Not Annoying! (Seeking Follow-ups, or2)

The arena fell into an eerie silence after the fierce struggle between the two siblings, broken only by the ragged, heavy breaths rising and falling in turns.

Like the previous batch, many could no longer hold on, their bodies swaying precariously as they teetered on the verge of collapsing onto the grass.

Luo Wendi had already notified Pingcheng Hospital in advance, and white-coated figures filed in and out in a steady stream.

"Another rough gem!" Ruan Pei exclaimed, drawing everyone's gaze.

Ten steps to the right of Luo Bin stood a gaunt-faced youth, around twenty-something years old. The veins on his neck bulged, his face flushed crimson, and the flow of energy within his body moved with considerable smoothness.

Chen Jing swept a glance over him, chuckled, and shed his flippant demeanor: "Sis, how about this one goes to you? That younger one over there is mine—after all, I called dibs on the first one..."

The selection criteria for cultivating the "Primordial Stance" were simple: as long as one could circulate that wisp of energy through the meridians for five full cycles or more, they had essentially crossed the threshold.

Luo Bin and that gaunt youth had reached an even higher level.

Hearing the crowd's exclamations, Luo Bin turned his head and looked up. That person had the energy flowing as smoothly and seamlessly as his own, nearly matching him—only his ability to balance blood and qi was somewhat lacking.

But that was Luo Bin's strength, and also a trait of the modified [White Ape Through-Arm Fist]. The youth's talent was passable, but it was only natural he couldn't grasp this trick.

Otherwise, if any random passerby could suppress him—a cheater—in the newbie village, then what was the point of cheating at all...

Chen Manqing observed the gaunt youth for a while and found that his progress in the "Primordial Stance" over a short period was not far off from Luo Bin's. She gradually let it go.

Let her damn little brother have this one.

"Fine. Let's see whether the person you and Uncle Jiang trained is better, or the 'master' I brought back from Tianhai has more skill!"

"Big sis, you're awesome!" Chen Jing clasped his hands in salute.

Luo Bin's whole body burned with heat. The Primordial Stance was genuinely a solid skill, but as he practiced, something felt off. He vaguely sensed that certain parts came to an abrupt halt.

Especially the end of the oral formula Luo Wendi had recited publicly. Savoring it carefully, combined with the practical verification during later training, left a lingering sense of incompleteness... Could it be a castrated version?

At Luo Wendi's request, the gang members who had been undergoing testing slowly dispersed.

Chen Jing and his entourage, surrounding Chen Manqing, surged into the Western-style building behind the stone platform, leaving only the burly man named Ruan Pei and the gaunt youth behind.

"That's it?"

Luo Bin couldn't help but feel speechless. This so-called elite selection was way too slapdash...

Ruan Pei stepped forward and patted Luo Bin on the shoulder as encouragement: "Kid, you've got a solid build and some talent. Go rest for a few days, and I'll send someone to take you to the Chen Family Mansion.

With that great martial artist who came back from Jinmen teaching you, it'll bring some honor to our Black Sheath Hall."

Then he went to give a few instructions to the gaunt youth, whose name was Wu Gou—his name as sharp as his appearance, full of spirit and energy, but even thinner than Luo Bin.

Luo Bin exchanged a silent glance with Wu Gou, gave a slight nod as a greeting, then took his leave from Ruan Pei. As for Luo Wendi and the young Chen Jing—

Once Luo Bin's fate was settled, they hadn't bothered to spare him another glance.

Too light in weight, too low in status. Relying on a sliver of talent to climb into the hall was difficult.

Luo Bin understood all this. Not getting angry or discouraged was a cultivation he had ingrained in his heart from his past life, and he didn't take this disdain to heart. What did give him a faint worry, however, was the Chen family's large-scale recruitment, scouring for people who could cultivate the Primordial Stance...

He hoped it wasn't about selecting vessels for some "Old Devil" to seize and possess.

Amid Feng Yi's endless flattery, the two returned to the Pei Family Manor, now firmly in Black Sheath Hall's grasp. When Pei Yuan and his clan had fled en masse, they had destroyed many of the mansion's belongings.

Even the windows of some side rooms had been smashed. Though it was now the third year of the Great New Republic, a flourishing era of blending Western and local culture, the Pei residence was not a Western-style building.

Instead, it was a large compound the size of several sports fields from Luo Bin's past life. Xu Ping led the men in repairing the damage.

After Wen Li's daughter was taken to Tianhai by the Pei family's second branch's head maid, she didn't feel like the sky had fallen. Instead, she shed her previous gloom and became much more cheerful. Sending Wen Xue onto the Pei family's boat had been her own choice.

What she hadn't expected was that the Green Bamboo Gang would handle people like them with such gentleness, without the brutal slaughter she had imagined.

Zhang Xin, Xu Ping, and the others were all beaming with joy. After Luo Bin came back and greeted them, he wolfed down a quick meal and returned to his room. Feng Yi, acting familiar, recounted to them Luo Bin's stunning performance at the hall that morning, drawing another round of sighs.

In the words of the elders who had lived in the countryside, it was that Luo Bin had "awakened." In every ten miles or eight villages, there would always be one or two people who suddenly had an epiphany and emerged like a dragon from the abyss.

Reasonable.

Luo Bin didn't dwell on these interpersonal entanglements. He shut himself in his room, ready to study how to obtain panel points.

Growing stronger was the only thing he could grasp and hold onto now.

Luo Bin sat cross-legged on the bed, quietly summoning the Crimson Panel.

code
[Luo Bin]
[Realm: Unranked]
[Skill: White Ape Through-Arm Fist ( ) (First Layer, 0/3)]
[Modification Points: 0]
[Spiritual Resonance: 0]

"There was 1 Modification Point when the panel first activated—was that a welcome gift?"

After observing for a moment, he noticed a blank space after the four characters for White Ape Through-Arm Fist on the panel. But when he focused his mind and looked closely, the blank space held a nearly transparent, faded [+] sign.

It corresponded to the "+" sign that had appeared when the starting Modification Value was 1.

Luo Bin patiently looked further and discovered that right after the number 3 in [0/3], there was also a blank space.

The [+] sign was also present.

"So there are two places where I can add points. Adding points to the White Ape Through-Arm Fist as a whole consumes Modification Value, and after modifying it, the quality of the martial art can be elevated to a higher tier?"

"And adding points behind the number consumes Spirit Resonance, which raises the level and realm of the martial art?"

"That's brutally straightforward, almost inhuman..."

Luo Bin, well-versed in tropes from his past life, had rarely seen such a crude cheat. Things like "Life Swap," "Weekly Superpower," "Heaven Rewards Diligence," or "Two-World Gate" all seemed lackluster in comparison.

But no matter—brutal was exactly what he wanted!

As Luo Bin ranted wildly, the Spirit Resonance on the Crimson Panel slowly shifted from [0→1].

[Spirit Resonance: 1]

He suddenly noticed the change and began carefully combing through everything he had done from morning until now.

Woke up, went to Black Sheath Hall and saw a student's long white legs, passed the Primordial Stance test, came back and ate a meal, returned to his room...

"Huh? Eating?"

Once this thought struck him, Luo Bin opened the door to get some air, then crept toward a place thick with aroma, exchanging a few pleasantries with some uncles and aunties along the way.

The kitchen was empty.

Several sheep tendons, already prepped by the kitchen master, hung by the stove. The embers were still glowing, the temperature just right. Luo Bin took down the tendons and roasted them over the fire with tongs.

Since they had already been processed by the master, they didn't need much roasting. Soon they were perfectly cooked. Luo Bin took a bite and was stunned.

"No gamey taste!"

After eating the whole thing, he felt his body warm as if baked by a furnace, a cozy heat spreading through him.

[Spirit Resonance: 2]