Chaos Begins to Emerge, I Get Itchy All Over If I Don't Eat Blessing Meat, and the Breathing Method

"Evade Heaven's will, escape karma; all manner of shackles bind the true self!"

"The shackles of this world are but a dream. Formless and faceless, they are not the self..."

In the slums, the noisy square was packed with more and more people queuing to collect rice and fight over Blessing Meat.

"There are more and more people."

Shi Wen had hurried over. Seeing that there were at least several thousand people gathered, he felt heavy-hearted.

Perhaps that young master Huang Xuanhe hadn't been wrong. The aftershocks of the war in neighboring Tiannan Prefecture had already stirred up trouble in Black Cloud County.

Over the past few days, quite a few refugees from other places had poured into Black Cloud County.

These refugees would take any work that came with a bite to eat, driving down wages in the city. At the same time, they had sparked no shortage of unrest and trouble.

And with the Prosperity Society's Daoists preaching, they had drawn in more and more of the poor!

These refugees didn't care who was right or wrong. As long as there was food to be had, they'd rush forward with bloodshot eyes, fighting tooth and nail to get it.

When the Prosperity Society's Daoists had first begun preaching, only a few hundred people had gathered to watch.

They'd queued for rice and picked up Blessing Meat.

But now, everything was completely different!

The refugees pouring in from outside the city were fighting tooth and nail to get their hands on it. Forget Blessing Meat, which looked much like ordinary meat—even rat meat would be snatched up and eaten!

"Fortune and misfortune do indeed go hand in hand..."

Shi Wen murmured to himself.

A few days ago, the Prosperity Society's Daoists had noticed him. Whenever he came by, they would prepare an extra bag of Blessing Meat for him.

Back then, he'd been quite wary of them.

Now, though, he realized that without that extra bag of Blessing Meat each day,

he would have had a hard time getting even a few pieces amid the crush of refugees.

"Immortal Mother, savior of the suffering and the afflicted. Lay follower Shi, you've come quite early today." The goateed Daoist Xiang Ju smiled as he studied him. He took a bag of Blessing Meat from a young Daoist nearby and handed it to Shi Wen.

"Many thanks for bestowing this meat, Daoist."

Shi Wen clasped his hands in a salute, emptied the small bag of meat into the one he carried with him, then returned the bag.

"May blessings abound. So long as you are sincere in your devotion to the Supreme Saint Immortal Mother, that is enough." Xiang Ju smiled as he studied him, looking him over from head to toe. Then he said, somewhat surprised, "It seems you really do love eating Blessing Meat, Lay follower Shi."

"I'm ashamed to say it." Shi Wen scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't know why, but ever since I ate Blessing Meat, I get itchy all over if I don't have any. It's like ants are gnawing at my bones and worms are burrowing through my heart. I could eat Blessing Meat every day!"

"You exaggerate, Lay follower Shi."

A few dark lines appeared on Xiang Ju's forehead. "This is just ordinary meat, not some addictive drug. Don't go talking nonsense and damaging the Prosperity Society's reputation."

"I spoke out of turn."

Shi Wen smiled sheepishly.

He collected the Blessing Meat and turned to leave. He rarely spoke much with the Prosperity Society's Daoists.

This time, however, Xiang Ju stopped him and handed him a thin booklet, smiling warmly. "Lay follower Shi, you are fated to be connected with the Immortal Mother. I can see that you only recently set foot on the path of martial arts. This may help you make faster progress in your cultivation."

The young Daoist Ying Kuang standing nearby saw this and grew anxious.

He wanted to stop him.

But he didn't dare defy the middle-aged Daoist's authority.

Only after Shi Wen's figure disappeared into the crowd did Ying Kuang ask, bewildered, "Elder, how could you pass on our lineage's Breathing Method to him?"

The Breathing Method was no ordinary technique.

A powerful Breathing Method could speed up the tempering and refinement of the blood within the body, accelerating progress in martial arts. It could also help one expel impurities and foul qi from the body through breathing, resonating with the world's own inhalation and exhalation!

The Breathing Method was all about uniting breath, movement, and intent!

The Breathing Methods in their lineage varied in quality, but every one of them was a closely guarded secret.

They could accelerate martial cultivation, refine blood and qi, strengthen one's foundation, and absorb the essence of heaven and earth. Such methods were rare treasures!

If the lineage leader found out they'd been revealed, Xiang Ju could lose his head!

"Heh, it's only an incomplete Breathing Method. What waves could that boy possibly make?"

Xiang Ju spoke calmly. "Didn't you see how well suited he is to Blessing Meat? After he ate the Blessing Meat, made by diluting Treasure Blood, the aura of Treasure Blood on his body was incredibly faint. If we can raise this bait to maturity, won't our operation have a much better chance of succeeding?"

"But there's so little time. If we just keep feeding him Blessing Meat, how long will it take before he becomes bait we're satisfied with?"

"Better to pass him the Breathing Method and let him refine the qi and blood in his body until they're pure and abundant. Then, surely, things will go smoothly."

"As for the secret method leaking..." Xiang Ju smiled. "Once this is over and the bait is gone, how could the Breathing Method spread outside?"

How could a peasant possibly escape his grasp?

Forget everything else. When it came to martial cultivation alone,

he could slaughter every so-called martial arts expert in Black Cloud County by himself!

Ying Kuang hesitated for a moment, then pressed him again. "Elder, if he learns the Breathing Method, his rate of martial cultivation could rise several times over, even tenfold. Shouldn't we take precautions?"

"You have a twelfth-grade superior physique, with sinews of steel and ribs of iron. You were born a martial arts prodigy. How long did it take you to master this Breathing Method?"

Xiang Ju didn't answer. Instead, he asked him a question.

Ying Kuang thought for a moment. "Two months."

"It took even you two months. With that boy's ordinary physique, how long will he need to master the Breathing Method?"

Xiang Ju scoffed. "I dared to do this because I have confidence in myself. No one can escape my control!"

"Elder, you're right!" Ying Kuang replied respectfully.

"You only need to watch out for the Extreme Yang Society. I suspect they've been secretly taking advantage of the situation to put plans in motion." Xiang Ju frowned. "Refugees and displaced people have always been one of their tools."

"Elder, what exactly is happening in Tiannan Prefecture?"

Xiang Ju asked curiously, "I heard there's a rebel army there who shaved their heads and beards, shouting about reform and overthrowing the feudal monarchy. They've even forged some kind of iron weapon that can kill martial artists. What's going on?"

"This is beyond our level. We can't interfere."

Xiang Ju's expression turned grave. He lowered his voice and said, "There must have been an Immortal Mother-level being refining some realm in Tiannan Prefecture. Something went wrong, causing the unreal and reality to overlap, and thus the whole of Tiannan Prefecture collapsed."

"Most of the people in Tiannan Prefecture are probably dead. Even if they aren't, the imperial court will send people to suppress them and wipe them out."

The imperial court would crack down hard on these anomalous things and stamp them out. There was no way they'd be allowed to spread.

"These aren't matters we martial artists can meddle in."

"People may flatter us by calling us lofty martial artists, but in truth, we're nothing more than slightly bigger ants. Sigh..."

Hearing this, Ying Kuang felt an indescribable oppression settle in his heart.

They called a physique like his a twelfth-grade superior one, with sinews of steel and ribs of iron, a born martial arts prodigy. But in the Society, who wasn't a martial arts prodigy?

He truly didn't know if people like them would ever get their chance to rise...

"Don't dwell on it. Once we've taken care of this, and the Holy Son of our lineage has greatly increased his power, perhaps we'll be able to become his subordinates through the Rite of Edict Induction."

Xiang Ju offered a word of comfort.

A glimmer of hope appeared on Ying Kuang's face as well.

Meanwhile, several miles away, on a street—

Shi Wen sat in a teahouse, drinking tea as he studied the words and illustrations in the booklet.

An indescribably strange expression appeared on his face.

"That Daoist gave me a Breathing Method?"