Bang!
Li Jinshui crashed heavily to the ground, sweat pouring off him as he panted hard.
"Damn... I got ahead of myself."
Things had gone completely differently from what he'd expected.
He'd assumed he would need to cultivate the Ninth Grade Stake Standing step by step from start to finish, so he'd immediately gone all out and driven his Qi-Blood through it.
He'd never imagined he'd pushed himself too hard.
Breaking through three stages in one go had caused his entire body to shed its skin in an instant. The pain had nearly knocked him unconscious.
"This Stake Standing technique isn't right. It's seriously not right!"
He'd spotted the problem.
Normally, after reaching mastery in Basic Stance Technique, anyone continuing on to the Ninth Grade Stake Standing would still have to start from scratch and make gradual progress.
Even with all his meridians open, it shouldn't have been possible to reach the minor mastery stage so quickly.
He thought back to how it had felt during the breakthrough. Each time the Iron-Skin Stake advanced a stage, it required a massive amount of Qi-Blood—far more than a normal martial artist could muster.
If he hadn't just entered the First-rate Martial Artist realm and seen his Qi-Blood surge, he might not even have managed to get started on the Iron-Skin Stake, let alone reach minor mastery.
"Could this Stake Standing technique have been deduced specifically for me?"
Li Jinshui's expression gradually darkened.
If even getting started took over a thousand Qi-Blood points, how was anyone else supposed to practice it?
Getting started required over a thousand Qi-Blood points, and reaching minor mastery took several times that.
Which First-rate Martial Artist could possibly have several thousand Qi-Blood points?
Probably only a Thousand-Jun Realm expert could master the Iron-Skin Stake.
But the problem was that Thousand-Jun Realm experts were already practicing Eighth Grade Stake Standing. There was no shortage of skin-tempering Stake Standing techniques on the market. Why would they go back to practicing a Ninth Grade one?
"Great. My grand plans have fallen apart halfway through..."
Li Jinshui's face fell, and he let out a deep sigh.
If the Ninth Grade Iron-Skin Stake was this demanding, the Eighth Grade techniques were probably much the same.
Most likely, no one but him could practice these Stake Standing techniques.
"Forget it. I shouldn't be greedy. At least I can save the money I'd have spent buying Stake Standing techniques from now on. And if I'm strong enough, making money will be as easy as traveling through time, right?"
Li Jinshui was clearly a rather uncomplicated young man. He never dwelled on things for long and soon adjusted his mindset.
He'd already made up his mind: he would keep practicing the Iron-Skin Stake.
It was a technique for tempering the skin and membranes, and its effects were quite good. Once mastered, it could turn his skin into iron, making it as tough as an Iron-Skin Beast's. Ordinary bullets couldn't pierce it.
As for the top-tier Ninth Grade Wild Ox Stake Old Huang had given him, Li Jinshui opened it and flipped through it once, then shook his head repeatedly.
"This counts as top-tier Ninth Grade?" he said, his face full of disdain.
The Wild Ox Stake mainly increased Qi-Blood, and it didn't seem as good as the Iron-Skin Stake.
Besides, most of its energy pathways overlapped with those of the Seventh Grade Blood-Spike Stake.
"Good thing I didn't practice this thing beforehand. I never used the legitimate registration code, either, so I can list it for sale on Doudou Secondhand later."
After putting away the Stake Standing technique, Li Jinshui began cleaning up the blood on the floor.
It really wouldn't do to have someone else come in. The place looked like a crime scene, and it would be hard to explain if word got out.
Before long, another month flew by!
During that time, Li Jinshui smoothly kept up his cover story. In front of Ye Mei and the others, he demonstrated his "mastered" Stake Standing and produced a Qi-Blood reading of 1,500.
That was the sign of someone newly entering the "Ninth Grade First-rate" realm!
Huang Lichen and the others were so excited they couldn't sleep for days, yet they still showed up at work on time each morning, full of energy.
Li Jinshui, meanwhile, assessed himself. A Qi-Blood reading of 1,500 represented about thirty percent of his strength, which meant he could reach around 5,000 in a full-power test.
And that was only the increase from mastering Basic Stance Technique.
The ultimate stage had only given him the ability to make deductions.
The Ninth Grade Iron-Skin Stake didn't increase Qi-Blood, either. Its main purpose was to temper the skin and membranes.
But ever since the Iron-Skin Stake had reached minor mastery, its progress hadn't budged, no matter how much Qi-Blood he poured into it.
That still didn't stump him. By the next day, he'd figured out the trick.
Eating ten pounds of Iron-Skin Beast meat each day increased its progress by one point.
It took only five days for the Iron-Skin Stake to reach the proficient level.
After that, he went to the cafeteria every day to buy Iron-Skin Beast meat.
By the end of that month,
the Ninth Grade Iron-Skin Stake had reached "mastery." And just like Basic Stance Technique, it could still break through even after reaching mastery.
After eating another twenty pounds of Iron-Skin Beast meat, the Iron-Skin Stake successfully entered the ultimate stage.
[Iron-Skin Stake (Ultimate: Copper Skin)]
His skin had changed from iron at the mastery stage to "copper"!
On the surface, Li Jinshui's skin still looked completely normal. There was nothing unusual about it.
But after testing it himself, he couldn't help marveling at how incredible it was!
When he slashed his own arm with half his strength, sparks flew. He felt some pain, but the blade didn't break through his skin.
He didn't try slashing with all his strength...
He was afraid he'd get hurt and have to pay for treatment, which would interfere with his training, so he decided against it.
Aside from practicing the Iron-Skin Stake, he'd also trained the Ninth Grade hidden-weapon martial skill Meteor Chasing Moon to the "beginner" level.
It didn't have an "upgrade" label after its name like Lightning Pulse Step, but it was still a rare offensive technique—and, most importantly, a prestigious ranged attack.
The Heaven Rewards Diligence panel had changed again.
[Name: Li Jinshui] [Realm: First-rate Martial Artist (Flawless Realm)] [Martial Skills: Basic Lightness Skill (Minor Mastery 0/500)] [Lame Fist (Not Started 0/100)] [Lightning Pulse Step (Proficient 0/300) (Can Upgrade)] [Meteor Chasing Moon (Beginner 0/200)] [Techniques: Basic Stance Technique (Ultimate) Iron-Skin Stake (Ultimate)] [Traits: Deduction, Copper Skin] [...]
After the Iron-Skin Stake reached mastery, he officially became a Flawless Martial Artist, though the panel showed his realm as "Flawless Realm."
The "Traits" section, which had been empty until then, now contained two new words. They were the effects he'd gained after the Stake Standing technique reached the "ultimate" stage.
"With my strength now, I might actually be able to go toe-to-toe with a Thousand-Jun Realm expert. Should I ask Old Huang for a spar before I leave?"
Li Jinshui was itching to give it a try.
His three-month stint was over, and his time at the Youth Training Camp had come to an end. If he could test himself against the true strength of the Thousand-Jun Realm, he'd have a better idea of what to expect when he ventured out into the world.
On the evening before he left, Li Jinshui once again visited Huang Lichen's office to meet with the four senior leaders.
They held a warm and friendly discussion. They exchanged views on Comrade Li Jinshui's new post, gained a deeper understanding of the area around the new site, and reached a strong consensus that staying alive had to come first.
The next day, Li Jinshui officially finished his course and left the camp.
"Old Huang, on the eve of our farewell, don't you want to have a thrilling, nonlethal spar with a once-in-a-millennium martial arts genius like me?" Li Jinshui suggested.
"Heh!"
Huang Lichen gave him a look of utter disdain.
"There's no need to spar. Even if you reach the peak of the First-rate realm, you still won't be a match for someone in the Thousand-Jun Realm."
Chen Yu explained from the side, "In the Thousand-Jun Realm, if you judge by strength alone, one jun is thirty pounds, and a thousand jun is thirty thousand pounds. That alone makes them extremely hard to match, and that's not even counting their overwhelming advantages in physical toughness and burst speed."
There was one thing he left unsaid: none of them had only just entered the Thousand-Jun Realm. They were seasoned experts whose strength had long since exceeded thirty thousand pounds.
After hearing that, Li Jinshui immediately abandoned the idea.
The gap was just too outrageous.
Thirty thousand pounds of strength meant a casual punch could hit with at least fifteen tons of force. That was ridiculous.
He had a Qi-Blood reading of 5,000. Without martial skills to enhance it, each point of Qi-Blood could produce at most the equivalent of two pounds of force, so 5,000 points meant ten thousand pounds.
With martial skills, that burst of strength could multiply several times over.
But the problem was that Thousand-Jun Realm experts could also enhance their strength with martial skills, and theirs were of a higher grade.
Compared side by side, he really couldn't fight them.
"Forget it. Once I reach the Thousand-Jun Realm, I'll take on ten of them at once."
Li Jinshui shook his head, then said goodbye to the others.
Although Old Huang and the others kept claiming they were broke, before Li Jinshui left, they still pooled their money and gave him two C-Grade Supplement Potions.
Over the past three months, they'd witnessed Li Jinshui's potential and learned just how terrifying his talent was.
But they couldn't keep him around and train him.
First, they couldn't afford to support him. Second, they had no one else to use. If Li Jinshui didn't go out and stir things up, all four of them would be out of a job.
Only by sending Li Jinshui out and turning the situation around could they hope to have a future.
Martial artists had never been flowers raised in a greenhouse. Without the nourishment of bloodshed and danger, they could hardly grow.
"All right, I'm heading to my new post. Don't forget the high-end combat support you promised me. You'd better have it all arranged."
Li Jinshui waved, picked up two heavy suitcases, and left the office.
Ye Mei followed him out alone and pressed the elevator button for him.
There was no helping it. Li Jinshui's ID card couldn't get him down to the first floor; otherwise, he'd have escaped long ago.
"Li Jinshui."
Ye Mei held the elevator door with one hand, her expression grave. After a brief silence, she said slowly, "Don't let your guard down. You have to stay alive. I'll take care of everything within six months at the latest."
"Sure thing, babe."
Li Jinshui beamed and rubbed his hands together. "Since I'm leaving, is there anything you'd like to give me? Don't get the wrong idea. I just think that if I miss you while I'm away, having something of yours with me would let me gaze at it and remember you, to ease my longing!"
"Shut up, Li Jinshui!"
Ye Mei scolded him coldly, her phoenix eyes flashing with authority and her expression stern. "I'm not in the mood to joke with you. This is genuinely dangerous. Wei Hu Security is using you to make a move. They're using a small pawn like you to open the way into Rong City's branch. We can't report our current situation to the higher-ups; we have to handle it ourselves. Do you understand?"
"Uh..." Li Jinshui opened his mouth. This was the first time he'd seen Ye Mei so angry.
"And one more thing!"
Ye Mei drew a deep breath, her full chest heaving, and her voice suddenly rose. "I don't care if you really have some kind of histrionic personality disorder, and I don't want to know what you're thinking. I'll make this clear now: I'm thirty-one this year, and you're eighteen. There's no chance for us. Do you understand? If you know what's good for you, stay alive. Then you can call me 'big sister' like a good boy, and I can keep looking after you."
By then, her fair ears had already turned red. She gave Li Jinshui no chance to reply, pulling her arm away from the elevator frame and letting the doors close.
"Sigh... fine, fine. In the end, my feelings were misplaced."
Li Jinshui froze for half a second, then let out a deep sigh, full of world-weary resignation.
He hadn't expected his first romance to end so dramatically.
He tilted his head slightly. The book said that when you were sad, you should look up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, and then your tears wouldn't fall.
"From now on, I'll lock my heart away and only deliver takeout."
As the elevator sped downward, he resolved to renounce love once and for all.
"Ding!"
The elevator reached the first floor.
The moment the metal doors slid open, Li Jinshui strode out with his head held high, wearing a long fluorescent-yellow trench coat and carrying two suitcases.
He looked imposing, his coat fluttering as he walked.
As he passed the reception desk, a familiar figure caught his eye.
"Zhang Yaya, long time no see! You're looking prettier than ever." With a deft sidestep, Li Jinshui leaned casually against the reception desk, a charming smile on his face.
"Eh, Li Jinshui! You've graduated from the Youth Training Camp?" Zhang Yaya looked up in surprise and delight.
"That's right, that's right."
Li Jinshui propped his chin on both hands and gazed at her intently, his voice tender and heartfelt. "Yaya, do you believe in love at first sight?"
"Huh?"
Zhang Yaya froze, then lowered her head awkwardly and replied in a small voice, "Don't be like that. I told you last time, I have a husband. If he finds out..."
"Ha! So what if he finds out? I don't mind that you have a husband. If he dares mind you having a lover, that just proves he doesn't love you as much as I do."
His eyes were full of sincerity. "But I'm about to take up a post at a new site, so it'll probably be hard for us to keep in touch. You know I'm a big spender, and my phone's been disconnected because I couldn't pay the bill. Could you lend me a few tens of thousands to top up my phone? Then I can call you every day."
"..."
Zhang Yaya's previously bashful face instantly froze. She snatched up the flowerpot on the desk and made as if to smash it over his head.
"Li Jinshui, get out! Get out right now, or I'll call my husband over to beat you to death."