Chapter 35

After school, Lipu left the school alone and found a restaurant outside to have dinner, as usual, not planning to attend the evening self-study. Just as he had said, from the principal to the homeroom teacher, no one would strictly discipline him.

The reason was simple: he was not only a special student with a very delicate status at the school, but his exam results had never been lacking—thanks to the "portable personal terminal" from space, cheating was a breeze if he wanted to.

He still lived in the same residential complex. The savings Chenxin left required both identification and her presence to withdraw, and more money was in foreign banks. Fortunately, she had left him a debit card for daily use, with over 100,000 yuan that could be withdrawn from ATMs. It was barely enough for the teenager's life for a while.

Lipu didn't lie to Qin Xiaer; he indeed hadn't heard from Chenxian for three whole years.

Three years ago, the first thing he did after being released from the police station was to run to an internet cafe to search Yahoo and register the agreed-upon email address.

"Already registered" was the answer after entering the agreed email name. After that, Lipu tried various combinations of his name, but they were all registered. When he registered another email address unrelated to his name and sent a message to Chenxian, he waited for a long time, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response.

—His last connection with his childhood friend had been completely severed by human intervention.

It was undoubtedly the interference of Ditianxia. With the power behind that man, achieving this was effortless.

Being angry was meaningless. In fact, Aunt Xin had already clearly hinted when she left—only by surpassing her could he face the extremely dangerous and powerful forces behind Ditianxia.

During these three years, with the comprehensive assistance of the "War God Armament," Lipu's physical abilities had made great strides. He continued to refine the techniques he learned in those two and a half months. However, the more he progressed, the more he realized—completely surpassing Aunt Xin was a daunting concept.

There were five general stages of martial arts: Mingjin, Anjin, Huajin, Danjin, and even the ultimate stages of Jin Gang Bu Hui and Po Kong. The gap between each stage was significant, and the difficulty increased exponentially. The further one progressed, the more challenging it became, testing one's talent, will, wisdom, lineage, and even opportunities.

According to Ditianxia's description at the time, Chenxin was at the upper level of Danjin, capable of circulating inner energy. Such a person was a legendary figure in ancient times, likely not inferior to the Five Greats in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

To surpass her, perhaps only the land-bound immortals of Jin Gang Bu Hui and Po Kong.

Even with the "War God Armament," this was still an extremely difficult goal for Lipu. The "War God Armament" had many functions, especially in gradually enhancing physical strength, but it provided little help in terms of "techniques." He could only slowly explore the knowledge he had learned in those two and a half months.

Lipu truly cultivated Anjin at the end of last year, which was more than two and a half years later than his initial goal of achieving it at age 14.

It seemed like just a thin line, but the difference was vast. During these two and a half years, he even risked danger by activating the "Extreme Enhancement Mode" multiple times, pushing his body to the brink of collapse, but he could not break through this barrier.

Finally, one day, he calmed down, put everything aside, and, as if guided by a higher power, realized—Anjin was not just about speed and wrist strength.

Chenxin had said that the path of martial arts ultimately revolved around form, qi, spirit, and intent. The "form" of boxing techniques and the methods of generating power were the foundation, and he had already gained considerable insight with the shrimp-spring dog lineage as the base, becoming quite proficient. Although his bones and muscles had not fully developed, with the assistance of the War God Armament and his own relentless practice, the qi within his body, including his blood circulation, internal organs, tendons, and even his endocrine system, had already surpassed almost all Anjin-level masters.

However, "spirit" and "intent" were the difficult points. Cultivating mental and willpower was indeed a high bar for a 17-year-old. Judgment and intuition generally required a lot of sparring and real combat to hone.

To cultivate "spirit," one must first find—at least initially find—their own path. In one's mind, one must find that driving force.

Did he really like this kind of physical training? Perhaps he could save up enough funds in the War God Armament's trading system to buy spiritual energy training materials, which might be more powerful than any Earth martial techniques.

And with alien technology appearing, was this kind of training really useful? Perhaps the lucky countries that divided the starship's legacy had already discovered powerful equipment like the Kepu implant and the Cosmic Knight armor.

These questions had not escaped Lipu's mind. Occasionally, when he felt lost, he would feel discouraged and uncertain, wondering if he was just relying on luck to find an alien device, lacking any real talent.

But he ultimately persisted.

Unlike those peers who, after watching a few fighting comics or action movies, would suddenly want to be like the heroes in those works but couldn't maintain their enthusiasm, he genuinely loved martial arts. He loved the extraordinary physical abilities, the freedom to control his body, being more agile than a monkey, faster than a hawk, and fiercer than a tiger—ultimately, having superior physical abilities to everyone else.

He didn't strive for medals or honors like an athlete. He was a natural challenger, naturally pushing towards the peak.

This arduous, difficult, and seemingly unpromising "physical training" was, to him, like a self-entertaining game.

So, in the eyes of some neighbors and classmates, he became a little oddball.

He didn't hide his dedication in this area but naturally integrated it into his life. Whether eating, walking, reading, or whenever the mood struck, he would focus on refining the skills he had learned from Chenxin, along with his own insights.

Finally, on a certain day last year, while practicing, Lipu suddenly felt a moment of enlightenment and struck an empty space with his bare hand.

Although it was an empty strike, a clear "pang!" echoed, and the air around his fist rippled. In that instant, Lipu felt all his bones and muscles generating power in unison, his blood and qi surging into his fist, and an indescribable invisible force being "struck" outward.

Form and spirit combined, qi and intent merged. Only when these two aspects were integrated could one truly enter the realm of Anjin; when the entire body was filled with power and could move freely, it was Huajin.

The teenager had finally truly entered the sacred domain of martial arts, completely告别了过去的蛮力武勇。这一拳已经达到了古往今来几乎所有暗劲大拳师所能发挥出的巅峰极限——在“斗神武装”自带的“生命蓝图”日复一日的分子级修复、优化下，少年已经从“比普普通通略好那么一点点”的微妙资质、逐渐转变成了相当于天生神力的强悍躯体。

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