Level 2 Martial Arts Apprentice, Professional Advancement Skill!

It was 6:50 AM the next day.

Morning light filtered through the pleats of the blinds, weaving a flowing net of light across the beige bedsheets. The shadows of the old ceiling fan's blades mingled with it, causing the patches of light to dance gently with the fan's rotation.

Fang Qingyu climbed out of bed, preemptively silencing the infernal alarm.

He stood by the window, looking out at the distant steel buildings.

April was almost over; this rainy season should be ending soon.

He grabbed his training uniform, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed out.

Coming down the stairs, his body felt exceptionally light. In the short time since his last upgrade, he could clearly feel the difference between this new day and yesterday.

It was utterly intoxicating.

And Fang Qingyu experienced it every day.

7:10 AM.

Chenfeng Martial Hall.

Fang Qingyu took a deep breath and walked into the training hall. He had to go all out today.

He was only 17 experience points away from leveling up his Martial Arts Apprentice profession.

He could level up today and didn't want to wait until tomorrow.

A Martial Practitioner seizes the day!

As usual, Instructor Qin arranged the other students and then stood off to the side with his thermos of goji berries.

Watching Fang Qingyu practice, he couldn't help but recall his years of teaching.

He had met many hardworking individuals.

But most of them would give up after less than two days of practice.

Without seeing any results, they would start to back out.

This was commonly known as having a three-minute passion.

But Fang Qingyu was different.

From the very first day he came to learn martial arts, he had displayed a more diligent spirit than others.

He was also very willing to accept rigorous training.

This was actually quite rare.

If anyone else were to be hit by him twice with a stick, they probably would have complained long ago.

Furthermore, his passion for martial arts grew stronger with each passing day, as if he had an internal combustion engine.

Every morning, he would wake up and ignite himself.

Bang. Bang. Bang!!

Fang Qingyu was unaware of Instructor Qin's thoughts. Right now, he was staring intently at the scrolling text on his status panel.

[Your profession "Martial Arts Apprentice" gained +1 Experience!]

[Your profession's basic skill "Hidden Dragon Stance" gained +2 Experience!]

[Your profession's basic skill "Basic Fist Technique" gained +2 Experience!]

Looking at the few remaining experience points needed to level up, his concept of time had completely faded away.

Fang Qingyu's temples throbbed, and sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor.

His body was already at its absolute limit.

He was close to collapsing.

But Fang Qingyu merely gasped for breath, re-anchoring himself in front of the stance.

The principles of the Basic Fist Technique automatically generated in his mind. His bandaged, bleeding fist struck the target faster than his consciousness.

The impact made his teeth ache, and the soft tissue he bit on in his mouth oozed blood. The sensation, paradoxically, sharpened his blurry vision by a third.

The muscles in his calves began to spasm uncontrollably, and his sweat-soaked leg wraps felt as heavy as lead.

Fang Qingyu simply leaned forward, pressing his entire body weight into his punch.

The muffled thuds of his knuckles repeatedly hitting the cowhide formed a dense net, mixed with the heavy panting from his nostrils, filling the empty hall.

Instructor Qin, standing nearby, frowned slightly, sensing something was amiss.

Although Fang Qingyu usually trained hard, his body, pushed to its limit, shouldn't be subjected to further training. He should know this.

Why was he acting like he didn't care about his own life today?

He was about to step forward to intervene forcefully.

Fortunately, Fang Qingyu stopped on his own at that moment.

Even though his vision was obscured by dripping sweat, the golden text on the display was still clearly visible.

[Congratulations! Your profession "Martial Arts Apprentice" has leveled up to Lv.2!]

[Martial Arts Apprentice Advanced Skill Options]

[1. Mountain Shatterer: Release a punch instantly, increasing peak punch power by 5%]

[2. Layered Force: Hit the same spot three consecutive times, accumulating an 8% damage increase]

[3. Blood Burst: Upon activation, physical fitness reaches its peak, increasing all attributes by 5% for 10 seconds]

"Huuuh."

Fang Qingyu just glanced at them.

He felt like his heart was bleeding.

Damn it, couldn't he have all of them?

What he lacked most right now was offensive methods. Mountain Shatterer and Layered Force were both useful in actual combat, one for instant burst damage, the other for accumulated burst damage.

But when Fang Qingyu's gaze fell on the third option...

His mind immediately wavered.

This was a bit too mystical.

The first two offensive skills could be explained by some special force-exerting technique.

Was this third skill like injecting adrenaline from a distance?

"What are you thinking about?"

Just then, Instructor Qin walked up to Fang Qingyu and finished examining him.

He was just a bit exhausted, his fists were scraped, but it wasn't a big deal. Seeing Fang Qingyu still staring blankly ahead, Instructor Qin couldn't help but wave his hand in front of his eyes.

"Oh, oh, it's nothing, Instructor Qin."

Fang Qingyu snapped back to attention. He wanted to wave his hand, but found he didn't even have the strength to lift it.

The next second...

A surge of warmth suddenly erupted within him.

His entire body was already covered in sweat, and now even his skin turned red.

Instructor Qin's eyes widened as he watched this scene.

Without saying a word, he turned and rushed towards the door.

A moment later, he returned holding a crystal tube filled with a blue liquid and quickly went to Fang Qingyu's side.

He pinched Fang Qingyu's mouth open and poured all the liquid in.

About ten minutes later.

Fang Qingyu slowly woke up.

"Instructor Qin?"

He turned and saw Instructor Qin, whose eyes were so envious they were almost purple.

"You kid really hit the jackpot."

Instructor Qin stared for a long while before squeezing out this sentence through gritted teeth.

"?"

Fang Qingyu was confused and tried to get up from the ground.

The moment his hand touched the ground...

He instantly noticed the change in his body.

He immediately opened his status panel to check his basic information.

[Strength: 11.1 → 12.6]

[Speed: 9.9 → 11.9]

[Physique: 11.0 → 12.7]

[Will: 10.9 → 13.5]

"Hiss..."

Fang Qingyu's pupils contracted as he looked.

All four core attributes had surged!!?

"Do you know how many meridians there are in the human body?"

Instructor Qin beside him also slowly stood up, his tone carrying a hint of sourness that made one's teeth ache.

"...8?"

Fang Qingyu, still in shock, answered subconsciously.

He had only heard the idiom "Eight Extraordinary Meridians."

"14."

"And you, you've just opened up one."

"Huh?"

Fang Qingyu's expression froze as he heard this.

"What do you think Qi Hao and the others have been doing their entire lives, building their physical foundation?"

Instructor Qin used an example Fang Qingyu knew.

"They've been eating medicinal cuisine, practicing stance training, and martial arts since they were young, all to open up their meridians."

"And you..."

"In just over ten days, you've accomplished what others take ten years to do."

As Instructor Qin spoke, he felt a genuine sense of envy.

If only he had Fang Qingyu's luck, he wouldn't be worried about crossing the Martial Practitioner's chasm.

But then, thinking of how Fang Qingyu pushed himself...

His feelings settled down a bit.

"Come on, let's test your fist strength again."

Fang Qingyu was still pondering Instructor Qin's words when he heard this and immediately followed suit.

The fatigue from his previous training vanished as that warmth spread through him; he felt an inexhaustible supply of strength.

He raised his right hand and punched towards the screen.

Bang—

143KG!!!