Becoming a god starts from planting a Bodhi tree.

Chapter 24: Standing Meditation is a Private Matter
An old man walked out of the kitchen. His hair and beard were gray, like a pine tree covered with winter snow, each strand of which contained the accumulation of years.

His body was so thin and skinny that it looked as if a gust of wind could blow him down.

The old man had deep sunken eyes and a calm expression, so deep that it seemed as if he could see into people's hearts.

"Mr. Zhou is busy today, so we are short of one person. What the hell." The old man said in a natural tone, "Have you had dinner? I made pumpkin pancakes."

He is Ji Jingqiu’s grandfather, Ji Busian.

"I ate it." Ji Jingqiu sniffed and smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen, and added, "I ate it at the martial arts hall. I started practicing martial arts recently."

"Yeah." Ji Bumian looked him up and down carefully. "You look a lot stronger than before. Do you have enough money?"

"I don't have much to spend money on for now." Ji Jingqiu thought about it and realized that he was eating at the martial arts gym and living at home, and he didn't spend any money at all.

"A place where there is no money spent?" Ji Bumian sighed and shook his head, "Then it seems that the training is not very good."

Ji Jingqiu was silent for a moment, then said, "...please explain what time you came back last Thursday night."

Ji Bu Mian also fell silent: "Your Grandpa Zhuang is back. I went to see him that night, but he dragged me away and insisted that I accompany him for a few drinks."

"Grandpa Zhuang is back?" Ji Jingqiu asked in surprise, "Then I'll go see him another day."

"Well, it just so happens that you haven't been to the temple to worship for a long time, so you can go and pay your respects while you're there." Ji Bumian nodded.

The Grandpa Zhuang mentioned by Ji Jingqiu lived on the lower floor and was a priest in a dilapidated temple.

There are many temples on the East 3 Huangxing Star, but due to the poor economy, most of them do not even have people to guard the temples.

Ji Jingqiu doesn't believe in God, or rather, he used to believe in God but found it was useless so he stopped believing in it.

Focus on realism.

God does exist in the Federation.

Some of them can even interfere with the operation of local councils by influencing believers.

Therefore, in many places, the "gods" with strong incense are one of the first targets that government officials try to win over. Their size and status are no less than those of oligarchic giants and certain aristocratic families.

It was a pity that these gods were helpless against the evil poison, or perhaps they despised his insincerity and were unwilling to pay any attention to him for the sake of his pitiful offerings.

"What kind of standing practice have you learned? Show me how to practice it." Ji Wumian said with interest.

Upon hearing this, Ji Jingqiu did not rush to practice. Instead, he looked at the old man and asked suspiciously, "You have practiced martial arts before, have you?"

Ji Wumian rolled his eyes and said, "What's so surprising about this? Nowadays, all you need to learn martial arts is money. Don't even mention me. Your father also stole money from home to enroll in martial arts courses outside. Unfortunately, neither of us are very good at it."

Ji Jingqiu asked cautiously, "Does our family lack talent?"

This thing can't be hereditary, right?
"I have decent talent, but I don't have any money."

Ji Wumian put his hands behind his back and sighed,
"The body-building stage is a bit too much to bear, let alone the later stages. Which stage doesn't cost money like water? Our family really can't afford it.

When I was young, I was obsessed with martial arts training and even took out a loan to do so. Later, I thought that not only would I be unable to pay it off in this lifetime, but I would have to pay off the debt for at least three generations of my descendants.

Finally, we decided to run away, otherwise East 3 Huangxing would not be our hometown. "

Ji Jingqiu was dumbfounded.

He didn't expect that his grandfather had such a glorious resume.

"How much did you owe back then?" he couldn't help but ask.

Ji Wumian glanced at him and asked, "Are you going to pay it back for me?"

Ji Jingqiu shook his head like a rattle.

Life is already so difficult, how can you add on the burden of loans?

"Then what are you asking?" Ji Wumian raised his chin, "Practice the standing practice. I can still give you some pointers on the body-building stage."

"Oh."

Ji Jingqiu is now very proficient in practicing standing meditation.

The pole frame moved as he wished, and the energy in his body that had grown stronger swayed slightly and turned into a cloud of mist that spread throughout his body with his breathing.

Under the wrapping of this Qi, every inch of his body was gradually immersed in a warm current. Every inch of his flesh, blood, tendons and bones became stronger under the warmth of the Qi, and the Qi grew silently under the feedback of blood and Qi.

This feeling is simply the best.

He was now practicing the Fu Long Posture and did not feel any of the unbearable pain he had in the beginning. Instead, it was extremely comfortable, as if he was soaking in a hot spring every moment.

After a complete cycle ended, Ji Jingqiu finished his training and looked at his grandfather expectantly.

Ji Wumian stroked his chin and said, "You've practiced well. Follow me."

"Is there anything that needs improvement?" Ji Jingqiu asked modestly.

Ji Wumian pondered for a moment, then said without changing his expression, "I just remembered that Zhuanggong is a personal matter, and it is best if you figure it out on your own. By the way, how much savings do you have at home?"

"About two hundred thousand." Ji Jingqiu calculated.

This amount of money is neither too little nor too much, and it is not enough to buy even a stick of purifying incense.

Moreover, their family lives off the land and neither the old nor the young has a stable source of income.

Ji Wumian turned around and walked into the house, taking out his terminal.

After a while.

A prompt message suddenly popped up on Ji Jingqiu's terminal.

"Your account with the last digit 402X received a transfer of 803134.23 yuan..."

"I have some private savings here. You can use it to buy a few injections of gene enhancers. Practicing martial arts requires a lot of resources. Unfortunately, my family doesn't have much to offer you."

"Since you have made up your mind, why not see how far you can go. The road of martial arts is long and difficult, but if you keep going, you will reach your destination."

Looking at this string of numbers with both zeros and integers, Ji Jingqiu felt a little complicated.

It is said to be private money, but it is actually retirement money, right?
Just...gene enhancers?

This was a byproduct of the gene editing craze 120 years ago. It has long been listed as a banned substance and can only be found on the lower-level black market.

Ji Jingqiu said helplessly: "Can that thing be used?"

Ji Wumian glanced at him and said, "It's ok for others to be afraid of this thing, but are you afraid of it too?"

Ji Jingqiu opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly didn't know what to say.

Feel……

It seems reasonable?

The old man’s meaning is very simple. He has survived the most terrifying poison caused by gene editing for sixteen years. Does he still need to be afraid of gene enhancers?

In fact, the reason why this thing is still circulating on the black market is because there are plenty of people in this world who don’t need to consider the consequences.

Ji Wumian said calmly, "A normal 'Divine Building Needle' for the Body Forging Realm costs 500,000 each, and a full course of treatment requires eight needles. We can't afford it, so we can only use some unconventional methods."

Ji Jingqiu couldn't help but ask, "Is there a big difference between hitting this thing and not hitting it?"

"Nonsense." Ji Wumian scolded harshly, "You should at least have some respect for the four million. These eight needles can at least smooth out your inherent weakness compared to others and reach the most basic starting line."

Ji Jingqiu: “…”

Ji Wumian asked: "Do you want to learn boxing, kicking, grappling, or swords, spears, and sticks in the future?"

Ji Jingqiu thought about it seriously and said, "It should be the sword. I will probably choose to learn the sword."

"Oh, why?" Ji Wumian asked curiously.

"I studied history." Ji Jingqiu was also curious, "What did you study back then, old man?"

He enjoyed reading history, especially the turbulent times at the beginning of the Federation.

According to historical records, the seven founding marshals who laid the foundation of the federation used the knife most commonly, followed by the sword, gun and fist.

"Boxing." Ji Wumian said slowly, "I like to speak with my fists. What I hate most in my life is knives."

(End of this chapter)