Hua Lian'er took the Kuihua Brothers to earn money.
As for her kind intentions, Chen Ping found it difficult to refuse.
After all, no matter how you look at it, the faster you earn a lot of silver and buy supplementary herbs, the quicker your strength can be enhanced.
In this chaotic era of war, there is no second path to choose for self-preservation.
Only by strengthening oneself is the best option.
As the martial force of the team, being called "Seventh Brother" with great expectation, and entrusted wholeheartedly.
He felt the pressure.
Cultivation dared not stop even for a moment, nor did he want to stop.
Zuo Duanshou routinely went out to gather information, wandering the streets and alleys, somewhat like a mysterious figure.
When he had spare time, he would steadfastly practice thousands to tens of thousands of stabs in the courtyard until his right arm turned blue and swollen, training until he was on the verge of collapse.
Then he applied some ointment to promote blood circulation and reduce swelling, forced his body to wander around until nightfall.
Chen Ping didn't intervene.
This person is different from Hua Lian'er and the others, his heart harbors a wolf, a tiger... from the North Territory to Jiangnan, he has experienced too much and seen too much.
If anyone encounters danger, he won't be in trouble.
Going out, obviously with his own motives.
'Maybe it's because it's related to his [Little Sister] that he never mentioned again.'
Chen Ping pondered, recalling the unfinished story of Zuo Duanshou.
For instance, why he came to Xingqing Prefecture City with such skills and experience, yet remained bound by Boss Yat and others, unwilling to escape to other places.
If before Chen Ping's resurrection, anyone had the ability to escape the control of the Seven-Colored Hall, it was none other than Zuo Duanshou. He could do it.
'So, either Qilin Street is his target, or the disappearance of his Little Sister is actually tied to the Seven-Colored Hall. Zuo Duanshou not speaking up might just be not wanting to drag me into this matter…'
As always, in a partnership, sincerity is precious.
But that doesn't mean everything has to be shared.
Zuo Duanshou chose to keep things to himself, naturally, there are reasons.
He's not a fool; he probably thinks that speaking out would make things difficult for us and would harm this small team.
'In the end, it's just that the strength is somewhat inadequate, otherwise, why would there be so many concerns?'
Various thoughts flashed through his mind.
Chen Ping looked around the empty courtyard, a cool breeze passing through the middle, increasing his sense of urgency.
"It's going to rain."
He looked up at the sky, his gaze again turning calm and indifferent, focusing on the small white silk.
The detailed calligraphy of flower pinning on the silk was evenly inked, the strokes undulating like water waves… Chen Ping could even feel a slender jade hand cautiously outlining and sketching, dot, horizontal, bend, and press…
The highlight was still the painting on the silk.
Little figures drawn with a few strokes, already vivid and lively on paper.
Chen Ping counted a total of forty-nine little figure drawings… glancing at them, they formed a dynamic picture on his retina, soaring and bouncing, coming and going seamlessly.
"Amazing."
Hua Lian'er was really extraordinary.
He naturally wouldn't be mistaken about whose hand this silk painting came from.
He even saw the brush hidden in the bedroom, smelled the faint ink fragrance lingering in the air for a long time.
Figures on the silk depicted with bodies drawn abstractly, feet drawn realistically, stepping into different positions, forming seven groups of illustrations with inscriptions like Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Jade Balance, Shaking Light, etc.
One step transforms into seven steps, equating to forty-nine.
Overall forty-nine steps.
A bit complicated indeed.
'I'd like to see, what kind of remarkable stepping technique this is? It's to the extent that Hua Lian'er feels even my physical strength and martial arts talent are inadequate for learning it. Still hesitating and hesitating, tangled for many days.'
Recalling Hua Lian hiding it multiple times where he couldn't see, taking out the white silk then hiding it back.
Looking like she wanted to say something but didn't.
Chen Ping found it amusing.
He understood that Hua Lian'er wasn't reluctant to give it but was worried.
Worried about what?
The only possibility was not trusting that he could practice it, most likely harmful to the body.
This showed that the Seven Stars Step must be an extraordinary secret skill, and it deviated somehow from his cultivation path.
Otherwise, someone like Hua Lian'er, a "Martial Arts Fan" who knows a bit of everything, wouldn't have undue concerns.
Carefully reading the text and then trying to walk according to the step illustrations.
Soon, Chen Ping realized that Hua Lian'er's concerns were indeed justified.
He only mimicked walking three steps, causing his blood to boil, a stiffness and chill from abdomen to chest, nearly making him stumble.
At the same time, blood qi flowed backward in his hands and feet, internally, dozens to hundreds of sections shook, causing even Chen Ping, with his pain tolerance, to involuntarily gasp.
'What is this?'
Carefully feeling the gradually fading pain, estimating positions, a sudden enlightenment made him recall some experiences from traversing places in the past, seeing various things.
If the sections of soreness, numbness, and swelling inside could be connected into a line, they would form a diagram in his mind.
'Meridians!'
'These are meridian diagrams. Got it, Seven Stars Step is an Inner Cultivation Heart Technique, although it seems externally as physical strength exercise, actually training not Essence and Blood Qi, but Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, human body's operational Qi. No wonder, no wonder...'
He finally understood what this feeling was.
It was the meridian diagrams he once learned in Traditional Chinese Medicine, although somewhat vague, generally similar.
Pain likely indicated certain acupoint locations.
Meridians, intangible and shadowless, claiming nonexistence, yet do exist; disputed, yet proven… Anyway, as a knowledge slacker like Chen Ping, he just watched the fun.
He only knew that "meridians" and the "tendons" he's trained aren't the same.
The body's major tendons formed a network, creating fascia, forming a sheet.
Whereas meridians are another system, seemingly intangible yet tangible, connected by acupoints, serving extremely important functions.
In later times, Qi Cultivation already became a debunked pseudoscience.
People believed strongly that to practice fighting arts, strengthen the body, apart from tirelessly training fists and legs, other methods were useless.
Even Five Animals Qigong and Eight Pieces of Brocade, a type of Health Boxing, start with human body blood and qi, activating blood and tendons, recovering damage.
As for meditation, Inner Cultivation, and movement techniques, never seen anyone achieve success in those.
Later on, people considered them all deceptive tricks, only existing in novels or movies.
'I allowed preconceived notions… Didn't expect, facing a different world, cultivation techniques are naturally different too. Adhering to my knowledge is rather outdated.'
Chen Ping smiled self-deprecatingly.
Also remembered killing in Locust Tree Courtyard before.
The scene where the black-clothed woman healed him using a Silent Zither.
At that time, felt an unseen and untouchable, yet strangely existent energy flowing into his injured leg.
Even with the black-clothed woman's third-place Earth List strength, she struggled slightly, affecting the wound, coughing up a blood scent.
'Then, Inner Force, Inner Qi or the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi thing certainly exists and can be humanly controlled, Creation from Nothing.'
After understanding this issue, Chen Ping's gaze on this "Seven Stars Step" silk painting changed.
Hua Lian'er's background, truly remarkable.
Then, the question arises.
If she knows "Inner Cultivation" techniques, why did she end up a destitute beggar?
Is there some unspeakable hidden motivation?