The wide training ground was already riddled with bullet marks. The elastic padded floor was littered with spent shells, so many that even walking across it carelessly could make someone slip.

Once Ji Jue was ready, Mr. Zhang stood twenty meters away. The gaunt old man still looked completely harmless, except for a short stick strapped to his lower back as a weapon.

Luckily, this was only a simulated exercise. Otherwise, if Mr. Zhang went all out for real, he could tear Ji Jue apart with his bare hands in under ten seconds, turn him into dried meat, complete with dehydration, vacuum sealing, and sterilized packaging.

“Ready?” Mr. Zhang asked lazily with his hands behind his back and his body slightly hunched, like any ordinary old man walking casually. When Ji Jue nodded, he began to approach.

Step by step, they moved toward each other.

With each step, Ji Jue’s breathing grew shallow and tight. Even though he reminded himself this was just a simulation, and the approaching opponent was merely an old man out for a walk, he couldn’t fool himself. The frustration and trauma of the defeat he had endured from the other man all afternoon clung to him.

Mr. Zhang continued muttering key points and tricks as he walked around.

“Keep your breathing even. Relax your shoulders. Open up. Only when the body is relaxed can you produce the fastest instantaneous reac—” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

When the distance between them closed to three steps, he would launch his attack at Ji Jue. That was how it had gone in every previous round.

But this time, before he had even finished speaking, before there was the slightest change in his tone or breath, the right hand behind his back flickered as it flashed into motion, leaving behind a blur of afterimages. A piercing howl burst forth, like a shell detonating at point-blank range.

He whipped out the short baton at his lower back in a casual motion. It made a loud whoosh as it spun mid-flight, like a storm surging straight toward Ji Jue’s face!

What the hell, this isn’t what we agreed on! Trying to play dirty, huh?!

In an instant, Ji Jue’s pupils constricted. His body froze, and he was unable to react.

Should I drop down? Lean back? Duck? Dodge? Go left or right?

His mind went blank, yet at the same time flooded with countless tangled thoughts which overwhelmed him, leaving him paralyzed with indecision.

But the first thing to react was his own body. It was an instinct hammered into him through an entire afternoon of brutal beatings! He didn’t even have time to draw his gun from the holster. He yanked the holster, lifted it, and issued the command.

“Fire!”

Bang!

The front of the plastic holster exploded, and bullets shot forward. Right in front of Ji Jue’s eyes, the short plastic baton was shattered from the center, but the remaining fragments spread, obscuring his vision. Half the stick slammed into his forehead, and his vision went black.

“Adaptability: six points.”

He had reacted in time, but his method was wrong. His precision was insufficient, and he had too little control over the shot’s effect, resulting in collateral spread damage. The correct response in that moment should have been to curl up and drop prone immediately, then roll away to create distance.

Ji Jue felt as if struck by lightning, because that calm voice had come from right in front of him. The old man was so close that he was within arm’s reach!

“Hey!” Mr. Zhang exhaled and shouted. His palm expanded in an instant, and the shriveled hand transformed into a vermilion stamp, which was hot to the touch, before smashing down toward Ji Jue’s chest!

Amid the howling force of the wind, Ji Jue’s ribs were already aching with phantom pain. Over the course of the afternoon’s training, he had no idea how many times this move had knocked him out. If it landed, he’d definitely be blasted into the wall so hard he’d have to be scraped off it!

He only had time to raise his left arm in front of his chest when he felt as if a heavy truck barreled straight into him and effortlessly smashed through the defense reinforced by his spirit matter, crushing everything in its path.

But in that split second bought by sacrificing his arm, the White Deer emblem on the bones of his legs finally activated!

The padded floor deformed with a muffled thud, and a faint rainbow-like glow appeared around Ji Jue’s ankles. With the blessing of the Supreme Benevolence emblem, the effect of his spirit matter enhancement surged again. In an instant, he was launched backward like a spring, gaining several meters of distance, but at the cost of his left ankle going completely numb.

At least his right foot still worked, and he retreated again.

Right there in midair, the weapon inside the holster erupted like a flowing stream of fire, spitting muzzle flashes in a continuous burst, the deafening, high-pitched roar echoing across the training ground.

In less than half a second, thirteen rounds had already been emptied.

“Not bad.”

The old man chasing him in midair grinned. His palm, now forward, had five bullets embedded in it, and additional rounds were aimed at his face, throat, heart, and legs. In a real fight, even if he hadn’t been incapacitated, he would have likely lost mobility entirely.

But what if Mr. Zhang’s skill was just a little sharper? For example... like this!

In an instant, countless afterimages appeared before Ji Jue’s eyes. All the bullets from his gun were blocked by Mr. Zhang’s sweeping right arm. The bullets lodged into his flesh with faint sizzling sounds, stuck within muscle and blood.

Just like that, Mr. Zhang casually let his arm drop to his side.

“My right arm’s done for.” He raised his left arm. “But I still have this one. What will you do?”

Cornered, Ji Jue paused, then discarded the holster and gun. He drew a deep breath, raised his hands in a flawed fighting stance, and beckoned Mr. Zhang with a finger. “Come!”

Mr. Zhang grinned. He’s still too inexperienced... At this point, he should have tried to break through from a blind spot. I should’ve struck harder to leave a lasting lesson.

Bang!

Just as Ji Jue prepared to lunge forward, a loud bang erupted from a previously unnoticed corner.

Mr. Zhang’s head tilted. Without warning, a bullet had appeared at the side of his temple, fired from the weapon Ji Jue had discarded nearby.

It was a critical strike!

Ji Jue finally exhaled. “Master Zhang, the modified guard’s weapon holds fifteen rounds. You forgot to count the bullets.”

Mr. Zhang raised his hand and removed the bullet embedded in his head, examined it closely, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“You pass!”

He shook his hand, and the bullets lodged in his muscles dropped out one after another like raindrops. Then he gave Ji Jue’s shoulder a firm slap.

“Excellent, very good. You’ve completed the second defense lesson, Ji Jue. Don’t slack off from now on, keep up this practice,” he praised with clear approval. “A young man as sneaky and driven as you is bound to have a bright future!”

Ji Jue twitched at the compliment. He appreciated the compliment, but couldn’t the old man have worded that better?

“It’s all thanks to your teaching, Mr. Zhang.”

“Hey, why so serious? Just call me Zhang. Drop by for tea when you’ve got time!” The old man waved casually and trolled away, rolling walnuts in his hand and humming a tune.

Mr. Zhang hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed. There was still an underground betting round tonight, and if he was late, he’d miss it!

Just as he stepped out, he saw Wen Wen leaning against the wall in the corridor.

“How was it?” she asked curiously.

“He has good intuition, quick reflexes, and he learns everything fast. There’s nothing left for me to teach at the fundamentals level.” Mr. Zhang shook his head, impressed. “The younger generation really is something. If I’d been this sharp at this age, I might’ve even made it into the World Bodybuilding Championships and fought for the title.”

Wen Wen thought for a moment, then asked, “Then... How is he compared to me back then?”

“Mm...” The old man stroked his chin, considered it briefly, then gave a small shrug. “With a bit more effort, he might be able to challenge you.”

Wen Wen’s brows lifted slightly, but she said nothing more.

When Ji Jue finally pushed the door open, he saw her smile. In the dim glow of the setting sun faintly shining through the stray strands of her hair, she looked so gentle, like a fleeting crystal flower.

It made his heart skip a beat without him even realizing it.

“What’s wrong?” Wen Wen turned back, seeing him standing there in a daze, and waved him over. “Come on, let’s grab a bite tonight. We should celebrate!”

“Maybe not...”

Ji Jue snapped back to his senses, and the corner of his eye twitched hard. Recalling the disastrous consequences of the previous misadventure sent shivers down his spine. But it was already too late to escape or make excuses. Before he could retreat, fate had already grabbed the innocent little cat by the scruff. There was no way out.

By the time a frosty mug of beer, still fizzing with foam, was slammed down on the table to “get him started,” it was too late for him to cry.

“Come on, drink!”

A beer was shoved into his hand. Before he could even lift the glass, Wen Wen tilted her head back and drank hers in one gulp.

Claiming that he couldn’t hold his liquor was no longer an option.

Two hours later, when the third bottle of baijiu[1] was opened, Ji Jue, wasted from alcohol poisoning, collapsed onto the table. He completely blacked out, and peacefully shut his eyes.

An overly packed day had, at last, come to an end.

***

Unfortunately, after blacking out, Ji Jue’s sense of time vanished. He only blinked once before the world spun, and suddenly he was no longer at the drinking table, but back in his bedroom. Sleeping in a terrible position after drinking, he realized only his legs were on the bed, while his upper body had slid onto the floor.

The scorching sunlight poured through the window, hitting him in the face. Another full day had already fucking started! Time continued on without stopping, not giving him a single moment to rest.

What kind of lunatic had invented something as awful as alcohol?!

Luckily, after washing up and riding Horsey at full speed to the workshop, it wasn’t even ten yet. Professor Ye’s class didn’t start until eleven, so he still had time to grab breakfast.

But the moment he sat down at a roadside noodle stall, an unexpected voice rang out.

Ye Chun had appeared out of nowhere with a look of grievance on her face. “You actually still have the mood for breakfast? Trouble’s already knocking at our door!”

“Huh?” Ji Jue froze. “I didn’t even do anything!”

Why is something going wrong again?

1. Baijiu, or shaojiu, is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume. Each type of baijiu uses its own type of starter for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavor profile. ☜