The next day.
The sky was clear and cloudless. Under the blazing midsummer sun, which hung overhead like a furnace, the South Bank Residential District's "concrete pillars" stood baking in the heat.
Shi Fen hadn't slept a wink the night before. He'd sprawled over the small table in his room, continuing to solve the Basic Secret Patterns problems. Whenever he felt tired, his consciousness would retreat into the Image World to restore his soul's "energy."
"Knock, knock, knock..."
Urgent knocking came from the living room.
Shi Fen smiled faintly. He'd been waiting for Luo Feng all night. He'd thought Luo Feng would come by in the evening, but the guy had held out until dawn.
"Just as you'd expect from the Child of the Plane. He's got great self-control. If I'd been like that back then, I could never have held out for a whole night."
Shi Fen set down his paper, pen, and stationery, then got up to open the door for Luo Feng.
"Brother Shi Fen, you really are like a brother to me! Did you already know the Martial Arts Hall had special perks? Is that why you kept egging me on yesterday?"
The moment Luo Feng entered, he grabbed Shi Fen by the shoulders and shook him wildly as he "questioned" him.
Shi Fen let Luo Feng shake him and asked back, unconcerned, "Heh. If I'd told you before your college entrance exam, would you have been able to focus on studying?"
"Uh..." Luo Feng stopped "torturing" Shi Fen. For a moment, he had no answer.
Shi Fen tidied his hair slightly, cleared his throat, and continued, "Ahem. Think about it. If you got good grades but didn't go to college and became a Martial Artist instead, wouldn't your old classmates admire you even more?
"You should know, I didn't even take the college entrance exam."
Having said that, Shi Fen struck an outrageously cool pose.
Watching his best friend show off, Luo Feng felt like he was going to throw up. "All right, all right. I know you're a genius and think the stuff we study is beneath you. Stop making those weird poses and grossing me out. If you keep it up, I'm going to throw up last night's dinner."
Only then did Shi Fen reluctantly drop the pose.
Though Shi Fen was extremely mature for his age, he sometimes did "childish" things to suit the situation. He'd kept up that act very well over the years.
"Have you decided what you're going to do from now on?" Shi Fen asked Luo Feng with a mysterious smile.
Luo Feng's expression grew serious. After a brief moment of thought, he replied, "I thought about it for a long time last night before making my decision."
"Oh? Let's hear it." Shi Fen perked up.
Luo Feng smiled, looking completely relaxed, as if he were under no pressure at all. "I've decided to become a Martial Artist! A future in military school would be stable and safe, but earning 30 billion within the military system would be way too difficult.
"Instructor Jiang Nian said I have a lot of talent as a Martial Artist. I only need to train in the Wilderness Area for a few years to become a War General. After that, earning 30 billion will just be a matter of time."
"That's my brother! Impressive! What guts!" Shi Fen praised him without holding back.
In truth, Shi Fen was already over the moon. He had the God Perspective and knew everything about Luo Feng's "life as a Martial Artist" on Earth.
Ever since the mistake he'd made last time, Shi Fen had become more careful with his words and expressions.
With a smile of congratulations, Shi Fen continued, "Haha, brother, once you pass the Martial Artist assessment, I'll give you a blade I forged myself. It'll be my gift to you as a Martial Artist."
Luo Feng stared at Shi Fen in shock. "You can make weapons for Martial Artists too?"
"Haha, the technique's the same. You just change the material. I can't hammer Kro Alloy, but forging Blue Gold is no problem. With my skills, I won't make any wild claims, but a weapon forged entirely from Blue Gold should last you at least a few years."
Shi Fen spoke as if it were a trivial matter, without the slightest hint of interest.
"Wow! That's great! I've been craving your work for ages. I never thought I'd get to use a weapon you made yourself as soon as I became a Martial Artist. Once I earn money with it, I'll pay you back for the materials and treat you to a big meal. Hahaha!"
Luo Feng excitedly lunged at Shi Fen and gave him a huge bear hug. Caught off guard, he squeezed the air out of Shi Fen. Of course, Shi Fen was only pretending to be out of breath.
Shi Fen pretended to struggle with all his might and said irritably, "Squeeze any harder and you'll strangle your blacksmith to death!"
Luo Feng reluctantly let go, then said sheepishly, "Can you customize the pattern? I've been thinking about it for ages."
Shi Fen rolled his eyes helplessly. "We'll talk after you become a Martial Artist. Customized weapons for Martial Artists are complicated. It'll be my first time making one, too. When the time comes, come to the Forging Room. I'll tailor it to your fighting style."
Luo Feng's eyes shone like two bright lamps. The more he heard, the more excited he became, nodding again and again. He was being exceptionally "respectful," for fear of "offending" the blacksmith.
Customized weapons for Martial Artists were high-end goods, beyond the reach of ordinary Martial Artists.
They were like tailor-made clothes. They fit you perfectly, felt comfortable to wear, and came in a style you liked.
To Luo Feng, a customized weapon was the ultimate "toy."
The perfect thing for him to "play around with."
Luo Feng quietly glanced at Shi Fen's desk. Seeing it piled high with notes and scratch paper, he realized Shi Fen was busy and immediately said, "Bro, you get back to work. I won't bother you. I'll head out. I need to get to the Martial Arts Hall and fully master my recent surge in strength."
"Mm. Go ahead," Shi Fen replied with a nod.
Only after hearing Shi Fen's answer did Luo Feng get up to leave.
Once he was sure no one was around, Shi Fen drew the curtains and stored all the materials on his desk in his World Ring. He hid the Black Mirror in a corner, entered the Treasure Refining World, then went into the prefab house in his Inner World.
After adjusting the gravity, he continued studying the Basic Secret Patterns.
After a month and a half of adaptation, Shi Fen could now study and live normally under three times the gravity. As he comprehended the Basic Secret Patterns, his strength was also slowly improving.
Having found the knack, Shi Fen officially began studying the Basic Secret Patterns. In less than a month, he had fully mastered 546 "two-dimensional" Basic Secret Patterns and one "three-dimensional" Basic Secret Pattern.
There were 3,000 "two-dimensional" Basic Secret Patterns in total. Now that he'd gotten into the groove, Shi Fen could finish about 25 a day. He estimated that it would take no more than three months to master all 3,000 "two-dimensional" Basic Secret Patterns.
The "three-dimensional" Basic Secret Patterns were simply upgraded versions of the "two-dimensional" ones. Shi Fen had studied them. Combining the simplest "three-dimensional" Basic Secret Pattern with the more than one hundred "two-dimensional" Basic Secret Patterns he'd already mastered, he had managed to figure it out in less than an hour.
Shi Fen found this result strange. At this rate, he'd be able to fully comprehend the Basic Secret Pattern Diagram in about a year.
That didn't seem quite right. His teacher Yi's prediction shouldn't be too far off. His teacher had given him three years as the "limit," and that estimate must have been carefully calculated. It was unlikely to be wrong.
Shi Fen suspected that the final 360 Secret Pattern Diagrams were the truly difficult part and would take a lot of time.
As for the simplest Secret Pattern Diagram, Shi Fen could only stare at it helplessly. There was nothing he could do; attempting to comprehend it was completely out of the question.
Once he realized the Secret Pattern Diagrams might be difficult, Shi Fen devoted himself even more to studying them day after day. He cast aside everything he could and threw himself into comprehending the Basic Secret Patterns.
He had fallen back into his "Mad Demon" state, ignoring everything in the world and caring only about the Basic Secret Patterns.
On the day the college entrance exam results came out, Shi Fen was especially curious, so he checked Luo Feng's score. Luo Feng had scored much higher than in the original story—63 points above the undergraduate cutoff.
Shi Fen knew Luo Feng's abilities well. His actual college entrance exam score was even better than Shi Fen had predicted, which took him by surprise.
Shi Fen was very pleased with the result. After all, he was Luo Feng's tutor.
It just went to show how important a good tutor was to improving a student's grades.
July 1.
It was the day of Luo Feng's Quasi-Warrior Assessment.
To prevent anything unexpected from happening, Shi Fen stayed in his bedroom to study the Basic Secret Patterns instead of going to the prefab house in his Inner World. He knew what would happen today.
But he couldn't stop it in advance.
All he could do was wait quietly for things to unfold and be ready to react.
Noon.
A message from Luo Feng disrupted Shi Fen's "problem-solving."
"I beat up Zhang Haobai again. Uh, and a few of his bodyguards, too. They injured my dad, and you know what I'm like. I'm cooperating with the police now and going to the station for a while.
"Don't worry about me. I passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment easily. I didn't want to trouble Instructor Jiang Nian and the others. Anyway, I passed the assessment, so they can't do anything to me. I'll probably be out in a few days.
"Ahem, could you look after my family for a few days? My dad's pretty badly injured and should be at the hospital by now. I'll leave it to you, brother."
Shi Fen glanced at the message and immediately replied to Luo Feng.
"Okay. Don't worry. I've got everything covered."
Then he hurried out and headed for the hospital.
At the hospital, Shi Fen asked a nurse on the first floor which ward Luo Hongguo was in. He didn't have the patience to wait for the elevator and shot up the stairs.
When he pushed open the door, he saw Luo Hongguo lying in bed with his leg wrapped in gauze.
Shi Fen's sharp eyes caught the bloodstains at the edge of the gauze. He asked anxiously, "Godfather, what happened to your leg? How bad is the wound?"
Luo Hongguo was surprised that Shi Fen had been the first to arrive at the hospital. Then he felt a warmth in his heart. Shi Fen really was like a son to him.
"It's nothing, just a scrape. I'll be fine in a few days." Luo Hongguo naturally didn't tell Shi Fen the truth and brushed it off.
"Mm," Shi Fen replied, saying nothing more.
Shi Fen went to take care of other things. He fetched water, bought food, and helped Gong Xinlan, who arrived later, look after Luo Hongguo.
Shi Fen wasn't someone easy to fool. He released his Spiritual Force and scanned Luo Hongguo from head to toe. He discovered that his godfather had many bruises and soft-tissue injuries, and that the largest open wound was on his leg.
This was no scrape. The wound was not only long but deep, and it wouldn't heal in a day or two. Luo Hongguo would need at least a few weeks to recover. This hadn't happened in the original story.
While looking after Luo Hongguo, Shi Fen had already decided that he'd find a chance to "teach" Zhang Haobai and his father a lesson. With the Eight Trigrams Reincarnation Mirror and his Spiritual Force, he wouldn't leave behind a single trace.
That afternoon, Zhang Haobai's father sent over a "housekeeper" to offer some insincere sympathy. He left 3,000 yuan in "medical expenses" and, after a brief chat, left the hospital with obvious disdain.
The 3,000 yuan in cash made Shi Fen feel sick. He tossed it into the hospital's donation box. His godfather had been beaten this badly, and Zhang Haobai's father hadn't even come in person. He'd sent some unpleasant character with 3,000 yuan. Did he think he was tossing a few coins to a beggar?
"Looks like it's time to put that plan into motion."
Shi Fen quietly weighed his options and decided he'd act once things had completely died down!
That night, Gong Xinlan stayed at the hospital to keep watch, while Shi Fen went home and looked after Luo Hua as well.
The next day at noon, Luo Feng returned home, his strength greatly increased and his Spiritual Force awakened. He'd seen his father's injuries, but seeing Luo Hongguo again with bandages wrapped around him and his face pale still made him furious!
If Shi Fen hadn't stopped him, the enraged Luo Feng might have gone to beat up Zhang Haobai again.
Shi Fen didn't want Luo Feng to get into any trouble.
He'd handle that dirty work himself.
Before you continue