Huge Gains

Two pounds of boiled beef, a bowl of greens, and a huge bowl of white rice.

Li Changqing took a cleaver and smashed some garlic flat, chopped it a few times, then tossed it into a bowl with light soy sauce, oyster sauce, millet peppers, pickled peppers, and finally squeezed in half a lime before adding mineral water.

He had gotten this exclusive recipe only after chatting for half the day with the old lady downstairs who sold braised meat.

Fresh and spicy, with a touch of natural fruity tartness.

He picked up a slice of beef and dipped it in. The rich aroma of the meat was not concealed at all; instead, the sour heat made it even more appetizing.

"Rong City really lives up to its name. When it comes to fresh and spicy flavors, they're the experts."

Li Changqing held a large steamed bun in one hand and chopsticks in the other, sweeping through the food before him.

After learning Tai Chi yesterday, he had immediately started looking for housing. For 800 a month, he had rented this current two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.

The war a century ago had left wounds on Blue Star that had yet to heal. The one benefit of the sparse population was that there were plenty of houses.

Li Changqing had rented a place in an old residential complex built sixty years ago. Most of the residents were elderly people in their seventies or eighties. Since he had to get up every morning to train anyway, it was no trouble.

Since coming into contact with Old Technique and entering true martial cultivation, Li Changqing's appetite had rapidly increased. In just over ten minutes, he swept every last bit of food into his stomach.

After washing the dishes, he packed up, put on his watch, checked the time, slung on his backpack, and opened the door.

Yesterday, Kang Tianchen had told him that he would take him to the Psionic Supply Store that afternoon, so he would not fail to recognize medicinal ingredients and waste money for nothing.

Outside the residential complex was a greenway. Li Changqing used his phone to locate the Psionic Supply Store.

Five kilometers was no longer much of a challenge for him now.

He set a pace for himself and treated it as a warm-up.

The greenway nearly ran through all of Rong City, stretching in every direction. There was no need to worry about not reaching his destination.

Rong City was hot in July, but the interwoven shade overhead blocked out the vicious sunlight. With all the lush vegetation, it did not feel stuffy.

"I knew you'd run over here." Kang Tianchen stood at the end of the greenway, wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt that exposed his bulging muscles, his hands clasped behind his back.

"How long did you run?"

Li Changqing gradually came to a stop and glanced at his watch.

"Fifteen minutes."

"How far?"

The corner of Li Changqing's mouth lifted as he tilted his chin slightly.

"Not far. Five or six kilometers."

"Ha!" Kang Tianchen grabbed his watch.

"It's true? Kid, you've improved fast."

He looked at Li Changqing's smooth forehead. It was obvious the latter had not gone all out.

"I'm liking the look of you more and more, kid. In one year, you might really pull it off."

"Come on. I'll broaden your horizons." Kang Tianchen led the way.

"Chengtian Martial Arts School."

Kang Tianchen showed his identification card to the guard at the entrance and led Li Changqing into the mall-like building before them.

"Next time you come by yourself, just scan your ID card." Kang Tianchen winked at Li Changqing.

"I registered you last night already."

The Psionic Supply Store looked enormous, but in truth it only had one row of counters. The rest was cold storage for medicinal ingredients and potions.

"Give me five C-Class Blood Vitality Enhancers." Kang Tianchen pointed at the samples in the glass display case.

He looked up, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Your low-psionic-energy version is in stock?"

Kang Tianchen turned to Li Changqing and smiled.

"You're lucky, kid. This psionic version of the Blood Vitality Enhancer suits your current condition best."

However...

"I'm sorry, Martial Artist sir, but this potion has already been reserved."

"Reserved?" Kang Tianchen did not believe it.

"Didn't you say this potion only entered storage yesterday? Who could reserve it that quickly?"

"Yes, the potion only entered storage yesterday." The sales clerk picked up a tablet and showed it to Kang Tianchen.

"But this potion was reserved by Jixing Martial Hall last week."

"Huh?" Li Changqing's eyelid twitched.

What the hell? It entered storage yesterday but was reserved last week. What kind of time-traveling warrior was that?

"Damn it, them again." Kang Tianchen viciously scratched his head. Seeing Li Changqing's expression of Are you messing with me?, he explained helplessly.

"Jixing Martial Hall is different from us. Although we're both the only martial arts schools in Rong City with Psionic Users, Jixing Martial Hall is a nationwide chain. Rong City is only one of their branches."

He pointed to the potions on the counter.

"These potions were probably reserved by the local Jixing Martial Hall the moment they left the factory. They entered storage yesterday, and the martial hall can pick them up today."

Li Changqing went numb. There was actually such a move?

"Did they reserve all of them? Not a single one left?" Kang Tianchen still refused to give up.

There were too few psionic versions of the potions. Although their effects were about the same as ordinary versions, the exceedingly faint psionic energy contained within could allow Martial Arts Apprentices to gradually adapt to psionic energy in advance. The further one progressed in martial arts, the more obvious the effect became.

"There are still three doses."

Kang Tianchen was overjoyed.

But the next second, the sales clerk raised her eyes again.

"However, those potions cannot be sold to you either."

"What do you mean?" Kang Tianchen was angry. Was she playing him like a monkey?

"Because those three potions are being supplied to Mr. Jiang He of Qingzhou Psionic University."

"He is a key cultivation target of the municipal government."

"Pack them up."

Kang Tianchen decisively swiped his card. Then there was no problem.

After leaving the Psionic Supply Store.

Kang Tianchen handed the packaged five Blood Vitality Enhancers to Li Changqing.

"Take them."

He grabbed Li Changqing's hand before he could pull out his wallet.

"Consider these a gift from me."

"They're too valuable, Coach Kang."

"Quit fussing. If I tell you to take them, take them." Kang Tianchen pressed one hand onto Li Changqing's shoulder, pulled open his backpack with the other, and stuffed the potions inside.

Li Changqing's face was full of helplessness, but he could not move at all. He could only watch Kang Tianchen put the potions into his bag.

"What a pity. Jixing Martial Hall has deeper pockets than us, Jiang He is highly talented, and he has the municipal government backing him. We can't afford to offend any of them. Otherwise, you'd have psionic-version potions to use today."

Kang Tianchen gave Li Changqing's shoulder a hard pat.

"See that, kid? If you aren't strong enough, you can't get what you want. You need to train harder. Your talent is good, but your strength is still too weak."

"Remember, you only have one year."

"Holy shit, thirteen thousand. Hiss—" Li Changqing stared at the receipt stuck to the package.

He sucked in a cold breath.

"My monthly living subsidy is only 5,000!" Having just graduated, he could receive a monthly government cultivation subsidy of 5,000 for three years.

These potions were far too expensive.

Looking at the five Blood Qi Potions, Li Changqing smacked his lips.

He picked one up directly.

"Let me see why you're so expensive."

The potion was simple to use: drink it.

The liquid was icy as it entered his mouth.

The psionically processed potion was unlike anything Li Changqing had ever consumed before.

The instant it reached his stomach, the liquid transformed into psionic-like particles and spread throughout Li Changqing's body in the blink of an eye.

The kick came on all at once.

His blood vitality surged through his body, and Li Changqing felt as though even his capillaries were vibrating.

In the mirror, his face had turned red as a monkey's ass. Li Changqing hurriedly assumed a fighting stance as the twenty-four forms of the Chengtian Tai Chi Fist flowed clearly through his mind.

This potion packed far too much punch.

He swung his fists and kicked his legs, stirring wind from level ground. With every movement, he was even making subtle adjustments.

As his proficiency increased, the ever-clearer experience of the fist art guided Li Changqing to unconsciously adjust the paths of his muscles.

He cut away the unnecessary parts and strengthened the correct flow of muscle and fascia.

His movements became more and more complete, constantly overlapping with Kang Tianchen's shadow.

His blood vitality was like mist, ceaselessly circulating with the unfolding fist art, like an ever-cycling primordial sphere that evolved the supreme principles of yin and yang.

In one seamless flow, Li Changqing performed all the way to the eighth form!

This was where he had exhausted himself yesterday, but now Li Changqing only felt that his blood vitality remained abundant. Without the slightest hesitation, he changed his stance.

The ninth form, Double Peaks Pierce Ears!

His muscles trembled, and the immense force actually made his sleeves crack through the air. Yet this single movement instantly consumed more than half of his vigorous blood vitality.

Continue!

As he performed the fist art, the potion's effects continuously surged into his blood vitality, strengthening his physique.

The tenth form, the eleventh form!

Fatigue came rushing in like a tide again. His muscles and fascia trembled together; this fist art consumed the body far too greatly.

Worthy of Old Technique.

Every move, every form, consumed more energy than sprinting a thousand meters.

The twelfth form!

Even the deepest tiny muscle groups were stirred by this fist art. Muscle fibers tore apart, then rapidly grew and healed under the effects of his blood vitality, constantly becoming stronger.

Finally, he reached his limit.

Physique +2

Before Li Changqing could react, a fierce wave of heat rushed directly into his limbs and bones.

It had actually increased by two points!

His newly healed muscles tore apart again, then instantly grew even stronger under the infusion of that power.

Pain stimulated his nerves, but once it faded, it was replaced by the exhilaration of cleansing the meridians and washing the marrow.

It was as though a layer of iron clothing had been stripped from his body, leaving him light all over.

His clothes fluttered, revealing the clearly defined contours of his muscles. Eight abs seemed carved into his stomach with knives and axes.

Vitality Concentration: 50%

A full 10% increase!

He was past the halfway mark.

A sharp gleam flashed through Li Changqing's eyes. Without hesitation, he steadied his stance.

The thirteenth form, Dragon's Roar, Tiger's Howl.

His fist art flowed as smoothly as water. His legs rooted like ancient trees, but his waist and abdomen were not stiff and rigid. Instead, they swayed slowly with the movement of his muscles, brimming with an explosive sense of power.

He was growing ever closer to the fist art Kang Tianchen had demonstrated.

Compared to before, he was like a completely different person.

The fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth forms.

Li Changqing's movements became increasingly fluid, his blood vitality long and unbroken as it drove his muscles and fascia, training the technique into every corner of his body.

Without a single blind spot.

The twentieth form, Invert Yin Overturn Yang!

He reached the point where he had collapsed last time, but this time, Li Changqing—whose physique and blood vitality had both improved—did not stop.

The twenty-first form, the twenty-second form.

The farther he went, the greater the consumption of blood vitality. The instant fatigue arose, Li Changqing forcefully suppressed it.

The heart-monkey could not block his steps.

The will-horse could not disrupt his mind.

Finally.

His hands were like dragons, piercing the air before him as his fist wind howled.

The twenty-fourth form, complete!

The fist art connected as one. Li Changqing held his hands at his brow, then slowly pressed them down.

He opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of invisible hot air.

He had succeeded!

"Twice."

Li Changqing opened his eyes, his pupils bright and spirited.

With only two pauses to regulate his breathing, he had completed the entire fist art.

He closed his eyes.

Chengtian Tai Chi Fist Proficiency: 15%

Today's gains were enormous. Not only had his physique increased by two points for the first time, even his Vitality Concentration had broken through to 50%.

His Tai Chi Fist proficiency had also increased by 10%.