Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted

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

"You probably can't yet comprehend just how chaotic—well, I mean, how interesting! You know what I mean?"

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

“Of course, there’s one thing you can be sure of,” Ingrid said. “That’s the world that gave birth to you, so even I can’t macroscopically influence the progress of the entire timeline.”

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

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

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 he sank completely into nothingness, Ingrid's voice appeared 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 thank him, but his consciousness had 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 depleted energy. In fact, Yuan Chen could clearly sense that many of his non-essential organs, such as his liver, had stopped functioning to some extent.

腎？

Your kidneys are fine, they're perfectly healthy, they're the best.

As for other aspects...

Is this the price to pay for the burning of 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 thus rediscovered the purity of a martial artist, living 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 trajectories.

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

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

As Yuan Chen got out of bed, Chun Li, who was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed and resting on Yuan Chen's lap, also raised her hand somewhat wearily. She thought that Yuan Chen had once again blown his large swaddle tent into her face while she was asleep, so she subconsciously pushed it away with her hand.

They were moved aside.

However, 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, Chun Li's eyes, which had been slightly sleepy, quickly cleared from a dazed state. She then disregarded everything else and revealed an excited smile.

"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 that will not be discussed further.

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

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

Am I some kind of lecherous worm?!

……

It's impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

Volume 1: 19. Meridian Severance? 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 Chunli was about to call the elders, she remembered that the current situation was somewhat special, and looked at Yuan Chen helplessly, saying, "You... calm down... over 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 it 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 there were still some obstructions and blockages in his body, 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.

It's even worse.

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, given that old man's medical expertise was indeed quite remarkable.

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

When Yuan Chen was first found dead 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 symbol appeared on the back of his right hand—a sun symbol.

Yuan Chen remembered this thing; it was Ingrid's special resource in Street Fighter 6, accumulated by using special buttons during battle, similar to Jamie's sake, Honda's sunbathing, and Hanjali's athlete's foot.

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

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

As Yuan Chen reached out and touched the sunlight, he immediately felt a faint, subtle force flowing into his body.

These powers weren't enough to make Yuan Chen infinitely stronger like Superman just by sunbathing, but Yuan Chen could feel that under the nourishment of these powers, his body's recovery speed was significantly faster.

It is indeed a very practical gift.

However, compared to this gift...

Yuan Chen quickly noticed something was slightly wrong.

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

Just as Yuan Chen was still pondering, the sound of the door opening and closing came from the side, and then Chun Li led Yuan and Tong Ang into the room.

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, the practice of cultivating qi, is quite clear to them that qi strength is important to old-school practitioners like Yuan Chen.

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

Chun-Li and Tong-Ang were speechless on the spot.

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

Is it caused by the burning of life energy?

"More or less."

A voice came from the side, seemingly enjoying the spectacle.

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

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

Facing the stench of the fishy-smelling fish, Yuan said unhurriedly:

"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 completely 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 for you... well, because of those special energies called life energy, it will probably take a month or two for them to slowly recover?"

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

"You old codger... you get more and more indecent as you get older. You should have said something this important sooner, 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 said something sooner!"

"Hehe~" Yuan Quan didn't care, he just kept laughing, obviously enjoying Tong Ang and Chun Li's emotional rollercoaster.

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 energy, right? Because all the meridians in the body have been expanded during the life-explosion."

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

“However, during the period when your meridians are healing, you will have to change to a different method of cultivation... Well, you are probably the only one who can improve your internal energy cultivation through this method.”

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

There are many geniuses, and many in history have been able to rebuild from the ashes. However, to have severed meridians heal naturally without external force using rare and precious herbs, and to significantly expand the width of the meridians after healing, allowing internal energy to be released to its maximum extent, is truly remarkable.

"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.

Modern martial arts are not that different from ancient martial arts, as they are both practices of 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 "sorrow and taboo," primarily focused 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 this... how is Sagat doing now?"