Inside the hotel.
"How will you compensate me?"
Luo Feng's voice was still icy.
Lin Mo's consciousness seemed to ripple, as though he had reached a decision.
His tone grew a little peculiar, as if to say, Kid, you've hit the jackpot.
"Considering that your temperament is decent, and that you remained steadfast through this ordeal without falling apart completely..."
"I, Star Sea King, will make an exception today."
"I shall reluctantly accept you as my personal disciple."
Take him as a disciple?
Luo Feng froze.
He had imagined that the other party might offer him some cultivation techniques or guidance.
Perhaps even some cosmic resources whose uses he didn't know as compensation.
But never in his wildest dreams had he expected to be taken as a disciple.
Take as his teacher this ghost of unknown origins, whose mouth was full of lies and who had nearly destroyed his family?
What kind of cosmic joke was this?!
"Take you as my teacher?"
Luo Feng almost forced the words out through gritted teeth, his face full of disbelief and resistance.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Even if I have to spend the rest of my life as an ordinary person, hauling bricks at a construction site to support my family..."
"I'll never take as my teacher someone who nearly killed me and still plays tricks and pretends to be a ghost!"
His rejection was swift and decisive, every word ringing with finality.
Deep in his consciousness, Lin Mo seemed to sigh again, this time with even more resignation.
This little fellow has quite a stubborn temper.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Lin Mo's voice suddenly grew distant and calm, as though he were merely stating a simple fact.
"It seems you really don't want to regain your strength."
"You don't want to have the power to protect your family again."
"You don't want to stand above the so-called Wargods of this planet, or even those Beyond War God."
"After all, in your current state, you'll lose your status as a martial artist in a month."
"Then you'll live an unremarkable life, running yourself ragged for three meals a day."
Every word was like a surgeon's scalpel, precisely stripping away Luo Feng's shell of anger.
They stabbed straight into the deepest part of his heart, where his greatest fear and longing lay.
Regain his strength? Become a martial artist again?
Stand at the pinnacle of this planet?
Luo Feng's breath caught, his anger extinguished as though doused with ice water.
In its place came a complicated mix of disbelief, wild joy, and one last trace of wariness.
"What did you say?"
His voice was a little hoarse.
"You have a way to restore me? And make me even stronger?"
Wargod and Beyond War God were already legendary existences to him.
"Turning an ordinary person into someone at the Apprentice Level, or even the Planetary Level..."
"Is effortless for me."
Lin Mo's voice was matter-of-fact, as though he were talking about something as simple as eating or drinking.
His calm tone, however, held incomparable confidence and pride.
Luo Feng's heart began pounding fiercely, despite himself.
Three months of despair, fear of the future, and guilt toward his family.
His longing for strength-all those emotions intertwined and boiled over at that moment!
Gamble! I have to gamble!
This was his only hope! The only straw he could grasp that might change his fate!
"Do you mean that?"
Luo Feng's voice trembled as he stared fixedly ahead.
"I, Star Sea King, always keep my word."
Lin Mo's consciousness conveyed an unquestionable authority.
Silence.
For about three seconds.
The struggle, anger, and doubt in Luo Feng's eyes finally turned into the resolve to burn his boats!
"Thud!"
The dull sound rang especially clearly in the silent room.
Luo Feng dropped heavily to both knees on the cold floor.
Without the slightest hesitation, he touched his forehead to the ground with a dull thump.
When he raised his head again, his face was solemn, his eyes blazing, and his voice clear and firm:
"Your disciple Luo Feng pays his respects, Teacher!"
"Please, Teacher, help me regain my strength!"
As his words fell, a breeze seemed to brush through the room.
Lin Mo's ancient and boundless consciousness seemed to send out the faintest ripple of satisfaction.
Luo Feng took a deep breath and rose from the cold floor.
He brushed nonexistent dust from his pants, his gaze growing sharp and focused again.
He looked toward the empty space, as though an invisible teacher really stood there.
"Teacher."
He spoke, his voice once again as steady as usual, though slightly taut, betraying his eagerness.
"What should I do next?"
Deep in his consciousness, Lin Mo's consciousness rippled slightly.
Though only a wisp of his remnant soul remained, weak as it was, it was just as he had said: a starved camel was still bigger than a horse.
Even a billionth part of the essence of an Invincible King expert remained.
His perspective, knowledge, and understanding of energy and the essence of life...
Were far beyond anything any being on this planet of elementary civilization could match.
He did not immediately answer Luo Feng's question about what he should do.
Instead, he carefully swept his senses over Luo Feng's entire body once more, going deeper and examining him more closely this time.
Like the most precise scanner, his senses passed through flesh and bone, reaching the very source of life.
A moment later, Lin Mo's cold, objective voice rang out, devoid of the slightest emotion.
"The root of your problem is that your bloodline, or rather, your life gene level, is far too low."
"As a result, your absorption and conversion of cosmic energy are extremely inefficient. Naturally narrow and clogged, like a stream flowing through a bed of scattered rocks."
"And my previous unconscious presence was like a boulder falling into that already feeble stream of yours."
"Not only did it block the flow, but the faint traces of aura it naturally released also drew back the meager energy you had gathered."
"This caused the stream to nearly dry up, and your strength to regress."
His words were blunt and cruel, mercilessly pointing out the mediocrity of Luo Feng's talent.
Among the countless races of the universe, the gene level of Earth Humans truly ranked near the bottom.
Luo Feng's heart sank at what he heard, but he was not discouraged. Instead, he pressed on:
"Clear my meridians? Teacher, once they're cleared, can my talent return to what it was before?"
"No, I mean, can it become better than before?"
He cared not only about recovery, but also about the future!
"Hmph."
A nearly inaudible snort came from Lin Mo's consciousness. He seemed somewhat dismissive of Luo Feng's question.
"Clearing your meridians will only lay the most basic pathways for you."
"As for how far you can go, that depends on your will, your opportunities, and my teaching."
He paused. His tone remained calm, but he tossed out a promise that nearly stopped Luo Feng's heart:
"According to this planet's crude divisions of strength..."
"Once the clearing is complete and the flow of energy in your body has been brought into preliminary order..."
"Your physical fitness should immediately reach the level of an Intermediate War General."
Intermediate War General!
Luo Feng's breathing grew heavy in an instant. His eyes widened, a light of disbelief flickering in them.
Three months ago, at his peak, he had only just crossed the threshold to becoming a martial artist!
Intermediate War General?
That was someone he had once had to look up to!
Even a veteran martial artist like Gao Feng, captain of the Fire Hammer Squad, had only reached the Intermediate War General level in strength.
His overall power remained at the Beginner Warlord level.
To leap from a cripple who was inferior even to an ordinary trainee into an Intermediate War General?
This was a myth! A miracle!