by <unknown>
The bald tattooed man said with eyes wide in surprise, “Cultivating? In this broken down place of mine, what kind of techniques can you even cultivate?”
Peng Hai lightly laughed and explained, “I can already explode my essence force into reaching the high levels of the Foundation Stage for a moment. However, my state is very unstable. In so many critical moments of battle, my power would unexpectedly fall into the mid levels of the Foundation Stage, nearly causing my death. This is because I raised my absolute power far too quickly, and so I have not yet achieved perfect control over my strength. If I want to truly stand firmly in the high levels of the Foundation Stage, if I want to assault the boundary of the Foundation Stage’s apex, then I absolutely need to thoroughly and completely resolve this problem.
The tattooed bald man muttered to himself for a moment. He nodded saying, “ You are the youngest Foundation Stage Cultivator in the Federation — there is no one like you. You advanced too quickly. Indeed, this has brought you your problem with your unstable foundation. How do you intend to solve this?”
Peng Hai laughed answering, “In order to control my body’s power, I suppress my power down to 3% every time I come visit Old Instructor’s Militant Wolf Slayers Cultivation Gym. I only bring out 3% of my strength and I do progressive overload training!”
A light bulb went off in the bald tattooed man’s head, “So it turns out you’ve been only emitting 3% of your strength? No wonder, I can’t feel even the least bit of a cultivator’s aura from your body.”
Peng Hai nodded, “I have persevered being in the 3% state of power for a month already. In this way, when I release my limits and bring forth 100% of my strength, I feel that my instantaneous explosive strength will increase by a huge margin. My control over spiritual energy will also increase quite a bit. My ultimate goal is to suppress my strength down to 1% and still be able to proceed with progressive overload training and sparring. If I can achieve this, I will definitely rush to the boundary of the peak Foundation Stage!”
He paused for a moment and laughed without worries, “My greatest weak point is my unstable spiritual energy. I don’t want other people to know this, so I can only come to Old Instructor’s gym to do training. I only trust two people within Floating Spear City, and Old Instructor is one of these people. Unfortunately, the strength of your gym members are far too weak. None can withstand three minutes of my attacks in my 3% mode, and it seems they also differ by a stretch when just comparing strength training.”
The tattooed bald man glared an eye at him, “My gym members are all diligent salaried class workers. They don’t specialize in military applications, so of course they aren’t enough for you to fight. Even if you do use just 3% of your strength, you would completely slaughter them! Needless to say, this Old Instructor will take care of it. I know you’ve been looking for a durable high-level sparring partner, so I specifically got in touch with a small famous gold medalist in my circle for him to be your sparring partner. Wait a bit for him to arrive.”
When Peng Hai heard this, he became interested, “Oh? Is he skilled?”
The bald tattooed man replied, “I contacted him through a friend and have not met him yet. Nevertheless, this person has hung out in the Underground Ghost Market crowd for quite a number of years already. He’s been at several gyms and schools as a specialized sparring partner. It’s said that his defensive and resistive strength is extremely strong, giving him the nickname of ‘Iron Turtle’. He should be able to take on three minutes of your attacks in your 3% state, right?”
A one-way transparent glass made up the entire wall of one side of the tea room. By looking out from within, one can see what was going on in the strength training room.
When these two were talking, they saw Li Yao walk inside and get smashed ferociously in the face by the sandbag as if nothing had happened.
“He’s here. What do you think, is he not good enough for you?” The bald tattooed man stood up.
Chapter 20: A Man Doing Body Exercises |
“There’s a bit of meaning. His defensive and resistive strength are considered the best in the civilian martial arts. He’s ten times better than the weak chickens of your cultivator gym.” Peng Hai also stood up and slowly moved his joints. Every bundle of muscle fiber of his was like a myriad of vipers flowing and roaming underneath his pure white jade-like skin. Spiritual Energy stirred incomparably.
“Of course! This guy’s a professional! How about you first go to the sparring room to prepare. Don’t forget to use the ‘Pattern Mask Glyph’. Don’t let other people discover your true identity,” the bald tattooed man had said to the side. He pushed open the door and walked into the strength training room.
The ripped dude who was hitting the sandbag faced the bald tattooed man and said, “Gym leader Zhao, this mister has been looking for you.”
The tattooed bald man nodded his head. He gave a gaze over to the spideresque design on Li Yao’s face and laughed saying, “You’re here. We have discussed the price quite clearly. You don’t have any problems right?”
“Everything’s good, there are no problems. Let us directly make the transaction,” said Li Yao coldly as he donned the appearance of an old experienced actor.
“Then that's good. Come with me.” The bald tattooed man led the way in front. He went through a corridor and brought Li Yao to a hundred square meter sparring room.
The atmosphere of the sparring room was more crude. Placed all around on the walls were straw mats meant for cushioning against impacts. The flooring was just a straightforward rough cement floor that had seen use for quite a while since there were bumps everywhere. Cracks could also be found chaotically all around.
The tattooed bald man took out from the corner a set of protective sparring gear, sewn from nine layers of leather, and offered it to Li Yao, indicating that he should wear it.
“We are all part of the same circle, so I don’t need to keep blabbering on. Anyways, as long as you can endure past three minutes, you will receive 10,000 credits. But if you can’t withstand three minutes, then you won’t receive even half a penny. This senior is saying, you’ve worked at quite a few martial art schools as a gold medal sparring partner. What we have here is all standard. You don’t have any problems right?”
“Three minutes? Gold medal sparring partner?” Li Yao blinked his eyes and realized that the opposing party was had mistaken his identity.
The pattern mask glyph wasn’t necessary random in nature. There was a total of over 1,300 different styles. On occasion, it was possible that two different people may receive the same design allowing for mistaken identities. This was known as being “doppelgangers”.
This owner was probably waiting for someone else, a gold medal sparring partner with a spideresque design on his face. Li Yao actually mistakenly became this person.
“I am sorry — ” Li Yao’s next intention was to explain himself, but then his thoughts suddenly stirred.
What did this bald tattooed man just say? If I can withstand 3 minutes, I can get 10,000 credits? Being a sparring partner was surprisingly this profitable?
Li Yao was a bit envious.
He struggled through life and death in the Artifact Graveyard. With painstaking effort, he could only make around 10,000 a month. Even though this time he had painfully gutted Si Jiaxue a blade and earned 100,000 credits, this type of cash cow wasn’t something that Li Yao could happen on anytime he wanted. Right in front of him was the opportunity to earn 10,000 credits just by enduring for 3 minutes. It was enough to buy a dozen more of the strengthening drugs. What was he waiting for? Just do it!
His body had just undergone a change, becoming different. His defensive and resistive strength had increased by a large margin when compared to his previous self. His top layer of skin had become a thick coarse layer of flesh!
And the gym members who would come to Cultivation Gyms of this quality were mostly at the amateur level. Maybe they just got off of work and they might need to g
o get groceries in a bit. How much strength could they possibly have?
Li Yao line of thought went like this as he looked up and gazed forward to the opposite side. He almost let out a laugh.
A man with a tall thin stature stood in the corner of the sparring room. His upper body was bare, revealing a lack of muscle. His skin seemed to be somewhat deathly pale. On this gentleman's face was also a ‘Pattern Mask Glyph’. Red and black decorative lines interweaved into the appearance of a laughing clown.
The feeling this clown gave was that this was a completely normal person, a trivial commoner. This person lacked completely the air of an expert.
Li Yao could not help but smile as he entered. This gentleman was in the middle of warming up in completely serious manner. He was doing the Federation’s most fundamental exercise, The 5th Sequence of Body Exercises!
This sequence of body exercises was developed by expert cultivators of the Federation specifically for commoners to keep in shape and to loosen their bodies. Every citizen of the Federation had started learning this since kindergarten. This absolutely was not a type of military-grade technique. It was the most basic of limb movement exercises that did nothing more than to unfold bones, muscles, and tendons.
Nowadays, if one had increased their skill level, they would have displayed more complicated movements such as the 9th Sequence of Body Exercises, which needed slightly more martial skill. As for the completely basic 5th Sequence of Body Exercises, only an elementary school student would continue to use it as a warm-up exercise.
It was clearly the warm-up exercise an elementary school student would use. The smiling clown was actually executing it down to the letter. Not a single hair was out of place. Every movement stretched his body to the limit. It was like the clown was cultivating in some sort of earth-shattering unrivaled feat.
“This 10,000 credits is simply free money off the ground! If I don’t collect it, God will strike me down!” Li Yao shouted madly within his heart.
The bald tattooed man took the protective leather set and draped it on Li Yao’s body. He frowned and asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Uh...” Li Yao muttered to himself for a moment and asked, “I can only take blows? I can’t hit back?”
The bald tattooed man stared blankly for a moment. His expression was both of that of a smile and not a smile. It was like he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. He took from an equipment chest in the corner, a big iron plate insert and strengthened ceramic sheets. He stuck them into specialized pockets on the surface of the protective leather gear.
In this way, Li Yao had three layers of protection on his body — a strengthened ceramic sheet, an iron plate insert, and nine layers of leather.
The bald tattooed man said, “If it makes you happy, go ahead and hit back~ Anyways, I strongly encourage you to first do the utmost to withstand his attack before thinking about this. Okay~ You guys play slowly. I’ll come back in in three minutes. I hope...”
He ended the subject and looked at Li Yao with eyes that conveyed meaning without words. He patted Li Yao once on the shoulder with a strength that was not light nor strong when he withdrew from the sparring room and closed the door.
“It really is a hobbyist level Cultivation Gym. Nevertheless, it's three minutes of sparring training and nothing more. Is there a need to wear this much safety gear?” Li Yao tried jumping two times and he also swung out a series of sluggish fists. He felt the effect of the protective gear on his body.
He found out that this set of protective gear was made in an utterly elaborate manner. Even though adding the iron plate and strengthened ceramic sheet caused his weight to increase by ten pounds, it did not affect the movement of his limbs. Other than reducing his speed faintly by a bit, it did not affect his offensive and defensive capabilities.
And his opponent was still leisurely warming up. He moved from the fourth movement, the Stretching Exercise, to the sixth movement, Chest Expansion Exercise. If Li Yao was not mistaken, there was still five small movements left!
“This senior, you have been warming up since I entered. Can it be you need to finish the entire sequence of body exercises? Is there a need to be this serious?” Li Yao could not help asking.
The smiling clown was in the middle of maintaining a striding open and arched stance, a state with his chest open. When he heard Li Yao’s words, he ceased his movements. He asked exasperatingly slow, “ You don’t need to warm up?”
“There’s no need. In a real battlefield, you won’t have this much time to warm up!” Li Yao replied somewhat impatiently. He had struggled for survival in the Artifact Grave. Anyways, if he said he would fight, he would fight. If he said he would run, he would run. Fatty Long, Ye Wolf... These bastards. Who would give him time to warm up?”
The smiling clown tilted his head and let out a soft “ah” in surprise. It seemed he did not expect Li Yao to be able to speak out words with this much reason. He pondered for a short moment and nodded saying, “What you said is correct. I am done preparing. Three minutes... starts now!”
“Whoosh!”
In practically the moment when the words “Starts Now” traveled into Li Yao’s ears, the ear piercing sound of the wind breaking bore into his eardrum. Just an instant ago, the smiling clown was still several dozen meters away engaging in his arched stance doing his chest expansion exercise. The next instant he had actually completely disappeared.
Li Yao absolutely was not capable of seeing through the movement trajectory of this smiling clown. All he felt was a stab of pincushion-esque pain coming from his sternum. It was like an incorporeal hand had pierced through his three layers of protection in an instant! It directly pierced into his chest and firmly gripped onto his heart!
“— What the devil is this!?”
Chapter 21: Dividing Four By Zero |
The depths of his mind had only produced half a thought when his sternum felt like it was fiercely rammed by a high-speed crystal train. All of a sudden, he was flying seven to eight meters away. The wall went “Bang!” as he crashed into it and sent seven to eight straw mats flying. All of a sudden, straw reeds were flying in the air!
Li Yao fell heavily to the ground. His eyes, his nose, his mouth — all sorts of liquids squirted from his orifices. He lost feeling in his entire chest. The numbing sensation was like a lightning fast virus spreading within his body; he felt his entire body freezing up!
“Too, too fast. I couldn’t even see if it was his fist or his foot. What kind of person is this bastard? He has this much strength, yet he still cultivates in this hobbyist gym. So that’s why if I endure three minutes I can make 10,000 credits!” Li Yao’s brain was just a sheet of blankness. Only after gasping half a day’s worth of air was he able to barely support himself against the wall and stand up.
Li Yao’s pair of legs were completely shaking. When he looked at the clock that hung on the opposing side of the wall... he saw that only five seconds had passed. Why did it feel like five minutes had passed instead!?
The smiling clown stood lightly 10 meters away. He was a bit surprised and frowned when he asked, “Your defensive power doesn’t seem to be that strong. If you can’t keep going, it would be better to call it off. There’s no need to struggle.”
“Who says I can’t keep going!? I wasn’t ready just then. Again, come again!” Li Yao took a deep breath. He swallowed a ball of liquid pain back down his throat. His eyes gradually began to emit a red glow. His brain was filled completely with thoughts of “Three minutes, 10,000 credits”!
10,000 credits can buy a dozen or so strengthening drugs; or 3,500 cans of the Giant Creature of Starry Skies meat; or an entire set of Cultivator Glyphs with high scalability made from special materials; or 10 banquets at the Little Border of Hidden Lake restaurant!
In the Artifact Grave, he was called by others to be the “vulture who values money more than life”. When faced with this enormous sum of money, how could he abandon it so easily? That’s simply a jo
ke!
“Come! Come then!” Li Yao stood firm and adopted a defensive stance. He stared unwaveringly at his opponent’s two feet. He beckoned at the smiling clown by curling his finger, and his opponent nodded his head in response without a hint of courtesy.
“Swoosh!” The smiling clown disappeared once again!
“How can this be!? It’s still not visible! I can’t see the trajectory of his movement!” Li Yao’s eyes were wide open. He strived to find the smiling clown’s trail, but he ended up with nothing. His eyeballs were fundamentally unable to keep up with his opponent’s speed. He could only rely on his instinctive reaction to danger to withstand the attack.
“Bang!” It was as if a giant python viciously rammed itself into Li Yao’s right side. Somehow, he managed to defend himself this time. He moved sideways with great difficulty. The strengthened ceramic sheet inserted on his right shoulder disintegrated with a shattering sound. Even the inner iron plate was hit into ringing echoes of “bang bang”.
“This strength is too terrifying!” Li Yao’s head was covered in sweat. In a single move, his opponent had smashed the armor on his shoulder into pieces. Yet, the smiling clown had not the least bit intention of stopping. The clown attacked in a tricky manner at unfathomable angles. It was like a shower of gales that enveloped him in a flash!
Suddenly, the sounds of “pow pow pow pow pow” came from his body as strengthened ceramic sheets ruptured. “Bang bang bang bang bang” could be heard as well as the iron plate warped.
“Can’t see him. Can’t see him. I completely can’t see him! If these attacks keep coming, it won’t even be a minute before my armor all explosively turns to mush. I won’t have any protective gear. This monster only needs half-a-minute to send me flat on the ground!” A scene of new 10,000 credit bills stuck on the wings of birds flying away with “quack quack” sounds emerged from the depths of his mind. A trace vicious malice gradually appeared on Li Yao’s face.