Ink panel: Hunting the sun and surveying the sky from the bow.

Chapter 14: Strengthening Qi and Blood, Reading and Interpreting Texts

After practicing for a while, Shen Qing stopped and sat on a chair to take a short rest, combining work and rest.

At this moment, Shen Qing, with the help of the faint light from the window, picked up the blue booklet containing the Nine Powers Brocade Technique and began to flip through it.

I want to ponder some of the meanings and understand some of the content related to martial arts.

They are in too remote a place and have very little information. They don't even know whether the current saint is a man or a woman.

Shen Qing was unwilling to miss any channel that could provide him with information.

Unfortunately……

"I still know too few words, and the content I remember is only vaguely understood and incomprehensible."

After reading the whole book, he only recognized the pictures of the characters.

After all, it is an "authentic" book. Every character is drawn vividly and the movements are extremely standard.

Thanks to his experience in his previous life, he still knows some of the key points.

If it were the Chen brothers, they would have no martial arts master to guide them, so it would be wishful thinking for them to master this martial art with just these.

Seeing that he could not understand the text in the book and could not figure it out, Shen Qing chose to give up and continued to study the pictures and movements in the book several times, imprinting them in his mind and continuing his practice.

Time passed by bit by bit, and half a day had passed. Shen Qing looked at the ink numbers that kept jumping in his sight, and his heart became hot.

until a certain moment.

[Skill: Jiugong Brocade (beginner)]

[Progress: 101/100 points]

[Status: Upgradable]

[Note: This is a skill to cultivate Qi and blood. Continuous practice can improve your progress. When your Qi and blood are perfect, you will be as strong as an ox.]

Shen Qing's face lit up with joy. After a day of hard training, the quantitative change finally led to a qualitative change.

Shen Qing has reached the stage of breaking through the bottleneck of the health-preserving martial art Jiugongjin.

Shen Qing's face was as calm as water, and he was surrounded by an indescribable majesty, and he stepped up decisively.

At the moment he broke through, Shen Qing's muscles suddenly tensed up, as if every muscle fiber was injected with endless power at this moment.

The warmth in Shen Qing's body, which was originally as thin as a hair, expanded instantly at this moment like a spark that was ignited, from as tiny as a hair to as thick as a little finger.

This warmth is not simply the flow of blood, but represents the surge of qi and blood and the accumulation of strength in his body.

As the warmth expanded, Shen Qing's energy and blood became noticeably stronger, and his face turned from pale to rosy, as if an invisible force was gushing out of his body.

Shen Qing's breathing rhythm gradually quickened, and every breath he took seemed to expel the impurities from his body.

After a deep breath, the abnormal feeling that was about to stir finally calmed down.

[Skill: Jiugongjin (Proficient)]

[Progress: 1/200 points]

[Status: cannot be upgraded]

[Note: Continuous practice can improve your progress. When your Qi and blood are perfect, you will be as strong as an ox and your breath will be as smooth as silk.]

Looking at the ink characters in his sight, Shen Qing's eyes sparkled.

Chen Tai and Chen An racked their brains to no avail, while Chen Yuan spent a lot of energy to finally get a glimpse of the Nine-Power Brocade. In his hands, he broke through to a new level just after just starting to practice.

He is clearly a "martial arts genius".

After breaking through the realm of martial arts, all the strength in his body receded like the tide, and Shen Qing felt a sense of weakness in his body and extreme fatigue.

The qi and blood cultivated by martial artists do not come out of thin air, but also require nourishment from external objects.

Shen Qing glanced under the bed and saw that Shen Fang had already divided a piece of wild roe deer meat for him today.

He leaned over to take out the piece of meat and lit a fire on the spot.

As the flames burned, the roe deer meat gradually gave off an enticing aroma, and the fat dripped into the fire, stirring up bursts of sparks and smoke.

When the roe deer meat was roasted to golden brown and crispy, Shen Qing invited Shen Fang to eat together. He couldn't wait to tear off a piece, and the steaming hot roe deer meat burst into a rich meaty aroma in his mouth.

The brother and sister enjoyed themselves for a while.

He stopped only after he had eaten most of the food and filled his empty stomach.

"Brother, recently everyone in the village said that a vicious creature came to the mountain. The two brothers of the Chen family were just unlucky and suffered a disaster. Don't go to the back mountain for the next period of time.

I have learned some needlework from my aunt these past two days, and I can also mend things for others and earn some money for the family."

Shen Fang's face was full of worry. She stared at Shen Qing with her almond eyes, as if she was afraid that he would not agree. "Aunt is not a bad person, but she speaks rudely."

"I know."

Shen Qing squatted beside the fire, carefully scooped up a handful of dry wood ash, and sprinkled the ash evenly on the slightly reddish charcoal fire.

As the ashes covered the area, the fire gradually became dimmer, leaving only wisps of blue smoke floating in the night sky.

Shen Qing stood up, clapped his hands gently, and kept his eyes on the fire for a moment, saying: "I'm basically just wandering around the familiar places in the back mountain, doing some mountain jumping. I don't have the ability to go to deeper places. Don't worry."

"Ah."

Seeing that her brother was so opinionated, Shen Fang stopped trying to persuade him.

"I'm going out for a while. I'm going to visit Bookworm's house. I'll be back soon."

After much thought, Shen Qing felt that he still needed to find a way to learn more words.

It is not just to understand the contents of Jiugongjin.

As far as he knew, in the various martial arts gangs in the city, the treatment of literate and illiterate martial artists was completely different.

If you can learn to read, you will undoubtedly be more valued and have a brighter future.

Not to mention the officials in the government office, if they couldn't read, they couldn't even get in the door.

Although martial arts are valued in this world, the cultural tradition has not been cut off.

As Shen Qing spoke, he picked up the fat wild rabbit he had caught yesterday and strode out.

Zhang Shuchi’s home was not very far from his home, only about fifty steps away.

Shen Qing walked to the door of a mud house and knocked gently.

After a moment, the wooden door opened.

He was greeted by a man in his late 40s or 50s with grey hair.

Shen Qing held up the hare and said with a smile, "I shot a hare yesterday and thought I couldn't finish it, so I brought it to you. I want to ask you a favor."

"You come in."

Seeing that Shen Qing was carrying something, Zhang Shuchi did not show any intention of making things difficult for him and stepped aside to let him in.

As soon as you enter the door, you can see that Zhang Shuchi's house is bare except for the shelves of books. He seems a little out of place in this village, and the whole place is filled with the sour smell of damp book pages.

Zhang Shuchi's original name was Zhang Shuyuan, and he was from Hongshanzhai village.

I heard that he was weak and sickly when he was young and didn't like hunting, but his family still had some property at that time, so he studied in a private school in the county for a few years and had some talent.

Later, he looked down on the livelihoods in the village and wanted to settle down in the county.

But it is not so easy to settle down in the county town.

After about ten years of struggling, he still achieved nothing, was poor and destitute, and finally had to return to his hometown.

Relying on knowing a few words, he made a living by writing couplets and letters and doing some accounting for others in his hometown.

Because he reads books every day and never leaves the house, holding a book wherever he goes, people in the village call him a bookworm.

"What do you want me to do? Write a letter or settle accounts?" After letting Shen Qing in, Zhang Shuyuan sat back in his chair, picked up a book, and asked habitually.

Shen Qing walked forward, looked Zhang Shuyuan straight in the eye and said seriously, "I want to find a teacher to teach me how to read and write."

(End of this chapter)