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

"I valued you as a brother, and I don't want you to die in vain." Qin Pi patted Shen Chen on the shoulder, his tone solemn. "Do you understand?"

Shen Chen paused for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Okay, Brother Qin, don't worry, I won't continue practicing martial arts."

Qin Pi breathed a sigh of relief. He comforted Shen Chen for a few words, then instructed Cui'er to take good care of Shen Chen before leaving.

Shen Chen recalled Qin Pi's words and felt somewhat disappointed.

"Is my physical constitution really that bad?" Shen Chen was unwilling. He looked inward and saw that even after tempering his body once, the shape of his bones and muscles was still mottled and unclear, and his meridians were obscure.

Logically speaking, a martial artist's tendons and meridians should be clear after one tempering of the body, and they can officially prepare to step into the Tendon and Bone Realm. However, Shen Chen's current situation probably requires him to temper his body three more times.

Shen Chen sighed almost imperceptibly. Perhaps it was true, as Qin Pi had said, that he was not cut out for martial arts.

"Huh? What's this?"

Just then, Shen Chen suddenly noticed a strange mark that had appeared on his heart.

The mark was shaped like a lotus flower, as if branded onto Shen Chen's heart, and pulsed along with it.

"What...is this?" Shen Chen's pupils contracted slightly. He immediately recalled the previous "dream" and the gesture of the woman named Luo Hou gently touching his chest.

Was everything before not a dream?

[Auspicious Fortune: You attempted to temper your Qi and blood through the Rahu Mark, and the strength of your Qi and blood has greatly increased. Very lucky!]

[Bad omen: Your indifference towards this mark, coupled with your subpar martial arts talent, prevents you from making further progress. Unlucky.]

Suddenly, two golden characters appeared in front of Shen Chen.

Shen Chen stared at the two lines of text, a sense of unease creeping into his heart: "Can this mark truly help me temper my qi and blood? Or does that Rahu have ulterior motives?"

After much deliberation, he finally put aside his concerns: "If she really wanted to harm me, she would have strangled me in the dream back then. Why bother with such complicated methods?"

Moreover... the martial artists in this world are far stronger than ordinary people. If one does not specialize in martial arts, one will ultimately be a weakling and easily trampled underfoot by others.

"I still want to learn martial arts. What I told Qin Pi earlier was not my true intention." Shen Chen no longer hesitated, mobilizing his qi and blood to flow towards the lotus mark at his heart.

A moment later, a purer stream of qi and blood flowed out from the heart, falling into the limbs and bones like spring rain.

"Awesome!" Shen Chen couldn't help but groan softly. After tasting the sweetness, he immediately began to refine his qi and blood at an even faster speed.

Streams of essence blood appeared out of thin air within Shen Chen's body. At the same time, he gradually saw the distribution of meridians within his body, as if wiping away the spider webs from glass. At this moment, Shen Chen could finally see his own musculoskeletal structure clearly.

His physique is like a malnourished sapling, with many small, insignificant branches, making it difficult for his vital energy to nourish and spread throughout the plant.

"My natural talent is really lacking..." Shen Chen couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself, but he didn't feel disappointed at all; on the contrary, he was extremely excited.

With this mark helping me refine my blood and qi, my weakness in innate talent can be almost ignored!

"It seems that the woman named Rahu was right; she is a friend, not an enemy," Shen Chen thought to himself as he examined the mark on his heart.

After a period of cultivation, Shen Chen felt refreshed, but his stomach was incredibly hungry. He even felt like he could swallow a whole cow whole.

"Cui'er, cook me some noodles." Shen Chen hurriedly called to Cui'er.

Cui'er hurriedly cooked a bowl of noodles for Shen Chen. As soon as the noodles were served, Shen Chen finished them in a few gulps, soup and all, leaving Cui'er stunned.

"Master Shen, let me cook some more for you." Cui'er snapped out of her daze and immediately returned to the stove.

After eating a full nine bowls of noodles, Shen Chen finally put down his bowl with satisfaction.

Cui'er was about to take the bowls off the table when Shen Chen stopped her: "No need, I'll wash these bowls. You go back to sleep."

Cui'er had stayed by his side for a day and a night, and now that he had just woken up, he felt bad that he was making her do physical labor again.

Upon hearing this, Cui'er looked flustered: "Master Shen, how can a servant sleep while the master works? Please leave it here and I'll do it."

Shen Chen looked at the girl, who was only sixteen years old, and paused for a moment. He wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he finally said in a calm tone, "I see you're not in good spirits right now. It wouldn't be good if you broke a porcelain bowl while washing the dishes. Besides, if you get too tired, you'll have to spend money on medicine, which is not worth it. Go back to sleep."

He added, "This is my order, and you must obey."

Upon hearing this, Cui'er nodded obediently: "Yes, Master Shen."

With heavy bags under her eyes, Cui'er returned to her room, and soon after, soft snoring could be heard from inside.

Shen Chen picked up a rag and a bowl and started washing them.

Servant? Master?

Shen Chen shook his head and sighed almost imperceptibly. As the rag wiped the porcelain bowl, cracks immediately appeared on it.

Shen Chen was somewhat puzzled; the quality of this bowl seemed rather poor.

He picked up another rice bowl, and before long, that bowl was also shredded by the rag.

Shen Chen belatedly realized that he now had the strength of over 300 jin in both arms, and should be more careful when wiping the dishes.

Shen Chen carefully placed the bowl back in the cupboard, further solidifying her resolve.

Giving up martial arts? Absolutely not!

Inside the mountain stronghold, there was a tavern.

Zhuang Man looked around and saw that all the henchmen who had joined Shen Chen's team with him were there, except for Shen Chen himself.

There were six people at the table: Zhuang Man, Zhang Xiaolong, Zhang Xiaohu, Liu Gouzi, Zhao Qian, and Wang Wu.

Zhang Xiaohu looked around and noticed that Shen Chen was missing. After thinking for a moment, he cautiously asked, "Brother Zhuang, when will Boss Shen arrive?"

Faced with this question, the others remained silent. Zhao Qian and Wang Wu, who were sitting opposite Zhang Xiaohu, glanced at Zhang Xiaohu with a hint of mockery in their eyes.

"Cough cough."

Zhuang Man cleared his throat and said, "I didn't invite that guy surnamed Shen to this gathering. It's more like a private get-together for us brothers. After all, we're all acquaintances, while that guy surnamed Shen is practically an outsider."

He made it clear that he wanted to isolate Shen Chen, and Zhang Xiaohu finally realized what he meant and hurriedly nodded, "Boss Zhuang is right."

"That's right," Liu Gouzi chimed in. "We don't know Shen Chen at all, so I don't see anything wrong with not calling him. Isn't it quite lively now?"

Zhuang Man smiled and raised his glass: "Come on, let's drink and eat!"

After a round of toasts and laughter, Zhuang Man took advantage of the atmosphere to talk about his previous achievements in attacking Zhao Family Village: "Back then, I took the lead and cleaved the guard of the Internal Organs Realm with a single stroke, and then stormed the city wall."

"Great!" The others clapped and cheered.

Zhang Xiaolong, however, said nonchalantly, "Brother Zhuang, you're so capable, why weren't you given the leadership position this time?"