When Lu Yuan came out of the alloy weapon store, he was in a daze.
There was now a one-and-a-half-meter-long greatsword in his War Rune Space, its blade black and gleaming with a cold light.
A1 Type Blacklight Alloy Sword.
The lowest-grade alloy equipment had cost Lu Yuan 3,700 yuan.
That was only after Lu Yuan had haggled relentlessly to get the price down.
Otherwise, it would have been 3,900—an entire 200 yuan more!
Lu Yuan had originally planned to buy some armor too, but now...
Where had he gotten the confidence to think he could buy both a weapon and armor with 4,000 yuan?
Looking at the 300 yuan in his pocket, Lu Yuan had originally been thinking of moving somewhere better.
Now, he did not even dare to think about it.
What had blinded my eyes?
Poverty.
After leaving the mall, Lu Yuan did not dare look back even once.
He had taken a taxi to the mall, but with only 300 yuan left and food to pay for, he could only walk back.
Fortunately, after absorbing spirit qi, Lu Yuan found that his stamina had improved considerably, and his strength had increased as well.
Although the mall was over ten kilometers from the slums, he jogged the whole way and returned in just over half an hour.
The slums looked much more peaceful during the day than at night. Pedestrians hurried along the streets, and some looked thin and sickly.
Trash littered both sides of the road. Children picked through it, taking anything useful back home.
A few punks with rainbow-colored hair stood nearby with their hands in their pockets, occasionally eyeing passersby as they loitered around for who knew what.
Lu Yuan lowered his head slightly and returned to his apartment building.
The living room was quiet.
The apartment he rented had been divided into four rooms.
One was his, another belonged to Qinghe Jie, while a middle-aged woman occupied one of the remaining rooms and a couple lived in the other.
However, the middle-aged woman and the couple usually left early in the morning, so they rarely ran into each other.
Qinghe Jie worked nights, so she should have been sleeping now.
Lu Yuan gently closed the door and entered his partitioned room.
He then opened his laptop, logged into Battle Net, and began watching videos to learn the Military Body Fist and Military Killing Sword.
The room was very cramped, but Lu Yuan had only just begun practicing and his movements were slow, so he did not risk hitting anything or causing damage.
He practiced until the sun set. Sweating profusely, Lu Yuan put away the Blacklight Alloy Sword in his hand and sat on his bed to rest.
The sound of a door opening and closing came from outside. Lu Yuan knew Qinghe Jie had gone to work.
Lu Yuan could not help sighing.
In his previous life, a pretty girl like Li Qinghe would have had countless men pursuing her and been showered with affection.
How could survival have become so difficult in this world?
After resting for a while, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged and began absorbing spirit qi.
As the spirit qi entered his body, warmth spread through him, greatly easing the fatigue in his flesh.
Lu Yuan was surprised to discover that cultivating the Spirit Qi Guiding Art when his body was exhausted was more effective than cultivating when he was not tired.
No wonder physical training was said to help improve spirit qi. So that was how it worked.
The body, mind, and spirit qi complemented one another, each improving the others.
Early the next morning, Lu Yuan headed out, planning to find a quiet place to practice physical arts.
Just then, the front door opened and Li Qinghe walked in.
She held a bag of pan-fried buns. When she saw Lu Yuan, she smiled.
"Little Brother Lu Yuan, I bought too many."
Lu Yuan smiled.
"Thanks, Qinghe Jie."
He reached out and took the buns.
"By the way, Little Brother Lu Yuan, have you been practicing boxing?"
"How did you know, Qinghe Jie?"
"You were making so much noise yesterday that I could hear you from my room."
Lu Yuan froze.
He knew the rooms were not very soundproof. At night, he could often hear sounds coming from the couple's room.
He had not expected even his boxing practice to be audible.
He nodded. "Yeah. I'm planning to enter Origin Land, so I need to practice some physical arts for self-defense first."
"Oh."
Li Qinghe nodded, her eyes carrying a slightly bewildered expression, as if she only half understood.
She said, "I know a place that's convenient for practicing boxing."
Lu Yuan was startled and looked at Li Qinghe.
"Really? Where?"
He had been about to look for a quiet place to practice physical arts, yet Li Qinghe happened to know one.
Ask and you shall receive. Was this the legendary protagonist treatment?
As expected of me.
"I've been getting by in the slums for quite a while, you know. A friend of mine runs a martial hall, and you can practice boxing there. I'll take you over later."
"You're taking me there? Won't that interrupt your rest? You work at night too, so you must be tired."
Li Qinghe pulled out a cigarette from her chest, lit it, and took a puff before laughing heartily.
"It won't take much time to bring you there."
Seeing that, Lu Yuan nodded and agreed.
After breakfast, Li Qinghe took Lu Yuan outside.
As they walked, both Li Qinghe and Lu Yuan kept their heads slightly lowered and moved at a brisk pace.
See less, hear less, and do not meddle in other people's business.
Li Qinghe had taught Lu Yuan that.
It was how ordinary people survived in the slums.
They turned through several foul-smelling streets before finally arriving at a very rundown metal gate.
The words "Da Ming Martial Hall" were written above it. The neon lights around the four characters flickered on and off, seemingly half broken.
Several burly men squatted outside the gate, smoking.
When the two approached, the men looked up. Their eyes lit up upon seeing Li Qinghe, and one burly man with a scar over his left eye even gave a lewd whistle.
Lu Yuan frowned, but Li Qinghe gave the men a flirtatious smile.
The scarred man stood up and grinned.
"Hey, little lady, you've got quite the attitude. You here looking for me?"
Li Qinghe chuckled.
"I'm here to see Ming Ge."
At those words, the other eager men froze, and the smile on the standing man's face stiffened as well.
Without a word, he silently squatted back down and smoked gloomily.
Lu Yuan glanced curiously at the suddenly silent men.
Li Qinghe had already called to him.
"Come in with me."
Lu Yuan followed Li Qinghe through the gate.
Inside was a huge plaza filled with mechanical equipment.
There were metal posts, fitness machines, boxing rings, and more.
Quite a few people were inside, shouting as they worked out and practiced boxing. Some were even practicing sword techniques and other physical arts.
Lu Yuan watched a burly man with a mechanical arm smash his fist into a metal post, deforming it with a heavy blow. He was somewhat surprised that a place like this existed in the slums.
He asked curiously.
"Qinghe Jie, who is Ming Ge? How do you know him?"
Li Qinghe raised an eyebrow at Lu Yuan, revealing a strange smile.
"Little brother, are you sure you want to know? How much detail do you want?"
Lu Yuan's mouth twitched, and he gave an awkward laugh.
"...Never mind."
Li Qinghe smiled and led Lu Yuan farther into the martial hall.
Deep within the martial hall, a nearly two-meter-tall brown-haired man in a black sleeveless shirt was throwing punches at a metal post. His muscles were outrageously defined.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every punch landed with a deep, dull thud, leaving deep fist marks in the metal post.
Lu Yuan's pupils contracted at the sight.
That was solid metal, yet the man could leave fist marks on it like that.
Was he even human?
Could he be a Gene Warrior too?
When Lu Yuan and Li Qinghe approached, the burly man stopped and turned to look at them.
His gaze swept over Lu Yuan before stopping on Li Qinghe. A strange smile appeared on his face as he spoke in a rough voice.
"Why are you here?"
Li Qinghe smiled sweetly.
"Because I missed you."
The burly man turned to Lu Yuan.
"Who's this kid?"
"He's my little brother. I want him to practice here so he can protect himself in a place like this."
"Your little brother? Then let him train here. I won't charge you."
The burly man was surprisingly easygoing. He waved a hand and agreed immediately.
Lu Yuan had thought this man would be fierce.
Li Qinghe said, "Little Brother Lu Yuan, he's the owner here, Frank Ming. You can call him Ming Ge."
Lu Yuan quickly nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Ming Ge."
Frank Ming waved his hand, revealing a suggestive smile. "Go look around by yourself. Qinghe, come inside with me."
With that, he turned and entered a room to the side. Li Qinghe gave Lu Yuan a strange smile.
"Go look around on your own. I'm going in."
Lu Yuan: "..."
He nodded, his feelings complicated.
Was this really something a minor like him should be witnessing?
Li Qinghe entered the room and closed the door. Frank Ming had already drawn the curtains.
Unlike what Lu Yuan imagined, Frank Ming stood perfectly straight as he looked at Li Qinghe.
"Sir!"
Li Qinghe lit a cigarette, sat on the brown leather sofa, and crossed her legs.
"Mm."
Frank Ming secretly glanced at Li Qinghe and cautiously asked.
"Sir... who exactly is that kid outside?"
Li Qinghe smiled. "I met him by chance. He's a good-hearted kid. He just awakened his genes and hasn't entered Origin Land yet, so I wanted him to train here. Keep an eye on him and teach him a little."
Frank Ming suddenly understood. He slapped his brick-like chest twice.
"No problem! Leave it to me!"
"Don't make it too obvious. We can't expose ourselves."
"Understood."
"Mm. I'll stay a while longer before heading out."
Li Qinghe nodded, took out her phone, and began playing a small game.
Frank Ming looked conflicted before finally speaking.
"...Sir, could you stay a little longer?"
Li Qinghe looked up at Frank Ming. "Reason?"
"Ahem... You see, if it's too short, it won't sound good if word gets out..."
"Hmm?"
Li Qinghe narrowed her eyes and revealed a dazzling smile.
Frank Ming's face went pale in an instant, and he hurriedly said.
"No, no, no! I misspoke! Whatever you say, sir!"
Li Qinghe's smile vanished. Then she seemed to remember something and said.
"Oh, there's a man outside with a scar over his left eye. I don't want to see him again."
"Understood!"
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