Chapter 59: No Surprises!

Chapter 59: No Surprises!

By the time the monthly assessment ended, it was already noon.

Xue Jing rolled his wrists, placed the notebook with the recorded scores in the office, and headed to the cafeteria for a herbal meal. After lunch, he navigated through a few turns and arrived at a room door.

Pushing it open, he was greeted by an intense aroma of medicinal herbs.

The room resembled a traditional Chinese pharmacy, with countless wall cabinets lining all four walls, each filled with numerous drawers. A rough estimate put their number in the hundreds, and each drawer was made of a reddish solid wood material with an inscription indicating the type of medicine within.

This was the Dragon Sect's medicine storage room. Aside from the walls lined with medicinal drawers, there was also a large table in the center of the room used for mixing medicines, and it was filled with various tools for that purpose.

Xue Jing skillfully picked up a weighing pan from the table and began selecting the herbs needed for the day from the various cabinets.

Once he had finished selecting, the pan was filled to the brim. He then carried the pan to the mixing table and began preparing the Dragon Sect's body-refining secret elixir according to the steps taught by Li Qi.

After the mixture was ready, Xue Jing poured all the herbs into a container similar to an electric kettle, added the appropriate amount of water, and turned it on to let it simmer.

After completing these tasks, Xue Jing picked up a notebook and a pen from the mixing table and opened it to record the specific quantities of the herbs he had used.

When he was done, he calculated the cost based on the price list next to it, amounting to about 12,000 Z Xia coins.

"Who can afford to practice martial arts as a regular person..." Xue Jing sighed.

Half an hour later, a ding sounded, indicating that the secret elixir was ready.

Xue Jing picked up a vaporizer similar to a thermos flask, opened the lid, and poured the dark concoction inside.

The black liquid emitted a strong, pungent odor, but Xue Jing's expression remained unchanged, as he had already grown accustomed to it.

After pouring the liquid, Xue Jing left the storage room, closed the door, and returned to his training room.

He placed the vaporizer aside, took a deep breath, struck a pose, and began practicing the day's Shake Armor Technique.

There were five sets of movements to this technique, and he practiced one set each day, cycling through them every five days. Today's practice focused on 'bone training.'

As he manipulated his breathing, Xue Jing assumed various strange and evidently challenging poses.

At the end of each movement, his body would tremble like the shake of a true dragon's armor, followed by countless bone-chilling vibrations emanating from within, resembling the rumbling of thunder in a sky filled with dark clouds.

Intense pain and a burning sensation emanated from the depths of his bone marrow, but Xue Jing remained unmoved, his expression unchanged. He continued his slow and steady practice of the Shake Armor Technique.

Time passed, unknown how long.

With the final tremor, the bone-rattling sounds ceased, and Xue Jing slowly regulated his breathing, standing still.

He seemed to have gained some insight, vaguely grasping something from this set of bone-training movements in the Shake Armor Technique. However, the feeling was fleeting and elusive, slipping away before he could grasp it fully.

"Master said that this set of bone-training movements corresponds to one of the Dragon Sect's Five Great Killing Techniques, the 'Sealing Cloud Tail,'" Xue Jing thought to himself. "'It utilizes one's formidable bone structure to draw in and withstand an opponent's force, amplifying it with one's own power before unleashing a devastating counterstrike.'"

"Perhaps a sufficiently intense real battle would help me capture that fleeting inspiration..."

Xue Jing pondered.

Shaking his head, he picked up the vaporizer, put it on, and pressed the button. He inhaled the dark vapor, employing the corresponding breathing technique to draw it into his lungs.

As he manipulated his breathing, he glanced at the panel:

Fitness Lv.6 (2108/3000)



Health Maintenance Lv.4 (669/1200)



Culinary Arts Lv.4 (681/1200)



Running Lv.5 (1821/2000)



Charm Technique Lv.5 (335/2000)



Aiming Lv.5 (227/2000)



Martial Arts Lv.5 (785/2000)



Power Control Lv.6 (733/3000)



Visualization Lv.3 (337/800)



Over the past week or so, he had dedicated himself to diligent martial arts practice and leveling up his other skills, yielding abundant results.

His Aiming skill had reached Level 5, enhancing his precision, eyesight, reaction speed, and more.

As for the daily practical training with Sister Meng, his close-quarters combat skills had also leveled up again.

His Visualization had also leveled up during his cultivation of the Coiling Dragon Technique, further enhancing his mental and spiritual abilities, and the 'Dragon Qi' in his body grew increasingly prominent.

Of course, there were also some gains that couldn't be directly seen on the panel.

The practice of the five sets of Shake Armor Technique movements had strengthened his flesh, tendons, bones, and blood, although these improvements weren't reflected on the panel. Still, Xue Jing could clearly feel the benefits.

For example, he could now exert soft strength, which was due not only to the growth of his Power Control skill but also to the 'blood training' aspect of the Shake Armor Technique.

Blood is the source of power in the human body, and purer, higher-quality blood allows for smoother circulation of strength, much like adding lubricant to a gear, making it silky smooth.

Staring at the transcendence conditions for the Fitness skill for a while, Xue Jing closed his eyes and carefully manipulated his breathing technique, silently absorbing the medicinal vapor.

...

On the other side, in the North District, within a certain villa.

In the spacious and luxurious living room, Pei Youguang sat on a sofa in the corner, fidgeting and feeling out of place.

He couldn't help but glance at the group of people sitting together in the center of the room, chatting and laughing, his expression complex.

He felt very out of place among them.

Pei Youguang looked towards the center of the group at a handsome young man.

He was dressed in a very simple and casual style, but the phrase "clothes make the man" didn't seem to apply to him; instead, it was as if the man made the clothes look good.

His clean and handsome face bore a warm smile like the sun, and he chatted and laughed with the group of wealthy young men and ladies without the slightest hint of awkwardness, even seeming to be the center of attention.

That simple outfit looked like a gorgeous banquet dress on him.

Only a brother like the eldest young master deserves to be here... Pei Youguang sighed and looked at his eldest brother, Pei Tiancheng, lost in thought.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of a figure.

'Hmm... If it were Brother Jing, perhaps he could compare with my eldest brother,' he thought.

Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen Brother Jing. Lately, he's been taking leave of absence and hasn't come to school for many days.

The last time I saw him at school, he said he had joined a martial arts school and became a personal disciple... I'm so envious.

"Youguang, why are you sitting so far away? Come over here, I have something to tell you."

At that moment, a gentle voice sounded from the center of the group, belonging to his eldest brother, Pei Tiancheng.

Pei Youguang started and quickly got up to join him, finding a spot to sit down.

In his haste, he bumped into a girl with exquisite makeup, who gave him a dirty look, turned her mouth in disdain, and clicked her tongue, seemingly about to say something, but when she saw Pei Tiancheng, she remained silent.

"Tomorrow is Young Master Ye's banquet. Remember to dress nicely and don't disgrace the Pei family."

Pei Tiancheng spoke.

His voice was consistently gentle, and it sounded pleasant, causing a few of the young ladies from wealthy families to reveal smiles.

"Ah? Do I have to go too?"

Pei Youguang's plump face showed a hesitant expression.

What's the point of me going? To make up the numbers? A man sitting on the sofa, dressed elegantly, spoke up: "Young Master Pei's younger brother is also a talented and handsome man. How could he disgrace you?"

"However, the hotel where the banquet is being held is where the serial killer has been spotted. If there's any danger, Young Master Pei, please don't focus on protecting only your biological younger brother and neglect us, your adopted younger brothers and sisters."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the living room burst into laughter, and their eyes lit up with excitement when they heard that the serial killer might appear.

Holding a banquet in a hotel where a serial killer might appear is so thrilling; it's like something out of a detective novel! Pei Tiancheng shook his head with a smile.

"Rest assured, everyone. Although I'm not very skilled, I do have some martial arts training. As for that rat who only preys on weak and helpless women, I don't even put him in my eyes."

His tone remained consistently gentle, but a strong sense of confidence couldn't be hidden.

"I assure you all that tomorrow night's banquet will be a wonderful event, and no accidents will occur."

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end