Life Isn't Easy, So Big Bro Went into the Flesh Trade

"Mr. Qin, you selected the 688 premium package. We accept cash and cards."

Qin Shi changed back into his original clothes and stepped out of the room feeling refreshed.

Then he heard the receptionist's words, and his pleasant mood vanished completely.

With a long face, he turned to look at Teacher Liang, who had already finished two pots of chrysanthemum tea and kept getting free refills.

"What are you looking at me for? Pay the bill. You had your fun, and now you want to skip out on the payment? Dining and dashing gets you beaten up!"

Old Liang acted as though it had nothing to do with him, looking utterly relaxed as he enjoyed the show.

"Forget it. It costs more for a reason. I'll count it as Body Cultivation!"

Qin Shi gritted his teeth and painfully pulled out his money.

Nearly seven hundred yuan—enough for him and Qin Lan to eat Nutritional Meals in the school cafeteria for ages!

Here, it only got him a back rub, without any extra services at all!

The receptionist smiled.

"Sir, since you are a new customer, our establishment will give you a 188-yuan voucher. We welcome you to visit again."

Just this once!

If I ever come again, I'm a dog!

Qin Shi accepted the voucher with tears in his eyes and stuffed it into his pocket.

He wondered whether he could sell it cheaply to his best friend Zhou Ning and recover some of his losses.

"Look at how stingy you are. From ancient times until now, there has never been a path of Life Force Development that did not cost money. The Old Era often said, 'The poor pursue literature, the rich pursue martial arts.' It wasn't without reason.

I already told you before. The path of a Martial Artist is divided into training methods and combat methods.

The most important step in the former is Body Cultivation."

Old Liang slowly limped down from the second floor, his tone calm.

"Muscle Twisting and Back Stretching, Eight Sections and Nine Joints, qi-sensation circulation... these are all methods of squeezing out your body's potential. If a car isn't sturdy enough, flooring the accelerator will only send it to the scrapyard early!

No matter how durable your physique is, you can't avoid injured joints from boxing and damage to your muscles and bones from training.

Being frugal is a good habit, but you need to know what money should be spent and what shouldn't. Put good steel where it counts!"

Qin Shi understood Teacher Liang's intentions perfectly. Although [Deep Sleep] was remarkably effective and could relieve physical fatigue,

the wear and tear on his muscles and bones from daily high-intensity training was definitely not something a single night's sleep could repair!

As it accumulated over time, once he grew older and his physical fitness declined, it would erupt sooner or later!

Even the top trainers at the gym often said that the human body was like a precise and complicated machine. Without careful maintenance, it could easily stiffen, rust, and become a lump of scrap metal.

"Teacher Liang, I understand the logic. But the 688 package is genuinely beyond my means. I can't afford it."

Qin Shi shook his head. Not long ago, he had still been thinking of working hard to save enough for the registration fee.

By studying diligently and training desperately, he would raise his Life Force.

Now that he thought about it, he had been absurdly naive!

Before he had even entered the field, just Nutritional Paste and massage therapy alone were enough to drain the family's savings!

The enormous sum Eldest Sister had given him seemed like a lot.

But if he spent freely, it would not even last half a month.

"Teacher Liang, I'm so poor now that when I walk down the street, I want to pick up empty soda bottles and stuff them in my pockets to sell as scrap!"

Qin Shi mocked himself.

"Of course I know your difficulties. But expecting returns without making any investment is no different from daydreaming."

Old Liang spoke bluntly.

"In this era, as long as your Life Force level is high enough, there are countless ways to acquire wealth.

Do you know what major corporations call those Heavenly Prodigies who become ranked professionals and earn the title of Martial Artist at a young age? Walking Lodes!

It means that once one is discovered, it can be exchanged for inexhaustible wealth and status!"

I don't have the advantages those young masters from Imperial Capital and Haizhou have either!

Qin Shi grumbled inwardly.

Then he glanced again at limping Old Liang.

This PE teacher had graying hair, a weathered face, and skin as dark as a laborer's.

His lips moved as though he wanted to ask something, but no words came out.

He silently swallowed that ill-timed curiosity.

"I know what you want to ask."

As if sensing it, Old Liang turned to look at Qin Shi. He lowered his head, put a cigarette between his lips, and exhaled deeply.

"I'm old and crippled, so I'm worthless now. I can only hole up in Ninth High School as a poor teacher.

Kid, before I became a dead lame man, I was actually pretty impressive.

At my most glorious, I was only this close to people like Stone Buddha He Lanzhan and Raging Vajra Kou Yunchao..."

Old Liang raised a hand to gesture, and his eyes shone with a brightness completely unlike usual.

In the dim, narrow alleyway, beneath the gaudy red and green glow of advertising signs, with densely packed apartment buildings behind them and the occasional sounds of arguments, shouting, and barking dogs,

this down-and-out middle-aged man with nothing to show for himself spoke of the past.

For some reason, it felt legendary.

Could Old Liang be one of those masters from Old Era martial arts novels, hiding his greatness in the city?

Qin Shi wondered.

Stone Buddha He Lanzhan, Raging Vajra Kou Yunchao...

Every one of them was a First-Generation Sun with unquestionable prestige!

They were also the origin of the Dongxia Martial Arts Association's highest honor, the ultimate title pursued by countless Martial Artists—"Ten Outstanding Heroes of the Generation"!

Never mind standing shoulder to shoulder with them.

Even brushing against their level would have been extraordinary.

It was like in competitive games from his previous life: highly ranked solo-queue kings matched with professional players, elite specialists at the very top.

They could easily look down on more than ninety percent of players!

"A Martial Artist's path is itself a path that lets an ordinary body shatter its shackles time and time again, break through its limits, and be reborn!

It lets people transform. It turns you from a humble, insignificant grain of sand into the brightest and most dazzling star in the universe!

But the premise is that you must accept countless challenges, like coal buried deep underground—burned, compressed, crystallized over long years, and eventually condensed into diamond."

Old Liang spoke from the bottom of his heart. His slightly hunched figure, made so by years of limping, stretched long beneath the streetlamp.

"The starry sea is vast. Splendid cosmic wonders, mighty warbands piloting Divine Mechas, divine clans roaming the universe...

Shi, if you can leave Old Factory Street one day, I hope you won't stop too easily. And don't treat the Tai'an Metropolitan Area or Hengzhou Central City as your destination."

Qin Shi nodded silently, but he did not make any of the impassioned declarations of youth.

Aim high, but keep his feet on the ground—that was what he demanded of himself.

Just as Old Liang had said, the starry sea was vast. Even Eastern Xia's greatest Martial Artists might not be able to measure all of it with their footsteps.

He only needed to take things one step at a time and build a solid foundation.

Every immature boy who dreamed of roaming the world with a sword would eventually cancel those plans because his pockets were empty.

Those who could leave whenever they pleased were usually rich young men born in Rome, not workhorses struggling bitterly to make a living.

"I drank too much, so I got a little talkative. Come early tomorrow. We'll do Muscle Twisting and Back Stretching and Grasping Qi Sensation in the morning, so you can familiarize yourself with the training methods. In the afternoon, we'll practice some punches and kicks. Old Martial Arts may not compare to New Martial Arts in other areas, but it has never lost when it comes to fighting."

Old Liang waved a hand. He had only discovered a promising seedling today, and the passion in his long-silent heart had suddenly reignited, making him lose his composure like this.

"Okay, Teacher Liang."

Qin Shi felt rather regretful. Since he would be training his physical fitness under Old Liang and studying Old Martial Arts,

he definitely would not be able to keep working at Silver Horse Gym.

There went twelve hundred yuan!

He could still continue at the Youth Palace, though.

He would go once a week, work as a teaching assistant, and clean up.

Not only could he earn two daily wages, but he could also mooch synthetic fast food from the cafeteria.

"My life is finally getting on track."

After saying goodbye to Old Liang, Qin Shi happily walked home.

Perhaps Yan Shuang at Jinse Impression was simply too skilled at massage,

or perhaps there was some other reason.

He felt light and refreshed all over, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

His whole body felt relaxed!

"Maybe this is the meaning of life—striving toward a goal, no longer drifting through life in confusion."

Qin Shi put both hands into his pockets and walked home along the alley.

The lights were on inside. Hearing his footsteps, Qin Lan called out.

"Second Brother, is that you?"

"Yep. Did you eat dinner? I brought you some roasted chicken frames."

Qin Shi raised the bag in his hand.

"Eating a late-night snack feels so sinful, Brother!"

Qin Lan smelled the tempting aroma. Her mouth wanted to refuse, but her body was far more honest.

"Then I'll get rid of it for you, so you don't become a sinner."

Qin Shi deliberately said.

"No! You already brought it home. I can't let Brother's kindness go to waste!"

Qin Lan had been a greedy little foodie since childhood. In the end, she could not resist. She snatched the chicken frame and started gnawing on it.

While eating, she did not forget to make grand promises to Qin Shi.

"Brother, I'll handle all the dishes and laundry for the next few days! I absolutely won't let you do a bit of work!"

Qin Shi did not take her seriously. He walked into his room and changed out of his sweat-soaked T-shirt and pants.

He tossed them into the wooden basin outside the room, preparing to add water and wash them.

"Forget it. Save those hands of yours for typing on the computer. Let your big brother handle the dirty, tiring work."

As he rummaged through his pockets, something suddenly fell out.

Qin Lan, who was squatting beside him and gnawing on the chicken frame, casually picked it up. Then she froze.

"Brother... when did you start going into the flesh trade?"

Qin Lan, the youngest sibling, held the 188-yuan Jinse Impression voucher.

In the blink of an eye, she had already imagined the complicated emotional journey of her second brother Qin Shi, helplessly falling into a den of vice and becoming a tool for making money in order to ease Eldest Sister's burden and support the family!

"Can't I have gone there as a customer?!"

Qin Shi snapped angrily.

"Brother, don't worry. I'll keep it a secret!"

As Qin Lan gnawed on the chicken frame, she seemed to understand how hard-earned this food had been.

She did not believe for a second that someone as stingy as her second brother would be willing to spend money on a massage.

"If you really want to take this path, your little sister can introduce you to some 'clients'!

Brother, there are several rich, beautiful girls in my class who love the handsome, tragic, strong type... Ah, stop pinching my face!"

The siblings laughed and tussled, and that warmth drifted into the distance on the cool summer night breeze.

Like a stone falling into the Vast Ocean, it only stirred a few faint ripples.

After washing his clothes, Qin Shi returned to his room.

Text messages flickered and refreshed across his retina.

[The body has received sufficient nutrition...]

[Training intensity is acceptable...]

[Growth Value +100]

The flesh-and-blood embryo within the black frame seemed to squirm, growing slightly.

Qin Shi glanced over the beginner achievement [Muscle Memory], then his gaze settled on the twenty sets of Exhaustion Training.

"Old Liang dragged me off to eat and get a massage today, so I didn't meet the standard. I can't slack off tomorrow."