The fifty disabled veterans stood at the edge of the demolished cage, looking at the broken concrete and scattered chain link.
“Chairman Lin,” the old peg-legged veteran said, his voice hesitant. “Our bodies are ruined. Some of us lost tendons to border poachers twenty years ago. Others had their dantian meridians smashed by black-sand thugs. We are just old shells. Can needles and soup really mend old iron?”
Lin Mo walked to the center of the ring, his expression calm and steady.
“Old iron can be reforged,” Lin Mo said. “You bled for ordinary people when nobody else would. Tonight, Taichu will reforge every single one of you.”
Before the veterans could take another step, the heavy southern blast doors slid upward with a metallic hum.
Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside.
Twenty-four more men marched into the colosseum. Some walked with aluminum canes, some wore eye patches, and several had severe burn scars across their forearms. They were retired border scouts, disabled police martial arts instructors, and former military instructors from the surrounding counties.
Above their heads, clean green numbers glowed between 88/100 and 94/100.
The lead man, an old instructor with silver hair and a missing left ear, saluted Lin Mo with a clenched fist.
“Chairman Lin! We heard the Black-Tiger bullies were trapping our old brothers here,” the silver-haired instructor said in a gravelly voice. “We took the night train from North River County. We may be crippled, but we still have one punch left in us!”
Lin Mo looked at the twenty-four newly arrived veterans, then at the fifty already in the room. Together with the twenty-six retired scouts guarding Taichu’s supply depot, exactly one hundred righteous martial veterans had gathered under his banner.
One hundred honest men who gave their youth to protect others, Lin Mo thought, deeply moved by their stubborn courage. Society discarded them, but in my eyes, they are worth more than a thousand crooked conglomerates.
Lin Mo turned to Master Wen and Tie Niu.
“Tie Niu, Master Wen,” Lin Mo commanded. “Bring out the three bronze heritage cauldrons from the exhibition hall. Fill them with pure mountain spring water and ignite the heating burners beneath.”
Within minutes, Master Wen’s security wardens rolled out three massive antique bronze cauldrons, each four feet wide and carved with ancient cloud patterns. The burners beneath roared to life, sending steam rising toward the high ceiling.
Lin Mo stepped up to Dr. Gu Qinghe.
From his pocket, Lin Mo produced a crystal vial containing thirty drops of concentrated dew distilled from the three-hundred-year Changbai wild blood-ginseng. He also opened the remainder of the Millennium Tiger-Bone Tempering Paste.
Lin Mo poured the ginseng dew and tiger-bone essence into the steaming cauldrons.
HISS!
A magnificent crimson and gold medicinal vapor billowed out, filling the underground colosseum with the intoxicating fragrance of wild pine, warm amber, and ancient vitality.
Su Wan opened her payment terminal, looking at Lin Mo.
“Chairman Lin, what are the formal allocations?” Su Wan asked.
“Ten million yuan,” Lin Mo said clearly. “Allocate four million for rare supporting herbs, snow lotus root, and spirit-spring minerals to complete the medicinal baths. Allocate another six million for custom high-grade cold-iron sabres, tactical armor vests, and monthly wellness stipends for all one hundred veterans. From this moment on, they are the Taichu Righteous Martial Hall, under Commander Tie Niu.”
Beep.
Su Wan tapped the screen.
BEEP.
A grand, celestial bell rang deep in Lin Mo’s consciousness:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥10,000,000.00 RMB on Veteran Martial Reconstruction & Heritage Hall Establishment!]
[Target Beneficiaries: 100 Disabled Righteous Martial Veterans (Goodness: 88–94/100)!]
[Purpose: Spirit-herb medicinal baths, meridian restoration, customized alloy equipment, and formal founding of Taichu Righteous Martial Hall!]
[System Verification: Pure benevolent spending with zero exploitation or selfish ambition!]
[Triggering 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Cash Refund Received: +¥1,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥85,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +1,000,000 BMP | Total BMP: 177,949,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 9,600 Verified Righteous Allies (+24 newly arrived veterans formally integrated)!]
Eighty-five billion yuan in personal liquid cash, Lin Mo thought, watching the vault balance update. And another million merit points. Doing good is not just a moral duty; it is an unstoppable economic engine.
Dr. Gu Qinghe stepped onto the platform beside the central cauldron.
In his hands, he held the open sandalwood box containing the Sovereign Spirit-Gold Nine-Turn Needles.
Beside him stood Little Guo’er. The six-year-old girl held Dr. Gu’s sleeve with one hand, while the translucent, nine-petaled golden lotus flower spun gently above her head, shedding soft petals of fragrant light.
“Brothers,” Dr. Gu called out, his voice ringing with pride and authority. “Sit around the cauldrons in a circle! Breathe the medicinal steam into your lungs!”
All one hundred veterans sat cross-legged on the canvas floor around the three bronze cauldrons. They stripped off their shirts, revealing torsos crisscrossed with bullet scars, shrapnel marks, and twisted scar tissue.
Dr. Gu closed his eyes. He reached into the sandalwood box, pulling out three golden needles between his fingers.
“Guo’er,” Dr. Gu whispered gently. “Lend Grandpa Gu a thread of your warm sunshine.”
Little Guo’er smiled and nodded. “Take all the sunshine you want, Grandpa Gu!”
Dr. Gu channeled his internal qi into the needles.
Instantly, the golden lotus above Little Guo’er’s head pulsed. A warm stream of golden light flowed down Dr. Gu’s arm, coating the three gold needles in radiant, living warmth.
HUMMMMM.
Dr. Gu’s hands moved like blurred shadows.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The gold needles danced through the air, tapping into the acupoints of the veterans.
First was the peg-legged border veteran.
Dr. Gu inserted a gold needle into the man’s hip joint, another into his lower spine, and a third into his severed knee meridian.
SIZZLE!
A thick, dark sludge of stagnant poison qi hissed out of the needle holes, dissolving into thin air with a foul sulfur smell.
Immediately after, the golden medicinal vapor from the cauldrons rushed into the man’s pores like a flood.
The old soldier cried out in shock.
Under his skin, withered tendons swelled and reconnected. Torn muscle fibers knit together with audible, popping sounds. The dull, freezing ache that had plagued his knee for thirty years was replaced by an intense, soothing warmth.
“My leg...” the old soldier shouted, tears bursting from his eyes.
He kicked his wooden peg leg away, plant both bare feet onto the concrete floor, and pushed himself straight up!
He stood tall, without a cane, without wobbling, his back straight as an iron spear!
“I can stand!” the man roared, throwing his hands into the air. “I can walk! I can run!”
He threw a hard right straight punch into the air.
WHIP!
A clean, crisp whip-crack echoed through the colosseum as his internal qi circulated through his healed meridians.
The other ninety-nine veterans watched with pounding hearts.
“It works! The divine needles really cure shattered meridians!”
Dr. Gu did not stop. Guided by Little Guo’er’s pure lotus aura, his needles flew from man to man with effortless grace.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Needles tapped into shoulders, spines, chests, and wrists.
One by one, the veterans cried out in joy and relief.
The silver-haired instructor from North River County felt the blocked qi in his chest burst open like a broken dam. His pale, sallow skin turned ruddy and full of life. He leaped three feet into the air, landing in a perfect cat stance and unleashing a rapid series of five tiger-claw strikes that whistled through the wind!
“My internal qi has returned!” the instructor shouted, weeping with joy. “Rank One Peak! I am back at the peak of Rank One!”
Within thirty minutes, all one hundred veterans stood in the center of the arena.
Their bodies were covered in a film of black impurities washed away by the medicinal baths. Their eyes shone with ferocious martial clarity. Their posture was proud, powerful, and unyielding.
Tie Niu stepped forward, holding a row of twenty newly forged cold-iron sabres. He distributed the weapons into the hands of the veteran squad leaders.
“Taichu Righteous Martial Hall!” Tie Niu bellowed, his deep voice shaking the ceiling. “Who do we protect?!”
All one hundred veterans slammed their heels together, saluting Lin Mo with unified, earth-shaking thunder:
“We protect Chairman Lin! We protect the common people! We protect Taichu Sanctuary!”
Their unified roar reverberated through the concrete bunker like a mountain avalanche.
The collective wave of pure gratitude, fierce loyalty, and righteous martial will from one hundred healed warriors washed over Lin Mo.
At the same time, the fragrant crimson qi from the three-hundred-year blood-ginseng and the golden light from Little Guo’er’s lotus converged into a visible vortex of light, swirling straight into Lin Mo’s chest.
BOOM!
A muffled detonation rumbled inside Lin Mo’s dantian.
The Jade-Gold armor plating around his internal organs expanded, fusing with the pure spiritual essence of the herbs.
[Ding! Immense Civic Gratitude & Pure Spirit-Herb Qi assimilated!]
[Host Cultivation Breakthrough Achieved!]
[Advancement: Rank 2 High Martial Artist!]
[Special Ability Unlocked: Spirit-Herb & Ancient Qi Perception!]
[Qi Sense Expanded: Spherical Radius Reaches 1,000 Meters!]
Lin Mo closed his eyes, inhaling slowly.
His consciousness expanded outward in an instantaneous, thousand-meter dome.
He could feel the heartbeat of every veteran in the arena. He could sense the microscopic flow of sap in the grass roots thirty feet above the concrete ceiling. He could perceive the chemical composition of the medicine simmering in the bronze cauldrons.
He could even sense the faint trace of ancient qi buried deep in the antique jade carvings stored in the building’s underground vaults.
Rank Two High Martial, Lin Mo thought, feeling the immense, effortless strength coursing through his veins. A one-kilometer awareness sphere. Nobody in Jiangcheng can sneak up on me anymore.
Lin Mo opened his eyes. A flash of pure gold flickered across his dark pupils before vanishing.
He glanced toward the northern exit tunnel.
Through his thousand-meter qi sense, he tracked two scurrying figures.
Up in the VIP box, Zhao Kun and Zhao Kai had crawled out through a maintenance hatch under the ruined tea table. They were stumbling down the concrete alleyway outside the colosseum in the pouring rain.
Zhao Kun’s expensive clothes were ripped to shreds. His forehead was caked in dried blood and soot. He leaned against the damp brick wall of the alley, coughing violently.
Zhao Kai followed behind him like a frightened dog, his teeth chattering from the cold rain.
“Uncle...” Zhao Kai sobbed, wiping rain and tears from his eyes. “What do we do now? The arena is gone. Lei Hu is crippled. The mercenaries were arrested. The thirty million I borrowed from the underground bosses... they will skin me alive!”
Zhao Kun turned around, his face twisted in psychotic hatred. He grabbed Zhao Kai by the collar and slammed him against the wet brick wall.
“Shut up, you cowardly worm!” Zhao Kun snarled, his eyes bulging with red veins. “Lei Hu was just a dog! The arena was just an investment! As long as our Zhao Family Consortium stands, we have not lost!”
Zhao Kun pulled a heavy satellite phone from his waterproof inner pocket. He dialed a private emergency number with shaking fingers.
The call connected on the second ring.
“Father!” Zhao Kun yelled into the phone, his voice screeching into the storm. “Lin Mo has pushed us to the edge of the cliff! He bought the arena! He healed one hundred border veterans! He took the blood-ginseng!”
On the other end of the line, the ancient, rasping voice of Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong sounded cold and merciless:
“What do you propose, Kun’er?”
Zhao Kun stared into the dark rain, his teeth grinding so hard they cracked.
“Father! Pledge every warehouse! Pledge our pharmaceutical lines! Pledge our real estate towers!” Zhao Kun roared like a cornered beast. “Contact our thirty supplier workshops! Short Taichu’s partner stocks on the private exchanges! Send our covert squads into Grand Golden-Plume Plaza tonight! Midnight total war! By tomorrow morning, either Lin Mo is wiped from Jiangcheng, or our Zhao family dies on the riverbank!”