Chapter 50: No one gets rich without a windfall

“I’ve heard that name before.”

“There have been quite a few outsiders lately, and people in the city talk too much. I heard it from a group of outsiders once, though I didn't pay much attention at the time.”

“Now that you mention it, I feel like these rebel forces have a great connection to this so-called Great Emperor of Heaven,” Xie Jiang said after a moment of contemplation.

“Are you saying the rebels might have been planning this for over a decade?” Jia Yanyong asked.

“Isn't that obvious? Without ten or twenty years of planning, who would have the confidence to rebel?” Xie Jiang curled his lip. The strength of the Great Wei was immense.

The contempt in his voice made Jia Yanyong want to roll up his sleeves and pick a fight.

Xie Jiang was a man of sharp words who loved to provoke Jia Yanyong; the two of them always ended up fighting every once in a while.

But after the fight, they would always end up hanging out together again, sharing the same tastes.

“If the City Lord hadn't stepped in to wipe out those two families back then, wouldn't our Songyi City have been in grave danger?” Ning Hui said, still feeling a lingering sense of dread.

“If it really was the City Lord's doing, then his strength must be terrifyingly boundless, right?” Jia Yanyong said, his eyes filled with shock.

As a mere Bone Tempering Realm practitioner, he truly could not comprehend what kind of god-like methods were required to silently annihilate two families of Blood Qi Realm experts overnight.

“Killing isn't just about brute force; you can also use poison.”

“Blood Qi Realm martial artists are still human. Many poisons can kill them easily. Perhaps the City Lord used some highly potent toxin to poison them to death,” Xie Jiang analyzed. He didn't quite believe the City Lord had personally struck them down.

Unfortunately, more than a decade had passed. No records remained, and there were no corpses to perform autopsies; much of the truth had vanished into the river of time.

If they hadn't heard it from Ning Hui, they would have all assumed it was some terrifying plague that had killed the members of those two families overnight.

After all, over a thousand civilians had died as well.

At the time, it had caused widespread panic, with everyone fearing the plague would spread.

Later, once the plague was well-controlled and a few hundred more people died sporadically, things settled down, and no more large-scale deaths were reported.

Looking back now, there were many suspicious details hidden within that upheaval.

“Stop talking about this. If word gets out, be careful you don't get caught and executed.”

“Drink, drink! Let's talk about women instead.”

“Times are tough, and many people are selling their daughters to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. They are all virgins; are you guys interested in buying one to take home as a maid?” Xie Jiang said with a chuckle.

The topic drifted off into god-knows-where again.

After idling with them for a while, Lin Zheyu left.

These guys were incredibly talkative; they could chat from the girls at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion to the pretty widows next door for a day and a night.

He strolled through the city.

The market was much quieter, but it was still filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

The excitement of the Little New Year belonged to the people of Songyi City; it had nothing to do with Lin Zheyu.

Senior Brother Han Mo had gone out to suppress bandits and hadn't returned.

Master Liang was also nowhere to be found.

The only people he was familiar with were Jia Yanyong and his group, as well as Manager Wu, but they all had their own families to spend time with.

With nothing to do, Lin Zheyu stayed in the courtyard practicing his fist techniques, pondering the intent within the Savage Bull Fist. When he grew bored, he would go for a walk, listen to music, eat some delicacies, or chat with Jia Yanyong and the others. Life was quite comfortable.

“Hmm?”

As Lin Zheyu walked down Flavor Street, his brow furrowed.

Having reached the Blood Qi Realm, especially with his Turtle Breath Technique having reached the third level, his perception had increased significantly.

His perception far exceeded that of other Blood Qi Realm martial artists; it was extremely sharp, allowing him to vaguely sense ill-intentioned gazes.

Along the way, Lin Zheyu noticed several individuals whose eyes would occasionally land on him, their gazes carrying a hint of malice.

If it were just one or two people, it would be normal, but for the past ten days, he had occasionally felt people staring at him.

This was becoming abnormal.

“Is it someone arranged by Xing Jinglong?” Lin Zheyu speculated.

The only people in Songyi City he had grievances with were Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai.

This time, he didn't pretend not to notice. Instead, he walked directly toward a man. A look of panic surfaced on the man's face, and he tried to flee.

Lin Zheyu's figure flashed with extreme speed, appearing beside the man in an instant.

He reached out his right hand, grabbed the man's collar, and hoisted him up.

“Kid, what are you running for?” Lin Zheyu said coldly.

“Lord, please spare my life! I haven't done anything! I haven't stolen or robbed; I was just standing here dazing off!” the man pleaded.

He felt that the young man before him possessed immense strength; the grip on his collar was so tight he could barely breathe.

“Hmph!”

“Zhou Dali, come here.”

Lin Zheyu didn't waste words with him but instead beckoned to a member of the Flying Rainbow Gang nearby.

Flavor Street was the territory of the Flying Rainbow Gang, and members patrolled every day to maintain order.

“Brother Yu, you called for me?”

Zhou Dali ran over quickly and spoke respectfully.

He was a fellow whose bulk was no less than Jia Yanyong's, though he hadn't practiced martial arts and only possessed some farmhand moves and brute strength.

“Take this guy back and investigate. Find out which family or faction he belongs to and what he was trying to do here,” Lin Zheyu commanded.

“Brother Yu, I know this guy. He's from the Wuding Gang. I forgot his name, but if you want to know, I'll call Zhou Tuo over; he's quite familiar with the Wuding Gang people,” Zhou Dali said.

“The Wuding Gang?”

Hearing the name Wuding Gang, Lin Zheyu immediately knew who was targeting him. The only person connected to the Wuding Gang who had a grudge against him was Xing Jinglong.

“Did Xing Jinglong have you watching me?” Lin Zheyu asked.

“Lord, I was just strolling through the streets. I haven't done anything. I'm being framed!”

“Brother Long didn't instruct me to do anything. I was truly just walking around. Even though this is Flying Rainbow Gang territory, there's no rule saying people from other gangs aren't allowed to shop here!” the man explained, his face contorted with the look of someone being unjustly wronged.

“Brother Yu, do you want me to take him back for questioning?” Zhou Dali asked.

“No need.”

Lin Zheyu shook his head and tossed the man aside. “Get lost. Don't act so shifty in the future.”

“Yes, yes! I'll change my ways as soon as I get back!”

The man nodded hurriedly and hurried away into the distance.

“Get back to your business. Patrol properly.”

“Yes, Lord!”

Zhou Dali said excitedly, turning to continue his stroll—or rather, his patrol.

Watching the man's retreating back, Lin Zheyu thought to himself, *I have to find a way to deal with that guy. Being constantly watched isn't a permanent solution.*

After circling Flavor Street and buying some food, Lin Zheyu returned home.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

In the courtyard, the sound of striking continued to echo.

There was no sunlight today; the sky was overcast, and a cold wind howled.

Lin Zheyu was shirtless, drenched in sweat, his blood and qi boiling.

Under his control, dense blood qi energy was poured into his arms. As his fists struck the wooden post, the blood qi vibrated, tempering the muscles, membranes, and bones of his arms.

Since reaching the Blood Qi Realm, his entire physique—bones, muscles, and skin—had been strengthened.

However, the primary area of reinforcement was his legs; the effects on other parts were not as obvious.

Perhaps as his strength continued to rise and his blood qi reached the fifth or sixth qualitative changes, through successive rounds of tempering, the rest of his body would also reach a state where his bones were as hard as iron.

But for now, aside from his legs reaching that level, the bones in his other limbs were merely slightly stronger than those of an ordinary martial artist.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Lin Zheyu continued to throw punches, his aura becoming a bit more intense than before.

After several days of hard training, his understanding of the Savage Bull Fist had increased significantly.

When practicing, he imagined himself as a savage bull—an ox in a bullring, attacking with all his might once provoked.

*Bang!*

*Moo—!*

As he unleashed a Savage Bull Charge, coordinated with the Savage Bull Breathing Technique, he actually emitted a sound faintly resembling a bull's roar.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

His fists fell like a torrential storm, launching a frenzied assault on the wooden post, the sounds of impact never ceasing.

Lin Zheyu fell into the madness of a provoked bull, his eyes turning slightly bloodshot. He was too immersed in the momentum of his strikes, becoming influenced by it.

It wasn't until two hours later, after venting all his strength and breaking through his limit once again, that he slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

“I was actually influenced by the momentum just now and lost a bit of my reason.”

Lin Zheyhu murmured, his mind somewhat dazed.

To better comprehend the momentum of the Savage Bull Fist, he had been self-hypnotizing by imagining himself as a bull, and the effect had indeed been excellent.

In a few days, his mastery of the momentum had seen great progress.

But because he had become too immersed in it, he had lost himself within the momentum.

“The direction is wrong. If the momentum causes one to fall into madness, then what use is increased power? It would just make me a mindless brute, even less than Jia Yanyong.”

“'Savage' can mean wild, but wild does not mean reckless or insane. It is a courage guided by reason; it is a conviction, the belief of a powerhouse who stands invincible...”

“...”

Lin Zheyu lay on the ground, murmuring, the light in his eyes growing increasingly intense.

That was right.

Savage can mean wild, but not reckless. It is a conviction of being invincible—the powerful will that says, *'If I land this punch, you will die!'*

The light in Lin Zheyu's eyes grew brighter, completely unaffected by the mental fatigue caused by his recent breakthrough.

He struggled to get back up to verify his thoughts and practice the Savage Bull Fist once more.

Momentum was not something you simply possessed once you understood it; it required believing in your conviction during the practice, integrating your will into the technique to form your own unique 'momentum'!

However, Lin Zheyu could not get up.

Having vented his physical strength and broken his physical limit during his bout of madness, his entire body was now aching and powerless.

“Forget it, there's no rush.”

Lin Zheyu muttered and stopped moving, lying on the cold ground to rest.

Within his body, under the pressure of his training, blood qi energy steamed out of his blood, flowing through his entire body to recover his fatigue.

Lying on the ground, Lin Zheyu breathed heavily.

He looked at the data in his consciousness. Having just broken his limit, his Source Power had increased by one unit.

Through these past few days of training, both the Six Harmony Saber technique and the Savage Bull Fist had made significant progress.

Since reaching the Blood Qi Realm, the progress of the Golden Goose Skill had slowed down considerably; it required accumulation through continuous training to refine and store blood qi until reaching the Blood Qi limit.

To achieve this through sheer effort would take several years.

**[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]**

**Name:** Lin Zheyu

**Source Power:** 3

**Skills:**

Savage Bull Fist (Proficient 68%)

Golden Goose Skill (Fourth Level 67%)

Turtle Breath Technique (Third Level 1%)

Six Harmony Saber (Proficient 35%)

“I've accumulated another 3 units of Source Power. It's a pity I'm out of money, otherwise I could have raised the Golden Goose Skill to the fifth level.”

He currently accumulated about one unit of Source Power every four days on average, but using one unit to upgrade the Golden Goose Skill required approximately three sets of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup to ensure sufficient energy.

To raise the Golden Goose Skill to the fifth level, he would need at least 3 more units of Source Power.

In other words, he would need the medicinal ingredients for nine sets of the soup as an energy source. At current market prices, nine sets of ingredients would cost over a hundred taels of silver, which was no small sum.

“I'll rest first, then focus on upgrading the Savage Bull Fist.”

“With the foundation of the Blood Qi Realm, the Source Power and energy required to upgrade the Savage Bull Fist shouldn't be too much,” Lin Zheyu thought.

Two days ago, he had received his monthly five-tael wage from the Flying Rainbow Gang. Combined with the silver from other storytellers, he had a savings of over twenty taels.

To an ordinary person, twenty taels, if spent frugally, could support a family for two or three years.

But Lin Zheyu had spent all his money on two sets of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Soup ingredients.

To achieve success in the martial arts, money truly flowed like water.

It was a pity that his story copyright plan had been aborted before it could take off; otherwise, he might have been earning about two taels of silver a day.

“There are no good ways to increase my income right now. After I upgrade the Savage Bull Fist, I'll find a time to go out of the city!”

“To see how things are outside the city currently,” Lin Zheyu thought.

He had wanted to go out and see for a long time.

To see how rampant the bandits had become.

To see the true combat strength of the City Guard.

To see if a military formation composed of a hundred elite soldiers could truly rival a Blood Qi Realm martial artist.

To see if demons and monsters truly existed in those deep mountains and old forests.

And so on.

Lin Zheyu was curious about everything.

It was just that because his strength was insufficient before, he had been holding back, staying low, and developing in silence.

Now, his strength was among the top tier within Songyi City. If he could still encounter life-threatening danger outside, then ordinary people might as well not live at all.

Most importantly, there were many bandits outside the city.

No one gets rich without windfall, and no horse gets fat without night grass.

If bandits could rob others, why couldn't he rob bandits?

He who robs others shall be robbed!

“If those two brothers, Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai, dare to follow me this time, I'll finish them off outside the city.”

A ruthless glint flashed in Lin Zheyu's eyes.

If the management in Songyi City weren't so strict and it wasn't so difficult to kill people at will, he would have acted in the shadows long ago.

He didn't know what was wrong with those two; why they were fixated on a small character like him.

Even if his martial talent was somewhat outstanding, what Lin Zheyu currently showed to the world was merely the strength of the Bone Tempering Realm.

In Songyi City, a Bone Tempering Realm practitioner was just a nobody. He didn't understand why Xing Jinglong wouldn't let him go.