Yang Xixi

Just as Chen Lie sat leisurely in his chair, his gaze shifting, he saw someone walk into the shop.

Chen Lie stood up from his chair and saw that the person who had entered was a girl of seventeen or eighteen.

Assuming she was there to purchase martial arts, he said, "Are you looking to buy a Psionic Crystal Card? There are many types of martial arts in the display case; feel free to browse at your leisure."

The girl paid no attention to Chen Lie, instead looking left and right. Finding that there was no one else in the shop besides him, she couldn't help but ask, "Who are you? Where is my dad?"

Only then did Chen Lie realize the situation and ask in return, "Is your father Yang Shen?"

The girl didn't speak, instead widening her large eyes and staring straight at Chen Lie.

At this moment, Yang Shen walked into the shop carrying a handbag. Seeing the girl, he couldn't help but say, "Xixi, you're back?"

"Dad!"

The girl immediately ran behind Yang Shen and pointed at Chen Lie, saying, "Dad, who is this person? Why was he acting all sneaky in our shop by himself just now?"

"Do not be rude!"

Yang Shen immediately reprimanded the girl, then placed the items in his hand on the counter and explained to Chen Lie, "Little Brother Chen, this is my daughter, Yang Xixi. She is usually a bit impulsive; please do not take offense."

Chen Lie waved his hand to indicate that he didn't mind.

"Xixi, the person before you is a Divine Sense Master, Chen Lie. You should address him as Senior from now on," Yang Shen said.

"A Divine Sense Master?"

Yang Xixi looked at Chen Lie in surprise.

Having grown up, she had never seen a Divine Sense Master before. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if such people even existed in Dongchuan Province.

Now that she saw a living Divine Sense Master, she naturally felt extremely astonished.

"Senior, hello. My name is Yang Xixi, a third-year student in Elite Class 1 at the Dongchuan Province Key High School. Are... are you really a Divine Sense Master?"

Chen Lie nodded and said, "We are in the same school. You don't need to call me Senior; just call me classmate."

"The same school?"

Yang Xixi was filled with doubt. Could there really be a Divine Sense Master in their school? How did she not know?

Furthermore, her mentor in Elite Class 1 had mentioned during lectures that it was impossible for any Divine Sense Master to exist in their school, or even in any martial arts high school in Dongchuan Province.

Every Divine Sense Master was bound to have outstanding talent and be the most elite among martial arts practitioners, yet she had clearly never seen Chen Lie's name on the Elite Student Top 100 Ranking.

Though puzzled, Yang Xixi still said, "That won't do. My dad calls you Little Brother, so if I call you classmate, wouldn't that mess up the hierarchy? I'll stick with Senior."

"As you wish," Chen Lie said indifferently.

Seeing this, Yang Xixi immediately followed up, "Senior, I want to ask you, are you Divine Sense Masters all born that way?"

"Of course not."

"Then why are Divine Sense Masters so rare?"

At this point, Yang Shen hurriedly stopped Yang Xixi: "Xixi, don't ask such things!"

The secrets regarding Divine Sense Masters were not something ordinary people like them could touch, so he immediately put a stop to his daughter's lack of restraint.

Yang Xixi stuck out her tongue and closed her mouth.

"Little Brother Chen, this girl speaks without thinking; please don't hold it against her."

Chen Lie nodded and said, "It is fine."

Before long, Yang Shen finished packaging all fifteen sets of crystal cards and placed them in the display case.

He took one set out from the fifteen and gave it to Yang Xixi.

"Xixi, aren't you practicing the Army-Breaking Fist? This is a set of Army-Breaking Fist crystal cards. Take them and use them."

"Dad? You got Army-Breaking Fist crystal cards? Wasn't it said that the Army-Breaking Fist was always out of stock?"

Yang Xixi took the cards and couldn't help but say.

"This is all thanks to Little Brother Chen. It was he who took action to engrave the Army-Breaking Fist onto the blank crystal cards."

As Yang Shen spoke, he suddenly said, "Alright, let's close the shop for a while. Let's go to the Martial Dao Restaurant to eat."

Under Yang Shen's lead, Chen Lie walked into a restaurant with a simple, unadorned decor.

As soon as they entered, people in the restaurant greeted Yang Shen.

"Old Wang, bringing your daughter to have a Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal again? However, with the spirit herbs you stored here last time, we can only make two more Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meals."

Yang Shen nodded with a smile and said, "Make both of those Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meals today, and add a few tonic dishes as well."

"Two Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meals? Is there some happy occasion?"

Yang Shen waved his hands repeatedly: "What happy occasion could there be?"

"Is it that your daughter's blood-qi has had another breakthrough? Sigh, that girl of yours is truly worry-free. She entered the Elite Class before even finishing her second year, and now her blood-qi value has broken into triple digits early."

"Unlike mine, who is still wandering in the ordinary classes of the third year of high school."

"Alright, enough talk. You two sit down first; the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal will be ready in a moment!"

After saying this, the man from the restaurant headed toward the kitchen.

"Young Brother Chen, come, sit!"

Yang Shen found a table and immediately beckoned Chen Lie to sit down.

Once seated, Yang Shen poured a glass of water for Chen Lie.

"Young Brother Chen just mentioned being in the same school as Xixi. Are you also a student at the Dongchuan Province Key High School?"

"That is correct," Chen Lie said.

"Since you are a Divine Sense Master, your martial arts achievements must surely be above Xixi's. Could you please take a look and see if you can offer her some guidance?" Yang Shen asked.

Chen Lie asked, "What is wrong with her?"

Yang Shen tapped the table in front of Yang Xixi, signaling her to speak.

Yang Xixi hurriedly said, "Ever since my Blood-Qi value broke into triple digits a while ago, it feels like I no longer have any bottlenecks. As long as I use supplements, my Blood-Qi increases very quickly.

However, conversely, the higher my Blood-Qi value gets, the more my physical strength relatively decreases.

I asked my mentor about this, and he said it was normal. He went through the same thing back then; he said as long as I control my strength value and don't let it drop too much, it will be fine. But I still feel a bit uneasy about it."

Chen Lie said, "Your situation is indeed normal. It is because your Blood-Qi has reached a certain level, causing your bodily functions to improve significantly, which is why your Blood-Qi is rising faster and faster.

However, having such inflated Blood-Qi values is not necessarily a good thing. If your physical strength cannot maintain a certain ratio with your Blood-Qi, it would be better not to increase your Blood-Qi value at all. Otherwise, you won't be able to go very far in the Blood-Qi Stage."

"Ah? Then what should I do? My Blood-Qi value was measured half a month ago at 147.55 units, and my strength value had already fallen below three times the ratio back when I was at 120 units," Yang Xixi couldn't help but say.

"I suggest you stop focusing on increasing your Blood-Qi for this period. Slow down, practice martial arts, and refine your Blood-Qi.

Find a body-tempering method that suits you and spend twelve hours a day tempering your Blood-Qi for half a month straight.

Alternatively, bring a martial art to the level of perfection; your Blood-Qi will then be refined once more, and only then should you increase your Blood-Qi value again.

Once your Blood-Qi reaches a certain level, maintaining the purity of that Blood-Qi is far more important than the raw value itself."

"So that's how it is. But why didn't my mentor ever mention this to me?" Yang Xixi asked, puzzled.

"Because your mentor likely stumbled through this stage in a daze himself, and he may not necessarily understand it," Chen Lie said.

"Then should I just keep refining my Blood-Qi like that?" Yang Xixi asked.

"That is up to you. The Blood-Qi Stage is the time to build your martial arts foundation. If you want your foundation to be more solid than others, you need to put in more effort during this stage."

"Oh," Yang Xixi nodded.

Before long, two portions of the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal were brought to the table.

Yang Shen gave one portion of the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal to Chen Lie and one to Yang Xixi.

Yang Xixi, however, pushed the meal away and said, "Didn't the senior just say I shouldn't let my Blood-Qi increase like this anymore? I don't want it."

"How can you not want it? It costs over one hundred thousand Star Dollars per portion!" Yang Shen couldn't help but exclaim.

Chen Lie spoke up then, "It's already made; it would be a waste not to eat it.

Refining Blood-Qi is not something that needs to be rushed in a single moment; it is a process that spans the entire Blood-Qi Stage."

"Then... alright."

Yang Xixi nodded, pulled the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal in front of her, and began to eat.

Chen Lie looked at the supplement in front of him and also began to eat.

As soon as the supplement entered his mouth, Chen Lie felt a gentle yet continuous stream of nutrition dissolving in his stomach, so he quickened his pace of eating.

Soon, he had finished his portion of the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal.

After the meal, Yang Shen cordially invited Chen Lie, "Young Brother Chen, why don't you come back to my shop and sit for a while?"

Chen Lie shook his head and said, "I won't go. You should head back to look after your shop."

"Alright then. I'll have Xixi see you off." Yang Shen looked at Yang Xixi and said, "Xixi, help me see Young Brother Chen off."

"Okay!"

Yang Xixi nodded quickly, took a bite of food, stood up immediately, and waited for Chen Lie.

Chen Lie also stood up and, accompanied by Yang Xixi, walked out of the restaurant.

Outside the restaurant, Yang Xixi walked beside Chen Lie and couldn't help but ask, "Senior, you are a Divine Sense Master, so your Blood-Qi value must be very high, right?

I heard from my mentor that even a Divine Sense Master who hasn't officially entered a rank is worth as much as, and has the potential of, a member of the Dongchuan Province Youth Talent Group.

If a Divine Sense Master wants to learn a martial art, their speed is more than ten times faster than an ordinary person's."

"My Blood-Qi value is not as high as yours," Chen Lie said.

"How is that possible?"

Yang Xixi's face was full of disbelief.

"Divine Sense Masters unlock divine perception, and their comprehension and insight far exceed those of ordinary people, so it is true that they learn martial arts ten times faster than the average person.

The so-called Dongchuan Province Youth Talent Group seems to have a threshold of 1,000 units of blood-qi, but if you want to go far on the martial path, you cannot set that as your goal.

Instead, you should constantly refine your blood-qi, first forging a body of exquisite blood-qi, and only then focus on increasing its volume, until your blood-qi is vast and reaches a state where it rolls and surges like thick syrup."

"Blood-qi like syrup? Isn't blood-qi in a gaseous state? How could it possibly roll and surge like syrup?" Yang Xixi asked, puzzled.

"Although blood-qi is gaseous, it can also be transformed into a liquid state. By maintaining the refinement of your blood-qi and continuously increasing its volume, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes, and eventually, you will be able to polish your blood-qi to the point where it rolls like syrup."

As they spoke, Chen Lie and Yang Xixi walked out of the Martial Artist Market and arrived at a bus stop next to the market.