Chapter 8 - 7: What I Seek Is Clarity of Thought
Meat-eaters are brave and fierce.
For martial artists who had yet to formally step onto the path, meat was a crucial cultivation resource! Only by consuming meat could one rapidly strengthen their Qi Blood. Jiang Shu had realized this when he first began practicing the Horse Stance. After reaching the Qi Blood Sensing realm, his fondness for meat intensified; devouring over ten large meat buns each morning merely took the edge off his hunger.
Fortunately, he was in Xuanxing.
If he had been in Pingling County, with its scarce meat resources in the outer city, he might have only just achieved entry-level proficiency in the Horse Stance by now! Even he, with his proficiency panel, faced such challenges—let alone the others in the outer city!
It could be said that in the outer city of Pingling County, only gang leaders typically had the backing of prominent families. This support allowed them to mobilize a gang’s resources for their personal Martial Arts training. Other martial artists had little choice but to venture into the inner city and serve these major households to obtain sufficient meat!
Therefore, within the entire Green Snake Gang, the only individual Jiang Shu truly needed to be wary of was its Gang Leader. The Hall Masters and other high-ranking members beneath the Gang Leader, despite some being martial artists who had reached Qi Blood Transport, were largely powerful in name only. Their once surging Qi Blood had likely been squandered through indulgence in wine and women.
As for the common gang members, they were likely physically weaker than even the manual laborers at the docks. They swaggered about, abusing their gang affiliation, yet in reality, their stances were unstable and their punches lacked force.
Could such scum withstand even a few punches from him?
Jiang Shu, his face masked, moved with deliberate steps, each one building his momentum, envisioning himself as a hungry tiger emerging from its lair.
In his previous life, he had died at thirty, consumed by a profound obsession with achieving immortality. Yet, he knew better now. Immortality was merely the objective; without the power to defend oneself—to kill—an immortal being was but a fattened lamb ripe for slaughter. Tortoises are known for their longevity. But how many tortoises sold in the marketplace actually live out their long lives? Only by relying on one’s own inherent power and capabilities, independent of external aids, could true longevity be pursued!
「Bicao Lane.」