New Residence

"This place is nice. It's only a little over a hundred paces from the martial arts school, so coming over to practice in the morning will be very convenient."

Shi Yi looked over the residence Zhao Cheng had asked someone to show him and was very satisfied.

It was a single-story house. The floor area was not particularly large, just over a hundred square meters by calculation—slightly bigger than his home on Blue Star, and more than enough for one person.

It was not far from the martial arts school either, located diagonally across from it, only a little over a hundred meters away. It matched his requirements perfectly.

The cost was not expensive for him either: two taels of silver a year. Of course, that was only for Shi Yi. For ordinary people in Anyuan Town, it was already extremely costly.

After all, changing one's fate through martial arts training at the school only cost ten taels of silver. If even renting a house cost this much, ordinary people naturally could not afford it.

But for Shi Yi, it was not much. He still had more than ten taels of silver on hand, and there was plenty more at his home on Blue Star.

For the time being, he was not short of money.

At Blue Star's price of a little over seven yuan per gram of silver, ten taels of silver amounted to less than four thousand yuan.

His family gave Shi Yi more than twenty thousand yuan in monthly living expenses. Converted over, that was more than fifty taels of silver each month.

Not to mention that Shi Yi had savings of his own, giving him even more money to use.

If he took the initiative to ask his family for money, they would certainly transfer it to him as well.

"I knew Junior Brother Shi Yi would like this residence. I looked at several places, and this one caught my eye."

Hearing this, Zhao Cheng said with a smile.

Anyuan Town only had a house rental business because it was near a branch road off the official highway. Otherwise, small towns generally only dealt in buying and selling houses, with rental businesses being rare.

Much less places that met Shi Yi's requirements.

Outsiders looking for lodging would generally only choose to stay at an inn.

"Senior Brother Zhao, I've troubled you again today."

"Once the rental matters are settled, this junior brother will treat you to drinks at Moon Gazing Tower. I hope Senior Brother Zhao won't refuse."

This place was quite good in Shi Yi's eyes. In particular, renting a residence so quickly would save him quite a bit of time.

If he handled it himself, it would take both time and effort.

"It's a trivial matter."

"But since Junior Brother Shi Yi is taking the initiative to treat me to drinks, I certainly won't refuse."

"Just in time for this senior brother to congratulate you on moving into your new home."

Zhao Cheng agreed with a smile.

One could also see a person's character and abilities through interacting with them.

Shi Yi's conduct left Zhao Cheng with a rather good impression.

Blue Star.

After Shi Yi returned, his phone had accumulated quite a few new notifications.

Most of them were news alerts.

There was also one from the class group chat, tagging everyone and mentioning matters related to the final exams.

Shi Yi carefully checked the specific examination time and the examination room assignment sheet, then tapped to complete the group task.

Afterward, Shi Yi put down his phone and assumed the Four Levels Body Solidifying Stance, Jiazi Tianchen, and Ruowang Suitian—the three moves from the Blood Essence Chapter of the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Strength Training Fist—inside his room.

"Sure enough, it's almost useless."

"That red aura in the air of the Central Great World is the crucial medium for raising Blood Essence."

"Without that vital medium, practicing these techniques produces extremely weak results."

Shi Yi gave it a brief try, then gave up.

These movements could strengthen the body and improve one's health on Blue Star, but there was simply no way to achieve the effects he had gained while training at Anyang Martial Arts School.

"No wonder I've never heard of anyone wielding extraordinary energy on technologically advanced Blue Star. This place simply lacks the environment needed to cultivate extraordinary experts."

"The true inheritance techniques of Anyang Martial Arts School can only become false techniques here. Well, that isn't entirely right—they can at least still strengthen the body and improve one's health."

Shi Yi sighed faintly, then stopped dwelling on it.

He had expected this to some extent.

He had previously searched through all kinds of ancient texts, Daoist scriptures, and Buddhist texts for a way to advance into the extraordinary, but every attempt had ended in failure.

Looking at it now, it would have been strange if he had succeeded.

"I'll first export the footage from the camera and see who touched my package."

Shi Yi took out the miniature disguised camera he had placed in the Anyang Martial Arts School dormitory. He needed to confirm which people in the school had a problem.

Those who had not touched his package did not necessarily bear him no ill will, but anyone who had touched it certainly harbored ill intent toward him.

Even if he did not take revenge now, he still needed to watch out for those people.

With caution in his heart, he would be less likely to fall into a trap.

Before long, the footage had been transferred onto his computer. Shi Yi dragged the progress bar and began reviewing it.

"Five people actually touched my package. That really is rather unexpected!"

In the footage, aside from Yu Daqiang, who had actively tried to get close to him, four others had touched his package.

Among those four was someone who appeared simple and honest.

When Shi Yi had previously observed him with his double pupils, he had not noticed anything unusual about the man.

Of course, that was also because the man had already left the dormitory by the time Shi Yi opened his package. When Shi Yi observed him afterward, he had already missed the best opportunity, and the man had shown no abnormality.

Such people hid deeply. Compared to someone like Yu Daqiang, whose problems were obvious at a glance, they were far harder to guard against.

"Sure enough, I still can't underestimate the abilities of the ancients."

"Although the double pupils let me see more, they cannot let me directly see through people's hearts and human nature."

When some things were hidden away, they simply could not be seen clearly.

If he relied too heavily on his double pupils to make judgments, he might make mistakes.

This was where technological tools showed their value as aids.

"When I return to the Central Great World this time, I need to bring back more things."

"Especially beef. I should buy more and try using it to aid my cultivation."

"If it does not work well as a cultivation aid on Blue Star, I'll bring it back to the Central Great World and eat it there, then test its effects on cultivation again."

Shi Yi naturally had not forgotten Zhao Cheng's reminder.

Meat helped cultivate and nourish Blood Essence, with beef being particularly effective.

While drinking with Zhao Cheng earlier, Shi Yi had also asked him about breaking through to the Blood Essence Realm.

Upon breaking through to the Blood Essence Realm, one's Blood Essence and strength would greatly increase. Yet those manifestations were internal, invisible to outsiders.

In other words, even if Shi Yi broke through to the Blood Essence Realm, Zhao Cheng would not be able to tell unless Shi Yi deliberately showed off his strength.

After learning this, Shi Yi decided to cultivate normally and no longer restrain the pace of his breakthrough into the Blood Essence Realm.

As for when he would publicly appear to have broken through to the Blood Essence Realm, he still chose fifteen days. While drinking with him, Zhao Cheng had mentioned the evil deeds of the gangs in Anyuan Town, including matters targeting martial arts school disciples.

The person at Taiyuan Martial Arts School who had broken through to the Blood Essence Realm in nine days had been crippled, seemingly for this very reason. Zhao Cheng had also warned Shi Yi to be wary of those gang members.

"When my strength is weak, keeping a low profile must come first."

"External things like firearms may protect me for a while, but they cannot protect me for a lifetime."

Zhao Cheng had told Shi Yi about martial arts experts whose names resounded throughout Great Zhou. They no longer feared firearms, and some even possessed battle power capable of destroying cities and severing mountains—terrifying beyond measure.

If he drew too much attention and caught the notice of such experts, he might find himself in danger.

After all, when he traveled to the Central Great World, the traversal ability required time to recharge before it could be activated again.

That gap in time was his dangerous period.

After steadying his mindset, Shi Yi chose to head out.

There were quite a few things he needed to buy this time.

Not only did he need to buy meat such as beef, he also needed to add some detection and surveillance tools to his new residence. He would also set up a few traps to prevent anyone from entering the house to harm him.

For the sake of his own safety, making more preparations was naturally necessary.