Chapter 246: I Also Want to Be a True Qi Madman!!!

"If you want to cultivate the True Qi Body-Nourishing Technique, you must constantly do good deeds, and do them wildly!"

At first glance it sounds a bit absurd, but the Supreme Response Chapter says:

It states that a virtuous person is respected by all, protected by the Way of Heaven, and blessings and prosperity follow them.

Evil stays away, divine spirits guard them, their deeds are bound to succeed, and they may become immortals.

To aspire to become a celestial immortal, one must accumulate 1,300 acts of kindness; to become an earthbound immortal, one must accumulate 300 acts of kindness.

So, when you really examine it, practicing virtue to cultivate immortality does have a certain theoretical basis.

In fact, that's exactly the case: Tun Tian was able to cultivate to the seventeenth level right after reaching adulthood because he kept doing good deeds while traveling around the world.

"So, what good deeds have you done?"

Upon hearing Ji Ming's question, Tun Tian, who had been speaking at length, suddenly fell silent, and Cang Lang and Fei Ying's expressions were equally bewildered.

Finally, LaoZhao cleared his throat lightly.

"No matter what, you're still a member of our team, and now you've become the second player to practice the True Qi Body-Nourishing Technique, so this secret isn't entirely unspeakable to you..."

Understood.

"I'll keep my mouth shut, I guarantee I won't reveal it."

"Hmm, good. Actually, the Asia‑Africa‑Latin America region is carrying out some anti‑colonial activities, and Tun Tian happened to pass by and offered some appropriate assistance."

"In short, I killed... a field squad belonging to a notorious mercenary legion."

"Let me guess, the one from Gaul?"

"How did you know... right."

After asking some supplemental questions about cultivation precautions, Ji Ming figured out the merit calculation method of the True Qi Body-Nourishing Technique.

First, doing good deeds subjectively can gain cultivation progress.

For example, helping an elderly lady cross the street— even if she says she doesn't actually want to cross, as long as you act with sincere intent, you can still earn some merit as encouragement.

Second, objectively doing good deeds can also gain cultivation progress.

For instance, killing a villain— even if the cultivator's method is extremely vicious, as long as no innocents are harmed, one can earn a large amount of merit for punishing evil.

—As the saying goes, a gentleman is judged by his deeds, not his heart; yet your merit calculation considers both deeds and heart, how impressive!

Now that I think about it, it's a bit of a shame—if we could have gotten this skill earlier, those assassins who couldn't find any excuse to survive would have drained my merit points completely.

Since this perfectly aligns with the game's design philosophy, it naturally deserves strong encouragement, so Ji Ming immediately switched to the Mysterious Merchant's skin and prepared to set up a stall.

"I have a bit of business; you can go find the Mysterious Merchant and demonstrate a couple of moves publicly—it's the simplest promotional method."

"Got it! Ah... no way, Wai Shu just left and the Mysterious Merchant is already setting up a stall? What a coincidence."

However, the Mysterious Merchant's appearance rate has indeed been high lately, and the special team didn't have time to think, so they hurried to the center of the Pioneers' Market.

After three consecutive days of opening groups and contributing up to a four‑digit number of heads, these players who love to cause chaos finally settled down a bit.

At least, when the Mysterious Merchant appears, there hasn't been an immediate barrage of firearms and cannons blaring.

Nevertheless, there were still quite a few players waiting here for trades, all of them being major guild clients looking to purchase alchemical grenades.

Thus, even though the special team's actions were already fast enough, they still queued for three minutes before it was their turn to converse with the merchant.

"What? Someone actually wants to duel the Mysterious Merchant! I thought that since the closed‑beta artillery defeat, no one dared to think that way anymore."

"No way, kid, the server's been open for half a month and you're only level one; how could you possibly beat the Mysterious Merchant being so lazy?"

Immediately, a player stepped forward to try to dissuade Tun Tian's reckless behavior, after all it was just too foolish.

But this challenge had nothing to do with winning or losing; it was merely to promote the True Qi Body-Nourishing Technique, so Tun Tian insisted.

"Just a couple of moves to feel the strength of a strong player, after all it's a game, you won't actually die."

Kind words couldn't persuade the damned fool, so the players scattered, giving Tun Tian a space to be beaten.

With a wave of his hand, he packed up the stall, and the Mysterious Merchant extended both hands.

"Do you want to spar with me? Are you thinking of using fists and feet, or weapons?"

Actually for Tun, real combat with people isn't his first or second time.

But fantasy‑style combat with people is still his first, so he looked eager to try, though he boasted.

"Do as you wish!"

"Then I'll just draw my gun and let you see what a gun that's both accurate and fast within seven steps looks like, okay?"

But that would be no fun, so Ji Ming just nodded.

"Since that's the case, let's get started."

But Tun Tian, who is utterly unscrupulous, instantly raised his right hand as soon as he finished speaking, gathering all his True Qi into a pale golden light blade.

"Whoa!"

The scene was so absurd that the players who had been watching for laughs were all stunned.

Tun Tian then used a fist technique as a sword, powering from his waist, and lunged straight at the Mysterious Merchant's torso.

An ordinary person would definitely be fooled by this move, because in the next second his upper arm would suddenly twitch, shifting the attack from top‑down to waist and abdomen.

Unfortunately, Lao Nv Shi had already used similar underhanded tricks many times, so even if Ji Ming got hit, he could still gain some experience from it.

So he lifted his axe and then slammed it down forcefully.

The block succeeded, but amid the crisp knocking sound, he suddenly felt his hand become light.

Looking closely, it turned out that the axe blade, which was just an ordinary tool, had half of it sliced off by the light blade during the fierce collision.

…

No, the axe!

As the original equipment that has followed Ji Ming since his very first transmigration, used from guarding against outsiders at the door to countering ambushes in dark alleys.

Until the Grave‑Digging Technique delivered two indestructible shovels, this axe remained Ji Ming's primary weapon.

Although he later acquired a chaotic assortment of gear, the axe always stayed near the front of his backpack, in an easily reachable spot.

I didn't expect that, in today's situation, it broke!

But to the players, all of this is simply...

"Damn, it's really a Light Blade, all smashed by the Mysterious Merchant's axe!"

"Why would a level‑1 player have this ability? Even if you draw an SSR from magic instructor Mo Shou, you still have to reclass as a mage; you need at least level five to learn magic, right."

"Bro, could you teach us this move too? We also want to become Holy Hall Warriors!"

Good news, the promotion is working great.

Bad news, the promotion is a bit too effective.

Although the next moment Tun Tian was forcibly controlled by the Mysterious Merchant with a cramp technique, then a shovel‑head smash killed him.

But as the first man to make the Mysterious Merchant take a direct hit, the youth Tun Tian became famous overnight.

If Ji Ming were given another chance to choose, he would rather release Dragon God Leinorz to let him fight as the BOSS, and refuse to go into battle himself.

Thus, after that battle, "Solo Challenge the Mysterious Merchant" became a new internet‑celebrity hotspot, or rather… Cyber‑Court Staff!

A massive number of players began issuing one‑on‑one challenges to him, even those who once preferred group play changed their strategic thinking.

If the challenger wins the bet, even by using an extremely shameless and low‑brow method to seize a fleeting advantage, they can become famous and go viral across the whole internet.

If the challenger loses… isn't it obvious that a player can't beat the Mysterious Merchant in a solo duel? What's there to be embarrassed about?

Qiang Ge: "I think that's not quite right; shouldn't a true strong person strive… huh, why are you covering my mouth!"

Other former high‑level players: "Shut up, Qiang Ge, everyone's lifelong reputation now hinges on this theory to save face."

Thus, countless players shifted from researching how to defeat the Mysterious Merchant to studying what methods could give them a few extra moves against the Mysterious Merchant.

Ji Ming at first wanted to give these brave ones some face, without resorting to overly brutal tactics, but after being publicly declared love by a scruffy‑bearded uncle.

"I see you really want to die."

The Mysterious Merchant, angry.

He began with a spell, reversed his gun, slaughtered challengers all night; Ji Ming forged a new item called "Mysterious Merchant Challenge Coupon" and listed it in the game store.

The item isn't expensive, only 100 exchange points, but for ordinary players it's a hefty sum, enough to deter most casuals.

But Ji Ming still underestimated these bastards' initiative; to secure a challenge opportunity, they seriously studied the economic system.

After discovering that the store's buy‑back price for "sheepskin parchment" was the highest, they immediately began scouring the plains for sheep and petitioned various Tribes to purchase them.

However, this was either too troublesome, too costly, and the supply was so scarce that it wasn't enough for drawing cards.

So a brother who makes money in livestock farming stepped in; he and a few players claimed a plot near Sacred Tree Lake and established a Pioneers Sheep Farm.

From meat‑sheep breeding to lamb propagation, from live‑sheep slaughter to finished‑product processing, they swiftly completed the entire industry chain.

Later, Ji Ming looked at the mountain of sheepskin parchment piled in the warehouse, realizing players had gone to such lengths for his beating, and could only sigh.

"This is really sick!"

But that's later; Tun Tian is still curiously patting around in the glass jar of the Rebirth Pool, and his friend requests have already been flooded by players.

A rough count shows there are already over three hundred seekers, and the number keeps rising.

Such a bustle made Tun Tian unable to contain his excitement, shouting,

"Grandpa, look, so many people want to learn the things our ancestors left behind, they're all friends!"

Through the organization's internal live‑camera feed, the Wu family elder, who had been watching from his computer all night, nodded.

"The ancestor taught, 'Zheng Qi Nourishing Body Technique' is a divine legacy, not a Wu family private item; if seekers come, just teach them wholeheartedly—whether they master it depends on their disposition."

"So Da Bao, since everyone's willing to learn, just release the technique publicly; those wicked people would only waste their effort even if they got it!"

The old man gave the order, and Tun Tian, as the junior, naturally complied.

"Yes, Grandpa!"

But while he was posting the stored digital pages onto the public screen, he suddenly felt his Zheng Qi stirring inside.

"Grandpa, I feel my Zheng Qi expanding again… Grandpa, I surged to the twentieth level in one breath!"

"Xiao Sun Ze, stop talking. I actually… need to use the restroom first… Ouch, that was too intense; I'm afraid I might end up living ten more years!"

Fortunately, the simple transmission of the technique isn't excessive; otherwise, if Yang Yue were to plaster the technique onto everyone's retinas worldwide, this old man and the youngster would instantly ascend to achieve the Immortal Emperor Dao fruit.

And while they were ecstatic enough to ascend, the players were like group members when someone posts an awkward picture.

—Save, save, save everything!

When they voraciously finished the entire set of techniques, both in the game and the live stream, everyone was shocked.

"Nine Turns, ninety‑nine levels; each turn grants a powerful effect, and after the ninth turn the difficulty skyrockets… I feel this system sounds familiar."

"Isn't this just magnetic field power? But some people go crazier the more they train, while you become more holy the more you train."

"So that guy's Light Blade means he's at the first turn? Is the Zheng Qi‑forged blade really that ruthless?!"

【Can this technique be practiced in reality? I'm going downstairs now to help an old lady cross the street!】

【Since you mention it, I just helped a lady with a flying signal, and my neck, after a night's overtime, actually feels a bit better.】

【Hey, when will this dog‑high game go public? I also want to become a Zheng Qi crazy mouth!】

Fueled by Tun Tian's world‑shaking strike, countless people began attempting to cultivate Zheng Qi, both in the game and in reality.

At first, some thought this thing sounded unreliable, perhaps a conspiracy of some evil heart.

But after seeing these cultivators simply sleeping early, waking early, balancing meat and vegetables, training diligently, and helping neighbors and strangers whenever possible,

"Bro, remember to call me for tomorrow's morning run."

"Son, the sun has set in the west, and your father has decided to quit smoking together with you."

"Nowadays, who drinks when negotiating business? Come on, gym—today I'll show you my Zheng Qi power!"

And the players, determined to live a healthy, all‑prosperous new life, enjoyed a harmonious atmosphere throughout the dungeon.

On the other side of the underground plain, the Sharp Fang Tribe's situation can't be described as turbulent; it's just a mess.

A cave storing grain suddenly caught fire, and all protective measures completely failed.

While General Yuelisi hurried over with his troops to fight the fire, this place had already been burned into a sea of flames.

Although the lake was not far away, by the time they carried bucket after bucket of water to pour on the fire, all the stored grain had already been burned to ashes.

Not every place can enjoy eternal spring like the shores of Holy Tree Lake, which, under the protection of magic and spell formations, naturally has a greenhouse.

In order to survive this winter, the Sharp Fang Tribe even set aside the various conflicts brewing in the undercurrents, and everyone worked together to find ways to store grain.

Originally, they thought that with so much food, even if everyone ate their fill, it would easily last until spring—but who would have known that this fire would burn away the entire stockpile.

In fact, because the Pioneers exist, this problem is not without a solution—just buy from them.

But just a few days ago, when they were selling grain at the market, they said this was the last batch of sellable grain they had on hand, and the next batch wouldn't be ready for at least another month!

Oh no, the rations have run into trouble!