Chen Jian's Excitement

A single grain of rice did not increase Xiao Yang's strength by much.

But he could eat more than one a day.

Level-1 Rice contained a great deal of energy, and one grain was enough to fill him up for now.

Still, eating two or three grains a day, or even three or four, would be no problem.

That meant he could gain 150 or even 200 kilograms of strength in a day.

That was already quite good.

As Xiao Yang grew stronger, the energy in a single grain of rice would become less significant to him.

He would be able to eat more grains each day in the future.

So as far as he was concerned, the rice was excellent.

And now that he had more land, Xiao Yang would not have to worry about running out of rice anytime soon.

He might even have plenty left over to sell.

What Xiao Yang looked forward to most was saving up a million Copper Coins. Then, the next time he saw Enlightenment Tea Leaves, he would buy them on the spot!

After resting for a while, Xiao Yang went to the training room, picked up his long spear, and began practicing basic spear techniques.

The body's original owner had trained with a spear.

His fundamentals were fairly solid.

Xiao Yang did not have a strong preference when it came to weapons.

Since he had the original owner's memories, sticking with the spear would give him the best return for his effort.

Blades, swords, staffs, and other weapons might be easy to start learning, but mastering them would still take time.

The original owner, meanwhile, had practiced spear techniques under his parents' guidance for years.

With those memories, Xiao Yang only needed to get used to the spear to reach the original owner's former level.

At first, swinging the long spear felt awkward.

But as time passed, his movements grew smoother and smoother.

He gradually found his rhythm.

Then he began practicing the basic spear techniques from the original owner's memories.

In the blink of an eye, midnight had passed.

Feeling a little nervous, Xiao Yang opened the game screen and tapped the shop's daily items.

Sure enough, the selection had refreshed.

The Enlightenment Tea Leaves he had hoped for were gone.

Disappointment showed on Xiao Yang's face.

He had known this might happen, but seeing them disappear still stung.

Worse, none of today's new items looked particularly good!

[Level-0 Watermelon...]

[Ordinary fishing net (10 Copper Coins)...]

[Poultry feeding device (100,000 Copper Coins)...]

Only three items had appeared today.

Two were junk, and the third was something he had no use for.

Xiao Yang did not even keep poultry yet.

Besides, he could have a device like that custom-made in the real world.

Wouldn't that be better value than spending his in-game money?

Unfortunately, he had tried before and still could not bring living creatures into the game.

Otherwise, he might have brought in some chickens or ducks to raise. He wondered whether anything would be different about them.

After closing the game screen, Xiao Yang went back to practicing with his spear.

Several days passed in a flash.

During that time, Xiao Yang worked out the pattern behind the daily items.

Most were ordinary goods. Sometimes Watermelon, Rice, or seeds for either crop appeared.

Aside from those, the only other crop he had seen was the Enlightenment Tea Leaves.

Over the past few days, Xiao Yang had eaten quite a lot of rice.

His strength had risen by another 900 kilograms!

He now had around 2,750 kilograms of strength.

Chen Jian had not seen Xiao Yang come to him over the past few days.

So today, he came by on his own, intending to help Xiao Yang train for actual combat.

Xiao Yang had no choice but to put all his rice and watermelon into the game warehouse first.

Although he had not planted any more watermelon, he still had plenty left from before.

Sometimes he ate a slice or two after practicing his spear techniques.

It was mainly an old habit.

Xiao Yang was practicing with his spear when he heard the doorbell ring upstairs. He quickly set the spear down and ran up.

When he opened the door, Chen Jian was standing outside.

Seeing Xiao Yang drenched in sweat, Chen Jian laughed and chided him.

"When did you become such a homebody, kid?"

"I told you to come practice fighting with me, but you never showed up."

"What, does the great genius not want to pick on a disabled man?"

Xiao Yang hurried to explain.

"No, Uncle Chen."

"I've been practicing my spear techniques at home these past few days."

"I was going to visit you in a few days."

Chen Jian stood on no ceremony and walked inside as he spoke.

He took a pair of shoe covers from the cabinet and slipped them on.

Chen Jian had been a close friend of the original owner's parents.

He often visited Xiao Yang's home.

So he knew the place well.

"Come on. Let's go to the training room."

"I want to see how you fight now that your strength has increased."

Xiao Yang did not refuse. He led Chen Jian straight to the basement.

He wanted to see what he could do in an actual fight, too.

No matter how well he practiced his spear techniques, it would mean nothing if he could not use them in combat.

Once they reached the basement training room, Chen Jian took a pair of training shoes from the cabinet.

Then he went to the weapon rack nearby and picked up a training Tang-style straight sword.

Clearwind Residential Community was a development of villas intended for Martial Warriors.

The basement training room in every villa was well stocked with training weapons and equipment.

They had just about every kind of weapon here.

Holding the sword in one hand, Chen Jian walked toward the open space in the center of the training room.

"Come on. Attack me."

Chen Jian held the sword across his body in his left hand and tipped his chin at Xiao Yang.

Xiao Yang wasted no time. He picked up the long spear beside him and charged at Chen Jian.

He made a feint with the spear. After testing Chen Jian's reaction, he immediately retreated.

A long spear was not suited to fighting an enemy at close range.

He kept that firmly in mind and maintained his distance from Chen Jian.

After watching him for a moment, Xiao Yang thrust straight toward Chen Jian's right side.

This was a fight, after all. Of course he had to target his opponent's weak points.

"Good. That's the way."

"In a real fight, always look for your opponent's weaknesses."

As Chen Jian spoke, he turned sideways and swung his sword to parry.

Clang!

Chen Jian knocked Xiao Yang's spear tip aside.

With the thrust thwarted, Xiao Yang was about to pull back and wait for another opening.

But Chen Jian was the one who stepped away.

He stared at Xiao Yang in shock.

"You managed to absorb Genetic Origin Energy?"

"How did you get this strong?"

"You must have at least 2,500 kilograms of strength!"

Though he phrased it as a question, Chen Jian sounded almost certain.

"How much strength do you have now? When did you first sense Cosmic Energy?"

Chen Jian lowered his sword and looked at Xiao Yang, excitement in his voice.

Xiao Yang did not hide anything.

"I sensed Cosmic Energy the day I came back from the Quasi-Martial Artist Assessment."

"As for my strength, it's around 2,750 kilograms now."