The two women beamed with joy.
"What a good child! Such a thoughtful, grateful child!"
The warm, happy atmosphere in the family didn't last long. It was shattered by a loud, impatient voice. The speaker was in a hurry; the first shout came from outside the door, and before it had faded, a second came from inside.
"Well, look at that, you're eating already. I really picked the wrong time to come!"
The visitor was a short, skinny middle-aged man, lean as a monkey. His cheeks were sunken, his thin mustache curled upward at the ends, and dark circles hung beneath his eyes. Yet his hawk-like eyes were flecked with cold light.
"Master Qin, what brings you here?"
Madam Li quickly stood and forced a smile.
Master Qin's gaze swept over the family before settling firmly on Li Pingsheng. With a smile that didn't reach his eyes, he said:
"I was passing by and remembered your family owes the Black Water Gang sixteen taels of silver. I just came to remind you not to let the deadline slip. You won't be able to bear the consequences."
Madam Li hurriedly agreed, her wrinkles bunching together as she gave a dry laugh.
"Of course not! Our Pingsheng has superior roots. He'll be admitted to the Azure Cloud Martial Hall in five days. We'll pay you back then for sure."
Master Qin didn't press the matter. As if he really had only been passing by, he turned and left with his two burly underlings.
After turning the street corner and losing sight of the Li family's shack, Master Qin's eyes filled with uncertainty.
"Is the information reliable?"
One of his underlings bent down and whispered:
"That's what the Azure Cloud Martial Hall's bone-reading master said. Li Pingsheng's superior roots were only an illusion caused by the medicine, which made his qi and blood surge and threw off the master's judgment."
Master Qin stroked his mustache and flung out his sleeve in anger.
"I thought a nest of rotten maggots had spawned a true dragon. Turns out he's just another stinking maggot!"
He was the one who had lent money to the Li family. If he couldn't collect it, he'd have to pay it himself. Sixteen taels wasn't a small sum to him; it was enough to make his heart ache for quite a while.
"Then why don't we—"
The underling made a kidnapping gesture.
"No hurry."
Master Qin waved him off, the chill in his hawk-like eyes growing sharper.
"Let this family dream their little dream first. Collecting the debt early would break my rules, wouldn't it?"
Meanwhile.
Master Qin's sudden visit had thrown the Li family's cozy atmosphere into disarray. Madam Li and Second Aunt quickly finished their meal, then bent their heads to work as if they could bury every last trace of unease.
From Master Qin's arrival and interrogation, to his departure, to Madam Li and Second Aunt silently getting back to work, a full incense stick's time passed without anyone asking Li Pingsheng a thing.
They didn't even ask, just to put their own minds at ease: "Pingsheng, you really do have superior roots, don't you?"
Because they were family—Grandpa, Father, Second Uncle, Mother, Second Aunt, and his little sister. They trusted him, so they didn't ask.
Yet that very trust made Li Pingsheng's head spin, his chest tighten, and his face turn ashen.
He couldn't bear the weight of their trust.
Suddenly...
A small hand slipped into his loosely clenched fist.
Li Pingsheng lowered his head. Yunmei blinked her bright, limpid eyes and said softly and sweetly:
"I sold the flower hairpin Mother bought me for New Year to A-Mao. I got three candies for it. Eat them and you won't have to worry, big brother. You're the strongest. You'll definitely succeed."
A-Mao was the neighbor's child. That flower hairpin was the only piece of jewelry Yunmei had owned since she was born.
Li Pingsheng opened his palm. Three lard candies wrapped in rice paper lay inside—rare treats indeed.
He was about to unwrap one and pop it into Yunmei's mouth, but the little girl quickly covered hers with both hands. Her big eyes, the only part of her face left uncovered, curved into crescents as she ran off with a grin.
Back in his room.
Silence and darkness enveloped Li Pingsheng.
The damp, fishy stench clung to his skin, just like Master Qin and the Black Water Gang's despairing grip on the Li family.
He unwrapped a lard candy and put it in his mouth.
Li Pingsheng grinned, laughing soundlessly.
He wasn't laughing because the candy tasted good. It was greasy and sickeningly sweet, nothing special.
He was laughing because of the image outlined before his eyes in illusory clouds of ink.
[Li Pingsheng] [Martial Arts: None] [Talent Specialty: Beginner--???] [Talent Potential: 1.1] "Please choose your specialty"
In an instant, the illusory ink-cloud image was violently scattered. It transformed into a body about the same size as Li Pingsheng, its bones and meridians seeming to be made of countless ink-colored stars. It was translucent.
The illusory body was divided into four regions, corresponding to four dimensions: [Slaying], [Vitality], [Divine Sense], and [Mystic Gate]—in other words, the four basic attributes traditionally known as attack, survival, spirit, and sorcery.
At the same time, one specialty in each dimension shimmered continuously.
Li Pingsheng looked them over one by one. They were:
[Slaying--Beginner Specialty: Light Body] [Vitality--Beginner Specialty: Blood Strengthening] [Divine Sense--Beginner Specialty: Enhanced Cognition] [Mystic Gate--Beginner Specialty: Synesthesia]
Once he had accumulated enough Talent Potential, he could light up more. Each beginner specialty was also connected to higher-level specialties along its own upgrade path.
For now, the nourishment he'd accumulated from half a month of good food could only light up one specialty.
"This cheat is useless without money."
Potential was a broad concept. Physical potential was only one part of it. Eating nutritious meat and drinking Blood Strengthening Powder both increased physical potential. If he came across body-tempering martial arts in the future, those could increase it too.
All of it had one prerequisite: he needed money.
A growth-oriented cheat depended heavily on one's ability to snowball, so the initial choice of talent was crucial.
Li Pingsheng didn't hesitate for long. He chose:
[Vitality--Beginner Specialty: Blood Strengthening] [Dimension: Vitality] [Level: Beginner] [Blood Strengthening: Qi and blood surge like wolves; the body brims with vitality, improving physical endurance, the speed at which injuries heal, resistance to aging and exhaustion, and the ability to stand firm and strengthen one's foundation]
There was only one way out of the Li family's dead end: Li Pingsheng had to pass the bone-reading examination and enter the Azure Cloud Martial Hall.
If qi and blood had thrown off the test once, they could do it again.
Although he still had inferior roots, and would surely struggle at the martial hall, every other worry depended on one thing: staying alive.
Entering the Azure Cloud Martial Hall meant he could stay alive.
After [Blood Strengthening] lit up, a dark line extended to another specialty.
[Beginner Talent--Tiger Bone: The tiger walks as if sick; unlock this talent to transform your roots into superior roots]
A fire blazed in Li Pingsheng's eyes.
Who said roots couldn't be changed?
He only needed two potential points.
There was nothing to do during the day, and he couldn't help with his family's money-making work. So he set up in the courtyard in the Health Preservation Stance and practiced his punches, following the martial hall instructor's teachings, slowly but steadily.
Compared to before, after lighting up the beginner specialty [Blood Strengthening], he could clearly feel his body growing much stronger. His qi and blood surged through his meridians like a river. When he threw a punch, his sleeve billowed, and the sound of rushing blood echoed in his ears.
[Talent Potential +0.01]
After one round of the Health Preservation Stance, Li Pingsheng was drenched in sweat. Seeing the text flash across the panel, his heart leaped with joy.
Practicing martial arts increased his physical potential, and that potential could in turn activate specialties to help him train. It was a perfect positive cycle.
He practiced three more rounds, stopping only when his body gave out and his limbs grew weak and sore.
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