Night.
The bustling city area shimmered with neon, while the shadows of old buildings rose and fell.
Chen Feng stood in the bathroom, letting the warm spray wash over his body.
Under the dim yellow light, droplets of water slid down, making the contours of his muscles appear even more defined.
"Is this what becoming stronger feels like?"
Chen Feng tipped his head back and wiped his hair, the scene from the supermarket earlier that day flashing through his mind.
If he had merely been an ordinary person, there would have been no need to mention how things would have ended today.
But there were not so many ifs in this world.
He was no longer the weakling he had once been.
At that moment, the meaning of practicing boxing became much more tangible, giving him greater insight and motivation.
"Still, I can't let my guard down."
"That Zhao Jin might be connected to this. He might seek revenge in private."
With that thought in mind, Chen Feng picked up a towel and dried his body and hair.
He felt neither regret nor fear.
What was done was done. Even if he had to do it again, he would still step in.
That was the cashier's duty, as well as his own principle.
Besides...
His clenched fists cracked loudly at the knuckles, and Chen Feng's gaze deepened.
If they came for revenge, all the better. He would wipe them out in one go.
With that, he stopped letting his thoughts wander.
His stomach growled twice. After working an entire night shift and getting into a fight, he still felt a little hungry despite having eaten dinner.
He could never fall asleep when he was hungry. That had always been his habit.
Rip!
He quickly took a bag of bread and an Energy Bar from the refrigerator, tore off the packaging, and ate them one after the other.
Only after the feeling of fullness set in did he brush his teeth and heavily lie down on the bed.
Fatigue washed over him, and what sounded like a drunken man cursing drifted up from downstairs.
Chen Feng's consciousness sank, and before long, the world spun around him as he entered the Dream Realm once more.
Buzz!
Mist drifted along the street, while the plants on both sides had withered away.
The lights of the single-story villa were dim and yellow. The decayed brick pillars were pitted with holes, still marked by blotches of black.
"This time, I'm not inside the house?"
Chen Feng stood outside the iron gate, looking at the pebble-paved courtyard and the brick path leading to the villa's entrance, unable to hide his surprise.
He had thought that, as before, he would enter this place from the bed in the small room.
Yet now, he had appeared directly where he had left the Dream Realm before.
"It's a bit like a save point in a game."
"As long as I leave a certain range, a new save point appears?"
Chen Feng used gaming logic to make sense of it and roughly understood the principle.
Then he looked down at his hands and feet.
The Knuckle Duster was still gripped tightly in his hand, while his well-fitting white sneakers rested on the ground.
He felt around his waist. The leather-wrapped dagger was still in its original place.
Everything was exactly the same as when he had left.
After a moment of thought, Chen Feng did not continue dwelling on the logic behind it.
Time in the Dream Realm was precious, and he had not forgotten why he had come here.
"New light orbs."
Narrowing his eyes, Chen Feng looked across the street.
There stood a six-story apartment. Much of the mist had dispersed by now, vaguely revealing its red-brick exterior.
Several room windows were still lit, and the open-air balconies faced the road.
There was a small courtyard on the ground floor, with white-painted walls nearly two meters tall on either side of the iron gate.
"This is the place."
A glint flashed through Chen Feng's eyes as he looked toward the third floor of the apartment.
The Perception Talent could not only detect hostility and let him perceive changes within himself more clearly.
It also allowed him to sense lingering spiritual and psychic traces within a certain range.
Whether it was the moment he had left the Dream Realm last time or right now.
He had always had an intuition that there had to be light orbs inside that apartment.
Especially now, after most of the mist had dispersed, that intuition clearly locked onto the third floor.
"I'll give it a try."
"Even if there really is a Faceless One monster like last time, it's not like I can't Deal With it."
After thinking for a moment, Chen Feng decided not to waste time. He quickly gripped the Knuckle Duster and started forward.
The ground-floor courtyard's Portal was half-open. Dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt and shorts, he gradually entered the dim hallway.
Tap tap!
Tap tap!
In the dark surroundings, his footsteps echoed softly.
The voice-activated lights on the stairwell came on one after another, illuminating the figure dressed in black short sleeves and shorts, a Knuckle Duster in hand.
"Third floor."
Chen Feng had a clear goal. His eyes alert, he headed straight for the area his senses had detected on the third floor.
Before long, he stood at the stairwell corner.
This was the corridor belonging to the third floor. Beside it stood a cement railing over a meter high, topped with a layer of patterned tiles.
Six rooms stood in a row. The area at the very end seemed to be a public restroom, and a foul smell faintly drifted out.
Tap!
Chen Feng stepped forward, and the corridor's voice-activated light came on again.
When he reached the first room, he found a dark brown security door.
The Portal was half-open, and there were no lights inside.
Chen Feng breathed carefully and pushed it fully open.
The corridor light shone inside, allowing him to roughly make out the room's layout.
Living room, sofa, coffee table, LCD television.
It was an ordinary scene. Chen Feng felt around near the door for the switch and tried pressing it.
Click!
The lights came on, somewhat dazzling.
Chen Feng instinctively narrowed his eyes, quickly discovering that there was no one here either.
He wiped a finger across the coffee table. A thin layer of dust stuck to his hand, clearly showing that the place had not been cleaned in a long time.
Though puzzled, he did not delay.
He opened the other rooms in the unit one after another, only to find nothing.
"The light orb isn't here."
Chen Feng had his answer.
The Perception Talent could only give him a direction and a general range. It was difficult to pinpoint an exact location.
"Still."
Looking at the wall behind the bedroom, Chen Feng could feel the sensation in his heart becoming even stronger.
"Since it isn't here, I'll search in this direction."
"It must be nearby."
Following that intuition, he quickly left the unit and continued searching.
In the end, his eyes lit up in the bedroom of the second unit when he spotted what he had been looking for.
Three light orbs.
Two pale red and one pale white.
The former floated above the bed, while the latter drifted beside the half-open window.
"I hit the jackpot!"
Chen Feng's eyes filled with delight. He did not expect to find three light orbs.
Without wasting time, he hurried over and touched them one by one.
You picked up one (Limit Breaking Light Orb)! Limit Breaking Light Orb: Remnant will of a Martial Artist Quality: Basic Effect: Can increase martial arts skill proficiency to a certain extent You picked up one (Attribute Light Orb)! Attribute Light Orb: Spiritual remnant of a Supernatural Quality: Basic Effect: After use, increases Four-Dimensional Attributes by 0.5 points, with random distribution
The information for the three light orbs appeared one after another: two Limit Breaking Light Orbs and one Attribute Light Orb.
Without hesitation, Chen Feng used the Attribute Light Orb first.
Buzz!
In an Instant, his body warmed, as though a warm current had seeped into his cells.
Strength: 8.9→9.0 Agility: 8.7 Constitution: 8.6→8.8 Willpower: 9.1→9.3
"Agility didn't get any points?"
"It's a little unfortunate that Strength only increased by 0.1."
After looking over the panel's data, Chen Feng felt some regret, but was still fairly satisfied.
No matter which attribute increased, it was a good thing.
Besides...
"Stronger Constitution has plenty of benefits. It affects the body's recovery ability, resistance, endurance, and more."
"And Willpower should be related to mental strength. My thoughts feel a little clearer, and I seem to have more control over negative emotions."
Silently sensing the changes within himself, Chen Feng detected every subtle enhancement through his Perception Talent.
He nodded to himself, then quickly used another Limit Breaking Light Orb.
"Enhance!"
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