Two hours later.
Progress +1 Sanshou: Beginner (21%)
The panel prompt appeared automatically. Chen Feng stopped moving and panted heavily, feeling every muscle in his body ache while his lungs seemed to burn.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
"My talent... really doesn't seem all that great."
Sweat dripped into his mouth, leaving a salty taste. His soaked clothes felt like they were stuck to his body.
Chen Feng shook his head to himself and smacked his lips.
After two hours of practice, his progress had only increased by 1% in total.
It was foreseeable that if he continued practicing normally like this, it would probably take several months to break through to the next proficiency level, Proficient Sanshou.
Chen Feng was not too disappointed by that.
If his talent was poor, then so be it. He had never planned to rely on talent alone anyway.
Tap, tap!
He walked aside, picked up a gray sports bottle, unscrewed the cap, and quickly took several large gulps.
Gulp! Gulp!
The room-temperature water felt exceptionally refreshing at that moment. After resting and recovering for a while, class ended, and he soon headed to the Locker Room.
Growl!
While changing clothes, Chen Feng's stomach made a strange noise, and he felt hungry.
An afternoon of training had drained him considerably. The cells within his body were like ravenous wolves.
"How's the job hunt going?"
Lin Hao had also come to the Locker Room, though he had clearly gone to shower. His messy long hair was still wet.
"I'm still looking." Chen Feng paused, but he did not hide his situation.
Besides, he remembered that Lin Hao was also a newly graduated college student without a job.
"Oh."
Lin Hao nodded lightly, changed his clothes, and did not ask further.
Then, as if recalling something, he moved closer and lowered his voice. "Oh, right. There's something. I wonder if you've heard about it."
"What?"
"I heard the Martial Arts Hall is planning to expand its Core Disciple ranks soon. Once this training course ends, they'll assess us."
"If you pass... you know what that means."
Lin Hao patted him on the shoulder, and Chen Feng raised an eyebrow.
Core Disciples of the Martial Arts Hall?
That was entirely different from their current status as ordinary students.
They paid tuition fees. Only then could they use the Martial Arts Hall's equipment and facilities, as well as receive coaching at designated times.
Core Disciples, however, could not only enjoy everything they currently had for free, but also receive team support and free recommendations from the Martial Arts Hall when competing in Martial Dao tournaments in the future.
And most importantly—
Core Disciples apparently had a chance to come into contact with genuine Martial Dao Schools.
Unlike ordinary fighting styles such as Sanshou and Jujutsu, those were Martial Dao techniques unique to Yan Wu Academy.
Although the original owner of this body had never seen them in person, he had watched battles between other Martial Dao Schools during televised boxing matches.
Fists could shatter bricks; intent could shake steel.
Interesting.
A glint flashed through Chen Feng's eyes, and he nodded.
But soon, he sensed something was off.
"How did you know?" he asked Lin Hao.
"Heh, take a guess."
Lin Hao shrugged with an indifferent expression.
Only at that moment did Chen Feng suddenly realize that the original owner had never known The Other Party very well.
Although they were both unemployed college graduates, he knew nothing at all about the other party's family background or anything else.
"I'm off."
Lin Hao waved his hand and soon left in a carefree manner.
Chen Feng watched his retreating back without looking into it any further.
Shaking his head, he soon left the Martial Arts Hall as well and took the bus home.
"I'm almost out of beef, and eggs too. Looks like I'll have to stock up at the supermarket tomorrow."
Chen Feng sat beside the wooden dining table in his room and finished dinner with satisfaction.
The feeling of being full put his mind at ease, but when he looked at the mere thousand yuan remaining in his phone account, he could not help feeling a greater sense of urgency about survival.
"I won't look through job listings anymore. I'll just try them one by one tomorrow."
"I'll check the supermarket for cashier jobs first. If that doesn't work, I'll try a bar, or maybe food delivery..."
The thought crossed his mind as Chen Feng wanted to balance boxing practice with work as much as possible.
There was still a week of classes at the Martial Arts Hall. Coupled with what Lin Hao had said about Core Disciples today, he had become interested, so naturally he could not skip any more training sessions.
Therefore, in order to free up that stretch of time in the afternoon, there were not many jobs he could choose from.
With his plan settled, Chen Feng's thoughts became clear.
Before long, he scrolled through his phone, contacted those recruitment numbers, and successfully arranged times to meet and talk tomorrow.
Gradually, the sky outside the window darkened, and the noise downstairs dwindled.
Fatigue washed over him. Chen Feng set down his phone and turned over.
His consciousness began to sink as he fell asleep.
Not long afterward, when he opened his eyes again, the world had quietly changed.
"I'm back in again?"
Looking at the abstract portrait painting on the wall and the white-and-yellow shag carpet on the floor,
Chen Feng let out a sigh of relief.
He had originally worried that last night's changes in the Dream Realm might cause something bad to happen and prevent him from entering this place again.
It seemed he had overthought it.
Not wasting any more time, knowing that time in the Dream Realm was precious and limited, he quickly got up, stepped across the carpet, and walked to the red-painted wooden door.
He bent slightly and looked outside through the peephole.
The surroundings were completely empty and exceptionally quiet.
Click!
Chen Feng immediately twisted the doorknob and opened the door without issue.
Outside was a clean corridor. Across from him were two rooms, both with closed Red Wood Gates.
The floor was made of dark brown hardwood. Looking down either side of the corridor, he saw that the ends were different.
To the right was a sealed gray wall with an oil painting hanging on it.
At the left end was a spacious living room.
An even larger and more exquisite crystal chandelier cast warm light throughout the space.
Below it stood a brown leather sofa and a solid wooden coffee table.
Chen Feng slowly walked into the living room and soon spotted a projector hanging from the ceiling, along with a cloth mounted on the white wall opposite it.
The machine had not been turned on. Aside from the lighting, there were no other points of light or sounds in the room.
Swish!
Chen Feng reached out and touched the sofa. When he raised his hand, he saw dust on his fingers.
Just like the room from before, the coffee table, tables, and everything else in the living room had a thin layer of dust on their surfaces.
This strengthened Chen Feng's suspicion.
"Looks like this house really is empty."
His expression relaxed somewhat as Chen Feng turned to look at the Red Wood Gate and the Carved Windows on either side.
Outside, it was equally pitch-black, as though thick black fog had blocked out every trace of light.
This house seemed to be the only thing left in the world, making Chen Feng feel somewhat oppressed.
Seeing this, he thought for a moment.
Before long, he slowed his pace and opened the two rooms he had seen earlier, one after the other.
The first was a bedroom, laid out similarly to the room he had been in earlier, only with more space.
It was empty as well, and he found nothing.
As for the second—
Click!
The Red Wood Gate opened.
Rows of bookshelves lined the walls, while a withered potted plant stood in one corner.
Beneath the window stood a dust-covered wooden desk and wooden chair. Apart from those, two light orbs caught Chen Feng's attention.
Both were the size of fists, floating respectively above the wooden desk and wooden chair.
The pale red one above the desk was identical to the Limit Breaking Light Orb from yesterday.
The one above the wooden chair was pure white, like a piece of warm jade emitting a faint glow.
Seeing this, Chen Feng was somewhat delighted.
He hurriedly looked around, reining in his excitement.
Only after confirming that there was no danger did he step forward and reach out to touch the two light orbs in turn.
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