Chapter 48 – Eighth Rank

“Swoosh—”

In a small bedroom, Lu Yuan, bare-chested, threw a punch into the air, performing a shadow boxing move.

His fist tore through the air, producing a sharp, whistling sound.

“12 strength points.”

After adding points, he tested himself privately.

Bench pressing over 200 kilograms, his boxing power directly shot up to over 240 kilograms.

He was almost reaching the boxing power standard of an amateur eighth rank.

Although it couldn’t yet produce the crisp sound that Lin Zhiqin’s shadow boxing once did, each of his punches now cut through the air with a fierce momentum.

“Each additional strength point is about a 1.5 times increase, which is quite exaggerated.”

“But the counterforce has also increased significantly. Luckily, my constitution is strong enough!”

After adding points for such a long time, Lu Yuan had figured out a few things.

Strength points, agility points, constitution points, and intelligence points—these four basic attributes seemed distinct but were actually closely related.

They balanced and complemented each other.

His initial idea of specializing in one attribute was now difficult to achieve at this stage.

Because, unlike a game character, the human body cannot handle extreme imbalances. Before becoming a “superhuman,” he might collapse first due to the imbalance among the four attributes.

It’s like a machine where all the gears fit together perfectly.

If one gear were suddenly changed, the entire machine’s operation would certainly malfunction.

“No choice, I have to be a well-rounded fighter.”

Lu Yuan stopped punching, lowered his hand, and slowly calmed his breathing.

In the past few days, he had another match with Lin Zhiqin at Mosa, which he won easily again.

As Lin Zhiqin said, there were no top players in the preliminaries. Last night’s opponent was taken down with just two kicks.

He wasn’t even as tough as the tank top muscleman from the first match.

Lu Yuan pulled out a gray cardboard box from under the bed and fished out a comic book from a pile of dusty comics. It was still the same “Superpower Machine Saga 3.”

He carefully took out a small stack of green bills from inside.

Ten thousand yuan!

“With what I’ve saved before and the scholarship from this final exam, I have over twenty thousand now. Once I save up to a hundred thousand, I’ll cash it out.”

Lu Yuan didn’t want to see Lu Xinghua and Zheng Qiuling constantly worried and stressed anymore.

“Whoosh•”

After putting the money back in place, Lu Yuan let out a deep breath.

He stood on the mat, preparing for a few seconds.

Then, his pupils dilated, and he entered a state of near-unconsciousness.

The eighteen moves of the crane stance were executed one by one in Lu Yuan’s hands.

He did it twice in a row before coming out of the state of [absolute concentration].

With the support of Level 3 [absolute concentration], his experience points for the crane stance steadily increased.

In just a few days, he estimated he would break through to Level 3, which would undoubtedly lead to an increase in attributes.

“Activate, [imaginary enemy]!”

Dripping with sweat, Lu Yuan began his regular real combat training in his mind while adjusting his breath and recovering his strength.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes, punching thoughtfully at the air in front of him.

Punch.

Punch again.

Constantly adjusting his force and punching movements.

After dozens of continuous punches, he closed his eyes again.

This cycle repeated over and over.

This was now Lu Yuan’s daily compulsory course.

In the mental space, he would “fight to the death” with Lin Zhiqin and Qin Feng and then, based on the insights gained at the moment of “death,” continuously mimic their “killer moves,” hoping to “reach the top in one step”!

This process lasted for over an hour.

When Lu Yuan’s face inevitably showed signs of fatigue, he stood up from the mat and sat back at his desk.

He took out a chocolate bar from the drawer.

He unwrapped it and put it in his mouth.

Lu Yuan flipped through the pile of books beside him and finally pulled out a copy of “Study of Ancient Languages,” slowly leafing through it.

He had found this book at the Library of Jiaoyan.

It contained information and introductions to three ancient languages, two of which were from the Baishan Era.

It was this aspect that caught Lu Yuan’s attention and led him to choose this direction for further study.

The sun was setting in the west.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock—”

The small alarm clock kept ticking forward.

Lu Yuan closed his book, stood up from his desk, and walked to the window to slightly adjust the blinds.

A ray of intense sunlight immediately shone in.

At 5 PM in July, the sun was still scorching.

The road, baked by the sun all day, looked lethargic. Downstairs, two stray dogs lay panting by the trash bin in front of a shop.

Lu Yuan noticed a child on the second-floor balcony of the building across the street, struggling to collect the laundry using a stool.

He watched for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.

[Congratulations, your [Student] professional level has increased!]

After an entire afternoon, he finally managed to gain the last twenty or so experience points for the [Student] profession.

Leveled up to Level 5.

He gained 1 attribute point and 1 skill point.

The attribute point could wait, but Lu Yuan was torn on how to allocate the skill point.

It definitely needed to be added to a core skill; that was beyond doubt.

The question was whether to add it to [A Moment of Inspiration] or [Imaginary Enemy].

On one hand, he was frustrated with the low trigger rate of Level 1 [A Moment of Inspiration].

On the other hand, he couldn’t afford not to level up [Imaginary Enemy].

This was crucial for unlocking the second core skill of the [Martial Artist] profession.

After some deliberation, Lu Yuan decided to add the point to [Imaginary Enemy].

With 1 skill point applied, [Imaginary Enemy] rose from Level 1 to Level 2.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes, ready to test the effects of the upgraded [Imaginary Enemy].

He reconsidered and opened his eyes.

After an entire afternoon of training and studying without a break, he felt mentally exhausted. Testing it tonight or tomorrow wouldn’t make much difference.

He left his bedroom to find the house empty.

After taking a shower and changing into clean, fresh clothes, he decided to go out.

Lin Zhiqin had arranged a match for him tonight.

Heading to the martial arts gym, having dinner, and meeting Lin Zhiqin would line up perfectly in terms of timing.

As he stepped out, a woman in her thirties, dressed in a white professional outfit with a good figure and pleasant appearance, was walking up the stairs.

Lu Yuan moved aside slightly, noticing that she was carrying something in her hand.

“Cat King Brand Strong Adhesive Mouse Trap.”

Through the plastic bag, Lu Yuan could see the contents clearly. His eyes shifted slightly, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Wang-Jie1, do you have a rat problem at home?”

Wang-Jie paused for a moment, then smiled slightly and nodded, “Yes, for some reason, we suddenly have rats at home these past two days. Last night, I was almost scared to death.”

Lu Yuan responded with a simple “Oh” and didn’t ask further.

Wang-Jie was a tenant living above his apartment. She was divorced and had a child, working a clerical job at a company in the city center. They knew each other since they lived in the same building.

Lu Yuan wondered if she blamed his family for the rat problem this time.

After all, his family ran a grains and oils shop, making them the prime suspects.

Reaching the first floor, Lu Yuan turned to the storage room behind the shop to take a look.

It was pitch dark inside, and he didn’t turn on the light. He could vaguely see a few adhesive mouse traps placed on top of the stacked rice bags.

Fortunately, there was no trace of the foul stench he dreaded the most.

Feeling somewhat relieved, Lu Yuan closed the door, walked through the shop, greeted his mom, Zheng Qiuling, and left.

Speaking of which, his elder sister, Lu Jing, had been unusually quiet lately.

Since their last visit to the hospital to see their grandfather and a brief video chat afterward, they hadn’t been in much contact.

She only occasionally sent a few photos or emojis.

“Sigh.”

A man who looked to be in his early thirties, clutching his chest, limped through the door.

He occasionally let out slight groans of pain.

Lu Yuan glanced at him a couple of times. Soon, someone walked in briskly and called out, “The tenth match is about to start.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuan carefully put on his red-eyed goat mask, stood up calmly, and walked out of the preparation room.

Footnote:

1. Wang-Jie(王姐): In Chinese culture, adding the word ‘姐’ (jiě) after someone’s name is a way to show respect, affection, or camaraderie towards a female.  It is a friendly and respectful way to address them, implying a sense of kinship or close relationship.