My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 1 Mysterious Heavenly Dao Fruit

The Great Zhou Dynasty, Bianjing City.

The eastern part of the city was a gathering place for merchants, with many traveling merchants congregating there.

Shen Yan arrived at the entrance of Sifang Trading Company and looked at the busy shop assistants and bookkeepers in front of the door, feeling deeply moved.

He was not originally from this world; his soul transmigrated into the body of a down-on-his-luck scholar.

The original owner of this body was also named Shen Yan. His mother passed away when he was young, and his father did not remarry, raising him alone.

They provided him with education and allowed him to study at the clan's university. Unfortunately, despite participating in the imperial examinations for many years, he only managed to become a junior scholar.

After growing up, he worked as a bookkeeper in a business and was able to support himself.

A few days ago, Shen's father passed away. During the vigil, Shen Yan unfortunately caught a cold and died at home.

Then he came to this world.

I thought that being able to live such a peaceful life wouldn't be a bad thing.

pity.

Just yesterday, people from the prison came to his door to inform him that he needed to go to the prison for duty.

It turns out that his father was a prison guard.

Now that Shen's father is dead and there are no other male members in the Shen family, this task can only fall to him.

The prison officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty were hereditary, with sons inheriting their fathers' positions; this had been the case since the founding of the dynasty.

If he had succeeded in the imperial examination, he would naturally no longer need to serve in the prison, but Shen Yan was only a student who had passed the lowest level of the imperial examination.

I've come to the shop today to resign from my job as manager.

He glanced at the busy workers in front of him, greeted them, and went straight inside.

We entered the lobby.

I saw a slightly plump middle-aged man, dressed in brocade, with shrewdness in his small eyes.

He sat at the counter, looking at the account books and tapping on the abacus, occasionally muttering to himself.

This man was none other than Lin Changfu, the manager of the Sifang Trading Company.

Shen Yan walked up to him.

"Manager Lin, I'm here to resign."

"Resign?!"

Upon hearing Shen Yan's words, Lin Changfu put down his account book, looked at him, and didn't understand why Shen Yan wanted to quit his job.

"My father passed away a few days ago. He was a jailer in the imperial prison when he was alive, and after his death, the job fell to me."

Lin Changfu's eyes held a hint of regret.

"It's only right for a son to follow in his father's footsteps, but the prison is no easy place. You'd better do your job well. Here are a few taels of silver, take them."

As he spoke, he took out a few taels of silver from the drawer and handed them to Shen Yan.

Shen Yan accepted the silver coins with some surprise. He hadn't expected that the stingy shopkeeper would actually give him a few taels of silver; it was truly a rare sight.

Hearing the shopkeeper's words, he felt a little doubtful. "Isn't being a prisoner a good job? Isn't it good to work for the government? In my past life, I envied civil servants the most."

So he asked, "Shopkeeper, why is the Heavenly Prison such a bad job?"

Lin Changfu coughed lightly and spoke.

"Serving in the imperial prison means you've been relegated to a lowly status, making it impossible for you to pursue an official career or study. You should understand this; it's a pity to waste your status as a student and all those years of hard work."

"Furthermore, not to mention the lawless gangsters and the officials who have committed crimes in the prison, even the servants of the wealthy and powerful families with their tall gates could be killed if the jailers offended them or were negligent in their duties."

"However, you're quite clever in your dealings with people, so you should be fine as long as you're careful in your work. If you have time, learn a few martial arts moves; even if you can't win a prison break, you'll be able to escape faster than others."

"A prison break? The Great Zhou Dynasty actually has such a daring strongman."

"A few days ago, a group of people broke into the prison. Your father was seriously ill at the time, and you were at home taking care of him, so it's normal that you didn't know."

"Thank you for your guidance, shopkeeper."

Listening to the shopkeeper's words, Shen Yan immediately understood that this was different from the prison guards he knew in his previous life.

The prisoners in those jails, apart from those on death row, included ordinary people. Even the servants of officials could easily cause trouble for him after their release.

Not to mention those audacious江湖人士 (jianghu figures), if they really encounter a prison break, they don't care who you are.

Shen Yan couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"I thought it was a golden opportunity, a free civil servant position, but I never imagined it would be so life-threatening. But since things are already like this, I can only take it one step at a time."

Looking at his own thin and frail body, he took Manager Lin's words to heart.

"I really should go back and work on my body. I've been given a second chance at life, and I don't want to die young again."

The two didn't chat for long, and seeing that Lin Changfu was still busy, Shen Yan took his leave and went home.

Today is the seventh day after his death, and tomorrow he should be on duty in the prison.

Lin Changfu shook his head as he watched Shen Yan's departing figure.

Walking on the main street of Bianjing, the road surface is paved with bluestone slabs, vendors on the roadside shout out their wares, and neat rows of two-story wooden buildings line the street, housing all kinds of shops.

suddenly.

A commotion was heard ahead.

A strong, resonant voice reached Shen Yan's ears.

"The Imperial Guards are on duty; bystanders please get out of the way."

Shen Yan looked at the several Imperial Guards in front of him, dressed in flying fish robes and holding embroidered spring knives.

Their expressions were serious, and the aura emanating from them made him uneasy.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone stepped aside, not daring to block their way.

When people saw the Imperial Guards traveling, they avoided them like the plague, not even daring to look at them.

Only after they had gone far away did they dare to discuss it in hushed tones.

"With this dark-skinned guy around, someone's in for trouble again."

"I don't know which company is being targeted."

"Alas! Life is hard."

When the Embroidered Uniform Guard is mobilized, it's always a major event. If a family is targeted, the consequences can range from the destruction of the family to the extermination of their entire clan.

Shen Yan watched their departing figures, a hint of envy in her eyes.

"These people must all be martial artists."

Back home, some of the mourning arrangements had not yet been removed. Shen Yan took out his father's belongings from a hidden compartment.

A house deed, a book, and a few taels of silver.

This is all the property left by his father. This small courtyard is in a good location, adjacent to the Duke's Mansion.

It is often patrolled by servants from the Duke's mansion, so it is very safe. Of course, it is not cheap. I really don't know how his father, a jailer, saved up for it.

"Taizu Changquan?"

"It turns out to be a complete boxing style, along with a matching medicinal bath recipe."

The martial arts of the Great Zhou Dynasty flourished, divided into nine ranks, with the first rank being the pinnacle, and above the first rank was the legendary Grandmaster realm.

These external training methods all have matching medicinal bath formulas; otherwise, not only will the progress be slow, but there is also a risk of going astray and harming oneself.

Shen Yan opened the "Taizu Changquan" manual, a basic boxing style that the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty passed down to his soldiers.

It is widely circulated among military personnel and is not a rare item.

Seeing the moves in the boxing style, Shen Yan couldn't help but try to imitate them and started learning, completing one round of the long fist routine.

It had already gotten dark.

His face was covered in a fine layer of sweat, and his breathing was somewhat rapid.

"Phew! My body is still too weak. I'm out of breath after just one punch."

Just then, a golden light flashed in his mind.

A perfectly round, golden sun appeared in my mind.

He seemed to see celestial birds and mythical beasts soaring through the sky, and a banished immortal Daoist discussing Dao in a palace.

Barbarian giants stand tall and imposing, capable of moving mountains and filling seas. Meanwhile, immortals wield swords with incredible power, taking the head of a demon king from thousands of miles away.

Much later, I looked back on myself.

Shen Yan softly exclaimed, "The Mysterious Heaven Dao Fruit! Heaven has been kind to me, not only granting me a second life but also giving me a cheat code."

He realized that the golden sun in his mind was actually a Dao Fruit. Although he didn't know what it was used for, it was definitely a good thing.

He calmed himself down, focused his mind, and looked at the Dao Fruit in his mind.

Above, a small figure in black was seen dancing, practicing the "Taizu Long Fist" that he had just learned.

There was a hint of shock in his eyes.

The black figure seemed to never tire, and it took Shen Yan several hours to complete one round of the fist technique.

It can be completed in just half an hour.

After waiting for a long time without receiving any feedback, Shen Yan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"They probably haven't figured out its use yet. Let's study it slowly later."

Taizu Changquan is a basic boxing style, and the medicinal materials required are all very common. However, Shen Yan is currently short of money, with only ten taels of silver.

I don't know when the monthly wages for the prisoner will be paid. I need to save this money to buy food.

So he had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​continuing to practice his skills and go to bed early so he could go to the prison for his duty the next morning.