Body Status

After dealing with the Blue-Striped Tiger on his own, Su Hao wrapped the valuable parts from its body in its hide, making a bundle twice his own size. He carried it on his back and soon arrived beneath the rock where he had stood earlier. Looking up at Wu Yuntian, who was still standing atop the rock, he called, "Father, let's go!"

Wu Yuntian drew his gaze back from the distance. He nodded without a word, jumped down, and took the lead. Su Hao tightened the tiger-hide bundle on his back and hurried after him.

On their way back to the village, they greeted familiar villagers along the road. Seeing Su Hao carrying such a huge tiger-hide bundle, the villagers were no longer surprised. They merely teased him, "Oh, Xiangwu, quite the haul today!" "You're really impressive~"

Su Hao only kept smiling. "Not at all, not at all. Father did most of the work." "Without Father, I'd have been tiger food."

Su Hao disappeared around the corner.

He Qingqing, now even more delicate and sharp-looking, continued to stare fixedly in the direction where Su Hao had vanished, biting her lip tightly.

Little Fatty had grown tall and broad by now, completely shedding the appearance of the chubby little boy from three years ago. Instead, he looked mighty and sturdy, already as tall as Silly Tao.

He could no longer be called Snot Tao, since he no longer had a perpetually runny nose. So everyone had changed how they addressed him, calling him Silly Tao instead.

Little Fatty withdrew his gaze and said with a face full of envy, "Xiangwu has been hunting with his dad for three years already. I'm so jealous of him."

Silly Tao nodded. "Yeah! When will we get to go out too?"

Little Fatty sighed. "I heard Xiangwu became a Martial Artist a long time ago. The adults say he might already be a Mid-Rank Ordinary Warrior now."

Silly Tao said dejectedly, "I still haven't figured out what Blood Qi is... Do I just not have the talent to be a Martial Artist?"

Little Fatty comforted him, "Don't be sad, Silly Tao. I only became a Martial Artist a year ago myself. You still have a chance to catch up. Keep working hard!"

Silly Tao said, "Mm... Little Fatty, tell me again how you found Blood Qi."

"I told you not to call me Little Fatty. Look, I've changed to calling you Silly Tao already." Little Fatty first pointed out Silly Tao's mistake in dissatisfaction, then proudly shared his own experience. "Actually, it's really simple. It was there to begin with. It's right there. You just search and search, then you see it..."

Silly Tao seemed to be deep in thought. "So that's how it is..."

Little Fatty's eyes lit up. "You understand?"

Silly Tao shook his head. "I don't understand!"

Little Fatty gave a dismissive snort, then turned to He Qingqing and praised her. "Qing Qing is the impressive one. She found Blood Qi in only one year, even faster than me. She really is a Genius. Maybe Qing Qing is the only one who could catch up to Xiangwu?"

He Qingqing turned and shot Little Fatty a vicious glare, then stomped away.

Little Fatty was utterly baffled by her stare. Seeing her leave, he hurried after her. "Qing Qing, where are you going?"

"To train!"

After returning home, Su Hao took off his equipment, enjoyed a nice bath, then sent his consciousness into Marble Space and began checking his own status.

Age: 8 years and 3 months;

Height: 146 cm;

Weight: 45 kg;

Body Status: Healthy;

Level: High-Rank Ordinary Warrior; Blood Qi: 5; Combat Techniques: Basic Blade Technique (Mastery), Basic Footwork (Mastery); Sliding Shadow Step (Proficient), Horizontal Slash (Proficient), Tricky Stab (Proficient), Hard Force Fist (Proficient), Charge (Beginner), Shield Bash (Beginner), Leaping Cleave (Beginner); Variable Control: Blood Qi Strengthening Function (Mastery), Muscle Strengthening Function (Mastery), Bone Strengthening Function (Beginner), Viscera Strengthening Function (Not Started), Five Senses Strengthening Function (Not Started).

This was a small program Su Hao had specially written over the past two years based on his own circumstances. Its primary purpose was to monitor his basic status at any time. What he cared about most was the "Body Status" category. It was also the project into which he had poured the most effort. He would not allow himself to die of some inexplicable illness as he had in his previous life.

"Body Status" looked like a simple entry, but its scope of detection was anything but simple. It included many standard measurements—blood sample tests, heartbeat monitoring, urine tests, examinations of every organ, and more—bringing every part of his body within the range of constant observation.

His fundamental goal had not changed. With every opportunity, he would live as well as possible and eliminate hidden risks. He was not afraid of death, but he could not die lightly. What if one day, after closing his eyes, he never woke again?

The number after Blood Qi referred to the current amount of Blood Qi in his body. It used the Blood Qi intensity from three years ago as one unit. In other words, his current Blood Qi intensity was five times what it had been three years ago. One could imagine just how greatly his body had been strengthened over those three years.

This bodily strengthening was due to Su Hao's mastery of the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave, as well as his deep research into all sorts of bodily data.

He discovered that controlling the Blood Qi Strengthening Wave allowed him to control the intensity of Blood Qi within his body. By the same logic, might there be some special substance that could control the strength of his muscles?

He discovered that keeping Blood Qi at the very limit of what his body could withstand could rapidly strengthen his physique. Through long-term comparative research, he found the special substance that strengthened muscles and named it the Muscle Strengthening Wave.

As he continued comparing and searching over a long period of time, he eventually discovered the special substances behind Bone Strengthening, Viscera Strengthening, and Five Senses Strengthening.

Then, based on the properties of those special substances, Su Hao changed their names, calling them the Blood Qi Strengthening Function, Muscle Strengthening Function, Bone Strengthening Function, and so on.

As long as he could control the variables that produced those special substances, he could control the direction of his body's strengthening. Wasn't that a function? The variables of these strengthening functions had always been controlled by bodily instinct.

Now, Su Hao's consciousness had seized control, allowing his will to command them freely.

So far, Su Hao had become proficient in the variables of the Blood Qi Strengthening Function and Muscle Strengthening Function, and had initially grasped the variables of the Bone Strengthening Function. Regrettably, although he had found the variables for the Viscera Strengthening Function and Five Senses Strengthening Function, he still could not find a way to control them.

The factors restricting the overall improvement of Su Hao's physical qualities were currently his viscera and Five Senses. Once he found a way to control those two variables, Su Hao's strength would undoubtedly rise to a new level atop its current foundation.

The Combat Techniques category had merely been added casually. Its purpose was to help him maintain a clear understanding of his own combat power. They were arranged according to his level of proficiency.

The proficiency ranks he had established were: Not Started, Beginner, Proficient, Mastery, Ultimate Technique, and Transcendent.

It was clear at a glance. Every time he saw this, Su Hao reminded himself, You're an assassin, not a warrior. Don't charge in recklessly.

What made Su Hao sigh was that Little Light's current level of intelligence was too low, and it also lacked a vast amount of data. Other than detecting Blood Qi, all the above data had to be changed manually by him.

For example, Little Light could not distinguish what counted as Beginner and what counted as Proficient, much less classify them automatically.

After exiting Marble Space, Su Hao began setting his tasks for the day.

"Currently, my Blood Qi intensity and muscle strength have reached their maximum values, so there's no need for further strengthening. Next, I'll strengthen my bones for one hour, then spend another hour trying to find a way to control the variables for strengthening the viscera and Five Senses."

No sooner said than done. Su Hao sat cross-legged, relaxed himself, and swiftly entered Meditation. All thoughts scattered like clouds, leaving him focused upon a single point.

An hour later, Su Hao woke up.

"The variables for Bone Strengthening are truly too difficult to control, making progress far too slow." Su Hao frowned, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face. When controlling the variables for Bone Strengthening, he truly felt somewhat unable to do as he wished. It was nowhere near as natural and smooth as controlling Blood Qi. "Being able to control it at all is already not bad. What should really give me a headache is the viscera and Five Senses. There hasn't been the slightest movement from them."

After adjusting himself for half an hour, Su Hao entered Meditation again and began trying to control the Viscera Strengthening and Five Senses Strengthening variables.

An hour later, Su Hao opened his eyes and shook his head. "Still no good. Just what am I supposed to do?"

Since he could not figure it out, he stopped forcing the issue. He got up and went outside for some fresh air.

The moment he stepped outside, he saw Wu Yuntian sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea.

Wu Yuntian took a sip, set down his teacup, and said to Su Hao, "Xiangwu, starting tomorrow, I'll teach you how to advance to an Advanced Elite Warrior!"

Su Hao's eyes lit up. "Why not start learning now?"

Wu Yuntian held it in for a long while before forcing out one sentence. "...Habit!"