Testing His Skills

At the bus stop, two people were waiting for the bus.

One was a stylishly dressed beauty with a white shoulder bag slung over her shoulder. Earphones plugged in, her eyes half-closed, she hummed along to the lyrics, immersed in her own world of music.

"Love is a ray of light, so wonderful."

The beauty had no idea that the burly man standing beside her had already slipped his hand into her shoulder bag.

Just then, Qin Fen walked over and happened to see the scene.

Seeing that the newcomer was merely a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy, the burly man showed no nervousness at having been caught red-handed. Instead, he shot Qin Fen a vicious glare, his face brimming with menace, as though warning him not to meddle in other people's business.

This burly man had far more nerve than the two shirtless, tattooed youths who had robbed a middle school student a few days ago. When those two youths had been caught by Qin Fen, they had immediately panicked and taken off running.

From that alone, Qin Fen could tell that the two shirtless, tattooed youths had probably been rookies doing that sort of thing for the first time, which was why they had been so tense and flustered. This burly man, on the other hand, was clearly used to it. Even after Qin Fen caught him, not only did he not rein himself in, he even glared and threatened him.

At the same time, his other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a sharp dagger.

If it had been any other teenager, seeing the burly man's vicious gaze and sharp dagger, afraid of retaliation, he would likely have lowered his head and pretended not to see anything. If one wanted to stand up for justice, one had to know one's limits. Ensuring one's own safety came first; one could not act rashly.

No one knew whether, if they really spoke up, this burly man would fly into a rage from shame and stab them.

If Qin Fen had not cultivated strength, he might have backed down upon seeing the man pull out a knife.

But now that he had cultivated strength and become a Quasi-Martial Artist, how could he possibly be afraid? This burly man could only be an ordinary person; he could not be a Quasi-Martial Artist. If he were one, he would never do such sneaky, underhanded things.

Martial arts strengthened the body—and tempered the will even more.

"Sir, your hand is in the wrong place."

Qin Fen immediately shouted.

With his strength, he could easily crush an ordinary person. Naturally, there was no need for him to fear the burly man's threats.

Hearing Qin Fen's shout, the beauty with earphones in also sensed that something was wrong and immediately looked at the burly man beside her.

The burly man had not expected young people these days to be so bold. Even a dagger could not scare them, and they still dared to meddle in other people's business. It was all those damned television dramas' fault.

Rather than thinking about studying and doing practice papers at home, every young person dreamed of becoming a martial artist and playing the hero.

Adults weighed gains and losses, but after seeing all the propaganda about martial artists, these teenagers would be filled with hot blood. Whenever they encountered injustice on the road, the chivalrous spirit in their hearts would surge forth uncontrollably, and they would draw their blades to help.

These teenagers would not turn back until they crashed into the southern wall.

At that moment, the burly man swiftly withdrew his hand from the beauty's bag, a wallet still in his grip. The beauty was about to scream, but when she saw him pull a sharp dagger from his other pocket and wave it twice, she obediently shut her mouth.

She covered her mouth with both hands, her delicate body trembling slightly, not daring to let herself scream.

"Kid, if you know what's good for you, don't provoke me. The knife in my hand isn't made of clay. If you dare shout again, I'll make your blood splatter right here."

The burly man glared viciously at Qin Fen, slashing his knife through the air as he threatened him.

Qin Fen's expression remained blank. He circulated strength into his legs, and his body shot forward in an instant.

With a boom, he drove a fist into the burly man's stomach.

"Ah!"

The burly man's body immediately bent like a bow, a pained expression appearing on his face.

The intense pain left him without strength throughout his body. The dagger and wallet fell from his hands to the ground, and he clutched his stomach with both hands, beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolling down his face.

Qin Fen had held back with that punch.

Otherwise, with a full-force blow, he could absolutely have beaten the burly man until he vomited blood and collapsed unconscious on the ground.

Such was the power of a Quasi-Martial Artist. Even one who had only just cultivated strength far surpassed ordinary people. Taking on more than a dozen unarmed burly men alone would not be much of a problem.

"Miss, you weren't too frightened, were you?"

Qin Fen pulled the beauty aside to prevent the burly man from picking up the dagger on the ground and attacking again.

He bent down, picked up the wallet, and handed it to her.

"Thank you, little brother." The beauty accepted the wallet, took several hundred-yuan bills from it, and stuffed them into Qin Fen's hand. "Little brother, it was all thanks to you this time. Otherwise, your big sister would have lost several thousand yuan. This is a token of my gratitude."

"No, no. When encountering injustice, one should step forward. It is what those of us who practice martial arts ought to do."

Qin Fen did not accept her money.

To prevent the burly man from escaping, Qin Fen escorted him to a nearby patrol booth and had him watched there before calling the police.

A few minutes later, a police car arrived and handcuffed the burly man before taking him into the vehicle.

Because the burly man was a repeat offender, and there were surveillance cameras near the bus stop, the officers had Qin Fen and the beauty make brief statements. After leaving their contact information, they allowed the two to leave.

Righteous Qi Value +5

As the police car drove away, a streak of white light drifted past Qin Fen's eyes.

Qin Fen: Quasi-Martial Artist

Martial Art: Galloping Horse Strength / Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber (9/100)

Righteous Qi Value: 5

The two returned to the bus stop. Before long, the Number 11 bus arrived.

However, Qin Fen was taking the Number 9 bus, while the beauty was taking the Number 11 bus. They were not headed in the same direction.

"Righteous Qi Value, add it to Galloping Horse Strength."

After the beauty left, Qin Fen summoned the Panel and added the Righteous Qi Value to Galloping Horse Strength.

Martial Art: Galloping Horse Strength / Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber (14/100)

His body trembled slightly, his blood and qi surged, and the familiar sensation returned.

However, after Galloping Horse Strength had reached the Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber realm, gaining merely a few points of proficiency only increased his strength by a limited amount. As Galloping Horse Strength improved, his body grew even hungrier.

"The further martial arts progress, the Righteous Qi Value required rises severalfold."

Qin Fen discovered that raising Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber to its peak required 100 points of Righteous Qi Value.

Rudimentary Understanding only needed 10 points of Righteous Qi Value to reach its peak, First Glimpse of the Path required 30 points, while Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber required 100 points to cultivate to its peak. Beyond Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber lay the Peak Realm.

However, after cultivating strength, Qin Fen no longer had to rely entirely on Righteous Qi Value to increase his proficiency.

By circulating strength through his entire body again and again, tempering his flesh and skin, he could likewise improve his martial arts proficiency.

Righteous Qi Value could speed up the increase in proficiency, but without it, he could still improve gradually through practice. Having cultivated strength, he was already qualified to join the Martial Arts Class and learn more profound martial arts.

He had already taken the most important step.

A few minutes later, the Number 9 bus arrived. Qin Fen got on, dropped two one-yuan coins into the fare box, and chose a window seat.