Martial Arts: Starting with Bajiquan, I will prove my divine power through the ultimate path!

The storm has passed.

After paying the stall fee, management fee, and garbage fee to the boatmen.

Shi Wen and Lao Shi packed their things and returned to Taiping Lane.

Taiping Lane is one of the larger slums in Heiyun County, with tens of thousands of people living in this area.

Although named Taiping (meaning peace and tranquility), poverty breeds wickedness, and the large population leads to chaos, with all sorts of swindling, deception, and extortion frequently occurring here.

Along the way, there were wooden houses of varying heights on both sides. The better-off families had high walls built with mud bricks, while the worse houses were full of leaks.

When I got to the intersection near my home.

Shi Wen spotted several wandering figures. The one in the lead looked familiar—it was San Qingzi!

Shi Wen's expression was rather unpleasant.

He had heard that Sanqingzi was like a leech, once you got stuck on him, it was hard to get rid of him.

Sanqingzi is a minor leader in a gang of thieves. He buys low and sells high, lends money at exorbitant interest rates, sets up scams, engages in gambling, honey traps... he's capable of all sorts of despicable acts of fraud and deception!

His reputation is terrible!

But now, Sanqingzi's despicable behavior has once again shattered his understanding!

He sold the land to Sanqingzi at a low price that morning, but this guy couldn't wait even a day and blocked his way home, trying to extort all his money.

They saw Sanqingzi approaching with two henchmen.

The killing intent deep within Shi Wen's heart was spreading rapidly. If he had the chance, he would never let San Qingzi go!

"Little Shi, where did you go today? I've been looking for you all day and couldn't find you. Let's go to Rouge Lane for some fun."

Sanqingzi, with a toothpick dangling from her mouth, walked over with ill intent.

But when his gaze fell upon the martial arts academy's emblem on Shi Wen's chest, his expression suddenly turned grim, and he broke down, saying, "Take my 100,000 treasure coins..."

He was only halfway through his sentence.

Sanqingzi took a deep breath, his gaze turning exceptionally fierce as he scrutinized Shi Wen as if he wanted to scrape a layer of flesh off him.

They just left with their men.

As he passed behind Shi Wen, he deliberately spat a mouthful of phlegm on the ground and muttered "Fuck him" under his breath.

Shi Wen clenched his fists, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

When he caught a glimpse of the panic and unease on Lao Shi's face out of the corner of his eye, he didn't react and headed home.

Wait until you get back to your neighborhood.

The neighbors who were chatting at the door saw Shi and Wen return and started gossiping about everyday matters.

When they learned that Shi Wen was going to join the boxing academy, everyone's faces lit up with approving smiles, praising Shi Wen for his young talent and so on.

But then Shi Wen and the other man entered the house.

Their expressions immediately changed.

He pointed to Shi Wen as a negative example, telling his children not to learn martial arts.

Learn martial arts?

How could these poor people afford to support their families to learn martial arts? And how many poor people can succeed in learning martial arts?

Learning martial arts is just a waste of your family's money, giving it away to others—a complete waste of money!

It seems that this kid from the Shi family is really grasping at straws in his desperation. Does he really think that learning boxing will prevent him from going to Longchoujian to worship the river god on the third day of the fifth lunar month next month?

That Red Lantern Gang is incredibly powerful!

So what if you become a martial artist? Do you think you can wipe out the Red Lantern Gang?

Shi Wen returned home, where his mother had prepared a meal and was waiting for him.

Dinner consisted of common potato pancakes, wild vegetables, and a small pot of fatty pork stir-fried with cabbage.

Potato cakes are a high-yield grain crop in this world, somewhat similar to sweet potatoes in the previous life, but the yield per acre is several times higher than that of sweet potatoes. However, they have a poor taste and are dry, so they are only eaten by the poor.

This thing is simply steamed; it's called a potato pancake because of its flat, round shape.

You won't get fat, and you won't starve either.

Shi Wen lowered his head and ate the potato pancakes, picking at the few pieces of fatty meat, deliberately leaving some fatty meat for his parents.

"Dad, Mom, I've finished eating. I'm going back to my room to rest for a while."

Shi Wen greeted them and went back to his room.

It was called a room, but it was just a space partitioned off with wooden boards. The bed was a simple earthen bed with a layer of straw on top and a kudzu cloth on top of that.

A day of intense training left Shi Wen physically and mentally exhausted.

Once he returned to a safe place to rest, he relaxed his vigilance, and drowsiness and fatigue washed over him like a tide.

She fell asleep very quickly.

But Mr. and Mrs. Shi did not feel at ease during the meal.

Both of them remained silent, the only sounds in the air being the chopsticks picking up food and the chewing of potato cakes.

Suddenly, Shi's mother spoke up, seemingly casually, "Husband, why don't you take some things back to the old house to see your father tomorrow, and also ask him for some money back?"

"Father has always favored his younger brother. He gives him everything in the old house, and he's willing to buy his younger brother's son, A-Liang, clothes that cost several strings of cash each, but he's never even come to see our A-Wen once."

"I'll give you a few acres of land, the old house and those dozen or so acres, and the shops on the street, all to your brother-in-law. If I'm not mistaken, all the money you've earned from business over the years has been taken home by your father under various pretexts, hasn't it?"

"It hurts me to see my parents unable to balance things out, but as a woman, I shouldn't interfere in your men's affairs. I can't usually control what you do or what decisions you make, but now that A-Wen is practicing martial arts, how can he have the strength to train if he doesn't eat meat?"

"His last wish now is to practice martial arts."

"I, as his mother, haven't given him any happiness. Wait until the third day of next month..."

As she spoke, Shi's mother's eyes reddened, but her voice remained calm, "Right now, I don't want anything else, I just want to give him the best of everything."

Old Shi's body trembled slightly as he continued chewing the potato pancake.

That weathered face was etched with bitterness and unspeakable silence.

I waited for a very, very long time.

Old Shi suddenly took out a jar of low-alcohol rice wine that he was reluctant to drink from under the cabinet, poured it into a bowl, and drank several mouthfuls.

After finishing his drink, he spoke calmly, as if discussing something quite ordinary, "I understand. I'll go back and check on it tomorrow."

"Um."

The stone mother didn't say anything.

Shi Wen was unaware of the conversation between the two elders, and it was already midnight when he woke up.

The aches and swelling all over his body made him feel like his body was about to fall apart.

But Shi Wen gritted his teeth and got up.

Putting aside the troubles of the Red Lantern Gang, Sanqingzi, the gang leader alone, has already been added to his kill list!

"Standing meditation!"

Shi Wen mustered his strength and got up, tiptoing to the backyard.

They began practicing basic skills in the pitch-black night.

But after practicing for a while...

His body was protesting.

It's obvious that tonight's dinner wasn't filling at all.

Not to mention the soreness in my muscles and the creaking sounds coming from my bones.

The sheer, agonizing pain in his abdomen, as if his intestines were being squeezed and pulled apart, made him extremely pale!

Even the slightest movement will aggravate your nerves.

hungry!

I'm really hungry!!!

I was so hungry from training that my body couldn't handle the forced training!

"How is the hunger? What are your limits?"

"I'll show you who the true owner of this body is!"

Shi Wen remained silent, but gritted his teeth and increased his proficiency twice in the darkness.

When he was so hungry he couldn't stand it anymore, he ran to the stove and ate several potato cakes raw. He also drank cold water from the vat until the hunger was less intense, and then returned to his room, pale-faced.

He was trembling all over, and collapsed onto the bed, hungry and exhausted.

I don't know how many times I woke up in a daze throughout the night, and finally curled up in bed without moving.

Until dawn the next day.

When Shi Wen woke up, he found that his parents were no longer at home.

There were ten palm-sized steamed potato cakes left on the table, which was his food for the day.

The streets were bustling with people amidst the misty rain.

Shi Wen weaved through the crowd and found a corner in the boxing academy to practice his boxing.

When they were hungry, they would eat potato cakes to fill their stomachs; when they were thirsty, they would drink coarse tea.

He gritted his teeth and persevered in practicing the basics again and again until he was exhausted, and then he found a place to rest.

After resting, he got up and continued practicing.

His actions drew disdain from many outer court disciples.

Who practices martial arts like that kid, recklessly and haphazardly?

You either need to practice stance training, or you need to practice footwork, or you need to practice moves. This kid spent so much time practicing the whole set, isn't that a waste of time?

If you don't break down the basic skills and practice them separately, you won't be able to master them even after ten years of practice!

greedy.

In the end, you can't take care of anything!

Shi Wen ignored the strange looks from others and trained silently. Only the increasing number of times the proficiency displayed in the Extreme Seal could bring him a sense of security.

On that day, five or six people came to become his disciples.

There are teenagers with dreams, and young adults who come to learn self-defense techniques.

Most of them, like Shi Wen, paid the fees and were sent by Master Li of the boxing academy to the outer academy to practice basic skills.

But today, it wasn't Yan Kai supervising the outer disciples.

Instead, it was an inner court female disciple named Zhou Heling who was in charge of the outer court disciples.

Shi Wen was glad that the person he met when he came to register for boxing practice yesterday was Yan Kai, because Zhou Heling had the arrogance of an inner court disciple and looked down on outer court disciples.

The instruction in boxing was also perfunctory.

After teaching the basics a few times, he stopped paying attention to people.

If anyone asks a few more questions, she will point her finger at them and yell at them. If anyone dares to talk back, she will punch them in the face until they are bruised and swollen.

They had absolutely no intention of teaching people how to practice.

Being assigned to manage people in the outer courtyard seemed like a shameful thing.

Shi Wen practiced his boxing silently until he was queuing up for his medicinal soup in the afternoon when a sudden exclamation came from the inner courtyard.

Wait for the news to reach the foreign institute.

Shi Wen then learned that someone had come to seek apprenticeship and was found to have superior aptitude for the eighth rank. He was directly admitted to the inner courtyard by Master Li, who then trained with the inner courtyard disciples!

Even in Heiyun County, one with the best physical attributes of the eighth rank is not common!

Senior Brother Shang An only possesses the physical constitution of a seventh-grade expert!

Those with superior physical constitutions are rumored to be able to smoothly complete the Blood Refining stage and have a high chance of becoming experts in Strength Refining.

What kind of existence is a master of internal energy cultivation?

Legend has it that Lord Situ Nan of the county government and Zhang Kui'an, the leader of the Black Whale Gang, the largest gang in Black Cloud County, are both masters of internal energy cultivation!

Such a person is already a great figure who stands out from the crowd.

A being capable of causing a massive earthquake in Black Cloud County with a single thought!

Shi Wen remained silent, focusing solely on practicing his fist techniques to improve his proficiency. In this chaotic world, only by enhancing his mastery of the Extreme Seal could he secure his survival!

Meanwhile, on the dock...

Old Shi packed up his stall early.

For the first time ever, I went to a familiar fishmonger and bought two fish, then headed towards the old house.

When we arrived at the gate of the old house.

Old Shi felt a sense of fear and didn't dare to knock on the door.

It was a very long time before Old Shi finally had the courage to knock on the door.

The person who opened the door was none other than Old Man. He glanced at Old Man Shi with surprise, and then welcomed him into the courtyard.

Although this residence is just a courtyard and a few rooms, it is located in a relatively safe area, much better than slums like Taiping Lane.

"Hehe, boss, what brings you here today?"

Grandpa Shi chuckled and told his daughter-in-law to take the two fish downstairs. For the first time ever, he brewed tea and gave Old Shi a cup.

Old Shi accepted the teacup, flattered, and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Father, the reason I came here this time is actually..."

"Boss, you've come at just the right time. If you hadn't come, I was planning to come and see you in the last couple of days."

Grandpa Shi interrupted him, chuckling, "Isn't that kid A-Liang 13 this year? He had his aptitude tested a while ago, and it turned out he has 6th-grade aptitude. The martial arts instructors at Nanfeng Martial Arts School said that A-Liang has a great chance of becoming a martial artist, and this age is just right for him to start practicing martial arts."

"Practicing martial arts is very expensive. You need to eat meat, drink medicinal soup, and buy some blood-nourishing products to nourish your body."

"The martial arts instructors at Nanfeng Martial Arts School said that the process of refining one's Qi and blood involves using the body's energy to nourish them. If the nutrition is insufficient, the body will become deficient, and at that point, not only will you not be able to refine your Qi and blood, but you may also ruin your training."

"I think you must have saved some money from doing business at the docks. Give me 100 strings of cash, and I'll give it to Ah Liang to help him recover."

"If you don't have enough money, I remember you have a few acres of land, right? I asked around these past few days, and it should sell for around 20 guan. You can then add 100 guan to my account. After Ah Liang becomes a martial artist, he'll take care of your family. Anyway, you won't have any use for the money..."

Grandpa Shi spoke at length.

This made Lao Shi feel quite disheartened.