A punch shot forward with an explosive crack.
Such a sight was startling, yet felt rather ordinary at the same time.
After all, was the lethality of such a punch greater than a gun? Could it compete with a truck for hauling goods on a construction site? Well... no. It was not even as effective as downing a gene serum.
Second Senior Brother was surprised, yet felt it was just so-so. He was a genius... sure.
"You can be considered to have grasped the basics now. It seems you don't need my instruction. If you have any questions later, come ask me directly," Second Senior Brother said. "Xiao Li, take Qi Yuan to get a martial arts uniform."
"Right away!"
Everything that had just happened caused barely a ripple; in terms of shock value, it was less dramatic than a celebrity's dog falling sick.
Qi Yuan followed the staff member to fetch a uniform.
At this moment, his mind was far from calm.
Because in that single punch just now, he had discovered something different.
It was an ordinary strike, not even comparable to the martial arts of the Canglan Realm. Yet with Qi Yuan's extraordinary perception, he sensed that something was hidden within it.
"Unleashing that punch... felt a little different."
When throwing that strike, Qi Yuan felt a sensation completely distinct from the martial arts of the Canglan Realm and the martial path on the Wangyue Continent.
Of course, it was merely an intuition. If asked to pinpoint the exact difference, he could not say. The main reason was that he was currently too weak and lacked sufficient discernment. If he possessed the cultivation of a Yin God, a single inner self-examination would instantly reveal any issue within his body. Even the curse could probably be resolved entirely rather than merely suppressed.
After changing into the training uniform, Qi Yuan stepped into the practice hall.
More than twenty men and women were scattered across the spacious room. Most were men, with women making up only about a quarter of the group.
"Well now, who's the handsome guy?"
As soon as Qi Yuan walked in, he drew many eyes.
With his looks, he had attracted legions of admirers back in university. If he hadn't developed a mental illness, girls like Li Yan wouldn't have backed away from pursuing him so fervently. When a man was handsome enough, he truly discovered just how proactive some women could be.
Those who had the spare money to practice martial arts here naturally came from well-off families. Most of these young men and women had outgoing personalities, and some of the women even boldly winked at Qi Yuan.
"I'm a newcomer, Qi Yuan. Please look out for me in the future," Qi Yuan said casually. He found a corner and immediately began studying and practicing the Mingwu Resonant Fist.
"Handsome little brother, your big sister arrived a month before you. Want me to teach you a bit?" A woman with a high ponytail approached Qi Yuan, her demeanor quite bold.
"Oh?" Qi Yuan looked at her. "You've learned it well?"
"Wang Shiqiao is a nine-groove genius, highly skilled!" Wang Shiqiao's female friend called out with a laugh from a distance.
Wang Shiqiao looked at Qi Yuan and pushed open a window. "See... this is the fourth floor."
Qi Yuan looked down.
From such a height, an ordinary person jumping would likely die. Could it be...?
He looked at Wang Shiqiao, expectation in his eyes.
"Watch my punch!"
With a loud shout, Wang Shiqiao drove a fierce fist into the punching bag beside Qi Yuan. The bag absorbed the heavy impact and swung violently, looking remarkably powerful.
If the Qi Yuan who had not yet entered this game and was still afflicted by the curse took a punch like that, he would have dropped dead on the spot.
"Nice! Well done!"
"That punch packs a full year of training!"
The onlookers applauded as if watching a show.
Wang Shiqiao glanced at Qi Yuan and said smugly, "Was that punch potent enough for you?"
Qi Yuan looked at her, his face full of anticipation. "Very potent. Is it time for the leap out the window now?"
"Huh?" A smile spread across Wang Shiqiao's lips. "I'm just teasing you. I never said I was going to jump from the fourth floor. Even Eldest Senior Brother would end up in the hospital if he jumped from here. You don't really think practicing the Mingwu Resonant Fist turns you into a superman who can beat gene warriors, do you?"
Hearing this, Qi Yuan muttered, "Is martial arts really that weak?"
On the way here, Qi Yuan had heard that the eldest senior brother of Mingwu Dojo was second only to the master. He had already cultivated the Mingwu Resonant Fist to the eighth layer. Yet even he would be injured by jumping from the fourth floor. No wonder practicing martial arts was treated as merely a hobby, akin to fishing or working out back on Blue Star.
"Martial arts isn't weak. Compared to ordinary people, our bodies are far better... and all-natural, too!" As she spoke, Wang Shiqiao deliberately pushed her chest forward.
Due to technological advancement and the collision of ideas from Can Star, the culture across the nations of Arch Star was far more open than in the past, especially among the wealthy.
"What's natural about it?" Qi Yuan glanced at her nose. "You've gone under the knife for that nose."
Wang Shiqiao's expression shifted slightly, and she covered her nose, her mood darkening. "You can tell?"
"It's very obvious," Qi Yuan answered honestly.
"Damn it! It hasn't even been a year, and someone can already tell? How did that crap hospital make promises to me? Claiming it was all-natural and undetectable! No way, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!" Grumbling in anger, Wang Shiqiao turned and stormed off, seemingly headed to cause trouble for the cosmetic surgery clinic.
Qi Yuan turned away, paying her no more mind, and resumed studying the Mingwu Resonant Fist.
This fist technique consisted of an internal cultivation art paired with physical forms. If it were a martial arts routine from the Canglan Realm, Qi Yuan could master it completely after a single glance and execute it flawlessly. But the martial arts techniques of this world were different.
Qi Yuan could indeed perform a complete routine of the Mingwu Resonant Fist, yet he needed to practice it repeatedly. He discovered that executing this technique was a form of progress in itself. For others, progress might mean greater proficiency with the physical forms. For Qi Yuan, it was not. He sensed deeper mechanics at play, though he could not yet unravel them at his current level.
"Fist strikes like a soul, vibrating to the four quarters... push upward, circle right..."
Murmuring the mnemonic, Qi Yuan continued practicing the Mingwu Resonant Fist. The forms flowed through his hands as he immersed himself completely, and time flew by.
Sweat rolled down his forehead, but Qi Yuan paid it no heed, persisting in the routine.
In the practice hall, the other students chatted, laughed, sparred, or flirted. Occasionally, someone glanced at Qi Yuan, but their gazes never lingered long.
Not far away, Qiao Wu looked through the glass doors, scanning the entire training room. His gaze eventually settled on Qi Yuan, a hint of admiration appearing in his eyes.
"In this day and age, someone still so absorbed in martial arts is truly rare," Qiao Wu could not help but sigh.
He was the master of Mingwu Dojo, over fifty years of age. Having taken gene serums, he stood like a solid wall, exuding an imposing presence.
Second Senior Brother stood beside Qiao Wu and looked at Qi Yuan with a sigh. "It's a pity he was born in the wrong era. If this were ancient times, with his diligence and talent, he might have become a renowned general who shook an entire region."
Qiao Wu nodded in agreement. Indeed, modern society was vastly different from ancient times. Martial arts had dwindled into a decorative hobby for a niche circle. Qiao Wu himself came from a lineage of martial artists; his ancestors had produced top imperial martial scholars and generals. Yet what did that matter now? Decades of arduous cultivation in the Mingwu Resonant Fist brought improvements that fell short of a single vial of gene serum.
"He wants to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament? A good seed. Our Mingwu Dojo hasn't had a student enter for many years. If he takes part, it might draw quite a few people to join our dojo," Qiao Wu said with a faint smile, mentioning it in passing.
The martial arts circle was a closed, insular community. People like Qiao Wu who had taken gene serums were barred from competing in the Martial Arts Tournament; otherwise, it would be unfair to the other participants.
"Yeah. With his looks, if he can break into the top hundred and make it onto the national broadcast, he's sure to attract a lot of fans," Second Senior Brother calculated. After all, someone who was both exceptionally handsome and genuinely devoted to martial arts was exceedingly rare.
"Top hundred?" Qiao Wu shook his head. "His physical foundation is too poor. He probably won't even make it past the city preliminaries, let alone... the nationals."
Second Senior Brother chuckled at that, realizing he had indeed indulged in wishful thinking. The physical boost martial arts offered was limited; eating more food to pack on muscle and strength produced far more noticeable results.
***
"Setting aside immortal arts, my current strength... has indeed grown a fraction."
After returning home, Qi Yuan took a hot shower. In the training room, he had sweated heavily, his whole body heating up.
"This cultivation... seems related to the blood."
Qi Yuan's eyes seemed to peer straight into his own body. While practicing martial arts, his eyes had gathered hidden information indicating that some sort of transformation had occurred within his blood. But the details were sparse, and he could not discern exactly what had changed.
"I need to hasten my immortal cultivation..." Qi Yuan mused.
Right now, he was too weak to accomplish much. But accelerating his cultivation required buying materials, which meant spending money.
"Should I set up a roadside stall and work as a doctor?" Qi Yuan pondered.
With his vision and various proficiencies, practicing medicine would be a breeze. Although he knew nothing of this world's illnesses, declaring any patient to have a kidney deficiency and then casually treating them with Daoist arts would work without a hitch.
"Let's first see if my cultivation technique has sold."
With that in mind, Qi Yuan logged into his account.
"Oh... someone tipped me?"
Qi Yuan's eyes lit up. He had previously set a rule that sending him a private message required a tip of ten thousand yuan. He hadn't expected someone to actually pay it.
"Sure enough, this world is full of suckers... I mean, wealthy people!"
Qi Yuan was thrilled. Wasn't business officially open now?
Looking at his account balance, which had grown by a grand sum of five thousand yuan, his teeth ached. "Taking half the tip as a cut? This app is pure extortion."
After grumbling, Qi Yuan opened the chat interface and immediately saw a message:
*Will you sell this cultivation technique for ten thousand yuan?*
"Ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety thousand. Non-negotiable. If you want to bargain, we won't do business," Qi Yuan replied casually.
He had created this technique himself; selling it at that price was practically a steal. Back in the Canglan Realm, if completed, the Super Invincible Somewhat Explosive Art would be enough to serve as the supreme heirloom treasure of a major power. Ordinary high-grade Heaven-rank scriptures could not compare to it in the slightest.
*Can we have a video call?* another message soon arrived from the other side.
"A video call counts as adding my personal contact info. You need to tip one hundred thousand first," Qi Yuan replied. He was not in the mood to video chat with strangers for free.
Meanwhile, in a border town of the Yuelang Kingdom, a man in a black jacket narrowed his eyes in contemplation.
Beside him, a young man in casual short attire wore an expression of outrage. "This guy is definitely a fraud! Asking for a hundred thousand right off the bat? Does he take us for fools? There definitely isn't any follow-up to that technique. Besides, immortal cultivation... is utter nonsense."
The young man stole a glance at his boss, and seeing the man lost in thought, he dared not speak further.
The man in the black jacket drummed his fingers on the table, pondering the situation.
"I have his identity details right here. If he dares to con me... we can just go to Qinyuan and drag him back," the man said with quiet confidence.
His status was far from ordinary; he was an arms dealer. He lived with his head on the line, so he had no fear of being swindled. Besides... it was only a hundred thousand yuan.
"Transferred."
Without hesitation, he tipped another hundred thousand yuan. Once the transfer was complete, he glanced at the young man, who immediately understood his boss's intention and hurried to haul a heavy sniper rifle onto the table.
The man in the black jacket clearly intended to use it to intimidate the seller.
About a dozen breaths later, the video call connected.
The man in the black jacket looked at Qi Yuan, who was wearing a shirt, and opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Qi Yuan's lazy voice.
"Five minutes. If you don't decide to buy within five minutes, the deal is off."
Qi Yuan's words caught the man off guard, swallowing whatever he had been preparing to say.
Instead of getting angry, the man caressed the heavy sniper rifle on the table. "A hundred thousand yuan for five minutes. Mr. Qi's time is truly precious."
Qi Yuan was not surprised that his identity had been exposed. The internet was a sieve; let alone wealthy tycoons and powerful figures, even a petty clerk could doxx someone. A few months ago in the Qinyuan Kingdom, a clerk had abused administrative privileges to threaten someone online with doxxing over celebrity fandom drama, making the trending searches.
"You're getting a massive bargain," Qi Yuan answered honestly.
Back in the Canglan Realm, if any cultivator received five minutes of Qi Yuan's guidance, even if they didn't break through an entire major realm, they would benefit immensely.
The man in the black jacket looked at Qi Yuan's youthful face with a complicated expression. He had never encountered someone so difficult to deal with. Although the background check indicated the young man had a mental illness, that information was clearly fabricated. The confidence and relaxed composure in Qi Yuan's eyes were not traits any psychiatric patient could fake.
"Could you let me see a bit more of the subsequent parts of the... Super Invincible Somewhat Explosive Art? After all, this is a hundred-million-yuan deal. A transaction of this scale requires careful consideration." The man lowered the sniper rifle, no longer stroking it.
He realized that in Qi Yuan's eyes, the weapon might as well not exist. Facing this seemingly ordinary young man, the arms dealer felt an uncanny dread, more unnerving than standing before the heads of state of minor nations.
"Is a hundred-million-yuan deal really that big? I've heard some people treat that as just a small target. As for this technique... if you don't want to buy it, forget it. I might not even bother selling it later. An opportunity like this comes only once, so you'd better seize it," Qi Yuan said lightly.
He did need money, but he preferred to do things on his own terms. If it proved too troublesome, he would rather not sell. For an immortal cultivator, obtaining money was simple enough. Furthermore, he retained a year's worth of memories. In the worst case, couldn't he just buy a few lottery tickets?
The man in the black jacket stared at Qi Yuan, thoughts racing through his mind. A hundred million was no trivial sum; parting with it would sting even for him. What if... it was a trap?
He wavered in indecision.
Should they... abduct him?
The young man standing beside him watched anxiously. To him, Qi Yuan was an outright con artist. But since his boss hadn't spoken, he dared not chime in.
Just then, Qi Yuan spoke again. "You're in the Yuelang Kingdom, aren't you? I happen to need Kunqing Grass, a plant unique to Yuelang. If you buy my technique, I wouldn't mind doing further business with you. There are certain rare plants in Yuelang that Qinyuan doesn't produce. If you smuggle them over for me, I'll pay you in cash, or perhaps with medicinal solutions and pills... which, by the way, offer some help with immortal cultivation."
Kunqing Grass?
The man in the black jacket froze, glancing at the potted plant sitting on the table.
How did Qi Yuan know? According to the intelligence he had gathered, Qi Yuan was merely an ordinary citizen of the Qinyuan Kingdom. Even in the Yuelang Kingdom, only a tiny circle of people knew about Kunqing Grass. How could he possibly know about something so obscure?
Chapter 283