Uniquely Talented (Two-in-One)

Huang Lichen and the others stood frozen in place, their faces etched with shock and disbelief.

Ten days! A mere ten days!

From a Blood Qi value of 503, it had surged directly to 681?

Everyone present was a martial arts expert; they understood exactly what these figures signified.

If measured by the Basic Stance Technique, a Blood Qi value of 500 represented a minor mastery, while 700 indicated full proficiency.

At 681, wasn't he essentially on the verge of mastering the technique?

But if measured by the Ninth Grade Stake Standing, one needed 700 Blood Qi just to reach minor mastery, which meant this kid had almost completed the transition to the new technique.

For a martial artist, resources and time were both precious, yet they had never heard of any wealthy heir—even with unlimited resources—who could compress the time required for technique conversion to such a terrifying degree.

It was absurd. Only ten days! How did he do it?

"Did you... really eat all 60 jin of that E-Class Exotic Beast Meat?" Ye Mei stared at Li Jinshui with a look of bewilderment and horror, unable to fathom it.

Eating 60 jin in ten days meant an average of 6 jin per day.

That was E-Class Exotic Beast Meat; the creatures themselves were comparable to beings above the First-rate level, requiring a true Thousand-Jun Realm martial artist to contend with. One could only imagine the immense energy contained within their flesh and blood.

How could a fledgling martial artist who had just reached the Second-rate level consume 6 jin of such meat every single day?

Even a Ninth Grade First-rate martial artist wouldn't be able to handle that much.

"Of course I finished it. I even felt like I hadn't eaten my fill."

Li Jinshui sighed, a look of timely pain and guilt appearing on his face as he hammered his chest with his fist. "It's all my fault, all my fault for having this Martial Dao Sacred Body constitution. I'm just too hungry, but I really can't control it."

"The hell, if you're talking, just talk—why are you hitting me?" Huang Lichen shoved Li Jinshui's hand away, scolding him with a darkened face.

"Cough... couldn't help it, just couldn't help it."

Li Jinshui rubbed his hands together, cleared his throat, and said solemnly, "Actually, I just wanted to ask you leaders if you could arrange another 60 jin of exotic beast meat, and this time, make it D-Grade."

Arrange another sixty jin?

And D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat at that?

The group frowned instantly upon hearing this.

"A-Shui, to be honest, your progress has truly shocked me, but your appetite is just too damn terrifying..." Huang Lichen said in a deep voice.

He laid out the data, calculating the costs right in front of him.

The company's allocated resources were one jin of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat per week, totaling eight jin over two months.

Therefore, of the sixty jin Li Jinshui had consumed, a full fifty-two jin had been sponsored by the four of them.

The price of one jin of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat was 8,000 yuan, so fifty-two jin came to 416,000 yuan.

Then there was the top-tier Ninth Grade Stake Standing, the Wild Ox Stake, at 200,000 yuan.

And the two extra C-Grade Supplement Potion doses sponsored over the two months cost 160,000 yuan.

All of this added up to nearly 780,000 yuan.

Damn it, they had promised a million in resources, and he had already burned through all but 220,000 in just ten days?

Now he wanted another sixty jin of exotic beast meat, and the even more expensive D-Grade stuff at 20,000 yuan per jin?

"Leaders, please trust me. At this point, I have nothing left to hide. I'm exposing the shocking secret of my Martial Dao Sacred Body only because I want more resources to cultivate and grow stronger as quickly as possible, so that I can better serve you all by going through fire and water."

Li Jinshui's expression tightened, and an intense, burning confidence erupted in his eyes. "As long as the 60 jin of D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat is provided, I guarantee my Blood Qi value will break one thousand by next month."

"..."

Once these words were spoken, the four executives fell into silence again, their eyes filled with even more astonishment.

Breaking a thousand in Blood Qi?

According to the realm classifications, that would qualify him as a First-rate martial artist, even if only the weakest of the lot.

If calculated by the Ninth Grade Stake Standing, a thousand Blood Qi meant the Ninth Grade Stake Standing had reached great completion, nearing perfection; at that point, he would be a true Ninth Grade First-rate martial artist.

With such innate talent, if he didn't lack resources in the future, this kid could catch up to them in four or five years, breaking through the First-rate level to reach their current Thousand-Jun Realm.

How old would this kid be in five years?

Twenty-two or twenty-three at most—the age when others were just graduating from university, yet this kid might already be in the Thousand-Jun Realm.

It was simply unheard of.

Huang Lichen and the other two subconsciously glanced toward Ye Mei.

One had to remember that Ye Mei had once been a provincial top scholar, her talent already a cut above her peers, yet after graduating from university and joining Daming Technology, she had worked for eight years until last year, at age thirty, before she finally managed to break through to the Thousand-Jun Realm.

"Li Jinshui."

After a long while, Ye Mei broke the silence. "You go back first. We need to discuss and consider this matter further."

The four big shots needed to hold another meeting, and Li Jinshui, naturally, didn't interfere. He politely said his goodbyes and walked out.

The heavy door closed once more.

The four of them looked at each other, at a loss for where to begin; Li Jinshui's situation had completely defied their expectations.

"Could it be that a Martial Dao Sacred Body actually exists in this world?" Huang Lichen scratched his head, his face full of confusion.

He simply couldn't fathom how Li Jinshui had managed to consume so much E-Class Exotic Beast Meat.

"You actually believe that kid's nonsense?" The elderly Zhang Li rolled her eyes, pulled a lady's cigarette from her case, and chuckled. "I've never heard of a Martial Dao Sacred Body, but I once had the fortune to hear some secret rumors. It is said that the first Martial Saint of the human race a thousand years ago—our Martial Ancestor—was born an Innate Martial Fetus, with all his meridians open and ten thousand acupoints returning to the origin."

"Holy shit, for real?" Huang Lichen exclaimed immediately, his eyes widening.

All meridians open? Ten thousand acupoints returning to the origin?

That would mean the path of martial arts had no bottlenecks; there would be no need to break through acupoints or clear meridians. As long as one consumed enough qi and blood to nourish the body, their martial cultivation would rise crazily without any obstruction.

Thinking back to Li Jinshui's situation...

"Hiss!"

Huang Lichen gasped on the spot. "Could that kid Li Jinshui... be the reincarnation of the Martial Ancestor?"

"???"

The other three present turned to look at Huang Lichen simultaneously, their expressions as if they were looking at an idiot.

What kind of mental gymnastics are you doing?

At most, one could only speculate that Li Jinshui might possess the same constitution.

You jumped straight to him being the reincarnation of the Martial Ancestor?

"Regardless, this is a good thing for us."

Ye Mei spoke up to settle the matter, her voice deep. "The stronger he is and the more trump cards he has, the more advantageous it is for us. All we have to pay is a bit of money. My proposal is for each of us to chip in another 250,000. If we win, we turn our situation around completely; if we lose... it's nothing more than going bankrupt a little early."

Zhang Li and Chen Yu both fell silent at these words.

Huang Lichen also lit a cigarette, his face full of bitter worry. "That's not just 'a bit of money' anymore. Two installments of 250,000—that's nearly half a year's salary, my entire life savings."

Times are not like the old days. In this era of abundant resources, the competition between martial artists has become increasingly cutthroat.

In ancient times, becoming a First-rate Martial Artist by the age of thirty was a rare feat, marking one as a leading figure among their peers.

But today? A thirty-year-old First-rate Martial Artist is barely considered qualified; in a large corporation, they are nothing more than bottom-tier labor that can be laid off at any moment.

That is why, even after climbing to their current positions, Huang Lichen and the others never dared to slack off.

They draw high salaries from the company, but after covering the household expenses required to maintain their social standing, almost everything else must be invested back into themselves, exchanged for various resources to enhance their martial strength.

The hundreds of thousands they were being asked to put up now truly meant emptying their personal savings.

"Let me share some intelligence." At this moment, Chen Yu, who had been silent, spoke up. "I received news just yesterday: this round of layoffs is a directive from headquarters. In the national performance rankings for the past two years, Rong City has ranked sixth from the bottom. The delivery sector, in particular, has the worst performance. They believe the root cause lies in the Youth Training Camp and that there are major issues with talent cultivation."

"Damn it, they can pin that on us? Why don't they think about those local thugs at Weihu Security Company and how much 'toll' they collect from our delivery stations?" Huang Lichen cursed immediately.

"The higher-ups said this is our problem."

Chen Yu shook his head. "The people trained by Youth Training Camps in other cities are capable of beating the local thugs into submission. Why can't Rong City do the same?"

"Beat them with what? Does the Inspection Bureau even let us fight freely? They've talked to me so many times about 'following the rules.' Damn it, how come I never see them going to talk about rules with those Drifter Gangs..." Huang Lichen grew even more agitated.

"Old Huang, there's no need to get worked up over this." Zhang Li flicked her ash, squinting with a cheerful smile. "The fact that the Drifter Gangs can only operate after midnight is already a rule. What else can be done? The higher-ups have their own considerations; they don't want to see chaos. Once they have the bandwidth, they'll deal with those gang scum sooner or later."

"Yes, yes, your son is in the Inspection Bureau, so of course you'd speak for them." Huang Lichen looked utterly helpless.

"Stop interrupting, I haven't finished."

Chen Yu said with a cold face, "The layoff list will be finalized at the end of this year. The ten cities with the lowest national performance will see their branch offices cut by thirty percent, and the entire staff of their Youth Training Camps, including management, will be completely replaced. Do you want to guess who is coming to replace us?"

"Who?"

"Heh."

Chen Yu sneered, pulling at the corner of his mouth mockingly. "I don't know about the others, but I heard about one person: a graduate from a prestigious university who spent two years as a management trainee at headquarters. And his uncle's son-in-law is a director at Weihu Security Company."

As his words fell, the expressions of everyone present turned icy.

This network of relationships explained everything.

Weihu Security Company wanted to extend its reach into the Rong City Youth Training Camp, and perhaps even into Daming Technology itself.

"Damn it, no wonder they used Li Jinshui's little incident as an excuse to issue a ban."

Huang Lichen slammed the table and cursed, "This is just them looking for a legitimate reason to sabotage our delivery stations. Once that management trainee is parachuted in, he'll 'quell the chaos,' boost performance, and get a promotion and a raise."

"It's not that simple. Li Jinshui is just their initial probe. I told you from the very beginning: even if we fired Li Jinshui to keep the peace, there would be a second and a third Li Jinshui later on..."

Ye Mei remained expressionless, but her gaze grew sharper and colder. "That is why we must build Li Jinshui up. The stronger he is, the more advantageous it is for us. Weihu Security is using him as a breakthrough point, so we will use him to overturn Weihu Security. When the time comes, we'll see who loses their nerve first, who breaks the rules first—whoever does, loses!"

"I have no problem with that. The 250,000 will be in the account by tonight. Since there's no other way out, let's go all in." Chen Yu was the first to nod; he saw the hope for a comeback centered on Li Jinshui.

"I have no problem either. My children and grandchildren are all settled, so it's time for this old woman to have some fun." Zhang Li stubbed out her cigarette, smiling with hidden meaning.

"Damn it, since you're all in, I have no reason to jump ship halfway." Huang Lichen slapped his thigh and gritted his teeth. "Let's gamble. I'm betting on that kid."

That night, Li Jinshui received a call from Huang Lichen.

"Kid, 60 jin of D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat—we've agreed to it. This is a full 1.2 million, for heaven's sake. You really need to be reliable. My whole family's livelihood is riding on you. If you fail, I lose my job, and I lose my home."

"Rest assured, Old Huang. You know me—it's in the bag!"

Li Jinshui hung up the phone with a beaming smile, exhaling a breath of relief. He tossed his luggage aside and climbed back into his room through the window.

Revealing a bit of his talent for this gamble seemed to have been worth it.

Just as Ye Mei had said, they were all in the same boat. At first, Li Jinshui had taken those words as mere lip service.

But after consuming over seven hundred thousand in resources, he had finally begun to believe it.

After all, the other party had already sunk costs into him, which was why he chose to showcase his talent to make demands. Otherwise, without resorting to crime, he would never have been able to secure such a massive sum of money on his own.

"♪ Big girl... ♬"

At that moment, his phone rang again.

Li Jinshui picked it up, and his eyes narrowed instantly. The caller ID was none other than Captain Liu, Liu Daqiang.

"Hello? You old bastard, you're not dead yet?" Li Jinshui pressed the answer button and immediately spat out a smooth insult.

"You motherf—"

Liu Daqiang was choked up, his rage instantly flaring, but then he seemed to recall something and let out a sudden, cold laugh. "Heh, it's been over a month. You've become quite arrogant, kid."

"What's the matter? Didn't manage to corner me last time, and even had one of your men killed by me, so now you think you're hot stuff again and called just to get cursed at?" Li Jinshui mocked him cheerfully.

"You killed him? Don't make me laugh with your pathetic strength. I admit I underestimated you back then; you were hiding the fact that your Basic Stance Technique had reached minor completion. But you're still far from being able to kill one of our security guards. That wound was clearly caused by a Second-rate Martial Artist. But that doesn't matter—if we say you killed him, then you killed him."

"???" Li Jinshui wore a look of pure confusion.

I already admitted I killed him, yet you want to defend me, only to force the blame back onto me?

Aren't you tired?

"Kid, I heard you got into the Delivery Youth Training Camp. Hahaha, you don't think you're safe now, do you? Just wait. When you come out next month, let's see how you die. I've already received word that the Security Company has issued a kill order on you. Heh heh, now both the underworld and the authorities are waiting to take you out."

"..." Li Jinshui fell silent again.

Damn it, how many versions behind is your intel?

"Liu Daqiang, what exactly did you call for? To remind me to watch my back?"

"Watch your mother's back! I just want you to have no peace, to make you live in constant fear and anxiety even inside that training camp. You'd better thank your lucky stars you're an orphan, otherwise, I'd have burned your house down first."

"Oh?"

Li Jinshui raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "You've actually reminded me of something. You'd better be careful—I don't have a home, but you do."

"Come, come, I'll be waiting for you. I'm just afraid that by the time you get here, you won't even know what my front door looks like before you get hacked to pieces on the way."

"Don't worry, just wait patiently." Li Jinshui smiled calmly, stopped wasting his breath, and hung up the phone.

Liu Daqiang, oh Liu Daqiang, you truly have no idea what the power of 1700 points of blood-qi feels like!

"Before I run for it, I'm definitely burning your house down."

Li Jinshui snorted, tossed his phone aside, took a shower, and lay down on his bed.

Starting tomorrow, he could begin consuming D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat, and his Basic Stance Technique would soon see another massive boost.

This was a huge cause for celebration, yet as he lay in bed, he found it impossible to sleep, tossing and turning.

He thought of Ye Mei and the cultivation Huang Lichen and the others had poured into him.

This left him conflicted.

"Sigh, they've been so good to me. When the time comes... should I choose the water route or the land route? If I pick the wrong escape path and meet an untimely end, wouldn't that be a betrayal of all the effort they put into me?"

Carrying a heart full of conflict and guilt, Li Jinshui drifted off to sleep with tears in his eyes.

The next morning, he rushed to the cafeteria at the crack of dawn.

"Two pounds of D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat, to go." Li Jinshui handed over his ID card at the cafeteria window.

Since the energy in D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat was much denser, he decided to start with two pounds to be safe for his first time. Otherwise, it would be a massive waste—at twenty thousand per pound, he couldn't afford to be reckless.

Before yesterday, he had been eating eight pounds of E-Class Exotic Beast Meat, which only granted him 50 proficiency points a day.

Switching to D-Grade this time would surely yield better results.

Back in his room, he locked the door.

Li Jinshui assumed his stance again and picked up a piece of the red, deep-fried insect meat, popping it into his mouth.

This D-Grade meat was from a Blood-Spike Worm, an advanced variant of the Blood-Hair Worm. While the taste and texture were similar, the surge of blood-qi energy that dissolved into his gut was significantly more potent.

[Consuming the strong to nourish the weak, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +5]

[Consuming the strong to nourish the weak, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +5]

Soon, all two pounds of the Blood-Spike Worm meat were gone.

The value on his Heaven Rewards Diligence panel had increased by a full 100 proficiency points.

"As expected, 'consuming the strong to nourish the weak' is truly authoritative. Two pounds of D-Grade is equivalent to eight pounds of E-Class."

Li Jinshui burst into laughter immediately.

The key was the high cost-performance ratio; two pounds of D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat cost only forty thousand, whereas eight pounds of E-Grade would set him back sixty-four thousand.

He rubbed his stomach, feeling only half-full, and knew he could easily eat another two pounds.

This meant he could gain 200 proficiency points every day, so in just two and a half days, his Basic Stance Technique would break through to the Great Completion stage.

"After reaching Great Completion, I wonder if the remaining D-Grade Exotic Beast Meat will be enough for me to push the stance technique directly to Perfection."

Li Jinshui was in high spirits, his eyes bright and burning with fervor: "Once the stance technique reaches Perfection, I will be a true First-rate Martial Artist. Even if it's only a foundational first-rate level, relying on the Perfect Perfection realm, I might even be able to clash with those in the Thousand-Jun Realm."