Later, in a spot within the reeds of Lake Taize.
Ploop.
Chen Yi emerged from the water, climbing onto a wooden boat.
"Who's there?!" Chen Yi's Mother held a fish-killing knife defensively.
"Mother, it's me, Xiao Yi."
"Xiao Yi? How did you get here? Is everything alright at home?" Chen Yi's Mother asked with relief first, then nervously.
"Mother, all is well. I was merely overly concerned, it's past midnight, I'm here to take you both home."
"Ah, I see. As long as everything is fine, and be cautious with your martial force and not cause trouble, okay?"
"Mother, I understand. Sit tight; let me row the boat."
....
The next morning, in Qi Ying's private courtyard inside the Iron Fist Sect Hall.
Boom, pop, chop, pop!
Chen Yi raised his fists to shield his sides,
Qi Ying's long legs whipped against Chen Yi's arms like a whip - one strike after another.
When it came to martial arts training, Qi Ying was exceedingly serious. She saw no peers, only adversaries.
Each time she struck, she exerted her full power, her body's vitality transformed into Mingjin and flowed into her legs, creating a cracking sound.
All Chen Yi could do was to muster as much Vitality and Blood Power as he could and channel it into his arms, to deflect Qi Ying's attacks and also release Mingjin at the point of contact.
Despite Chen Yi's evident superiority in terms of Vitality and Blood Power compared to ordinary Early Stage of Mingjin martial artists, he still struggled under the relentless attacks of Qi Ying's leg whipping.
Fortunately, by the time Chen Yi was physically maxed out, Qi Ying had also almost completed her training for the day.
Across him, Qi Ying's body was slick with sweat, her short dress and long legs clinging to her skin, revealing the perfect lines of her abdominal muscles and her long, straight, and robust legs.
"Ha ha, not bad, junior brother! You've improved much over these five days, today I secretly added five more kicks, and you still managed to endure. So, it seems like you could push further still, huh? Come on, follow me into the room."
Qi Ying casually patted Chen Yi's shoulder, flashing her pearly whites as she led him towards the room.
Chen Yi's arms were swollen red, and he was too exhausted even to lift a finger. No matter how attractive the woman in front of him was, he couldn't bother to look at her.
Depleted of his vitality, all he wanted to do was rest, but Chen Yi knew that this was the best time to drink decoction for rapid recovery.
Inside the room, they both sipped decoction in small gulps.
"Senior sister, which level are you at now?"
"Late Stage of Mingjin. I'm recently trying to push towards Mingjin Great Success, trying to channel my vitality into my bones to generate Anjin."
"So strong!" Chen Yi feigned an envious expression, deviously steering the conversation towards Qi Ying's leg techniques, "It seems your leg technique is not from our sect's fist technique?"
"Hehe, my family and master's ancestors were from the same lineage, so my Iron Whip Leg and Iron Wire Fist have a common origin. After reaching the Anjin stage, our breathing techniques match our internal strength, one focuses on fists and arms and the other on legs."
The same origin? Iron Wire Fist, Iron Whip Leg?
Chen Yi seemed to realize something, with a fleeting hint of insight in his mind. Could his Vajra Sutra have some connection to this?
"Senior sister, your leg technique appears very strong. Those ways of practicing leg movements, they seem to enhance agility?" Chen Yi glanced keenly at Qi Ying.
"Of course, my family's leg technique includes a special agility technique. Once mastered, one could catch up to a running horse within eight steps. It's called Eight Steps Chasing Cicada. So, do you want to learn it?"
Qi Ying looked at Chen Yi's feigned eager expression. At first, she thought he was lusting after her body and was ready to scold him, but then realized he coveted her footwork, leaving her with mixed feelings.
Chen Yi looked at her with innocent eyes, eagerly nodding his head, "I want to learn."
"Dream on, this is my family's martial art - naturally it can only be passed down to members of my family. As for you, you should focus on practicing your Iron Wire Fist technique." Qi Ying rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh..." Chen Yi responded, lowering his head to drink his soup, feeling the rise of his Vitality and Blood Power. In his mind, he was picturing himself chasing after a galloping horse in eight steps - Eight Steps Chasing Cicada, quite powerful huh~
Moreover, his elder sister's leg method really resembled the step method described in the Vajra Sutra, but he hadn't practiced enough to confirm this just yet...
...
After leaving the martial arts school, Chen Yi first went to the farmer's market,
Today, Fatty Li did not come, and there was no one at the entrance collecting admission fees. There were an exceptionally large number of people selling goods at the market. With a nearly forty percent reduction in taxes, it was a huge attraction to many people.
Chen Yi was also tempted, but he held back and didn't rush to catch some big fish for sale, taking advantage of the gang.
At the market, he saw several of his neighbors from West Lake Village carrying big and small packs, moving in and out of a few shops in the market,
Widow Sun, who was there yesterday, sneaked into a grain store carrying a grain bag and quickly switched to two bigger ones.
This must be her selling off fine grains and exchanging more coarse grains in return.
Yesterday, when Big Hammer was being punished, this Widow Sun was gloating,
The previous tenants, Liu the Scabies, and Big Hammer, both got screwed, but this Widow Sun surprisingly still has a lot of grain saved,
Hmpf, how cheap.
Chen Yi had no interest in taking revenge on such a person. In this chaotic times, her village's two pillars were gone, she, a lonely widow, would have a hard time even if she was promiscuous.
Chen Yi came to Li Baitiao's fish shop. The shop had several big tanks with various big fishes in them. Listening to the splash, and the smell of fish, Chen Yi found Li Baitiao and said he wanted to buy 5 portions of bait again.
After handing him the fish bait, Li Baitiao was somewhat curious:
"Young man Chen, this is your third time buying fish bait, but you've only caught about 20 pounds of big fish. You should've encountered some 50-pound big fish, right?"
Chen Yi scratched his head, smiling naively: "I'm a bit timid. I've always baited not far from the lake. There are some 20-plus-pound big fish, but larger ones are rare."
"You kid, why are you so timid about catching a fish? I see you have the strength and technique. Why don't you try in the Deep Marsh?
If you can successfully catch a 50-pound big fish, I can recommend you to join the Deep Marsh fishing team. They have even better bait that can attract hundreds of pounds of Demon Fish,
By then if you catch one, you can split hundreds of taels of silver, and enjoy the rest of your life, how about that?"
Better bait? Demon Fish?
After listening, Chen Yi remembered these two words. Could it be that this Li Baitiao was a matchmaker for the fishing team, or was he from the Fish and Dragon Gang's Deep Marsh fishing team?
Chen Yi didn't think much about it for the moment, only remembering the matter of the better fish bait. Then he shook his head like a rattle drum:
"I dare not go to the Deep Marsh, really dare not. I'm good now, really good."
After speaking, he left.
Li Baitiao watched him go with a disappointed look and sighed, "He's a good seedling, but his courage is too small."
Here, after getting the fish bait, Chen Yi came to the Spirit Mist Lake in another world, spreading the bait, catching fish, practicing the Vajra Sutra, and enhancing his Vitality and Blood Power.
In the Martial World, somewhere in Lakeside Town, there was a large courtyard,
Hu Ye bent down to salute a masked man: "I've seen the deputy gang leader."
"Ahu, I've told you, although our strength has grown, we still need to keep a low profile!"
Hu Ye was a bit confused: "Deputy gang leader, I've been very low profile, haven't I?"
"Low profile my ass! One of your underlings was caught, and you just straight up killed Fatty Li?!
That was a middle-level manager from the gang. If this gets traced back to us, our big plan will be ruined!"
Hu Ye was left stunned:
What? Fatty Li is dead?
I killed him?
I didn't know that?!