Three Hundred Years of Skill! (Please Bookmark and Keep Reading!)

In his mind.

A strange yet not jarring memory suddenly surfaced.

And within that memory.

There was only the image of himself throwing punches day and night.

What he practiced.

Was naturally that set of Xingyi Cannon Fist.

He had become a prodigy blessed with supreme talent for fist techniques.

Every punch brought forth countless new insights.

One punch!

Then another punch!

As an unparalleled genius.

He had practiced boxing for a full three hundred years!

Until throwing a punch had become instinct!

Throwing out Xingyi Cannon Fist felt as natural as breathing!

Buzz!

In an instant.

Qin Annian was pulled back into reality.

At that moment.

It seemed as though countless electric currents flowed through every inch of his muscles and every cell in his body.

Even.

The instinct to punch seemed to have been etched into his genes.

The night grew deeper, and the cold intensified.

Inside the dilapidated factory.

The scarlet electronic eye flickered rapidly.

Qin Annian could clearly see the skinny man's frenzied, furious expression.

"The world?"

"Did it seem to slow down?"

The savage wind from a fist brushed past his ear.

Qin Annian suddenly came back to himself.

Instinctively.

Naturally.

Even as a martial artist who had yet to reach the Entry Realm.

Several techniques for killing the skinny man still surfaced in Qin Annian's mind.

In an instant.

His brain matched them against his currently injured body, eliminated the unsuitable options, and arrived at the optimal solution.

This Fist Technique Grandmaster's way of thinking elevated Qin Annian's view of martial arts into an entirely different realm.

The skinny man's fury blazed like a prairie fire.

Qin Annian had actually dared to ram into him just now?

"Ant!"

"Trash!"

"Good-for-nothing scum who doesn't know his place!"

Because he had undergone illegal mechanical implants.

The phantom pain in his limbs, which had plagued him for years, had tortured the skinny man's mind into an extremely deranged state.

Yet.

As he looked at Qin Annian's seemingly hollow eyes.

A surge of pleasure rose within him.

So what if Qin Annian had trained in martial arts for ten years?

So what if he had joined the Security Bureau?

Wouldn't he still die beneath his fists?!

But just as he immersed himself in the fantasy of killing a Security Bureau officer.

"Watch out!"

The fat man standing nearby in support suddenly cried out!

Watch out for what?

The next moment.

His eyes met Qin Annian's once more.

For an instant, the skinny man seemed to see a bottomless abyss.

There was no terror or fear.

Every trace of emotional fluctuation had vanished.

Only.

The stillness of someone looking at a corpse remained.

Dried blood still stained the corner of Qin Annian's lips, but his body had already become a precisely operating machine.

He raised his knee and stepped forward.

The precision forged through countless trials made him seem utterly composed even while walking along a blade's edge.

He closed in.

He turned sideways.

His feet seemed to take root in the earth, borrowing its boundless force.

His fighting stance was already set.

He sank his shoulder.

He borrowed the force.

Under the skinny man's incredulous gaze.

He watched himself flip over Qin Annian's shoulder like a cannonball and slam viciously into the mechanical arm platform.

Boom!

Inside the abandoned factory.

Dust and smoke instantly billowed everywhere.

"Lao Liu!"

The fat man's eyes nearly split apart as he lunged at Qin Annian.

"That Qin bastard's combat power has shot up by a huge amount!"

"Something's wrong!"

Streams of data flashed through his electronic eye.

The number representing combat power had soared from 10 at the start to over 100.

And.

That number was still constantly refreshing!

"How bizarre!"

"His Life Development Power hasn't changed, but his combat power suddenly skyrocketed!"

"What kind of monster are you?!"

The fat man shrieked.

Assuming the posture of Mount Tai bearing down, he tried to suppress Qin Annian.

"Hah!"

Wisp after wisp of hot breath escaped Qin Annian's lips.

Qin Annian's right foot tensed where it had stepped down, serving as the point from which he exerted force.

Using his waist and hips as an axis, he guided the immense reactive force rebounding from the ground.

He rose into the air counterclockwise, his left leg like a long wooden staff.

Under normal circumstances.

A martial artist who had yet to gain the ability to ride the wind with his physical body would absolutely be branded a show-off for assuming such a stance.

There was no point of leverage in midair.

It would only needlessly place him at a disadvantage.

What use did a move like this have besides looking cool?

Yet the fat man watched helplessly as his body was guided by a gentle force.

It was the art of using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds!

The skinny man, who had just staggered to his feet, looked up to see a dark shadow bearing down on him.

Boom!

The two men piled together, their vision swimming with stars.

Crack!

Crack!

Aaargh!!!

The sounds of mechanical interfaces snapping, accompanied by the two men's agonized howls, filled the empty old factory.

Only after pulling off all their mechanical arms, removing their electronic eyes, and crushing them beneath his feet did Qin Annian lean against the wall and gasp for breath.

He took out a thumb-sized tube of soft healing fluid from a tactical Velcro pocket.

He bit off the gelatin seal and squeezed out the warm, cool viscous liquid.

Before entering this "dragon's den and tiger's lair."

Qin Annian had naturally made every possible preparation.

But the skinny man's sneak attack had left him with no chance to use them.

The burning pain inside his body gradually faded.

Qin Annian's gaze fell upon the ragged children covering their mouths.

"It's all right now."

"Everyone will be able to go home soon."

He raised his wrist and activated his Personal Terminal.

"Beep!"

"Security Bureau Old District patrol officer Qin Annian, identification number..."

After reporting what had happened here to the Security Bureau's Central Brain.

Qin Annian's attention settled on the transparent Status Panel.

[Host: Qin Annian.]

[Number of Helpers: 2.]

[Available Technique for Assistance: Iron Man Stance.]

The Status Panel was extremely simple.

"Is this Pinxi's bargain-cutting mode?"

Qin Annian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the number of helpers.

In his previous life.

He had often sent bargain-cutting messages to friends on his VChat contact list.

However.

The helpers on this Status Panel apparently did not need to give their consent?

Glancing at the fat and skinny duo lying unconscious on the ground.

Qin Annian recalled the key terms the fat man had mentioned: "Life Development Power" and "combat power."

"Cultivation is the development of an individual lifeform's vitality."

This was what his martial arts teacher had said in school.

And it was the essence of cultivation accepted by everyone.

"Standing Posture, visualization."

"Guide the power within the Spirit Sea to affect reality."

"Bring one's lifeform closer to perfection."

According to legend.

Those martial artists who had pushed life development to its limit and become almost godlike.

Even possessed the formidable vitality to regenerate from a single drop of blood.

Now.

The Federation had a complete system capable of calculating the numerical value of Life Development Power.

"My Life Development Power is only 9.8."

"Higher than an ordinary person's, but I haven't yet touched the true threshold of martial arts."

"Not yet in the Entry Realm."

"Only once this value exceeds 10 can I meet the admission standards of a Martial Arts University."

As for combat power calculations, they were far more complicated.

And not necessarily accurate.

Computers collected data on a martial artist's force generation, techniques, moves, and so on, then converted it into numerical values through formulas.

Previously.

Qin Annian's combat power had surged.

That was precisely because he had gained three hundred years' worth of Xingyi Cannon Fist cultivation, making him practically a grandmaster of the art.

This qualitative leap had utterly transformed his combat power.

"Even though there are only two assistance slots."

A sense of urgency welled up in Qin Annian's heart.

The mole, the modified humans, and the organ trafficking tied to the behemoth that was Lingyun Pharmaceuticals.

"I have to raise my Life Development Power above 10 as soon as possible!"

"Can these two assistance slots be used to subsidize the Iron Man Stance?"

The moment the thought arose.

On the Status Panel.

Words appeared.

[Iron Man Stance · Assistance Slots (2/2). Place order?]

Qin Annian took a deep breath and silently answered in his heart.

"Yes."

Mingguang Dojo.

Xiao Zhen'e, the Tiger-Subduing Arhat, a powerful martial general who had earned a title, abruptly opened his eyes.

"Hm?"

"Which senior master has come to amuse himself at my expense?"

Countless streams of light flickered in his eyes.

Yet he could never sweep away the layers of mist.

"Since it is a test set by a senior."

"Then..."

Bzz!

Brilliant golden Buddhist light exploded.

An Arhat Golden Body stood there with wrathful eyes!

His legs rooted themselves in the ground as he stood upon Buddhist land, golden lotuses blooming from the earth, a spectacle beyond measure!

"Do these three hundred years of my cultivation meet Senior's standards?!"