Blood and Qi Were Tigers; Li Qianqian's Kindness? Training the Hard-Body Technique, Buying Meat from Yan Kai

"Senior Brother Li, you're joking. I've only been at the Fist Academy for a few days. How could I possibly have developed blood and qi?"

Shi Wen shook his head and flatly denied it.

That let Li Tiezhu breathe a sigh of relief. He attributed everything to Shi Wen's comprehension. "Junior Brother Shi, your comprehension really is excellent. It's just a pity your family is so poor."

"Training is easy enough in the early stages. But once you find that feeling of tempering your blood and qi, that's when the real trouble begins."

"Eating your fill and having meat with every meal are just the basics. If you can afford it, you'll also need to buy some exotic beast meat and eat a little every few days to nourish your body. Then buy some blood-tonifying, bone-strengthening medicine to boil into soup, eat other highly nourishing foods, and so on. You have to make sure your body has enough reserves."

"Blood and qi are like a tiger. They can hurt others, but they can hurt you too!"

"When I first got here, I heard about an Outer Courtyard senior brother from the same humble background as us. He injured his foundation trying to force a breakthrough..."

As he spoke,

deep worry showed on Li Tiezhu's face.

He was about to reach that stage himself. He had been preparing for so long, and if he failed while breaking through to blood and qi, he truly didn't know what he would do.

Looking at the silent Shi Wen, Li Tiezhu sighed. "It's a pity, Junior Brother Shi. With your comprehension and how fiercely you train, if you had enough resources, you could definitely build up your blood and qi. Too bad the senior brothers didn't choose you yesterday."

"Maybe that's just fate."

Shi Wen shook his head. Feeling the blood and qi that had grown a little stronger after his hard training that morning, he too put on a regretful expression.

"Junior Brother Li, I'm going to be stationed over at the Boat Gang tomorrow. I'll see if I can ask them to find you a position. It's such a shame to see your talent go to waste."

Li Tiezhu shook his head, his face full of rueful regret.

With Shi Wen's comprehension, if he had enough of a foundation, he might really be able to build up his blood and qi within two months.

A while later, Li Tiezhu left.

Shi Wen said nothing and simply kept training.

When lunchtime came, he went to eat. He downed five large bowls of rice in a row, leaving the people around him dumbfounded.

Shi Wen noticed their odd looks and silently set down his bowl and chopsticks.

He returned to a corner of the Outer Courtyard to chew on dried meat. After resting for a while, he continued training.

He didn't nap at all through the entire afternoon. When Li Qianqian came to hand out medicinal soup, he downed ten bowls in a row, leaving the Outer Courtyard disciples waiting in line to drink it dumbfounded.

Did this poor kid think he couldn't break through to the Blood-Tempering Realm, so he was trying to get his money's worth by eating as much as possible?

Li Qianqian was dumbfounded too. She cleared her throat. "Junior Brother Li, even though you've paid and can drink as much medicinal soup as you like, drinking it this way really isn't a good idea. Too much won't nourish you; it'll harm your body!"

"Sorry, Senior Sister."

Shi Wen turned and left sheepishly.

He had actually discovered that after becoming a Blood-Tempering Realm martial artist, the medicinal soup no longer had any effect on him.

It no longer gave him that feeling he'd had before, when one bowl could keep him going for a long time.

He'd just wanted to see how many bowls it would take to work.

As it turned out, it was less effective than a single strip of dried meat.

Watching Shi Wen's dejected figure as he turned to leave, Li Qianqian felt a little guilty.

He really had paid. When he did, he'd even asked her if he could drink without limit.

She'd nodded, and only then had the boy paid with such delight.

But now...

Thinking back over the past few days, Shi Wen had never slacked off since joining the Fist Academy. He was always the last one to leave, and he even helped her put away the equipment.

Li Qianqian lowered her eyes slightly and made a quiet decision.

"Sure enough, medicinal soup no longer works for the Blood-Tempering Realm. No wonder no martial artists drink it."

"Building up blood and qi is when the spending really begins."

"Although I don't have to rest for a while after practicing the basic techniques anymore, the blood and qi circulating during continuous training takes too much energy. I have to eat dried meat or Blood-Nourishing Paste in between just to keep my body functioning."

"Martial arts training really is a bottomless pit!"

Shi Wen sat under a tree and silently glanced at his palm.

[Extreme Seal]

[Baji Fist Introductory Foundation: Minor Success (9/100), Trait: Penetrating Momentum]

[Iron Whip Leg: Not Yet Initiated (0/1)]

"I'll try training Iron Whip Leg first."

Shi Wen found an unused wooden stake and carried it to a spot in the Outer Courtyard where a banyan tree blocked the others' view. He set the stake in place, got into position, and began training.

The training method for Iron Whip Leg was truly simple.

It relied entirely on tempering through accumulated effort, a Hard-Body Technique that ground the legs until they developed blood and qi.

In the early stages, you kicked sandbags and wooden stakes, rubbed your legs with sand, and struck them with wooden poles. In the middle and later stages, you kicked iron stakes, ground your legs with iron sand, and struck them with iron rods, choosing one of these as your main method of conditioning.

There was also a simple footwork routine for quick dashes and generating power.

It made the legs hard while tempering them to develop blood and qi!

In theory, after training your legs, you had to take medicine regularly to prevent hidden injuries.

Unfortunately, the sheepskin book didn't mention that.

But he had the Extreme Seal. He only needed to raise his proficiency to gain perfect improvement, so there was no need to worry about old injuries or hidden ailments!

The way Iron Whip Leg generated power was somewhat similar to Baji Fist Introductory Foundation. It emphasized turning the waist and driving the hips to send force into the legs, snapping them out with speed and explosive power.

There were very few moves.

Only three.

The first was Mountain Splitting Leg. You sank your strength into your body, gathered power in your waist and hips, then raised your iron-hard leg and brought it down in an explosive chop. It could split a stone stele!

The second was called Lightning Chop. It emphasized swift, fierce momentum. The first two kicks were feints, aimed at the knees, lower back, and other areas. The final kick was the real attack, with the power of the whole body concentrated in that one blow. It targeted the head and could shatter a boulder!

The last move was called Chain Leg. It struck the upper, middle, and lower body from five directions, front to back. It was a technique for everyday encounters: seemingly ordinary, but highly deceptive, attacking from multiple angles. It was hard to predict and could keep coming in an unbroken chain.

If you couldn't find a way to counter it quickly, you could very well have every bone in your body kicked to pieces by the Chain Leg!

There weren't many moves, but they were practical, making up for his lack of long-range attacks.

Afterward, Shi Wen practiced the footwork from memory, kicked the stake five hundred times with each leg, and worked on the moves.

After an hour of experimenting, he finally brought this Hard-Body Technique into the entry level.

[Iron Whip Leg: Entry Level (1/30)]

In an instant, a flood of memories surfaced in Shi Wen's mind, and a warm current welled up in his legs.

He looked down and saw that the skin on his shins had grown a little harder, like calluses formed through long training. The lines of his muscles had become more pronounced.

Information about the footwork, the way to generate power, and the three killing moves surfaced in his mind.

His understanding of Iron Whip Leg deepened considerably.

Boom!

Shi Wen brought down a Mountain Splitting Leg on the wooden stake, and it cracked with a sharp sound.

He hadn't used blood and qi for that kick. He'd probably used only eighty percent of his strength.

"If I use all my strength to unleash the Chain Leg, even without blood and qi, I could probably kick this stake clean in half."

Shi Wen examined the stake at close range, surprise flashing across his brow.

The Cypress Stake had been specially treated. It was hard to split even with a blade, yet his kick had cracked it.

With the Baji Fist Foundation, he would probably have to use the Heart-Piercing Elbow—the hardest part of his body—to generate enough force to crack it.

"As expected, heroes under heaven are as numerous as carp crossing a river. No matter who you are or what martial art you practice, you must never underestimate it. There are only weak practitioners, never weak martial arts!"

"No martial artist is a simple character."

Shi Wen mused, turning his gaze to the Extreme Seal.

The requirements for Iron Whip Leg to reach Minor Success were lower than those for the basic technique. He only needed to practice it thirty times to reach Minor Success.

He might as well focus on bringing Iron Whip Leg to Minor Success over the next couple of days.

Then he could return to the basic technique.

After all, reaching Great Success in the basic technique would be difficult in a short time.

If he brought Iron Whip Leg to Minor Success first,

perhaps having two martial arts at Minor Success would make his blood and qi grow stronger again.

"Junior Brother Shi, what are you doing?" Li Tiezhu's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"I noticed this wooden stake had cracked."

Shi Wen pointed to the mark on the Cypress Stake. Li Tiezhu leaned in to look and indeed spotted a palm-sized crack. He didn't think much of it. "So many people train on it every day, and it's been out in the wind and sun. It's normal for it to crack after a while."

"That's true."

"By the way, Junior Brother Shi, weren't you looking for Senior Brother Yan? He came by just now. He's in the Inner Courtyard," Li Tiezhu said.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Li."

Shi Wen chatted with Li Tiezhu for a while.

Then he went to wait outside the Inner Courtyard. After a short while,

Yan Kai came out with several Inner Courtyard disciples.

They were Sun Mingting, Zhou Heling, Wei Shan, and Qin Huan. They left together, clearly on their way to do the so-called big job.

"Junior Brother Shi, did you need something from me?"

Yan Kai looked a little surprised.

He said a few words to the others, then went with Shi Wen to the tree. Curious, he asked, "Junior Brother Shi, what did you want to see me about today?"

"Senior Brother Yan, it's like this: I'd like to buy some more exotic beast meat."

Shi Wen stated his purpose directly.

He'd taken a quick look around that morning, and Senior Brother Yan had been right. The exotic beast meat he sold was good quality and reasonably priced.

"So that's what it is." Yan Kai smiled. "Junior Brother, you still want Stone Raw Meat, right? How many catties are you planning to buy this time?"

"Yes, Stone Raw Meat. I'd like 150 catties." Shi Wen nodded.

Yan Kai smiled and was just about to agree when he came to his senses and immediately looked shocked. "150 catties of Stone Raw Meat? Junior Brother, you're not joking, are you?"

That amount of money was nothing to him.

But how could Shi Wen afford that much?

Could it be...

Yan Kai's gaze shifted slightly.

Shi Wen asked, "Senior Brother, can you get that much?"

"I can, but you want a lot, so it won't be the same price as last time." Yan Kai replied evenly, "I'd recommend buying higher-quality exotic beast meat instead of spending that much on Stone Raw Meat."

"Higher-quality exotic beast meat is more filling, and more importantly, it has stronger nourishing effects. It's also easy to sell."

"My family's trading company carries products for martial artists with more demanding needs, too."

"The most popular exotic beast meat on the market, with the highest sales, is Red Python Meat. It comes from an exotic beast in the deep mountain ranges and is prepared with plenty of precious medicinal ingredients and special methods. It's not only filling, but also nourishes the sinews and bones and replenishes blood and qi. Even Blood-Coagulation Realm martial artists use it."

"As for medicine, I recommend Blood Strengthening Powder."

"Blood Strengthening Powder is also made with various expensive medicinal ingredients and the sinews and bones of ferocious beasts. It's a fine medicine for nourishing the body and preventing blood and qi from declining!"

Afterward,

Yan Kai also introduced the other exotic beast meats his family's trading company carried.

Compared to the two he'd just mentioned, however, they were either much lower quality or far too expensive.

"Senior Brother Yan, how much do Red Python Meat and Blood Strengthening Powder cost?"

Shi Wen asked curiously. When he heard the prices, he couldn't help but click his tongue.

Red Python Meat cost 28 strings of cash per catty at market price; Yan Kai would sell it to him for 25 strings.

Blood Strengthening Powder cost 10 strings per packet; he'd sell it to him for 8.

Both were the lowest prices—the sort you could take around and compare with other vendors.

"Senior Brother, I'd like eight catties of Red Python Meat and ten packets of Blood Strengthening Powder. Sorry for the trouble."

Shi Wen took a money pouch from his basket and handed it to Yan Kai.

Yan Kai counted it and found that there was an extra tael of silver. This time, he didn't say anything and simply took care of the order.

As he turned to leave, he suddenly stopped and said meaningfully, "Junior Brother Shi, I won't be able to give you this price next time you buy exotic beast meat. Tell whoever you're buying for, too."

Shi Wen was slightly taken aback. He cupped his hands. "Thank you, Senior Brother Yan."

Yan Kai said nothing more and turned back to the group.