Jiang Fan cultivated continuously through the night.
When he failed the challenge once again, his mind returned to the room.
Only when he saw the faint light seeping through the cracks in the window did he suddenly realize that dawn had broken.
Nine hours amounted to more than three full days of cultivation in the space.
During those three days, he sometimes sat cross-legged and circulated the Innate Qi Circulation Technique, and sometimes practiced the Five-Element Fist he had learned from Thunder Martial Hall.
Whenever he felt that his cultivation had improved, he would try challenging the Woman in the Plain Skirt from the second level.
Yet every time, he was utterly crushed!
However, as time passed, he could already exchange blows with her for nearly ten minutes, and sometimes even inflict minor injuries on her.
But more often than not, he suffered even more serious injuries himself.
Next time! I should be able to do it next time!
Jiang Fan rose, feeling refreshed and invigorated!
Although he had not slept all night, cultivating in the space seemed to lessen the fatigue in reality. It was no different from resting in the real world!
This discovery sent Jiang Fan into another fit of wild delight!
Jiang Fan glanced at his watch. It was already seven in the morning. It was time to get up!
He had stayed here overnight plenty of times before, so he knew exactly what time he needed to rise in order to get to school without being late.
After straightening his clothes, he quietly went to the bathroom and began rinsing his mouth and brushing his teeth!
Knock, knock, knock!
Suddenly, a bout of knocking came from outside.
With foam in his mouth, Jiang Fan opened the bathroom door.
He saw that Su Qingwan had already come out of her room.
"Who is it? So early?"
He asked indistinctly.
Su Qingwan shook her head, then went over to open the door.
"Sister-in-law! We're sorry! We failed to protect Brother Ma!"
As soon as the door opened, several burly men carrying Ma Jiang stood outside.
Su Qingwan froze for a moment, then hurried forward and asked in a tearful voice,
"How did he get injured this badly?"
At that moment, Ma Jiang lay listlessly on a stretcher. His right arm was completely gone, and a thick layer of bandages was wrapped around the stump at his shoulder.
"Come in, quickly!"
Su Qingwan urged the men to carry Ma Jiang inside and place him on the sofa in the living room.
"I... I'm fine!"
"It's just this arm..."
Before Ma Jiang could finish, Su Qingwan immediately cut him off.
"Don't talk. Get some rest!"
After saying that, she turned her gaze toward the other burly men.
There were three of them in total.
With tears glistening in their tiger-like eyes, they told Su Qingwan what had happened.
It turned out that all of them were members of the patrol team.
Ma Jiang had said yesterday morning that he wanted to hunt mutated beasts. As his die-hard followers, they had naturally responded at once.
They all had families to support. Working for the patrol team brought them such meager wages that, while they would not starve, the money was ultimately still insufficient.
They had long entertained the thought of taking a gamble, but Ma Jiang, as their senior, had always tried to dissuade them. The wilderness was dangerous, and he would not let them go.
This time, Ma Jiang had finally changed his mind. Everyone hit it off immediately, forming a five-man hunting squad and heading to Phoenix Mountain.
But not long after they arrived at Phoenix Mountain, they were attacked by a Stone-Armored Boar!
The Stone-Armored Boar was enormous, its body covered in hard, stone-like scales that resembled armor. It possessed immense strength, yet its movements were not particularly slow.
Even Martial Artists would find it extremely difficult to hunt such a mutated beast, let alone ordinary people like them.
The five-man squad lost one member, and the Stone-Armored Boar had bitten off one of Ma Jiang's arms!
The men realized how perilous Phoenix Mountain was and lost all desire to hunt mutated beasts. They hurriedly returned.
After reaching a clinic, they pooled together every bit of money they had to bandage Ma Jiang. Only then did they bring him back.
"Uncle!"
"Dad!"
In just a short while, Ma Ning had also come out of her room. Seeing Ma Jiang's miserable state, she rushed over with Jiang Fan.
Jiang Fan could not stop the tears from pouring down.
His heart was filled with boundless regret!
If not for him, Ma Jiang would not have ended up like this!
If he had not cared so much about that bottle of genetic medicine, and had simply given it to them when they asked, perhaps none of this would have happened!
If only...
After seeing the men off, Su Qingwan returned to the living room. Seeing Jiang Fan's vacant expression, she knew he was overthinking things again and spoke to comfort him.
"Xiao Fan, don't think too much about it!"
Although she said that, Su Qingwan was also filled with worry.
Ma Jiang's injury would heal, but what would happen after that?
Never mind whether the patrol team would still want him.
The medicine and treatment needed during this period alone would probably be enough to overwhelm their family.
What was more, Ma Jiang himself had proposed hunting mutated beasts, and one person had died.
Given Ma Jiang's character, he would certainly take responsibility for that family to the very end. But where could he find so much money to compensate them?
Before the patrol team members left, they left behind a pile of medicine and explained how to change Ma Jiang's dressings.
Jiang Fan, Su Qingwan, and Ma Ning changed Ma Jiang's dressings together. Afterward, Su Qingwan hurried off to prepare something for him to eat.
When they had changed the dressings just now, Ma Jiang had endured the excruciating pain without making a sound. But his violently trembling body and beads of sweat the size of beans showed just how much he was suffering.
Jiang Fan's remorse deepened even further!
"Xiao Fan, go to school first. You'll be late soon!"
"I'll take care of your uncle. It's fine!"
Su Qingwan brought Ma Jiang a bowl of soup made from the little mutated-beast meat they had left. As she fed him, she spoke to Jiang Fan.
"Xiao Ning, don't rush off yet. I have something to tell you!"
After Su Qingwan pushed Jiang Fan out the door, he slowly went downstairs.
Faintly, he heard voices coming from inside.
"Xiao Ning, could you talk to your teacher?"
"Could we pay next semester's tuition a little later?"
Ma Ning said in a tearful voice.
"All right, Mom, I won't go to school anymore! I'll stay home and take care of Dad!"
Su Qingwan scolded her.
"Foolish girl, you're about to enter your senior year. Your studies are so demanding. I can take care of your father myself!"
Jiang Fan pressed his lips together and clenched his fists tightly.
After leaving Aunt's Home, Jiang Fan did not go to school. Instead, he went straight to Thunder Martial Hall.
He knew that, given Lei Ming's habit of being late, he definitely had not gone to school yet at this hour.
Sure enough, it was not long before Lei Ming slowly came downstairs.
"Xiao Fan?"
"What are you doing here?"
Although Lei Ming and Jiang Fan were close, they had never gone to school together in the morning. This was the first time Jiang Fan had waited for him here!
"What's wrong? You look a little off."
Jiang Fan shook his head, indicating that he was fine.
"A-Ming, when you go to school later, help me ask Li Dongsheng for leave."
"For about..."
Jiang Fan estimated for a moment.
"Two days."
Lei Ming frowned.
"What exactly happened?"
Jiang Fan hesitated for a moment before telling Lei Ming part of what had happened to Ma Jiang.
After hearing him out, Lei Ming immediately thumped his chest and promised,
"Sure! Stay home and take care of things properly. Don't worry about school—I'll explain everything to Li Dongsheng!"
Jiang Fan relaxed slightly at that.
"Thanks!"
Lei Ming immediately punched him in the chest.
"Hey! We're brothers. Why are you being so polite with me?"
Jiang Fan left Thunder Martial Hall, gritted his teeth, and walked toward a certain direction in the Outer City.
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