After Fang Qingyu politely turned down the last person and rubbed his nearly stiff-from-smiling face, he sighed helplessly.
"I'm exhausted."
All kinds of merchant guilds had appeared one after another, each boasting about its own benefits.
They guaranteed his life would be safe, promised him one life pearl in a single night, and offered to provide housing, women, clubs, and so on.
In fact, aside from the last three offers, Fang Qingyu hadn't really understood the others.
But the exaggerated promises in their tones had been rather obvious.
He didn't need to understand them. He could reject them outright.
After stretching his body,
Fang Qingyu walked back into the martial hall.
At this moment, he was the only one left.
He enjoyed this feeling of constantly improving on his own.
After all, the strong were destined to be lonely.
When he reached the steel-wrapped wooden dummy area, Fang Qingyu began practicing Stance Training Fist Technique.
Coach Zheng had been right.
Strength was the foundation of everything.
Otherwise, he couldn't learn the Contemplation Method without reaching 300 kilograms.
Even if he mastered martial techniques,
with only 100 kilograms of strength, he still wouldn't be able to defeat those terrifying life spirits!
He had lain around for several days without training.
The feeling of reactivating his body made Fang Qingyu lose himself in it.
Your profession "Martial Arts Apprentice" experience +17 Your profession basic skill "Hidden Dragon Stance" experience +25 Your profession basic skill "Basic Fist Technique" experience +22
After two hours had passed, Fang Qingyu looked at today's gains.
The two basic skills were still a long way from leveling up.
But the profession itself was only 75 experience points away from leveling up.
He estimated that he would break through around the time he entered the Elite Class.
Then he looked at the Baji Quan panel.
Actually, after killing the life spirit that night,
he had gained more than just access to the Life Spirit Compendium. His Baji Quan proficiency had also improved.
His original proficiency of only 22 had surged to 57.
It seemed that martial technique experience increased faster during combat.
Fang Qingyu secretly made a note of this.
Finally, he looked at the plus sign beside his new skill, Slashing Thunder.
The Life Spirit Compendium for Navel Sha had rewarded him with one skill point, which he hadn't used yet.
He had deliberately saved it until now.
Slashing Thunder, add it!
The warm current formed by the skill point suddenly exploded inside his skull.
Countless blade shadows surged and reassembled in the depths of his consciousness. In a daze, it seemed as though lightning flashed past.
Crack--
His spine suddenly erupted with a series of crisp pops like beans frying in a pan, while the muscles on his body tightened around his bones and grew like twisting vines.
When Fang Qingyu opened his eyes again,
he rotated his wrist, savoring the feeling of being able to precisely control even the movement of his wrist bones.
This experience was somewhat different from Baji Quan.
But his physical body had still improved.
Strength: 16.7→17.0 Speed: 16.0→16.2 Physique: 16.3→16.5
The greatest improvement, however, was still Slashing Thunder.
He looked at the panel.
Congratulations, your profession advancement skill "Slashing Thunder" has reached Lv.2 (0/200)
Fang Qingyu walked over to the weapon rack and drew a horizontal saber.
He walked up to the wooden dummy.
Clang!
The instant the blade left its sheath, a wave of sound exploded through the air.
This ordinary "horizontal slash" swept diagonally past, wrapped in a thunderous boom.
The steel layer outside the wooden dummy was cut open, leaving a trail.
Fang Qingyu leaned closer and could clearly see faint scorch marks on the cut surface, as though it had been struck by lightning.
"So this is the power of small success?"
It seemed that Coach Zheng's attainment in Slashing Thunder was far beyond small success.
Comparing the marks, the difference wasn't merely one of strength.
There was also a difference in the cuts themselves.
"From Coach Zheng's words today, I can tell that Level 1 is equivalent to an introduction, while Level 2 is equivalent to small success. There are probably several more proficiency levels afterward, but I don't know what they are."
"But skill points still aren't enough."
Fang Qingyu sheathed the saber and went to the changing room for a shower before leaving the martial hall.
It was time to grind like crazy.
"Master Zhang, where are you now?"
After getting a massage at the club, Fang Qingyu called Zhang Shifu.
He then got into the brand-new A8 and drove toward his afternoon workplace.
Last time, he had only activated half of it before running into the business with the life spirit. Today, he had to activate the profession and see what kind of skill it would provide.
"...Qingzi, what is this?"
When he arrived, foreman Zhang Shifu stared at the brand-new car, looking somewhat dumbfounded.
"Ahem, I'm working part-time as someone's driver. I happened to have some free time, so I came over to earn a little money."
To prevent Zhang Shifu from not calling him next time, Fang Qingyu casually made up an excuse.
Everyone had originally been poor together.
Then you suddenly became rich and still came over.
That wasn't coming to work. It was showing off.
He worked without caring about the dirt for four or five hours, finished the day's job, spent some money to treat everyone to a bottle of water, and then left.
Sitting in the car, he looked at the new page in the compendium.
Profession: Mover Lv.1 (3/100) Profession basic skill: Resilient Body Lv.1 (5/100)
He hadn't chosen the wrong profession this time.
Fang Qingyu had originally thought that the skill awakened by a mover would be ordinary and probably useless.
He hadn't expected it to give him such a pleasant surprise.
Resilient Body: Strengthens the pressure tolerance threshold of muscles and ligaments, delays fatigue and reduces the risk of strain, while simultaneously converting the impact of moving into increased endurance.
There was no need to mention what this skill did during work.
Whether it was strengthening his muscles and ligaments or delaying fatigue, it would be tremendously helpful while Fang Qingyu practiced martial arts.
As for its precise effects, he would have to see how things went after training tomorrow.
He grabbed a quick bite to eat by the roadside.
Fang Qingyu then hurried to the Combat Arena.
He walked straight into the office.
Brother Jiao and Lu Chen were squeezed together in front of the computer screen, concentrating on something.
When they heard the knock, they turned their heads in unison.
When they saw that it was Fang Qingyu, Brother Jiao immediately greeted him warmly.
"Qingzi, you're here. Sit, sit, sit. You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"
"Brother Jiao, Brother Chen, of course not."
Fang Qingyu smiled as well.
"Calling us that makes things too formal. Let me introduce myself again."
Brother Jiao came over, grabbed Fang Qingyu's arm, and spoke in a hearty voice.
"Former Elite Disciple of the Brahma Martial Hall, Jiao Yongkang, strength 454 kilograms. Just call me Old Jiao from now on."
"Same here. Former Elite Disciple, Lu Chen, strength 412 kilograms."
Lu Chen also walked out from behind the desk and introduced himself with a smile.
"..."
Fang Qingyu was pulled onto the sofa.
So these two incredibly powerful men had been acting like ordinary people right beside him!?
"Haha, no need to be surprised. You understand those rules too."
Old Jiao couldn't help laughing loudly when he saw this.
"Otherwise, how do you think I could have two establishments, both located around Five Mile Street?"
Fang Qingyu thought about it and decided that made sense.
Still, the strength of the two men had been somewhat beyond his expectations.
He now knew that strength became increasingly difficult to improve later on.
Over 400 kilograms of strength was equivalent to half a ton.
That was enough to kill an adult bull with one punch.
Not to mention, they had certainly learned the Contemplation Method.
"Qingzi, Brother Qin said you were willing to join the Zishi Merchant Guild!?"
After they had reintroduced themselves,
Old Jiao rubbed his hands and looked at Fang Qingyu expectantly.
"I am interested, but could you tell me about the process for hunting and killing life spirits first?"
Fang Qingyu nodded, though his brows still held a trace of confusion.
Aside from knowing a little about life spirits, he was completely clueless about everything else.
"Of course. Old Lu, close the door."
Hearing this, Old Jiao immediately had Lu Chen close the door.
Then he turned around, his expression serious.
"Actually, to summarize the process of fighting life spirits, there are only three words."
"Seize, kill, run!"
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