章 7: Chapter 7: Mastery of Cannon Fist (Requesting Monthly Ticket)
"Classmate Bai?"
Fang Xing greeted politely, knowing that this classmate Bai had come looking for him and his friend.
"I'm... I'm sorry, I was too heavy-handed just now."
Bai Lianyi's eyes were gentle, her voice carrying a slight tremble, like that of a little girl who had done something wrong.
Paired with her demeanor, it inexplicably made Liu Wei feel a mix of pity and bewilderment.
Had he seen her before at the Splendid Riverside Residence, or was it someone else?
"Not at all, not at all. In martial arts sparring, some injuries are inevitable..."
Liu Wei quickly said, "How could I blame you, classmate?"
"That's good."
Bai Lianyi took out an old frog-shaped wallet from her bosom and pulled out a campus card, "Please make sure to charge this treatment fee to my account..."
The warm sunshine streamed through the tree shade and fell on the girl's face, which appeared steadfast and pure.
...
"Do you think... we might have misunderstood her?"
After leaving the infirmary, Liu Wei looked somewhat bewildered, "I sneaked a peek just now, and classmate Bai doesn't have many Star Coins on her card..."
'Young man, that's because your level is too low...'
Fang Xing thought to himself and then seriously said, "Whether we did or not, it has nothing to do with us; we haven't spread any rumors..."
"Yes, fortunately."
Liu Wei carefully stored the campus card, "I need to return this to her as soon as possible..."
He could already picture classmate Bai working part-time jobs and struggling to afford meals.
Seeing this, Fang Xing was particularly speechless internally.
'This essence of youth... even if it's foolish, even if it's awkward... it is still... youth.'
'Anyway, Liu Wei is not in her league, so whatever...'
He had a feeling that Bai Lianyi's visit didn't hold any malice, and it was all just a show.
On his way back to Happiness Garden District, he received several parcels.
"Hmm, not bad..."
Fang Xing looked at the selfie stick in his hand and the drone next to it and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
With all these prepared, plus the air detection devices and weapons, he was pretty much set with a makeshift Otherworld exploration kit.
'There are also gravity detection and other devices... The school training room has them, I wonder if I can borrow them, that would save a large amount...'
Since the school was training interstellar warriors to deal with dangerous environments on different planets, at Cultivation High, there were specific courses for combating on alien stars.
Fang Xing felt that even if it were an Otherworld, following the procedures laid out in the textbooks, he shouldn't encounter any major problems.
...
Several days later.
Happy Home District.
Training room.
Fang Xing, dressed in casual clothes, struck the Great Dragon Stance, his sweat pouring off him like syrup.
"59 minutes..."
"60 minutes!"
"Time's up!"
Fang Xing flopped down on the floor, huffing and puffing, "As expected, an hour a day of Great Dragon Stance is pretty much my limit, isn't it? But... limits are there to be broken."
During this time, he had challenged his own limits multiple times and could finally increase from doing the stance twice for 30 minutes to holding it once for 60 minutes.
It wasn't that he couldn't stand longer, but it would likely harm his body, doing more harm than good.
"Teacher Xia Long's assessment was accurate. One hour of Pile Skill every day is the limit for most students..."
Though he could challenge his limits, if it cost him his health, Fang Xing was not willing.
Catch his breath for a while, he stood up and went to the bathroom to clean up.
Once he had changed into fresh clothes, he nearly collapsed into the chair, assumed the most comfortable position, and examined his attribute panel:
[Name: Fang Xing]
[Age: 16]
[Profession: Martial Artist]
[First Realm: Skin and Flesh (Refine Skin: 23/100)]
[Military Boxing Twelve Styles: 60/100 (Beginner)]
[Great Dragon Stance: 70/100 (Beginner)]
[Gate of All Heavens: 9/100 (Locating)]
...
"Nine days left until the transit..."
"Based on observations, if there's no external advice like Teacher Xia Long's guidance, just relying on my own hard practice, I could perhaps increase the proficiency of Great Dragon Stance by one point every three days..."
"As for moves like military boxing, having guidance indeed makes a difference, and progress is quicker."
"The progress of refining my skin and flesh will accelerate with the advancement of Great Dragon Stance, but at this point, I can't create any significant boost..."
"At this rate, in over three months, I would at most advance Great Dragon Stance and military boxing to the next level, but it would be hard to break through the Martial Artist Realm... and even within the Skin and Flesh Realm, I'll still only be at the superficial stage of Refine Skin, not Refine Flesh!"
Just refining skin wasn't enough to set a significant gap from an ordinary person.
Fang Xing thought for a moment and suddenly felt a bit irritable.
'Damn it...'
'Why am I pushing myself so hard?'
'Lying around like a salted fish isn't too bad either, right? At least I can scrape by for three years of high school...'
'The Otherworld is too dangerous, why take the risk?'
A jumble of thoughts surfaced, and Fang Xing carefully pondered them.
'Just after transiting here, did I still harbor confusion, fear, and other negative emotions?'
After analyzing his mentality, he put on his holographic glasses.
Don't panic when faced with issues, play a couple of games first.
"F*ck, do you even know how to move?"
"Are you in elementary school?"
"What kind of crappy mechanism is this, I'd rather play adult-only games..."
```
...
After venting his frustrations, Fang Xing couldn't help but feel very relaxed, until he received a text message that reminded him:
[Dear Mr. Fang Xing, your current account balance is 754.23 Star Coins.]
"Damn... That's not enough money."
Fang Xing's expression became immediately very serious.
Purchasing entry-level Nano Protective Suits, drones, and a range of other products had added insult to injury to his already tight budget.
"I have to work, still forced to work..."
"I was forced to work in my past life, and even after crossing over, I'm still forced to work. Didn't that make my crossing over pointless?"
Just then, a communication came through.
"Ah Xing, we've got a customer, on the clock!"
Liu Wei's holographic image appeared.
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Fang Xing, with a piece of bread in his mouth, hurried out the door.
...
Green Water Mansion.
"I want to beat ten of you!"
An eleven or twelve-year-old brat yelled arrogantly.
"Mmm, Wenwen is the best."
Beside him, an average-looking but tenderly smiling mother was encouraging him.
'I'm so envious...'
Liu Wei gave Fang Xing a look.
'Father is not often at home to train the child... This is our opportunity.'
Fang Xing, however, had a thought and gestured.
Immediately after, they both faced the little brat.
"Watch my Light Wave Fist!"
The kid threw a punch that didn't even have proper power.
Seeing this, Fang Xing and Liu Wei calmed down, knowing they had landed an easy customer.
At least, not a tricky one like that Gu Yun last time.
"Ah!"
Fang Xing was the first to take a punch, then he howled and flew backward as if hit hard.
Liu Wei followed suit, scuffling back and forth with the kid...
Two hours later, the two men left arm-in-arm, smiles of contentment on their faces: "This young master is really easy to please... Last time was definitely a rip-off!"
Liu Wei still had a strong impression of that Gu Yun from last time.
If all the customers were like that, he would have quit long ago.
At that moment, as he rubbed his shoulders, his expression turned suspicious: "Ah Xing... why do I feel like you had an easier time than I did?"
"It's simple, because I wore protective clothes... the kid couldn't tell the difference."
Fang Xing answered seriously.
"Come on, you cheated... Wait, you actually bought protective clothing, can't make ends meet?"
Liu Wei's eyes widened, then he earnestly said, "You're not thinking of going down some crooked path, are you? City Hunters and bounties and all that, without being in the Third Realm, it's just courting death..."
"What are you talking about?"
Fang Xing didn't want to dwell on the topic, instead, he changed the subject: "Speaking of which, you've been quite close with that Bai Lianyi lately, what's up with that?"
"I... We're just friends from school."
Liu Wei immediately replied, his eyes clear, and his expression candid.
"Really? That Bai fellow isn't simple; just don't forget what we saw before..." Fang Xing reminded him.
"I'm sure she's not... Besides, for us bio-people, seizing every opportunity to climb higher is instinct," Liu Wei waved it off: "...It's no big deal."
After entering the interstellar era, indeed, a messy personal life didn't count for much.
Fang Xing studied Liu Wei a few more times, making sure that the latter was not troubled by love, and felt somewhat puzzled.
'I always feel there's something off... If Bai Lianyi isn't the issue, then that makes it even bigger. Liu Wei getting close to her might not be a good thing.'
'I should remind him more in the future.'
Of course, given their current friendship, that was about all he could do.
As for secretly investigating Bai Lianyi on behalf of Liu Wei, Fang Xing clearly wouldn't do such a thing; he had enough on his plate.
'Next up, just focus on cultivation...'
Fang Xing quietly resolved himself.
...
As an Education Planet, Chuying Star couldn't be considered 100% safe, but it had pretty good public security.
Plus, before, Fang Xing was just an ordinary high school student with very simple relationships.
He was also always low-key, not causing trouble, so the probability of trouble finding him was extremely low.
In a blink of an eye, a month had quietly passed by.
Yucai High School.
Fang Xing swung his right arm, striking out with a punch.
Boom!
The void seemed to resound with the blast of a cannon, startling the surrounding classmates.
"Is this... this is... priceless for the sound of one cannon?"
One of the students marveled: "Fang Xing, has your Bow Step Cannon Fist reached a minor level of proficiency?"
"It was just entering the right state by chance..."
Fang Xing closed his eyes, as if trying to capture that feeling.
In truth, he knew that once he had accomplished it, this true 'Cannon Fist' could certainly be achieved again next time!
At the moment, his closed eyes were merely focused on the attribute bar.
However, the other students went from a bit shocked to quickly finding reasons to convince themselves.
Everyone had seen Fang Xing's progress; he improved a little every day, and this 'Bow Step Cannon Fist' was what he practiced a lot.
Reaching a minor level of proficiency now seemed almost expected... maybe it made sense?
```
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