Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

CLANG...

Zhao Lin stood with his legs slightly apart, body leaning forward. His arms swung rapidly, fists raining down on a steel-plated striking post.

The steel plate rang out clearly, the sound echoing through the basement.

He was currently at the First Layer of the Qi Realm. To enter the Wuxiang Institute, he had to defeat two disciples at the Third Layer of the Qi Realm in a row.

Sparring matches between sect members weren’t fights to the death, so weapons were obviously forbidden. He could only rely on his fist and foot techniques.

Zhao Lin didn’t have a reliable offensive Cultivation Technique yet. The Turtle Shell Force was purely for defense, and the Thunderbolt Finger was too slow to show results. Thus, he was seizing every moment to practice the Stone Roar Fist.

Otherwise, even if he had the upper hand in strength during the competition, his fists wouldn’t be able to take the punishment.

The Stone Roar Fist was easy to learn quickly. It emphasized a single principle: "hardness," following a path of pure, unyielding power. Mastered to its peak, one could shatter stone tablets and crack boulders with their bare hands, becoming difficult to injure with blades or swords.

It didn’t require much talent, only a willingness to put in the hard work.

Its disadvantage was its limited room for growth. After breaking through to the Blood Realm, if he wanted to increase his power further, he would have to switch to a different fist technique.

This was unlike some Cultivation Techniques that could be practiced all the way from the Qi Realm to the Blood Realm, or even the Primordial Realm.

The Stone Roar Fist consisted of two parts: internal and external training. Internal training involved striking ten acupoints from the wrist to the back of the hand. External training relied on conditioning through repeated strikes, similar to hardening one’s skin.

"Nine hundred ninety-one, nine hundred ninety-two... One thousand!"

Zhao Lin stopped, wiped the sweat from his brow, and took a short break. He then changed his stance, sinking into a horse stance. Channeling his energy, he threw a heavy punch that smashed into the striking post.

BANG! BANG! BANG!...

The Stone Roar Fist had two ways of punching: fast punches and heavy punches.

Fast punches were primarily jabs, attacking in a straight line with the face of the fist. Heavy punches used the knuckles, requiring a longer time to build up power but possessing far greater might.

"Huuuh..."

About two hours later, Zhao Lin finished throwing a thousand heavy punches. He wanted to train a little longer, but he felt a dull ache in his knuckles and knew he had to stop for the day.

He performed the Reversed Destiny Returning to the Sea Skill, scattering his vital energy into his bones and flesh. His Qi and Blood calmed, and his cultivation level returned to the Power Realm.

RING, RING, RING...

A bell in the training room rang. Zhao Lin looked up, knowing his master was summoning him.

He quickly pushed open the door to the secret room and walked into the study.

"Master, you were looking for me?"

"Come, drink the General Soup first." Zhu Huaishan pointed to the medicinal soup on the table.

Zhao Lin nodded, picked up the bowl, and drained it in one go.

External training for fist and palm techniques was very damaging to the body. If one couldn’t recover in time, the accumulated injuries would soon make it impossible to continue cultivating.

The General Soup was a medicinal decoction used for recovery.

Zhao Lin had forgotten to drink it once, and when he woke up the next day, his palms felt numb and itchy. The slightest touch sent a piercing pain through them.

For practicing external techniques, the true secret wasn’t in the Cultivation Technique or the incantations, but in this very bowl of medicinal soup.

As for the origin of the name General Soup, there was a story behind it.

It was said that long ago, when the martial path was not yet prevalent, there was a cat burglar named Zhang Xiaosan who made a living as a thief. Unfortunately, he was clumsy and was often caught and brutally beaten by his victims.

One time, Zhang Xiaosan snuck into a pharmacy. After searching for a long time without finding any silver coins, he haphazardly grabbed some medicinal herbs, stuffed them into a cloth bag, and tucked it inside his clothes.

But as he was about to leave, he was spotted and received another thorough beating.

Only after the beating was over did the shop assistant remember to search him. He found that all the herbs in the cloth bag had been crushed to a pulp.

When Zhang Xiaosan got home, he lay in bed for half a day and was greatly surprised to find that he felt no pain or itchiness. He was completely fine.

In the past, after a beating, he would need at least three to five days to recover. Zhang Xiaosan suspected it might be because of the herbs, so he wrote down the formula from memory.

From then on, whenever he went out to steal, he would carry the cloth bag of herbs with him, using it to protect his vital points. No matter how severe a beating he took, he would recover completely in less than half a day.

One day, his neighbor fell off a roof and broke his leg. After two months of treatment from a Physician, there was still no improvement.

Zhang Xiaosan felt a pang of pity and gave the powdered herbs from his bag to his neighbor.

The neighbor, having no other options, used it daily—both externally as a poultice and internally by consuming it—treating it as a last-ditch effort. To his surprise, he was able to walk again in just seven days.

Word of this spread like wildfire, and soon, a continuous stream of people came to his door seeking treatment for their injuries.

Zhang Xiaosan simply switched professions and became a Physician, treating sprains and bruises. His fame grew and grew.

Everyone knew his origins, so they gave the medicine a name: Thief’s Pouch.

Later, Zhang Xiaosan married and had children, and the formula was passed down from generation to generation.

However, his descendants found the name "Thief’s Pouch" unpleasant and renamed it General Soup.

It wasn’t until the rise of the martial path that the recipe for General Soup made its way from the common folk into the martial arts sects.

The recovery soups of many sects and martial arts schools are based on modified versions of the General Soup formula, and the name has been used ever since.

After watching Zhao Lin finish the soup, Zhu Huaishan slowly said, "There’s a constable outside named He Qingquan looking for you. I had him wait in the side hall."

"He Qingquan?"

’I’m no longer with the county yamen, why would He Qingquan be looking for me?’

’Could it be about a difficult case?’

"Go on, see what it’s about," Zhu Huaishan said.

Zhao Lin nodded in agreement and walked to the side hall in the rear courtyard. He saw He Qingquan sipping tea with a placid expression.

"Old He," Zhao Lin greeted as he approached.

"Chief Constable Zhao..." He Qingquan stood up with a smile.

Zhao Lin quickly stopped him. "Don’t. I’m not a chief constable anymore. Just call me by my name."

"Look at my memory. I completely forgot."

He Qingquan patted his head, then his expression turned serious. "A kid in his teens came to the county yamen to find me today. He said the prey you had someone in He family Village catch has arrived."

"I figured that anything concerning Chief Constable Zhao, no matter how small, is a big deal. So I rushed over without delay."

Zhao Lin was both surprised and delighted to hear this. He suddenly remembered that he had asked the Hunter with the surname Jin to capture a white-throated needletail.

He had been so busy training recently that he had forgotten all about it. He never expected to receive news now.

"Sorry to trouble you, making you come all this way."

Zhao Lin took a piece of silver from his robes and handed it over.

"It’s no trouble, just a short walk."

He Qingquan tactfully didn’t ask any more questions, said his goodbyes, and left.

Zhao Lin saw him out. Seeing that it wasn’t too late, he informed his master and headed straight for the city gates, buying a few meat patties on the way as usual.

The Lark’s Essence Soul had not only allowed him to master the ability to fly, but it had also expanded the twenty-four acupoints on his chest and back, making his Body Technique nimble and versatile.

This Essence Soul had played a huge role in his ability to wipe out the bandits this time.

The white-throated needletail was the fastest flyer among common birds. ’What kind of changes would I see if I absorbed its Essence Soul?’

At this thought, Zhao Lin couldn’t help but quicken his pace, arriving at He family Village before sunset.

"Regular swallows are easy to catch, but the one you wanted is damn difficult! It flies so high and so fast, and it barely ever lands."

"We went through dozens of sticky nets just to catch this single one."

Jin Bao led Zhao Lin to his home and showed him the captured bird.

In the cage was a swallow with blue feathers and a grey tail. Its tail was long and pointed, and there was a large white patch under its chin.

Zhao Lin nodded to himself. It was exactly like the white-throated needletail he remembered.

"You’ve worked hard. This is your payment."

Zhao Lin took out a five-tael silver ingot he had prepared beforehand.

"Sir, you already paid last time. I can’t rightly take more money," Jin Bao hurriedly refused.

"Take it. And don’t tell anyone about this." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Zhao Lin put down the silver ingot, picked up the cage, and strode away.