After returning from Gaolin County, Lu Chen gained Qiao Yuan's regard, and his standing at the Yam Herb Shop instantly soared.
Wang Shouyi also came to admire Lu Chen more and more, feeling that his decision back then had been absolutely correct. Lu Chen was worth far more than he had paid.
Afterward, under his arrangements, Lu Chen's daily duty guarding the shop was greatly reduced. He basically only had to stand guard once every seven days.
The rest of the time was entirely his own to spend as he pleased.
While others worked six days and rested one, he worked one day and rested six.
After all, for the Wang Firm, anyone could handle tasks like patrolling the storehouse each day. Lu Chen's value now lay not in guarding the grounds, but in growing stronger as quickly as possible.
If he could break into the Blood-Moving Minor Achievement soon, or even reach the Blood-Moving Realm's Greater Achievement in the future, that would mean far more to the Wang Firm than having him guard the grounds for a few extra days.
Some were envious, others burned with jealousy, but no one dared to step forward and say anything.
After all, Lu Chen's current position had been hammered out punch by punch.
It was an ordinary afternoon.
The sky was slightly overcast, and low clouds pressed down over Scarlet Cloud County. Sunlight could not break through, leaving only a faint gray-white layer spread across the rear courtyard of the Yam Herb Shop.
It was already winter, and the weather had turned cold.
A thin layer of ice covered the water vat beside the training ground. Whenever several workers passed by, they hunched their necks and tucked their hands into their sleeves, their white breath dispersing in clouds from their mouths.
Most of the guards had gone to patrol the grounds and watch the storehouses, leaving the rear courtyard unusually quiet.
Lu Chen stood alone in the center of the training ground, practicing the Coiling Dragon Stance as usual.
He had just swallowed a Blood-Qi Powder.
At first, the pill only brought a trace of warmth to his belly. Moments later, its medicinal power seemed to be roasted open by charcoal fire, suddenly spreading from his stomach and abdomen. It flowed along his muscles, joints, and blood vessels, traveling through every limb and bone.
Lu Chen settled into his stance. His feet took root like an old tree, his waist and hips sank, and his spine lifted slightly. His entire body seemed like an Azure Dragon coiled within a deep pool.
The medicinal power had only begun to scatter wildly when the steady force between his sinews, bones, and flesh coiled around it layer by layer.
It was like an invisible net, drawing the scattered heat back onto its proper course bit by bit.
Lu Chen's breathing grew increasingly rhythmic.
The dozen or so strands of qi and blood originally scattered throughout his body circulated more and more smoothly, faintly showing signs of gathering into a single form.
Lu Chen's heart stirred, but he did not force the process.
During this period, he had never stopped taking medicinal baths, never lacked meat, and had taken Blood-Qi Powder on schedule.
His qi and blood grew thicker by the day.
His foundation grew steadier by the day.
He had long since touched the bottleneck of the Blood-Moving Minor Achievement. He was only one step away from breaking through.
But Lu Chen was not impatient.
As the saying went, when water was full, it overflowed; when the melon ripened, it fell from the vine.
With his solid foundation, he had no need to force his way through the barrier. He only needed to wait for the moment when the water reached the channel and flowed naturally.
He slowly exhaled.
His feet gripped the ground, his toes clutching the Qingshi surface, while his waist and hips sank further and his spine unfolded joint by joint.
The final trace of medicinal power from the Blood-Qi Powder within his body was drawn along by the Coiling Dragon Stance, slowly flowing into his chest and abdomen.
The feeling was like the last drop of water falling into a pond.
The pond, which had been full but not quite overflowing, finally spilled over the edge.
Boom—
A faint tremor stirred deep within Lu Chen's chest.
There was no earth-shaking sound.
Yet inside his body, it was as though an invisible membrane had quietly broken through.
The dozen or so strands of qi and blood completely gathered at that moment.
The hot currents that had once been scattered strand by strand connected end to end, transforming into a stable, warm stream that completed a full cycle through his body.
That little stream slowly flowed out from his chest and abdomen, traveling along his meridians toward every limb and bone.
Wherever it passed, his muscles tingled faintly, his joints grew subtly hot, and his skin and flesh felt as though they were being soaked in warm water, then slowly tempered by a fine fire.
Lu Chen could clearly feel the force throughout his body being rearranged.
It became more concentrated, smoother, and more obedient to his commands.
In the past, his qi and blood had been like strands of thread. When throwing a punch, he needed to deliberately guide his mind, mobilizing the scattered strands of qi and blood and combining their strength.
Now his qi and blood were like a stream. Without needing to consciously will it, the entire flow of qi and blood surged out along with his fist.
It also possessed a continuous reserve of force.
His punches no longer erupted in a single instant; they could keep driving forward.
This was the Blood-Moving Minor Achievement.
Qi and blood had become a stream, flowing without end.
Lu Chen was overjoyed, a flash of brilliance passing through his eyes.
He stood where he was, carefully sensing the changes in his body.
The stream of qi and blood in his chest flowed with steady warmth and lasting strength, washing through all his muscles again and again.
He could feel his physical strength rapidly recovering.
The fatigue brought on by standing practice and boxing moments ago dispersed bit by bit as his qi and blood circulated. His legs no longer felt heavy, his shoulders and back no longer ached, and even the chill of winter was forced back several degrees by the warm current within him.
At the initial stage of the Blood-Moving Realm, after practicing his punches for a while and exhausting his qi and blood, he had needed to regulate his breathing slowly to recover.
Now, with his qi and blood circulating through a full cycle like a stream, they continuously refined the medicinal power accumulated in his body and the food in his stomach. His physical strength and endurance had both increased dramatically, while his recovery speed had also improved by leaps and bounds.
Lu Chen slowly withdrew from his stance, and a translucent panel quietly appeared before him:
[Coiling Dragon Stance Art: Mastery] [Progress: 512/1000] [Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist: Mastery] [Progress: 443/1000] [Iron Thread Grappling Hand: Beginner] [Progress: 266/300] [Golden Ape Piercing-the-Forest Leg: Beginner] [Progress: 52/300]
Lu Chen looked at the lines of records on the transparent panel, his heart unexpectedly calm.
There was no wild joy, no shouting.
Only the solid feeling that came after everything had fallen naturally into place.
That night, Lu Chen told Shopkeeper Wang Shouyi that he had broken through to the Minor Achievement.
"Excellent, excellent!"
"Hahahaha!"
Under the lamplight, Wang Shouyi looked at Lu Chen as though he had found a priceless treasure.
"Your old man bet correctly! Hahahaha!"
Overcome with delight, he walked around the table and carefully sized Lu Chen up.
Lu Chen merely stood there quietly, but the aura around him was already different from before. His entire person seemed much steadier, and a faint warmth circulated with every breath, as though a warm stream were hidden within his body.
The more Wang Shouyi looked, the happier he became.
Back then, he had only paid a high price to snatch Lu Chen away because he did not want the Huang Family to become deeply bound to the Hidden Dragon Martial Hall.
There had been an element of gambling in it as well.
After all, a monthly salary of six taels of silver plus one Blood-Qi Powder far exceeded the value of an initial-stage Blood-Moving Realm martial artist.
But now, the potential and value Lu Chen had displayed were already far beyond what such a small sum could match.
"Lu Chen, it's only been two months, and you've truly opened the old man's eyes!"
Wang Shouyi patted Lu Chen on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
Lu Chen instead cupped his fists and said, "If not for Shopkeeper valuing me and giving me Blood-Qi Powder and a monthly salary of six taels, I wouldn't have broken through so quickly."
The Wang Firm paid him six taels a month, while the Chen Family provided four taels in support.
His monthly expenditure on martial arts exceeded that of other martial artists by three months or even half a year.
Medicinal baths, nutritional supplements, and Blood-Qi Powder—being short of any one of them could have slowed his progress.
Wang Shouyi replied, "Those are merely supplementary. On the path of martial arts, what truly matters is one's own talent."
"Which of those wealthy young masters lacks money or medicine? The Wang Firm isn't without experience in spending heavily to nurture martial artists, but few have achieved anything like you."
"This shows that your martial arts talent is extraordinary."
"Moreover, you're still young—only sixteen. You can even take next year's Martial Examination!"
"You have a chance of becoming a Martial Scholar!"
Clearly, Wang Shouyi thought highly of Lu Chen.
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