One Cannot Get Rich Without Windfalls

"I've heard that name before, too."

"There have been a lot of outsiders lately, and the city is crowded and chaotic. I heard it from a group of outsiders back then, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time."

"Now that you mention it, I feel like this current rebel army has a lot to do with this so-called Heavenly Sovereign," Xie Jiang said, lost in thought.

"Are you saying the rebels might have started planning and laying the groundwork over a dozen years ago?" Jia Yanyong asked.

"Isn't that obvious? Without a decade or two of planning, who would have the guts to revolt?" Xie Jiang curled his lip. The strength of the Great Wei was immense, after all.

The disdain in his tone made Jia Yanyong want to roll up his sleeves and start a fight.

Xie Jiang was a sharp-tongued fellow who loved to provoke Jia Yanyong, and the two of them would inevitably get into a scuffle every so often.

Yet, after the fighting was done, they would inevitably end up hanging out together again like two peas in a pod.

"If the City Lord hadn't stepped in to wipe out those two families back then, wouldn't Songyi City have been in grave danger?" Ning Hui said, still feeling a lingering fear.

"If it really was the City Lord who did it, then the City Lord's strength must be terrifying beyond measure, right?"

Jia Yanyong said, his eyes filled with shock.

As a mere practitioner in the Bone Forging Realm, he truly couldn't fathom what kind of god-like power it would take to silently wipe out two families, each with Blood Energy Realm experts, in a single night.

"Killing people doesn't just rely on martial arts; you can also use poison."

"Blood Energy Realm martial artists are still human. Many poisons can kill them easily. Perhaps the City Lord used some kind of potent toxin to finish them off."

Xie Jiang analyzed, clearly skeptical that the City Lord had killed them personally.

It was a pity that over a decade had passed; no records remained, and there were no bodies left to examine. Much of the truth had vanished into the river of time.

If they hadn't heard it from Ning Hui, they would have all assumed it was a terrifying plague that had wiped out two families overnight.

After all, over a thousand civilians had died as well.

At the time, it had caused widespread panic, with everyone terrified that the plague would spread.

Later, the plague was brought under control, and after a few hundred more people died in succession, it subsided. There were no further reports of mass deaths.

Thinking back on it now, there were many suspicious things hidden within that storm from years ago.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. If word gets out, be careful you don't get dragged off to be beheaded."

"Drink, let's drink. Let's talk about women instead."

"Times are tough, and many people have sold their daughters to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. They're all virgins. Are you interested in buying one to take home as a maid?"

Xie Jiang said with a lecherous grin.

The conversation had veered off into who knows where.

After chatting with them for a while, Lin Zheyu took his leave.

These guys were masters of idle chatter, capable of talking for a day and a night about anything from the girls at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion to the pretty widows next door.

He wandered around the city.

The market was much quieter, yet it was still filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

The bustle of the Little New Year belonged to the people of Songyi City; it had nothing to do with Lin Zheyu.

Senior Brother Han Mo had gone out to suppress bandits and hadn't returned.

Master Liang's whereabouts were also unknown.

The only people he was familiar with were Jia Yanyong's group and Steward Wu, but they all had their own families to attend to.

With nothing to do, Lin Zheyu stayed in his courtyard to practice his punches, pondering the intent behind the Bull Fist. When he grew tired of training, he would go out for a walk, listen to music, eat some good food, and shoot the breeze with Jia Yanyong and the others. Life was actually quite comfortable.

"Hmm?"

Walking along Baiwei Street, Lin Zheyu frowned.

His strength had reached the Blood Energy Realm, and with the Turtle Breathing Technique raised to the third level, his perception had been greatly enhanced.

His senses were far sharper than those of other Blood Energy Realm martial artists, allowing him to vaguely detect those malicious gazes.

Along the way, Lin Zheyu noticed several guys whose eyes would inadvertently fall on him, their gazes filled with ill intent.

If it were just one or two people, it might be normal, but for the past ten days or so, he had constantly found people watching him.

This was clearly abnormal.

"Is this arranged by Xing Jinglong?" Lin Zheyu speculated.

In Songyi City, the only people he had grudges with were Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai.

This time, he didn't pretend not to see them. Instead, he walked straight toward the man. A flash of panic appeared on the man's face, and he tried to flee.

Lin Zheyu's figure flickered, moving with extreme speed, and in a blink, he arrived beside the man.

He reached out his right hand, grabbed the man by the collar, and hoisted him up.

"Kid, what are you running for?" Lin Zheyu said coldly.

"My lord, have mercy! I haven't done anything. I didn't steal or rob; I was just standing here in a daze," the man pleaded.

He felt that the young man before him possessed immense strength; the grip on his collar was so tight it made him struggle to breathe.

"Hmph!"

"Zhou Dali, come here."

Lin Zheyu didn't waste any breath on him, instead beckoning to a Flying Rainbow Gang underling not far away.

Baiwei Street was the territory of the Flying Rainbow Gang, and members were responsible for patrolling and maintaining order there every day.

"Brother Yu, did you call for me?"

Zhou Dali ran over quickly and said respectfully.

He was a guy whose build was no less impressive than Jia Yanyong's, though he hadn't practiced martial arts and only possessed some crude brawling skills and raw brute strength.

"Take this guy back and investigate which family or faction he belongs to, and what he's trying to do here," Lin Zheyu said.

"Brother Yu, I recognize this guy. He's from the Wuding Gang. I've forgotten his name, but if you want to know, I can call Zhou Tuo over. He's more familiar with the people from the Wuding Gang," Zhou Dali said.

"Wuding Gang?"

Hearing the name Wuding Gang, Lin Zheyu immediately understood who was targeting him. The only person associated with the Wuding Gang who had a grudge against him was Xing Jinglong.

"Did Xing Jinglong tell you to keep an eye on me?" Lin Zheyu asked.

"My lord, I was just strolling through the street. I didn't do anything! I'm being wronged!"

"Brother Long didn't order me to do anything. I really was just out for a walk. Even though this is Flying Rainbow Gang territory, there's no rule saying people from other gangs aren't allowed to buy things here!"

The man explained, his face wearing an expression of being wronged and aggrieved.

"Brother Yu, do you need me to take him back for questioning?" Zhou Dali asked.

"No need."

Lin Zheyu shook his head and tossed the man away. "Get lost, and stop acting so shifty in the future."

"Yes, yes, I'll change my ways when I get back."

The man nodded repeatedly, scrambled to his feet, and hurried away into the distance.

"Go back to your business and patrol properly."

"Yes, my lord."

Zhou Dali said excitedly, turning around to continue strolling—oh, wait, patrolling.

Watching the man's retreating back, Lin Zheyu thought to himself, I need to find a way to deal with that guy. Being constantly targeted isn't a long-term solution.

After wandering around Baiwei Street and buying some food, Lin Zheyu headed back.

Bang, bang, bang.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

In the courtyard, the sound of thuds rang out incessantly.

There was no sunlight today; the sky was overcast and a cold wind howled.

Lin Zheyu was shirtless, drenched in sweat, his blood energy surging throughout his body.

Under his control, the dense blood energy poured into his arms. As his fists struck the wooden stake, the blood energy vibrated, tempering the muscles, skin, and bones of his arms.

After his strength reached the Blood Energy Realm, his entire physique, including his tendons, bones, and skin, had been reinforced.

However, the primary area of reinforcement was his legs; the effects on other parts were not as obvious.

Perhaps once his strength continued to improve and his blood energy reached its fifth and sixth qualitative transformations, his other body parts would also reach the level of Bone Forging as hard as iron through repeated reinforcement.

But for now, aside from his legs reaching the level of Bone Forging as hard as iron, the bones in other parts were only slightly stronger than those of ordinary martial artists.

Bang, bang, bang.

Lin Zheyu threw punch after punch, his aura becoming a few shades more intense than before.

After several days of hard training, his insights into the Bull Fist had increased significantly.

While practicing, he imagined himself as a bull—a bull in a bullfighting ring, enraged and unleashing all its pent-up power to attack.

Bang!

Moo—

Executing a Bull Charge, Lin Zheyu coordinated it with the Bull Fist Breathing Method, and faintly, a sound similar to a bull's roar emerged.

Bang, bang, bang.

His fists attacked the wooden stake like a violent storm, the thudding sounds never ceasing.

Lin Zheyu fell into the frenzy of an enraged bull, his eyes tinged with a hint of blood-red. He had become too immersed in the momentum of his punches and was being influenced by them.

It wasn't until two hours later, after he had exhausted all his strength and broken through his limits once more, that he gasped for air and collapsed to the ground.

"I was actually influenced by the momentum of the punches just now and lost a bit of my reason."

Lin Zheyu muttered, his mind feeling somewhat hazy.

To better grasp the momentum of the Bull Fist, he had used self-hypnosis to imagine himself as a bull, and the effect of doing so was indeed very effective.

In just a few days, his grasp of the fist momentum had made significant progress.

However, because he had become too immersed in the momentum, he had lost himself within it.

"The direction is wrong. If the effect of the fist momentum is to drive a person into madness, then what does it matter if the power increases? It would just make me a mindless brute, no better than Jia Yanyong."

"To be 'savage' can mean to be reckless, but recklessness is not about being impulsive or insane; it is about courage tempered by reason. It is a conviction, the belief of a powerhouse who stands invincible..."

"..."

Lin Zheyu lay on the ground, murmuring to himself, the gleam in his eyes growing increasingly intense.

That was it.

To be savage can mean to be reckless, but it is not about impulsivity; it is a conviction of invincibility, the will of a powerhouse who knows that when this punch lands, the opponent will die!

The light in Lin Zheyu's eyes grew brighter and brighter, completely unaffected by the mental exhaustion caused by just breaking through his limits.

He struggled, wanting to climb back up to verify his thoughts and practice the Bull Fist once more.

Fist momentum is not something you simply possess just because you understand it; you must firmly believe in your own conviction while practicing, weaving your will into the martial art to form your own unique "momentum"!

However, Lin Zheyu could not get up.

When he had fallen into that madness, he had exhausted his physical strength and pushed past his bodily limits once again; now, his entire body was sore and powerless.

"Forget it, there's no rush."

Lin Zheyu muttered, ceasing his movements and lying on the cold ground to rest.

Within his body, under the strain he had placed upon it, blood energy steamed out from his blood, flowing through his entire body to recover from the fatigue.

Lying on the ground, Lin Zheyu gasped for air.

He looked at the data in his consciousness; having just broken through his limits, his Source Power had increased by one unit.

After these few days of training, both his Six Harmonies Saber Technique and Bull Fist had improved significantly.

Since reaching the Blood Energy Realm, the progress of the Golden Goose Technique had slowed down considerably. It required day-after-day training, constantly refining and accumulating blood energy until reaching the limit of the Blood Energy Realm.

To achieve this through his own efforts alone would take several years of work.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence]

Name: Lin Zheyu

Source Power: 3

Skills:

Bull Fist (Proficient 68%)

Golden Goose Technique (Level 4 67%)

Turtle Breathing Technique (Level 3 1%)

Six Harmonies Saber Technique (Proficient 35%)

"I've accumulated 3 units of Source Power, but it's a pity I'm out of money, otherwise I could have upgraded the Golden Goose Technique to the fifth level."

He could currently accumulate one unit of Source Power every four days or so, but using one unit to upgrade the Golden Goose Technique required about 3 portions of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup to ensure sufficient energy.

To upgrade the Golden Goose Technique to the fifth level, he needed at least 3 more units of Source Power.

In other words, he would need the medicinal ingredients for nine portions of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup as an energy source. At current market prices, nine portions would cost over a hundred taels of silver—not a small sum.

"Rest for now, and upgrade the Bull Fist first."

"With the strength of the Blood Energy Realm as a foundation, the Source Power and energy required to upgrade the Bull Fist shouldn't be too much," Lin Zheyu thought to himself.

Two days ago, he had received his monthly five-tael wage from the Flying Rainbow Gang, and combined with the silver given to him by other storytellers, he had saved up over twenty taels.

For an ordinary person, twenty-some taels of silver, if spent frugally, would be enough for a family to live on for two or three years.

But for Lin Zheyu, after buying two portions of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup ingredients, the money was gone.

To achieve something in the martial path, money truly flowed like water.

It was a pity that his original plan for story copyright had fallen through before it could even be implemented; otherwise, he estimated he could have had an income of two taels of silver every day.

"There are no good ways to increase my income for now. Once I upgrade the Bull Fist, I'll find a time to head outside the city!"

"I'll see what it's like outside the city these days," Lin Zheyu mused.

He had wanted to go outside the city to see for a long time.

To see just how rampant the bandits outside had become.

To see what the true combat effectiveness of the City Guard was like.

To see if a military formation composed of a hundred elite soldiers could truly easily rival a Blood Energy Realm martial artist.

To see if demons and monsters truly existed in those deep, remote mountains and forests.

And so on.

Lin Zheyu was curious about everything.

It was just that, previously, his strength had been insufficient, so he had kept his head down, laid low, and developed in silence.

Nowadays, his strength was among the very best in Songyi City; if he could still encounter life-threatening danger out there, then ordinary people might as well not bother living.

The most crucial point was that there were numerous bandits outside the city.

One cannot get rich without a windfall, just as a horse cannot grow fat without night grass.

Since bandits could rob others, why couldn't he rob the bandits?

Those who rob others will eventually be robbed themselves!

"If those two brothers, Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai, dare to follow me this time, I will finish them off outside the city."

A flash of ruthlessness crossed the eyes of Lin Zheyu.

If it weren't for the extremely strict regulations in Songyi City that made it difficult to kill people at will, he would have already struck in the shadows.

He had no idea what was wrong with those two guys, or why they had set their sights on a small fry like him.

Even if his talent for martial arts was somewhat outstanding, the strength Lin Zheyu had displayed so far was merely that of the Bone Forging Realm.

With the strength of the Bone Forging Realm, he was nothing more than a small fry in Songyi City, and he could not understand why Xing Jinglong would keep such a close watch on him.