Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

Lin Ji's eyes widened, his old face flushed slightly, and he subconsciously held his breath.

Available in the next second.

The anticipated erotic scene did not occur.

As Liu Qingzhu's dress collar slowly opened.

Liu Qingzhu's figure became illusory, eventually forming a semi-transparent, illusory light and shadow.

Amidst light and shadow.

The eight extraordinary meridians and acupoints of the human body are clearly visible.

It's like a detailed three-dimensional meridian diagram unfolding before your eyes.

With each breath Liu Qingzhu took, a wisp of white energy flowed along the fixed meridian routes throughout her limbs and bones.

He looked more closely and finally discovered a clue.

Liu Qingzhu's presence wasn't nonexistent, but rather it moved extremely slowly and deeply.

Her Qi originated from her Dantian, but instead of following the conventional path of the Ren and Du meridians, it quietly ascended along the Chong meridian, one of the eight extraordinary meridians.

The Chong meridian originates in the uterus, ascends to the chest and disperses, its energy circulates throughout the body without concentrating at a single point.

"So that's how it is."

Lin Ji no longer cared about the beauty hidden under the Western-style dress; he quickly opened his eyes wide and stared intently at the flowing energy within Liu Qingzhu's body.

"It seems this is Liu Qingzhu's breathing technique."

I had seen Liu Qingzhu's breathing rhythm before, but I didn't know how her breath circulated subtly within her body.

At this moment, the two echoed each other, and Lin Ji suddenly realized.

At this time.

Lin Ji's internal martial bones began to tremble.

The system automatically begins to deduce the Qi circulation method from the meridian diagram in front of it.

As Lin Ji observed, he mentally imitated Liu Qingzhu's breathing rhythm and energy flow patterns, matching them one by one with the moves of Yuanshi Taiji.

After rehearsing it in my mind more than ten times.

Lin Ji finally grasped the rhythm between the moves and his breathing.

He thrust out with a single palm strike.

Even in a dream.

Lin Ji heard the sound of a palm strike carrying energy in his ear.

The previously clumsy moves now flowed smoothly, and even the sixth move, which he couldn't comprehend before, became easy to understand, giving him a sense of mastery.

"It's done!"

Lin Ji was overjoyed, feeling his blood and qi surge throughout his body, and an inexhaustible power filled his limbs and bones.

Just as Lin Ji was preparing to continue practicing the next move, suddenly, everything went black.

A piercing pain shot through my entire body.

"hiss!"

Lin Ji opened his eyes.

I found myself leaning against the stove, asleep in a horse stance.

My legs felt like they were filled with lead, so numb that I couldn't feel them at all.

"What's going on?"

Lin Ji rubbed his stiff legs, frowning.

"Practicing Tai Chi even while asleep? Is it because you've been holding the posture for too long, causing muscle soreness?"

I was able to feel the changes in my body.

The numbness in my feet didn't subside, nor did it bring the weakness that comes with numbness; instead, it was a burning sensation.

After examining himself for a long time, Lin Ji still couldn't find the reason. He shook his head, leaned on the stove, sat down in a chair, and calmed down for a while. Then, a "gurgle" came from his stomach, and he got up to get some rice.

Lin Ji reached out and picked up the rough porcelain bowl from the stove. His fingertips had just gripped the rim of the bowl when he hadn't even had a chance to apply any pressure.

"Snap!"

The rough porcelain bowl shattered into several pieces without warning, clattering to the ground.

Lin Ji was stunned for a moment, looking down at his withered hands, somewhat incredulous.

"I didn't use any force!"

"Could it be... that my strength has increased again?"

Lin Ji clenched his fist and felt a strong sense of power coming from his palm.

It's even stronger than when it broke through to the Skin Refinement stage.

If we were to run into those same scoundrels again today, it would probably be over in an instant.

Facing that scarred-faced Wang Er, who also had refined skin, he probably wouldn't last three moves against him.

"Gurgle..."

A feeling of hunger crept into my stomach.

This left Lin Ji with no more room for thought.

The aroma wafting from the pot lid tempted him to lower his hand back down.

"Never mind, let's eat first! We'll try again tomorrow."

Ignoring the broken porcelain shards on the ground, Lin Ji lifted the pot lid, and a rich aroma of meat wafted out.

Inside the pot, the well-cooked pork belly stew trembled constantly amidst the rolling oil.

He picked up a spoon and scooped a large bowl of meat, then poured the already cooked corn porridge into the meat broth and stirred it well.

Lin Ji began to devour the fatty pork belly.

This meal.

Lin Ji ate two jin of pork belly and three large bowls of cornmeal porridge.

The satisfaction after the hunger disappeared made Lin Ji even forget the soreness in his body. He lay comfortably on his broken bed, and in a few breaths, he started snoring loudly.

Early the next morning.

Lin Ji woke up as the sun was just peeking over the horizon.

Stretching and feeling the fullness of energy flowing through his body, Lin Ji felt refreshed and even his breathing became much easier.

Even the incessant chirping of the annoying birds outside the window made Lin Ji feel much more at ease.

"That feels so good! I haven't had this much energy in a long time!"

Step out of the courtyard.

Seeing the wood-splitting stake in the yard that had been used for decades, Lin Ji recalled the sudden increase in strength he had experienced last night.

"Chopping wood usually takes a lot of effort, so why not try this and see how much more strength it adds!"

Lin Ji took a deep breath, circulated his qi and blood according to the breathing rhythm he had comprehended the night before, clenched his fist, and slammed it into the wooden stake.

"Bang!"

The force of the punch spread outwards along the wooden stake, causing dust to fly around it.

Lin Ji only felt a slight numbness in his fingers, and then it returned to normal without any pain.

Look down again.

"Good heavens!"

In the center of the hard wooden stake, a clear fist mark was clearly imprinted.

"This breathing technique is so ingenious? I've only been practicing Skin Refining for a few days, and my strength has already increased so much?"

"Looks like I'll have to try throwing a few punches every day to see how much I can improve."

Lin Ji stroked his stubble and grinned.

After a quick meal and tidying up the house, Lin Ji carried his box for pulling shadow puppets out the door.

We just arrived at the alley entrance.

The neighbors huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, their words filled with barely suppressed satisfaction as they recounted the events of the previous night when the Haijiao Gang suffered their just deserts.

Lin Ji asked in confusion and listened intently.

"I heard the Sea Dragon Gang had some trouble last night!"

"The screams continued until the middle of the night; many people had their legs broken!"

"Who did it?"

"I don't know. Some say it's Hongmen, while others say it's the Gelaohui (a secret society).

"Haha, I think they're just getting their comeuppance for all the bad things they've done!"

Lin Ji shook his head, grinned, and guessed the reason, but still couldn't help but sigh.

"In this world, only those who truly live can take control of their own destiny."

Under the old locust tree.

Looking into the distance, Lin Ji could see that the Liu siblings had already arrived.

Liu Qingzhu changed into a pale yellow belted dress, which made her look even more youthful and beautiful.

She stood quietly under the tree, her demeanor still aloof and serene.

At that age, could he be twenty-five?

Sometimes, the difference between people is truly greater than the difference between a person and a dog.

Look at others, then look at myself. I'm a hundred years old, and I'm living like a dog.

Lin Ji gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Not far away, Bai Xiaonian was standing on a stake, and the chubby Liu Yuanbao saw this and thought it was fun, so he started to imitate him.

She had only been standing for a short while when she pouted at Liu Qingzhu and complained, "I'm so tired, sister. How could that brother stand for so long?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ji glanced at Liu Qingzhu, who was smiling and patting Liu Yuanbao's head. "Then we won't practice."

Liu Yuanbao had sharp eyes and spotted Lin Ji from afar, then ran over on his little legs.

"Old Lin, you're finally here! When are you going to start showing the shadow puppets? I can't wait!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the box used for pulling shadow puppets and looked at the cracks that had been broken on it yesterday.

"Let's begin."

Lin Ji set up his stall and began organizing the picture cards he would be using that day.

At this moment, Liu Qingzhu, standing under the tree, fixed her gaze on Lin Ji's heaving chest.

How can this old man breathe so strongly!

But I didn't notice it yesterday.

And didn't Yuanbao say he was already a hundred years old?

People who practice martial arts for many years may not be able to maintain such an aura as they age and their blood and energy decline.

After Lin Ji finished packing up his stall, Lin Qingzhu asked tentatively, her tone somewhat strange, "Old man, have you practiced this before?"

The voice just fell.

Bai Xiaonian, who was standing in a stance, turned his head and his gaze fell on Lin Ji.

He subconsciously rubbed his right wrist, which still felt slightly numb.

The air fell silent instantly.

Lin Ji's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason. How could he be so perceptive?