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

Pork belly has more fat than lean meat.

The fat in the meat has been rendered into glistening oil.

The lean meat had already fallen apart even without using chopsticks.

Even the skin was trembling, with an amber hue.

Lin Ji held the pork belly and stuffed it into his mouth, then tore off a large piece of meat with his few remaining teeth.

"This girl inexplicably saved my life. This meat is stewed so tender that it melts in your mouth. It must have been stewing for at least an afternoon."

"Don't even mention that the old man has no teeth, this meat could melt in your mouth with your tongue."

Lin Ji chewed the oily fatty meat with gusto, the warm aroma burning his throat all the way to his heart.

"Good girl...you're so thoughtful."

Lin Ji devoured the food, finishing two and a half jin in less than five minutes. He even licked the oily broth and meat scraps clean inside the oil-wrapped paper.

Lin Ji smacked his lips, just about to let out a satisfied burp, when a "gurgling" sound came from his stomach again, and the feeling of hunger struck once more.

After thinking for a moment, he propped himself up and rushed to the peeling wooden cabinet, which contained a week's worth of rations: twelve coarse grain buns.

Lin Ji reached out, picked up a cornbread, and stuffed it into his mouth. The dry, hard cornbread made his throat ache.

Only then did he remember to dip the cornbread in the meat broth, but he had already licked the minced meat and broth from the oil-wrapped paper clean.

They could only gnaw on the hard cornbread, swallowing it bite by bite.

One!

two!

Three!

Unable to choke any longer, Lin Ji scooped up a ladle of cold water and gulped it down with the cornbread.

Twelve whole steamed buns! Lin Ji devoured them all in a flash.

After finishing the last steamed bun, Lin Ji finally felt the burning hunger in his stomach subside.

Lin Ji slumped into a chair, stroking his swollen belly with his hand, and said with satisfaction.

"I've lived for a hundred years, and even during famine years when we ate tree bark and clay, I've never been this hungry."

She stroked her swollen belly.

Lin Ji suddenly sensed something was wrong.

"Wait a minute! Something's not right!"

Normally, let alone a pound of meat or twelve steamed buns.

Even half a cornbread, he would chew slowly and take half a day to eat.

After getting older, eating greasy food will cause diarrhea for three days in a row.

Despite eating so much today, my stomach and intestines feel warm and comfortable, not at all.

Lin Ji felt the changes in his body, and he felt something spreading from his abdomen to his limbs and bones, making up for the strength he had lost, and even more abundant than before.

"This is the Skin Refining Realm? No wonder everyone envies martial artists."

Lin Ji pinched his arm, and with a little force from his fingertips, he touched the tough, tanned leather membrane beneath the skin. The force rebounded from his fingertips, and the flesh immediately returned to its original state the moment he released his grip, without leaving even the slightest indentation. The flesh, which was already quite firm, was now even more elastic.

But then, Lin Ji let out a long sigh.

"If you practiced martial arts like this..."

"How could an old man like me afford to eat that?"

A pound of meat and twelve steamed buns would normally last him half a month, but today he ate them all in one meal.

Lin Ji's lips twitched.

"This is just skin refining. When it comes to refining flesh and bones... that will be something else entirely."

"That means we'd have to eat meat every meal."

"And there are also herbs for strengthening the body and rare natural treasures for enhancing one's skills."

"Tsk tsk... How much money did this cost me, an old man?"

"Make money!"

"We have to make money!"

Lin Ji slammed his hand on the table, causing it to shake and shed some dust.

After taking the picture, Lin Ji was stunned. Looking at his withered hand, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"Oh my, a hundred-year-old man, still as hot-blooded as a young boy."

"This body has indeed come back to life along with this martial spirit."

Lin Ji shook his head, forcefully suppressing the long-lost youthful spirit.

The table's reaction made Lin Ji look down. His gaze didn't fall on the table, but on his own hands.

"It seems...something is different now."

Recalling the Tai Chi practice he had just done, Lin Ji felt that his hands were much more agile than before.

To verify.

Lin Ji walked out of the courtyard again.

He assumed a horse stance and performed Tai Chi.

The initial stance was taken.

Lin Ji's eyes lit up.

"It's different now!"

Start with Wuji!

Turn left halfway.

Lifting hand gesture...

Several moves were made.

Lin Ji felt as if the air around him was flowing with his movements.

A gentle breeze brushed against his fingertips as Lin Ji swung his arms.

For a fleeting moment, Lin Ji felt as if he had become one with the heavens and earth.

Every step he took was as steady as a mountain, and every gesture he made was as fluid as flowing water.

"Is this the essence of martial arts?"

Lin Ji was overjoyed and continued working without stopping.

Grasp the sparrow's tail!

Playing the pipa!

Several more movements were executed in one smooth motion, perfectly natural, each move embodying the interplay of Yin and Yang.

But as he continued, that feeling of merging with heaven and earth vanished abruptly.

The movements are still the same, but only the empty shell remains, like a fake performer.

Recalling his previous experience of tracing the origins of martial arts to the primordial Tai Chi, Lin Ji remembered the first few moves the most clearly and had the deepest understanding of them.

Therefore, the moment he makes a move, he merges with heaven and earth.

However, the Primordial Tai Chi was too profound. Although Lin Ji memorized the last few moves, he was far from being able to fully comprehend them, and therefore could not move the heavens and earth.

Thinking of this, Lin Ji thought to himself, "If I could master the entire Tai Chi routine by using the Martial Bone technique, wouldn't I be able to comprehend the whole Primordial Tai Chi?"

Lin Ji's eyes lit up, and he got into a fighting stance again.

Once, twice...

Lin Ji's blood and qi surged, and just when he felt he was about to grasp the next step, he felt he was about to succeed.

A gurgling sound came from my stomach.

The familiar feeling of hunger returned.

"Damn! This time it's even more exhausting than before." Lin Ji quickly stopped practicing. "Looks like I underestimated this martial bone."

After calming down for a while, Lin Ji went into the house and searched the entire house but couldn't find a single grain of rice. In the end, he could only pick up a few pieces of cornbread crumbs that had fallen on the table and stuff them into his mouth.

"Looks like I can't practice anymore. If I keep practicing, these old bones of mine will really die."

Lin Ji shook his head and lay back on the bed. Although he was still feeling hungry, he wasn't annoyed.

"The fact that it has such a strong reaction after only a short training period means that this martial bone is even more extraordinary than I thought?"

"If that's really the case, since this martial bone can reverse Tai Chi, does that mean I can deduce the origin of any martial arts technique I see in the future?"

"At that time, won't we be able to easily obtain any sect's closely guarded secrets?"

Lin Ji grinned and laughed out loud.

"Gurgle..."

A loud bang in his stomach interrupted Lin Ji's reverie.

Lin Ji looked down at his stomach, patted it, and comforted himself, "Alright, alright, stop yelling. Go to sleep. You won't be hungry if you're asleep. Tomorrow morning, I'll find you something to eat as soon as I get up."

After saying that, Lin Ji closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning.

"Gurgle..."

Lin Ji didn't wake up from sleep, he woke up from hunger. The intense hunger that made him want to tear his hair out left him both amused and exasperated.

"As for me, I've only ever been woken up by hunger during those few years of great disasters. Who would have thought I'd have such an experience at a hundred years old?"

After stretching, Lin Ji prepared to get out of bed to find something to eat.

But just then...

Lin Ji's body trembled.

Something's wrong!