Not Creepy!

After the siblings had clashed in a fierce battle, the scene fell into a terrifying silence, broken only by the rise and fall of heavy breathing.

Just like the previous group, many people could no longer hold on. Their bodies swayed, on the verge of collapsing onto the grass.

Luo Wendi had already notified Ping City Hospital in advance. Several white-coated doctors came and went in a steady stream.

"Another uncut jade!" Ruan Pei exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention.

Ten paces to the right of Luo Bin stood a lean-faced young man, probably in his twenties. The veins in his neck bulged, his face was red, and the qi in his body flowed quite smoothly.

Chen Jing glanced over, then chuckled and dropped his usual flippant expression.

"Sis, how about this one goes to you? I'll take the younger one over there. After all, I was the first to say I wanted the first one..."

The requirements for selecting people to practice the Primordial Stance were simple. As long as they could guide that wisp of qi along their meridians for at least five cycles, they could be considered to have crossed the threshold.

Luo Bin and the lean-faced young man were a level above that.

Hearing everyone's exclamations, Luo Bin turned and looked over. The young man guided that wisp of qi with effortless precision, almost on par with him. He was simply a little worse at balancing his qi and blood.

But that was Luo Bin's advantage, and a feature of the modified White Ape Through-Arm Fist. The young man had decent talent, but it made sense that he couldn't glimpse this particular path.

Otherwise, if any random passerby could suppress a cheater like him in the newbie village, then all his cheating would've been for nothing...

Chen Manqing observed the lean-faced young man for a while and realized that, in terms of his short-term progress with the Primordial Stance, he wasn't far behind Luo Bin. She gradually came to terms with it.

She'd let her annoying little brother have this one.

"Fine. Let's see whether the people you and Uncle Jiang trained are more impressive, or whether the 'famous master' I brought back from Tianhai has greater talent!"

"Big-hearted of you, sis!" Chen Jing cupped his hands.

Luo Bin's whole body was burning hot. The Primordial Stance was truly a fine martial art, but as he practiced, something started to feel off. He sensed that certain parts came to an abrupt halt.

Especially the end of the chant Luo Wendi had recited in front of everyone. When he thought it over carefully, then compared it with his subsequent practice, it left him wanting more... Could it be an emasculated version?

At Luo Wendi's instruction, the tested gang members slowly dispersed.

Chen Jing and the others clustered around Chen Manqing and poured into the Western-style building behind the stone platform, leaving behind only the burly Ruan Pei and the lean-faced young man.

"That's it?"

Luo Bin couldn't help feeling speechless. This so-called Elite Selection was a little too haphazard...

Ruan Pei stepped forward and clapped Luo Bin on the shoulder in encouragement. "You've got a sturdy build, kid, and a bit of talent. Go home and rest for a few days. Then I'll send someone to take you to the Chen Family Mansion.

"With a Great Martial Master back from Jinmen to instruct you, you'll bring honor to Black Sheath Hall."

He then went over to give the lean-faced young man a few words of advice. The man was named Wu Gou. His name was as sharp as his looks, and he had plenty of energy, but he was even thinner and weaker than Luo Bin.

After exchanging a silent glance with Wu Gou, Luo Bin gave a slight nod in greeting, then took his leave of Ruan Pei. As for Luo Wendi and the young Chen Jing...

Once Luo Bin's assignment had been settled, they barely spared him another glance.

He was too insignificant, his status too low. Trying to rise into their ranks on the strength of a little talent alone would be difficult.

Luo Bin understood that. Keeping his composure and not losing heart was a discipline he'd already learned in his previous life. He paid their contempt no mind. What concerned him instead was the Chen Family's large-scale recruitment drive, gathering anyone capable of practicing the Primordial Stance... It left him slightly worried.

Hopefully, they weren't selecting bodies for some "Old Devil" to possess.

Amid Feng Yi's unceasing flattery, the two returned to the Pei Family Manor, which had now fallen into Black Sheath Hall's hands. When Pei Yuan and the others had fled as a clan, they'd destroyed many of the manor's belongings.

Some of the side-room windows had been smashed as well. Although it was now the third year of the Great Xin Republic, a prosperous era when Western and local cultures blended, the Pei residence wasn't a Western-style building.

Instead, it was a vast compound about the size of several sports fields from Luo Bin's previous life. Xu Ping was leading the men in repairing the damage to the manor.

After her daughter was taken to Tianhai by the Pei Family's second branch's senior maid, Wen Li hadn't felt as if the sky had fallen. On the contrary, the gloom that had weighed on her before lifted, and she'd become much more cheerful. Sending Wen Xue aboard the Pei family's ship had been her own choice in the first place.

She simply hadn't expected the Green Bamboo Gang to treat people like them so gently. There had been none of the cruel slaughter she'd imagined.

Zhang Xin, Xu Ping, and the others were all in high spirits. After Luo Bin returned and greeted them, he wolfed down a quick meal and went back to his room. Feng Yi, who was always quick to make himself at home, told them all about Luo Bin's stunning performance at the hall that morning, prompting another round of sighs.

In the words of these elders who'd spent time in the countryside, Luo Bin had awakened. There was always one person in every few villages who suddenly grasped the truth one day, like a hidden dragon emerging from the depths.

It made sense.

Luo Bin didn't dwell on these relationships. He simply shut himself in his room, ready to investigate how to gain points on the panel.

Getting stronger was the only thing he could grasp and hold on to right now.

Luo Bin sat cross-legged on the bed and secretly brought up the Crimson Panel.

[Luo Bin]

[Realm: Unranked]

[Martial Art: White Ape Through-Arm Fist () (First Layer, 0/3)]

[Modification Value: 0]

[Spirit Charm: 0]

"The panel had one point when it first activated. Could that have been a free bonus?"

After observing it for a moment, he noticed a blank space after the words White Ape Through-Arm Fist on the panel. Looking closely and focusing his mind, he saw a faint, almost transparent [+] sign in that space.

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

Luo Bin patiently continued looking and noticed another blank space immediately after the number 3 in [0/3].

The [+] sign was there too.

"So there are two places where I can add points. Adding to the White Ape Through-Arm Fist as a whole costs Modification Value, and after modification, it can raise the quality of the martial art?"

"And adding points after the number costs Spirit Charm, which raises the martial art's level?"

"That's brutally straightforward. It's practically inhuman..."

Having been well versed in these tropes in his previous life, Luo Bin had rarely seen such a crude cheat. Things like "Life Swap," "Weekly Superpower," "Heaven Rewards Diligence," and "Two-Realm Gate" all paled by comparison.

But that was fine. Brutal was exactly what he wanted!

While Luo Bin was ranting, the Spirit Charm on the Crimson Panel slowly changed from [0→1].

[Spirit Charm: 1]

He suddenly noticed the change and began carefully reviewing everything he'd done from morning until now.

First, he'd gotten out of bed. Second, on the way to Black Sheath Hall, he'd seen a schoolgirl's pale legs. Third, he'd passed the Primordial Stance test. Fourth, he'd come back, eaten a meal, and returned to his room...

"Hmm? Eating?"

After that thought occurred to him, Luo Bin opened the door to air out the room, then made his way toward a place thick with delicious aromas. He even exchanged a few pleasantries with the older men and women.

The kitchen was empty.

A few mutton pizzle, already prepared by the cook, hung beside the stove. The embers were still glowing, and the heat was sufficient. Luo Bin took down the pizzle and used fire tongs to roast it over the stove.

It had already been prepared by the cook, so it didn't need to roast for long. It was soon cooked through, and Luo Bin took one bite, astonished.

"Not gamey!"

After eating the whole thing, he felt as if he were being warmed by a furnace, a gentle heat spreading through his body.

[Spirit Charm: 2]