Longevity

[Five Animals Health Technique: The five animals harmonize as one; body and spirit are nurtured together, and all diseases are kept at bay.]

[Equipped Attributes: Five Animals Health Technique (Mastery), Longevity]

[Five Animals Health Technique (Mastery): Mastery of the Five Animals Health Technique.]

[Longevity: Lifespan increased by 10 years.]

[Solidification Condition: Consume five organs: tiger liver, deer kidney, bear spleen, ape heart, and bird lung.]

[Equip?]

Looking at the text before him, Zhou Er had gained a general understanding of his golden finger.

Zhou Er came from the 21st Century. While traveling abroad, he had accidentally been blown away by a missile and transmigrated to this world. But for the first sixteen years, he had been unable to solve the Mystery of the Womb and awaken his Past Life Memory.

Unlike his previous life, he had been born into a well-off household this time, but he was a sickly invalid.

An expert had said he wouldn't live past sixteen. Today was Zhou Er's sixteenth birthday, and sure enough, he was on the verge of dying in the night.

At that moment, he had vaguely recovered his Past Life Memory, as if seeing a flash of life before death.

But it was only temporary. The awakening of his Past Life Memory hadn't changed his dire circumstances. He was still a sickly weakling who could die at any moment.

Fortunately, what had returned along with Zhou Er's Past Life Memory were three Equipment Slots.

Equipment Slot was a gaming term; it referred to a place in a game where equipment was stored.

Once equipped, an item would grant various attributes.

Zhou Er had loved playing games in his previous life, so he naturally knew this. He immediately found the Five Animals Health Technique he often practiced in this life and chose to equip it.

As soon as he equipped it, Zhou Er's complexion turned rosy. He no longer looked as pale as before, and finally had the appearance a young man should.

At the same time, his mind was instantly filled with mastery-level techniques for the Five Animals Health Fist.

[Name: Zhou Er]

[Cultivation: None]

[Equipment Slot (1/3): Five Animals Health Technique]

[Unsolidified Attributes: Five Animals Health Technique (Mastery), Longevity.]

[Solidified Attributes: None]

Zhou Er looked over his status panel and saw that it had three Equipment Slots and several attributes.

Attributes were divided into solidified and unsolidified ones. Solidified Attributes remained in effect permanently; even if he removed the equipment later, their effects wouldn't disappear.

Unsolidified Attributes were the opposite. They only took effect while the equipment was in an Equipment Slot. Once the equipment was removed, their effects would disappear.

"Tiger liver, deer kidney, bear spleen, ape heart, bird lung. This world is similar to Ancient China, so they probably don't have any wildlife protection laws. Those things shouldn't be hard to get."

Zhou Er thought it over. Fortunately, for his modestly wealthy household, meeting the solidification conditions for these two attributes shouldn't be too difficult.

It was still dark, and Zhou Er couldn't sleep, so he began practicing the Five Animals Health Fist in his room. Every movement flowed as naturally as if it had been made by nature itself.

After all, this was the Five Animals Health Fist at the mastery level. A martial artist would need to immerse himself in the art for many years to reach such a level.

"Young Master!"

Zhou Er's maid, Cai Huan, entered the room and was shocked to see that he was already up. She exclaimed,

"Young Master, why are you practicing your fist without even getting dressed? Be careful you don't catch a chill."

"I had a flash of inspiration about the techniques today, so I got up to practice a few moves."

Zhou Er had intended to put on his clothes himself, but the garments of a wealthy household in ancient times were covered in ties and fastenings, and were incredibly complicated. He had practically never dressed himself in this life.

After a few attempts, he only managed to tangle the clothes into a mess, so he wore nothing but a thin inner garment and practiced in the courtyard.

He was a man, after all!

A boy to the end.

He'd just gotten his hands on a new set of fist techniques. If he didn't try them out, he'd be itching all over.

"Young Master, sit down first. Let me help you get dressed. If anything happened to you, I wouldn't want to live either."

Cai Huan quickly made Zhou Er sit down, then fetched his clothes and dressed him.

She wasn't saying that just to be dramatic. She was a servant, and Zhou Er was her master.

If anything happened to him, their master would skin her alive.

Zhou Er thought she was making a fuss over nothing, but he remembered that in this life he was a sickly invalid whom the whole family looked after, afraid the slightest mishap might befall him. So he said nothing and obediently sat down.

Once dressed, Zhou Er thought he should go pay his respects to his father. After all, there were rules to be observed in a feudal household.

At the same time, he could tell his father that he wanted to eat Bear Heart Leopard Gall.

After all, his Equipment Slots were limited. He needed to solidify those two attributes as soon as possible so that he could equip new ones.

After washing up, Zhou Er went to his father's room and greeted him.

"Xiao Er, why are you up so early? And why have you come to pay your respects?"

Father Zhou, Zhou Zefa, saw his precious eldest son come in person to greet him and asked with some concern.

Over the years, they had watched Zhou Er's health grow worse and worse. Each year he seemed weaker than the last; before long, he would be more frail than an old man on the brink of death.

"Father! I was thinking that I'm already grown up, yet I've barely ever come to pay my respects to you. So I came today."

Zhou Er replied.

Zhou Zefa looked over Zhou Er's current condition and complexion. He seemed much better than before, with far more energy, which greatly surprised him.

"Xiao Er, you look so much better."

Zhou Zefa said with a smile.

Every man felt a special affection for his first child, especially when the child had been sickly from a young age and lost his mother young. It made him feel even more tender toward him, and all the more guilty.

Zhou Er was Zhou Zefa's legitimate eldest son. Although Zhou Zefa had chosen someone else to inherit the family business long ago, knowing that Zhou Er's poor health would prevent him from taking over, he had never given up on him. He had searched far and wide for doctors and medicine.

"Perhaps the Five Animals Health Technique I've been practicing has started to work, and helped my body recover a little."

Zhou Er said.

He wasn't lying. He really had gained ten more years of life thanks to this health regimen, and that was how he was able to stand there.

"Good! That's good! The Master Cao who taught you the Five Animals Health Fist deserves a reward! Steward Zhao, send Master Cao ten taels of silver."

Zhou Zefa said to Steward Zhao beside him.

"Yes!"

Steward Zhao immediately arranged for someone to deliver the silver.

The ten taels were a bonus on top of the usual payment. They could buy over a thousand jin of grain, so it was no small sum.

"If this fist technique is so effective, I'd like to practice it too."

Zhou Zefa looked at Zhou Er and smiled.

A martial art that could restore Zhou Er's complexion was truly astonishing.

"Father! If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Zhou Er volunteered.

"Good! I happen to have some free time right now."

Seeing this, Zhou Zefa didn't object. He was usually busy with all sorts of trivial matters, and Zhou Er was sickly every day, so he hadn't spent much time with him.

It was a good chance for father and son to grow closer.

They went out into the courtyard, where Zhou Er demonstrated the Five Animals Health Fist and taught Zhou Zefa its techniques.

"Xiao Er, is this how you do it?"

After a while, Zhou Zefa still wasn't quite doing it right, but he could imitate all of the movements Zhou Er had shown him.

"That's about right. You'll need to spend time practicing this martial art."

Zhou Er said.

"Hahaha, we'll practice together whenever we have time from now on."

Zhou Zefa said with a laugh.

"By the way, Father, I've been craving wild game lately. Could you get me some tiger liver, deer kidney, bear spleen, ape heart, and bird lung to try?"

Zhou Er finally stated his real purpose.

"Xiao Er, why do you suddenly want to eat those things?"

Zhou Zefa was a little puzzled.

"Father, I just want to see what those wild delicacies taste like."

Zhou Er said.

"Good! It's rare for Xiao Er to have an appetite. I'll have someone look for them right away."

Zhou Zefa didn't mind the request. He told Steward Zhao to find hunters and buy what they could.

Hunting was allowed in the mountains now. Aside from tigers and bears being difficult to hunt, the rest should be easy enough to find.

As for bird lung, the Zhou Household's kitchen had chicken soup stewing for Zhou Er by noon that very day, and they kept the chicken lungs aside.

After Zhou Er ate them, that completed twenty percent of the solidification condition.

Still, he wasn't in much of a hurry. He had two Equipment Slots left, after all.

But Zhou Er wasn't sure what to equip in those two slots.

He picked up a guard's sword from the household.

[Iron Sword: An ordinary iron sword forged by an ordinary craftsman.]

[Equipped Attributes: Strength Increase (White)]

[Strength Increase (White): Slightly increases strength.]

[Solidification Condition: Defeat the previous owner of this sword.]

[Equip?]

Seeing how simple the solidification condition was, Zhou Er immediately grew interested. It was practically made for him.

"Eldest Young Master, could you give me back my sword?"

Guard Liu asked nervously. He was afraid the sword might accidentally hurt the frail young master.

"No."

Zhou Er took the sword and ran back to his room, locking the door behind him.

"Young Master! Stop fooling around."

Guard Liu called from outside. He didn't dare use force, afraid the young master might get hurt.

Otherwise, he could easily have snatched back his sword.

In the room, Zhou Er secretly equipped the Iron Sword. It disappeared, and he immediately felt his strength increase.

"Now I just need to defeat Guard Liu outside, and this strength will belong to me forever."

Zhou Er felt out the strength in his body and thought to himself.

Then he walked out of the room and said,

"Guard Liu, let's have a match. If you win, I'll return your sword. If you lose, the sword is mine."

Hearing this, Guard Liu was immediately troubled.

It was just an ordinary Iron Sword, but he had spent half a month's wages on it. At the same time, he didn't want to hurt the young master.

"Eldest Young Master, if I lose, could you give the sword back to me?"

Guard Liu pleaded.

"How about this? If you beat me, I'll give you a hundred taels of silver. Will you do it?"

Zhou Er thought about it. He really had been too overbearing just now, using Guard Liu's own Iron Sword as the wager. Of course Guard Liu wouldn't agree.

Now that he'd added something to the wager, Guard Liu really did start to waver.

I'll be careful not to hurt the young master. If I can get a hundred taels of silver, why wouldn't I take the chance?

Thinking this, Guard Liu nodded and said,

"Eldest Young Master, let's take it easy and stop at the first touch. Please go easy on me."

Guard Liu wasn't worried Zhou Er would renege. Even if he did, Guard Liu could always ask Master Zhou Zefa for the money.

Zhou Er smiled and went with Guard Liu to the household's training ground.

"Young Master, if you want a fight, I can fight you. Why are you going up against Guard Liu? He's practiced martial arts for more than ten years and is strong as an ox. Be careful he doesn't hurt you."

Cai Huan said anxiously.

For over ten years, Zhou Er had been weak and frail. Now that he'd finally gotten a little better, he wanted to pick a fight with someone.

"Cai Huan, stay out of it."

Zhou Er was in a hurry to get the attribute. There was no attribute to gain by fighting Cai Huan.

After sending Cai Huan away, Zhou Er faced Guard Liu and assumed his stance.

After exchanging bows, Guard Liu stood still, evidently planning to let Zhou Er make the first move.

Seeing this, Zhou Er didn't hold back. He curled both hands into claws and lunged fiercely at Guard Liu, his movements swift as an eagle swooping down on its prey.

Guard Liu froze at the sight.

Why did the young master's move seem to possess the very spirit of the technique, like something a seasoned master with decades of practice would perform?

Guard Liu did remember that the young master had apparently learned a martial art called the Five Animals Health Technique, but it was a health regimen with no real combat value.

Before Guard Liu could think further, Zhou Er's fierce attack was already upon him.

Guard Liu immediately raised his arms to block. He had thought that he could easily stop this move from the frail young master.

But the force that struck his arm hurt. Zhou Er's strength was almost as great as his own.

After a few moves, Zhou Er shifted his techniques and beat Guard Liu until he could barely defend himself.

Guard Liu didn't even need to admit defeat. Zhou Er had already seen the result.

[Successfully defeated the previous owner of the Iron Sword.]

[Solidified Attribute: Strength Increase (White)]

"Guard Liu, you let me win."

Zhou Er drew back his hand and helped Guard Liu up from the ground.

"Eldest Young Master, was that the Five Animals Health Technique?"

Guard Liu asked, unable to believe it.

He had never imagined that the Five Animals Health Technique could be cultivated to such a level. It truly took him by surprise.

"Exactly."

Zhou Er nodded, then returned to his room, retrieved the Iron Sword, and gave it back to Guard Liu.

Now that he had solidified the entry, he no longer needed the Iron Sword.

"This is what I lost to the young master. Please take it!"

Guard Liu was a man of his word and accepted his loss.

"Guard Liu, you're joking. I only wanted to spar with you. I never actually meant to take your beloved sword."

Zhou Er said with a smile.

Not only that, Zhou Er also gave Guard Liu ten taels of silver as a reward.

Guard Liu had been earning his keep in the Zhou Household to begin with. After the young master offered him a reward, he demurred briefly before accepting it.

Seeing Zhou Er win, Cai Huan secretly rejoiced.

That evening, Zhou Er had dinner with his father, Zhou Zefa, his stepmother, and his younger brother.

A plate of stir-fried ape heart sat in front of Zhou Er, counting as the second of the Five Animals Health Technique's ingredients.

"Er, I heard you sparred with Guard Liu today—and even beat him?"

Zhou Zefa had heard about what happened at noon and asked curiously.

"Father! Guard Liu was going easy on me. How could I possibly beat him?"

Zhou Er said, stuffing himself with green pepper and stir-fried ape heart.

"True enough. Guard Liu has practiced martial arts for years. You couldn't beat him so easily."

Zhou Zefa said with a smile.

During the meal, Zhou Er's stepmother didn't join the conversation. She merely kept glancing at his condition, her mind growing more and more unsettled.

Zhou Er had looked like a sickly invalid on the verge of death ever since childhood, so Zhou Zefa had already decided that her son would inherit the family business.

But seeing Zhou Er's condition now, he seemed to be getting better and better. His recovery might even threaten her son's right to inherit.

This was bad.