Li Cang kept punching until past 2 AM, finally stopping to rest only when his arms were so sore they felt useless and he couldn't lift them.
“Martial Arts Skill: Righteous Fist Way (Initiation 23%)”
The proficiency increased quickly at first, but gradually slowed down, eventually settling at 23%.
Li Cang was very satisfied with this.
At this rate, he could unexpectedly reach the First Order before the first mock exam.
By then, if he learned one or two moves of the Righteous Fist Way, he would definitely amaze everyone in the practical combat test.
“At the very least, I can avoid being at the bottom…”
Li Cang yawned and lay on his bed, too lazy even to wash up, and fell into a deep sleep the moment he closed his eyes.
Sunday morning.
After a deep sleep, the soreness in Li Cang’s arms not only didn’t lessen but became even more intense.
“This is the result of not exercising for a long time.”
Although the soreness would automatically recover after a few days, Li Cang couldn’t wait that long.
He took out his phone and bought ten bottles of quick muscle pain relief potions, which were delivered to his door by same-city express in less than an hour.
He injected one into each arm, and the soreness disappeared in a few minutes.
He continued to punch to increase his proficiency.
Besides straight punches, he also practiced basic movements like hooks, uppercuts, and tried more complex punching movements.
The result was that only basic punching could increase proficiency.
Other complex punching movements, whether combination punches from boxing or Chu Kun’s punches in the holodeck, could not increase proficiency.
In the evening.
After Li Cang persistently threw an unknown number of punches, the Righteous Fist Way increased from Initiation 23% to 51%, just over halfway.
He was also sprawled on the ground, his arms aching as if they were about to explode; the potions could no longer eliminate the pain, only slightly alleviate it.
“I should rest…”
Li Cang shook his arms, painstakingly opened a can of iced cola, and tilted his head back to drink it all, instantly feeling refreshed from head to toe.
He had just ordered takeout when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Opening the door, he saw Qin Yang standing there with a playful grin, immediately putting his arm around Li Cang’s neck upon seeing him.
“Cang Zi, what are you doing at home?”
“Practicing punching.”
“Come on, stop pretending. I know you, you always have a three-minute passion whenever you try to work hard, don’t you?”
“Things are different now.”
Li Cang had never had a three-minute passion.
As long as it was something he wanted to accomplish, he would persevere consistently, and he would definitely succeed in the end.
“Give it up, haven’t you accepted your fate yet?”
Qin Yang said mockingly, “For rich second-generation slackers like us, we’re destined to live a carefree life. As for traversing the Star Sea or reaching the pinnacle of the Azure Dome, don’t even think about those things that are completely unrelated to us.”
“Have you eaten? Should I order some takeout for you too?”
Li Cang was too lazy to explain to him and casually changed the subject.
Qin Yang pouted, “Why eat takeout? It’s much better if we go out for a big meal, and then relax and have some fun afterward.”
“No.”
“How boring…”
Qin Yang, losing interest, waved his hand and left.
Just as Li Cang was about to close the door, he suddenly saw a cluster of crimson and colorful flames erupting in the distant night sky.
The flames rapidly spread across the horizon, like a fiery phoenix soaring with outstretched wings.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!—!!”
Ten seconds later.
A dull, thunder-like sound came from afar.
“A new Disaster Rift?”
Li Cang was slightly stunned.
The Disaster Rift is a common natural disaster in the Nine Great Star Domains.
The Nine Great Star Domains encircle each other, forming the vast Cangqiong Star Ring.
And at the center of the Cangqiong Star Ring is a terrifying star domain where space and time are extremely chaotic, and countless Disaster Beasts run rampant—the Black Devouring Realm.
The essence of the Disaster Rift is a series of “spatial fissures” connected to the Black Devouring Realm.
For thousands of years, every year, a large number of Disaster Rifts would appear without warning in various places across the Nine Great Star Domains.
These Disaster Rifts themselves are not dangerous; what is dangerous are the terrifying Disaster Beasts and bizarre secret realms from the Black Devouring Realm that emerge from within the rifts.
They poured out of the Disaster Rifts, causing countless disasters to the Nine Great Star Domains.
“Viewers! You are watching a live broadcast, this is the scene of a sudden incident in Haifu District…”
Li Cang opened his phone and searched for Xiyuan City, and the first result was a live news broadcast.
In the picture.
A female reporter held a microphone, her expression grave as she reported:
“Many viewers saw the unusual phenomenon in the night sky just now. That was not a Disaster Rift, but an armed robbery at the Great Xia Bank, where the robber fired something similar to a flare into the sky.”
“It can currently be confirmed that the robber is a male around thirty years old, acting alone, and has taken multiple hostages inside the bank…”
Just then, someone nearby screamed—
“Look! The robber is out!”
The next moment, the live camera immediately zoomed in and focused on the top-floor window of the Great Xia Bank building.
By the window.
A man in black held a unconscious little girl hostage, his eyes cold as he looked down at the gathering police, and the quickly arriving Zhenwu Bureau cultivators and Seven Luminaries Division cultivators.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want money. Don’t push me too hard…”
The man in black was undoubtedly the robber.
And his face made Li Cang’s eyes widen in shock, and he let out an incredulous gasp:
“Ah??”
He knew this robber.
Not only did he know him, but he was very familiar with him—Uncle Niu, his neighbor Niu Heng, who had played with him since he was a child.
“Uncle Niu really went to rob a bank?!”
Recalling their meeting the night before last, he never expected a casual joke he made would actually come true today.
This can’t be something I willed into existence, can it?
Li Cang scratched his neck.
“I didn’t expect Uncle Niu to be so formidable, daring to rob a bank so brazenly. He must be at least a cultivator of the Third Realm of Hidden Illumination…”
In his previous life, any ordinary person with a gun, as long as they were bold enough, could rob a bank.
But this world was different.
With cultivation systems of martial arts and spellcraft, many powerful cultivators were like omnipotent supermen who could fly and burrow. Without strong power to support them, they definitely wouldn’t dare to casually rob a bank.
Just then, Niu Heng in the live broadcast took out his phone and made a call in front of everyone.
“Uncle Niu is Uncle Niu, even robbing a bank with such arrogance, making a call in front of so many police and cultivators…”
Li Cang’s admiring words stopped halfway.
Because his phone rang—
“Buzz buzz buzz!!”
His phone vibrated, and the caller ID showed—Uncle Niu!
“He’s calling me??”
Li Cang’s eyes widened even further, and after much hesitation, he still answered this strange call from Niu Heng.
“Uncle Niu, you…”
“Don’t speak, just listen to me first!”
Niu Heng’s tone was serious, and he spoke quickly in a low voice: “Cang Zi, do me a favor. Now I can only trust you.”
“At the old spot, I left something for you. Remember, absolutely do not open it. That thing is very dangerous. Take it to Chunzhuo Commercial Street in Beihe District, and find a place called Zero Cafe.”
“Once you get there, don’t say anything. Go to the restroom and stay for six hours, then just hand the thing to the owner.”
After Niu Heng finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Li Cang to speak.
“Phew! I can only entrust it to Cang Zi…”
Niu Heng took a deep breath, crushed the phone in his hand, and returned to the bank with the little girl.
On this side.
Li Cang, however, was utterly bewildered.
It wasn’t confusion about the content of Niu Heng’s words, but from his perspective, Niu Heng’s words were only half-spoken—
“At the old spot, I left something for you. Remember…”
After “remember,” there was no sound, only crackling static, and then Niu Heng hung up the phone.
“Remember what?”
“Why did it go silent halfway through??”