Showing His Hand

"Hmm?"

Chen Wu's expression shifted slightly as he abruptly looked up.

His gaze was like blazing torches, instantly locking onto the direction the sound had come from.

In a corner of the training room stood an ordinary-looking young man in a black-and-red Martial Arts Uniform, one hand raised and frozen in the middle of a punch.

Seeing this, Chen Wu crossed the room in a few strides and stopped before Hu Qi.

"Did you make that sound just now?"

Hu Qi stopped moving, a perfectly timed trace of confusion flashing across his face.

"I don't know what happened either. I was practicing, and it suddenly happened. Coach, did I mess something up in my training?"

"Haha, no, no, there's absolutely nothing wrong. You did it right. Keep it up—I think highly of you!"

Chen Wu laughed heartily and reached out to pat Hu Qi on the shoulder.

Others might not know, but how could he not?

That sound was clearly the essence of Cannon Fist, the first form of the Comprehensive Combat Technique.

Being able to throw that punch, even if it had only been a lucky accident, proved that he had already brought the Comprehensive Combat Technique to the proficient level.

"He Chi, I'm afraid you'll still be pinned under me this time, with no chance to turn things around!"

At that thought, Chen Wu's mood soared. Even Hu Qi's face suddenly looked incomparably pleasing to the eye.

Some of the trainees resting nearby could not help exchanging looks.

Though they did not understand the significance of that sound, anyone who was not blind could roughly infer something from Chen Wu's attitude.

By a wall near one corner of the training room.

Song Jian, who had been chatting with his companions, also turned his gaze over.

Looking at Hu Qi's face, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

"Do any of you know this person's name?"

At that, the people beside him looked at one another, unsure how to respond.

Although they had trained together for several days, they had not interacted much.

At most, his face looked somewhat familiar. Trying to recall his name was truly difficult.

"I remember that during introductions, he seemed to say his name was Hu Qi."

At that moment, the young girl named Lin Rong, who was sitting nearby and stretching her arms, thought for a moment before adding.

"You don't need to take him to heart. His movements were very stiff when he practiced before. He's nowhere near your level, Song Jian."

"Exactly, Brother Song. We all know your strength inside out. That guy isn't even worthy to carry your shoes."

Several companions nearby laughed and chimed in.

Song Jian withdrew his gaze and said nothing.

Indeed, just as they had said, even if this person had some talent—

Compared to him, the gap was still worlds apart.

He had only asked out of curiosity.

Hu Qi simply did not qualify to compete with him.

Hu Qi paid no attention to what everyone was thinking.

What he had done just now had naturally been deliberate.

He wanted to make a change and draw Chen Wu's attention.

When one was weak, playing the pig to eat the tiger was necessary, but one also needed to display a little value at the right time. That would undoubtedly be more beneficial to him.

Of course.

He had not used his full strength and had still held back somewhat.

Reaching the proficient level in the Comprehensive Combat Technique in just a few days could still be explained away.

But reaching the minor success level would be a little too absurd.

Inside the rented apartment.

A sharp blade slid across a neck, and dark-red blood splashed onto Hu Qi's face.

In the sink.

A robust rooster with a blood-red comb and vibrant feathers lay crookedly in the basin.

A ring of feathers beneath its neck had been plucked bare, revealing a wound in the exposed skin that had almost severed it.

Blood streamed from the wound, winding its way into the drain below.

As it lost more and more blood, the rooster's vitality was drawn away, and the force of its struggling, flapping wings gradually weakened.

Until it finally stopped moving altogether.

"So it still doesn't work?"

Hu Qi lowered his head to look at the rooster he had killed, then glanced at a spot in the empty air, his brows faintly furrowed.

The modification panel was useful, but without Modification Points, it was utterly useless.

These past few days.

He had conducted several experiments.

From ants and insects to this rooster, there had not been the slightest movement in his Modification Points.

"Could it be that I need to touch antiques and absorb some kind of cool air from them?"

Hu Qi pinched the bridge of his nose.

Remembering certain scenes from novels he had read in his previous life, he felt that this was not impossible.

"Forget it. I'll eat first."

With that thought, he glanced at the rooster in the sink, then turned to boil a pot of water and began plucking and preparing it with practiced ease.

Dozens of minutes later, a pot of freshly cooked rustic pot chicken, lined with thin flatbreads and sprinkled with finely chopped scallions, was ready.

"Looks like my Culinary Arts haven't gotten rusty either."

Hu Qi picked up his chopsticks, lifted a piece of chicken, blew on it, and put it into his mouth. The fragrance of tender chicken spread across his palate, and a look of enjoyment appeared on his face.

Perhaps because he had been practicing the Comprehensive Combat Technique and the Nourishing Origin Breathing Method, Hu Qi's appetite had increased greatly lately.

He actually ate the entire rooster clean.

This was not one of those roasted chickens sold on the market that were barely bigger than a fist.

But along with that.

His physique had been getting better and better these past days.

Whenever he took off his clothes to bathe, he could clearly see distinct muscle contours emerging on his arms, abdomen, chest, back, legs, and other areas.

More than ten minutes later, he was full and satisfied.

After tidying up a little, Hu Qi carried a black garbage bag out the door.

After tossing the trash into the bin downstairs, he headed out of the residential complex.

His destination this time was Moshi Street, ten kilometers away.

When he had gone to the market to buy the chicken, his electric scooter had taken a fall and the right handlebar had broken. It was currently being repaired at a bike shop and was not ready yet.

With no vehicle to ride, Hu Qi planned to take the bus.

Although this world had subways, for some reason they had not become widespread.

Qirong City, as a small third-tier city, currently had only one line, and it had only been built recently.

East District, where he lived, was part of the old city, so naturally it did not have one.

Fortunately.

There were plenty of bus stops. One was just across the road outside the residential complex, not far from the rented apartment.

It was around three in the afternoon.

The sky was blanketed by a thick layer of dark clouds, as if draped in a gray veil, and the air was somewhat stuffy.

At this hour, there were not many people waiting at the bus stop.

Only a grandmother and granddaughter wearing sun hats.

After sweeping his gaze around, Hu Qi took out his earphones, put them on, and played a currently popular song.

If someone were standing close enough, they would discover that Hu Qi's breathing was remarkably steady, as though it followed some special rhythm.

It was precisely the Nourishing Origin Breathing Method.

After he had raised this method to the perfected realm, it had completely replaced his usual way of breathing.

Unlike the Comprehensive Combat Technique, the Nourishing Origin Breathing Method could not rapidly or noticeably increase one's strength. Yet as time passed, it subtly transformed Hu Qi's physique.

Compared with the other trainees, his stamina was more enduring, and his recovery speed was faster as well.

Hu Qi even had the feeling that perhaps, even without the modifier, with the help of the breathing method, it would not take him long to raise the Comprehensive Combat Technique again and enter the mastery level.

Time passed.

A few minutes later, the B3 bus route he needed arrived.

Hu Qi got moving and followed the grandmother and granddaughter onto the bus.