Chapter 29: Yang Lei

“Boom!”

“Splash splash~~”

The sky over Tianhai City was shrouded in dark clouds, pouring rain cascading endlessly.

Lightning like silver snakes slashed across the heavens, wild and unrestrained.

“Drip~”

Lin Qi closed his umbrella; raindrops fell to the ground as he stepped onto the third floor of Building 4, damp with moisture.

“Click~”

He opened the door; a strong smell of alcohol hit him in the living room.

Lin Qi looked closely and saw a familiar figure.

“Uncle, what are you doing here?”

The dining table was piled high with food, and beneath it lay a stack of empty liquor bottles.

Besides his parents, there was another person—tall, well-proportioned, in his thirties, handsome.

Dressed in a black suit.

He was Fang Huiyi’s elder brother, Lin Qi’s uncle—Fang Zhe.

Compared to his burly father Lin Zhen, Uncle Fang Zhe carried more of a scholarly air.

“Xiao Qi, you’re back!”

Fang Zhe set down his bottle, face flushed, smiling as he sat on the sofa.

“Congratulations on making it into the Elite Class. This is a gift for you.”

Fang Zhe stood up and handed over a box:

“It’s a stimulant serum. You’re in your final year of high school, studying nonstop—your mental exhaustion is too great for just a few cups of coffee to fix.”

Lin Qi saw three vials of stimulant serum inside the box—worth 3,000 Xia Nation credits.

“Uncle, this is too valuable.”

“Thank you, Uncle!” Lin Qi didn’t refuse—he knew his uncle’s nature.

If he turned it down, the man might truly take it back.

“Xiao Qi, sit down too. We want to hear your opinion,” Lin Zhen said.

Fang Zhe’s expression turned serious.

“Xiao Qi, besides coming to see your mom, I have another matter.”

“I plan to go to Coastal Base No. 1 as a butchering specialist. Coastal area hasn’t been calm lately—disaster beasts keep descending through space gates.”

“I’ll serve as a butchering specialist for a while—the pay is excellent. Also, I want your father to come with me.”

Lin Qi fell into thought.

Disaster beasts invaded Blue Star—vast in number, their corpses enormous. Due to their hardened bones, mechanical cutting was too slow.

Thus, the profession of butchering specialist emerged—warriors trained in blade techniques who used superior swordsmanship to dissect disaster beast corpses in the shortest time, greatly increasing efficiency.

Every butchering specialist earned a generous salary.

Especially when space gates opened and disaster beast swarms erupted, butchering specialists became a critical shortage.

Some warriors short on money took up the job as a side gig.

Though the pay was high, the work was filthy, exhausting, dangerous, prone to various infections—many ended up spending all their earnings on medical bills.

Unless they were desperate for money, few warriors chose to do it.

Lin Qi understood why Fang Zhe was taking the job—his cousin Fang Lin would enter her final year of high school next year and needed funds to buy resources to build her foundation.

His own family had borrowed heavily from them, leaving their savings depleted.

He felt a pang of guilt.

“Xiao Qi, your father won’t be in danger—he’s recovered well now and doesn’t need care,” his mother Fang Huiyi spoke up.

All three looked at Lin Qi, seeking his opinion.

“I have no objections!” Lin Qi looked up and smiled.

The three finally exhaled in relief.

“When are you leaving?” Lin Qi suddenly asked.

“The day after tomorrow!” Uncle Fang Zhe said.

…

A few minutes later, Uncle Fang Zhe took his leave.

Lin Qi returned to his room. Though still mentally exhausted, he didn’t forget his standing training.

He swallowed a few Qi-Blood capsules, assumed the correct posture, and began Standing the Round Post.

In moments, his face flushed, sweat poured down.

Lin Qi lifted his spine, rounded his shoulders, let his elbows hang, kept his crown light and suspended…

His body trembled slightly, Qi-Blood surged through him, hammering every muscle.

Lin Qi felt an invisible pressure.

“Becoming a butchering specialist isn’t dangerous, but it’s exhausting. Dad’s health issues are worsening—this will be a huge test for him.”

Lin Qi didn’t want his father to suffer so much.

But he knew his father took the job not just for extra money, but to repay the debt to Uncle Fang Zhe’s family as quickly as possible.

It was all because of money!

“I need to become stronger, earn more money.”

“The second-tier student loan, the 500,000 credit reward from the Star Rank event—I must secure both.”

Lin Qi gritted his teeth; sudden strength surged through his body, Qi-Blood exploded, flooding every part of him.

【Through “Round Post” training, your Qi-Blood has broken through. Qi-Blood +0.2】

【Qi-Blood: 6.7 → 6.9】

…

“Not enough. I need to break through faster.”

Lin Qi clenched his fist and shook his head—unsatisfied with his pace of improvement.

But the next second, intense fatigue surged over him. “Mental exhaustion is too great. Even the stimulant serum can’t fully restore me.”

Lin Qi shook his head.

…

In the living room, Lin Zhen and Fang Huiyi cleaned the table.

Fang Huiyi whispered anxiously: “Going to the war base isn’t dangerous…”

“But the environment is harsh—some disaster beast organs and blood accumulate and become corrosive, along with various toxic fluids.”

“You must be careful. Don’t wear yourself out.”

Lin Zhen nodded and smiled: “Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

“I’ll only take this side job for a while, then come back.”

“Mm,” Fang Huiyi nodded.

!

…

Two days later, Lin Qi’s father Lin Zhen and uncle Fang Zhe departed for Coastal Base No. 1.

Lin Qi followed his routine: attending classes, training.

That evening, after class, the Elite Class…

“Kang Feiyue, after class, come to the Martial Arts Room—we’ll settle this one-on-one. Dare you?”

“Who’s afraid? Don’t show up and you’re a coward!” Kang Feiyue shouted back.

Two classmates in the class had challenged each other.

“Qi-ge, Kang Feiyue’s from our old Class 3—we should go support him. After evening study, head to the Martial Arts Room together?”

Jiang Tao asked. Lin Qi nodded.

Lin Qi was used to such challenges—everyone trained in martial arts, full of energy, and practiced weapons.

All were geniuses, none willing to yield—so challenges arose.

“Ding ding ding~”

Evening study ended; a crowd surged toward the Martial Arts Room.

Zhang Cheng stood inside already, grinning:

“I heard there’s a challenge—I’ll serve as referee.”

Quickly, the two challengers donned weapons and faced off in the Martial Arts Room.

“Rules: the match ends when either side concedes, or when I declare it.”

“No attacks on vital points.”

“Begin!”

Zhang Cheng raised his right arm to announce.

Kang Feiyue and his opponent immediately clashed, weapons striking swiftly across the arena.

Lin Qi watched from the crowd, his mind racing—imagining how he would respond if he were in their place.

The two combatants ranked 22nd and 18th in the grade—extremely close.

Lin Qi silently compared his spear technique realm with others’, who had no interface like him to quantify and precisely measure every bit of progress.

He could be certain that, in spear technique, his gap with this group of geniuses had narrowed infinitely.

Not far away, Yang Lei was also watching the duel, his gaze flickering, as if plotting something.

A few minutes later

“Bang~”

“I won!”

As his opponent fell to the ground, Kang Feiyue swung his battle knife against the man’s neck and declared the match over, his expression ecstatic.

“Kang Feiyue wins!” Zhang Cheng announced loudly.

The crowd erupted in cheers.

“Not enough—let’s have another round,” someone suggested.

“Anyone else want to challenge?” Zhang Cheng asked.

“Me!”

From the crowd, Yang Lei raised his hand and stepped forward.

“Who are you challenging?” Zhang Cheng asked.

“I challenge Lin Qi!”

Yang Lei pointed at Lin Qi; many began to cheer and jeer, and countless eyes turned sharply toward Lin Qi.

Lin Qi’s face was expressionless; he exchanged a glance with Jiang Tao.

“Lin Qi, do you dare accept my challenge?” Yang Lei called out louder.

Lin Qi sensed Yang Lei’s malicious intent—if he refused, it would prove he was afraid.

He had long forgotten this man, never expecting him to reappear.

Then he’d give him a harsh lesson.

“Yang Lei, I have a proposal—if you lose, you pay Lin Qi fifty thousand yuan.”

“Conversely, if Lin Qi loses, he pays you fifty thousand,” Jiang Tao suddenly said.

“Fifty thousand!”

The crowd buzzed in shock—fifty thousand yuan was no small sum.

“This…”

Yang Lei hesitated; even with his family’s modest wealth, fifty thousand yuan was substantial.

“What, are you lacking confidence? Afraid?” Lin Qi finally spoke.

His expression was stern, his gaze blazing, an invisible aura spreading outward.

Provoked, Yang Lei felt a surge of irritation and blurted out:

“Who says I’m afraid? Fifty thousand it is!”

……

(End of Chapter)