Duge Practiced Martial Arts

Watching the Feng family gathered at the edge of the field, Du Ge sighed inwardly. It seemed that if he wanted to thrive in this world, learning martial arts had to be made a priority.

Who knew how long they would be stuck in this Simulation Field?

Of course,

he couldn't give up maintenance or Backstab, either. They were the foundation of his survival, and he still hadn't come close to fully developing either Keyword...

After taking first place in the Simulation Field rankings, Du Ge had started to feel a little too pleased with himself, almost looking down on all the heroes of the world. But after this match, he readjusted his attitude, reined in his pride, and returned to being humble and cautious.

He couldn't even beat the village chief of the starting village. What did he have to be proud of?

But when he thought about it, it made sense. He'd only been in this world for three or four hours. How could he already be invincible?

Little did he know,

while Du Ge was dissatisfied with himself, Feng Shiren and the others were so jealous their eyes were nearly dripping blood.

Especially after they confirmed Du Ge had no Internal Energy, their envious, jealous, and resentful gazes made it seem as if they wanted to devour him alive.

Heaven help them.

They'd practiced martial arts with all their might for twenty or thirty years, yet they couldn't compare to a Heavenly Demon after just an hour or two of rambling. Two hours! In that time, a sickly weakling had become a martial arts prodigy with exceptional talent...

What had Feng Qi even done?

Aside from drawing them a rosy picture, he hadn't done a thing. The most important part of the plan had still been carried out by the Feng family...

And what had they gotten out of it?

The Feng family hadn't seen a single benefit, while Feng Qi's strength had shot up by leaps and bounds. Where was the sense in that?

Still,

the match had given the Feng family a thorough understanding of the Heavenly Demons. Just as Du Ge had said, Heavenly Demons were rare goods that could be hoarded.

Their confidence had soared, and they had also let down their guard around Du Ge.

They had verified it for themselves.

During the match, Feng Yunming had pretended to make a mistake, just as planned.

At the time, the weapon rack had toppled over during the previous match. A spear on it lay pointed straight at Du Ge's back, and Feng Yunming lunged at him with his palm.

If Du Ge dodged, Feng Yunming, unable to stop his momentum, would inevitably crash into the spear and die.

If Du Ge didn't dodge, he would take Feng Yunming's palm strike and might be driven straight onto the spear by its force.

As it turned out,

Du Ge really had taken maintenance to its utmost limit.

He had already dodged, but the moment he noticed what was happening behind him, he immediately turned back and placed himself between Feng Yunming and the spear. He took Feng Yunming's palm strike head-on, dispelling the Feng family's suspicions through his actions...

In such a dangerous moment, there was no explanation other than instinct.

After all,

Feng Qi had once said that after possessing a Heavenly Demon's body, they became ordinary mortals and could die just like anyone else...

Even Feng Shiren probably couldn't risk his life to protect a stranger. If a Heavenly Demon like this couldn't be trusted, who could?

Most importantly, Feng Shiyi's theory about Heaven's Mandate had already taken root in everyone's hearts. Even Feng Shiren believed that the Feng family was destined to prosper, and had come to see Du Ge as a sign of good fortune. Accepting him as one of their own felt only natural.

"Patriarch, am I good enough to go out and make my way in the world?" Du Ge broke the silence with a smile. "In less than two hours, I've already grown this strong. From here on, as long as you stick to the plan we discussed, my strength will only keep increasing. I'll grow stronger and stronger..."

"Seventh Master, rest assured. We won't change the plan. It's the Feng family's good fortune to have you." Feng Shiren found himself more pleased with Du Ge by the moment. His old face blossomed like a chrysanthemum as he stepped forward. "From this moment on, you're the Feng family's Grand Elder. You may allocate any of the family's resources without needing my approval. The Feng family will fully support all your decisions."

"Thank you, Patriarch."

Du Ge breathed a sigh of relief. At last, he'd played his part all the way through.

The increase in his attributes had boosted not only his strength and speed, but also his five senses.

Through two walls, he'd overheard most of the strategy Feng Shiren and the others had discussed in the Council Hall. It had been muffled, but he'd still caught the gist of it.

Feng Shiyi's theory about Heaven's Mandate had nearly made him laugh out loud.

Du Ge hadn't expected that this group would take the story he'd hastily made up, full of holes, draw a circle around it, and not only make it hold together themselves but dive right in.

As for Feng Yunming's test?

Now that Du Ge knew what they had planned, it was easy to deal with. He had eyes in the back of his head. The spear, the feigned stumble—none of it could escape his notice...

That night,

Du Ge, now trusted by the Feng family, moved into one of their guest rooms with Feng Jiu.

He took the Feng family's two manuals, Shattered Gold, Broken Jade Hand and Catching Shadows and Grasping the Wind, and asked Feng Yunjie to teach him martial arts.

With a master guiding him personally, Du Ge picked up the basics of martial arts very quickly.

After all, his Agility and speed had both increased, and his Mental Strength was as high as 80. With a little concentration, he could memorize the relatively simple techniques.

The Feng family's Shattered Gold, Broken Jade Hand was an external martial art. Memorizing the moves and practicing them alongside breathing exercises would eventually allow him to develop Internal Energy from the outside in.

It wasn't as good as a technique focused purely on internal cultivation, but it had the advantage of being easy to practice.

Catching Shadows and Grasping the Wind was a pure movement technique, designed to complement Shattered Gold, Broken Jade Hand. It wouldn't generate Internal Energy.

After practicing for a while, Du Ge realized that Catching Shadows and Grasping the Wind was even worse than his natural Agility. He promptly gave up studying it and focused on Shattered Gold, Broken Jade Hand instead.

It wasn't for the moves. It was for the Internal Energy.

That night,

having gotten his first taste of martial arts, Du Ge practiced enthusiastically all night.

At last, around dawn, he felt a faint warmth flowing along his meridians from his Dantian. Feng Yunjie was so astonished that he took him for a genius.

Feng Yunjie said sourly that it had taken him two months to feel the flow of energy when he first started.

But Du Ge was far from satisfied. After an entire night of hard practice, he'd only managed to produce the faintest sensation of energy. It was too slow, nowhere near as fast as the gains he got from developing his Keywords.

Still, that didn't stop Du Ge from becoming deeply interested in martial arts. After all, Internal Energy only existed in novels and movies back on Earth. How could he pass up the chance to feel it for himself?

As for the faint sensation of energy?

Du Ge chalked it up to the Feng family's techniques being trash.

For the sake of his dream of becoming a great hero, he decided to make stealing more advanced martial arts manuals a priority...

Feng Jiu didn't practice martial arts. He had the host's memories, and his Dantian wasn't damaged.

He still had the martial arts skills and Internal Energy his body had developed before, but he didn't believe martial arts would be of much use in the Simulation Field.

No matter how good you got at martial arts, could they really beat Keywords?

With a single act of maintenance—just a few words, spoken for two or three hours—the results could match those of a master who had trained hard for more than twenty years...

Compared to that, only an idiot would practice martial arts!

In his eyes, Feng Qi was putting the cart before the horse by spending time learning martial arts.

Feng Qi's strength made Feng Jiu jealous.

And when Feng Qi had taken a blow meant for Feng Yunming on the fighting grounds, he had shown Feng Jiu what maintenance taken to the extreme looked like.

Feng Jiu had seen it clearly. At the time, the spearhead had already pierced Feng Qi's clothes. If Feng Yunming hadn't been able to stop his momentum, Du Ge would have been run through the heart.

If it had been him, he would never have given up his precious place in the Simulation Field to protect a native. He would have saved himself, even if it meant becoming temporarily weak. He could always make a comeback later.

But Feng Qi had done it without hesitation, as if it were instinct...

In that moment, Feng Jiu had truly understood. Unless he pushed himself to the limit, he'd accomplish nothing for the rest of his life!

He couldn't make his Keyword instinctive, but he could take his madness to the extreme.

So,

Feng Jiu had Doctor Hu prepare a pile of digestive medicine and laxatives. He also had two chamber pots brought to his room and asked the kitchen steward to prepare enough food for twenty people.

He shut the door and began his mad journey...

He might not be able to catch up to Feng Qi's ranking in the Simulation Field, but now that he understood the true essence of training his Keyword, Feng Jiu felt he still had a chance to fight for a place in the top ten...