Chapter 51 Travel Planning, Four Years of Progress

Emma looked at the blood-colored bead with envious eyes.

Having spent a considerable amount of time hanging around Louis, she knew very well how formidable that item was. Unfortunately, Louis had never shown any intention of teaching her how to use it.

Yet, he always practiced these techniques right in front of her!

A sense of yearning stirred within Emma's heart, but she refrained from eagerly speaking out.

After so many years, she understood Louis quite well. She knew he had a stubborn mind of his own, and pushing him too far would only breed resentment.

After carefully putting away the blood bead, Louis glanced at the few corpses nearby. Seeing that none of them had fully matured, he stood up.

"Let's go. Time to head back."

The two returned to their home up ahead.

Over the past four years, David's business had been booming. Especially as the decline of the giant in the east became increasingly evident, life in America was thriving like a blazing fire, with all industries developing vigorously.

Eager to seize this wave of opportunity to break away from the lower-class capitalists and become a true capitalist, David naturally poured every ounce of his energy into his work, resulting in fewer trips back home.

However, no matter how busy he was, he always reserved his weekends to accompany his family and took them on an annual trip, meaning the family bond remained quite strong.

Upon returning home, Jenny was busy cooking, and David happened to be at home, feeding the fish with some pellets. "You're back?"

"Yeah. Dad has time today?"

Emma opened the refrigerator, took out a can of iced cola, handed it to Louis, and then grabbed a Häagen-Dazs for herself.

"Yeah, I got an order these past two days, but whether it goes through depends entirely on luck. Since there's nothing more I can do about it, I came back early."

"Uncle David, is that order from over there?" Louis asked as he turned on the television, accepted the iced cola, and slumped comfortably onto the sofa.

"Mhm, it seems some internal conflicts have broken out over there."

David nodded.

Not long ago, Louis had told him that there were profits to be made in the Bear country and urged him to gather as much capital as possible to buy heavily, mentioning that the Kano gang was already engaging in similar operations.

Skeptical yet intrigued, David gave it a try, and it actually worked!

Things over there were utterly crazy right now; people were willing to sell absolutely anything. One had to remember that America and the Bear country were hostile nations!

Yet, despite this, insiders over there dared to sell industrial machinery to him. He had even heard that as long as enough basic supplies were provided, the people at the top would even dare to sell fighter jets!

It had truly left him shocked.

"Then keep it up, Uncle David. Opportunities like this probably won't last long."

David tossed the final handful of pellets to the goldfish inside the tank, turned to look at Louis and Emma, and clapped his hands.

"Clap, clap!"

Seeing the two of them look over, he said, "Jenny and I have discussed it. Both of you are about to graduate from middle school and move on to higher education. Would you like to go on a full family trip together this summer?"

A trip?

Subconsciously, Louis's mind flashed back to the camp incident at Clara from a few years ago, as well as Jason from Crystal Lake, who had brushed past him north of the Clara camp.

Then he snapped back to reality. They had been on plenty of trips over the past few years, and nothing had ever happened. What was there to be afraid of?

Emma, sitting nearby, naturally had no objections. Her time at Esther felt like a distant memory, and she genuinely had no fear.

"Alright, it's settled then. When the time comes, I'll see if I can invite Angela and her family to join us for a picnic and enjoy the scenery," David said, looking quite enthusiastic.

Suddenly, seeming to recall something, he added, "Oh right, Angela is planning to go out with Olivier these next couple of days. I'll give them a call later to ask."

After a while, Jenny finished cooking and walked out. Over the years, Jenny had kept to herself at home, doing laundry, cooking, and taking care of the children. She played the role of a housewife quite well.

However, Louis never forgot that Yurenka's murders had included her share of participation.

Therefore, a deep sense of wariness toward her had remained in his heart from beginning to end.

Dinner was served.

A slender, golden dog appeared from out of nowhere. It first wagged its tail at Louis and then dove straight into its food bowl to chow down. It was none other than Goldie.

...

After dinner, Louis walked outside.

Emma ran off to watch television while David made a phone call. The other end of the line was answered swiftly, and Angela's voice could be faintly heard... talking about the Eden Lake community...

Meanwhile, Louis had already made his routine trip to the shrine beside the house to offer incense. Over the years, the incense offerings had flourished, but the Kitchen God had never sent him any more prophetic dreams.

Even so, Louis maintained a respectful attitude throughout—after all, the deity was his godfather.

Only after offering the incense did he return to his own room.

He began practicing the static meditation portion of the *Gu Gu Shi Qi Dao Yin Tu* (Navel-Breathing and Qi-Guiding Diagram). This had become his habit over the years; the time he spent practicing qigong every single day accounted for a considerable proportion of his schedule, and he practiced diligently without ever missing a single day.

Four years later, Louis could not exactly be said to have undergone a complete rebirth, but he had made remarkable progress.

The medicinal potency of the potion had fully released. Though he was currently only twelve years old, he looked like a teenager of fifteen or sixteen, and his physical functions far exceeded those of ordinary people.

Beyond that, the cultivation of qigong was the absolute top priority. Unfortunately, this art required arduous, grinding effort. Whether it was because this technique placed heavy emphasis on foundations and thus progressed slowly, or because Louis's personal affinity for it wasn't particularly high, after four years he had only reached the stage of proficiency, still some distance away from mastering it and generating internal qi.

Qigong at the proficiency stage merely resulted in a robust physique, immunity to all illnesses, and a massive surge in physical strength. It might not sound like much.

However, on one occasion when Louis felt that the combat applications of active qigong techniques were too weak—coinciding with the opening of a martial arts school that was accepting disciples—he went in to learn, and immediately discovered the true utility of this qigong.

It improved one's natural constitution and bone structure!

The school taught the ancestral Bagua Zhang (Eight Trigram Palm), and he had mastered the entire system in just a single year, wielding it with far greater power than ordinary apprentices.

According to the master of the school, Louis's natural bone structure would have been considered top-tier even a hundred years ago; with diligent practice, taking on twenty opponents at once in the future would be effortless. Unfortunately, the martial arts manual was incomplete, otherwise...

Louis did not believe this was a coincidence. The only possible reason was the qigong he practiced.

Aside from qigong, Louis had also been practicing the other five mystical arts he had unlocked back then.

The Fire Basin Exorcism Method had been mastered with absolute ease.

The Wealth-Swallowing Technique had also been learned and used once. The very next day, he lost a card containing one hundred thousand dollars, which left him filled with bitter regret.

Along the way, Louis even attempted to have someone else complete the final step—feeding the target's body tissue to a toad—but it proved useless. It seemed exploiting that bug was impossible.

As for the Chopstick-Clamping Technique, because his routine was essentially a fixed triangle—home, school, and martial arts hall, aside from rare vacations—he had not yet found an opportunity to test it.

The Willow Leaf Golden Saber Technique was somewhat bizarre; he still hadn't managed to master it. Writing those talismans and orders proved genuinely difficult. Of course, this might also be related to the fact that he didn't spend enough time practicing it daily.

As for the Blood Curse Technique, that was one area where he had made rapid progress!

Naturally, this was likely thanks to the abundance of raw materials available here. With the gang acting as his assistants, during his initial period of cultivation, he could almost drag two low-level addicts or dealers over every single day, and occasionally a few human traffickers or local hoodlums.

The best part was that the disappearance of these people didn't cause the slightest ripple!

It was as if they had never existed at all!

The final result was a string of eighteen blood beads on Louis's wrist, two more strings tucked inside his clothes, and three strings locked away in his room's cabinet.

A full one hundred and eight beads!

Just right, simply wonderful!