No Man Grows Rich Without Windfalls

As he walked along, Lin Zheyu noticed several fellows whose glances casually drifted toward him, their eyes tinged with ill intent. One or two might have been normal, but over the past dozen days, he had caught people watching him from time to time. That was clearly out of the ordinary. *Did Xing Jinglong arrange this?* Lin Zheyu guessed. In Songyi City, the only people he had grudges with were Xing Jinglong and Xing Penghai. This time, instead of pretending not to notice, he walked straight toward the man. A flicker of panic crossed the man's face, and he turned to flee. Lin Zheyu's figure flashed with astonishing speed, appearing beside the man in the blink of an eye. He reached out with his right hand, grabbed the man by the collar, and hoisted him up. "What are you running for, kid?" Lin Zheyu said coldly. "Spare me, sir! I didn't do anything—no stealing, no robbing! I was just spacing out here!" the man pleaded. He could feel the immense strength of the young man before him, the grip on his collar choking him until he could barely breathe. "Hmph!" "Zhou Dali, get over here." Lin Zheyu did not waste words on him, waving toward a Feihong Gang lackey nearby. Baiwei Street was Feihong Gang territory, patrolled daily by members tasked with keeping order. "Brother Yu, you looking for me?" Zhou Dali jogged over, speaking deferentially. He was a burly fellow whose build was no smaller than Jia Yanyong's, though he had never formally practiced martial arts, possessing only crude peasant brawling tricks and brute strength. "Take this fellow back and look into him. Find out which family or force he belongs to, and what he's trying to pull here," Lin Zheyu said. "Brother Yu, I know this guy. He's from the Wuding Gang. I forgot his name, but if you want to know, I can call Zhou Tuo over—he knows the Wuding Gang folks pretty well," Zhou Dali said. "Wuding Gang?" Hearing that, Lin Zheyu immediately understood who was keeping tabs on him. The only person connected to the Wuding Gang who bore a grudge against him was Xing Jinglong. "Did Xing Jinglong tell you to keep an eye on me?" Lin Zheyu asked. "Sir, I was just strolling through the street! I haven't done a thing, this is an injustice!" "Brother Long didn't order me to do anything. I was truly just out shopping. Even though this is Feihong Gang turf, there's no rule saying members of other gangs aren't allowed to buy things here, is there?" The man pleaded his case, his face wearing an aggrieved, wronged expression. "Brother Yu, do you need me to haul him back and interrogate him?" Zhou Dali asked. "No need." Lin Zheyu shook his head and tossed the man aside. "Get lost, and stop acting so shifty-eyed in the future." "Yes, yes! I'll change my ways as soon as I get back!" The man nodded repeatedly, scrambled to his feet, and hurried away. "Get back to your business, and patrol properly." "Yes, sir!" Zhou Dali replied enthusiastically, turning around to resume wandering—no, patrolling. Watching the man's retreating figure, Lin Zheyu thought to himself, *I need to find a way to deal with that fellow. Having someone constantly watching me is no long-term solution.* After making a round through Baiwei Street and buying some food, Lin Zheyu returned home. *Thud, thud, thud!* *Thud, thud, thud, thud!* Steady thuds echoed continuously through the courtyard. There was no sun today; the sky was overcast, and a chilling wind howled. Lin Zheyu was bare-chested and drenched in sweat, the qi and blood within him surging. Under his control, the rich qi and blood energy poured into his arms. As his fists struck the wooden stake, his qi and blood vibrated in rhythm, tempering the muscles, sinews, membranes, and bones of his arms. After stepping into the Qi and Blood Realm, his entire physical body—sinews, bones, and skin membranes—had been strengthened. However, the primary area of refinement had been his legs; the enhancements in other parts of his body were far less pronounced. Perhaps as his strength continued to rise and his qi and blood underwent five or six qualitative shifts, repeated cycles of refinement would bring the rest of his body to the level of bones tempered like iron. For now, though, aside from his legs reaching that standard, the bones in the rest of his body were only slightly stronger than those of an ordinary martial artist. *Thud, thud, thud!* Lin Zheyu delivered punch after punch, the aura around him growing noticeably denser. After days of grueling practice, his comprehension of Wild Bull Fist had deepened considerably. While training, he envisioned himself as a wild bull—a bull in a fighting ring, gathering all its power to launch an attack after being provoked. *Bang!* *Mooo—* Executing a Wild Bull Charge in coordination with the Wild Bull Fist breathing technique, a sound vaguely resembling the bellow of a bull rumbled from him. *Thud, thud, thud!* His fists attacked the wooden stake in a frantic downpour, the pounding ceaseless and deafening. Lin Zheyu sank into the frenzied rage of an enraged bull, a hint of blood-red welling up in his eyes. Becoming too deeply immersed in the fist momentum, he had allowed himself to be swayed by it. Only after two whole shichen, having vented all his physical strength and once again shattered his limits, did he gasp heavily and collapse limply to the ground. "I was actually swayed by the fist momentum just now and lost a bit of my senses." Lin Zheyu murmured, his mind somewhat dazed. To better comprehend the momentum of Wild Bull Fist, he had used self-hypnosis to imagine himself as a wild bull, and the results had indeed been remarkable. In just a few days, his fist momentum had made tremendous strides. Yet precisely because he had immersed himself too deeply, he had lost himself within it. *My direction was wrong. If fist momentum causes one to descend into madness, what good is greater power? It just turns you into a mindless brute—even Jia Yanyong is better than that.* *Wildness can mean boldness, but boldness is not recklessness or madness. It is rational courage, a conviction—an invincible conviction of the strong...* "..." Lying on the ground, Lin Zheyu murmured to himself, the sharp light in his eyes growing ever brighter. Indeed. Wildness could be boldness, but not rashness; it was an invincible conviction, the resolute will of the strong declaring that one strike from this fist would kill! The light in Lin Zheyu's eyes shone brighter and brighter, unaffected by the mental exhaustion that usually followed breaking his limits. He struggled to push himself up, eager to test his realization by practicing Wild Bull Fist once more. Fist momentum was not something one possessed merely by understanding it conceptually. One had to remain steadfast in conviction throughout practice, fusing one's will into the fist technique to forge a unique momentum of one's own! Yet Lin Zheyu could not get up. During his frenzy, he had exhausted every scrap of physical strength and broken through his limits once more. His entire body was now sore and limp. "Forget it, no need to rush." Lin Zheyu muttered. Giving up the effort, he lay on the cold ground to rest. Under his urging, qi and blood energy steamed out of his blood vessels, circulating through his body to soothe his exhaustion. Lying on the ground, Lin Zheyu drew deep, ragged breaths. He shifted his gaze toward the interface in his consciousness; having just broken through his limit, his Origin Power had increased by another unit. Over the past several days of training, both his Six Harmonies Saber and Wild Bull Fist had made solid progress. After reaching the Qi and Blood Realm, Golden Goose Skill had slowed down considerably. It required steady, long-term conditioning to constantly refine and accumulate qi and blood until reaching the limit. Achieving that through personal effort alone would take several years. [Heaven Rewards Diligence] Name: Lin Zheyu Origin Power: 3 Skills: Wild Bull Fist (Proficient 68%) Golden Goose Skill (Fourth Layer 67%) Turtle Breathing Art (Third Layer 1%) Six Harmonies Saber (Proficient 35%) *I've accumulated three units of Origin Power again. Too bad I'm out of money, or I could push Golden Goose Skill to the fifth layer.* On average, he could gather one unit of Origin Power roughly every four days, but using one unit to advance Golden Goose Skill required about three doses of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction to supply sufficient energy. Advancing Golden Goose Skill to the fifth layer would require at least three units of Origin Power. In other words, he needed medicinal herbs for nine doses of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction as an energy source. At current market rates, nine doses cost over a hundred taels of silver—no small sum. *I'll rest up and raise Wild Bull Fist first.* *With my Qi and Blood Realm strength as a foundation, raising Wild Bull Fist shouldn't require too much Origin Power or energy,* Lin Zheyu thought. Two days ago, he had collected his monthly wages of five taels from the Feihong Gang. Added to the silver paid by other storytellers, he had saved up twenty-odd taels. For ordinary folk, twenty-odd taels, spent frugally, could support an entire family for two to three years. Yet for Lin Zheyu, buying just two doses of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Strengthening Decoction had wiped it clean. Achieving success on the martial path truly burned through money like flowing water. It was a pity that his plan for story rights had fallen through before it could take off; otherwise, he might have been earning two taels of silver a day. *Right now, I don't have any good ways to boost my income. Once I raise Wild Bull Fist, I should find time to head outside the city and look around!* *See what things are like beyond the walls nowadays,* Lin Zheyu thought. He had wanted to venture outside the city for a long time. To see how rampant the bandits out there truly were. To see the actual combat strength of the City Guard. To see whether a battle array of a hundred elite soldiers could truly match a Qi and Blood Realm martial artist with ease. To see whether demons genuinely existed in those deep, primeval forests. And more. Lin Zheyu was intensely curious about all of it. It was only because his strength had been insufficient before that he had held back, lying low and developing in secret. Now, his strength placed him among the top tier within Songyi City. If even he were to face mortal peril out there, ordinary people would have no hope of surviving at all. Most importantly, bandits were plentiful outside the city. No man grows rich without windfalls, just as no horse fattens without night grass. Since bandits could rob others, why couldn't he rob the bandits? Those who rob others should expect to be robbed in turn! *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. Had Songyi City not enforced such strict control, making it difficult to kill without consequence, he would have made a move in secret long ago. He had no idea what was wrong with those two fellows, or why they had targeted a nobody like him. Even if his martial talent was somewhat impressive, all he had displayed outwardly so far was merely the strength of the Bone Tempering Realm. In Songyi City, someone at the Bone Tempering Realm was nothing more than a minor figure. He truly could not fathom why Xing Jinglong refused to let him go.