A slot earned through battle merits

The pounding on Lin Hao's bedroom door reached his ears.

But he was still exhausted, his eyelids seemingly glued shut, unable to open no matter how he tried.

The muscles throughout his body felt as though they had been crushed beneath a heavy hammer, every fiber unbearably sore and swollen.

Only when his mother's anxious voice filtered in amid the knocking did he stir.

He abruptly came to his senses, opened his eyes, and pushed himself out of bed on weak arms.

The moment his feet touched the floor, his calves trembled uncontrollably.

He struggled to the door and pulled it open.

His mother Li Xiulan's hand was still suspended in midair from knocking.

At the sight of Lin Hao's haggard appearance, Li Xiulan's brows knotted together.

She reached out and pressed her hand to his forehead.

Fortunately, he wasn't feverish.

She withdrew her hand, still frowning. "Why are you so pale? Even your eyes are sunken. Did you hurt yourself training last night? Don't go to school today. I'll call your teacher and ask for leave. Rest at home for a day."

Lin Hao cleared his hoarse throat and held the doorframe to steady himself.

Today's class schedule surfaced in his mind. The morning was devoted to practical combat.

The system had only just activated, and last night's mission had involved cultivating a technique.

Would a practical combat setting trigger a new mission?

He shook his head and pressed his fingertips against his throbbing temples, suppressing the surging exhaustion. "I'm fine, Mom. I just trained a little too long last night. I'll be fine after a little rest. I can't fall behind in class."

Li Xiulan wanted to keep persuading him, but seeing the determination in his eyes, she swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.

She sighed and said, "All right, then come out and eat first. We called you for ages last night, but you never came out for dinner. I made multigrain porridge and steamed meat buns for you this morning."

As Lin Hao stepped out of his bedroom, he saw that the television in the living room was on, playing the morning news.

"Recently, demonic beasts have been detected breaching the outer city's high walls and infiltrating the main urban area in mimetic forms, causing three incidents involving civilian casualties."

"The Jiang City Martial Arts General Bureau reminds residents to avoid visiting remote, deserted areas alone."

"If you encounter anything unusual, contact your local martial arts branch bureau immediately."

Lin Hao glanced at it without paying much attention.

Martial artists patrolled the city, so mimetic demonic beasts didn't dare attack openly. Overall, it was still very safe.

Lin Rongshan was sitting on the sofa. Seeing Lin Hao emerge, he turned the television volume down two notches.

He stood and walked toward the dining room with Lin Hao, saying, "Xiao Hao, don't take what your cousin said yesterday to heart. She didn't mean anything else by it."

Once Lin Hao sat down, Li Xiulan pushed a filled bowl of porridge in front of him and added, "That's right. Qingqing speaks bluntly, but she has a good heart. That security position at the East City industrial park is a special slot she secured with the second-class merit she earned at the Jiang City Martial Arts Bureau last year. It's very hard to come by."

Lin Hao's hand paused as he picked up his chopsticks.

He had only known the slot was hard to come by. He hadn't expected his cousin to have exchanged her second-class merit for it.

Second-class merit could only potentially be earned by fighting demonic beasts to the death. The dangers behind it were plain to see.

He forced a smile and said, "I know she means well. I'm not upset. I was just so absorbed in cultivating in my room last night that I didn't hear you calling me for dinner."

He didn't mention the system. It was too unbelievable; even if he told his parents, they probably wouldn't believe him.

It would be better to wait until the martial artist entrance examination results came out. Then his parents would understand his strength.

Hearing Lin Hao say this, Lin Rongshan and his wife exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

But the worry in their eyes didn't fade.

In their view, the boy had simply been provoked so badly that he had cultivated all night without eating or sleeping.

Lin Hao didn't notice the change in his parents' expressions, because he was truly hungry now.

This hunger wasn't the ordinary empty-stomach feeling of missing a meal.

It was a hollowness rising from the gaps between his bones and the depths of his meridians, like a riverbed drained dry, urgently needing something to fill it.

He grabbed a meat bun and stuffed it into his mouth, swallowing the thin-skinned, generously filled bun in two bites.

He drank bowl after bowl of multigrain porridge, his cheeks bulging, not even having time to properly savor what he chewed.

Seeing such a healthy appetite, Lin Rongshan and his wife felt considerably reassured.

Smiling, Li Xiulan refilled her son's porridge. "Slow down. Nobody's going to take it from you. You must be starving, right? I told you before, you can't skip dinner even when you're cultivating."

Lin Rongshan also pushed the remaining meat buns on the plate in front of his son. "There are more in the pot. There's plenty, so take your time."

But as the couple smiled, their expressions gradually changed.

Six large meat buns, four bowls of multigrain porridge, and nearly half a small plate of pickled vegetables all went into Lin Hao's stomach.

His belly was already visibly bulging, stretching his waistband tight.

Yet his chopsticks never stopped, and he kept stuffing food into his mouth.

"Xiao Hao, why don't you stop eating for now?" Li Xiulan held her son's hand down and pulled the plate back a little. "You'll hurt your stomach eating like this!"

Lin Rongshan added worriedly, "That's right. This is too much for breakfast. When you get home tonight, I'll have your mom make you more of your favorite dishes."

Only then did Lin Hao come to his senses and put down his chopsticks.

His stomach was already painfully distended.

But the hunger seeping out from his meridians hadn't diminished in the slightest.

He knew this was a deficit caused by his body failing to keep up with the increase in his qi and blood. Ordinary food couldn't make up for it at all. He needed energy-rich medicinal supplements.

But medicinal supplements were expensive, and he didn't want to put his parents in a difficult position.

He picked up the glass on the table, took a sip of water, and smiled. "Dad, Mom, I'm fine. Maybe I just trained too hard last night and got a little too hungry. It's about time. I'm heading to school."

With that, he got up, went to the living room, grabbed his schoolbag from the sofa, and left.

The sports field at No. 2 Middle School, Jiang City.

Quite a few students were already standing on the field.

With only a month left until the martial artist entrance examination, every class for the third-year martial artist students revolved around the exam.

All four morning periods for the martial artist class were practical combat lessons.

As Lin Hao entered the field, Jiang Chao rushed over and slung an arm straight over his shoulders.

"Not bad, Haozi! You really kept that under wraps!"

Grinning, Jiang Chao said, "No wonder you turned me down when I asked you to join my family's trading company and offered to set you up with an easy job. Turns out you found somewhere better. The security team at the East City High-Tech Industrial Park, an official staffing position with a qi and blood allowance. Awesome!"

Lin Hao froze for a moment. "How did you know? Isn't it still being processed?"

"What processing? The hiring notice is already up on the industrial park's official website. Your name's right there!"

Jiang Chao patted Lin Hao's shoulder. "Most of my family's building-materials company's factories are in that industrial park. How could I not know? It's not just me now. Quite a few people in class know too."

Hearing this, Lin Hao still couldn't shake his confusion.

Just as he was puzzling over it, a cold scoff came from nearby.

It was Bai Cheng. He looked at Lin Hao and Jiang Chao with undisguised contempt.

"A slot you got through family connections and the back door-is that really worth showing off?

A martial artist's path is fought out, punch by punch and kick by kick, not paved with your family's filthy money and connections.

Underhanded shortcuts like that only earn people's contempt."

Several of his close classmates beside him also cast hostile looks their way.

Jiang Chao's expression darkened at once, and he moved to charge forward. "Are you fucking sick in the head? The two of us are talking. What the hell does it have to do with you?"