Entry Level

The sky was not yet light.

Chen Xia was practicing the Seven Injuries Fist in his room.

The Seven Injuries Fist had twelve practice diagrams, showing single punches, double punches, or various stances like turning and crouching. There were a total of twelve cultivation diagrams.

Each different stance was paired with specific breathing techniques and methods for circulating qi. Chen Xia had already memorized all the cultivation content.

After practicing diligently during this period, Chen Xia had basically mastered it.

At this moment, the primal qi within his body was tempering his physique and nourishing his five viscera, strengthening his body.

While practicing the Seven Injuries Fist, Chen Xia also concurrently practiced knife techniques. In his room, there was a large saber, forged from good steel and issued by the Patrol Inspection Office. It was a standard piece of equipment alongside the electric baton. The ordinary members of the Patrol Inspection Office did not possess firearms.

Chen Xia had never used this large saber to injure anyone, but when he wielded it, empowered by the force of the Seven Injuries Fist, it cut through the air with a powerful whoosh, possessing considerable might.

Before breaking through to the Eighth Stage, Chen Xia was at the Seventh Stage of Ningyuan and possessed a certain level of martial force. Now, his movements were even more swift.

The knife technique he practiced was not an officially ranked technique; it was the basic military saber technique of the Patrol Inspection Office, mastering fundamental skills like horizontal chops, vertical chops, and diagonal slashes.

Swish, swish! The saber light flashed as Chen Xia immersed himself in his practice.

He focused primarily on the Seven Injuries Fist, with the basic military saber technique as a supplement.

Seven days later.

A voice echoed in his mind.

[Seven Injuries Fist (Entry Level)]

The Seven Injuries Fist had advanced to Entry Level. As Chen Xia practiced, his skill deepened.

The faint primal qi within his body gradually increased in quantity. Due to practicing the Seven Injuries Fist, this qi, when circulated, transformed into a special Seven Injuries Inner Strength.

"According to the introduction of the Seven Injuries Fist, if the Seven Injuries Inner Strength in my body reaches a certain amount, I can injure an enemy's viscera just by touching them with my bare hands."

"But my internal energy is not sufficient yet; it needs further cultivation!"

Chen Xia attempted to throw a punch. The qi within his body surged to his shoulder and then struggled to circulate further. This was due to insufficient quantity.

The power of the Seven Injuries Fist lay in this internal energy that could harm both self and enemy. However, it had a flaw, which is why it was classified as a lower-tier inner method with a low rank.

Now that Chen Xia had reversed it, once mastered, he could injure enemies at will without sustaining any harm himself.

Therefore, the reversed Seven Injuries Fist, with its lethality and its effect of nourishing the five viscera, would be stronger than ordinary upper-tier inner methods.

He dared to make this assessment because Chen Xia had researched online. Ordinary upper-tier techniques could not enable someone at the Seventh Stage of Ningyuan to advance to the Eighth Stage in less than a month. They certainly couldn't allow for further improvement in a short period after advancement, but the Seven Injuries Fist could achieve this.

Upper-tier inner methods often cost hundreds of thousands, or even millions for better ones, making them unaffordable for the common folk.

This was merely the preliminary basic martial art; there were also complementary body-tempering martial arts and even more expensive martial skills.

Chen Xia possessed an upper-tier inner method, which was considered high-end in the lower-class world.

Furthermore, among techniques of the same level, inner cultivation methods were more expensive than martial skills because they formed the foundation of a person's physical strength.

Thus, Chen Xia was quite satisfied with the Seven Injuries Fist.

While practicing, Chen Xia also thought about the incident at his second aunt's house.

He wondered what would happen to his cousin.

However, he could only help up to that point; he couldn't manage the rest.

That day, Chen Xia could sense his second aunt's husband's attitude. He must have felt that Chen Xia hadn't handled the matter well.

But they didn't know that if the Chief Captain hadn't taken pity on him due to the replacement of his Deputy Captain position, he wouldn't have even passed on a message to them. Their situation was already considered fortunate.

However, Chen Xia wouldn't explain much.

Sometimes, even after helping, putting in effort, and seeking favors everywhere, one might not receive goodwill from the other party once the matter is concluded.

Fortunately, he was gratified that he wasn't at a loss, as his second aunt had given him fifty thousand yuan.

He had initially intended to return the money, but then he considered that his family was in need of money, and he had indeed helped. He felt he deserved it.

Knowing that his second aunt wouldn't accept it back, Chen Xia didn't dwell on it. After receiving the money, he gave forty thousand to his mother to alleviate some of the family's financial pressure. He planned to use the remaining ten thousand to cultivate himself.

He intended to visit the store when he had free time to see if he could purchase some potions with side effects, ideally to break through to the Ninth Stage of Ningyuan in one go and become a Martial Warrior.

He already felt that he wasn't too far from breaking through to Martial Warrior.

This period was the fastest growth phase for Chen Xia, and his inner confidence gradually grew.

"Even though the Seven Injuries Fist is only at the entry level now, I'm already close to becoming a Martial Warrior. If I can master this technique to perfection, my cultivation will be even higher."

A smile appeared on Chen Xia's lips.

Martial arts were generally divided into Entry Level, Minor Completion, Major Completion, and Perfection.

The strength displayed varied with different techniques and cultivation levels, and one couldn't solely judge a practitioner's strength by their technique alone.

Generally, one looked at the overall strength of a Martial Warrior.

At least for now, if Chen Xia faced someone else at the Eighth Stage, even if they had a technique at Major Completion, as long as their overall strength was at the Eighth Stage level, they might not be able to defeat him.

He glanced at the time; it was almost eight o'clock. Chen Xia ended his martial arts practice.

"Mom, I'm going to work."

After morning practice, the sky was no longer early. Chen Xia greeted his mom and quickly rode away on his bicycle.

He didn't go to the Patrol Inspection Office immediately, but instead went to a Martial Arts Hall about a kilometer away.

He found a deserted corner and threw three consecutive punches at the target.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"960kg!" "958kg!" "966kg!"

"Almost breaking 1000kg!"

Chen Xia's gaze flickered to the data, and his fist tightened.

Although the world was now full of spiritual energy and people's physical fitness had generally improved, ordinary people who didn't practice martial arts had a punch force of only around 160kg.

So, this data was quite good.

With Chen Xia's skill and speed, if he unleashed them, he could directly kill two or three armed bandits, preventing them from getting close.

For ordinary people without weapons, the data could double.

Of course, Chen Xia wouldn't get arrogant. After all, there were many masters in this era, and compared to them, this data was insignificant.

For Chen Xia himself, this was already a very good growth rate. In the past, he would still be a little nervous during some Patrol Inspection Office arrest operations, worried about casualties. Now that his strength had greatly increased, he was much more confident when encountering similar situations.

"Still quite handsome..."

Passing by the mirror on the wall of the Martial Arts Hall, Chen Xia examined himself and found that his eyes had gained a certain spirit. At the same time, his physique was slightly stronger than before.

He had a lean and tall build. He used to jokingly call himself a "skinny dog," but now his physique was slightly sturdier, making him look very energetic.

Although he was twenty-eight years old, his fair and well-defined facial features gave him a youthful appearance, making his exact age hard to tell. He used to look a bit haggard, but now he appeared even younger.

There were also slightly bulging muscles on his body, not exaggerated, but they looked strong and healthy.

"When I get off work today, I'll go buy some potions and see if I can achieve a reversal. I still have ten thousand yuan, I don't know if it's enough."

Chen Xia muttered to himself, then tidied his clothes and walked out of the Martial Arts Hall.

"Patrol Inspector Chen, leaving?"

"Yeah, I'll come again next time."

"Alright... you're always welcome!"

When he left, the owner of the Martial Arts Hall was very enthusiastic, and the martial artists around also greeted him.

Although Chen Xia was at the bottom of the Patrol Inspection Office, he carried an air of authority outside, earning him a fair amount of respect.

At least, he was the patrol officer for Xingou Street in this area, and no one foolish enough would dare to provoke him.

Of course, Chen Xia had also bought a membership card at this place, so he wasn't taking advantage of them.

His card only covered basic practice sessions and didn't include services like coaching. He couldn't afford those. But it was enough for Chen Xia to test his data.

Leaving the Martial Arts Hall and getting on his bicycle, Chen Xia finally headed to work.

However, when he entered the Patrol Inspection Office today, he found a lively scene outside, with quite a few people gathered.