Chapter 24 Pile Stance is a private matter

An elderly man emerged from the kitchen, his hair and beard gray, like a pine tree covered in winter snow, each strand bearing the weight of years.

His body was thin and frail, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

The old man’s eyes were deep-set, and his gaze was very calm, so calm that it seemed to see into people’s hearts.

“Old Zhou has something to do today, we’re one short for mahjong, let’s play a game.” The old man said naturally, ” Have you had dinner? I made some pumpkin pancakes.”

He was Ji Jingqiu’s grandfather, Ji Bumian.

“I’ve eaten.” Ji Jingqiu sniffed, smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, and added, “I ate at the martial arts gym. I recently started practicing martial arts.”

“Hmm.” Ji Bumian looked him up and down carefully. “You look much stronger than before. Do you have enough money?”

“There’s nothing to spend money on right now.” Ji Jingqiu thought for a moment and realized that since she was eating at the martial arts school and living at home, she didn’t spend any money at all.

“A place where you don’t have to pay?” Ji Bumian sighed and shook his head. “Then it seems your training isn’t very good.”

Ji Jingqiu paused for a moment, then said, “…Could you please explain what time you returned last Thursday night?”

Ji Bumian was silent for a moment: “Your Grandpa Zhuang is back. I went to see him that night, and he wouldn’t let me leave. He insisted that I have a few drinks with him.”

“Grandpa Zhuang is back?” Ji Jingqiu exclaimed in surprise. “Then I’ll go see him another day.”

“Well, it’s perfect timing since you haven’t visited the temple to offer prayers in a long time. Why don’t you go and pay your respects?” Ji Bumian nodded.

The Grandpa Zhuang that Ji Jingqiu mentioned lived on the lower level and was the temple keeper of a dilapidated temple.

East 3 Huang Star has many temples, but most of them are deserted due to the economic downturn, with no one to guard them.

Ji Jingqiu doesn’t believe in God, or rather, he used to believe but found it useless and stopped believing.

It focuses on realism.

There are indeed gods in the Federation.

Some of them can even interfere with the operation of local councils by influencing believers.

Therefore, in many places, the “deities” with thriving incense offerings are among the priority targets for government officials to win over. Their size and status are no less than those of oligarchs and giant corporations, or certain aristocratic families.

Unfortunately, these gods were also helpless against niedu syndrome, or rather, they disliked his lack of sincerity and were unwilling to pay attention to him for his pitiful amount of incense offerings.

“What Pile Stance have you learned? Show me how,” Ji Wmian asked with great interest.

Upon hearing this, Ji Jingqiu didn’t rush to demonstrate. Instead, she sized up the old man and asked suspiciously, “You didn’t practice martial arts before, did you?”

Ji Wmian rolled her eyes: “What’s so surprising about that? These days, you can learn martial arts as long as you have money. Don’t even mention me, your dad used to steal money from home to take martial arts classes, but unfortunately, neither of us were very good at it.”

Ji Jingqiu cautiously asked Dao, “Is our family lacking in talent?”

This thing isn’t hereditary, is it?

“My talent is passable, but I’m broke.”

Ji Wmian, hands behind her back, sighed. Dao,

” I was already struggling during the Forging phase, let alone what comes later. Every Realm costs a fortune, right? We simply can’t afford to keep her.”

When I was young, I was obsessed with martial arts and even took out loans to continue my training. Later, I realized that I would have to pay it off for at least three generations of my family, let alone in this lifetime.

Finally, we made the decisive move to escape; otherwise, East 3 Huang Star wouldn’t be our hometown.

Ji Jingqiu was speechless.

He never imagined that his grandfather had such a distinguished resume.

“How much did you owe back then?” he couldn’t help but ask Dao.

Ji W Mian glanced at him: “Are you planning to pay it back for me?”

Ji Jingqiu shook her head vigorously, like a rattle-drum.

Life is already so difficult; how can we take on a loan on top of that?

“Then what’s the question?” Ji Wmian raised her chin. “Practice the Pile Stance. I can still give you some pointers during the Forging the Body phase.”

“oh.”

Ji Jingqiu is now practicing Pile Stance with great skill.

The stance moved at will, and the Qi energy within his body, which had grown considerably, rippled gently, transforming into a soft cloud that spread throughout his body with each breath.

Enveloped by this powerful energy, every inch of his body was gradually immersed in a warm current.

Every inch of flesh and bone grows stronger under the nourishment of Qi energy, while Qi energy grows silently in return from the blood and Qi.

This feeling is simply amazing.

He is now cultited Fu Long Stance was not at all like the initial unbearable soreness; on the contrary, it was extremely comfortable, like soaking in a hot spring every moment.

After completing a full cycle, Ji Jingqiu finished her practice and looked expectantly at her grandfather.

Ji Wmian rubbed her chin: “Not bad, you’re just like me.”

“Is there anything that needs improvement?” Ji Jingqiu asked Dao modestly.

Ji Wmian pondered for a moment, her expression unchanged, and said, “I just remembered, Pile Stance is a personal matter; the best way is for you to figure it out yourself. By the way, how much savings do you have at home?”

“Around two hundred thousand,” Ji Jingqiu calculated.

This amount of money is neither a small nor a large sum; it’s not even enough to buy a single stick of incense for purifying the mind.

Moreover, their family is living off their savings, with neither the elderly nor the young having a stable source of income.

Ji Wmian turned and went inside, taking out her terminal.

A moment later.

A notification message suddenly popped up on Ji Jingqiu’s terminal.

“Your account ending in 402X has received a transfer of 803,134.23 yuan…”

“I have some savings here. You can use it to buy a few injections of Gene Enhancer. Practicing martial arts requires a lot of resources, but unfortunately, our family doesn’t have much to provide for you.”

“Since you’ve already made your decision, why not see how far you can go? The path of martial arts is long and arduous, but perseverance will lead to your goal.”

Looking at this string of numbers, some with zeros and some with whole numbers, Ji Jingqiu felt a mix of emotions.

It’s called a secret stash of money, but isn’t it actually retirement money?

But… Gene Enhancer?

This is a byproduct of the gene-editing craze 120 years ago, and it has long been listed as a contraband, only available on the lower-level black market.

Ji Jingqiu asked helplessly, “Will that thing even work?”

Ji Wmian glanced at him: “It’s one thing for others to be afraid of this thing, but you’re in trouble and you’re still afraid?”

Ji Jingqiu opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly didn’t know what Dao was going to say.

Feel……

Does that seem a bit reasonable?

The old man’s point was simple: he had endured the most terrifying aspect of gene editing, Niedu syndrome, for sixteen years, so why should he be afraid of Gene Enhancer?

In fact, the reason this thing can still circulate on the black market is because there are plenty of people in this world who don’t need to consider the consequences.

Ji W, the old man, said calmly: ” The ‘Forging the Body’s normal ‘Forging Divine Needle’ costs 500,000 per needle, and a complete course of treatment requires eight needles. Our family can’t afford that, so we can only resort to some unconventional methods.”

Ji Jingqiu couldn’t help but ask, “Does fighting this thing make a big difference?”

“Nonsense.” Ji Wmian sternly reprimanded Dao, “You should at least show some respect for four million. These eight needles will at least smooth over the root causes that make you lose to others in Innate, and bring you to the most basic starting line.”

Ji Jingqiu: “…”

Ji W Mian Dao: “Do you want to learn hand-to-hand combat or grappling in the future, or swords, spears, and clubs?”

Ji Jingqiu thought about it carefully: “It should be a knife, I should choose to learn how to use a knife.”

“Oh, why?” Ji Wmian asked curiously.

“I studied history.” Ji Jingqiu was also curious about Dao, “What did you study back then, Grandpa?”

He enjoys reading history, especially the chaotic period at the beginning of the Union.

According to historical records, the seven founding marshals who laid the foundation for the Federation used knives most often, followed by swords, guns, and fists.

“Fist techniques.” Ji Wmian slowly said, “I like to let my fists do the talking. The thing I hate most in this life is a knife.”