You're Still Alive?!

After leaving the Carriage Firm, Chen Jing went home with some valuables and land deeds.

After putting everything away safely, he tidied up the house and quietly waited for Chen Sanwu to return.

By evening, Chen Sanwu had finished looking at houses and come back. As soon as he walked in, he saw Chen Jing waiting for him in the courtyard.

Chen Jing got up to greet him. As he wiped the sweat from his father's face, he casually explained what had happened at the Carriage Firm. "Dad, Wang Chi was a thoroughly wicked man. I dealt with him."

"The Carriage Firm belongs to me now. You don't need to open a shop anymore. Come with me tomorrow and be the boss."

"What?!"

Chen Sanwu's eyes flew wide at the news. The towel slipped from his hand and hit the ground, and his voice rose in shock. "Y-you dealt with Wang Chi? The Carriage Firm belongs to us now?"

Chen Sanwu had spent half his life pulling rickshaws. Wang Chi had not only docked his wages but made him swallow one humiliation after another. He'd never dreamed that one day he'd suddenly become the boss of the Carriage Firm.

Chen Jing patiently went over everything again. Only after confirming it was true did Chen Sanwu let out a heavy sigh of relief. His eyes reddened, and his voice choked with emotion. "Good! That's my boy!"

Chen Sanwu had lived honestly and worked hard all his life, with his face to the earth and his back to the sky. He'd never imagined his family would come into such good fortune.

Once his excitement had passed, Chen Sanwu grabbed Chen Jing and urgently reminded him again and again, "Jing'er, this is a big deal. Be careful from now on, and don't draw too much attention. A tall tree catches the wind. We're better off staying safe and sound."

"Dad, I know what I'm doing."

"When you become the boss, don't be like Wang Chi. Give the drivers their fair share."

Chen Jing nodded and agreed, doing his best to calm his father.

Chen Sanwu replied at once, "Of course. I used to be a driver myself. How could I forget my roots now that I'm the boss?"

The father and son had a simple dinner. Chen Sanwu was so happy that he drank a couple of small cups of wine, then went to bed early.

Chen Jing continued practicing his boxing in the meantime.

When the hour of the Pig arrived, Chen Jing pulled the black mask Zhuang Tao had given him from under the bed.

He put it on and slipped out without a sound, making his way toward the Ghost Market outside the city.

The Ghost Market was just as it had been on his last visit: brightly lit beneath the night sky, bustling with people, and guarded by several men at the entrance.

Chen Jing walked up, paid the entrance fee to the guards, and went straight inside.

The last time he had visited the Ghost Market, Chen Jing had been an ordinary person who hadn't yet entered the Blood Creek Realm. He'd only felt how strange and unfamiliar the place was, unable to sense the auras of the people around him.

But now Chen Jing was a Second Blood Martial Artist, with steady qi and blood and keen senses. The moment he entered the Ghost Market, he took in the fluctuations of qi and blood all around him.

He looked around. Most of the people here had weak qi and blood and hadn't yet broken through to First Blood. There were a few First Blood Martial Artists, but their qi and blood were rather impure, and they were nothing special.

As for Second Blood Martial Artists, there wasn't a single one besides him.

The feeling of overwhelming everyone with his strength gave Chen Jing more confidence as he began browsing the Ghost Market.

He glanced over the stalls on either side. Most were selling weapons, pills, and all kinds of odds and ends of unknown origins. Nothing caught his interest.

Before long, Chen Jing reached the stall where he had bought the Five Harms Technique last time.

The stall owner was still the same old man in a tattered black robe and skull mask. He was slumped behind his stall, dozing. At the sound of footsteps, he slowly raised his head.

When the stall owner's gaze landed on the mask covering Chen Jing's face, his eyes abruptly narrowed behind the skull's hollow sockets, as if he'd seen some impossible monster. Even his breathing seemed to catch.

"Y-young hero?"

The stall owner's voice trembled faintly as he asked tentatively, "You... you practiced the Five Harms Technique. It's been two months already, and you're still alive?"

At the stall owner's words, several passersby stopped in their tracks and looked curiously at Chen Jing.

Everyone in the Ghost Market knew that the Five Harms Technique was an evil art and that most practitioners didn't live longer than a month. It was astonishing that this man had practiced it for two months and was still alive.

The stall owner stared at Chen Jing with open curiosity.

Others had coveted the Five Harms Technique's ability to quickly build up qi and blood and bought it from him before. But after taking the technique away, they never returned to the Ghost Market. There was no need to guess what had happened: their cultivation had gone awry, their five organs had been destroyed, and they had died.

Yet this young man was still alive, and his aura was even steadier than the last time he'd come. It completely upended the stall owner's understanding!

Chen Jing heard the shock in his voice and replied calmly, "I'm afraid of dying, so I barely used the technique after I got it. That's the only reason I've been lucky enough to survive."

"Barely used it?"

The stall owner paused, then nodded in understanding.

That made sense. The Five Harms Technique's backlash was severe. If he hadn't used it, naturally nothing would have happened.

The stall owner breathed a sigh of relief, but his eyes grew even more eager. He hurriedly asked, "Then what technique are you looking for this time, young hero?"

He changed tack, lowering his voice with a hint of persuasion. "But, young hero, since you've already practiced the Five Harms Technique, I'll be blunt. Even if you don't use it now, its hidden danger is already planted inside you. It'll flare up sooner or later. You don't have long to live."

"Why not practice some other evil arts? You're going to die soon anyway. You might as well grow stronger while you're still alive. That's better than dying a miserable weakling, don't you think?"

Chen Jing's heart stirred at the suggestion, though he deliberately let a little surprise show on his face.

He'd been wondering what excuse he could use to get the stall owner to bring out the evil arts of his own accord, without making him suspicious.

But before he'd even said a word, the stall owner had offered them up himself. It was exactly what Chen Jing had wanted.

Chen Jing didn't accept right away. Instead, he pretended to deliberate, furrowing his brow as though seriously considering the offer, or perhaps hesitating over whether he should agree.

Seeing Chen Jing remain silent, the stall owner feared he might change his mind and buy nothing. He hurried to persuade him again. "Young hero, you're a regular customer of mine. I won't rip you off. If you really want to buy something, I'll give you a discount!"

He leaned closer and lowered his voice further. "Besides, young hero, the Five Harms Technique will destroy your five organs. At the earliest, it'll happen in half a month. At the latest, a year. You won't live much longer."

"You can't take money with you when you're born, and you can't take it with you when you die. Keeping it would be a waste. You may as well trade it to an old man like me for some strength to protect yourself. Isn't that right?"

At the end, the stall owner's mouth spread into a slight grin beneath his mask, revealing several yellowed teeth. His eyes brimmed with greed and calculation.

Watching the old man, Chen Jing sneered inwardly, but slowly relaxed his brow and asked, "I might consider the evil arts, but what I need more right now are defensive and movement techniques. Do you have anything suitable?"

"I do! Of course I do!"

The stall owner's eyes lit up at the prospect. He answered at once, bending down as he spoke to pull six yellowed booklets from a wooden box beneath the stall. He arranged them neatly in front of Chen Jing.

"Take a look, young hero. These three are defensive techniques, and these three are movement techniques. They're all my prized stock, absolutely perfect for you!"

The stall owner rubbed his hands together. He suppressed his greed and put on an enthusiastic expression, pointing to the six booklets as he introduced them one by one.

"Have a good look, young hero! These three defensive techniques each have their own strengths!"

The stall owner picked up the booklet on the far left, its cover showing a tortoiseshell, and tapped it. "This one's called the Turtle Molt Body-Devouring Technique. Once mastered, it forms a layer of dark golden tortoiseshell markings on your skin. Ordinary blades and swords can't cut through it, and a First Blood Martial Artist can withstand a full-power strike from a Second Blood Martial Artist!"

He changed tack, lowering his voice. "But there's a price... This technique consumes qi and blood, and as you practice it more deeply, your body becomes as heavy and sluggish as a black tortoise. Your movement slows by thirty percent, and it's hard to make yourself faster again."

Chen Jing's gaze shifted slightly. He said nothing, gesturing for him to continue.

The stall owner picked up the booklet in the middle. Its cover was wrapped in a ring of coarse hemp rope, rough to the touch. "This Black Iron Skin-Refining Scripture is easier to practice than the Turtle Molt Body-Devouring Technique, and it works fast! In less than half a month, you can reach the point where blades and spears can't harm you, and it won't affect your movement!"

He chuckled, revealing a hint of slyness. "The technique is fierce, though. You have to temper your body every day with iron sand mixed into medicinal broth. It feels like having your skin peeled and your tendons torn out. Not many people can endure it. Worse, once you practice this technique, you'll have to soak in medicinal broth for the rest of your life. If you stop taking the medicine, the iron skin will slowly fade, and you'll be left with the ailment of depleted qi and blood."

The last defensive technique had the oldest cover of all, its corners worn through. "This Essence Blood Body-Covering Technique is another wicked one! No body tempering, no loss of qi and blood. You just use your own essence blood as a catalyst to form a layer of blood-colored qi and blood over your body. A First Blood Martial Artist can withstand a full-power strike from a Second Blood Martial Artist with this, too!"

The stall owner lowered his voice to a near whisper, sounding ominous. "And the price? It consumes your essence blood! Each use costs you half a month of hard cultivation. Use it too much, and it'll damage your foundation and shorten your lifespan. This technique is addictive, too. The more you use it, the stronger the attacks you can withstand."

Chen Jing raised an eyebrow as he listened.

These three defensive techniques truly came with both blessings and curses. Not one offered something for nothing.

Of the three techniques, the one that interested Chen Jing most was the Essence Blood Body-Covering Technique.

The stall owner had made it clear: the technique used essence blood as its catalyst, and the more you used it, the more adept you became at controlling your essence blood, allowing you to withstand stronger attacks.

Others might be wary of the cost in essence blood and shortened lifespan.

But Chen Jing was different. With the Exemption Bead, he could ignore the risks of the technique's backlash.

As long as he had enough essence blood to fuel it, he could activate the Essence Blood Body-Covering Technique without restraint and unleash its full power!

With that in mind, Chen Jing didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned to the stall owner's other three techniques and asked, "Then what are these three?"