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

The vital energy points are the shackles that restrict the human body. The Creator set these shackles with good intentions. Without these vital energy points, mortals could travel thousands of miles a day and lift thousands of stones, but would only have the lifespan of a mayfly.

The key is like a sluice gate, preventing ordinary people from using up all the water they need in a lifetime. Martial artists open a small opening in this sluice gate, which not only allows them to avoid a lifespan as short as a mayfly but also grants them power far exceeding that of ordinary people.

With a thought, Shen Chen manipulated the blood flow, causing it to surge through his acupoints. Instantly, he felt as if his entire body was being electrocuted, and his nose became instantly wet.

"Adjust your breathing, take it slow." Qin Pi's admonishing voice came from beside me.

Shen Chen focused his mind and carefully sensed the surroundings. With steady breathing, he finally heard a slight cracking sound.

"Haha, it's done." Qin Pi's relieved laughter rang out.

Shen Chen slowly opened his eyes, and the world before him was vastly different. The falling leaves were descending at an extremely slow speed, and the stream was also flowing more slowly.

Not only that, the friction between the bones in Shen Chen's body and the flow of blood were all visualized in his mind.

"Is this what a martial artist is?" Shen Chen exhaled, his eyes burning with fervor. At this moment, he was no longer a mere mortal with no strength to even kill a chicken!

At this moment, Qin Pi suddenly started pinching Shen Chen's ribs.

Shen Chen felt a little strange: "Brother Qin, what are you doing?"

Qin Pi said, "Testing your innate talent... That's strange, your innate talent is quite ordinary, how come you learn martial arts so quickly?"

Qin Pi was somewhat incredulous. After entering the Qi and Blood Realm, the body's Qi and blood fill the entire body, and one's aptitude becomes apparent. There are four grades: A, B, C, and D. Based on Shen Chen's previous performance, he should have grade A aptitude, but Qin Pi had only managed to find grade C aptitude, which was extremely ordinary.

Shen Chen laughed and said, "I'm just quick to understand."

"Indeed." Qin Pi nodded. "Let's go back."

Before the village of Quanya, the suspension bridge was slowly lowered, and several donkey carts loaded with supplies slowly drove into the village.

The bandits sitting on the donkey cart shouted excitedly, "Brothers, this is a real treat! You have no idea how much good stuff that dog of a county magistrate has hidden!"

The leader, "Skinny Tiger" Huang Ahu, said excitedly to the chieftain Hu Muzhi, "Brother, the information that Master Shen gave us earlier was indeed true. The brothers have returned with a full load this time."

Hu Muzhi nodded, a smile appearing on his face: "Not bad, not bad. Since that's the case, I've already agreed to Qin Pibao's offer to make him the leader. Let's inform the stronghold today, and the corresponding reward should be sent to his home."

The other leaders nearby responded in unison, "Understood."

Before long, a donkey cart arrived in front of the courtyard, and a henchman shouted, "Is Chief Shen here?"

Just then, Shen Chen and Qin Pi walked to the door together. He called out, "What do you want?"

"Greetings, Master Qin, Master Shen." The henchman hurriedly got out of the car to greet him. He pointed to the goods on the car and said to Shen Chen, "Master Shen, this is a reward from the chieftain."

He then carefully took out a box from his pocket. "And this is your leader's badge. Please check it."

Qin Pi laughed and said, "It seems the information you gave us last time helped the village a lot."

Shen Chen took the box, opened it, and found a peach wood carving inside. The front was engraved with a canine tooth pattern, and the back was engraved with the number "Eighty-Eight".

"From now on, you're the little leader of the stronghold," Qin Pi said. "A little leader can command six people, and the list of your underlings should be coming out soon."

"What is this leader supposed to do?" Shen Chen asked Qin Pi.

Qin Pi casually said, "If there's nothing to do, send your men to the training ground for some practice. If there's trouble, solve it together with them. In short, we're all brothers, we share the good times and the bad."

He immediately helped Shen Chen unload the things from the donkey cart, saying, "It's perfect that you've entered the Qi and Blood Realm, come and test your strength."

Shen Chen grabbed the two 80-pound wine barrels and, with a little effort, lifted them steadily from the ground.

Before long, Shen Chen had moved all the things from the car into the house. He never thought he could have such good physical strength. He was full of energy and seemed to have inexhaustible strength.

The rewards from the bandit chief Hu Muzhi were quite generous: more than a dozen jars of fine wine, seven or eight bags of good rice and meat, a jar of lard, five bags of coarse salt, and several bolts of silk and satin. Shen Chen found it hard to imagine how much of the county magistrate Zhang Fuguang's private treasury had been robbed by this band of bandits.

If that skin-rendering bastard knew the news, he would probably faint from anger. Shen Chen felt a surge of vengeful pleasure.

"Brother Qin, feel free to take anything you like," Shen Chen said with a smile to Qin Pi. There's no need to elaborate on their relationship; they are practically half-brothers.

Qin Pi only took two jars of good wine, and then invited Shen Chen to drink with him.

As they drank and chatted, they said, "The path of martial arts is like a stone rolling down a hillside. You can only roll faster and faster; you can never stop halfway."

"The acupoints limit a person's strength, but they also extend their lifespan. If you open an opening in acupoint, your strength will increase, but your lifespan will definitely decrease. Ordinary people can live to be eighty or ninety years old, while martial artists can only live to be fifty or sixty at most."

Shen Chen was puzzled and couldn't help but ask, "But I've heard that some martial artists live for more than fifty or sixty years."

Qin Pi said, "Of course, if you want to open the sluice gates to release water, but also hope that the water flow won't run out in a short time, then you can only make the water in the reservoir increase."

"Last time I told you about the first three stages of refining essence: qi and blood, tendons and bones, and internal organs. This time I'll continue talking to you."

Qin Pi took a sip of wine and said, "The fourth to sixth levels of Qi Refining are True Qi, Meridian Opening, and Innate."

"If you cultivate to the True Qi Realm, you will be a master in the martial arts world. The true qi nurtured by your essence and blood can be attached to your fists and feet, capable of breaking stone tablets and shattering rocks. It is extremely powerful."

"After reaching the Meridian Opening Realm, true qi circulates through the eight meridians of the body continuously, and the speed of true qi recovery increases, allowing one to walk on water for a short period of time."

"Then comes the Innate Realm, which is the realm I'm at." Qin Pi grinned smugly, revealing a set of white teeth. "My teeth grow back after falling out, and ordinary wounds can heal in three breaths. My lifespan can even reach two Jiazi (60 years). Can you guess how old I am this year?"

Shen Chen sized up Qin Pi. The man had fair skin with few wrinkles and looked only three or four years older than him: "Twenty-six? Twenty-seven?"

Qin Pi laughed heartily: "Brother, I'm already thirty-four this year, can't you believe it?"

Shen Chen was truly shocked, and his yearning for martial arts grew even stronger: "The path of martial arts can actually lead to immortality!"

"By the way, when did Brother Qin start learning martial arts?" Shen Chen asked.

Qin Pi took a big gulp of wine and slammed the glass on the table with a thud: "Hmm... let me think, it should be eighteen years ago."