Celestial Sea City, inside Coastal Base One

BOOM!

Hercules transport vehicles, each built from a special black metal and measuring over 50 meters long and 42 meters wide, looked like tenacious steel monsters, covered in blood and claw marks.

Amidst a great rumbling, they slowly drove into the massive factory within the base.

The factory had more than ten such giant entrances and exits. Its interior was a vast space of several thousand square meters, divided into dozens of zones.

There were also countless large machines, transport devices, and busy people in various uniforms.

RUMBLE!

An 8-meter-tall partition slid open. Several thick, black-and-red giant mechanical arms plucked out the carcasses of colossal beasts one by one, dropping them to the ground with a massive splatter of blood.

"Team 8, with me! Time to process the Second-Level Calamity Beasts."

A group of people in white, full-body coveralls and holding various large, sharp knives quickly approached the Calamity Beast carcasses.

SPLURT!

SLICE!

Facing the massive, four-to-five-meter-long Calamity Beasts, they expertly used their sharp tools to easily slice open the skin and dismember the carcasses.

In just a few moments, countless blood-drenched organs, limbs, and flesh were broken down, sorted, and transported away on small white mechanical carts.

Soon, a large number of new carcasses arrived, and the group began their dismantling work again. These people were the Meat Distributors of the War Base.

「Half an hour later」

"Team Eight, one-hour break!"

The team leader announced.

Phew~

Hearing this, the group breathed a sigh of relief. They left the factory floor and entered another area, a spacious decontamination room, where they let powerful streams of water wash the residual blood from their protective suits and disinfect them.

In a clean room, Lin Zhen took off his protective suit, sweat pouring down his body.

He sat down wearily, gulped down an energy drink, and gripped his left arm, from which waves of pain emanated.

"Old Lin, you should really take the next two days off. Your body can’t keep going like this; something’s going to give."

Fang Zhe said with a frown as he walked over, wiping away his sweat with a towel.

Lin Zhen shook his head. "I can’t. I still need to earn more money."

With that, he started applying a medicinal balm to his prosthetic limb.

Fang Zhe shook his head. "My fault. I never should have brought you here."

BEEP!

"Little Qi... he actually signed a B-level Contract with the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo."

Lin Zhen, who had been checking his phone while applying the balm, shot up in shock, all fatigue and pain forgotten.

Fang Zhe leaned in to look, saying in surprise, "Little Yi sent it. It must be true."

"Little Qi really signed a B-level Contract with the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo," Fang Zhe said, shocked.

"What’s going on? What did I just hear?"

"Old Lin, your son actually signed a B-level Contract? Good heavens, that’s incredible."

Other coworkers also gathered around to congratulate him.

Their leader, a burly middle-aged man, also hurried over when he heard the news.

"Old Lin, take this afternoon and tomorrow off. We’ll raise your pay by 10%."

Lin Zhen’s face lit up. "Thank you, boss!"

The others were filled with envy. With a genius son on a B-level Contract, Old Lin’s future was looking bright.

Fang Zhe also smiled, gratified.

He decided that once they had earned enough money before the Spring Festival, they would go home.

...

Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo

Manager Sunx stepped into the empty elevator. A second later, a burly figure followed him in.

The newcomer had a bald head so smooth it was reflective, a fierce-looking face, and an exceptionally powerful build. He was over 2.1 meters tall and looked like a general from ancient times.

"Master Lu!" Manager Sunx greeted.

Master Lu gave an ugly smile.

"Manager Sunx, I just heard that fellow Old Yue personally signed a genius named Lin Qi, is that right?"

"I took the liberty of looking him up. Ranked 288th in the whole city in the Celestial Sea Monthly Exam. His Martial Arts Skills aren’t bad; he’s at the Star Rank."

"But a genius like that hardly seems worthy of a B-level Contract, let alone one that Old Yue handled personally."

"It seems Old Yue’s judgment has declined after his trip to the Coastal base. It’s gotten so shoddy," Master Lu said, shaking his head.

Manager Sunx frowned, but since it concerned two Hall Masters, he didn’t dare say much.

A moment later, the elevator reached the top floor. Manager Sunx mentioned the matter to Yue Feng.

Yue Feng stood before the window, looking down on the surrounding buildings from his high vantage point.

"Let him laugh if he wants."

"Nothing is set in stone yet. The future is unwritten, and no one knows what will happen."

...

In the Martial Arts Room

Lin Qi put down his Long Spear, feeling restless. The meal he’d just eaten was like a furnace in his stomach, filling him with so much excess energy that his body felt agitated.

So, he changed into the complimentary Martial Arts Uniform and began practicing his Fist Technique to vent his energy.

HUFF... HUFF...

Lin Qi’s breathing grew heavy. His whole body grew hot, his face flushed, and white steam began to rise from his skin.

Streams of heat surged into every corner of his body. If he didn’t use and absorb them, most of it would be wasted.

BAM! BAM!

He curved his palms into Tiger Claws and struck out fiercely. He mobilized his Qi Blood, and as his muscles moved violently, the surging Qi Blood began to temper his body.

Lin Qi executed one move after another. The hot currents of Qi Blood began to penetrate deeper, and endless power flooded his body.

He was like a dam filled to capacity, needing to release the pressure.

After finishing the Tiger Form Fist, he automatically switched to the Crane Form Fist, going back and forth, practicing them again and again.

His enhanced stomach frantically absorbed the nutritional meal he had eaten.

ROAR~

Lin Qi let out a great roar like that of a tiger. He seemed to transform into a fierce tiger on the hunt, and then a moment later, into a flying crane spreading its wings in the sky.

His body was like a great furnace. Amidst the intense heat, his Perception followed the streams of heat deep into every muscle.

It was as if he were forging steel, removing impurities to leave behind the essence, ultimately creating muscles as hard as steel.

[Through arduous training, your Qi and Blood Value has broken through. Qi and Blood Value +0.15]

[Through the Five Elements Fist, your proficiency with Fist Technique has increased. Fist Technique +1%]

[Qi and Blood Value: 8.85 → 9.0]

[Fist Technique: Tier Two 16% → 17%]

...

Hoo~

Lin Qi forcefully exhaled a turbid breath, the gust of air stirring a small breeze and revealing his astonishing lung capacity.

"So satisfying!"

Sweat trickled down his cheeks. Lin Qi felt refreshed and exhilarated. Today was a good day; not only had he signed the B-level Contract, but his Qi and Blood Value had also broken through.

’It’s all thanks to Master Yue’s 20,000-yuan nutritional meal,’ Lin Qi thought. ’The effect is just too powerful, several levels stronger than the ones at school.’

As he sat down to rest, Lin Qi took out his phone and sent a message on WeChat to the staff at the Chongming and Obsidian Martial Arts Dojos.

He informed them that he had signed with the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo, and he made sure to specifically mention it was a B-level Contract.

Meanwhile, inside the Chongming Martial Arts Dojo, Dongfang Qi was dumbfounded when she saw the message.

"He really signed a B-level Contract?"

"Are the people at Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo out of their minds?"

She then sent a screenshot of the message to her deputy manager. He didn’t say anything after seeing it, simply sighing with a resentful look in his eyes. They had been the first to discover him, after all.

"What a pity!"

Over at the Obsidian Martial Arts Dojo, the staff member was surprised but also forwarded the message to their manager.

The chubby manager, however, burst out laughing when he heard:

"Looks like the old goose hunter finally got pecked in the eye."

"I’m sure of it, Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo definitely got scammed this time. Good thing I was smart enough to steer clear."

"I can’t wait to see the look on that guy Sunx Wang’s face when he’s regretting this so much it makes him sick."

...

That evening, Lin Qi and his mom, Fang Huiyi, had dinner with Manager Sunx in the Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo’s cafeteria.

Afterward, they walked Fang Huiyi out to see her off.

At the main gate of the Martial Arts Dojo, Lin Qi waved as he watched his mom get into a private car and drive away.

"Manager Sunx, I won’t trouble you any further," Lin Qi said, turning his head to thank him.

"Alright. Feel free to contact me anytime if you need anything."

Manager Sunx nodded, then walked back toward the dojo and soon disappeared from sight.

Nearby, Guo Heng, who was just getting out of a luxury car, happened to see this scene and froze, a stunned look on his face.

The scene was exactly as Lv Xiang and the other two had described. He walked closer and asked, confused:

"Lin Qi, what’s going on with you? How did you get so close with Manager Sunx?"

"Aheng, you’re here!"

Jiangtao walked out of the main gate, greeting Guo Heng with a smile when he saw him.

"Aheng, let’s talk somewhere else," Lin Qi said with a smile.

...