The Inner Canon

"I knew it. I was right..."

After maxing out his experience in Bone Setting Essentials, Chen Feng had gained an entirely new understanding of his own body.

Qi Blood came from where, flowed to where, and nourished which bones.

He knew it all by heart.

With deliberate control, he could feel Qi Blood circulating through his meridians more freely.

Before, if he wanted to improve his realm, he could only rely on practicing his fists, repeating the Five Elements Fist Technique over and over.

Now, Chen Feng could apply what he had learned in new ways. He no longer had to rigidly pound his bones with his fists.

He could even use the rise and fall of his Qi Blood with every breath of the Tai Chi Profound Origin Technique to improve himself!

It was slower, but he was making progress at every moment, like spring rain quietly nourishing all things.

He had truly reached the point where even his breathing made him stronger!

Chen Feng picked out a few more medical books, all works of the Inner Canon like the Internal Realm Diagram and Collected Records of the Five Viscera.

After Bone Tempering came the Viscera Quenching Realm, so he might as well buy those books now and save himself another trip.

Chen Feng tucked the books under his arm and walked out of the bookstore.

A hint of worry creased his brow.

"I only spent a few days as a Medicine Boy before maxing out Grasshopper Step. Now I'm short on experience again..."

When he had first crossed over, he'd always thought he'd never run out of experience. Now that he was short of it, he finally understood how precious it was.

Suddenly, a few shouts rose from not far away.

They came from a Pastry Shop.

Chen Feng vaguely remembered its name. Was it...

Shengfangzhai.

Before he became an apprentice, he'd bought a few pastries there as a gift, so the shop had left a deep impression on him.

The pastries were expensive. Those few pieces alone had cost him Two Liang Silver.

Fortunately, his master had thought they tasted good.

Otherwise, Chen Feng definitely would have...

Never gone back.

Curious, Chen Feng glanced toward the entrance of the Pastry Shop, only to see a group of burly men surrounding it.

Fortunately, he was tall enough to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside.

At the center stood the shop's young owner, wearing a long skirt and positioned behind several guards.

But the guards were clearly far outnumbered by the burly men who had come to cause trouble.

Chen Feng shook his head, not wanting to meddle.

"What do you think you're doing?! This shop belongs to the Fuxing Merchant Association!"

The guards' angry shout carried through the noisy crowd and reached Chen Feng's ears.

Chen Feng stopped in his tracks.

The Fuxing Merchant Association?

Wasn't that Meng Zhaowu's family's association?

Outside Shengfangzhai.

A group of gang enforcers in short jackets, each with a fierce look on his face, had surrounded the Pastry Shop so completely that not even a drop of water could get through.

People nearby kept their distance, afraid to provoke the group. They stayed well away, let alone going into the shop to buy anything.

At their head was a young man with long hair.

He idly twirled a folding fan in his hand, but there was nothing refined about him. With the enforcers behind him, he looked more like a street thug.

The guards outside the Pastry Shop looked grim.

Still, they kept the woman behind them.

The young man tossed his head, casually sweeping the long hair from his forehead, then spoke slowly.

"Zhiwei, we go way back. I won't make things difficult for you. Pay the management fee, and my men will leave. Otherwise, don't blame us for being ruthless and disrupting your business."

Meng Zhiwei said nothing. She just glared at the long-haired young man.

But no matter how fierce a frail young woman's glare was, it had little power to intimidate.

The young man gave a smile that never reached his eyes.

"Don't be so resistant. We at Yicheng Hall are quite reasonable. As I recall, most of the shops on this street belong to your Fuxing Merchant Association, don't they?"

"What are you planning?"

The young man pretended to consider it.

"Hmm... How about this? Any shop on this street registered under the Fuxing Merchant Association only has to hand over half its monthly income."

"Fifty-fifty. Not bad, right?" With a sharp snap, the young man flicked open his folding fan and waved it gently.

"In your dreams!"

Meng Zhiwei refused at once. How could she possibly agree to something like that?

Half their income every month.

How could they run a business like that? Besides, what kind of rule was it that you couldn't do business without paying protection money?

The association had bought these shops with real silver. They weren't meant to pay tribute to Yicheng Hall.

"Don't get so worked up. It's not like we can't negotiate. Think about it. If I keep bringing people here to block your shop, you won't be able to do business, and I won't make any money either. What a waste."

"But if you agree, we both win. It's always better to make money in harmony."

The young man made no effort to conceal the threat in his words.

Meng Zhiwei knew he could easily make good on it. These enforcers were shameless enough to block the shop every single day.

They didn't even need to lay a hand on anyone.

All they had to do was line up outside the entrance.

Who would dare come in to buy anything?

But Meng Zhiwei couldn't give an inch. The moment she did, they would take it as permission to push even further, until they swallowed her whole.

"You can forget it. I will never agree." Meng Zhiwei flatly refused.

"Looks like you still don't understand the situation..." The young man clicked his tongue and gave the burly enforcers behind him a look.

The enforcers understood. They all stepped forward at once, tightening the circle around the shop.

The guards drew their weapons in alarm and warily faced the enforcers.

Meng Zhiwei's heart trembled, but she kept her composure. "People from the Fuxing Merchant Association will be here soon! I advise you not to act rashly."

To her surprise, the young man burst out laughing.

"That's hilarious! Your Fuxing Merchant Association can barely keep itself afloat, and you're still trying to bluff!"

"Not just this street—East Street, West Street. Every shop belonging to your association must be in a panic. Who has time to come here and help you?"

His sharp, mocking words stabbed into Meng Zhiwei like a hundred needles.

Her face drained of color.

What he said was true. The association really couldn't spare anyone. Recently, several major gangs had inexplicably started grabbing market share and fighting over business.

They wanted to monopolize everything.

If it had been ordinary competition, that would have been one thing.

But they resorted to every dirty trick in the book, from threatening people to blocking entrances and smashing shops.

These hooligan tactics were surprisingly effective, and legitimate merchants had no way to deal with them.

Many merchant associations had already been driven out of business.

Others had attached themselves to the gangs, scraping up the scraps that fell through their fingers.

The Fuxing Merchant Association was one of the few still struggling to hold on, but it was already showing signs of fatigue.

"I'll ask one last time. Do you agree or not?"

The young man's voice grew impatient. He folded his fan and tucked it behind his back.

One of the guards murmured to Meng Zhiwei, "Young Lady, we'll do our best to hold them off. Stay inside and don't come out."

Meng Zhiwei's face had gone pale.

There was no point hiding. How could that thin wooden door stop these men?

And with Yicheng Hall's men surrounding the shop, there was no way to escape.

Thinking about what might happen if they caught her, Meng Zhiwei clenched her hands until they turned white. Her nails dug into her flesh, but she didn't even notice the pain.

"Haha, now that I'm this close, I can see President Meng's daughter is quite the delicate flower."

"Isn't she, though? I've admired Miss Meng for a long time..." One of the enforcers licked his lips and looked at Meng Zhiwei with ill intent.

A chill of revulsion ran through her.

He still hadn't gotten the answer he wanted. At last, the young man lost patience. He tossed his hair back and waved his hand to give the order.

"Looks like you're not interested in 'cooperating.' Then don't blame me for crushing a flower and showing no mercy. Brothers, get them!"

Several enforcers shouted and prepared to charge.

Just then—

One of Meng Zhiwei's guards hardened his gaze and lunged at the young man with the folding fan.

He meant to capture the ringleader!

But the young man dodged with ease, then raised a leg and kicked the guard in the stomach.

The guard had missed his target and couldn't dodge in time. The kick slammed into his stomach, sending him flying.

Thud!

He crashed heavily to the ground and spat out several mouthfuls of blood, badly injured.

"Well done, Young Master!"

The enforcers cheered.

Meng Zhiwei and the other guards went pale.

With a sharp snap, the young man flicked open his folding fan and swept his long hair back, looking smug.

"Hah, you thought you could sneak up on me...!"

Before he could finish speaking,

a square object cut through the air with a fierce whistle and shot straight at him!

Smack!

It was like a slap across the young man's face.

The force sent him reeling backward and crashing to the ground. He cried out in pain.

Once the dizziness and blurred vision subsided,

the young man picked up the square "hidden weapon" and looked at it.

"Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon?!"