When Gao Teng opened his eyes early that morning, he hurried straight to Mercy Hospital.
When he reached the seventh floor of the inpatient building and stepped out of the elevator, he heard an argument.
"Zhou Xing, you can't keep cultivating. You need to rest properly for the next few days. Otherwise, your meridians could burst, and you'll be crippled for good!"
"The college entrance exam is coming up. How can I rest?
"I have to cultivate, or I won't get into a top university!"
"This is a hospital. You're my patient, and you have to listen to me!"
"So what? You have no right to restrict my freedom!
"Besides, I've told you countless times that I want to be discharged. What gives you the right to keep me here?"
"I can't let a critically injured patient leave the hospital. It's my duty as a doctor. You need to stay here and recover, and you must stop cultivating!"
As Gao Teng listened, he followed the sound toward Zhou Xing's room.
At the doorway, he leaned in for a look. Zhou Xing was sitting on the hospital bed, arguing with the doctor until both their faces were red.
Gao Teng raised an eyebrow, immediately used Steal seventeen times in a row, then pulled his head back.
[You obtained 0.13 points of physical strength]
[You obtained 0.07 points of physical strength]
[You obtained 6% proficiency in Basic Breathing Technique]
[You obtained...]
Amid a series of pleasant prompts, a surge of tremendous energy instantly coursed through Gao Teng's entire body.
A moment later, his whole body erupted with a crackling series of pops, and his vigorous blood and qi surged through him.
"Ah!!!"
Before Gao Teng had time to feel the changes in his body, Zhou Xing let out a heart-rending roar from inside the room.
"Why? Why? Why?"
"My body's ruined! My body's ruined!"
"Why am I weakening so fast? Somebody help me! Somebody think of a solution!"
"What's happening to me? What's wrong with me?"
Zhou Xing clawed at his hair, screaming and shouting hysterically.
The doctor took a few steps back, his face full of bewilderment. He had no idea what Zhou Xing was going on about.
"Doctor, you have to help me!"
Zhou Xing jumped off the bed and grabbed the doctor's shoulders. The veins on his forehead instantly bulged.
"My body gets weaker every day, and my cultivation keeps dropping. And my techniques and martial skills—I'd mastered them completely, but now the more I practice, the more confused I get. I can't figure out the knack for them at all."
"Doctor, please think of something! If this keeps up, I'm finished. My life will be completely hopeless!"
Zhou Xing dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"I don't want to end up at the bottom of society. I want to make something of myself. I want my parents to live better lives and feel proud of me, so they can hold their heads high around other people."
"What should I do? What am I supposed to do?
"What did I do wrong to deserve this kind of punishment?"
Zhou Xing broke down completely, clinging to the doctor's leg and wailing.
The doctor furrowed his brow. "When you were brought in for emergency treatment yesterday, we examined your entire body and didn't find anything wrong, apart from severe damage to your meridians."
"And what you just described is something I've never heard of. Could there be something wrong with your mental state? Are you having strange delusions?"
"No!!!"
Zhou Xing sprang to his feet, his face twisted into a savage grimace.
"Everything I said is true! It's not a delusion, you quack!
"You can't even figure out what's wrong with my body. What kind of doctor are you? You'd be better off shoveling manure!"
The doctor's expression darkened. He immediately raised his hand and struck Zhou Xing hard in the neck with the edge of his palm.
Zhou Xing's eyes rolled back, and he toppled forward.
The doctor caught him and said to the nurse beside him, "Give Zhou Xing a sedative. He's too agitated. Practicing martial arts has clearly affected his mental state."
"Heh."
Gao Teng chuckled and pulled his head back.
That had been quite a show!
In a great mood, he turned and left. Next, he had to go to school.
He took the elevator downstairs, left the hospital, hailed a taxi, and settled into the back seat before opening his status panel.
In his seventeen consecutive steals just now, he had only taken physical strength and proficiency in Basic Breathing Technique.
The 0.83 points of physical strength had raised his physical strength to 3.31.
His proficiency in Basic Breathing Technique had risen to level 3, 64%—a whole level higher!
He hadn't stolen much, but the increase in his stats was huge!
"Excellent."
Gao Teng smiled with satisfaction. After his physical strength passed level three, his whole body had undergone a complete transformation.
His bones were denser and sturdier, his flesh firmer and tougher, and his internal organs stronger and more robust. He felt as though he had an endless supply of energy.
His cultivation hadn't increased, but his overall strength had improved by a great deal.
"Basic Breathing Technique..."
Gao Teng rubbed his chin.
He had only been practicing this technique for four days. When he first arrived in this world, his predecessor hadn't yet refined his qi.
That was because level one was also called the Body Tempering Realm. The main purpose of this stage was to forge the body into a sturdy vessel capable of containing pure, potent qi.
In just four days, he had raised Basic Breathing Technique to level 3 and was only one step away from level 4. He had Zhou Xing's hard work to thank for that.
"My future's looking brighter and brighter. Zhou Xing must be wishing he were dead, right?"
Gao Teng sneered inwardly. Zhou Xing wasn't the least bit deserving of pity. This was the retribution he deserved for extorting all those timid, cowardly students.
"If I hadn't stolen his cultivation, he would have gotten into a top university and had a very bright future.
"That would have been cruel to the students he'd bullied. Luckily, I was here to carry out justice on Heaven's behalf."
Gao Teng closed his status panel, satisfied, and began to rest with his eyes closed.
After a twenty-minute ride, the taxi stopped outside the gates of Fifth Middle School.
Gao Teng paid and got out. Only then did he notice that the driver had put on several masks at some point and looked close to tears.
"Sorry about that."
Gao Teng smiled sheepishly. He had showered early that morning, but the overpowering stench of blood still clung to him.
In the cramped taxi, the smell must have been even more unbearable. The driver had suffered the whole way.
Gao Teng wasn't stingy. He added a twenty-yuan tip, then headed into the school.
He timed it perfectly, arriving outside the Class Five classroom just as the bell rang.
Inside, the students were all absorbed in cultivation. Their homeroom teacher, Chen Yan, sat behind the lectern, supervising them.
When she heard Gao Teng say, "Reporting in," she turned her head and frowned. "Gao Teng, you're much too late.
"There are only a little over fifty days left until the college entrance exam, and you're still timing your arrival down to the last minute. Do you even want to improve?"
After scolding him sternly, her expression changed. "Wait a minute. What's that smell on you? Why does it smell so strongly of blood?"
Before you continue