Kung Fu Is Tempered by Time

Lu Ren glanced at Xiang Yang, thought for a moment, then pulled a can from his pocket to fill his stomach. He asked Xiang Yang for some water as well. He had personally seen her drink from the waterskin, and it had remained within his sight the entire time. He was desperately short on water now; despite maintaining sufficient vigilance, he had no choice.

He still had Xiang Yang take a sip first. Ignoring her thoroughly displeased expression, he took the waterskin and gulped down some water, then asked in confusion, "Why does this water taste so strange?"

Xiang Yang said, "It's a clean water source purified by the Sewer Purification Device. The purifying agent has run out, so the taste is a little strange, but don't worry. The water quality is absolutely clean."

"So you're saying this water was filtered out of all kinds of filthy pollutants?" Lu Ren's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

He recalled the pool of green water he had passed when he first entered the sewers, with the skeletal remains and rotting flesh of unknown creatures floating in the middle.

Seeing Lu Ren's expression, Xiang Yang asked curiously, "Don't you know that much clean water is returned to rivers, lakes, and seas after passing through various purification devices? Before humanity suffered the Great Cataclysm, my dad told me that a large portion of clean water came from human-made or discharged pollutants that had been purified to meet water-quality standards, then delivered directly to every household by water companies."

"Fine, I get it. Stop talking."

Lu Ren handed the waterskin back to Xiang Yang, silently walked to one side, and began practicing Basic Swordsmanship. Since food and water were temporarily no longer concerns, raising his strength was the proper path. No matter what, maintaining constant diligent practice at all times was a necessary quality for survival.

"Ding, through continuously practicing the skill 'Basic Swordsmanship,' your Basic Swordsmanship Proficiency +1."

"Ding, through continuously practicing the skill 'Basic Swordsmanship,' your agility, strength, and Physique Proficiency +1."

"Ding, because you..."

Every time he completed a set of Basic Swordsmanship, the system's proficiency notifications rang out continuously. His proficiency rose bit by bit, while his agility, strength, and physique were all enhanced by Basic Swordsmanship.

Watching Lu Ren meticulously practice the forms, Xiang Yang could not help asking, "Is this kung fu?"

Without stopping his movements, Lu Ren replied, "You could understand it that way."

"But you keep going through the same few routines. What can they do?"

Xiang Yang was somewhat confused. Could someone defeat an enemy using such routines? After watching them a few times, anyone could figure out the other person's attack patterns. It seemed completely meaningless.

"Kung fu is tempered by time."

"Only when techniques become bodily instinct can they be performed naturally."

Even Lu Ren had practiced day and night without interruption for more than a month before he managed to form Basic Swordsmanship into a skill. The Use of Force involved, the shifting, turning, leaping, and footwork—without someone teaching the real thing, it would merely be empty forms. Perhaps he could still form the skill through the proficiency system, but it would definitely take quite some time.

Furthermore, even if one were taught the real thing, without time to refine it, what they practiced would still be empty forms. Ordinary people were not like Lu Ren; once a skill formed, they could remember it instinctively.

"Relying on time... how long would that take?"

"For an ordinary person to reach my level, it would take at least four years—practicing diligently day and night without rest, not daring to waste even a single day."

Xiang Yang asked, "What about you?"

"Me? It took me a full month to reach this level."

Xiang Yang looked utterly speechless, clearly believing that Lu Ren was lying.

Lu Ren sheathed his sword and stood still.

"You think it's fake?"

Xiang Yang said seriously, "I'm not saying it's fake. I just think the person who taught you might have been a swindler."

Yan Zhenghua truly was a lecherous, sleazy swindler. Lu Ren entirely agreed with that.

However, the Basic Swordsmanship he taught did have substance. Otherwise, it would not have been recognized by the system and formed into a skill. It had also been worth the 2,500 yuan in tuition. Having a master teach you and figuring it out on your own were completely different things.

Although Yan Zhenghua had not taught him in great depth, Lu Ren still respected him for being willing to teach the real thing. It was just that after spending too long around someone like Yan Zhenghua, that respect could only be kept in his heart.

"Maybe."

Lu Ren had absolutely no intention of getting hot-blooded and sparring with Xiang Yang. A little girl like her simply could not stir up the slightest interest in him.

Seeing Lu Ren silently sit down in a corner to rest, Xiang Yang pursed her lips in boredom and stood up.

"I'm leaving."

Lu Ren asked in surprise, "What are you going to do?"

"Scout the surrounding area, of course, then look for patterns."

"On the surface?"

"Of course!"

"Why not go directly through the sewer system to that Testing Center or whatever?"

"If it were that easy, that would be great. The Testing Center was built later, while the sewers are an independently operating system. Although the Testing Center connects to the main sewers, there are many checkpoints in between. After the incident, they were completely sealed off. There's no way to get in that way."

"All right. May fortune favor you in battle."

Xiang Yang opened the heavy iron door, then turned back and kindly said, "If you're willing, you can patiently wait for me to return. I'll take you to my real base!"

Lu Ren was more than happy with that. He wanted to stay in such a safe environment anyway. As for whether there was a base or not, it did not matter at all. He said earnestly, "I'll be here the whole time."

Watching Xiang Yang put the iron door back in place as she left, Lu Ren withdrew his gaze.

Was this girl truly kind-hearted?

In this environment, Lu Ren remained skeptical.

At least this environment was pure, without the chaotic thoughts and schemes of the real world. Although Lu Ren had rejected Xiang Yang without hesitation earlier, she still did not hold any grudge. Aside from sulking and feeling somewhat disappointed, she continued to treat Lu Ren as she had before.

Still...

The corner of Lu Ren's mouth could not help twitching upward. She was still a little too inexperienced.

Young.

After resting briefly, Lu Ren frowned as he drank some more water, then threw himself into the next round of training.

Time flowed by like water. At this moment, Lu Ren was bare-chested. His extremely strenuous training during this period had given every muscle on his body clear definition. The swelling and relaxing of his muscles with every gesture gave him an intensely imposing, explosive presence.

Because his attributes exceeded those of ordinary people by a considerable margin, his physical fitness was quite impressive.

In the meantime, he had also carefully studied the growth of each attribute. Every additional attribute point had a coefficient of 1.25. In other words, one attribute point was added based on a base value of five attribute points, and the value was fixed; it did not increase proportionally as his physical fitness improved.

Put another way, with a base strength of one hundred jin, adding one point of strength granted twenty-five jin of strength, while adding two points granted fifty jin.

The attribute points were fixed. Perhaps that would only count as an average conversion rate in a game, but in the real world, it was utterly absurd.

Still, he did not know whether there would be changes later on. After all, the way these attribute increases manifested in the body was not so simple as that calculation.

As his proficiency rose bit by bit, he could clearly feel his strength slowly increasing. This rate of improvement was absolutely beyond anyone's imagination.