Breaking Limits

"Miss Qin is actually quite a decent person." Xia Dong carefully tucked away the letter, a wave of emotion rising in his heart.

In this world where immortals and mortals walk different paths, since she had already been favored by an immortal sect, she could have completely ignored their old, mundane engagement. Not only did she call off the marriage and send generous gifts, but she had now even gone out of her way to send a letter of apology, along with a legendary "spirit stone."

Such grace and conduct truly left no room for criticism.

Xia Dong turned back and took the spirit stone gifted by Miss Qin out of the wooden box.

The spirit stone was only the size of a thumb, possessing a translucent, warm jade luster. Held in his palm, it emitted a faint, refreshing coolness. He placed it under an oil lamp to examine it repeatedly, then attempted to circulate the faint "sense of qi" nurtured within his body by the Crane Stance, slowly channeling it into the stone.

However, it was like a clay ox entering the sea.

The moment that thread of blood-qi touched the surface of the spirit stone, it dissipated; he was unable to extract even a fraction of the rumored "spirit power" or any special substance from this miraculous stone.

"It seems that items of the immortal family truly cannot be stirred by the blood-qi of a mortal martial artist." Xia Dong shook his head, though he did not feel discouraged.

Since he could not grasp the method, Xia Dong simply followed the instructions in Miss Qin's letter, placing the thumb-sized spirit stone under his pillow before lying down fully clothed.

The night deepened, and all was silent.

Exhausted from the day's training, Xia Dong quickly drifted into an incredibly deep sleep. Once he was fast asleep, the spirit stone beneath his pillow suddenly began to emit a faint, flickering glow. Immediately after, that glow seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, transforming into wisps of pure mist that seeped silently into the back of Xia Dong's head.

Deep within his sea of consciousness.

The mottled bronze bell that had always hung in silence, as if a long-parched land meeting sweet rain, absorbed every bit of this incoming spiritual energy.

Hum.

A sound, incredibly faint yet carrying a sense of ancient joy, rippled quietly through the depths of his soul.

In his dreams, Xia Dong felt his consciousness pulled into a strange, gray space. Here, he seemed to transform into thousands of white cranes, endlessly repeating the movements of the Crane Stance. Thousands of rehearsals and tens of thousands of breaths eventually condensed into a single, brilliant spark of spiritual light.

The "window paper" that had hindered his further progress was violently pierced by this sudden, massive external force!

On the body of the bronze bell, the twisted, scarlet characters shifted once more:

Name: Xia Dong

Codename: Gouchen

Talent: One Proof Eternal Proof

Spirit Root: None

Martial Arts: Crane Stance (Limit Broken)

Immediately following this, a massive stream of information poured into Xia Dong's mind like a sudden enlightenment. The mysteries beyond the perfection of the Crane Stance, under the blessing of the "Limit Break," transformed into a highly profound martial skill.

This was a secret technique specializing in legwork and lightness skills—the Crane Shadow Step.

It not only contained extremely fierce leg-striking techniques but also a unique method for circulating qi for lightness. Once mastered, his legs would become like the long feathers of a crane, granting him the superb ability to scale walls and vault over roofs; furthermore, because of its highly efficient use of blood-qi, it greatly reduced consumption, allowing him to sprint vast distances with incredible endurance.

The next morning.

Xia Dong opened his eyes abruptly and leaped up from the bed.

He instinctively lifted his pillow; the spirit stone, once warm and crystalline, had now turned into a small pile of gray-white powder that lost all its wonder the moment the wind blew.

"So, the energy of spirit stones can be directly absorbed by the ancient bell to deduce and break the limits of martial arts!"

Xia Dong was overjoyed.

Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard to verify what he had gained in his dream last night.

In the small courtyard, the morning dew had yet to dry.

Xia Dong took a deep breath, his leg muscles tensing as the method of the Crane Shadow Step surged within him. He tapped his toes lightly against the blue bricks, and his entire body, as if weightless, rose a full ten feet into the air!

Swish!

In mid-air, he exerted force from his waist and abdomen, precisely kicking off the courtyard wall to gain momentum. His figure, like a nimble white crane, landed lightly on the tip of a date tree branch. The thin branch swayed up and down under his weight, yet he stood as steady as if on flat ground.

"What a domineering movement technique!"

Xia Dong cheered, and the branch snapped instantly.

"Cough, cough." Xia Dong scrambled up from the ground, dusting himself off.

Luckily, the tree wasn't high, and no one had seen him.

He couldn't be blamed; the feeling just now had been too wonderful, and he had truly believed he was a white crane dancing in the air.

However, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

With this martial skill, he should now have a certain level of self-preservation in the secular world. In the future, when traveling, if he encountered common bandits, he could fight if they were few, and run if they were many!

Riding a horse along the rivers and lakes, the world is mine to roam.

Xia Dong hummed softly.

Although he still couldn't cultivate immortality, the sensation brought by the martial path was already magnificent enough.

Over the next few days, Xia Dong temporarily shelved his plans to survey the market and find ways to make money, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the practice of the "Crane Shadow Step."

In the morning, he darted and shifted between the dry well and the courtyard wall, leaving behind trails of afterimages; at night, he moved like a phantom in the dark, gliding silently across the rooftops of the alleys.

The proficiency of the Crane Shadow Step steadily improved over these few days.

With every leap and landing, Xia Dong could feel his body's control over his blood and qi becoming increasingly refined, as if it were instinct. However, as his martial arts continued to advance, the cravings emanating from his body became clearer as well.

As expected, literature is for the poor while martial arts are for the rich. The consumption required for this martial training is simply too great...

Xia Dong stood in the courtyard, touched his empty money pouch, and let out a long sigh. If I were to cultivate immortality in the future, I fear the resources required would be immeasurable.

On this day, Xia Dong had no choice but to stop practicing Crane Shadow Step.

There was no help for it; he was truly out of money.

The fifty taels of silver and the old ginseng left behind by the Qin Family had already been mostly consumed during his previous phase of extreme "physical elevation." Over the past few days, in order to maintain the high-intensity proficiency accumulation for Crane Shadow Step, he had completely emptied out his remaining reserves.

His blood and qi now far exceeded that of an ordinary person, and his daily food intake was several times greater than before. The most critical issue was that he had to eat meat. Ordinary people could survive on chaff and vegetables, but his body, now like a roaring furnace, could not be satisfied by coarse grains alone.

The coarse grains and flour he consumed were like tossing a few stalks of dry straw into a blazing fire; they burned away in the blink of an eye and were nowhere near enough to sustain his martial training. If this continued for long, he would even end up damaging his own health.

Looking at the bottom of the rice jar in the kitchen, a sense of melancholy couldn't help but rise in Xia Dong's heart.

He could not sit idly by and wait for death; he had to find some way to make a living. Thus, he began to carefully survey the market within Pingyang County.

Wearing the halo of a newly minted scholar, he walked down the street, and the neighbors and merchants would politely pause to respectfully call out, "Scholar Xia." This skin of imperial certification was indeed useful, at least sparing him from the harassment of local thugs and ruffians.

However, when Xia Dong truly sought a path to accumulate wealth quickly, he was soon doused with a bucket of cold water by reality.

After walking the streets and alleys for several days, he discovered that the waters of Pingyang County ran very deep. Those highly profitable industries that could generate quick money—such as Salt and Iron, Bulk Medicinal Materials, Pawnshops, Grain Merchants, and even the underground Money Shops and Entertainment Districts—were already tightly controlled by the various powerful gentry families and gangs in the county, with their chains of interest deeply intertwined.

Behind them even lay the shadows of the County Magistrate or major powers from the Prefecture City; there was simply no room for a humble scholar like him, who lacked any background, to intervene.

If he were to use his privileges and status as a scholar to help others write petitions, handle lawsuits, or work as a Tutor for wealthy households—doing these kinds of stable "small jobs"—he would indeed be respected, and he would certainly never starve in this lifetime.

But that would only barely keep him fed, falling far short of what he needed for his martial training.

Isn't this the same as my past life...

Xia Dong stood at the end of the bustling long street, watching the carriages coming and going and the merchants dressed in silks and satins, feeling utterly dejected.

Class solidification was indeed a stubborn ailment present in every world.

A cold wind blew past, and Xia Dong tightened his collar, a sense of frustration rising in his heart at having his plans thwarted before they had even begun. If he didn't break this deadlock soon, he, a scholar possessed of unique skills, might not even be able to scrape together the money for tomorrow's meat.

Xia Dong stared at the nearby Bookstore with its frequent flow of customers, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

It seems I shall have to play the part of a literary plagiarist.