After burying his father, Ma Teng used the remaining money to buy a small house. Although it was not large, it provided shelter from the wind and rain, which was quite good for a single man like him.

He brought nothing from Longxi, except for the box left by his ancestor Ma Yuan. Even if he were to fall to the point of begging on the street, Ma Teng would never dare to sell it.

When he moved the box back to his hometown, Ma Teng did not think much of it. It was only when he tried to move it that he realized he was wrong. The box, though unremarkable and worn, required all his strength to lift onto the cart. He estimated that the box and its contents weighed at least four hundred pounds.

Indeed, the box weighed about four hundred and seventy pounds. Only Ma Teng, with his exceptional strength, could move it. An ordinary person would struggle to lift a hundred pounds, let alone nearly five hundred.

Ma Teng grew up in Longxi, where Han and Qiang people lived together, and the Qiang territory was nearby, so the local people were fierce.

The Qiang people valued martial arts, and almost every household had weapons. The Qiang people, of course, had weapons, and the Han people also needed them, as the area was not peaceful. If one wanted to live there without martial skills, they would only be at the mercy of others.

Ma Teng learned martial arts from the Qiang people since childhood. His mother was Qiang, and he had half Qiang blood, so learning martial arts was natural for him.

He had a strong interest in martial arts from a young age and practiced diligently every day.

Although his talent was limited, his hard work made up for it. Ma Teng's martial skills, both on horseback and on foot, were far superior to the average person. By the standards of the time, he could be considered a second-rate general.

He could lift five hundred pounds with his arms, which was already quite strong. People with such strength were rare, and legends like Xiang Yu were only found in stories.

Ma Teng brought the box back to his house and wanted to open it to see what was inside. However, he noticed that the box was locked.

He thought: My father didn't give me the key to the lock, so perhaps it was lost by one of our ancestors, and no one has opened it since. The lock was so rusty that it could only be broken.

He used his hand to forcefully break the lock, and it snapped with a crack. Ma Teng quickly looked inside the box.

He saw a box full of items. On the left were a stack of bamboo slips, a total of six scrolls.

In the middle was something wrapped in red cloth, and on the right was another item wrapped in cloth, along with a black, stone-like object.

On the red cloth was a letter, but it was not written on paper, but on silk. Ma Teng picked up the silk and unfolded it, reading:

"In my life, I have two favorite things. One is the drum hammer, weighing three hundred and twenty pounds. I have used this hammer to meet all the heroes of the world, and few can match me.

The second is the fish-scale purple gold armor I wear, weighing about thirty pounds. On the battlefield, it has protected me from countless blades.

I now pass these two items to my descendants. The hammer can only be used by someone with natural strength and a love for the hammer. If none of my descendants can use it, I hope they will find a worthy person to pass it to, someone with good character and a love for the country and its people.

At that time, they can give the method of making the hammer, which is recorded in one scroll. The box contains one scroll of hammer techniques and five scrolls of military strategy. The hammer techniques are my own creation, the 108 Drum Hammer Techniques, which can be used with any hammer, not just the drum hammer.

The military strategy scrolls contain my insights from over three hundred battles, and I hope my descendants will learn from them and contribute to the expansion of the Han Empire.

The armor can be worn by any of my descendants, and it will protect them on the battlefield. I also have a piece of meteorite iron, weighing about one hundred and twenty pounds, which I found in my later years. Unfortunately, no one in my time could smelt it, so I entrust it to my descendants to use.

A man should die on the battlefield, wrapped in his horse's hide and returned home! I hope my descendants will strive for this! The letter was signed by Ma Yuan."

After reading the letter from his ancestor, Ma Teng felt a surge of excitement. It was not surprising, as in that era, anyone who thought about expanding the empire would be filled with enthusiasm, especially a young and passionate man like Ma Teng.

Unfortunately, this was just a dream. Ma Teng could barely afford food, let alone think about expanding the empire. He would starve to death before he could achieve anything, so he put these thoughts aside and focused on finding a way to make a living. The feeling of hunger was truly unbearable.

He began to cut wood on the nearby mountains and sell it in the local market, barely making ends meet. This went on day after day.

One day, while on the mountain, he saved a woman who was being attacked by wolves. Fortunately, there were not too many wolves, and he ran fast, or they might not have made it back. However, Ma Teng was still injured, and the woman immediately bandaged his wounds.

After he recovered, the woman often visited his home. Although the Eastern Han dynasty did not have the strict constraints on women like the Song and Ming dynasties, it was still unusual for a woman to act so boldly, almost like a modern person.

Over time, the two fell in love. When the woman's parents found out, they strongly opposed the relationship.

The woman's name was Liu Yuan, and she was sixteen years old. Although the Liu family of Maoling was not a prominent clan, they were still a respected family in the area. They would not want to marry their precious daughter to a poor man with nothing.

However, Liu Yuan was determined to marry him. She cried, threw tantrums, and even threatened to commit suicide, eventually forcing her mother to agree to the marriage.

Once her mother agreed, her father did not object. He was known for being dominated by his wife, and her word was as good as an imperial decree.

Reluctantly, they married her off, with little dowry but a lot of wedding gifts. Her father was upset for days and never treated Ma Teng well.

Time passed, and over a year went by. In the second month of the Jianning era, Ma Teng's wife, Liu Yuan, was about to give birth. Ma Teng was twenty years old, and his wife was seventeen.

It was his first time becoming a father, and he was very nervous and anxious. The only sound coming from the birthing room was his wife's cries, but there was no sound of a baby. As he paced anxiously, the sky, which had been clear, suddenly turned dark and stormy, as if something was brewing.

A bolt of lightning struck the birthing room, creating a large hole in the roof. Just as Ma Teng was about to rush in, he heard a loud cry from the baby.

At the same time, an old voice said, "The heavens have shown a sign, indeed. Congratulations on the birth of your son, the Ma family has an heir!"

Ma Teng was startled by the old man's words. He turned to see the man, who had just spoken, walking from the door. The distance from the door to where Ma Teng stood was at least ten steps, yet the man had already reached him by the time he finished speaking. Ma Teng could not see how the man had moved so quickly, as if he had taken a single step to cover ten steps, which was terrifying.

The old man had a youthful face and a dignified appearance, and his age was impossible to guess. Ma Teng quickly bowed and said, "Old sir, please, I need to check on my wife and child. If I have been rude, please forgive me."

"Of course, of course. Since I am here, let's go together, please," the old man said.

Ma Teng was particularly annoyed, thinking, "Is this my son or yours?" However, he did not show his frustration, as he knew the old man was not someone to be trifled with, being mysterious and powerful.

"Indeed, old sir, please lead the way," Ma Teng said, and they walked together to the birthing room.

As they reached the door, the midwife and the nurse came out, and upon seeing Ma Teng, they congratulated him, "Congratulations, Master Ma, it's a boy, and both mother and child are safe!"

"Good, bring the two ladies to rest and reward them. Also, have someone fix the roof quickly!"

Ma Teng was no longer the poor man he once was. His wife's family was wealthy, and they had given him several acres of land, which provided for their expenses. The large house they lived in was also part of the dowry.

Inside the house, he saw his wife lying on the bed, holding the newborn. He walked to her and took her hand, "Yuan, you have worked hard, you are a hero to our family."

"It was not hard," she replied, then held the baby and said, "Shoucheng, look how much our son looks like you, his eyebrows and nose."

"But I think he looks more like his mother, and he is much more handsome than me."

"He is more handsome, and he is my son. I wonder how many girls he will attract when he grows up."

"Of course, the more the better," Ma Teng said with a smile.

"You, how can you not teach your son to be good? What kind of father are you?"

"That's not it, it's also for the prosperity of our family."

"You haven't named the child yet."

The sudden voice startled the couple. Ma Teng was fine, but his wife, Liu Yuan, was greatly startled. She did not know how the old man had appeared, and who had brought him. Liu Yuan asked, "Shoucheng, who is this...?"

"He is, this, he is..." Ma Teng thought, "I don't know who this old man is, he came by himself, I don't recognize him."

"I am Nan Hua," the old man said, then ignored them and focused on the baby.

"I have already thought of a name. I hope our son will achieve great things and surpass all our ancestors. Let's name him Ma Chao," Ma Teng said, smiling at the baby.

No one noticed, but Ma Chao's eyes were wide open, looking surprised. The reason for his surprise was understandable.

If you were a recent college graduate from the future, and while looking for a job, you were caught in a heavy rain and sought shelter under a tree, and a lightning bolt just happened to strike you, and you were just happened to be transported to the late Eastern Han dynasty, and you were just happened to be reborn as your favorite historical figure, Ma Chao, who also had the same name as you, what would your expression be?

For the sake of the story, Ma Chao is born eight years earlier than in history. This is a fictional story, so some creative liberties are taken. As for why Nan Hua is here, you can guess.

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