My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 3 The Golden Body Technique

Shen Yan never expected to receive money on his very first day.

I thought I wouldn't get any, but I ended up getting one too. Sun Fugui mentioned where the money came from when he delivered the food.

Ninety percent of the money bribed by the prisoners' families was handed over to the Ministry of Justice, and the remainder was distributed among the prison guards.

The prison warden took 50% of it, the prison officers of each section took 20% of their respective prisons, and the remaining 30% was divided among the prison guards.

These funds were all accounted for in ledgers, which were kept and recorded by the clerk. Every year, these ledgers were submitted to the officials of the Ministry of Justice for review.

Everything was done flawlessly, and of course, each government office in Bianjing had its own way of making money.

If they relied solely on their salaries, the officials would have starved to death long ago.

After receiving the money, he weighed it in his hand, feeling surprised.

"It's quite heavy; it must be worth ten taels of silver."

In the past, even working hard in the business would only earn one or two taels of silver a month, which was barely enough for a family of three to make ends meet.

I never expected the spoils from the prison to be so generous.

After receiving the silver, everyone smiled.

When the advisor ordered someone to bring out the eight-immortal table from the corner, everyone's faces immediately darkened.

The clerk stroked his mustache and looked at the jailers with a smile.

"Come on, we've got our share of the profits today, everyone's in a good mood, let's play a couple of rounds."

Upon hearing this, all the jailers gathered around.

Seeing Shen Yan standing there motionless, Sun Fugui tugged at his sleeve and whispered something beside him.

"Go play a couple of rounds."

"Brother Sun, what's going on?"

"This isn't asking you to gamble; it's forcing you to pay tribute."

"Then how much should I bet?"

He held up five fingers and waved them in front of Shen Yan's eyes.

Shen Yan immediately understood and inwardly cursed the prison warden.

"What a ruthless exploiter! He actually uses this method to force people to pay tribute."

He and Sun Fugui bet five taels of silver on a dice game to guess who would win.

Everyone bet on "big," and surprisingly, no one among the dozen or so people bet on "small."

As expected, the result was high.

"You guys are having a bad day! Go all in, the house will wipe you out."

The advisor's eyes lit up as he looked at the chips on the table, and he pocketed all the silver in one gulp.

"You can continue playing; I still need to report back to Lord Prisoner."

After saying this, the clerk packed up the money and left the No. 3 prison.

Seeing that the other party's technique was skillful, as if they had practiced it thousands of times, Shen Yan felt somewhat fortunate.

"It was definitely the right decision not to make a rash move. No wonder my cheap old man was able to buy that house next to the Duke's mansion. This prison is a place where you can make money from every angle."

Shen Yan had just arrived at the prison and didn't want to attract too much attention.

He hadn't forgotten the jailer with the number A hanging over his head, nor had he forgotten the death of Shen's father.

For now, we can only lie low and try our best not to attract Hu Youtian's attention. Once we have mastered martial arts, we will naturally not be afraid of him.

After the advisor left, everyone stayed and continued playing around the octagonal table.

Shen Yan wasn't interested in gambling, so he sat down and started looking at the prisoners' files.

After the shift ended, I received my share of the profits today.

Ma Danian hosted a dinner at a restaurant, booking a table for the guards of Prison No. 3.

This is considered a monthly collective activity for the prison guards.

At the dinner table, Shen Yan listened quietly to the jailers chatting about everything under the sun, and gained a much clearer understanding of many things happening in the prison.

Those who could serve in the Heavenly Prison for a long time were all shrewd and capable; the Heavenly Prison was like a microcosm of the officialdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Although only the prison warden was considered an official, the rest were just lowly laborers.

When they were quite tipsy, someone brought up the recent prison break.

Clearly, some of the prison guards, like Shen Yan, had only recently arrived at the prison.

"Tell me about the prison break a few days ago, Ma Tou."

When Ma Danian spoke of this, his eyebrows danced with excitement, as if he were a god descending to earth to drive away the strongmen who had broken into the prison. At the most exciting parts, everyone cheered.

Originally, there were more than 20 people in the No. 3 prison, and Ma Danian was originally just a prison guard.

He also benefited from Shen Yan's influence. Because of Shen Changqing's death, Hu Youtian spent a lot of money to bribe the prison clerk and get the position of prison clerk in the No. 1 prison. Only then did Ma Danian have the opportunity to use money to get the position.

The people who were kidnapped were members of the White Lotus Sect. As a result, several jailers in the Binghao Prison died, and because of the shortage of manpower, Shen Yan was pulled in to serve.

Such a major blunder in the imperial prison naturally warranted criticism, since the prison guards were considered lowly and insignificant by their superiors.

Prison warden Xu Shaogong spent a considerable amount of money to quell the matter, and the Binghao prison also paid a heavy price, with several prison guards dying.

They claimed it was collusion with outsiders, but the truth was not something the officials in the Ministry of Justice cared about; they were only thinking about how to report back.

At this point, everyone's mood became somewhat low.

Shen Yan was somewhat moved upon hearing this.

"As expected, being a prison guard isn't easy; one wrong move and you can become a victim."

Seeing the atmosphere turn somber, Ma Danian immediately spoke up.

"When drinking, everyone should be careful in their work. If you behave yourself, there won't be any problems."

After the banquet ended, Shen Yan returned home under the moonlight.

The next morning.

When Shen Yan woke up, he felt an even more surging power than the day before.

He couldn't help but practice a set of Taizu Changquan in the courtyard. The wind from his punches was so strong that it was quite deafening.

"It's a bit stronger than yesterday. According to the records of the boxing technique, it should be considered a minor achievement."

"Waking up stronger feels so good."

It's truly unbelievable that Taizu Changquan (a style of Chinese martial arts) was mastered to a minor level in just two days.

Although the Taizu Long Fist is only a rudimentary fist technique, even if one practices it to perfection, it is only enough to enter the ninth rank.

However, not a single prison guard in the jail today is a martial artist of the highest rank, which shows how rare martial artists are and how difficult it is to learn martial arts.

"Once I reach the next level and generate true energy, I wonder what it will be like."

Shen Yan estimated that his strength was already much stronger than that of a normal middle-aged man, but as for his combat ability, it was hard to say without actual combat experience.

His consciousness sank into his mind and saw the golden Dao Fruit.

The dark figure continued to punch, even faster than yesterday, and Shen Yan left satisfied.

After tidying up, they arrived at the imperial prison.

He was the only one delivering food today; Sun Fugui was still gambling in the jail cell. Shen Yan could only shake his head and sigh at this.

"Gambling and drugs are harmful!"

Arriving at Zhu Zhengyang's cell door, he saw that only Shen Yan was there today, and quickly spoke up.

"Hey sir, give me more, give me more, it's not enough!"

Shen Yan looked at the thin porridge that had been boiled down to some unknown substance in his hand. Even the swill he used to feed pigs in his previous life was far better than this.

The rice scoop was waved in front of him.

"Want some? It's not impossible."

"I heard you have a technique called the Golden Body Technique. Trade it for me, and I'll get you not only this porridge, but also the roast chicken and peach blossom wine from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion."

"You're just a lowly jailer, yet you're dreaming."

"Hmph, you'll be full of water today."

Shen Yan wasn't in a hurry; there was plenty of time. Zhu Zhengyang still had two months before his execution. He wasn't the only martial artist in the prison; he could just ask others.

"Even the Taizu Long Fist technique isn't perfected yet, so there's no rush. Someone will eventually be willing. Unfortunately, there isn't a suitable person in this prison yet."

He searched through almost all the prisoner files in Prison C and found only ten people with martial arts skills. Among them, only two were rank-3 martial artists: Zhu Zhengyang and Yang Biao from the Sky Eagle Gang.

Yang Biao's offense was minor; he'd be out in ten days or two weeks. This was someone Shen Yan couldn't afford to mess with; he didn't want to experience the animosity of a ninth-rank martial artist.

Zhu Zhengyang killed the younger brother of Imperial Censor Lin's concubine. Even with a thousand reasons, he had no choice but to die.

Shen Yan whiled away two days of Zhu Zhengyang's time, and also mentioned it to Sun Fugui.

He naturally wouldn't have any objections to such a trivial matter. Even if Zhu Zhengyang starved to death, Shen Yan would write the report anyway.

During this time, Shen Yan also went to the pharmacy to get the medicinal materials needed for the Taizu Long Fist medicinal bath, and after using it, it was indeed twice as effective with half the effort.

In just three days, Shen Yan had already reached the proficiency level in Taizu Changquan.

Anyone who sees him boxing would assume he's a seasoned boxer who's been practicing for years.