Rising to the Rescue

It was not until early the next morning that his phone alarm jolted Chen Hao awake.

He woke with a start and was stunned to discover that the tubful of clear water from last night had turned filthy and murky, with a nauseating layer of oily scum floating on its surface.

The sight of that stuff once again made Chen Hao think of feces.

"Urgh!"

Barely awake, Chen Hao leaned over the toilet and vomited violently twice before finally recovering.

He closed his eyes, held his breath, and drained all the black water from the bathtub.

While he was still wondering what that filth was, Chen Hao realized his body felt incredibly light, as though he had been reborn. He felt indescribably refreshed, and his body seemed to hold an endless supply of strength.

One look in the mirror left Chen Hao dumbfounded. Was that really him?

His entire body was now muscular and powerfully built. Though he could not compare with those fitness trainers whose exaggerated muscles left people speechless, his muscle definition was absolutely perfect.

Thrilled, Chen Hao struck several poses for the camera before muttering in disbelief, "Was this the effect of that cow dung yesterday? This body-sculpting effect is incredible."

Such a dramatic change naturally put Chen Hao in a wonderful mood. Singing and humming little tunes, he quickly washed up, then bounded downstairs.

After vomiting all night, Chen Hao now had a ravenous appetite. Sitting outside a breakfast shop, he ate more than twenty steamed buns and drank over ten bowls of soy milk, leaving everyone around him dumbstruck.

Once he had eaten and drunk his fill, Chen Hao hailed a taxi and headed toward Sun Jiaqi's place. After all, he was partly at fault for what had happened yesterday, so he had to go apologize to her.

As soon as he got in, Chen Hao opened WeChat and discovered that the God of Wealth had sent another red packet to the group. Unfortunately, it had already been snapped up before he could open it.

Chen Hao felt a wave of disappointment.

Huh!

He suddenly noticed that the Old Immortal of the South Pole had left him a message. "Fellow immortal Little Charlatan, the liquor you gave me last time really was strong. I finally enjoyed a good, comfortable drunken stupor. It did burn my throat a little afterward, though. I nearly lost my voice."

Chen Hao gave a couple of awkward chuckles and hurriedly asked, "Haha, that liquor is a bit strong. You're feeling all right after drinking it, aren't you?"

The Old Immortal of the South Pole replied, "Nothing serious. I was just wondering whether you have any more fine liquor like that, fellow immortal Little Charlatan? A bunch of old fellows here would like to try it too."

"Holy crap, did he actually get hooked on it?"

They were immortals, after all. It really would be rather unethical for Chen Hao to serve them such cheap, low-quality erguotou.

Besides, these immortals were getting on in years. If anything happened to them after drinking counterfeit liquor, he would have a lot to answer for. "That liquor is too strong, and I have none left in stock. But I do have other fine wines. I'll send you some another day to sample, Old Immortal of the South Pole."

"Wonderful, wonderful! Thank you, fellow immortal Little Charlatan."

Seeing "Little Charlatan" this and "Little Charlatan" that, Chen Hao finally could not stand it anymore. He tapped the God of Wealth's avatar and sent him a message. "God of Wealth, why can't I change my group nickname?"

Before long, the God of Wealth replied, "You may not know this, exalted immortal, but upon joining the group, your nickname is automatically generated according to your level of immortal arts and your moral character. It cannot be changed for the rest of your life."

"What the hell! I can't change it for the rest of my life?" Chen Hao's face darkened.

What was wrong with his moral character? Every year, he had been an exemplary student and an outstanding student leader, a role model for everyone. He even remembered to help old ladies cross the road. How had his character and morals earned him the label "charlatan"? He wanted to cry, but had no tears.

He had just put down his phone when a piercing crash sounded outside. Just as Chen Hao looked up, the driver stomped on the brake.

Bang!

Before Chen Hao, who had just raised his head, could figure out what was happening, the sudden stop threw him forward, slamming his entire face into the seat in front of him.

Blood shot from his nose, infuriating Chen Hao. He was about to yell at the driver when the man pointed ahead and said, "Oh no, this is bad. Looks like there's been an accident up ahead!"

Hearing that, much of Chen Hao's anger subsided. He opened the door and looked ahead, finding all the cars in front backed up.

He had only meant to squint into the distance and see what had happened, but the moment he focused, what appeared before his eyes stunned him.

The scene before him began rushing past, and the view dozens of meters away seemed as close as if it were right in front of him.

For an instant, everything around him seemed to pause almost imperceptibly, like Quicksilver's special effects in X-Men. It was astonishing and mysterious.

But it vanished after only the briefest instant. Once he saw clearly what had happened dozens of meters away, Chen Hao had no attention left to spare for those strange effects.

The earlier crash had come from an Audi A4 that had lost control and hit a roadside utility pole.

The entire pole had fallen onto the Audi A4. Sparks flew everywhere, the doors were badly warped, and it was unclear whether the person inside was alive or dead.

With his astonishingly sharp perception, Chen Hao could clearly see that the sparks flying from the pole might ignite the leaking fuel at any moment.

"This is bad!"

At that sight, Chen Hao could not worry about anything else. He sprinted straight toward the car.

The accident had occurred in a busy part of town, with plenty of pedestrians and vehicles passing by. A crowd quickly gathered, and some of the braver people grabbed tools and fire extinguishers and rushed forward.

But the sparks flying from the utility pole were terrifying. After several unsuccessful attempts, a few men could only stand outside, helplessly fretting.

Within minutes, people had packed the area, traffic had come to a complete standstill, and the scene was utter chaos.

Some well-meaning people who understood the danger began ushering the onlookers back. "Everyone, move back! The car could explode at any moment!"

Chen Hao squeezed through the crowd and reached the wrecked car. He was about to rush in to rescue its occupant when a middle-aged man stopped him. "Young man, don't be rash. Wait for the rescuers."

"Wait, my ass! By the time they get here, whoever's inside will be cremated!" Chen Hao shoved him aside and charged in alone.

"Hey!"

Perhaps it was because he had taken that cow... no, that Qi-Nourishing Pill yesterday, but Chen Hao's strength, speed, perception, and reflexes had all improved to an astonishing degree.

He covered the dozen or so meters almost instantly.

Watching the sparking wires blocking his way to the car, Chen Hao picked his moment and darted past them.

Once he approached the car, he saw that the utility pole had crushed the driver's side out of shape. Broken window glass littered the ground, and a woman lay in the driver's seat with blood covering her head.

Chen Hao tugged on the door, but it was badly warped and difficult to open.

"Heavenly Eye, open!"

In desperation, Chen Hao could only activate his Heavenly Eye. The damaged vehicle immediately appeared before him as a transparent, wireframe model.

Just then, however, Chen Hao was startled to discover that a progress bar had appeared on his Heavenly Eye Art: 38%!

When he first obtained the Heavenly Eye Art, he had indeed seen that it was divided into levels.

Could the low-quality Qi-Nourishing Pill he had swallowed yesterday have not only completely transformed his physique, but also raised the level of his Heavenly Eye Art?

But Chen Hao had no time to dwell on that. A quick scan with his Heavenly Eye Art revealed that there was no one in the car besides the woman.

After taking another look at the overall situation, Chen Hao focused on rescuing her.

He used all his strength to pull open the warped driver's door. But even with his greatly enhanced strength, tearing an iron door open with his bare hands still proved difficult.

As more and more gasoline spread beneath his feet, ready to catch fire from the sparks falling from the wires at any moment, sweat poured from Chen Hao's forehead.

Just as his anxiety mounted, his Heavenly Eye Art suddenly fixed on a large damaged section of the door.

If he could widen that damaged area, perhaps he could get the door open.

In those few brief seconds, sparks falling from the wires ignited the gasoline on the ground.

In an instant, flames engulfed the entire car, swallowing Chen Hao as well.

"Ah!"

The onlookers immediately fell into a panic. How could they stand by and watch two living people burn to death?

The men holding fire extinguishers pulled the safety pins and sprayed furiously at the car. But with the wires whipping wildly around, they could not get close enough to the source of the fire, and their efforts did nothing to suppress the flames.

Surrounded by a sea of fire, Chen Hao immediately felt searing pain stab through his skin.

He mustered all his strength and kicked hard at the damaged section of the door.

"One kick!"

"Two kicks!"

As the flames grew fiercer and the stubborn door still refused to open, the middle-aged man outside hurriedly shouted to Chen Hao, "Young man, get out of there! Don't throw your life away!"

But Chen Hao gritted his teeth and delivered another kick with all his strength, striking so hard that the entire car shuddered.

That powerful kick finally shifted the warped door a little.

Chen Hao's eyes lit up. He grabbed it and heaved with all his strength, wrenching the entire door off.

In the nick of time, Chen Hao scooped up the unconscious woman and raced out of the blaze.

Barely a second after he escaped, the flames surged and swiftly swallowed the entire car.

Seeing that Chen Hao had rescued the woman, everyone cheered and applauded. Some even shouted things like "You're a real hero!" leaving him rather embarrassed.

The middle-aged man who had stopped Chen Hao earlier also hurried over, patted Chen Hao's shoulder, and said, "Young man, that was incredible. You have my respect."

Chen Hao said little. He laid the woman on the ground and immediately activated his Heavenly Eye Art to examine her entire body.

Although he knew nothing about medicine and couldn't make sense of the meridians and internal organs before him, Chen Hao could roughly determine that aside from some injuries to her forehead and face, the rest of her body seemed largely unharmed.

Soon, ambulances and fire engines arrived one after another. Medical personnel hurried toward Chen Hao with a stretcher and medical equipment.

With the ambulance there, Chen Hao finally felt relieved.

"Hello, hero! I'm a reporter with Huaxia Television. Could I interview you?" Suddenly, a long-haired woman rushed over with a phone and began snapping pictures of Chen Hao.

When the middle-aged man beside him heard that she was a reporter with Huaxia Television, he immediately smoothed the few remaining hairs on his forehead and sidled over with a grin. "Haha, you're a reporter? I've never been on television before. How about interviewing me too?"

Looking at the woman, Chen Hao immediately felt disdain. If you're going to pretend, at least make it convincing. You think anyone would believe you're a Huaxia Television reporter just because you're holding a lousy phone?

Chen Hao could not be bothered with her and quickly made his way out of the crowd.

As he emerged, everyone's gaze followed Chen Hao. Applause and cheers even rose from the crowd, making his face flush slightly.

Just then, a taxi driver pulled up in front of him. "Young man, I admire you for stepping up to help. Where are you headed? I'll take you there for free."

Chen Hao smiled and opened the door without hesitation, getting inside. "That's kind of you, sir, but I'll still pay the fare."