Battle, Awesome!

Battle, Awesome!

After sending Li Ge off on his own, Xue Jing headed for the bus stop, preparing to go home.

On the way, he opened the panel to check this time's gains.

You experienced a battle. Fitness EXP +109

You experienced a battle. Aim EXP +50

You experienced a battle and felt extremely refreshed. Health Preservation EXP +33

Requirements met. Skill activated: Combat

You experienced a battle. Combat EXP +68

Fitness Lv.2 (431/500)

Health Preservation Lv.1 (269/300)

Cooking Lv.2 (279/500)

Running Lv.3 (502/800)

Charm Technique Lv.2 (398/500)

Aim Lv.1 (208/300)

Combat Lv.1 (68/300)

First were the experience points. His Fitness skill had directly gained over a hundred points. Working himself hard for an hour alone at the gym only earned about that much, yet now, after nothing more than a not particularly strenuous fight, he had gained all this experience.

Aim had gained fifty points. That probably included his use of dynamic vision during the fight, as well as the aiming involved in throwing punches. On top of that, he had hit Pei Youguang's left eye with a pebble. The gains were likewise far greater than from his usual training.

What Xue Jing found most absurd was that Health Preservation had actually gained over thirty points of experience.

This skill, which had previously only been able to gain experience through Early to Bed and Early to Rise, had gained experience from a brawl?

What, fighting was a health-preserving exercise now?

Still, after seeing the "felt extremely refreshed" note in the panel prompt, Xue Jing found it reasonable.

One of the most important things in health preservation was maintaining a good mindset. There was no questioning the effect one's mental state had on the body. He had often heard stories of critically ill patients making miraculous recoveries simply because they remained positive.

After the fight, he really did feel refreshed and invigorated, filled with a thoroughly satisfying sense of joy.

Fighting was awesome!

"Looks like I need to do things that make me happy more often..."

The massive experience gains once again proved that the panel did not encourage him to shut himself away. He still needed to get out and be more active.

Lastly, there was the newly activated skill—Combat.

Xue Jing had truly not expected to activate a skill here that was directly tied to combat power.

He had thought the month he spent practicing along with videos had been wasted effort, but all that accumulated practice had unexpectedly erupted at this moment.

On the quiet path, seeing that no one was around, Xue Jing raised one leg high and spread his legs apart, lifting his right foot high overhead into a vertical split.

At that moment, he could barely feel the pain of his groin being stretched. This was a level of flexibility he absolutely had not possessed before.

And after holding his raised leg over his head, he did not feel the slightest strain. Standing on his left leg alone, he remained remarkably balanced and steady.

Combat had changed his body's structure.

The human body subtly changed according to different lifestyles and training methods. The physical structures of gymnasts and weightlifters, for example, were completely different.

Years of training made their body structures highly suited to their respective professions. One was light and flexible, while the other was sturdy and powerful.

After the Combat skill activated, Xue Jing's body structure had been "specialized," changing from that of an ordinary person into one "suited for combat."

Beyond the basic boost to his physical attributes, everything related to combat—Reaction Speed, explosive power, flexibility, resistance to blows, agility, punching instinct, balance, and more—had been enhanced to varying degrees.

"This skill only enhances my 'combat ability.' It doesn't directly give me 'combat techniques'..."

Xue Jing pondered.

"In that sense, it's actually similar to subjects like Chinese, mathematics, and physics. Techniques count as 'knowledge,' not the skill itself. Combat can let me better control techniques, but it can't just implant them into me out of thin air..."

"Rather than calling it a 'Combat skill,' it's more like a 'Combat talent.'"

The other skills were more or less the same. Cooking enhanced his control over heat and his use of kitchenware, but it did not directly give him recipes. Fitness did not give him fitness knowledge either; it merely strengthened his body.

Running, Aim, Charm Technique, and Health Preservation were all the same. They only strengthened his related abilities and did not directly instill knowledge into him.

"Anyway, that felt damn good."

Xue Jing wore a delighted expression.

The feeling of becoming stronger was truly addictive. His body, already as light as a swallow from Combat's enhancement, somehow felt even lighter.

"Time to go home and pet the cat."

After taking the bus to the street where his residential complex was located, Xue Jing did not head home immediately. Instead, he went to the supermarket to buy some ingredients before finally returning home.

He took out his key and turned the lock. When he opened the door, he found Maomao sitting at the entrance, seemingly waiting for him.

The instant she saw him come in, Maomao let out a meow. Her tail, fitted with a tail ring, swayed gently behind her in greeting.

After setting his backpack and the bag of ingredients on the living room table, Xue Jing crouched down, held Maomao's head between both hands, and scratched her cheeks from both sides.

"Little kitty wants pets, huh?"

Maomao initially tried to struggle, but she was immediately conquered by his superb technique. Feeling so good that she could not help it, she narrowed her eyes.

"Meow~"

Her head felt nice to touch. Xue Jing petted her for a while before reluctantly stopping. Then, pinching one of her cheeks with one hand, he smiled and asked, "Hungry, hmm?"

Even though he knew the cat before him had most likely once been human, Xue Jing's tone still inevitably became somewhat childish in front of such a cute little animal, as though he were teasing a small child.

"Meow~"

Maomao stretched out her two white-gloved paws and pushed at him, trying to free herself from the hand pinching her cheek. But it was useless. She could only meow helplessly, indicating that she really was hungry.

Xue Jing smiled and spared the poor Maomao, picking up the ingredients from the table and heading into the kitchen.

A remarkably human-like look of dissatisfaction appeared on Maomao's face. She rubbed her sore cheeks with her paws.

Stupid human. He never knows his own strength.

Maomao, who had already begun to forget that she was not actually a cat, thought irritably.

She padded to the corner between the living room and kitchen and secretly peeked at Xue Jing. Once she confirmed that he was busy, she immediately sprinted into Xue Jing's room.

Xue Jing's return had been too sudden just now, and she had not finished cleaning up after herself.

After entering the room, Maomao jumped onto the computer desk and laboriously moved the mouse with her paws. Using "One-Claw Zen" on the keyboard, she deleted the browsing history, uninstalled a strange program, restored the computer to a state where "nothing had happened," then shut it down.

After finishing all that, Maomao let out a sigh of relief. She silently left the room, went to the living room, jumped onto the sofa, lazily curled up, placed a paw on the remote, and turned on the television.

"...Sunny City Public Security Bureau Chief Shang Mingyang stated that the police have confirmed the escape route of this batch of Intersection Zone smuggling gangs. They are highly likely to pass through Sunny City. The Public Security Bureau has currently issued a yellow security alert. All citizens are urged to take care for their personal safety..."

In the kitchen, Xue Jing's phone suddenly rang.

He put down the soy sauce and ladle in his hands, washed his hands, wiped them on his apron, and took his phone from his pocket.

Xue Jing glanced at the caller ID. It was a number without a note, but one he knew by heart.

He pressed the answer button and said, "Hello, Mom. What's wrong?"

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