A Peerless Martial Art!

"Mm, I understand. Thank you, benefactor, for your guidance."

The two of them chatted back and forth. The guards who occasionally passed through the courtyard took a few extra looks at Chen Han, who seemed quite close to the young lady of the household, then sneered.

"He's just some country bumpkin from the outer city. Who knows why the young lady wastes her breath talking to him?"

"You can't tell? That graceful young man looks a lot better than roughnecks like us, with oil all over our faces."

"You pockmarked old bastard, that's because you..."

The sun sank in the west, and Chen Han left. Before going, he told Li Mubai that he had to train until midnight before he could sleep.

The latter found it painful, but still readily agreed. Of course, he didn't slack off either. After dinner, he stood in a horse stance, and when he really couldn't take it anymore, he lay down where he was to rest for a bit.

Only when midnight—the time Chen Han had specified—arrived did he drag his exhausted body back to his room after a quick wash. He couldn't help sighing that martial arts training was the most exhausting thing he had ever done in his life.

At that very moment, Chen Han carried the banknotes he had exchanged for one hundred and fifty taels of silver and arrived beneath the great locust tree by Black Marsh Lake.

It was still the same little boat, the same short, dark-haired man, and a few scattered figures whose faces couldn't be made out.

Chen Han, naturally, had his face covered as well. After showing the man his token, he silently took out a ten-tael entry ticket.

The little man looked at Chen Han with interest. He had evidently recognized him, but didn't say a word.

When the time came, he knocked on the boat, and the few people whose identities had been verified climbed aboard.

They remained silent throughout the journey. Once they disembarked, they went their separate ways without a word.

Chen Han returned to the little shop that sold Exotic Beast meat.

"Shopkeeper, it's my first time here. How much is the meat?"

It was still the same alluring, voluptuous beauty. She raised an eyebrow and tossed Chen Han a flirtatious glance, unconcerned. "What? You're even trying to work out a little scheme against your Aunt Xue'er?"

"I really can't hide anything from you, Aunt Xue'er."

Chen Han took off his black gauze hat, revealing a rather handsome face. "Things haven't been going well in or out of the city lately. I was wondering if the price of meat had changed."

He spoke without joy or sorrow.

"Of course it's changed. The price has dropped quite a bit. Sigh, it's been hard on a poor little woman like me."

Aunt Xue'er looked heartbroken.

"If you want it... I'll sell it to you for twenty taels of silver per catty."

"Twenty taels?"

Chen Han wasn't sure what to make of it. He worried there might be something wrong with meat that cheap. Damn it, he'd paid twenty-five taels per catty before, and bought three catties. At this price, he'd lost a full fifteen taels of silver.

Just thinking about it made Chen Han wince.

"How did it get so cheap in just a few days?"

The beautiful woman blinked and complained, "We're going out of business, that's why. Black Lion City is gone, so we have to flee too. We've got so much meat and can't take it with us. If we don't lower the price, it'll just rot here.

"Looks like you really lucked out, kid. Both times you bought meat, you got it so cheap. Your aunt's genuinely jealous."

She regretted not making more silver off Chen Han. Casually, she picked some beast's blood off her foot. "So, how many catties do you want this time?"

"Seven catties."

At that, the beautiful woman picked up her cleaver and pulled a beast's leg, nearly as tall as an adult, off the chopping block. Its flesh was scarlet all over. Judging by its appearance, it might well have been a leg from the Red Spider that had brought disaster upon them.

"You've recovered pretty well, kid. Interested in taking a job?"

Chen Han packed up the meat she had cut, without even moving an eyelid. "Let's hear it."

"Simple. Kill a few people. Plenty of people have taken the job. Help out if you can when the time comes. It'll be paid according to the work you do, with a guaranteed minimum of three hundred taels."

Chen Han's heart gave a jolt, but once the temptation stirred, he suppressed the thought.

"I'm not interested."

When he got home, Chen Han washed up quickly and lay down on the bed.

"You're back."

Shen Wan'er never asked about what he did outside. Aside from trusting Chen Han's character, she knew she couldn't get involved in many of the things he did in secret.

If she asked too much, she would only bring him trouble.

Chen Han wrapped his arms around Shen Wan'er's soft, tender body from behind, pressing his whole face against the nape of her neck. Her rich feminine scent washed over him.

A wave of heat stirred in Chen Han's heart.

If losing my vital essence is bad for martial arts training, then I can just not lose it.

He was a young man in his prime, after all. How could he keep his heart as still as water when faced with a wife so full of feminine charm? He'd have to be a block of wood.

A little fondling now and then, just to enjoy the moment, was good for his physical and mental health.

"Don't mess around. Yue'er and the others are right next door."

Shen Wan'er laughed and scolded him.

"You don't have to make a sound. It'll only take a moment, just a moment..."

Chen Han stroked his wife's cheek with his left hand. When she didn't refuse and instead let out a soft, shy sound, he slowly reached a finger toward her lips. His warm right hand rested on her lower abdomen and began to slide upward.

"Brother-in-law! You... what are you doing?"

Just then, Shen Yue's voice suddenly rang out, startling Chen Han into sitting bolt upright.

Shen Yue stood gracefully in the doorway in her nightdress, clutching a large pillow. Her face was red as a ripe apple. She had clearly seen what the two of them had been doing, and was utterly embarrassed.

"Why aren't you asleep? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Chen Han questioned her with an utterly hopeless look on his face.

"Mom snores so loudly. I can't sleep."

The new home had only two inner rooms and two beds. Shen Wan'er shared one with him, while Shen Yue shared the other with Lu.

"Oh, I see. Then come over. You can sleep with your sister."

Shen Wan'er's hair was disheveled, and her face was full of panic. Her cheeks were so red they seemed about to catch fire as she forced a smile.

"No!"

Chen Han rejected her without mercy. "How old are you now? In another two years, you'll be old enough to marry. Haven't you heard that grown girls should keep their distance from men?"

"Hmph!"

Shen Yue huffed in a sulk and shot Chen Han a resentful look. Then, cheeks puffed out, she stomped back to her room.

Everything fell quiet again. Chen Han smiled with relief. "Let's continue..."

In the blink of an eye, four months passed.

The situation on the front lines grew increasingly dire, and they were on the verge of a complete rout. Fortunately, the Xu Kingdom sent several Martialists to reinforce them, barely managing to stabilize the situation.

But outside Black Lion City... it was no exaggeration to call it a living hell.

At the Li Mansion, Chen Han stood in the courtyard, practicing the Taiji Health Cultivation Technique.

[Taiji Health Cultivation Technique (Proficient): 289/500]

As his proficiency gradually increased over the past few days, he could clearly feel his body being reshaped at an almost abnormal speed.

Back when he was in the outer city, a punch weighing one hundred and fifty pounds had been his limit. But now...

Chen Han slowly finished his practice and stood before the wooden post he used for training. After taking a few deep breaths, he stepped forward lightly, centered his weight over his dantian, raised his hand, and clenched his fist to gather strength...

"Hah!"

With a fierce shout, he twisted at the waist, and the power of his right fist burst forth.

Bang!

Crack!

The wooden post gave a sharp snap and broke clean in two.

But now, he could strike with a full four hundred pounds of force!

His strength had more than doubled!

"This Taiji Health Cultivation Technique really is a peerless martial art!"

An ordinary martial artist who ate Exotic Beast meat needed two full days to digest even a small piece.

But Chen Han could now eat two pieces a day, one in the morning and one at night, and still feel it wasn't enough. The reason was the reshaping of his sinews and bones!

As his sinews and bones were reshaped, even after eating Exotic Beast meat, the blood and vital energy in his body were still rapidly depleted—at several times the rate of an ordinary martial artist's training.

At the same time, he could clearly feel that something about his body had changed. His senses had grown sharper than those of ordinary people. Whenever he focused and felt the change, one word came to mind—strength!

That was why he regarded the Taiji Health Cultivation Technique as a peerless art that ordinary people could hardly master.

Only he, with a proficiency panel at his disposal, could cultivate it to great heights, even reach the pinnacle!