After the birthday banquet.
Lu Chenzhou returned to the dormitory.
He composed himself and continued his Heavenly Pile training.
He had turned 17 years old, and by this time next year he could be getting his driver’s license, going out for drinks, doing all those adult things. It also meant if he wanted to earn money by winning the Martial Arts Academy exchange competition, he needed to make good use of these next two years. From the age of 19 onwards, he would only be able to register for the adult group competitions, where he would be competing on the same stage with opponents under 35 years old, facing a large number of Third Rank and even Tenth Rank enemies. If he wanted to make money, he had to act quickly!
January 5th, a rest day.
Lu Chenzhou had just finished his Heavenly Pile training to open the He Gu Acupoint in his dormitory.
"Opening the 13th acupoint isn’t much different from the 12th, it shouldn’t be a problem within 40 days."
[Dragon and Tiger Heavenly Pile: 13th Acupoint (10%)]
Prior to the tenth acupoint, Lu Chenzhou’s progress was stable at one acupoint per month; even faster at earlier stages, half a month per acupoint. After the tenth, his goal shifted to one acupoint every 40 days. According to this trend, it might take 50 days to two months per acupoint between the 20th and 30th acupoints.
Thinking this way, advancing to a Martial Artist by the age of 20 seemed to be a bit of a stretch.
"Once the Flying Swallow Sea Flying routine reaches Perfection and I can refine the Divine Seed, I’ll temporarily stop secondary training of fist techniques and focus wholeheartedly on Tiger Form Fist, further increasing my Heavenly Pile Cultivation time. Hard Qi Gong as an important trick up the sleeve before becoming a Martial Artist must not be neglected either. A competent martial artist needs to make choices at different stages, according to the actual situation."
He turned on his phone.
Lu Chenzhou called Qin Zheng.
[What’s up, Chenzhou?]
"Give me an account number, I’ll transfer the money for the Void-breaking Gloves to you."
[Hey man, what are you doing? I just lent them to you to use for now. I’m letting you have a free ride for the time being, not giving them to you for good. Don’t overthink it.]
[Having money makes you cool, huh? I’m hanging up.]
Qin Zheng hung up the phone directly, leaving Lu Chenzhou feeling somewhat helpless.
He had already approached Qin Zheng about this matter several times.
After giving it some thought, he messaged Qin Zheng via WeChat:
"Thanks, bro. If there’s anything you need help with in the future, just say the word."
[Gross. I’m off to watch a movie with my girlfriend. See you!]
Qin Zheng, who had successfully won over Sister Li, was sailing on a breeze. He now had only one goal: get into Su City University, pursue love, and as for Martial Arts, well, leave it to fate.
A year had passed, and he was still at Second Rank.
Lu Chenzhou was resigned:
"This guy’s so uncommitted to Martial Arts since falling in love. Sister Li is almost at Third Rank, he’ll get thrashed if they stay together in the future."
Nowadays, Lu Chenzhou had three million in savings.
Medicines and such, he was not short on for the time being.
Although at Sixth Rank, he still lacked a sense of security because he had become famous. While seen as a genius in others’ eyes, he was also a thorn in the side of some vile forces.
He worried about being targeted for assassination by these vile forces.
His methods were still not enough to handle the sinister Void Things and cultists!
After some consideration, Lu Chenzhou found Chen Yuan’s contact information.
His senior brother was also a genius and should understand his concerns.
After much thought, he left a message:
"Senior Brother, is it convenient to talk?"
Lu Chenzhou found a secluded spot by the Stone Lake’s edge, watching the Nameless waterbirds gliding over the rippling lake surface, occasionally bursting into the sky, then swooping down to skim the water.
Soon, a small fish found its way into the beak of one of the birds.
He had already taken the Bright God Potion, always feeling that inspiration was about to strike, yet still just a hint away from Perfection, so he repeatedly practiced the Flying Swallow Sea Sweeping routine. With the potion’s boost, his cultivation efficiency had significantly increased, but it still fell far short of the effects of a truly inspired moment.
"Perhaps the seaside would be better."
For Flying Swallow Sea Sweeping, both the swallow and the sea are crucial.
After all, the calm Stone Lake was no match for the vast ocean.
"Let it be, I’ll just practice slowly."
He didn’t want to stray too far from school for the time being.
Returning to his dormitory, his phone rang.
He answered the call, and Chen Yuan’s voice came through.
"Brother Lu, congratulations on claiming the championship of the exchange competition. What’s the matter?"
"Brother, did you encounter any strange accidents while you were at school?"
Lu Chenzhou’s question was somewhat ambiguous.
But Chen Yuan knew what he meant.
"I’ve suffered from Virtual Disasters, was nearly assassinated by a Black Knight in the middle of the night—who was an Eighth Rank expert. At the time, I was only at Seventh Rank, and I managed to escape thanks to my superior movement technique... It seems there was also a sniper hired by some unknown force trying to kill me from afar, but they were caught by Master Wang. Chenzhou, you’re a Class A talent, right? If so, when you’re outside, you must always be careful and vigilant. A tall tree catches the wind, after all."
Chen Yuan spoke lightly, but Lu Chenzhou found his words heart-stopping. This text is hosted at novel•fire.net
"Do you think your encounter with the Virtual Disaster was related to the Cult?"
"I think so, but there’s no evidence. The three harms share the same bed; their common enemies are Da Xia and us Martial Artists, so they will stop at nothing to target the young shoots that haven’t yet matured. Once you become a Martial Artist, it would cost them dearly to assassinate you, and those without backing would naturally back down."
Lu Chenzhou pondered.
He suspected that the Virtual Disaster at the villa that day was no mere accident.
Noticing Lu Chenzhou’s silence, Chen Yuan offered reassurance with a laugh,
"Actually, it’s not that terrifying. Just don’t leave school grounds if it’s not necessary. The forces of evil are weak; they only dare to engage in petty theft and don’t dare directly confront Da Xia."
"Thank you, brother."
"You’re welcome. If you have the money, you can go to the Martial Arts Association and buy a new ’Void Protection Suit’ that’s just been released. The material is similar to police bulletproof clothing. It’s good stuff. Not only does it protect against Void Thing attacks, but it also can withstand regular gunfire. Since you practice Hard Qigong, paired with that suit, I reckon even a standard sniper rifle would have a hard time critically injuring you."
"What about headshots?"
"Professional snipers, to increase the success rate of assassination, generally aim for the chest. The head is too hard to target; just a little head movement can make the shot miss. Especially if they want to assassinate us Martial Artists, they can only shoot from a long distance, so aiming for the head would have too low a margin for error."
Lu Chenzhou gained some understanding; no wonder the officials of the Silver Eagle Federation shook their heads and gesticulated when giving speeches—it had such a benefit. He said,
"Thank you, brother. I’ll visit you at the Dragon and Tiger Academy when I have time."
"Haha, you’re welcome, brother. Take care."
Lu Chenzhou entered the Martial Arts Association’s official website’s Equipment Area.
After some searching, he indeed found the "Void Protection Suit" that his brother mentioned.
He looked at the price, my goodness, 5 million...
Lu Chenzhou sighed at the lack of funds. But considering just one pair of Void-breaking Gloves cost five hundred thousand, a suit for five million didn’t seem too expensive, considering the material for the protection suit, although slightly inferior overall, required much more.
He read through the description: the protection suit was made from ultra-high-strength fiber materials and nano-alloy wires, capable of withstanding regular handgun bullets and small caliber rifle bullets’ penetration attacks, though offering slightly lower protection against the forces of Void Things.
"That’s enough, I’m mainly using it for bulletproofing."