Zhao Hu sighed, pulling a boiled egg and three cooked sweet potatoes from his pocket to hand to Chu Fan.
Chu Fan didn't refuse, accepting them with a lowered head.
The egg and sweet potatoes were still slightly warm, clearly fresh from the pot.
Zhao Hu sighed again. "Liu Da and his pack of beasts tore up your fishing net too... If you don't have anything to eat these next few days, come eat at my place."
"You can help me weave some baskets, and I'll ask around to see if I can find a cheap fishing net for you..."
"Mr. Zhao, there's no need," Chu Fan said hesitantly. "I'm doing odd jobs for the Seven Stars Gang. I won't starve."
"What? The Seven Stars Gang!" Zhao Hu was shocked. "How did you end up with the Seven Stars Gang? A gang like that..."
In Cyan Yang Ancient City, gangs were everywhere, fighting endlessly for profit. Countless people died every month.
Even poor families would rather sell themselves into servitude than let their children join a gang.
Selling oneself into servitude at least brought in some money, and one's life was not in danger.
But if you joined one of those gangs, the slightest misstep could leave you dead in the street!
That was why, over the years, gangs like the Seven Stars Gang and the Blood Saber Sect mostly recruited drifters; very few children from respectable families joined.
Zhao Hu never imagined that after not seeing him for half a month, Chu Fan would have joined the Seven Stars Gang.
'But on second thought, considering Chu Fan's tragic circumstances, how else could he have survived if not by joining the Seven Stars Gang?'
"...Just doing odd jobs?"
Zhao Hu came to his senses and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Doing odd jobs was exhausting, but it was better than fighting to the death with other gangs.
Chu Fan offered a few more words of reassurance before seeing Mr. Zhao and his wife out.
Back in his room.
He ate the egg and sweet potatoes from Mr. Zhao and began to replay the scenes of the murders from tonight in his mind.
Perhaps because his strength had increased, he felt that killing Liu Da and the others was less nerve-wracking than being chased by monsters in an online game in his past life.
Chu Fan knew himself well.
Deep down, he had a streak of ruthlessness and madness.
In his previous life, he had gotten into a conflict with his upstairs neighbors over noise complaints.
The neighbors brought a group of people down to beat him up. Without a second thought, he turned, rushed into the kitchen, and came out with a cleaver.
If those people hadn't run away quickly, there would have been a river of blood.
Because he had never intended to just scare them with the knife.
He really would have cut them down.
And if he had, he definitely wouldn't have stopped at just one person.
'If that had really been the outcome...'
'I might have been completely obliterated.'
'Or maybe I would have transmigrated to this world a few years earlier?'
Looking back years later, he knew he would still make the same choice.
This was the biggest difference between his personality and that of the original Chu Fan.
Chu Fan took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, and looked at the Map of Mountains and Rivers panel.
[Spiritual Essence: 31.9]
'After saving up for so many days, I finally... huh?!'
Staring at the Spiritual Essence on the panel, Chu Fan's eyes widened abruptly!
'This number is wrong!'
'When I came back from the Seven Stars Gang, my Spiritual Essence was clearly 24.7!'
After continuously upgrading his Literacy, his memory was now excellent. There was no way he remembered it wrong!
Why had it skyrocketed to 31.9 overnight?
'Could it be...'
The dying faces of Liu Da and his men flashed through Chu Fan's mind.
In the darkness, a sharp glint flashed in Chu Fan's eyes!
When he had first gained Spiritual Essence from eating, he understood it as the Map of Mountains and Rivers absorbing some kind of energy from food and medicinal herbs that ordinary people couldn't comprehend.
He had also wondered if there were other ways to increase his Spiritual Essence.
It was as if an invisible force was tempting him to go on a killing spree.
Chu Fan walked out of his room and stood in the corridor.
He pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, positioned his feet shoulder-width apart in a neutral stance, raised his hands, and assumed the opening stance of the Twelve Forms Fist.
HUFF!
INHALE!
HUFF!
INHALE!
Using the Pile Skills of the Twelve Forms Fist combined with its Breathing Technique, he began to circulate his Qi Blood.
Then, his entire skeleton began to undulate, rising and falling like waves.
'I can feel it...'
The scattered wisps of Qi Blood he had sensed before were now coursing rapidly through his limbs and body.
Dragon Form!
Tiger Form!
Horse Form...
Chu Fan slowed down and began to perform the Twelve Forms Fist.
The originally scattered Qi Blood Power linked together like strands of silk, twisting tightly until they finally condensed into a "hemp rope"!
Under Chu Fan's control, this "hemp rope" formed from vigorous and thick Qi Blood was repeatedly tightened and tempered, transforming into an even stronger Force!
This was the circulation of Qi Blood.
Only when the "hemp rope" of Qi Blood Power was tempered to the point where it would no longer disperse could he be said to have truly mastered his Qi Blood.
Chu Fan didn't dare to relax.
Though his movements were slow, his hands and feet never stopped, and the Fist Technique flowed unbroken as he continuously maintained the state of circulating his Qi Blood.
Simply gathering the scattered Qi Blood into one place wasn't enough to be considered a success.
This wisp of Qi Blood Power had to be constantly forged and repeatedly polished before it could finally be stabilized.
If a Cultivator's will was not firm or their concentration wavered, that wisp of Qi Blood could disperse again, rendering all their previous efforts useless!
Chu Fan guided that wisp of Qi Blood Power, making it travel through his meridians one by one.
Along the way, more scattered Qi Blood continuously joined it.
The force grew stronger and stronger, and also more and more difficult to control!
It was like a small snake growing into a python.
On this cold winter night, sweat actually began to bead on Chu Fan's forehead!
HUFF!
HUFF!
His chest heaved nonstop, like the great bellows being pumped when a kiln's furnace is lit!
Time passed, bit by bit.
When 1:00 AM arrived, Chu Fan's entire body shuddered violently!
BOOM!
A violent burst of Force erupted from his body, scattering the snowflakes drifting outside the corridor.
"The first strand of Qi Blood Power is complete!"
Chu Fan opened his eyes, walked into the courtyard, and bent down to pick up a log.
He gripped the log with his left hand and smashed his right fist into it!
BANG!
With a dull thud in the darkness, the log instantly exploded, sending splinters flying!
'Just by condensing a single strand of Qi Blood Power, my strength is several times greater than before!'
Chu Fan felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration and began to perform the Twelve Forms Fist in the snow.
The wind from his fists howled, whipping up countless snowflakes.
He performed the Twelve Forms Fist four times in one go before he began to feel tired and headed back inside.
[Skill: Twelve Forms Fist (Great Success) Progress: (37/800) (Trait: None)]
Including the time he spent condensing his Qi Blood Power, he had performed the technique five times tonight.
The second repetition granted 7 experience points, while the other four each granted 6.
At this rate, the time it would take to advance the Twelve Forms Fist from Great Success to Perfection would probably be about the same as it took to go from Small Success to Great Success!
This was the benefit of having abundant Qi Blood.
When he first joined the Seven Stars Gang, his body could barely handle practicing the Twelve Forms Fist six times a day.
But now, after practicing it five times in one go, he was less fatigued than when he had practiced it just once back then!
...
「Early the next morning.」
Chu Fan climbed out from under his covers, planning to practice the Twelve Forms Fist a couple of times first.
Suddenly, a clamor arose from outside the courtyard.
Led by Zhao Hu, two constables were pounding heavily on the door with the large hole in it. "Is Chu Fan here? Come out!"
Chu Fan's heart skipped a beat.
'What's going on?'
'The Outer City of Cyan Yang Ancient City has always been chaotic, with violent deaths being a common occurrence that the Government Office usually ignores.'
'A few days ago, the Liu Family's eldest brother was beaten to death in the street by a Fishery Tyrant, and the constables only came to take a look without actually trying to arrest the killer.'
'So why are they investigating me now that Liu Da and his men are dead?'
'Looking at the situation, could it be that so many people died overnight that it finally alarmed the Government Office?'
Chu Fan walked over and opened the gate. "I am Chu Fan. May I ask what business you officers have with me?"