Advance, Iron Hand!

As the saying went, heed advice and eat your fill. So long as he could survive each day to trigger the Daily Settlement, he would grow stronger. There was no need to take such a risk deliberately. That narrowed it down to options one and two. Now that he possessed a skill tree and could level up his abilities by investing points, option two was the obvious choice. One more skill meant one more path. "I choose option two," Ye Huan said. "A rank promotion? Once your rank goes up, your salary and benefits will rise with it, and on top of that, you get to learn a martial skill. A wise choice," Xia Li remarked. "Sister Li, what kind of martial skills can I learn?" Ye Huan asked. "Naturally, Shidu-rank martial skills. The bureau has four manuals at this level. I've already stamped the voucher—take it straight to the Supply Section to redeem one." "Thank you, Sister Li!" "Don't mention it. I should thank you for chatting with me. It gave me a chance to stand up and stretch instead of just sitting here dully." Xia Li smiled and waved her hand. Ye Huan's heart stirred. He had always felt that people tended to avoid this office director. At first, he had assumed it was because she represented the leadership's will, wielded immense authority, and carried an intimidating prestige. Now, however, it seemed it was because she hailed from a premier sect. With her unique background and formidable strength, ordinary staff members had no way of currying favor with her—and they genuinely feared her. For her part, she had no desire to mingle with the local bureaucratic staff of a small city either. He, on the other hand, was an "innocent youth" newly arrived, completely clueless about office politics, approaching her without any ulterior motives, merely hoping to avoid running aground in the workplace. She understood that perfectly. Consequently, she readily accepted him as a colleague and subordinate she could talk to. Ye Huan offered his thanks, turned, and stepped out the door. He headed straight for the Supply Section. Presenting the voucher Xia Li had stamped, he was led into a small room. "You have five minutes to make your choice. You may only pick one, and you must return it once you've finished reading," the clerk instructed. "Understood." Ye Huan looked toward the table. True enough, there were four martial manuals laid out. They were the Bone Shattering Hand, the Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber, the Life-Taking Continuous Mandarin Duck Kicks, and the Turtle Breathing Art. Ye Huan stood motionless. Within the darkness of his mind, a glowing skill tree quietly emerged. The tree was completely bare except for a single illuminated icon at the very base. "Iron Hand." Now, he had to select his second skill. A message surfaced in his mind: "Among the current four martial arts, the Turtle Breathing Art aligns with the purpose of the Disaster-Averting Survival Skill Tree and will aid in preserving your life." "Please select it to add to the skill tree." Four faint points of light hovered softly in the darkness. Three of them dimmed and flickered out. Only one remained. The Turtle Breathing Art. A surge of realization washed over Ye Huan. *So that's how it is.* The Bone Shattering Hand, the Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber, and the Life-Taking Continuous Mandarin Duck Kicks— All three of those martial skills were meant for fighting to the death with others. They were far too ferocious. They had nothing to do with the principle of "disaster-averting survival." In contrast, while the Iron Hand palm art also adhered to a fierce, aggressive style, it at least allowed one's flesh to harden like steel. That aligned with the skill tree's core purpose of survival. That was why the skill tree had accepted it, allowing him to enhance it through point allocation. At this moment, the only one that met the criteria was the Turtle Breathing Art! Ye Huan stared at that point of light, suddenly recalling the situation from the previous night. If he had been that mutated martial artist, how would he have fled from such a predicament? The Underground River Bridge... Lantie City was a small city built amid mountain mists, its subterranean depths rich with mineral deposits on one end, while connected to multiple rivers and subterranean waterways on the other. If he were that mutant martial artist, blocked ahead and pursued from behind, he would have jumped straight into the underground river. That subterranean river had a torrential current. With the Turtle Breathing Art... One could leap down, conceal oneself along the riverbed, let the undercurrent sweep them away deep into the subterranean water network, and vanish completely from the surface. Countless branching streams ran down there. No one would ever find him! He could hold his breath for prolonged periods without surfacing, remaining underwater to make his escape. That would have given him a very real chance of getting away! The Turtle Breathing Art... It could very well become his ultimate life-saving trump card! Everything he did was for the sake of survival! As long as he survived, he could trigger the Daily Settlement each day and grow stronger. As long as he lived, there was hope of defeating any enemy! "Hello, I choose this one." Ye Huan picked up the manual for the Turtle Breathing Art and smiled at the clerk standing beside him. The clerk promptly handed over a registration document. "It may not be sold outside, nor taught to anyone else. Here is the agreement; please sign." Ye Huan signed his name, picked up the Turtle Breathing Art, and walked out of the room. He returned to the Mysterious Affairs Section. Song Fushan was sprawled on the sofa scrolling through his phone, saying lazily, "The office just notified me that you've been promoted from a trainee investigator to a Rank-One Investigator. Your salary goes up by one grade." "I spent my Third-Class Merit and traded for this, too," Ye Huan said. He held up the Turtle Breathing Art to show Song Fushan. "You actually chose this? You brat, you really never fail to surprise me," Song Fushan said in astonishment. "I was just curious about this manual," Ye Huan said with an innocent look. "Cut the act. Here, take this and study it yourself." Song Fushan stood up, pulled a rolled-up document from the bookshelf, and tossed it over. Ye Huan unrolled it. It was a city map of Lantie City. Beneath the title, it read: *Lantie City Geographic Data and Military Deployments*. The map clearly charted the detailed paths of several rivers running through the city, even providing precise annotations and explanations for the origins and destinations of multiple subterranean streams. Ye Huan could not help but sigh. "Section Chief, you truly know my heart." "Cut the chatter. Now that you've been promoted, lunch is on you." "Section Chief, how many credit points does a junior investigator make a month?" Ye Huan asked curiously. "I don't remember offhand. Around fifteen hundred, give or take," Song Fushan replied. Ye Huan froze for a second. His original self had earned a monthly wage of two hundred credit points working as a security guard in the mining district. The disparity between those lives was staggering. "Lunch is on me, Section Chief." "Now that's the spirit." Ye Huan was about to chat a bit more when Song Fushan answered a phone call and hurried out the door. Once again, Ye Huan was left alone in the room. He sat back on the sofa, leaning against the cushions to rest for a bit. Out in the hallway, hurried footsteps, loud shouts, and the rumbling of wheeled equipment could be heard from time to time. From the courtyard drifted the roar of car engines, along with the curses and wretched screams of newly transported prisoners. Everyone was busy. This city, built in a remote frontier region, existed solely to extract subterranean mineral deposits. It constantly faced incursions by all sorts of monsters and demons. Consequently, the Bureau of Investigation was an exceptionally busy department where daily overtime was the norm. Yet at this very moment... The door to the Mysterious Affairs Section remained firmly shut. The room was quiet and safe. He had just worked overtime, earned merit, and selected a martial manual. Resting here in the office, no one would come to disturb him. The sofa was comfortable, having a full belly was comfortable, lying down was comfortable, and doing nothing at all was comfortable. Ye Huan felt as though he could finally breathe a long, deep sigh of relief. Living like this... Didn't seem so bad after all. He flipped open the manual for the Turtle Breathing Art and began reading it attentively. Looking deeper into it, the book was essentially a breathing technique designed to regulate and rein in one's vital aura, rendering it imperceptible to the outside world. It also allowed the practitioner to hold their breath for extended periods without endangering their life. Ye Huan became thoroughly engrossed, quickly following along to practice. Before long... At the base of the skill tree, one slot above the "Iron Hand" icon, a brand-new glowing icon gradually resolved from a blur into clarity. —"Turtle Breathing Art"! At this stage, he had only barely initiated the technique, able to hold in his breath and conceal his aura slightly. He still needed to practice. Ye Huan studied the icons on the skill tree, his mind churning with thoughts. Last night in Song Fushan's car, he had sacrificed that flame skill and gained one skill point. Back then, he had not dared to use it. Now, the time had finally come when he could! Should he use it on the Turtle Breathing Art? Or on Iron Hand? It was actually an easy decision. Now that Iron Hand was free from the complications of the sacrificial art and back on the right track, it was naturally the prime candidate for enhancement. As for the Turtle Breathing Art... Others had seen him redeem the manual. Its contents were not particularly difficult, so he could simply practice it at a steady pace, or wait until he had more skill points to spend later. That way, it would not attract unnecessary attention. Iron Hand came first! With a shift of his will, Ye Huan directed that skill point into the "Iron Hand" icon. In an instant... Ye Huan's consciousness wavered, as though he had once again entered an unimaginably vast stretch of cultivation years. In an unknown world... After achieving great mastery in Iron Hand, he continued to train tirelessly. Three years later... He paid visits to renowned martial masters far and wide, exchanging pointers to polish and refine the art. That journey took him across the entire realm, and after five full years, he finally returned to resume his closed-door cultivation. Another ten years passed. He had at last deduced and pushed Iron Hand to an unprecedented height. All the visions vanished. Ye Huan snapped his eyes open, only to find himself still sitting on the sofa, the second hand on the wall clock having just ticked forward by a single second. Everything had changed. He put the book away, stepped into the center of the room, and settled into a martial stance. Instantly... A fierce, beast-like aura radiated from his entire body. His flesh hardened like forged iron, and a barrage of pops and cracks burst from his vital energy, muscles, and bones. Boundless strength erupted from his Yongquan point with nowhere to vent, leaving him itching to find an ox and slaughter it with a single punch. Within Ye Huan's internal vision, the Yongquan point had turned into a gleaming spot of light. It was now linked to all four limbs, every bone, and the extraordinary meridians, serving as an "engine" of sheer power. —He had opened an acupoint! "This power..." Ye Huan murmured under his breath. Sensing something more, he inspected his skill tree once again. He saw that the "Iron Hand" icon on the tree had transformed. The words "Iron Hand" were gone, replaced by three bold characters: "Iron Cloth Shirt." —Even the technique itself had advanced! It had upgraded into an even stronger martial art! Wonderful. Truly wonderful. In that case, he didn't need to care what grade a martial art was initially; he only needed to ensure it could be placed on the Disaster-Averting Survival Skill Tree. Ye Huan could not help thinking back to when he had first learned Iron Hand. During his first Daily Settlement, he had acquired "Elementary Mimetic Information Reading" and learned Iron Hand from a Black Tide cultist. Yet that cultist had given up after only practicing for a few years! "Elementary Mimetic Information Reading," however, had kept deducing the technique forward, allowing him to surpass that cultist entirely! The skill tree worked in the exact same manner. So long as he found a disaster-averting, survival-oriented technique and placed it on the skill tree, he could push it to the pinnacle simply by allocating points. —He could even surpass the original art and forge an entirely new, vastly superior discipline! A moment later, the corresponding description appeared on the skill tree: "Iron Cloth Shirt." "A lost martial art, Shidu-rank manual." "Techniques: Iron Hand Force, Twin Dragon Hammers, Super Iron Hand Bars the River." "—Impervious to fists, kicks, blades, and spears, save for the vital point!" *What!* *It even has a vital point?* Startled, Ye Huan immediately sensed throughout his body to locate where this weak spot was. In a brief moment, he found it. ...It truly was a very fragile place. Ye Huan slowly tightened his fists. After an initial wave of discouragement, he quickly rallied his spirits. It didn't matter. Later on, he would certainly find a way to invest more points into it, making it as hard as steel and completely invulnerable, too!