Chapter 26: Chapter 22
Inside a large gym on the top floor of a hotel.
About a dozen men and women were sweating profusely as they exercised on various fitness machines, venting their extra energy.
A young man working on the butterfly machine for his chest muscles was the most eye-catching among them.
The butterfly machine involves bringing two arms continuously together in the middle, exerting force to exercise the chest muscles, and the resistance can be adjusted by the weights suspended from the machine behind the user.
Ordinary gym-goers would have just four or five plates stacked together. A slightly stronger person might manage a dozen or so weight plates, equivalent to tens of pounds. But this young man, with muscles coiled and twisted on his body, caused a huge crashing noise behind him each time he opened and closed the machine, as more than thirty 5-kilogram plates were lifted and then dropped heavily. The loud thumping sounds made the others in the gym glance over now and then.
"Clap clap clap." At the door, Lu Jun clapped his hands and smiled. Lin Fei stood by his side.
After drawing everyone's attention, Lu Jun cleared his throat.
"Everyone, please stop for a moment, today our Ping City branch has a new member joining. I brought him over to have a look around."
Silence fell across the gym. Nobody spoke, and all eyes shifted from Lu Jun to Lin Fei. The dozen or so scrutinizing gazes gathered on him were a bit pressuring.
"Anyway, we're all going to die sooner or later. What's the point of introductions?" The most eye-catching young man in front of the butterfly machine said indifferently.
"The top three floors here are available for us to live in for free, food is provided at no cost, and of course, if you're interested, some special services are available," the young man said with a smile, flashing a white-toothed grin. "Newcomer, since we're all about to die, enjoy yourself early. At least you won't have lived in vain."
"Let's go, sigh..." Lu Jun shook his head, speaking softly, "They're always like this."
Lin Fei nodded and took one last glance at the young man with the sunny smile and a hint of hidden depth in his eyes before turning away.
After leaving the gym, Lu Jun explained quietly, "Don't mind them, you're not like them. You're someone who has received a Combat Power identity card, while they're just non-graded members. It's natural for them to be pessimistic."
"So how many members with Combat Power cards are there locally?" Lin Fei asked softly.
"Including you, forty-three," Lu Jun replied calmly. "Of those, only one holds a D-grade. These details are not important. With your level of access, you can also consult this information in the data room. The people you just saw are just this year's new members. Old members usually don't come to the hotel's branch, except when issuing or receiving missions. It's hard for you to see them."
"Right, isn't there supposed to be a car service? I'm underage and can't drive yet," Lin Fei changed the subject with a smile.
"The so-called car service doesn't mean the club will provide a personal chauffeur. In a moment, you can pick a car from the garage yourself. The club will take care of your age and driver's license issues. However, keep in mind that you only have the right to use these public cars, not ownership. F-grade members have the right to select their own vehicle."
Shifting to a lighter topic, Lu Jun also relaxed, "But once you choose, you can't change it after registration. If you have no luck and pick a bad one, it's no one else's concern. Consider yourself unlucky."
Lu Jun led Lin Fei into the elevator, heading down to the lowest underground parking garage.
Even during the day, when the sun is bright, the underground parking garage is somewhat gloomy, despite the ventilation holes and skylights opened all around. Walking to the very back, two strong young men were already waiting, vigorously pulling up the roll-up door and then turning on the lights inside.
Suddenly, more than a dozen colorful sedans could be seen parked side by side.
Lu Jun walked in first.
"If you choose a sedan, then the club will pay for its maintenance. But if you choose a motorcycle or bicycle from the side, we'll subtract the difference from the lowest fund of one hundred and fifty thousand allocated for a car and compensate you the difference in cash. It's a simple choice between a car and money," Lu Jun said, patting the nearest black sedan and tugging on the plastic film covering it.
Lin Fei knew that, with his current age and background, choosing a car would definitely cause a stir; a high school student from a family not well-off, suddenly owning a car would be suspicious in anyone's eyes.
"Can I convert all of it into cash?" Lin Fei asked.
"If that's what you want, you can," replied Lu Jun, apparently not surprised by Lin Fei's choice.
"Actually, over eighty percent of the members choose the cash. It's a wise choice, I must say."
"Does every member get that much money?"
"No, only the graded members receive it."
Suddenly, Lu Jun reached out his hand.
"Well, now you're fully one of us," he said.
Lin Fei looked at his hand and reached out as well, gripping it.
"This isn't really something to be happy about," he said quietly.
************
At night, the chirping of crickets in the summer night was intermittent. Around the dim streetlights, swarms of flying insects gathered.
Lin Fei sat at the study desk in his bedroom, occasionally hearing the noise of children yelling and frolicking in the yard below. Under the bright desk lamp, there was a clean sheet of photocopy paper, briefly listing a few lines of information.
'Zhao Jun, deputy captain of the city's criminal police squad. Sun Hai, an ordinary criminal police officer.
Fang Dawei, a retired official. Former head of Ping City Public Security Bureau. Fang Xiaoxiao, Fang Dawei's granddaughter. A high school freshman at Shencheng No.2 Secondary School.'
He recalled the words Lu Jun told him when he brought him home during the day.
"The Fang Family has deep-rooted influence locally. Since you have no intention to take them down, there won't be much obstruction. However, as far as I know, the two people you want to teach a lesson to, the ones who had a conflict with you, are very much related to the major drug trafficking case that was just cracked."
"What relation?"
"Zhao Jun was the one leading the team at that time, heh, unfortunately, despite having sufficient intelligence and an informant turning against them on the spot, more than ten detectives led by Lu Jun allowed the most important suspect to escape successfully. It must be said, they truly have some skill."
"I see," Lin Fei understood the implications.
"There's a mission in the association related to this drug trafficking case, do you want to take it?" Lu Jun's face was full of smiles, which suddenly looked like a sneer to Lin Fei.
"If there was nothing wrong with him, you certainly wouldn't be so eager." Lin Fei was speechless. Lu Jun had clearly calculated that he would definitely take the mission.
"Of course," Lu Jun was frank, "In a few days, a member who also took on this mission will contact you. The personnel limit for this mission is three people, and you happen to be the third. We're also considered to be striving for national stability. You should feel honored."
.......
His thoughts returned to the present.
"I'll wait for the other members to contact me. Right now, the most crucial issue is to recover." He fell into silence for a while.
Lin Fei slowly closed his eyes. The image of the first pattern from the Qi Cultivation section once again emerged in his mind.
He had discovered in the afternoon that visualizing the first pattern greatly aided the recovery of his thigh injury.
The corresponding Hand Seal naturally formed in his hands.
As his spiritual power became highly concentrated, along with the visualization, strands of warm vitality flowed quickly from various parts of his body, then rapidly converged on the injured part of his thigh. Suddenly, a tingling and itching sensation spread from the wound. Lin Fei knew this was a clear sign that his body was beginning to heal rapidly.
Since his rebirth a month ago, Lin Fei had always felt that, although he had cultivated Qi Cultivation and Basic Sword Technique, he had not shown much that was out of the ordinary. The Sword Dao True Solution, this enigmatic secret manual, seemed to be entirely devoid of the expected power.
If judged by the rate of progress, it was still uncertain whether he could withstand that red-haired man in a few years. After a month of cultivation, he had only just reached an F-tier Combat Power, and that was barely. This rate of progression was frustratingly slow. Moreover, today's events had made Lin Fei acutely aware of a very extreme weapon in the world—firearms. It could allow an ordinary person, who had only received a few days of training, to instantly reach the peak F-tier Combat Power.
Today was the first time, the first time facing firearms, but in such a modern society, there might be many more occasions to face firearms in the future. He got away this time, but what about next time? Or the time after?
Lin Fei didn't know. A sense of urgency continuously compelled him; now that he had joined Shueisha and faced dangerous public missions, he couldn't do anything without stronger power, and there was always the possibility of death looming. Just Lu Jun was already stronger than him. What about the others?
Lin Fei had asked Lu Jun privately and knew that he was only an F-tier member. Then what about the D-tier members above him? How strong could they be?
"This book can't possibly have only this little effect." Lin Fei closed his eyes, his consciousness constantly roamed in the Sword Dao True Solution, seeking information that could rapidly enhance his abilities, or rather, instead of looking for a way to enhance quickly, it was more about finding the real cultivation techniques. Up until now, the methods Lin Fei had been using for cultivation had not been as profound as imagined.
The cover, the main content, the messages, the Basic Sword Technique section, the Qi Cultivation section. Parts of the content rapidly flipped through Lin Fei's consciousness, and he glossed over the parts that he could not read in detail.
Finally, after who knows how long, a line of small characters appeared in the appendix at the end of the Qi Cultivation section in front of Lin Fei.
"Note: Practicing the Qi Cultivation section, even those without the foundation of True Force seeds, can achieve the effect of strengthening the body."
The foundational True Force seed, that's the key!
Lin Fei suddenly understood; this sentence clearly implied that to practice the Qi Cultivation section, one must possess the foundational True Force seed. This might be the very thing Lin Fei had been lacking.
Nowhere else in the secret manual was it mentioned, only this sentence highlighted it, indicating that in their world, the foundational True Force seed must be the most basic element most people possessed.
In the world he resided in, however, there was no such thing.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone