Chapter 41

The entire testing process, from start to finish, took less than forty minutes.

As the instrument's oscillating hum gradually weakened, the cantilever rotated, and the chamber opened.

Qin Shi leaped out from within, let out a long breath, and nimbly put on his short-sleeved shirt and long pants.

"Sure enough, just as I thought — the growth progress displayed on the panel, as well as the precise data fed back, is exactly my own life force level."

Fifteen points!

Approaching the passing line for Amateur Eighth Rank!

Qin Shi closed his palm, loosely clenching his fist.

Hidden beneath the skin, within the flesh and blood, the large tendons lay coiled like flood dragons, brimming with vigorous power.

He clearly felt that the new life stage of Tendon Gate Breaking Limit had not completely ended.

It was merely that, lacking sufficient energy to fill this mortal body, it had temporarily fallen into a "Dormant State".

"Just like an ordinary person who hasn't trained, needing to awaken the body and activate the muscle groups through stretching exercises."

Qin Shi's eyes revealed a look of longing; he thought of the high-energy food that only elite class students could afford.

"Nutrient paste still falls a bit short — it can only provide satiety, guarantee you won't be hungry."

Those elite class classmates consume at most around two hundred fifty grams of high-energy food per day.

For myself, relying on the 【Overgrowth】 Achievement Trait, I can stuff myself silly every day.

And then push my life force up another two or three points!

"The rich have the rich's cultivation methods, the poor dog has the poor dog's cultivation methods."

Qin Shi gathered his scattered thoughts; as long as he continued to solidify his Old Martial Arts foundation, charging toward the Seven Great Limits of the Flesh.

Sooner or later he would catch up to the progress of the elite class top students!

"Assistant Teacher Qin, do you feel unwell anywhere?"

Lin Yunqing asked with concern.

At this moment, in her eyes, Qin Shi was a walking mineral vein of extraordinary value — absolutely not allowed to have the slightest mishap.

If Elder Brother Lin Xiaohan hadn't teased her, the "Spirituality" and "Vitality" of the Mortal Body would be extremely difficult to possess both.

Whichever is a bit more, the other must be a bit less.

An Old Martial Genius like Assistant Teacher Qin, who cultivates both body and spirit, might well become the next He Lanchan.

Even if not as good as the First Generation Ten Greats, the Youth Stone Buddha, relying on marketing and packaging, would still be enough to be sought after and loved by the masses.

"In any case, he won't be inferior to Yu Li Xun. This kid, just by the reputation of being Lian Yixing's Jinmen Dizi, can become the Star Cup Rookie King! Tens of millions in prize money every year, hundreds of millions in endorsements! Crazy money-making!"

Lin Yunqing secretly pondered; Qin Shi had far too many "shining points" that could be plucked out.

Humble origins, outstanding looks, and moreover an Old Martial Talent who cultivates both spirit and flesh, a peerless monster possessing qualifications for multiple paths — Martial Artist, Mechanic, Esper, and so on!

"Feeling great, no problems at all."

Qin Shi silently crossed off the debt this dog woman tried to force him to take the blame for at the Youth Palace.

"Haven't thanked Teacher Lin yet for helping with the test — really troubled you."

A comprehensive life force detection, placed in a high-end cultivation hall or large medical center, would absolutely not cost less than a thousand yuan.

For Qin Shi, who adheres to the principle that saving money is picking up money, this was undoubtedly a huge profit!

"Not trouble, not trouble! We're all colleagues, helping each other is only right and proper!"

Lin Yunqing's mouth corners were harder to press down than an AK; she pushed them down and they sprang up again, smiling incomparably radiantly.

She touched her swollen eye sockets, thinking this punch was worth taking!

Let her pick up Assistant Teacher Qin, this Old Martial Genius!

"Assistant Teacher Qin, I see the hour is not early……"

Lin Yunqing hinted like crazy.

The dog woman got beaten and is still this happy?

Could she have awakened some special kink?

Looking at Teacher Lin touching her face with a self-satisfied look, Qin Shi was puzzled.

He very tactfully took up the conversation:

"Yeah, it's pretty late. Teacher Lin, I should head back……"

Lin Yunqing ruthlessly interrupted, leaning in close:

"I'm saying, why not just stay here.

Although I can't cook, there's still some canned food at home, can make do with a meal, cope for one night.

A boy like you taking a car home this late, how unsafe."

Qin Shi subconsciously retreated half a step, avoiding Lin Yunqing's continuously magnifying exquisite face, thinking:

"How does it feel more dangerous staying here! Could this dog woman be coveting my body? Lost in fists and feet, so she wants to win back face elsewhere?"

If, before the life force detection, Lin Yunqing's attitude toward him was curiosity and appreciation.

Then now it had turned into a kind of excessive eagerness and attentiveness.

Like a number one simp who checks in with good morning and good night every day, asking the goddess if she wants milk tea!

This made Qin Shi involuntarily add the label "Masochistic Nympho" before the two labels "Tai'an Rich Sister" and "Dog Woman".

"No way."

He wore a professional smile on his face, politely declining.

What joke — later he still has to go to Midnight Palace for his part-time waiter job!

How could he let a guaranteed two to three hundred in tips go to waste, and eat at your place instead?

Woman?

Heh.

It'll only slow down my work!

"You've been busy all day; you should at least fill your stomach."

Lin Yunqing knew Qin Shi was immune to beauty; seeing that her attempt to keep him was futile, she settled for second best:

"I'll open a few High-Energy Food Cans launched by United Group. After you eat, I'll drive you home."

High-Energy Food?

Qin Shi's movement to pull away paused, like a student being forced by an elder with red envelopes during the New Year:

"Mm, Teacher Lin makes sense. Actually, I don't have anything urgent.

Since I'm here, I might as well try some."

……

……

The Tube Building behind Zi Fu No. 9 Middle School was the teacher and staff dormitory assigned back then.

Most have since moved out, relocating to Family Quarters with more space and heating equipment installed.

This place was left to decay; from the outside, only a few scattered lamps flickered, unable to illuminate the thick night.

Lao Liang as usual, carrying a wine bottle more than half drunk in his hand, the words "North Warehouse" faintly visible through his palm.

He held onto the staircase, slowly shifting his body upward.

The corridor on the fifth floor was pitch black, connecting several single rooms.

The cool night wind blew, the clotheslines with hanging clothes swaying left and right; at first glance, they carried the eerie atmosphere of an old horror movie.

Lao Liang took out a flattened Li Min Cigarette Box, pulled out the last cigarette, held it in his mouth with his head lowered, but did not light it.

"I thought that with your cowardly nature, you wouldn't dare see me again in this lifetime."

He spoke toward the man hidden in the shadows at the end of the corridor.

"Teacher, I'm sorry."

Cheng Ze walked forward a few steps, but then stopped.

This man who held sway over Beiguan Street was like a student who had made a mistake, awkward and nervous.

"Sorry? Haha, hahaha, how many years have passed, Cheng Ze, why are you still that cowardly appearance?"

Lao Liang took the cigarette from his mouth, those eyes staring at Cheng Ze standing in the dark place, laughing incessantly:

"How have you wronged me? You studied at Zi Fu No. 9 Middle School, had a good physique and high talent, so I was willing to teach you a few outdated tricks.

You paid tuition, I taught skills; it was originally a business. You took the wrong path later, hanging out with a bunch of hoodlums, got expelled for fighting, and that has nothing to do with me, this Physical Education Teacher."

Cheng Ze hung his head, his shoulders trembling slightly, no longer possessing a shred of the fierce aura that usually made people dare not provoke him.

"You haven't wronged me. Between you and me, it's nothing more than a once-glorious cripple taking in a poor student of similar background, delusionally trying to cultivate a sapling into timber."

"Who you wronged are the parents who gave birth to and raised you; one drove a truck to transport goods, the other set up a stall early in the morning to support your schooling."

"As a result, you relied on your hard fists, followed so-called hoodlum brothers to fight and injure people, and lost several thousand yuan in medical expenses."

Lao Liang's face tightened, like cold hard pig iron:

"You were detained, and you didn't see your parents kneeling and kowtowing to beg for mercy. During your hospitalization, you went every day to empty chamber pots and deliver food and meals, just to save the cost of hiring a nurse."

"You also don't know that your parents smiled obsequiously with the principal, carrying mountain goods and waiting on the roads where teachers went home, wanting to give gifts, hoping the school wouldn't expel you."

"Cheng Ze, your father was a foreman at a quarry, tall and strong with great strength. But for you, he knelt at the door of the principal's office, straightened the spine he had held up for a lifetime, and let his own son break it with his own hands."

Cheng Ze's eyes turned red, his mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't squeeze out half a word.

"Beat down a whole street, boldness brings wealth! Brother Ze of Beiguan Street, how imposing!"

"You ran boats with relatives, boxed for bosses, caused lawsuits over deaths, and did hard labor in prison... When the scum of Old Factory Street mention these, who doesn't give a thumbs up! Praising Brother Ze for being righteous and loyal and brave!"

Lao Liang carried the wine, held the cigarette, his gaze like a sharp knife gouging flesh:

"Your old man, to support the family, went to drive long-distance, going days and nights without sleep, and the big truck overturned in a ditch in Wu City."

"You sat in prison for several years; your old mother set up a stall early in the morning, selling fried dough sticks and buns during the day, pasting paper boxes at the factory at night, coughing up blood in the freezing cold, unwilling to buy medicine, taking the passenger bus every month to visit you, bringing you things to wear and eat."

"Brother Ze, I heard you watch the scene at Midnight Palace, spending several thousand on wine in one night."

"If your parents have spirits in heaven, seeing you so successful, they could probably rest in peace!"

Lao Liang's gaze was like burning coals, scorching Cheng Ze so he dared not meet it.

After a long while, he could only stammer:

"Teacher, wanting to get ahead born here, I have no other path to take."

This sentence slipped out subconsciously; Cheng Ze seemed to catch his surging thoughts again, his tone urgent:

"I've been to Yincheng, been to Zhou City, and it's not like that! Do you know, Teacher, the Sun family next door, his hand was burned bad by the boiler, couldn't be cured so it was cut off; he wanted to beg for food, went to carry coal, and ended up crushed to death!"

"My dad was laid off; every day he went to the street holding a sign, making me help write words! Clean up! Wipe glass! Paint!"

"Auntie Xu next door got sick; her daughter went to a hair salon, was gossiped about, and committed suicide by poison on New Year's Eve!"

"I personally saw the stretcher covered with white cloth, the person being carried onto the car... Teacher, the rich people in the Urban Circle, if they break hands or feet, can go to Center City for treatment and get prosthetics."

"They use touchscreen mobile phones, computers can connect to the internet, the streets have cinemas, inside they sell soda and popcorn..."

Cheng Ze bit his cheeks tight, a bit of light returned to his eyes, looking straight at Lao Liang:

"I want to live that kind of life too! I don't want to struggle in the mud of Old Factory Street anymore! Those years, I didn't just box for the boss, I also collected debts for him."

"I burned other people's houses, broke the hands and feet of those who defaulted on debts; those who couldn't pay, I beat them into cement lumps... When you taught me boxing, you told me, the scum of Old Factory Street are like wild dogs, hoping to be house dogs gnawing bones."

"But to be kept, you have to know how to bite; the harder you bite, the more loyal, the more the master likes it."

Lao Liang sighed softly, his tightened face relaxing:

"That's the logic of you being a dog; no need to tell me, this dead cripple."

"I'd rather live a bit harder, at least able to stand straight for a while."

Cheng Ze retreated into the pitch-black shadows, turned his head, and did not look at the lame man who had taught him how to hug the frame and stand post.

He changed the subject:

"Teacher. I've seen A Shi; he's much stronger than me."

Lao Liang nodded, as if he understood what Cheng Ze meant:

"He studies seriously, gets into a school in the Urban Circle, works part-time jobs to save money, and attends my tutoring class. He learned the fighting techniques but has no thought of competing on the stage... Even as a child, he was not only stronger than you, but stronger than me."

"When I was learning my art, Master Uncle told me that people of the old martial arts have strong tempers, like carrying a sharp weapon in their chest; they draw it at the slightest provocation and insist on drawing blood."

"This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I couldn't control myself, so I ended up with a lame leg; you couldn't endure it, so you became a dog."

Cheng Ze grunted in acknowledgment and did not argue:

"A while back, when I returned to Old Factory Street, I kept wanting to see you, Teacher."

"Over these years, I've run boats, fought, gone to prison, and been released. I'm not as impressive as others say, and I've had miserable times when enemies chased me down several streets with knives."

"I'm afraid of nothing, only that I might die far from home with no one to help bury me."

Lao Liang rubbed the tobacco shreds with his finger pads and lightly sniffed them at the tip of his nose:

"Don't worry. I ate plenty of your mother's free breakfasts back then. If that day really comes, I'll take your ash box to Changshan Cemetery."

Cheng Ze laughed silently:

"Thank you, Teacher. I know you look down on me. I don't want to suffer hardship and poverty, and I'm not a scoundrel looking for a reason to bite people."

"But if I had to do it all again, I think I'd still take this path, at most changing the method, so my parents can have a few good days."

"Stepping in the mud pit, wanting to get ashore and wash myself clean—it's too hard."

Lao Liang said nothing.

Cheng Ze retreated to the stairs on the other side:

"Big Boss's son is preparing to take over the redevelopment project of Old Factory Street. Turning Zi Fu No. 9 Middle School into a sports school was also his idea."

"Hao Ge is a domineering man. Teacher, you can endure if you can; don't start a conflict. He might not give me face."

Lao Liang mocked himself:

"I'm a cripple; who can I fight? If he wants this school, let him take it. The Yincheng Qin Family covers the sky with one hand and is famous far and wide. I've heard of them and know I can't afford to offend them."

Cheng Ze nodded:

"Hao Ge has big plans. Building a sports school to train thugs, and on the side doing transportation business. He plans to swallow up the entire factory area in Dangyang East Suburbs."

Lao Liang sneered:

"Not satisfied being the local emperor of Yincheng, he stretches his hand so far, wanting a share of the Urban Circle's cake? They all say 'Chen Lin Bantiantianxia, Qin Zheng Full Street.' Yincheng Qin, Zhou City Zheng—both are suppressed by Chen and Lin. With such a big appetite, be careful not to chip your teeth!"

Cheng Ze lit a cigarette and smoked it silently.

He bowed to Lao Liang, turned, and left.

"Teacher, goodbye."

Lao Liang's voice passed through the corridor and landed at that end:

"If you can retreat, then retreat, Brother A Ze. I heard Master Uncle say that in ancient times, wealthy households kept dogs to guard the house; when they were old and useless, they should be slaughtered and divided for meat."

Cheng Ze did not stop, nor did he look back.

A moment later, he got into the sedan waiting downstairs, and the headlights pierced the front.

"Where did this high-beam dog come from!"

Glancing back at the speeding sedan, Qin Shi, carrying a bag, muttered softly, then walked toward the Teacher's Dormitory.

Thump thump thump—several steps at a time, he flew up the stairs.

"Master Liang! My Qi Life Force has increased again!"

Lao Liang finally held back and did not light that Li Min.

Looking at Qin Shi, who had come running here late at night, a genuine smile appeared on his face:

"Come inside to talk."

(Chapter End)