Dawn of a New Era

Chen Shouyi crumpled the newspaper and tossed it into the trash can.

He glanced at the fiery red morning glow on the horizon, got on his bicycle, and lightly pedaled toward the distant mall.

There were few shops inside the mall, mostly clothing stores, and after searching for a long time, he finally found a jewelry store.

The shop was deserted, with no customers inside.

It was only seven o'clock now, and it was rare for anyone to be shopping at this time.

"Do you have any crystal balls?" Chen Shouyi asked.

"Crystal balls? Of course, we do." The owner, a five-month pregnant, greasy, and pudgy middle-aged man, held his belly with one hand and pointed to three crystal balls on the shelf, saying, "All priced the same, thirty-five yuan each, no bargaining. They're all old stock, and I'm selling them at a loss now."

"Only three?" Chen Shouyi said, somewhat disappointed. It's likely that no one is manufacturing crystal balls anymore, and there will be fewer and fewer in the future. These three crystal balls would scarcely last a month to satisfy the ever-growing appetite of the Shell Lady.

"How many do you want?" The shop owner asked, rubbing his round belly with a smile.

"How many do you have?"

"Uh!" The shop owner was momentarily puzzled, then he realized, patted his belly, causing the fat to jiggle, and quickly said, "I'll go take a look!"

He walked into the back room of the shop, returned with a box, counted the contents, and straightened up: "There are fifteen left, plus the three, for a total of eighteen. You want them all?"

"All of them!" Chen Shouyi said.

Eighteen can probably last a year, roughly!

"Wait a moment, let me calculate the price." The shop owner went to the cash register, ready to take out paper and a pen to solve this elementary school arithmetic problem.

There's no calculator now, and as for the abacus... how many people can use an abacus?

"630, no need to calculate." Chen Shouyi said, taking out his wallet and pulling out seven hundred-yuan bills. With his 14.4 intelligence, this kind of two-digit calculation was just a flash of thought.

The shop owner still wasn't convinced, writing out the equation on paper and carefully calculating it again. Finding it to be accurate, he relaxed, smiled, accepted the money, and made change: "As you get older, the mind just isn't as nimble as when you're young. Back in the day, I often aced math... Little brother, did you discover some business opportunity here?"

"I just want them for decoration at home!"

Seeing the shop owner's disbelief, as if he was trying to fool a ghost, Chen Shouyi expressionlessly carried the box out of the jewelry store.

He got on his bicycle and hurried home.

Putting the bicycle in the garage, he pulled down the roll-up door, and then carried the box into the living room.

"Brother, what are you holding? What did you buy?" Chen Xingyue asked curiously, seemingly trying to peek.

"Why do you need to know?" Chen Shouyi quickly avoided the question and hastily walked up the stairs.

Watching her brother's sneaky demeanor, as if afraid of being discovered, Chen Xingyue's lips curled in disdain. He definitely bought some more bizarre stuff.

...

Near noon, Qin Liuyuan came looking for him, his expression grim.

"Join me for a drink?"

Chen Shouyi nodded, "Sure!"

The Safe Zone was close to the countryside, making vegetable prices cheap, combined with most people having income, these days, the food and beverage industry sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain, rapidly opening one restaurant after another.

The two of them randomly chose a nearby restaurant and got a private room.

Before the dishes arrived, Qin Liuyuan poured a cup of white wine for himself and Chen Shouyi, saying nothing, and drank it dry in one go.

Chen Shouyi also picked up the cup. He seldom drank wine, occasionally having a glass of beer at most, as for white wine, he never touched it. He couldn't handle the stimulating taste, but today he felt like having a drink.

He picked up the cup and drank it all in one go.

After three rounds.

Qin Liuyuan finally spoke, "Did they invite you to go?"

Although Qin Liuyuan's words seemed random, Chen Shouyi understood what he was referring to, "They did, but I refused."

"I went, only told upon close arrival at the destination!" Qin Liuyuan unscrewed another bottle of white wine, pouring for the two of them, "But I didn't act, the ones who acted were the four military martial artists!"

"Four?" Chen Shouyi asked in surprise.

"Yes, including Xiao Changming, totaling four, one of them even participated in the last cooperative exploration of the insect nest, a military martial artist. I estimate there are more military martial artists now." Qin Liuyuan replied.

"The Divine Blood was just distributed yesterday, such a short time, the new martial artists' growth in power might not be adaptable yet, able to exert their strength?" Chen Shouyi questioned.

A martial artist unable to control their power, their might might even be inferior to that of martial artists.

"How do you know they just consumed the Divine Blood not long ago? The Barbarian God's corpse is in military hands." Qin Liuyuan countered.

Chen Shouyi appeared slightly taken aback, said nothing, picked up the cup, and drank the white wine in it in one go.

"The city's actions along with the military went too far this time. Lao Cui is a martial artist of over ten years, the tasks he's completed are no less than a hundred, fifty at least, and each task isn't short of risking life. Can't once mistake be enough to deter others, condemn him to death?" Qin Liuyuan sighed, speaking with slight intoxication.

Qin Liuyuan and Cui Ziweng, these two Hedong City martial artists, naturally had ties over the many years, but more was empathy for those of similar disposition.

At this point, someone knocked on the door outside the private room, and soon the door was opened, the waiter served the dishes, and when the waiter left, closing the door again, Chen Shouyi shifted the topic and asked, "Earlier, I heard you speak about martial artists, what's the standard of martial artists?"

"You don't know?" Qin Liuyuan asked, surprised, then noticed Chen Shouyi's age and understood, "Martial artist, how should I say it, the human body has limits, reaching martial artist, progress is nearly impossible, martial artist is almost human peak.

At this level, battle realm, experience, technique, is honed to perfection, self-cultivation when entering tranquility at least reaches internal refinement of lungs and intestines, sensitivity to danger is extraordinarily keen.

I only know one thing, to apply for martial artist assessment, at least one thousand kilograms of strength are needed in the arms."

Chen Shouyi recalled seeing on the martial artist internal trading network, bows with strength over a thousand pounds, even two thousand pounds, that seemed to be used by martial artists.

Qin Liuyuan took a bite of food and continued, "How strong exactly, I haven't fought head-on, but I guess even if ten military martial artists encircle one martial artist, it's a sure death scenario.

Actually, with your ability, you should already be a martial artist. If yesterday's military martial artists were encircling not Cui Ziweng, but you, it would be a different conclusion."

Chen Shouyi shook his head and said, "I just naturally react quickly, still lacking in other areas.

His own situation understood, his strength was about seven hundred and fifty kilograms, internal refinement upon entering tranquility just began refining muscle, the internal organs were far from it, but truly during life-and-death combat, only experience would get to know.

...

The meal took over an hour, and the bill was fought over by Qin Liuyuan.

Leaving the restaurant, after parting ways with Qin Liuyuan, Chen Shouyi sighed lightly and walked home.