Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted.

“For more—fun~” Ingrid said with a look of anticipation.

"You may not yet be able to comprehend just how chaotic—well, I mean, how interesting! You know what I mean?"

For beings like us with eternal life, boredom is the most terrifying enemy! Ah, just thinking about the countless possible apocalypses in your world… uh, I mean, interesting things, already makes me uncontrollably excited!

“Of course, there’s one thing you can rest assured about,” Ingrid said. “That’s the world that gave birth to you, so even I can’t influence the overall timeline.”

At least until you truly mature, the timeline of this world is absolutely independent and unique.

"And in exchange... I'll provide you with some extra protection? Like a guardian spirit~"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully, then extended his hand and said:

"More than me, I want you to protect my family."

"Then there's even less of a problem!"

Ingrid nodded readily, and then said:

"Well, your world is a bit special. To prevent any unnecessary impact, I need to design this dimensional projection carefully. Now, let me send you back first."

As she spoke, Ingrid pointed her finger, and Yuan Chen's consciousness sank into death... or rather, into absolute nothingness.

"Oh right!" Before completely sinking into nothingness, Ingrid's voice surfaced in Yuan Chen's mind:

"Your health might not be very good right now? As your senior, I've prepared a small gift for you. Remember to check it when you wake up~"

"A small...gift?"

Yuan Chen wanted to express his gratitude, but his consciousness had already sunk into chaos, and his spirit was becoming increasingly heavy, making it difficult for him to respond.

…………

I don't know how much time has passed.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

In short, when Yuan Chen opened his eyes again, he felt excruciating pain all over his body.

Bones, muscles, even organs...

Every cell in his body seemed to be telling the story of his energy depletion. In fact, Yuan Chen could clearly sense that many of his non-essential organs, such as his liver, had already stopped functioning to some extent.

肾？

The kidneys are fine, the kidneys are perfectly healthy, the kidneys are in the best condition.

As for other aspects...

Is this the price of burning life energy?

While thinking to himself, Yuan Chen didn't show much dissatisfaction on his face.

Sagat, the Muay Thai king in the Street Fighter series, and the final boss of the first game, is both an enemy and a friend of Ryu, the protagonist of the Street Fighter series. At the beginning, he was driven by hatred for being defeated and a desire for revenge, which even awakened the Wave of Killing Intent. In the end, he gradually realized his true feelings and rediscovered the purity of a martial artist. He then lived in seclusion in a small mountain village, teaching children Muay Thai and living with tigers in the forest.

Sagat and Ryu share similar martial arts paths.

Although Sagat has not yet become a future grandmaster, even so, he is not someone that Yuan Chen, a newcomer who has not even cultivated for a full year, can easily mess with.

Thinking this, Yuan Chen tried to sit up, but the sharp pain in his left arm made him gasp.

As Yuan Chen got up, Chun Li, who was sitting by the hospital bed and resting on Yuan Chen's lap, also raised her hand somewhat wearily. She thought that Yuan Chen had blown the large bandage tent on her face while she was asleep, so she subconsciously brushed it away with her hand.

It was moved to the side.

But the reaction was a bit off.

Why wasn't it as hard as before, unable to fall down and struggling against itself?

Looking up, Chunli saw Yuan Chen sitting up halfway, staring at her with a suspicious look on his face.

When lying flat, the staff is upright and pointing towards the sky; forcing it will naturally result in a struggle. Now that you are sitting up, the angle has changed, and naturally, the staff is concealed within your body.

Upon seeing that Yuan Chen had woken up, Chunli's eyes, which had been slightly sleepy, quickly cleared from a dazed state. Then, disregarding everything else, an excited smile appeared on her face.

"you're awake!"

"Huh? Ah, I'm awake, I'm awake."

Seeing Chunli's concerned expression, Yuan Chen nodded.

He concealed his weapons on his person, but we'll leave that aside for now.

Having just escaped death, Chun-Li had no reason to care about such trivial matters.

In contrast, I've just emerged from a state of burning life energy, and now I'm immediately focusing on this kind of thing...

Am I some kind of lecherous worm?!

……

It's impossible.

Impossible.

Volume 1: 19· A broken meridian? A minor injury.

While Yuan Chen was still thinking, Chun Li stood up and said, "I'll go call Grandpa Yuan and Dad over. You go first... uh..."

As they were about to call the elders, Chunli remembered that the current situation was somewhat special, and looked at Yuan Chen helplessly, saying, "You... calm down... there."

Chunli turned her head and pointed to the large bulge.

Previously, they had only noticed Yuan Chen's awakening and hadn't paid attention to anything else. Now that they had come to their senses, even Chun Li felt a wave of shame.

My adopted brother... even if it's understandable that he's going through puberty, the scale and frequency of his activities are just too energetic.

"Oh, alright."

Yuan Chen nodded, not paying too much attention.

In the past, one punch would have been enough.

However, considering that he had just recovered and his body still had some blockages and stagnation, Yuan Chen did not act rashly and let his second brother go for the time being.

As Chunli left, Yuan Chen calmed down and carefully considered his current state.

very bad.

In fact, it was extremely bad.

His left arm was in a thick cast, and a faint herbal scent could be detected from it.

It must have been the work of the elder statesman? After all, that old fellow's medical expertise was indeed quite remarkable.

If Yuan Chen remembers correctly, in the Street Fighter setting book, Yuan's special skills, apart from assassination, are traditional Chinese medicine.

When Yuan Chen was picked up by Yuan three years ago, he was so weak that he couldn't be squeezed out of his bones. The reason he was able to recover his vitality so quickly was not only due to the miraculous life energy, but also because of Yuan's conditioning.

Thinking this, Yuan Chen began to examine his body after a brief silence.

Before long, a faint rune was found on the back of his right hand—a sun rune.

Yuan Chen remembered this thing; it was Ingrid's special resource in Street Fighter 6, which could be accumulated by using a special button during battle, similar to Jamie's sake, Honda's sunbathing, and Han Zhuli's athlete's foot.

In games, such special resources are usually used to enhance a character's attack performance. But in reality...

Feeling the sun rune on the back of his hand, Yuan Chen didn't sense much. After thinking for a moment, Yuan Chen looked towards the window on one side. A few rays of sunlight slanted in from outside the window, falling on the quilt and forming intermittent latticework of light.

As Yuan Chen reached out and touched the sunlight, he immediately felt a faint, almost imperceptible surge of energy flowing into his body.

This energy wasn't enough to make Yuan Chen infinitely stronger like Superman just by basking in the sun, but Yuan Chen could feel that under the nourishment of this energy, his body's recovery speed was significantly faster.

It is indeed a very practical gift.

But compared to this gift...

Yuan Chen quickly noticed something was amiss.

He seems... unable to sense 'qi' anymore?

Just as Yuan Chen was still pondering, the door next to him opened and closed, and then Chun Li led Yuan and Tong Ang in.

Looking at Yuan Chen, Tong Ang also relaxed a lot and said with emotion, "When Chunli told me that you had woken up, I couldn't believe it because even the doctor said that your body was severely overdrawn. I didn't expect that you would wake up after only two days."

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle."

After saying this, Yuan Chen paused, then looked at his left arm, which had been broken by Sagat, and his body, before asking:

"Speaking of which, I feel like something's wrong with my body? It seems like... I can't feel my breath anymore?"

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Tong Ang, who had just relaxed a little, immediately tensed up again, and Chun Li's gaze also became extremely tense.

Qigong boxing is a practice that cultivates the circulation of qi. Chunli and Tong Ang were well aware of the importance of qi for old-school practitioners like Yuan Chen.

"Ah, this?" Upon hearing this, Yuan said calmly, "It's normal that you can't feel the flow of Qi now that your meridians are severed."

Chunli and Tong Ang were speechless on the spot.

In contrast, Yuan Chen showed no concern whatsoever. After sensing the sensation for a moment, he said thoughtfully:

Is it caused by the burning of life energy?

"More or less."

From the side came the voice of Yuan, who seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold.

Although he is over seventy years old, Yuan seems even more lively.

In Yuan Chen's memory, three years ago, Yuan was still a traditional, cold-blooded assassin. Since meeting Gouki and retiring from the assassination world, Yuan has become increasingly cynical, and even his originally stiff facial muscles have become unusually flexible and relaxed.

Facing everyone's gaze, Yuan spoke slowly and deliberately:

"When you fought Sagat, you burned your life energy, which unleashed even greater power, but the excessive surge of energy also destroyed your original meridians."

It's like trying to force a 20mm screw into a 5mm nut; even if you manage to squeeze it in, the nut will be ruined afterwards.

As he said this, Yuan stroked his beard and said:

"For an ordinary person, it might take quite a bit of effort to recover? But if it's you... well, because of that special energy called life energy, it will probably take a month or two for them to slowly recover?"

Upon hearing this, Tong Ang and Chun Li, who were standing nearby, finally relaxed. Tong Ang then said helplessly:

"You old codger... the older you get, the more indecent you become. You should have said something so important earlier, I was almost holding my breath just now."

“That’s right, that’s right!” Chun-Li nodded in agreement.

"Grandpa Yuan is so mean! He should have told us this sooner!"

"Hehe~" Yuan Quan didn't care, he just chuckled, clearly enjoying the emotional rollercoaster that Tong Ang and Chun Li had just experienced.

Although he couldn't sense the Qi, Yuan Chen could still feel the life energy.

After a moment, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully, observing the flow of life energy within his body.

"If that's the case, once the meridians are fully healed, they will be able to hold more Qi, right? Because all the meridians in the body have been expanded during the life-burst."

"That's how it is in theory." Yuan nodded, agreeing with Yuan Chen's statement.

"However, during the time your meridians are healing, you'll have to switch to a different method of cultivation... Well, you're probably the only one who can improve their internal energy cultivation this way."

As he said this, a touch of emotion appeared on Yuan's face.

There are many geniuses, and many throughout history have been able to rebuild from the ashes. But to have severed meridians heal naturally without external force or precious materials, and then to significantly expand the width of the meridians after healing, allowing internal energy to circulate to its maximum potential…

"Perfect, you can also take this opportunity to experience modern martial arts."

Volume 1: Chapter 20 - The Disposal of Sagat

“Modern martial arts.” Upon hearing Yuan’s words, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully.

Having been in this world for three years now, Yuan Chen is no longer as clueless about it as he was at the beginning.

So-called modern martial arts are not much different from ancient martial arts, as both are essentially physical and mental cultivation. The only difference lies in the understanding and application of qi.

Ancient martial arts, similar to the Yuan dynasty's concept of "Sangji," focused primarily on qi and spirit. Modern martial arts, on the other hand, place greater emphasis on the physical body.

However, if you really want to distinguish between the two, it's not actually that strict.

Because no matter what, the core of spiritual practice is both the mind and the body; it's just a matter of which comes first.

Thinking this, Yuan Chen nodded. He did indeed want to try some modern martial arts... or rather, combat.

While pondering, Yuan Chen asked curiously, "Compared to that... how is Sagat doing now?"