I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 52 Our Deacon is Amazing (Long Chapter)
Zhang Lin, who had originally looked gloomy, suddenly brightened up a lot. "Please tell me clearly, elder brother."

Xie An offered his analysis: "The stall owners who died yesterday and today... were all mobile vendors whose businesses have been booming recently. They seemed to be leading the trend of our black market business, but they were killed one after another..."

An idea flashed through Zhang Lin's mind, and he immediately continued, "The Plum Blossom Monster can't stand seeing our black market thrive. He wants to curb its development and maybe even bring us down!"

Snapped!
Zhang Lin slammed the table in anger, stood up and left, "This evil villain is so vicious! I will report it to the incense master right away."

Xie An wanted to call Zhang Lin.

After all, going to the hall to report such an important matter to Master Wei is also an opportunity to show off, and Xie An, the "top leader", should go.

Zhang Lin did this with the intention of grabbing the credit.

"I haven't finished yet..."

The above speculations about the Plum Blossom Monster's purpose are merely Xie An's initial guesses, and further verification and investigation are needed. What if they are wrong?
Xie An called Liang Zhi over and asked him carefully about the business situation of the mobile vendors in recent times.

Finally, Xie An noticed two rather odd vendors: a fat man selling medicinal herbs, and a bearded hunter selling animal offal and rubber bands. Both had recently appeared on the black market, doing brisk business and maintaining a mysterious presence. Whenever Liang Zhi approached them to try to win them over, they were evasive and dismissive.

Because the two stall owners always wore masks when they came, Liang Zhi did not know their identities, but he could recognize them by their appearance.

Xie An asked Liang Zhi to pay special attention to these two vendors and report immediately if he found them coming to the black market.

After sending Liang Zhi away, Xie An returned to his room in the backyard, boiled water, filled the bathtub, and then poured in tiger skin soup to prepare for a medicinal bath.

Huhu.

After the medicinal ingredients dissolved and emitted a strong medicinal aroma, Xie An took off his clothes and sat in the bathtub, beginning to absorb the medicinal power and temper his skin membranes.

Suddenly, a day passed quickly.

As dusk approached, Xie An ended his day of medicinal bathing.

Open the panel:

[Current longevity level: Level 1!]

Five Animal Exercises: Cultivating Internal Qi (0/100)

[Fetal Breathing: Yin and Yang Intercourse (48/100)]

[Remaining Years: 33]

"Hmm? Strengthening the five internal organs...completed! Entering the final stage mentioned in the Five Animal Exercises book...cultivating internal energy?"

"The remaining years have also increased by three years!"

Xie An was pleasantly surprised to see the data changes on the panel.

According to the records in the book of Five Animal Play, it is divided into five stages: getting a glimpse of the basics, combining movement and stillness, preparing both spirit and form, strengthening the five internal organs (strengthening the five internal organs), and guiding Qi with the mind (cultivating internal Qi).

More than a year had passed since Xie An began practicing the Five Animal Play. Finally, he had fully strengthened his internal organs and entered the final stage.

Hard work pays off.

"Let me see the current progress of the Five Animal Play..."

Xie An left the bathtub, put on thin clothes, and practiced the Five Animal Exercises in the room.

A fierce tiger descends the mountain, a giant bear shakes a tree, a white crane flies, an ape climbs a rock, a young deer wade through a stream...

Every move and every style was released in Xie An's hands, causing the surrounding air to emit sharp explosions and the ground to tremble slightly.

"It seems that if I continue to practice the Five Animal Play, it seems that it will be able to advance into a killing skill?"

This was the first time Xie An had this illusion since he started practicing the Five Animal Play.

In Xie An's mind, the Five Animal Exercises had always been a gentle, health-preserving exercise, similar to Tai Chi, gentle and soft. Now that he was cultivating his inner Qi, Xie An discovered that the Five Animal Exercises seemed different.

But it is just a vague feeling and cannot be fulfilled.

After a moment of distraction, Xie An put the thought aside and continued to concentrate on practicing the Five Animal Exercises.

"It seems... my strength has increased a lot!"

After Xie An finished practicing the Five Animal Exercises, he went to the yard, found an 800-jin stone lock, and lifted it above his head with a slight effort of one arm.

This shocked Xie An.

He clearly remembered that lifting 800 kilograms was very difficult before.

Now... it's easy.

Obviously it hasn't reached the limit yet...

Since there was no stone lock weighing more than 800 kilograms in the courtyard, Xie An found a stone lock weighing 200 kilograms. He then tied the two stone locks together with hemp rope to test his lifting limit.

The result was that I couldn't lift it, but it wasn't close either.

"It seems my one-arm strength should be around 900 kilograms. This already exceeds the strength of a warrior who has just entered the Flesh Realm. I'll go to the black market and buy a four-stone bow with special armor-piercing arrows. Even the Plum Blossom Monster won't be able to withstand it!"

If Xie An used three stone bows, he was not sure he could kill the Plum Blossom Monster, but four stone bows would definitely be enough.

You should know that the Daqian Dynasty's measurement of heavy bows was much higher than that of the ancient times. In the ancient times, the pulling force of a stone bow was about 100 kilograms. In the Daqian Dynasty, it was 200 kilograms.

A four-stone bow, with a pulling force of 800 kilograms and armor-piercing arrows, is incredibly powerful! Even a master who has just entered the Flesh Realm would be killed by a single arrow.

Xie An suppressed the joy in his heart and began to feel the effect of cultivating internal energy.

The result... is no effect.

Apart from the five senses being sharper and the six consciousnesses being clearer... there are no other obvious differences.

The sense of energy that Tang Qingfeng and Tang Qingyun mentioned many times...did not appear.

This made Xie An very disappointed.

After a lot of psychological preparation, Xie An attributed the reason to the fact that the progress of cultivating internal Qi was too slow. Once the progress improved... perhaps the Qi sensation would appear.

Thinking this way, I feel much more balanced.

"Go change your bow and buy some arrows. To deal with the Plum Blossom Monster..."

Xie An put on his uniform, took his three-stone bow and quiver, and found a shop that specialized in selling bows, arrows, and armor.

The shopkeeper was an old fat man. When he saw Xie An, who was wearing a mask, he was very enthusiastic. "Sir, what brings you here? Come in and sit down. I'll make you some tea."

"Don't bother, Shopkeeper Liu. I want to exchange it for a heavier bow." Xie An took out the three-stone heavy bow and quiver hanging around his waist and placed them on the counter.

Shopkeeper Liu was very surprised when he saw it. "A three-stone bow is already rare. Do you want to exchange it for a four-stone one?"

"Yes."

Noticing the seriousness in Xie An's eyes, Manager Liu didn't ask any more questions. He picked up the old bow on the counter and looked at it. "This bow is still very new. If you want to exchange it for a four-stone bow, I can charge an extra fifteen taels of silver."

The greater the pulling force of a heavy bow, the higher the requirements for materials and workmanship, and the cost increases exponentially. A four-stone bow is not uncommon, but when it comes to the heavy bow... ordinary craftsmen are no longer able to forge it.

Xie An readily agreed, "Okay. Also, I want to buy a batch of armor-piercing arrows. Do you have any?"

Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, "Armor-piercing arrows are contraband and cannot be purchased outside. But you, the deacon, have come to the right person. I'll get them for you."

Soon, Manager Liu brought a four-stone heavy bow and a handful of armor-piercing arrows. "Thirty arrows, five taels of silver for you."

Xie An carefully examined them one by one.

The so-called armor-piercing arrows are specially made to break the enemy's armor and have extremely strong penetrating power.

These armor-piercing arrows were longer and thinner than ordinary tapered arrows, with a cross-shaped blade. Therefore, they had minimal resistance when penetrating armor, and when used with powerful bows and crossbows, they could easily penetrate armor. Against unarmored infantry, a single arrow could even penetrate three people, demonstrating its immense power!
Xie An picked up the heavy bow and pulled the full moon, feeling the immense power. With the arrow on it, it felt slightly heavier, but it didn't affect his accuracy.

"Okay, this is the batch. Keep the twenty taels of silver."

Xie An paid the money, took the heavy bow and arrows and left.

Not long after, the black market opened.

Liang Zhi came to report that the fat medicine seller and the bearded hunter had arrived as promised.

Xie An observed from the side of their stalls. Sure enough, business was booming, attracting buyers from all directions, and even requiring queues. Just these two stalls were already doing as much business as dozens of other stalls.

After carefully observing them for over half an hour, Xie An felt that there was nothing special about these two vendors. He couldn't help but wonder: Would the Plum Blossom Monster really attack these two people?
Xie An's knowledge of the Plum Blossom Monster was very limited: he only knew that the Plum Blossom Monster was a bandit from Dayin Mountain and had injured Wei Dian when he robbed Chen's mansion last time.

Therefore, it seems reasonable for the Plum Blossom Monster to take the opportunity to suppress the Blood Ridge black market run by Wei Dian.

Soon, as the two vendors' stalls were running out of goods, the sharp-eyed Xie An noticed some antiques placed under the stalls.

The appearance is somewhat similar to that of the Chamber Pot Boy, so they should be from the same batch.

Are they also here to sell antiques?
Such things are not uncommon in the black market, but Xie An always felt something was wrong.

At that moment, Wang Xiang hurried over and bowed to Xie An, saying, "Sir, Chief Steward Lin Yun is here. He is in the other courtyard right now and wants you to come and discuss matters."

Xie An was not surprised by this.

Zhang Lin went to the hall to report early in the morning. The matter was of great importance, and Wei Dian would definitely take action.

Xie An, however, had no intention of leaving. Instead, he said to Liang Zhi, who was standing beside him, "Liang Zhi, go report to the head steward... and tell him that I'm tracking the next potential target of the Plum Blossom Monster and can't get away for the time being."

Wang Xiang opened his mouth wide in disbelief.

The Grand Deacon summoned you, but you didn't go to see him?
Liang Zhi was a sensible man. He bowed slightly and pulled Wang Xiang away.

After they walked away, Wang Xiang asked in confusion, "Brother Liang, aren't you afraid of offending the Grand Deacon by doing this?"

"idiot!"

Liang Zhi shouted, "Zhang Lin is rushing to report his performance to the Grand Deacon. But our leader is diligently tracking down the next vendor who might fall victim to the Plum Blossom Monster's wrath. What do you think the Grand Deacon will think when he finds out?"

Wang Xiang finally understood. "One is anxious to show off, while the other is down-to-earth and doing useful work... Hiss. Our deacon is truly incredible."

(End of this chapter)