[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s":3,"chapter-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-5":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Immortal Through Martial Path, I Who Cannot Die Shall Ultimately Be Invincible",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2325223,4549,"Chapter 5: Two Hundred Taels Is All It Takes to Buy Me?","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-5",5,"\u003Cp>The Tianlao patrols are divided into three shifts: morning, noon, and evening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou, serving beside Lu Datou, had worked half a month of day shifts, and when rotation came, he was unsurprisingly assigned to the evening shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A group of seasoned veterans, once the gate closed at night and no superior was watching, all grew impatient with duty. Chen Guanlou thus bore the burden of evening patrol, walking alone down the endless, pitch-black corridor of the Bing-character prison block.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing Cell 13, he tapped the bars as usual. The prisoner inside wriggled like a maggot—just enough to prove he was still alive. After so long on duty, Chen Guanlou had never seen the man’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He really can lie there!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked deeper into the prison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young sir, young sir…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fat man in Cell 25—a fat man in Tianlao was rare. Worse, he had no wounds. From the first day of duty, Chen Guanlou had noticed him: a minor leader of a vibrant social group, a loan shark, said to have offended a noble and been thrown into Tianlao on a pretext.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young sir, over here…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?” Chen Guanlou replied coldly, his expression stern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he was still young; to these veteran prisoners, he looked merely blustering, hollow, and weak—perfect bait for a greenhorn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young sir, do me a favor—pass a message outside. One hundred taels.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou turned and walked away, unwilling to waste a single word on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fat man panicked. “Young sir, wait! One hundred fifty taels… if that’s still too much, two hundred! Just tell me straight—will you do it or not?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou ignored him entirely, not even deigning to look at him. The man clearly thought him a fool. A two-hundred-tael deal—such a golden opportunity—why didn’t the fat man ask other jailers? Why him, a new recruit? Don’t tell him the fat man was being kind, taking special care of a greenhorn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fat man was no good man!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t three years old—he wouldn’t be bought with two hundred taels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou had stressed repeatedly: prevent collusion between inside and outside. There must have been a major incident before, where such collusion caused grave consequences. He was a new recruit with no family, no background—how would he dare play such a dangerous game? He’d earn the money, but never live to spend it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ignoring the fat man’s sweet-talking traps, he continued his patrol, counting inmates in each cell to confirm they were still alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he reached Cell 60, he paused to look twice. He had already inquired: Cell 60 held the boss of the Eagle Gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Eagle Gate called itself a martial arts school, but was in truth a vibrant social group. Publicly, it ran legal businesses; secretly, it committed murder and robbery. It had been dismantled by the Six Gates not long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou paid attention to this man because, after days of observation and careful thought, he judged him the most approachable. Moreover, the man possessed real martial skill—he was a First-Rank martial cultivator, already on the martial path. When running his school, he had taught disciples. To Chen Guanlou, this was an opportunity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had not forgotten his mission in coming to Tianlao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Learn martial arts!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Eagle Gate boss’s surname was Luo, his full name Luo Jingtian, a middle-aged brute. He had clearly noticed Chen Guanlou and knew he was the new jailer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young sir!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After days of observation, he couldn’t help speaking up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?” Chen Guanlou replied coldly, standing outside the cell, expression icy and indifferent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do me a favor—bring me some wine and food. I’ll pay.” Luo Jingtian licked his lips; his body was covered in wounds, clearly tortured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou snorted and turned to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he wanted to approach the man, he couldn’t let him succeed so easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young sir, wait. Name your terms—anything you want.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou turned back to face him. “Why me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a powerless new recruit—worthless as an investment for these veteran criminals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Jingtian gave a bitter laugh. “The others are too damn greedy. A pot of wine costs me ten taels. A roasted chicken? Twenty taels! I’ve got money, but I won’t let those heartless veterans treat me like cattle or sheep. If you charge less, I won’t say a word.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou narrowed his eyes, studying the man, weighing how much truth lay in his words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he said one thing: “I have no money.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You should’ve said so sooner! I know a shop—just walk in, give my name, and you’ll get free wine and food, plus a travel fee. How’s that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t want money.” Chen Guanlou stood before the cell door, arms crossed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Jingtian froze, then asked instinctively, “If not money… then what do you want?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to learn martial arts!” Chen Guanlou stated his demand plainly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it was Luo Jingtian who hesitated. “From your physique, you seem to lack martial veins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Working in Tianlao, without some self-defense skill, one can never feel safe,” Chen Guanlou explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Jingtian nodded in understanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jailers in Tianlao must have at least some basic skill. Even if it’s just a few fake moves, it’s enough to bluff through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frowned, thinking for a moment. “I do have an external martial art—Heavenly Thunder Skill. Perfect for ordinary people without martial veins. But it has one grave flaw.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What flaw?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As the name implies, Heavenly Thunder Skill is utterly yang and forceful. To practice it, you must burn your blood and qi, shortening your lifespan. At Level One, you lose one month of life. At Level Five, one year. If you reach Level Nine, you lose at least five years. Few choose to train it. But it truly suits those without martial veins.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Chen Guanlou was overjoyed inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shortening lifespan? Others feared it—he didn’t care!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had the Longevity Dao Fruit. Five years? Even ten or a hundred years, he could afford it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, he didn’t accept immediately. Instead, he feigned disdain: “Aren’t there any other arts?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To be honest, other arts require internal cultivation methods to be effective. But you lack martial veins—you can’t practice internal methods. This…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Jingtian made his position clear: he wasn’t refusing to offer better manuals—he was simply constrained by Chen Guanlou’s innate lack of martial veins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou gritted his teeth, feigning a difficult decision. “Give me the Heavenly Thunder Skill first. I’ll bring you wine and food later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Young sir, are you sure? It shortens your lifespan…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough talk.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Jingtian immediately transmitted the full text of Heavenly Thunder Skill to Chen Guanlou, then explained the training secrets and personal insights in detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing his patrol, Chen Guanlou returned to the guard room—inside, it was a riot: men gambling, drinking, snoring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Datou’s eyes were bloodshot from gambling. In the chilly, damp spring season of Tianlao, he sweated so hard he’d stripped down to nothing but his undergarments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou sidled up beside him, offering quiet, timely advice at key moments, helping Lu Datou recover his losses. Then he said nothing more, lying down on his bed with clean efficiency and falling asleep.\u003C\u002Fp>",1197,"2026-06-20T17:39:56.967Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6f53fb295c82b87d31438d704ea4bab8579bbc23861671044adc05552d036a11","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-6","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-4",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fimmortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-cover.jpg"]