People Can't, or at Least They Shouldn't!

The door opened. Li Qingshan entered the room with a chopping knife in one hand.

"Phew! Finally home."

Li Qingshan let out a breath and impatiently looked toward the status panel.

[Li Qingshan]

[Realm: Body Forging 20/100]

[Technique:

The Thirty-Sixth Set of Broadcast Gymnastics—The Stars Are Calling 1/3000 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Martial Techniques: Mizong Step 276/3000 (Great Accomplishment), Wind Shadow Blade 5/3000 (Great Accomplishment)]

[Function: Martial Arts Space Lv1 (9/100)]

[Available time: 8 years 150 days]

[Time Flow Rate: 1:10]

"Eight years! This trip to the Silver Glow Hotel was truly worth it."

Joy welled up in Li Qingshan's heart, like a man who had been poor for ages suddenly becoming rich overnight.

Before setting out, all he had hoped for was to get lucky enough to encounter one or two Fierce Beasts.

He had even prepared himself for it to turn into a wild goose chase.

Yet not only had he slain three Fierce Beasts, he had also wiped out an Evil God Cultist "worth five years."

"For a while, I won't have to worry about available time anymore."

"Oh, right. There's also the reward for reporting it that hasn't arrived yet!"

Remembering what the Patrol Bureau staff had said, Li Qingshan's mood grew even brighter.

And tonight's gains did not stop there.

Li Qingshan casually tossed the chopping knife into the corner, carried the Thunder Pattern Blade, and walked to the center of the living room.

He drew the blade from its sheath.

A flash of lightning vanished in an instant, and the blade light turned into shadows.

A few seconds later, the blade light abruptly stopped.

Li Qingshan stared at the blade, which shimmered with purple light, and muttered:

"It seems faster."

It was still blade light turning into shadows, but when he used the Thunder Pattern Blade, he could clearly feel that every strike flowed more smoothly.

It was as though the Thunder Pattern Blade and the Martial Technique Wind Shadow Blade had been born perfectly suited to one another.

Li Qingshan could not help recalling what Cao Ya had said before.

'This Thunder Pattern Blade was carefully chosen by me. It will be very important for your future Martial Technique training.'

"I thought he had only said that casually because he was afraid I wouldn't accept it. I never expected it wasn't empty talk."

Li Qingshan sheathed his blade, once again feeling the weight of this "gift of thanks to a teacher."

Whether a gift was precious depended not only on its value, but also on the giver's intentions.

"Looks like I'll have to 'take good care' of Little Fatty more often in the future."

Li Qingshan smiled freely, set down the Thunder Pattern Blade, turned, and walked to the table. He opened the insulated box.

Cold mist spread out, and ten bottles of crystalline blue liquid sat neatly inside.

"Only ten bottles of Nutrient Solution left. Time to bleed money again."

Gritting his teeth, Li Qingshan took out a bottle of Nutrient Solution and tipped his head back to drink it.

Using up a bottle of Nutrient Solution every day was practically swallowing gold.

Half of the 120,000 in tuition money he had earned before was already gone. Only 60,000 Star Coins remained in his account now.

"I wonder how much the reward for this report will be. If it's too little, I'll have to go back to Yinghai and find a new client."

Muttering to himself, Li Qingshan returned to the center of the living room. After taking a deep breath, he cleared away all distractions.

The first move of The Stars Are Calling: twist the hips and swing the arms.

Li Qingshan curled his toes tightly, twisted his waist and hips, and raised his right arm.

His muscles bulged layer upon layer, extending all the way to his wrist. Veins surfaced across the back of his hand and ran to his fingertips.

At the same time, his breathing followed his movements and Force Generation, sometimes short and sharp, sometimes long and drawn out.

His heart naturally beat in time with his breathing. His waist, hips, and arm muscles began trembling as well.

This was the fourth realm of The Stars Are Calling: mastering Muscle Rhythm.

Li Qingshan felt neither surprise nor delight.

The instant the technique had leveled up, all of this had already become instinct.

After unhurriedly finishing the first movement, Li Qingshan continued on to the next...

An hour later, all 108 movements had been completed.

Li Qingshan was soaked through with sweat, white vapor rising from his body, and a smile unconsciously curled his lips.

It was the same Body Forging training session,

but after reaching Great Accomplishment, he could clearly feel that his body was growing stronger much faster.

However, the smile did not last long before a familiar hunger suddenly struck.

"What's going on? How could the Nutrient Solution digest so quickly?"

Li Qingshan's expression changed, and he had no time to think further.

He strode to the table in the corner, took out another bottle of Nutrient Solution, and drank it.

A moment later, the hunger eased somewhat. Li Qingshan's gaze turned deep as he figured out the reason.

The good news was that The Stars Are Calling had reached Great Accomplishment, and its training efficiency had indeed doubled.

The bad news was that one bottle of Nutrient Solution could only support one round of Body Forging, making the consumption four times greater.

"No, even if I drink four bottles in a row, I probably still won't be able to complete four Body Forging sessions."

Li Qingshan frowned, recalling the Nutrient Solution instructions.

If several bottles were consumed within a short period, the body itself would develop resistance and would be unable to absorb them completely.

But the solution was simple, and the instructions mentioned it as well.

"Intermediate Nutrient Solution, 8,000 per bottle."

"Martial arts really is a bottomless pit! I just hope the Patrol Bureau's reward reaches me soon!" Li Qingshan sighed helplessly.

Still, when he thought that switching to Intermediate Nutrient Solution might support four, or even five, training sessions, he found a little comfort.

Glancing at the remaining bottles of Nutrient Solution, Li Qingshan shook his head and gave up on continuing his Body Forging.

After washing up briefly, he went straight back to bed.

"Wait, I nearly forgot!"

Li Qingshan suddenly flipped himself upright, walked into the living room, picked up the Thunder Pattern Blade, and returned to the bedroom.

He gripped the hilt tightly, drew the long blade, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the familiar circular platform entered his sight.

Holding his blade, Li Qingshan turned and looked at the one person and three beasts a hundred meters away, unsurprised.

"Just as expected!"

Just like Wolf Poison back then, Monster Projections were directly deployed the first time they were recorded.

But this time, Li Qingshan had not taken any shortcuts. All four monsters had been killed head-on by him.

"If I can kill you once, then naturally I can kill you countless times!"

Li Qingshan raised his long blade high and charged forward.

The three Fierce Beasts opposite him snarled and roared, leaping into a charge.

The human figure followed close behind, not much slower than them.

The hundred-meter distance vanished in the blink of an eye. Li Qingshan clashed with one person and three beasts in a tangled melee.

All four monsters possessed physical attributes comparable to the Body Tempering fifth level. Li Qingshan did not dare relax in the slightest, constantly shifting his steps and pushing his Great Accomplishment Mizong Step nearly to its limit.

Even so, danger lurked at every turn, and several times he nearly met his end in beastly jaws.

"No. Even if my stamina is unlimited, if this drags on, something will happen sooner or later."

After dodging another snapping maw, Li Qingshan frowned.

With the four monsters working together, all he could do was evade. The long blade in his hand had no room to show its might at all.

"I'll gamble on it."

A fierce glint flashed through Li Qingshan's eyes. He took a step and circled behind one Fierce Beast.

Another Fierce Beast on his left immediately reacted, swiping its claws toward him.

Li Qingshan neither dodged nor retreated. He gripped the long blade in reverse and slashed upward.

Squelch!

With only one strike, the Fierce Beast's waist and abdomen split open, and its organs spilled out.

"So sharp?"

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the claws from the left slammed into his arm, sending Li Qingshan flying.

"Cough, cough!"

Blood stained the corner of Li Qingshan's mouth. He quickly scrambled up, stepped with Mizong Step, and dodged the attacks that came one after another.

Excruciating pain surged through his left arm as it dangled limply at his side. Even the bones inside had been shattered by that blow.

Yet Li Qingshan's lips curled, pulling into a ruthless smile.

"Worth it!"

Compared to being "devoured by wolves" more than ten thousand times before, this bit of pain was nothing at all.

Thanks to the Thunder Pattern Blade's sharpness, trading one arm for one Fierce Beast had already far exceeded his expectations.

With one Fierce Beast gone, many gaps appeared in the coordinated attacks of the three remaining monsters.

While dodging, Li Qingshan also found chances to swing his blade in retaliation.

Very soon, the other two Fierce Beasts lost their heads one after another.

Only then did Li Qingshan finally have the chance to carefully examine the human figure before him.

You Qingya still wore the clothes she had died in, but her golden hair had turned black, and her appearance had reverted to how she had looked when they first met in the bar.

"So this is your true face?"

Li Qingshan did not rush to attack. As he weaved and shifted about, he carefully observed You Qingya's expression.

Wolf Poison had merely been a low-level Fierce Beast before, knowing only slaughter and possessing no intelligence, so there had been no way to judge.

Now, he wanted to see whether the Martial Arts Space preserved the consciousness of the monsters it recorded.

But clearly, he had overthought it.

You Qingya's expression did not change in the slightest.

Or rather, no expression had ever appeared on her wooden face.

Like a puppet, she possessed only the instinct to kill.

"What a pity."

Li Qingshan shook his head in disappointment and dodged another attack.

The You Qingya before him had no consciousness, yet her strength was actually greater than that of the real her.

Though she did not understand Martial Techniques, she fully displayed the speed and strength of the Body Tempering fifth level.

After her attacks were dodged repeatedly, You Qingya's movements grew increasingly fierce.

As she moved with broad, sweeping motions, her clothes trembled.

Li Qingshan's gaze habitually swept over her like a mine detector. A bold thought had only just surfaced when he cut it down.

"People can't, or at least they shouldn't!"

Li Qingshan's face turned cold. He no longer held back, and blade light turned into shadows.

In an instant, chunks of flesh flew through the air, and blood splashed across the ground.