The Deep Realm Inspection Team

Old Chen finished speaking, then added in a tone that was half self-mocking and half serious, "So, you know, us rich people are all pretty afraid of dying."

As Jiang Ran listened, his unease gradually settled.

He glanced around and shook his head with a wry smile. "Still, isn't this a bit much?"

Old Chen clasped his hands behind his back. "Better safe than sorry. Besides..."

"Do you know how many people have died in the Abyssal Void?"

Old Chen had already accepted that Jiang Ran could enter the Abyssal Void, so he didn't bother hiding anything about it from him.

Jiang Ran knew that, too.

He shook his head as he listened. The casualty figures and missing-person reports released by the Federation had clearly been altered and filtered. They were nowhere near complete.

Seeing this, Old Chen sighed and lowered his voice. "Putting everything else aside, you know Yungang City, the one next door?"

Jiang Ran nodded.

Yungang City was less than two hundred kilometers from Feng City. It was an important port city on the eastern coast, with a population of nearly ten million.

"Not a single person who entered the Abyssal Void from Yungang City..."

"Has come back alive. Not one, to this day."

Jiang Ran froze at that.

He really hadn't known.

There hadn't been a single word about it online, either.

Old Chen sounded a little rueful. "That's why I still don't think this place is enough.

"You know what kind of monsters are in there. If those things really make it into the real world, building a place like this would only offer people some comfort."

He left it at that and pointed toward a passage on the right. "Come on. I know you're busy, so let's get started."

They entered the passage one after the other.

At last, Old Chen stopped in front of a metal door.

Inside was a training room about half the size of a basketball court.

But today, there was no one else in the room besides Old Chen.

Jiang Ran looked puzzled.

Old Chen smiled and explained, "You know I've barely had a proper fight in my life.

"When I was young, I got by on brains. Later, I relied on connections. As for my fighting skills... well, they're nothing to speak of.

"Starting from scratch and training my fundamentals would take too long, and I wouldn't get much out of it.

"Wouldn't it be better to focus on improving my ability to fight with my supernatural power?"

He held out his hand, palm up. A faint golden sheen appeared beneath his skin. "The Vajra Indestructible Body leans more toward defense and increased strength.

"Instead of spending time learning complicated fighting techniques, I might as well understand my power inside and out and make the most of it."

Jiang Ran thought that made sense and nodded. "Sure."

Old Chen's combat fundamentals were so poor that training him would take a lot of time and effort to rebuild them.

Starting with his supernatural power was indeed more efficient.

Seeing Jiang Ran agree, Old Chen's lips curled slightly. He walked to the center of the training room and said, "Don't worry. I've had the surveillance cameras in here turned off, so you can go all out."

He took a deep breath, and his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Humm...

A wave of energy spread out from him.

A faint golden sheen quickly surfaced across Old Chen's exposed skin. The veins beneath it bulged slightly, and even his blood seemed to shimmer with a trace of gold.

The Vajra Indestructible Body activated.

Jiang Ran stayed where he was, his hands hanging naturally at his sides. He only raised his right hand slightly, palm up, and said calmly, "Come on."

Old Chen stared at him in surprise. "You're not activating your supernatural power?"

In Old Chen's eyes, his fundamentals might have been poor, but the boost granted by the Vajra Indestructible Body far surpassed an ordinary person's abilities.

How could Jiang Ran fight him with nothing but his bare hands?

Jiang Ran didn't reply.

The next second, he moved.

He stepped forward in the simplest way and drove his right fist straight at Old Chen's chest.

Old Chen had no time to say anything else. He neither dodged nor backed away, instead throwing a punch of his own to meet it.

He had complete confidence in the strength granted by his supernatural power.

Their fists collided.

A thunderous boom erupted through the training room.

The confidence on Old Chen's face froze instantly.

He felt a tremendous force slam into his fist. His entire arm shuddered and went numb, and the golden sheen flickered violently.

He stumbled backward again and again before finally managing to dissipate the force.

Jiang Ran, by contrast, stood as firmly as an old pine with roots deep in the earth. His fist had turned slightly red, but the skin wasn't even broken.

"How... how is that possible?!"

Old Chen stared at his still-trembling right fist in disbelief.

He had activated the Vajra Indestructible Body, doubling his strength and defense.

How had someone who hadn't even activated a supernatural power knocked him back in a contest of pure strength?

Jiang Ran shook out his hand, feeling the force of the recoil, and offered his assessment. "Your strength is good, but you're too stiff when you throw a punch. Your power is an enhancement, not a replacement."

"Again."

At that, Old Chen grew serious and stopped holding back.

The golden sheen flared brighter.

His muscles swelled further. He kicked off the ground and charged, throwing a punch straight at Jiang Ran's face.

Jiang Ran still didn't dodge. His eyes remained calm and steady.

The instant the punch was about to land, he reached out with his left hand and firmly caught Old Chen's wrist.

Old Chen's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

His fist stopped mere inches from Jiang Ran's nose and couldn't move any farther.

Old Chen's face flushed red. The muscles in his arm bulged, and the golden light kept flowing as he tried to wrench free or force his way forward.

But no matter how he drove his supernatural power, Jiang Ran didn't budge.

"Your stance is unstable. You charged in too hard and let your force disperse."

Jiang Ran spoke calmly. He yanked Old Chen's wrist toward his own side with his left hand, then lowered his right shoulder, sank his hips, and drove forward.

Thud!

Old Chen felt a tremendous force slam into his chest.

His feet left the ground, and he hurtled backward uncontrollably, crashing into the wall seven or eight meters away before sliding down to the floor.

"Cough, cough..."

Old Chen clutched his chest and coughed a couple of times. He wasn't injured, but the breathless feeling left him weak.

He looked up at Jiang Ran as if he were staring at a monster.

The time that followed turned into a one-sided lesson.

Old Chen pushed his supernatural power to its limit and attacked in every way he could think of.

But Jiang Ran dealt with him in a simple, brutal fashion.

Dodge? Sometimes.

More often, he just took the hits head-on.

Close-quarters combat should have been Old Chen's strength, but Jiang Ran's flesh, muscles, and bones—tempered in the Blood Sensing Realm—were enough to withstand attacks reinforced by Old Chen's supernatural power.

Two hours later.

Old Chen lay sprawled on the training room floor, arms and legs spread out, gasping for breath and unable to move.

There were no obvious injuries on his exposed skin, but once the golden sheen faded, several spots could be seen turning slightly red.

He stared at the ceiling and muttered, "You brat... You went way too hard. Ever heard of respecting your elders?"

Across the room, Jiang Ran dusted himself off and smiled. "Haven't you read those online posts speculating about how to train supernatural powers?

"For a power like yours that boosts defense and strength, one of the best ways to get used to it quickly is to take a beating."

With that, Jiang Ran walked over to the wall and picked up his coat and backpack. He turned toward the door and waved. "I'm off. Same time tomorrow, if nothing comes up."

Old Chen gave a feeble grunt from the floor and didn't try to stop him.

A few minutes after Jiang Ran had left the training room, the door opened again.

The old man hurried inside, a puzzled look on his face.

He walked up to Old Chen and frowned slightly. "Why did you stop me just now?"

At Old Chen's earlier instruction, the old man had planned to give Jiang Ran a bag of Spirit Crystals when he left.

It would help maintain their relationship.

It was also a subtle investment and an attempt to win him over.

But just as the training session ended, the old man had received a message from Old Chen telling him to call it off.

Old Chen didn't answer right away.

He lay there and caught his breath a few more times before slowly propping himself up on one elbow and sitting up. He brushed the dust from his clothes, then looked at the confusion in the old man's eyes and said softly,

"I can't bring myself to offer it..."

The old man looked even more confused.

Old Chen braced his hands against his knees and stood up, rolling his still-sore shoulders and arms. He gave a bitter smile. "I couldn't fight back at all. Not once."

The old man thought it over, then offered some reassurance. "Xiao Jiang has always been a fast learner. Most people can't match his talent for fighting."

Old Chen gave a crooked smile.

"But what if I told you he hadn't even activated his supernatural power..."

Elsewhere.

Jiang Ran was already in a car headed to Lin Xiaorou's house.

Sitting in the back seat, he sank his consciousness into the Profession Panel.

[Profession: Mixed Martial Artist Lv.6 (587/600)]

[Profession Basic Skills: Freestyle Fighting Lv.9 (165/900)]

[Jiu-Jitsu Lv.6 (122/600)]

[Taekwondo Lv.6 (48/600)]

[Blade Arts Lv.7 (410/700)]

[Profession Core Skill: Combat Intuition Lv.4 (378/400)]

[Congratulations, your profession basic skill Jiu-Jitsu has increased from Lv.5 to Lv.6 (2/600)]

[Congratulations, you have gained 2 profession points]

During his fight with Old Chen,

Jiang Ran hadn't used a supernatural power like Dragon-Tiger Fist. Instead, he'd relied on Mixed Martial Arts techniques and his Blood Sensing Realm physique.

The results had been better than expected.

Not only had Jiu-Jitsu leveled up, but his other combat skills and profession experience had also increased by a substantial amount.

That was just what Jiang Ran had expected.

He'd noticed the same thing with Li Xintong.

Shooting Coach and Mixed Martial Artist were both ordinary professions.

Using a low-tier profession against supernatural beings far stronger than ordinary people was a little like exploiting a bug.

He could rack up experience quickly.

It was just that, in his earlier training sessions with Old Chen, the other man hadn't activated his supernatural power.

So Jiang Ran hadn't noticed.

Now things were different. Old Chen wanted to train his supernatural power, while Jiang Ran could rapidly grind experience for his Fighter profession.

It was a win-win.

At ten thirty that evening,

Jiang Ran walked out of the villa where Lin Xiaorou lived.

The tutoring session had been just as productive as ever.

Lin Xiaorou had a lot of weak spots in math, physics, and chemistry, and every concept she mastered brought Jiang Ran a substantial amount of experience.

[Chemistry Lv.5 (264/500)] → [Chemistry Lv.6 (12/600)]

[Congratulations, you have gained 2 profession points]

By then, Jiang Ran had gained a total of 4 profession points that day.

"Perfect."

Jiang Ran was in a good mood.

His Blood-Qi Circulation Method and finishing move were both still at level 1. With 4 profession points, he could raise one of them by 2 levels and the other to level 3.

He was already planning to spend the points once he got home.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

Jiang Ran took it out, and the screen lit up with a message from Wang Zhenguo.

"President, people from the Deep Realm Inspection Team are gathering information about you and tracking your movements through several channels. They're looking to work with you."