Night had fallen, and the rain still hadn't stopped.
Damp air, mingled with the rainy wind, drifted in through the window, bringing a chill with it.
Boom!
A clap of thunder tore through the rainy night. The flash of light illuminated the face of the youth by the window, jolting the lost, silent boy from his reverie.
He shook his head, casting his thoughts aside, and continued wiping his wet hair with a dry cloth.
But his hair, soaked by the night rain, was like a future he couldn't make out—no matter how much he dried it, it stayed damp. In the end, he gave up, tossed the cloth onto the clothes rack, and let his unruly hair fall across his face, whose features were just beginning to sharpen.
"You forced me into this."
Shi Wen murmured to himself.
He breathed out, expelling the turmoil of taking a life for the first time with that foul breath.
Beneath the faint moonlight,
Shi Wen finally had time to carefully take stock of his spoils.
Aside from the three gold leaves and eighty taels of silver he'd counted earlier, there were also more than a dozen shop deeds from the busiest stretch of Peace Lane. Each one could fetch several hundred strings of cash.
This stack of deeds could probably be exchanged for around a hundred taels of silver as well.
"Shame I can't do anything with the deeds just yet. I'll figure it out later."
Shi Wen shook his head and continued sorting through the spoils.
He set aside the Golden Wound Medicine, bruise ointments, and other items.
There were ten strips of Blood-Nourishing Paste, but the quality was poor.
There wasn't much dried beast meat, only three jin. It wasn't even as filling as his Stone Raw Meat. Looks like Senior Brother Yan's worth just keeps going up.
Once he'd sorted everything, a thin sheepskin booklet appeared in Shi Wen's hands. It showed little figures practicing martial arts, along with various training methods.
"Iron Whip Leg?"
It was the first martial art he'd seen aside from Baji Fist Foundation.
After studying Iron Whip Leg from cover to cover, Shi Wen decided to practice this external conditioning method.
Baji Fist Foundation was a close-range explosive technique. He lacked long-range attacks, while Iron Whip Leg would harden his legs through systematic training, allowing him to strike with explosive force.
At a high level, one could break stone tablets and split wooden posts with iron-hard legs, even without using qi and blood. It was a brutally effective killing art!
"Legs like iron pestles, movements like the wind. If I can master this, it'll be a fine way to defend myself."
Shi Wen studied Iron Whip Leg several times.
He examined the Extreme Seal, and, sure enough, a new martial art had appeared within it.
[Extreme Seal] [Baji Fist Introductory Foundation: Minor Mastery (2/100), Trait: Penetrating Momentum] [Iron Whip Leg: Not Started (0/1)]
Iron Whip Leg had few moves. Its focus was on hardening the legs and repeatedly kicking, but both required purchasing additional materials or undergoing intensive conditioning.
The technique had many shortcomings and few moves.
If an opponent was prepared for it, its power would be greatly diminished. Still, it had its own advantages compared to Baji Fist Foundation.
"I'll practice it tomorrow."
Shi Wen returned to bed and fell straight asleep.
Perhaps because so much had happened that night—awakening qi and blood, becoming a martial artist, killing someone...
The string of events left him somewhat keyed up. He drifted in and out of sleep, waking occasionally, and didn't fully come to until the sun was high in the sky.
Shi Wen quietly tidied his room and ate breakfast at the same time.
He ate dried meat to keep his body going and nourish his qi and blood.
During the meal, Shi Wen couldn't help but sigh.
"Martial artists really are bottomless pits. I used to feel full after a few strips of dried meat. Now I need at least half a jin per meal."
"Practicing martial arts really is like feeding a giant gold-swallowing beast."
He checked his supplies. Of the five jin of Stone Raw Meat he'd bought just yesterday, less than three jin remained. He also had only two strips of Blood-Nourishing Paste left. It wasn't nearly enough.
Even with the dried meat Boss Chen had given him, it would probably last only a few days.
"Good thing Boss Chen was a decent man. He even gave me money to buy dried meat."
Shi Wen stuffed the silver notes, silver, and dried meat into a basket, then carried it out as he headed for the Fist Academy to train.
But as soon as he reached the roadside, he heard people discussing something.
"Have you heard? Chen Shuisheng, the Thief Gang's leader, is dead. He died in Ghost Lane!"
"I heard too. That place in Ghost Lane is unsafe. People used to say it was haunted, and now even Chen Shuisheng died there. It's really eerie. I heard he was a martial artist, too!"
"What happened, exactly?"
"I heard it from some of the Robbery Gang's outer members. When someone patrolled Ghost Lane this morning, they found blood pooled all over the ground. They followed the trail and found Chen Shuisheng. They say some kind of monster bit through his neck and ripped open his chest. His guts were all over the ground. It was a horrible way to die!"
"Boss Chen had been so fearsome for so long, and now he's just dead."
"The Robbery Gang controls Peace Lane now. Who knows what'll happen next..."
The neighbors' discussions were full of shock, but also deep anxiety about the future.
As Shi Wen walked by, all the chatter died away.
One by one, their gazes fell on him. A woman in her fifties even greeted him with a beaming smile. "A-Wen, off to practice martial arts again?"
As she smiled, many of the others smiled too.
It was hard to tell whether their smiles were kind or mocking.
"Yeah, Aunt Chen. Aren't you working today?" Shi Wen nodded in reply, acting as if he hadn't noticed a thing.
"The Robbery Gang is adjusting the fees they collect, so some workshops haven't opened yet." Aunt Chen smiled warmly. "Practice hard, A-Wen. Maybe one day our street will have a martial artist of its own!"
"Sure."
Shi Wen carried his basket away, calm and unhurried.
Nothing like the vicious killer who'd taken Chen Shuisheng's life the night before.
He hadn't gone far before the neighbors started snickering and gossiping among themselves.
"That kid's getting dumber by the day. Aunt Chen was being sarcastic, and he didn't even realize it. Becoming a martial artist isn't that easy! Even the Thief Gang only had one, that dead Boss Chen!"
"He's panicking and grabbing at straws. The Red Lantern Gang picked him to go to Dragon's Sorrow Ravine and perform the Dragon God Festival, so he thinks he can escape by practicing martial arts. But if it were that easy, every other person on the street would be a martial artist."
"What a waste of money. Old Shi's lost his mind too. He'd be better off using the money for apprenticeship fees to find a way to leave A-Wen an heir. Then when his son's gone, his money will be gone too."
"You can't afford to be kind in troubled times. I heard the family A-Wen saved was pretty well off. They haven't come to see him all this time. I bet they're ingrates too."
"I heard Old Shi fell out with his family to get the money to support A-Wen's martial arts training. He even cut ties with them before getting back the money he'd lent them. He had it notarized at the magistrate's office, too. When A-Wen dies, they'll be all alone with no one to rely on. Who knows how they'll survive?"
"What a waste of money..."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Seeing someone else worse off than they were, they sat in judgment from their high horse.
On these poor, uneventful days, it was the only diversion they could find.
"How can you practice martial arts without money? I have a relative who lives on Fulin Street. His family's pretty well off—they earn several dozen strings of cash a year. His boy insisted on practicing martial arts, though. Do you know how much it costs?"
A gaunt, tall woman with prominent cheekbones noticed everyone looking at her.
She lifted her chin and sneered. "The cheapest beast meat for nourishing the sinews and bones costs three strings of cash per jin!"
The neighbors were stunned.
Three strings of cash for one jin of meat?
They worked themselves to the bone for a whole month and still couldn't earn three strings. Pork only cost around a hundred copper coins per jin. And meat for nourishing qi and blood cost three strings per jin?
"Heh, and that's not all. You think that's the end of it?"
The high-cheekboned woman went on. "There are also medicated baths, bruise treatments, medicinal powders, ointments, and daily meals of fish and meat to nourish the body. If you don't, your body will be depleted, and you'll suffer for it!"
"My relative's boy wanted to become a martial artist. I heard he tried to force a breakthrough, but his body got depleted and he became a cripple. He used to be a big, strapping lad. Now he can't lift anything heavy and sweats after walking a few steps. He's completely done for!"
The neighbors broke out in a cold sweat.
They hadn't imagined practicing martial arts could leave someone crippled.
"Heh, that's why A-Wen's being so unrealistic. He wants to practice martial arts. Even without the Dragon King Festival, he'd never make it!"
The high-cheekboned woman declared it with certainty, as though she could already see how it would end...
At the Fist Academy,
Shi Wen had arrived a little while ago and was practicing in a corner.
It was true: after becoming a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist, he trained much faster.
By the end of the morning, he'd increased his proficiency by six points.
That made sense. Foundation techniques amounted to repeating the same moves over and over. Now that he'd become a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist, his strength, endurance, and everything else were far greater than before.
Practicing again and again was simply a process of using exercise to temper the body and build up qi and blood.
With a stronger foundation, his training naturally went faster.
Of course, if his food couldn't keep up, his qi and blood would weaken and his body would become depleted all the same.
As Shi Wen practiced, he was still as a maiden and quick as a rabbit. When he used the Charging Step and worked through his punches, every strike cracked through the air. His breathing rumbled like a tiger and a fierce beast, while his body crackled with a mighty display of force!
If Yan Kai saw Shi Wen practicing, he'd be utterly shocked.
Yan Kai's family was wealthy. It had taken a huge amount of money for him to awaken his qi and blood in a month and a half. Then it took another six months of training to reach this level of power.
But Shi Wen had only been here a few days!
Even after becoming a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist, how could he have developed such power?
"Junior Brother Shi, you're training well today. How about we trade a few moves?"
A hearty laugh rang out. It was Li Tiezhu, arriving at last.
"Sure." Shi Wen nodded.
The two began sparring in the open space.
But after only a few moments, Li Tiezhu was drenched in sweat and trembling with fear. Before long, he didn't dare continue.
"Stop, stop! I'm done! I'm done!"
Li Tiezhu shouted, panting. "Junior Brother, how are you throwing such fierce, imposing punches? You're much stronger than before! Sparring with you feels just like sparring with those Blood-Tempering Realm senior brothers. It's like you could kill me at any moment!"
As he spoke, he eyed Shi Wen with astonishment and uncertainty.
A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.
Somehow, Junior Brother Shi seemed sturdier, and maybe even a little taller.
Remembering the hair-raising feeling he'd had while sparring, Li Tiezhu asked in a low voice, "Junior Brother Shi, you haven't awakened qi and blood, have you?"
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