I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 88 I want an explanation!

When he was a clerk at Li’s pawnshop, Xie An hated snowy days the most.

Not only is there a shortage of food, travel is inconvenient, and it is extremely easy to catch a cold, making it extremely difficult to survive the winter.

Now that he had entered the realm of refined flesh, coupled with the heat retained in his body by the health-preserving exercises, he was no longer afraid of cold or heat. Instead, he felt that snowy days had a unique flavor.

In the same world, different situations will lead to different scenery.

Before Xie An could express his feelings further, he twisted his body due to the sore and numb muscles.

It feels numb and itchy.

Xie An instinctively scratched his skin, but found that the itch did not subside.

It's not the skin that's itchy, it's the flesh that's itchy.

You have to stick your hand under your skin and scratch it...

Xie An resisted this obviously impossible impulse.

He knew this was a sign of a breakthrough into the Essence of Flesh. It was a symptom of the muscles pushing past their previous limits, undergoing a transformation.

Just be patient.

But...it's really itchy!

Sometimes, when a muscle twitched and felt numb, Xie An couldn't help but laugh.

The numbness and soreness lasted for about a quarter of an hour before the symptoms disappeared.

call!
Xie An relaxed all over, slowly got up from the snow, and performed a set of Five Animal Exercises.

The punches and kicks caused a series of sharp sounds of breaking through the air. The force brought by muscle contraction was like a gusher, far exceeding any previous moment.

Xie An unexpectedly gave the health-preserving Five Animal Exercises a murderous and fierce flavor.

"Ok?"

"It seems... the Five Animal Play has changed!"

Breaking through the realm of essence and flesh, does it have this effect?
Xie An immediately stopped being careless and tried again.

Tiger looking for food.

Roar!
It really is like transforming into a tiger, letting out a majestic roar like a tiger roaring in the mountains!
Although it is quite different from the roar of a real tiger, it is already about 60% similar.

It does have extremely strong lethality.

This discovery made Xie An both surprised and happy.

"They say that a typical health-preserving master needs to practice for 20 to 30 years before he or she can achieve great success... I've only been doing it for two years, but it seems like I've already achieved some success."

Xie An suppressed his inner excitement and performed the Five Animal Exercises seriously.

Tigers hunt for food, deers run, bears shake their luck, apes pick fruits, cranes fly...

The power surged, the Five Animals were familiar to him, and he could switch between them at will. How could it resemble the soft and limp Five Animals Exercises performed by a health practitioner? It was clearly a true martial art with considerable lethal force!

It is no less than the middle-level martial arts in the library.

"So... with the evolution of the Five Animal Circus, I've directly mastered five different types of fist and kick martial arts!?"

Xie An couldn't help but be secretly shocked.

Although martial arts training is a quicker path to success than practicing health-preserving exercises, it still takes at least several years of accumulation for a martial artist to master a martial art.

And Xie An mastered five intermediate martial arts in one breath?
Even though Xie An was old, he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling with excitement.

Xie An instinctively thought that the progress of the Five Animal Exercises had greatly improved, so he immediately called up the panel to check.

Five Animal Exercises: Cultivating Internal Qi (49/100)

[Fetal Breathing Technique: Divine Light Appears (8/1000)]

[Remaining Years: 35]

"The Five Animal Exercises haven't made much progress..."

"It seems that after the martial arts broke through the Jingrou realm, the strength increased significantly, which led to the transformation of the Five Animal Play."

Xie An thought this analysis was reasonable.

Previously, the Five Animal Exercises were like a fruit knife, only able to cut fruit. Now, with its explosive increase in power, the fruit knife has become a machete, capable of slaughtering tigers and leopards.

Quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.

"Let me test my one-arm lift."

Judging from the degree of transformation of the Five Animal Exercises, Xie An felt that... the increase in his strength would be extremely exaggerated.

Xie An immediately found two stone locks weighing 800 kilograms, tied them tightly with hemp ropes, and tied a knot.

"The two stone locks together weigh 1,600 kilograms. That's about as heavy as it can get."

Xie An took a deep breath, stood firmly on his feet, and held the handle of the stone lock with his right hand, gradually increasing the force. If he found it difficult, he would try a smaller stone lock...

As a result, it was lifted up.

Horror!
"Is this the effect of breaking through the Essence Flesh Realm!?"

No wonder the Five Animal Exercises have such effects, it's all due to the force.

Two years of accumulation of health-preserving exercises, plus a year of martial arts training, finally ushered in a small explosion at this moment.

"Longevity is a great thing!"

Xie An, who has always been calm, couldn't help laughing at this moment.

Although Xie An didn't have exceptional talent for martial arts, he had the ability to continuously improve his physical abilities through his health-preserving exercises, gradually unlocking his potential. In just two years, he'd gone from a dying old man to a martial artist at the Flesh-Flesh Realm... which was quite extraordinary.

You know, even for a martial artist who has reached the second level of the Jingrou realm, it is difficult to lift 1,600 kilograms with one arm.

Xie An is simply a humanoid machine.

Even though he had made great progress, Xie An still patiently calmed himself down and carefully practiced the Chongshan Blade and Fuyang Blade techniques, fully adapting to the new realm and ensuring that he could exert sufficient strength. Only then did he stop.

He took a comfortable bath, changed into the butler's uniform, put on cloud boots, and carried a broadsword on his back.

After six days of seclusion, Xie An walked out of the villa for the first time.

It was still a snowy day, but Xie An's mood was very different from six days ago.

Six days ago, Xie An, holding the Heavy Mountain Knife, was not afraid of the warriors who had just entered the Jingrou realm. But facing Fang Baiyu, he still felt pressured.

So that day at the lonely grave on the mountain, he watched Wei Dian leave and saw Lin Yun helpless... and he didn't dare to say anything bold.

Without the ability, any words spoken are meaningless. Now, Xie An knows that he has the power to protect the Blood Ridge lineage.

The huge rock that had been weighing on my heart was broken.

"Boss, you are finally out of prison."

Xiao Liuzi, who was guarding the door, saw Xie An and hurried over to greet him.

Xie An nodded, "Has anything happened in Xueling these days?"

Xiao Liuzi lowered his head, quite angry. "Master Fang sent a new deacon named Zhu Hu to take over the defense of Blood Ridge. He also excluded and suppressed Deacon Zhang Lin. He ordered Deacon Zhang Lin around and made him do rough work, like cleaning the toilet..."

Xie An frowned when he heard this, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

He knew that Fang Baiyu might get involved in the Blood Ridge black market before the exam.

I just didn't expect it to be so excessive.

Xie An suppressed his anger and said, "Go and call Liang Zhi and Wang Xiang over."

"Yes."

Xiao Liuzi ran away quickly.

Tomorrow is Laba Festival, the day for the Baiyutang exam. Xie An has already left the confinement room, so Liang Zhi and Wang Xiang must have left long ago. Soon, the two of them arrived.

"Boss, look at me, look at me..."

As soon as Wang Xiang came over, he couldn't help but swing his knife twice, showing off his arm muscles as strong as cowhide.

"I see. He has broken through the Bronze Skin Realm. Not bad." Xie An said calmly on the surface, but he was quite surprised in his heart.

After only a few days of seclusion, he broke through to the Bronze Skin Realm.

Although Wang Xiang has accumulated enough experience, this kind of perseverance is rare.

Wang Xiang was so excited to receive Xie An's praise that he thanked him repeatedly.

Liang Zhi, however, was sharp-eyed and noticed that Xie An's complexion was different. "Boss, you look much more powerful than before. Have you broken through?"

Xie An did not hide anything, "Yes. I just broke through. By the way, has Zhu Hu interfered with the accounts of the Blood Ridge black market?"

The black market accounts are the foundation and the bottom line.

Liang Zhi's face was filled with shame as he recounted what had happened over the past few days:

It turned out that Zhu Hu had entered the black market with a dozen good fighters a few days ago, took over the black market in the name of Fang Baiyu, and severely suppressed Wei Dian's old subordinates, beating and scolding them at every turn.

Zhou Xing and Zhang Lin were both sent to do hard labor, such as carrying water, chopping wood, cooking, tending horses, and cleaning toilets. Whenever Zhu Hu was in a bad mood, he would whip and scold them.

Liang Zhi, the accountant, was also kicked out by Zhu Hu and beaten with a stick.

Liang Zhi rolled up his sleeves, revealing bruises and bloody marks on his arms from being whipped. Wang Xiang lifted his trouser legs, revealing multiple whip marks on his legs.

Xie An was frightened when he saw this.

Fang Baiyu's suppression of Wei Dian's former subordinates was already excessive, and he actually resorted to such cruel and ruthless means.

Moreover, Liang Zhi and the others did not come to report such a major event. They simply remembered Xie An's previous instructions - not to see guests during the retreat.

Liang Zhi and his men endured the greatest injustice they suffered and did not disturb Xie An from breaking through the pass.

Xie An saw it all and kept it in mind.

"Where are Zhang Lin and Zhou Xing?"

Liang Zhi pointed to the stables in the distance and said, "He's preparing horse feed in the stables."

"Liang Zhi, have someone prepare lunch, and then invite Zhu Hu and his men to my courtyard for dinner in my name. Just say I'm... hosting a welcome party for them. Be sure to invite all of Zhu Hu's men."

After leaving a word, Xie An hurried towards the stable.

Wang Xiang was puzzled. "Brother Liang, what does the boss mean by this? Are we really going to give Zhu Hu a welcome?"

Liang Zhi pondered for a long time, but still didn't understand what Xie An meant. Finally, he said, "Master Fang is behind Zhu Hu. As the manager here, you should give him a good reception. Okay, stop talking nonsense and get ready."

Wang Xiang grumbled, "What a coward. He was bullied like this, and yet he still had to entertain them."

Snapped.

Liang Zhi knocked him on the head, "Be careful with your words. You can't guess what the boss is thinking."

He lowered his head and said, "I understand."

……

When Xie An arrived at the stable, he saw Zhang Lin limping around cutting hay and mixing beans and millet, while Zhou Xing, with a bruised face and nose, was mixing water beside him.

It goes without saying...Zhang Lin's leg was broken by Zhu Hu. Zhou Xing's face was also...

"Brother Zhang."

Xie An shouted.

Zhang Lin was shocked and looked up. When he saw Xie An, his eyes suddenly turned red. He threw away the horse grass in his hand, limped over, and hugged Xie An tightly, almost sobbing, "Brother!"

Xie An hugged his shoulders tightly with his backhand, feeling very uncomfortable.

Zhang Lin is an old man in his forties, and yet he was treated like this.

Xie An couldn't bear to irritate Zhang Lin, so he asked Zhou Xing, "Brother Zhang, what happened to your leg?"

Zhou Xing was furious. "The other day, Zhu Hu put his horse in the stable. Just because it cried a few times in the middle of the night, Zhu Hu said that the boss didn't feed it enough, and then hit the boss's leg with an iron rod.

Too bullying!

They are so bullying!
I told the boss to leave a long time ago...but he insisted on staying, saying he wanted to fight with the Second Deacon."

Xie An felt very uncomfortable after hearing this.

After Zhang Lin's emotions calmed down a little, Xie An let go of Zhang Lin and squatted down to carefully check his leg injury.

Fortunately, no bones were injured, only the tendons.

Only then did Xie An breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, Xie An looked at the empty horses in the stable and asked, "Zhou Xing, which one is Zhu Hu's mount?"

"It's the big white horse in the middle."

"Okay, bring this horse to my yard during lunch later," Xie An instructed Zhou Xing, then helped Zhang Lin out of the stable. "There's nothing good to feed a dying horse. I'll help you get to my yard to apply medicine. We need an explanation for this matter."

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P.S.: The fourth update, the first day of the release is 15,000, which is quite exciting~
(End of this chapter)