Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: Starting with death row inmates

"Achoo!"

At the dinner table, Shen Chen sneezed without warning, and Cui'er, who was sitting next to him, hurriedly picked up a napkin and wiped his nose.

"Did Master Shen catch a chill last night?" Cui'er asked with concern.

Shen Chen shook his head: "Maybe someone is secretly cursing me right now."

After breakfast, Shen Chen practiced leg techniques with Hou Ming for a while. By then, he could walk smoothly back and forth on the wooden stake, but his speed was still lacking.

After climbing down from the wooden stake, he asked Hou Ming, who was watching from the side, "Master Hou, do you have any further guidance?"

Hou Ming looked at Shen Chen and sighed, "I wouldn't dare to say I'm giving you pointers. You've already mastered this footwork. From now on, just practice jumping stances more to increase the strength in your legs. There's nothing more I can teach you."

He felt a pang of sadness. In just three days, Shen Chen had mastered the footwork. He recalled how he himself had spent half a month trying to learn it and still couldn't grasp it. It was truly infuriating to compare oneself to others.

Qin Pi, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and squeezed the muscles in Shen Chen's arm to sense his blood and qi. He said, "I'll take you to the back mountain. You can enter the Qi and Blood Realm today."

"Huh?" Shen Chen was slightly taken aback. A punch from someone at the Qi and Blood Realm could weigh 300 jin, which was far beyond his current level.

"Brother Qin, do you mean there's a precious herb in the back mountain that can make me gain 300 jin of strength a day?" Shen Chen asked half-jokingly.

Qin Pi's expression was extremely serious: "Yes."

Behind Dogtooth Mountain lies a lush forest. Even though it is September, the forest is still green and full of life.

As Qin Pi and Shen Chen climbed the mountain, stepping on the gravel, they chatted idly: "Brother Shen, have you been feeling unwell these past few days?"

Shen Chen thought for a moment: "It seems there really is."

"Oh?"

"These past few days I've been dreaming about a reddish star," Shen Chen said, "and then I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, unable to sleep soundly."

Qin Pi said, "Perhaps you were tired from practicing martial arts during the day. You should brew some calming herbal medicine for yourself later."

The two arrived at a flat area. Qin Pi took out a piece of meat from his bag and placed it on the ground. He then cut his finger with a knife and dripped a few drops of blood onto it.

"Alright, let's wait in the tree for a while." After doing everything, Qin Pi and Shen Chen climbed up a nearby tree together.

The two waited quietly for a while, when Shen Chen suddenly heard a rustling sound, as if something was rubbing against the ground.

He subconsciously looked at Qin Pi, who raised his index finger and put it to his lips, signaling Shen Chen to be quiet.

Shen Chen immediately noticed that Qin Pi's finger, which had just been cut, was now smooth and clean, without a trace of injury.

"This recovery ability is simply superhuman..."

He composed himself and looked at the ground, where a snake's head the size of a human head suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

The snake's head slid slowly, and its red body, as thick as a water vat, shimmered like glass in the sunlight.

The crimson python stared at the bait Qin Pi had set up, and without much hesitation, greedily swallowed it whole.

"Attack!" Qin Pi shouted.

Shen Chen leaped down, and using the force of the fall, he slashed straight at the snake's head with his broadsword.

"Clang!" The huge recoil from the blade made Shen Chen's hand go numb, and he almost thought he had cut a piece of granite.

"This snake's head is so hard?" Shen Chen was taken aback; the creatures of this world had once again broadened his horizons.

The crimson python had a cut on its head, and blood was flowing freely. In pain, it hooked its head and quickly lunged at Shen Chen to bite.

Shen Chen retreated hastily. His agility had improved considerably in the past few days of training, and he quickly distanced himself from the giant python. The two faced off, the atmosphere tense.

Qin Pi, perched in the tree, chuckled, "Brother Shen, strike the snake at its vital point! You practice your moves with this beast first, I'll protect you. Strike boldly!"

Shen Chen took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the red python in front of him.

Faced with the red python, what would you choose?

[Good fortune: By maneuvering and pulling, seize the opportunity to attack the red python's vital point; auspicious]

[Below average: Taking the initiative to attack, attempting to stab the red python's head wound, your move has extremely limited killing power and instead angers the red python, which spits venom at you. Qin Pi intervenes in time to block the venom, but you still inhale some of the poisonous gas. You cannot practice martial arts for half a month. Minor misfortune]

"Hiss!" The crimson python moved like lightning, bringing with it a foul stench, and pounced on Shen Chen. Shen Chen used the skills he had practiced on the wooden stake for many days to dodge the python's attacks. He kept looking for cover among the surrounding trees and quickly created some distance between himself and the python.

The red python lunged and bit, but when it couldn't bite Shen Chen, it withdrew its head to prepare to recover its strength.

Shen Chen then leaped out of the forest and slashed at the crimson python's vital spot, cutting off many bloody scales.

The crimson python flew into a rage and turned to bite Shen Chen again, but Shen Chen twisted his body and dodged it, creating distance between himself and the python.

Seeing this, Qin Pi felt relieved. Shen Chen's combat awareness was quite good: retreat when the enemy advances, and harass when the enemy retreats.

Within moments, the red python lay limply on the ground like a broken rope, as if it were dead.

Just as Qin Pi was about to warn Shen Chen that this beast was faking death and not to go forward, he saw Shen Chen forcefully throw the broadsword in his hand, slicing the already mangled body of the red python in two.

"I was overthinking it. Brother Shen must have already realized that the beast was faking his death," Qin Pi thought to himself.

He jumped down from the tree and called out, "Brother Shen, how are you feeling?"

Shen Chen said, "Completely unharmed! Brother Qin, could the precious medicine you mentioned earlier be this python?"

Qin Pi strode over to the python's corpse, reached down and poked three inches into the flesh, stirring it for a while before taking out a bright red snake gall.

"You're half right. The gallbladder of the red-scaled snake is the real treasure," Qin Pi said. "Taking this gallbladder raw can open up the meridians, improve eyesight and vision, and allow one to enter the realm of Qi and Blood."

"You've been practicing martial arts for many days, and your body's energy channels are now relaxed. You can use this precious medicine now," Qin Pi said, handing the snake gall to Shen Chen.

Shen Chen took the snake gall, and on a whim, drew a fortune stick.

[Auspicious Fortune: After consuming snake gall and diligently training for many days, your energy channels have loosened. With Qin Pi protecting you, you have successfully entered the first level of Refining Essence, the Qi and Blood Realm, and officially become a martial artist. Great fortune!]

Without further hesitation, Shen Chen opened his mouth and swallowed the snake gall. The strong smell of blood spread from his mouth, and a surge of heat welled up from his heart, flowing continuously through countless blood vessels.

At this moment, Shen Chen was in a strange state, as if he could see the flow of blood in his body. The blood would occasionally slow down as it flowed, like a stream encountering pebbles.

Shen Chen focused his mind and looked toward the location of the "pebbles".