Era of Mist

Chapter 190: Chapter 189: Henchmen at Hand

The Excellent-grade Basic Essence Nourishment Technique was no longer enough to drive his internal organs to completely refine all the essence qi from his food.

Before, his training with the Basic Essence Nourishment Technique had all been focused on squeezing every last drop of essence qi from synthetic meat. It was difficult to improve any further after reaching the Excellent grade.

He never expected the focus of his cultivation to shift from a problem of absorption efficiency to one of being too stuffed to digest. The tables had completely turned. Under immense backflow pressure, the Basic Essence Nourishment Technique had recently advanced by leaps and bounds, finally reaching the Profound level.

The Profound-level Basic Essence Nourishment Technique could process a little more, allowing him to absorb seven wisps of essence qi per meal—better than nothing, he supposed.

As he reached the Profound level, the Signboard made a rare appearance, wobbling into view after a long absence. The board rose sluggishly, as if it had just woken up and couldn’t be bothered with anyone.

”I recommend you hurry up and switch to a better Nourishing Essence Technique.”

Then, the board leisurely drifted back down as if it had just yawned, rolled over, and gone back to sleep.

Shi Tiexin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Even the Signboard is making fun of my Basic Essence Nourishment Technique. I guess I really need to keep an eye out for a new one from now on.’

Of course, there was still some good news. Just moments ago, Shi Tiexin had once again accumulated one hundred wisps of raw essence qi. The steps that followed were so familiar there was no chance of failure. With practiced ease, Shi Tiexin lay down on the equipment, knocked out a few reps on the bench press, and condensed his false core in the process.

Once the false core was formed, the drifting essence qi now had a foundation and would no longer dissipate so easily.

Suddenly, Shi Tiexin felt a faint, tingly itch all over his body. It was a peculiar sensation, best described as the feeling of being frozen to the bone on a winter day and then suddenly soaking in a hot spring—a mix of itching, numbness, and even a little pain.

The sensation spread throughout his body, but it was especially unbearable in his shoulders, knees, lower back, and neck.

However, once he got used to the tingling, Shi Tiexin rolled his shoulders and found they felt a little looser, as did his knees. It was like a rusty, worn-out machine had just been greased.

”Huuuh...” Shi Tiexin set the barbell down, stood up, and touched his shoulders and knees. The skin there felt hotter than elsewhere. Having never experienced this before, he didn’t know what was happening, but it didn’t feel like a bad thing. He suppressed the strange feeling and decided to let it be.

’Time to head to the boxing gym for more training. I’ve got big plans for tonight!’

That afternoon, Shi Tiexin was training up a sweat in the boxing gym. With the false core formed, his stamina was greater, his explosive power was stronger, and he could maintain his peak output for longer. The joints in his wrists, elbows, and shoulders could also endure more force. This was especially true when he infused them with essence qi; he no longer had to fear the recoil injuring his wrists.

THUD! THUD! He hammered the heavy bag, each punch seeming to let out a whistle as it flew, causing the other people in the gym to look over repeatedly, clicking their tongues in amazement.

He trained and trained, his punches growing faster and faster, his excitement mounting.

HSSS—he sucked in a sharp breath. The false core in his lower abdomen swelled as a stream of essence qi poured into his right arm. Then, his right fist shot out violently.

BOOM!!

The sound reverberated through the gym.

This punch, infused with essence qi, left a deep crater in the heavy bag. It seemed Shi Tiexin had punched clean through the high-strength fiber padding, as the indentation didn’t bounce back at all.

In his Vision System, the heavy bag’s quality instantly changed from [Exquisite] to [Damaged].

”Uh...”

Shi Tiexin was surprised and a little embarrassed. Essence qi came so easily in this worldline that he couldn’t help but want to splurge a little, to unleash his power and see what would happen. He hadn’t expected to break the heavy bag in one go.

’When infusing my punches with essence qi, my power in this worldline is definitely stronger than in the others. If I fought with this kind of force back at Fengming First Middle School, a single unlucky punch could kill someone.’

The boxing coach hurried over, staring dumbfounded at the crater in the bag. He then looked nervously at Shi Tiexin. ”Sir, you...”

”Boss! Boss!” Just then, a familiar voice called out from a distance. Shi Tiexin turned to see Ah Fei appear at the club entrance, dressed in flashy, colorful clothes.

”Tonight’s a big one! We’ve got more than ten fighters, and the audience is over a thousand people!” Ah Fei said excitedly as he walked over, grabbing Shi Tiexin’s arm to pull him along. ”Let’s go, Boss, everyone’s waiting for you!”

”Um...” the coach began nervously. ”Sir, about the heavy bag you broke... you’ll have to pay for the damages.”

Before Shi Tiexin could say anything, Ah Fei shot the coach a glare.

”What’d you say? Pay for it?” Ah Fei glanced at the heavy bag, then planted himself in front of the coach with a vicious scowl, his expression a perfect imitation of Brother Wuying. ”This bag is here to be hit, ain’t it? It broke this easily, so it must be a piece of shit. Our boss pays his membership, and this is the junk you give him to use? You want compensation? How about I fuck your mom, is that enough compensation for ya?”

”Hey, what did you just say!” Another coach rushed over, his brow furrowed in anger. ”Watch your fucking mouth!”

More staff members gathered, about ten in all.

”What’s this, trying to intimidate me? Think you can win with numbers, is that it?” Ah Fei suddenly stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew a piercingly loud whistle that echoed through the gym, drawing the attention of all the other members.

Then, suddenly, someone threw the main doors open with a BANG.

It was Ah D, a murderous look on his face.

Behind Ah D followed a huge crowd of underlings, fifty or sixty of them in total, all wearing matching black leather jackets. They swarmed in like a human tide, advancing menacingly.

The first coach tensed up. He had just opened his mouth to speak when Ah D, without a word, suddenly accelerated forward and launched a vicious kick. With a THUD, he sent the coach sprawling and immediately started wailing on him.

”Pay! Pay! Pay, you motherfucker!”

The scene instantly descended into chaos. Sixty to seventy men were shoving and pushing, while the core of the brawl was an absolute mess. Someone ran to grab some training weapons, but the thugs in black also pulled out their own weapons like iron chains. A large-scale armed brawl was imminent.

Just then, a heavy punching column suddenly flew through the air, landing with a loud THUD on the line between the two groups.

Both sides were startled and instinctively backed away, temporarily separating the combatants.

”Everyone, stop!”

At the loud shout, the leather-clad thugs all stopped. The boxing coaches didn’t dare to strike again, either. The armed brawl had been averted.

The crowd parted to reveal Shi Tiexin. Radiating an immense, oppressive aura, his face as hard as iron, he walked to the center of the confrontation. He glanced at the bruised and swollen coach, then at the completely unscathed Ah D, and sighed internally. ’It really pays to strike first in a fight. Two fists are no match for four hands, and a wild flurry of punches can beat a skilled master. Those sayings are true after all.’

Standing among his men, he saw the ten or so staff members on the other side, surrounded and looking over nervously.

The first coach, the one who had started it all, hastily spoke up, ”Sir, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have asked you to pay! I apologize!”