CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER 108: MINOR ACHIEVEMENT_1

「Ten minutes later.」

Origin Martial Arts Hall lobby.

The girl at the front desk was idly taking pictures of her freshly manicured nails with her phone.

A young man with a face full of pimples walked over, his expression dazed.

The girl glanced up, recognized him, frowned, and was about to scold him.

"Liu Xiangyu, you’re so annoying... Huh?"

But as soon as she spoke, she realized the young man wasn’t even heading towards her.

He didn’t even glance at her; he just drifted right past.

"What’s with that expression? Did he see a ghost or something?" the girl mumbled, looking at the young man’s distraught appearance.

No sooner had she spoken than three more people walked by, their expressions and conditions almost identical to Liu Xiangyu’s.

Their eyes were wide, mouths slightly agape, looking as if they were still in shock and hadn’t recovered.

"Huh?"

The girl put down her phone, leaned forward to peer in the direction they had left, and started to find it odd.

What on earth is wrong with these guys?

"Sister Yan."

Suddenly, a voice sounded beside her ear.

The girl quickly turned her head, her eyes meeting a refreshingly clean and bright young man.

"What is it, Yuan!"

Seeing the young man, the girl beamed as if he were a completely different person.

"I’d like to borrow your utility knife."

"Oh... here, take it!"

"Thanks, Sister Yan. I’ll bring it right back when I’m done."

Lu Yuan greeted the receptionist, took the borrowed utility knife, and turned back towards the training room.

He returned to the room where he had just been doing his impact resistance training, found a corner, sat down, shielded his actions with his clothes, and then began to slowly draw the utility knife across the back of his hand.

It felt like cutting tough old cowhide.

The tip of the utility knife couldn’t pierce the skin at all.

Lu Yuan slowly applied more force... only then did he manage to make a thin, white cut on the back of his hand.

Although he had cut the skin, it didn’t bleed.

Evidently, he had only sliced through the very top layer of epidermis.

After Spirit Crane Body broke through to Lv2, my skin has thickened considerably, and my defensive power has greatly increased. It’s much stronger than before...

Lu Yuan set the used utility knife aside, watching the cut on his hand gradually become fainter.

A few minutes later, it healed completely, leaving no trace.

The powerful healing ability brought by 15... no, 16 points of Constitution!

After Spirit Crane Body reached Lv2, Lu Yuan’s Constitution had increased by another point.

His original Constitution was already at 15 points.

On this foundation, just a small advancement in level could bring a 1-point increase in Constitution...

Spirit Crane Body truly is the Crane Sect’s core heritage, an Advanced Body Forging technique.

However...

Lu Yuan pinched the spot he had just cut with the utility knife, pondering, Even though Spirit Crane Body has broken through, my skin tempering isn’t complete. It feels like there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Lu Yuan guessed that his high Constitution might have raised the upper limit of his skin tempering, coupled with what Lin Zhiquin had said—the Heaven Water Sect Crane Faction’s body forging method didn’t emphasize horizontal skin and membrane training.

Just because the Crane Sect doesn’t emphasize it doesn’t mean I can neglect it. Choose between lightness and speed, or ultimate defense? No, an adult should have it all! Lu Yuan thought.

He was a man with the ambition to withstand mecha cannon fire with his mortal body; his defensive power had to be pushed to the absolute extreme.

The 1-point Constitution increase from the Spirit Crane Body breakthrough not only healed all the hidden injuries from the blows Lu Yuan had sustained but also made his muscles and bones denser and more compact, bringing with it abundant physical energy.

Lu Yuan was now in excellent condition.

Lin Zhiquin had left, and with no one to practice boxing with, Lu Yuan decided to practice Spirit Crane Body on his own.

Unexpectedly, this time he managed to perform up to the fiftieth movement in one go!

During the last few movements, he could clearly feel the strain reaching his bones, hearing the sounds of bones grinding and tempering against each other.

This aspect of high Constitution is particularly good. It allows me to be a step ahead at every stage of body forging. It’s like being a high school graduate reviewing middle school coursework—a commanding advantage.

He practiced for over two hours straight, until his flesh felt torn and his bones throbbed with a dull ache.

Only then did Lu Yuan go upstairs and, as usual, receive a session of acupuncture and secret medicine therapy.

After the needles were removed, Lu Yuan didn’t dress and go home as he usually did.

Instead, he began practicing Crane-shaped Pile right there in the therapy room.

In the simple and elegant quiet room, incense smoke rose from a burner, straight as a column.

The bare-chested young man stood barefoot on the floor, his body and limbs moving like a spirit crane.

Suddenly, the young man’s body trembled slightly.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

A series of crisp bone-popping sounds followed.

The young man seemed to grow slightly taller, his originally robust physique becoming more well-proportioned and slender.

His hand movements also ceased, then transitioned into the start of another movement...

Until, finally, all movement stopped.

He opened his eyes.

Lu Yuan adjusted his breathing.

He checked his panel.

[Professional Intermediate Skill: Crane-shaped Pile Lv5 (Max Level)]

So, Professional Intermediate Skills also max out at Lv5...

Lu Yuan mused, then looked at his attribute panel again. His Agility had increased by 1 point.

His four basic attributes were now:

[Strength: 14]

[Agility: 14]

[Constitution: 16]

[Intelligence: 14]

All 14+! Unconsciously, I’ve reached such a level.

Later, when I switched to practicing the first eighteen skin-tempering movements of Spirit Crane Body, the medicinal efficacy also seemed to be absorbed, although the Experience Points for Spirit Crane Body didn’t increase at all...

Lu Yuan examined the skin on his arms and abdomen; it seemed to have become smoother once again.

It proved his guess was right; there was still room for his skin tempering to improve.

He didn’t shower, afraid of washing off the invisible layer of residual secret medicine on his skin’s surface.

Lu Yuan changed his clothes and went straight downstairs.

Exiting the Origin Martial Arts Hall, the sun was still scorching, but the cascading light had already taken on a yellowish hue.

He checked the time: 5:13 PM.

Lu Yuan walked to the bus stop opposite the martial arts hall to wait for the 945 bus home.

A few people were scattered around the platform.

Lu Yuan stood among them, his outstanding physique and looks making him stand out somewhat, like a crane among chickens.

Behind him, two girls in school uniforms were whispering. Lu Yuan could clearly sense their gazes repeatedly falling on him.

FLAP—

A crow descended from high above, alighting on a trash can beside the bus stop.

A nearby office worker with a laptop bag muttered a curse about the bad omen and took two steps aside.

The light in Lu Yuan’s eyes, however, flickered.

A moment later, the 945 bus pulled into the station.

People on the platform boarded one by one. Lu Yuan, blending into the crowd, also slowly moved towards the bus.

"Still at the hospital?"

"Let’s wait until tomorrow..."

...

「The next day, Burnt Rock Central Hospital.」

"Where did the money on the card go? Don’t you know Lin Mo needs a lot of money for her surgery in Sum Nation next month?"

"One of my students had an accident. He... Anyway, I’ll figure out Lin Mo’s surgery fees."

"Figure it out... ha! What solutions have you come up with all this time?

"After Lin Mo got sick, wasn’t it always me who had to grovel to borrow money? Do you know my former colleagues avoid me now, as if I were a plague!..."

"Alright, I know you’ve had it rough...

"I need to go to Weishan soon. I might be there for a while. If anything comes up at home, call me..."

"Weishan? Going to see that master of yours again?!

"Lin Zhiquin! I just don’t understand. They dislike you so much, why do you keep wanting to go back?

"Look at your former martial brothers! Which one of them isn’t doing a thousand, no, ten thousand times better than you!

"Qin Feng calls you Senior Brother, right? You entered the sect more than a decade before him...

"But what’s the result? The result is that you can only work under him! You can’t even properly earn that ten thousand or so a month!

"Those students you teach? The complaint calls have even come to me! Lin Zhiquin!..."

"Shut up!"

In the hospital stairwell, Lin Zhiquin, his face livid, stared at the woman before him.

The woman was thin and haggard, her eyes red-rimmed, tear tracks on her face, yet she held her head high, meeting his gaze defiantly.

CREAK—

The stairwell door opened from the inside, and a nurse wearing a mask poked her head out, frowning.

"This is a hospital. If you want to argue, do it at home.

"And sir... smoking is not allowed here."

"Oh, sorry. I’ll put it out right now."

Lin Zhiquin crushed the cigarette, already burned down to the filter, under his foot and tossed the butt into a nearby trash can.

He took a deep breath, the emotion on his face gradually subsiding.

"I don’t want to argue with you.

"I’m going in to see Lin Mo now. Don’t come in."

With that, he sidestepped the woman’s almost hateful gaze and walked quickly away.

He passed through a quiet corridor.

Lin Zhiquin stopped in front of a hospital room.

He rubbed his face, then carefully tried to brush the smell of smoke from his clothes.

Only then did he push the door open and enter.

Inside the hospital room, on the snow-white bed, a girl in a hospital gown was leaning against the headboard.

Her skin was so pale it was almost transparent, her hair was sparse, and her face was gaunt.

From her features, one could faintly discern her former delicate beauty.

But now, she could only wait silently to wither, like a flower with fallen petals.

"Lin Mo."

Lin Zhiquin called her name, his eyes gentle.

The girl, who had been staring blankly out the window, seemed to startle awake and slowly turned her head.

"Dad."

Lin Zhiquin smiled at her and was about to walk towards her.

But her next words made him stop in his tracks.

"Am I going to die soon?"

"Who said that?" Lin Zhiquin’s expression turned cold.

"Look."

The girl pointed out the window.

On the windowsill, a crow was perched, calmly preening its feathers.

"I heard that crows can smell the scent of death on a person.

"Wherever someone is about to die, a crow will land near them..."

"Nonsense. Don’t believe such things," Lin Zhiquin said, his face expressionless. He glanced at the windowsill, a sharp glint in his eyes.

The crow on the windowsill, as if startled, quickly flapped its wings and flew away.

"See? Didn’t it leave now?"

Lin Zhiquin walked over to the girl in a few steps. He took out a small vial filled with a pink liquid from his pocket and said to her in a firm tone,

"Don’t worry. Dad will absolutely not let you die.

"Your illness will be cured soon."