Chapter 33: Establishing Destiny with One's Being, Guarding the Dao with One's Spirit

After a light dinner and a short rest, Chen Jie began his medicinal bath.

Lying in the wooden tub, his mind finally grew calm.

"Cun Si," or mindfulness, also known as meditation or contemplation. It means to focus one's intent, contemplate its form, and unleash its power. As the ancient saying goes, "Contemplation is to preserve one's spirit; mindfulness is to visualize one's body." Divine intent knows all, is present everywhere, and resides both within and outside the body. In simpler terms, it is a spiritual sublimation found in Taoism: one establishes their existence through the body and guards the Way through the spirit.

In the philosophy of martial arts, this spiritual refinement is even more critical than techniques or the mechanics of force. Through meditation, reflection, and stillness, one strengthens the inner self and sharpens focus. This is why, in moments of extreme crisis, a person’s heightened mental state can allow their muscles to unleash more than ten times their normal power. There have been reports of mothers lifting cars to save their trapped children—this is the sheer magnitude of mental power.

When mental training reaches a certain level, one can easily enter a state of "deep sleep." Biological research suggests that one hour of deep sleep is more restorative than ten hours of light sleep. Furthermore, entering deep sleep leaves one feeling refreshed and clear-headed for the entire day. Over time, the body naturally becomes stronger and longevity is increased.

As Chen Jie lay in the tub, his entire body was in a state of total relaxation. Without realizing it, he drifted into the state of "Cun Si." His mind became void and clear, and while in the medicinal bath, he unexpectedly entered "deep sleep." The medicinal decoction he had consumed earlier had already activated its potency, and in this state of deep sleep, his muscles, internal organs, and blood vessels were deeply nourished.

Two hours later!

Chen Jie opened his eyes, saw that the water had gone cold, and quickly jumped out. "Next time, I need to bring an alarm clock, and it would be best to get a tub with a constant temperature heating system," he thought to himself, noticing the skin on his palms had wrinkled from the soak.

***

After October began in the capital, the mornings and evenings became rather chilly. However, Ximen Street remained bustling. Children scurried and played, while rickshaws wove through the crowds. The calls of street vendors echoed one after another, painting a scene of peace and prosperity. Who would have guessed that the Great Qian Dynasty was currently riddled with crises? A naval battle had shattered the Beihai Fleet, once touted as the strongest in Asia, and Western powers were carving up the land into concessions. The nation's vital resources were now controlled by foreigners.

Beside Ximen Street lay a somewhat secluded alleyway. Unlike the main thoroughfare, it was less crowded. The street was lined with various stalls, and vendors called out to passersby to take a look.

This was the Secondhand Market, the most famous of its kind on Ximen Street. Many who had fallen on hard times brought their valuables here to sell. While it was quiet in the early morning, after ten o'clock, the crowd would grow as people wandered through, hoping to find a "treasure."

Today was Chen Jie’s seventh day as an apprentice at the Chuo Jiao School. After his morning training, he had originally planned to visit his new house in the afternoon and then return to his own world. He had bought a large quantity of ginseng and needed to sell it to raise funds, as the daily costs of martial arts training were quite high. The "medicinal supplements" and baths for four people cost twenty-four silver dollars a day. With a fourteen-day cycle, that meant 336 silver dollars per cycle. Since the Great Qian fleet’s defeat by the Easterners in the East Sea, prices had skyrocketed. His remaining two thousand silver dollars wouldn't last long, so he needed to sell some wild mountain ginseng.

However, before he could leave, Liu Bamei had dragged him out to Ximen Street early in the morning. He had heard about this market when he bought his house; they said people often brought out rare items here, even treasures looted from the palace.

Now, Liu Bamei pulled Chen Jie through the market, her face full of excitement. "Junior Brother! That jade stall over there looks good. Let’s go take a look!"

After less than half an hour, Chen Jie had lost interest. He hadn't realized that accompanying a girl shopping would be such a test of patience and willpower. The market was filled with everything: old furniture, paintings, antiques, ancient coins, and jade. Chen Jie didn't understand these things, and since he had the ginseng to make money, he had no desire to dabble in antiques. The antique trade had a high barrier to entry; without knowledge, one was easily swindled. Moreover, history was inconsistent between the two worlds, so antiques didn't translate. If he brought a painting from this world to his own, it wouldn't exist in that history, so how could collectors value it? Any valuable antique required a traceable provenance; without it, it had no value. Although he knew antiques were worth a fortune in his own world, he had no intention of touching them.

"Junior Brother, you might not know, but I used to set up a stall here with Seventh Brother!" Liu Bamei chatted away like a little firecracker. "I don't know what Seventh Brother has been busy with lately. He disappears early every morning, doesn't even come back for lunch, and keeps everything so secretive. He won't even take me out. I’m really worried he’s out fighting death matches again!"

She wore a pearl necklace around her neck, which Chen Jie had just bought her for five hundred wen. She treated it like a treasure, unable to stop touching it. Though she hadn't pestered him to buy it, Chen Jie saw how much she liked it and simply bought it for her.

"Sir! Are you looking for jade? Why not buy a jade pendant to play with?" The stall owner, seeing them approach, introduced his wares with enthusiasm. "See this? This jade is straight from the palace—the only one of its kind on this whole street! Look at this thumb ring; only a prince could wear something this fine. And this pendant was worn by a princess. Buy it for your collection; in a few years, it will be worth a fortune! And look at this bracelet—pure high-ice jadeite. Only the palace has such top-tier goods!"

"Wow! This pendant is so pretty!" Liu Bamei said, reaching out to take it from the owner.

Chen Jie grabbed her hand and said calmly, "Boss, leave it on the stall. We’ll just look."

The owner laughed. "Oh! Looks like this young master is an expert who knows the rules of the trade! No problem, I'll keep it on the stall; you can look for yourselves. Don't worry, young man, we’re honest businessmen; we won't try to force a sale."

Jade is fragile, and generally, it is not passed hand-to-hand. Chen Jie had seen videos where tourists, ignorant of the rules, touched jade, accidentally broke it, and were forced to pay an exorbitant price. The key was that jade had no fixed price; once it was broken, you were at the mercy of the seller. While Chen Jie wasn't sure if such things happened here, he believed it was always better to be safe than sorry.