Nighttime Upheaval!

Opening the Heavenly Book of Merit, Chen Yan saw that his personal panel had changed.

Name: Chen Yan

Realm: Blood Qi Realm

Merit: Zero

Joy flowed through his heart. Though utterly exhausted, Chen Yan could feel his blood circulating slightly faster, while an indescribable force surged through his limbs and bones.

That was not blood, but something far more profound—the power of blood qi!

With this layer of blood qi empowering him, Chen Yan could feel that his skin, bones, tendons, and muscles had all been greatly strengthened.

Whether in strength, speed, or reaction, he had undergone earth-shaking changes compared to before!

A blood change in one night!

Without practicing any martial arts cultivation technique, without day-after-day and night-after-night of bitter training, Chen Yan had relied solely on the medicinal power of the Great Return Pill to transform from a frail youth into a Martial Master of the First Blood Change.

It could be said that the effects of the Great Return Pill were even stronger than he had imagined.

An ordinary Martial Master might need years, even over a decade, to complete a single blood change. Yet Chen Yan had completed in one night what ordinary Martial Masters spent ten years of bitter effort accomplishing.

Chen Yan could practically imagine how frenzied the Martial Masters of the Martial Dynasty would become if the Great Return Pill were to spread.

The extraordinary effects of the Great Return Pill delighted Chen Yan, but they also made him silently warn himself not to become so pleased with himself that he lost his head!

Going out into the small courtyard to stretch his limbs, Chen Yan felt as though he could punch a cow to death. Unfortunately, though he possessed a body full of blood qi, he did not know any martial arts. Otherwise, he would only have been stronger.

Under the moonlight, Chen Yan worked his joints and muscles while thinking to himself:

Looks like I need to find a way to learn some martial arts.

With that thought in mind, Chen Yan finished stretching and was about to return to his room to sleep when he suddenly remembered Zhao Gang's warning from the day. He turned back and took a firewood cleaver from the kitchen. The blade in his hand gave him a slight sense of security.

Returning to his room, he went to sleep with the cleaver beside his pillow. He had thought something might happen during the night, but in reality, nothing did. The night passed without incident.

The next day, Chen Yan rose early.

Though he had slept for less than two hours, Chen Yan was full of energy and did not feel tired in the slightest.

As unwavering as thunder could not move him, he went to the old woman's house to do physical labor. Even if he could only gain a little merit, ever since tasting the sweetness of "Minor Fortune of Great Luck," Chen Yan found it as sweet as honey.

Unfortunately, aside from doing one good deed a day, Chen Yan had not yet discovered any other way to gain merit.

On his way home, he passed that empty lot from yesterday once more. This time, he did not encounter the Rebirth Cult preaching, nor did he see that strange tall, thin man.

But out of caution, Chen Yan still made a wide detour and turned into a narrow alley.

After taking only a few steps, he suddenly heard a weak cat's cry beside him.

Looking closely, he saw a Black Cat lying on the verge of death in a pool of filthy water at the corner of the alley. Its fur was clumped together, and its entire body was covered in wounds, mud, and grime.

In his previous life, Chen Yan would most likely have walked away. But since transmigrating—especially due to the existence of the Heavenly Book of Merit—he had become far more proactive about accumulating virtue and doing good.

"You little thing sure are lucky."

Shaking his head, Chen Yan bent down and picked up the cat. Perhaps because it feared strangers, the cat resisted quite fiercely. Unfortunately, it was too weak; after struggling lightly twice, it passed out.

After returning home, Chen Yan used clean water to wash away the filthy blood and mud on the cat, applied herbal medicine to its wounds, and wrapped them with gauze. Then he found a piece of old clothing and gently placed the cat on it.

After all that fuss, the cat had already awakened. To his surprise, it was exceptionally beautiful.

Its fur was glossy black from head to toe, soft and sleek, while all four paws were snow-white, like a creature treading snow in search of plum blossoms.

Its body was strong and agile, showing none of a stray cat's frailty. Most eye-catching of all were its eyes: a pair of heterochromatic eyes, one black and one white, without pupils, carrying an eerie, bewitching beauty.

The Black Cat was quite intelligent. It seemed to realize that Chen Yan was helping it and remained especially quiet throughout the process. Only after being placed on the clothing did it let out a soft cry before falling into a deep sleep.

Seeing this, Chen Yan shook his head. As for whether he would keep the Black Cat, he had no plans for that yet.

After all, he was so poor he was nearly unable to support himself.

Speaking of poverty, Chen Yan's face could not help but turn bitter.

As the saying went, one penny could stump a hero. Chen Yan now truly understood the meaning of those words.

All the money on him amounted to less than one tael of patterned silver.

More precisely, it was 948 copper coins.

If it had been before, then by spending sparingly, those 948 copper coins could have lasted him half a year.

But things were different now.

Since his blood change, Chen Yan's appetite had grown by the day. One or two steamed buns used to fill him up, but now, unless he ate two jin of rice per meal, it simply would not be enough.

That did not even account for the sufficient meat and protein he had to consume after the blood change to sustain his blood qi.

With 948 copper coins, forget finding a martial arts hall and taking a master—within another week, Chen Yan would be so poor he could not even afford food!

"I have to find a way to make money!"

Chen Yan could not help gritting his teeth inwardly. He only hated that he had not learned mathematics, physics, and chemistry properly in his previous life. Otherwise, he would not be bringing shame upon transmigrators.

If it comes down to it, I can only go be a laborer first...

After the blood change, if he had nothing else, he had strength. If his brain could not earn money, surely selling his strength could?

With that thought in mind, Chen Yan went into the courtyard to exercise his muscles and stir his blood qi. Though he did not know martial arts, he still knew basic push-ups and squats.

He had long since stopped wearing his padded jacket. The blood change had greatly increased Chen Yan's resistance to cold, and even in nothing more than a short shirt, he could not feel the slightest chill.

He exercised until the moon hung at its zenith and steam rose from his sweat before finally stopping.

He rinsed himself with hot water on the spot. His pores relaxed, and Chen Yan felt thoroughly refreshed and incomparably comfortable.

When he returned to the room, the Black Cat was still deeply asleep. Looking at its sleek, glossy fur, Chen Yan could not help petting it twice. The Black Cat's ears twitched, but it did not wake.

A satisfied smile appeared on Chen Yan's face. He changed into a clean short shirt and lay down to sleep fully clothed.

The night was deep. Clear moonlight spilled down, as though it had laid a layer of snowy silver gauze across the ground.

No one knew how much time passed.

Suddenly!

A piercing cat's cry rang out beside the sleeping Chen Yan's ear:

"Meowrrr!!!"

Chen Yan jolted awake from his dream, sprang up, and seized the firewood cleaver beside his pillow.

Following the sound, he saw that the Black Cat had awakened at some point. Its entire body was pressed low to the ground in an attacking posture, its black-and-white eyes fixed warily outside the room as low growls occasionally rumbled from its throat.

Seeing the Black Cat like this, Chen Yan could not help holding his breath and focusing his attention outside.

The surroundings were dead silent; one could hear a needle drop.

But soon!

"Crack—"

Heavy breathing, accompanied by the sound of sharp teeth chewing, drifted into his ears.

Chen Yan's gaze abruptly sharpened, and his heart tightened.

Someone was in the courtyard!

Taking a deep breath, Chen Yan tightened his grip on the firewood cleaver. He slowed his breathing, quietly stepped to the door, and gently pushed it open.

Through the crack, Chen Yan vaguely saw a shadow crouching in the courtyard, seemingly lowering its head to gnaw on something. The air was thick with the stench of blood.

Soon, moonlight fell upon it, revealing the shadow's face.

Chen Yan looked carefully and saw that the shadow took the form of a Middle-Aged Man. What was strange was that the Middle-Aged Man's skin was bluish-black like a corpse's. His face was covered in blood, chunks of flesh hung from his mouth, and he was clutching a leg bone as he gnawed on it, his expression vicious and terrifying!

"What the hell is that?!"

Chen Yan was startled, and his breathing involuntarily grew heavier.

But that single breath seemed to draw the Middle-Aged Man's attention. The Middle-Aged Man suddenly raised his head, meeting Chen Yan's eyes directly.

This is bad!

Chen Yan inwardly cried out.

"Roar!"

Sure enough, with a savage roar, the shadow pounced toward him, swift as lightning!

Caught off guard, Chen Yan only had time to raise the cleaver before his chest.

Bang!!!

The next instant, Chen Yan felt as though he had been hit head-on by an overloaded speeding truck. A piercing pain erupted in his chest, and his body flew backward out of control. He crashed heavily into the table, smashing it to pieces as splinters flew everywhere.

"Puh..."

A sweetness rose in his throat, and he could not help spitting out a mouthful of blood. Enduring the agony, Chen Yan's face turned pale with shock.

"What terrifying strength!"

Had the blood change not strengthened his body, that blow alone would have killed him before!