Chapter 94: Merchandise Gifts, Vermilion Fruit.

Chapter 94: Promotional Gifts, Vermilion Fruit

As soon as it touched his tongue, the Vermilion Fruit dissolved instantly. Sheng Qingquan didn’t even get to taste it—only a chill liquid sensation flowed down his throat before a sudden warmth bloomed in his *dantian* (energy center). The contrast between ice and fire was stark, yet it didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Instead, it was as refreshing as eating ice cream on a scorching summer day.

When the sensation faded, Sheng Qingquan’s previously thin and meager internal energy had grown dense and powerful.

If his two months of grueling cultivation had only filled a basin with water before, now, while not quite an ocean yet, it was at least a small lake.

This level of internal energy would normally require decades of relentless training to achieve.

Sheng Qingquan raised his hand and released a burst of qi energy toward the door.

A hole appeared in the wooden surface. He leaned closer to inspect it and could clearly see into the living room through the opening.

This would have been utterly impossible before.

Not only could he not pierce the door, but he couldn’t even project energy, let alone strike from a distance and penetrate solid wood.

If wood could be damaged so easily, the consequences of hitting vital points—like the eyes or throat—were obvious.

Sheng Qingquan opened the door and headed to the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the fridge.

Holding the can in one hand, he used the other like a blade and executed a razor-sharp horizontal chop across the top.

The can was sliced cleanly open, yet not a single drop spilled. The top came off cleanly without spilling a drop.

Back then, even if he’d had an actual knife, Sheng Qingquan couldn’t have acted so swiftly and decisively.

Holding the soda can, Sheng Qingquan circulated his inner energy with a subtle push.

The chilled cola rapidly warmed up, and he casually tossed in a couple of ginger slices.

In no time, piping-hot ginger-infused cola was ready.

Throughout the entire process, Sheng Qingquan never even lit a flame.

He had only meant to try, but to his surprise, he actually succeeded.

Using inner energy to heat food was something Ji Zichen had mentioned—ordinary martial artists couldn’t achieve this. Only true masters could.

It was said that during the Hui Dynasty twenty years ago, there was an exceptional number of masters. The reason was that the martial world’s reigning beauty had once taken refuge from the rain in a rundown temple while traveling to attend a martial arts gathering.

As her suitors scrambled to win her favor, braving the rain to gather firewood to build a fire—hoping to dry her clothes and heat water to warm her up—the beauty simply poured herself a cup of water, heated it with her inner energy, and drank it. Then, with a circulation of her energy, she burned the dampness right out of her robes.

Just like that, she was dry and comfortable.

Her hair fell in loose, airy waves, her robes perfectly dry.

There was no need for all their fuss. The onlookers were utterly stunned. No one had expected the beauty, just sixteen, to be capable of such feats. Spurred by this, her suitors returned to rigorous training after the martial arts gathering.

Even so, most of them only achieved similar abilities by their thirties. Only a rare few, truly exceptional talents, managed to replicate what the beauty had done at sixteen by their twenties.

After that martial arts gathering, the beauty became the undisputed top master of her era, standing unchallenged.

Such unparalleled genius has remained unmatched to this day—no one’s ever come close to matching her.

After conducting these experiments, Sheng Qingquan stuck a straw into the pressurized can, sipping his cola while getting a better sense of his current level of inner strength.

Recalling Ji Zichen’s usual lessons, he pondered.

"So, the fruit I just ate was the legendary Vermilion Fruit?"

"In the storyline, Ji Zichen also used this to tempt the captors. It’s hard to say whether they kept him alive partly for the Vermilion Fruit. Even though Ji Zichen claimed it was extremely rare and unseen for years, to the captors, at least he had encountered it before."

"He’s seen it, so he can recognize it. If they’re lucky enough to come across it in the future, they won’t miss it. He’s basically a walking Vermilion Fruit detector."

Realizing that what he had just eaten was likely a Vermilion Fruit—and not an ordinary one, but one that could add twenty years to his inner strength—Sheng Qingquan couldn’t help but feel regret.

Not because he regretted eating it. The freebies never gave him a chance to refuse anyway, so he had long stopped dwelling on that.

What frustrated him was:

"Turns out it was just a berry!"

"Eating it was like Pigsy gulping down the Ginseng Fruit—no time to taste it, and worse, it didn’t even have a pit. I wasn’t expecting something as seedy as a pomegranate, but even a seed or two like a grape would’ve been fine."

"If there had been any, I wouldn’t have minded how few."

If there had been seeds, Sheng Qingquan, with his plant-manipulation ability, could have easily made them sprout and grow.

New fruits could’ve been growing in no time.

Of course, the crew was thinking the same thing. Hearing his inner monologue, they couldn’t help but feel deeply disappointed. This could have meant a never-ending supply of Vermilion Fruit.

With it, the nation could have quickly trained up a squad of elite fighters. Experts like that could make a huge difference.

The more they thought about it, the more regretful they became.

"No seeds, fine—but couldn’t we at least get some peel?"

"Nothing was left at all."

If there had been peel, giving it to the lab guys might have allowed them to extract something useful.

Not necessarily to cultivate a true Vermilion Fruit, but perhaps by analyzing its genes and comparing them to real-world plants, they could have bred a knockoff version.

A fruit that hands you twenty years might be too much to hope for, but even five or ten years—or even just one—would have been remarkable.

That’s the equivalent of a year’s worth of nonstop, round-the-clock training. Saving even one year of grind would have been a boon.

If they couldn’t instantly assemble a team of top-tier experts,

then a squad of mid-tier fighters would still be valuable. Even mid-tier experts could prove useful in critical moments.

"Alright, we already have the manuals. Inner strength can be trained gradually. Quit fixating on shortcuts—we’ve already gained plenty," Tao Qingmiao advised, seeing her colleagues sighing in frustration.

The others glanced at her—if she hadn’t snagged an apple from the fruit bowl and tore into it, they might have believed she wasn’t disappointed.

This wasn’t just any shortcut with side effects. It was a totally risk-free one!

Who wouldn’t want to take such a shortcut?

Still, even without peel or seeds, Sheng Qingquan, sipping his ginger cola, suddenly thought of something else. He quickly retrieved the diagnostic device and took a blood sample.

Though the Vermilion Fruit’s medicinal effects had likely been fully absorbed after his inner strength surged, there was always a chance something remained.

He put the blood sample, along with the clipped nails and hair, into a small box. At this thought, Sheng Qingquan regretted drinking that cola earlier.

Even if his mouth should’ve been clean—or whatever traces were left, the cola probably washed them away—he still used a cotton swab to collect oral cells.

Once everything was ready, he sent the samples to the officials.

But his disappointment was short-lived—something much bigger grabbed his focus.

“The government’s rolling out martial arts?!”

“Already?!”

That was his first thought, but on second consideration, it wasn’t really rushed.

“The martial arts’ origins are verified—no red flags. In other words, promoting them won’t pose any hidden risks to the public’s health.”

“There’s no need to spend time verifying the authenticity and reliability of the manuals before promotion, which saves a great deal of time.”

“Additionally, the first batch of students selected by Ji Zichen were all promising talents. After Ji Zichen returned, these students were assigned to various regions as instructors. Plenty have already learned the basics, so really, the timing’s perfect.”

“If this were a few years ago, there wouldn’t be such urgency. But now, with unknown crises potentially looming ahead, the sooner martial arts are promoted, the sooner people can gain self-defense capabilities. The fact that officials held off this long is impressive.”

By the time Sheng Qingquan pieced it together, the news had blown up across Tianlanxing.

Actual martial arts!

After witnessing Sheng Qingquan’s abilities, the authorities even invited him to film a promotional video.

The moment Sheng Qingquan logged on, his video was right at the top.

The video showed a blue-robed figure skimming over snow.

The snow was deep and powdery, yet he left no mark—not a single footprint—like gravity didn’t apply.

Ahead on the snowfield stood a few leafless shrubs adorned with bright red berries.

Two golden pheasants flitted through the shrubs, snacking on berries.

The blue-robed figure snatched a berry mid-peck—so fast the pheasant didn’t blink.

By the time the figure had flown far away with the berry, the video, through the lens, still captured the pheasant lowering its head for another peck—only to snap at empty air. It looked up, beady eyes baffled.

“LOL! Where’d my snack go? Birb did nothing wrong! Human thief!”

"Now THAT’S real qinggong!"

"TV ‘qinggong’ is just actors on wires, bobbing like elevators—pathetic!"

"Snowwalking with no footprints—the myth is REAL!"

"Aaaaah! I paused and zoomed in, checking frame by frame, and still found no flaws. So qinggong is real! Martial arts are real! Pinch me—we get to learn kung fu for real?"

"Who knew a childhood dream could actually come true one day? Currently bed-flailing in joy."

"Qinggong + hanfu = perfection. Already placing orders for robes and accessories. Buying, buying, buying! Just waiting for the lessons now."

Comments flooded the screen—total spamfest. Without aggressive filters, the video’d be unviewable.

After his berry heist, the figure zipped off to a bamboo forest.

Snow weighed heavy on the branches, yet when the figure in green stood atop the slender tip of a bamboo, he seemed to weigh less than the snow piled on the branches.

The bamboo tip barely swayed before settling, not even dislodging the snow on its leaves.

"White snow, green bamboo, and a figure in green—the single vibrant touch in his hand is that sprig of berries. This scene is pure perfection!"

"So cool! Need more of this!"

"Standing atop the bamboo forest—this was my childhood martial arts fantasy! I’ve always wanted to learn this since I was little. And now, the desire remains!"

"But here’s the thing now. Back then, no matter how much I wanted to learn, it was just a fantasy. Now, it’s actually possible—I’m pumped!"

Arrows came flying at him in waves. The green-robed figure’s sleeves billowed as he swept them aside with a single motion, sending the arrows scattering like rain.

When the second wave of arrows shot forth—

"No way, that’s dirty! Someone actually took the chance to fire a gun. That was a gunshot, right? I think I saw a bullet. They slowed it down, but it was still so fast—I’m not entirely sure."

"Went back and checked—definitely a bullet."

Just as everyone held their breath in suspense, the green-robed figure dealt with the arrows as before, then calmly raised his hand. The sprig of berries in his grasp just happened to intercept the bullet hidden among the arrows.

The bullet could advance no further.

After a brief stalemate with the berries, the bullet just… dropped. Useless.

"The berries didn’t lose a single one. Not even the skin of the fruit was broken!"

"‘Times have changed,’ they claim. But the green-robed figure proves—times may change, but martial arts still reign supreme. He’s still OP!"

After dispatching the arrows, the figure glided over to a lake.

The lake’s surface was littered with broken lotus stalks, and a few small boats floated upon it, each carrying four or five people.

At the sight of the green-robed figure, they swung their oars at him. Yet he did not board any boat—instead, he balanced on the snapped lotus stalks.

By now, the lake’s lotuses had long withered—no blooms, no leaves, only bent and broken stems, far from their once-supple and upright state.

They looked ready to crumble. Even a bird’s weight might have snapped them. Yet the green-robed figure stood effortlessly, like it was nothing.

Even more astonishingly, he traded blows with the men on the boats from this precarious perch.

One side had numbers, sturdy boats, and oars as weapons.

The other was a lone man with no footing but fragile stems, armed only with a sprig of berries.

On paper, the latter should have been at a disadvantage.

Yet in the fight, no matter how fiercely the men swung their oars, he parried every swing without breaking a sweat.

By the end, the berries didn’t lose a single one, while the long, sturdy wooden oars were reduced to splinters, scattered across the water.

After destroying their weapons, the green-robed figure flashed onto a boat. With one light poke with the berries, the men—still lunging in a last desperate struggle—just froze—mid-lunge.

"He hit their pressure points!"

"Aaaah coach I wanna learn this—it's so badass!"

"So when exactly will the official training start? I'm so hyped!"

"My vacation days are locked and loaded. Just say when the training begins, and I'll apply for time off."

"The visuals are so dreamy, yet it gets my blood pumping!"

"Who is this guy? Why cover his face? Ugh, he's fine even with the mask on. He's 100% my type—mom, I'm marrying him!"

"Of course the hotties all work for the government, huh?"

"That waistline? Those legs? Chef's kiss! Lowkey though, the skills make him hotter."

"How many years till I'm that good? Am I too old to start training?"

"So excited! When does the training start?"

"Honestly, isn’t it even better that we can’t see his face? The mystery just adds to the appeal!"

"Flying petals and plucked leaves can wound—that's next-level awesome!"

...

The internet was losing its mind. The comments Sheng Qingquan saw were even relatively restrained—some far more enthusiastic ones had him noping out like he touched a hot stove.

While filming, it had just felt exhausting, but he never expected the final product to turn out so well. Still, no matter how impressive, all this hype had Sheng Qingquan cringing hard.

Comments were blowing up his feed, impossible to block.

Sheng Qingquan yeeted out of that video.

He didn’t dare look at his phone again. Just as he tossed it aside, he suddenly heard some kid whining outside his window.

"Mom, mom, please buy me the exact same blue outfit! Just like in the video—look how cool he looks in it! I’ll slay in that fit. Once I learn martial arts, I’ll be just as amazing!"

"You want me to become a real martial arts master too, right? It starts with dressing like one. Same drip, same skills!"

"Best mom ever—pleasepleaseplease!"

*Cough.*

Sheng Qingquan squirmed in his seat, changing his posture as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

But lately, this was all anyone could talk about. No matter where he went, people were discussing it.

In flower shops, berry stems and that aesthetic floral stuff were selling out, with waitlists stretching for months. The same went for replica outfits and masks.

Even staying indoors didn’t help—he couldn't escape the hype anywhere.

Fortunately, the next day, the authorities finally clicked on something new, releasing a fresh video that diverted everyone’s attention.

Before opening it, Sheng Qingquan double-checked to make damn sure he hadn’t filmed anything else, then finally clicked on it.

Unlike the previous video’s classical vibe, the new one could easily be mistaken for a military parade at first glance—the production was insane.