New Skill

"You said you could cure a terminal illness the whole world had given up on? Who the hell do you think you are? What kind of family and background do you have? Planning to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine or something?"

Li Yao pressed his lips together, thinking that Uncle Lin was really angry. He had even started speaking in a northeastern dialect...

Lin Chengdong was like a trapped lion. He could not save his wife, could not support this family. A husband's responsibility, a parent's dignity—he had lost them all. He had even accepted fate's unfair arrangement, yet someone still had to come along and flip over this salted fish of his. Hadn't they tormented him enough? His bloodshot eyes fixed fiercely on Li Yao. Lin Chengdong truly wanted to smash everything to pieces!

To hell with this shitty life!

Uncle Lin covered his face and crouched by the bedroom door. "Leave. Let Uncle have some peace."

Li Yao nodded and stood. "All right, Uncle Lin. I'm leaving."

Once Li Yao left, the room suddenly became deathly quiet.

Lin Chengdong crouched by the bedroom door, his emotions easing slightly. He returned to the living room and searched for a long time before finding a half-opened pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and lit it—the smoke was much milder, but having not smoked in so long, it still choked him. He began coughing. Amid the curling smoke, he coughed until tears came out. Those tears... no matter how he wiped them away, they would not stop. Fuck.

After the smoke dissipated, Lin Chengdong went into the bathroom and washed his face.

The cool water splashed over him, calming him down a little further.

When he returned to the living room and saw the remaining vials on the coffee table, Lin Chengdong immediately frowned. "This is ridiculous!"

He reached out, intending to take the things downstairs and throw them into the trash,

but at that moment, his wife's voice came from the bedroom. Lin Chengdong instantly forgot about the garbage, threw open the bedroom door, and rushed in. His earlier irritable, gloomy demeanor had vanished, leaving only gentle tenderness. "Yufen, what is it?"

Aunt Lin said, "I'm a little thirsty."

Lin Chengdong said, "I'll get you some water."

After she finished drinking, Aunt Lin leaned against the headboard, holding the cup as she looked at her husband. "Did you yell at Da Yao?"

Lin Chengdong's old face immediately reddened with embarrassment. He lowered his head and stammered, "No... I don't think so."

Aunt Lin smiled. "That child meant well. Look at you, you're already this old and still don't know where the line is. And that medicine... it really does seem to have helped. I feel much better."

Lin Chengdong gave a bitter smile. "Do you really have to comfort me like that?"

Aunt Lin sat up straight, her expression turning serious. "I'm telling you, I'm not comforting you."

Lin Chengdong had lived with the woman before him for over twenty years. He could easily tell whether she was lying, and she did not seem to be faking it now. Could it really have worked? Lin Chengdong asked suspiciously, "Then should we go to the hospital tomorrow and get checked?"

Aunt Lin said, "After Mid-Autumn Festival. We'll go once Xiaoxi has returned to school."

Lin Chengdong said, "All right!"

The weather around Mid-Autumn Festival had already turned a little cold. Li Yao tightened his coat and felt even more aggrieved.

Dad and Mom had gone off to enjoy themselves, leaving not even a hot meal at home!

He had kindly delivered life-saving medicine to his best friend's house, only to get yelled at! What kind of shitty life was this?!

Li Yao bought a boxed meal from a convenience store, microwaved it when he got home, and gnawed on it alone in the cold, empty house during this Mid-Autumn Festival holiday—would you believe that? Sure enough, I'm not the fucking protagonist of this book, am I? Aggrieved.JPG!

Just then, his phone vibrated with a message from Lin Xiaoxi. "Li Yao, you came to my house?"

"Why didn't you stay for dinner?"

"My dad and mom were acting weird. They seemed a little reluctant when I said I'd invite you over. What the hell is going on? (#→⌒→)???"

Li Yao smiled and replied, "I'm out having fun."

Lin Xiaoxi replied, "You bastard, you went out having fun without inviting me? We're done!"

What kind of position was "we're done"? Li Yao felt much better. He could actually understand Uncle Lin's emotions, though that did not mean he was not upset!

He had to make it up somehow, right? So he opened his chat history with Lin Xiaowei. "It's Mid-Autumn Festival~ Have you eaten mooncakes?"

Lin Xiaowei's profile picture was still gray, so Li Yao could only leave her a message. "I delivered the medicine to your family. Uncle Lin didn't believe me and gave me a serious scolding. I'm super aggrieved, okay? You have to compensate me! Damn it, you really owe me! No, wait, I owe you??? Anyway, Mid-Autumn Festival... uh, would wishing you a happy one be too cliché? Then I wish you an awesome Mid-Autumn Festival!"

After sending the message, Li Yao put away his phone and prepared to cultivate.

Though he was lazy, he had never neglected the Meditation Technique. He meditated every night before bed, and lately, he had gradually begun replacing sleep with meditation because he had discovered that sleeping did less for his cultivation than meditation...

After keeping it up for several months, he felt his mental power soaring.

As the foundation of a mage's existence, mental power was extremely important. The effects of all kinds of spells were tied to its strength. Taking Mage Hand as an example, at first Li Yao could only control objects weighing one or two hundred grams. Now, he could control objects weighing three kilograms, and the speed and force with which he moved them had also increased as his spiritual cultivation deepened.

Reality was not a game, after all.

Games assigned you fixed numerical values. No matter how you played, you could only wander within that range.

Reality, however, produced different results according to the improvement of your own strength.

Recently, Li Yao had been trying to see whether he could multitask and control two objects at once—there were results, but it was difficult to control them freely.

After practicing the circuit decomposition of Mage Hand once more, Li Yao made a ball of clear water float above his palm, changing it into various shapes. He stared at the water and fell into thought. At present, aside from the Meditation Technique, Mage Hand was the only mage skill he had mastered. Although his alchemy knowledge was also power within the mage system and could become quite formidable when cultivated to a high level, for now it was merely a life skill.

He lacked powerful offensive skills!

Oh, he lacked defensive skills too! Hmm... he also lacked support skills and movement skills!

In short, he lacked everything! As a complete newcomer to the mage world, Li Yao found every spell fascinating. He always wanted more powerful spell skills.

Lin Xiaowei had said that once this mission was handled, she would give him a powerful skill. He wondered what kind of skill it would be.

Li Yao waved his hand and tossed the water into the sink, ambition surging in his heart. If she won't give it to me, I'll develop it myself! A real man has to be brave enough to develop all kinds of new positions!

Let's do it!

Over the next few days, Li Yao truly began researching new ways to use Mage Hand. By the end of the holiday, he already had some ideas. During the break, his parents never returned before he went back to school. They had really gone wild. There was also no news from Uncle Lin's family, and he did not feel comfortable asking... He could only hope Uncle Lin was not such a devout materialist scientist.

Li Yao returned to school, wandered around the dormitory, exchanged some nonsense with his roommates, then returned to the studio apartment outside campus. He planned to prepare a few things and sort through his recent thoughts while he was at it.

Just then, his phone began vibrating.

Lin Xiaowei: "Thanks for the effort. Looks like I missed Mid-Autumn Festival."

Seeing that Lin Xiaowei had finally come back to life, Li Yao sighed in relief and happily said, "It's okay. Mid-Autumn Festival comes every year."

Lin Xiaowei: "You've had it rough lately. Oh, right, this is for you. You must have been waiting impatiently."

As she spoke, he received a document from Lin Xiaowei,

—it was a new skill.

I've officially signed a contract, so why haven't you spent money on me yet??? It's time to prove you love me! Come play~