Chapter 36

Feeling utterly defeated by Aunt Chenxin and her two childhood sweethearts, Li Pu attributed his achievement of mastering the dark force at the age of sixteen to the help of alien black technology.

However, he didn't know that, at his age, learning the dark force in just over two months and mastering it on his own was considered an outstanding prodigy by a multitude of boxers throughout history. After all, being able to cultivate the bright force already made one a skilled practitioner, and countless martial artists spent their entire lives stuck at the peak of the bright force, unable to advance to the dark force.

Therefore, in society, a grand master of the dark force, with hundreds of disciples, could dominate a region and was hard to come by. If they were to make a move, a single punch could be worth a million in cash.

However, without the "Fighting God Armor"’s built-in medical system, with the young man's inconsistent training methods, he would either have died or ruined his body long ago.

From the first time he emitted the dark force last year until today, Li Pu had cultivated it in his arms, legs, and shoulders. He was still some distance away from the realm where a feather could not be added and a fly could not land. However, in terms of actual combat ability after comprehensive physical training, he was already at the level of "easily crushing" other normal grand masters of the dark force.

But even if he couldn't surpass Chenxin, catching up to her level within three to four years seemed unlikely. Fortunately, based on his experience over the years, Li Pu concluded that the subtle and life-threatening process of moving blood and qi was completely safe for him, thanks to the advanced medical maintenance system of the "Fighting God Armor," which was based on the user's life blueprint.

The alien gadget had many additional functions, and Li Pu was still studying them. In short, with this thing's help, even if he wasn't a genius, he became a super genius—after all, Li Pu felt he had a bit of talent.

Unfortunately, the "Earth Art Products" he listed on the trading platform didn't sell very well, and only a few items had been sold sporadically. After all, Li Pu just listed them and didn't manage them.

After deducting the fees for the trading platform, Li Pu had saved only a hundred or so silver star coins over the years. It wasn't enough to buy the desired psychic side textbooks, let alone count as pocket money. Li Pu was too lazy to spend much effort upgrading his personal platform store, so he continued to list "Debussy's Selected Works" for thin profit and high volume sales—well, from the sales figures, it was more like thin profit and low volume...

However, Li Pu also noticed that other stores on the pan-dimensional trading platform occasionally released some free sharing benefits. For example, e-books by a writer from a certain alien civilization, widely popular or niche art products, and even some bizarre technologies—of course, all of them were unsold.

So, Li Pu often wandered around countless small stores, but his account on the trading platform was bound to the lowest level of the "Fighting God Armor," with the personal title of "Apprentice." Therefore, he didn't have the authority to claim some of the better benefits.

The commercial product "Fighting God Armor" was born due to the "Super Universe Tournament," an incredibly popular pan-dimensional event. Besides the championship team receiving the honorary title of "Fighting God," other members or associate members equipped with "Fighting God Armor" products were ranked from low to high as "Star Hunter Apprentice," "Star Hunter Practitioner," "Star Hunter Master," and "Hunter Guild Saint." Each rank had different permissions on the platform.

Of course, as long as the funds were paid, almost any permission could be obtained.

Promotion from "Star Hunter Apprentice" to "Associate Practitioner" only required the "Fighting God Armor" system to review and approve the various indicators. However, advancing from "Associate Practitioner" to "Star Hunter Practitioner" required a formal examination. Li Pu, being both poor and powerless at the "Apprentice" level, could only take advantage of minor benefits or wait for platform promotions.

The "Fighting God Armor," as a portable personal terminal, could also function as a music player. While Li Pu was practicing today—1,000 punches, 1,000 kicks, plus strikes to the body, shoulders, and hips—he listened to the latest single PV of "Frozendemon Super Popular Songstress Furiya-chan~" that he had obtained for free from an alien store—"Bang Bang Bang Bang☆ Planet Explosion is the Heartbeat of Love!!"

This song was apparently a big hit, but it was released for free, seemingly not for profit but to promote the alien songstress from the "Frozendemon" race. Li Pu listened a few times, and although the pronunciation was a bit strange, the electronic sound and rhythm were outstanding, making him feel very excited and almost becoming a half-fan.

Li Pu's practice movements perfectly matched the rhythm of the music. Every ten punches, he would emit a dark force strike. Generally, dark force strikes should not be overused or consecutively emitted. Most grand masters of the dark force could only emit three to four strikes in a single practice session, and those with less skill needed to rest after one or two strikes to avoid damaging their internal organs and leaving hidden ailments.

However, the young man had no such concerns. Any precious and rare restorative secret formulas paled in comparison to the personal medical system of the "Fighting God Armor." Li Pu believed that as long as he didn't tear his heart to shreds or disintegrate, the alien medical system could save him...

While listening to the song that only he could hear, a sudden rapid knocking on the door interrupted Li Pu's practice. "AI, pause the music." He stopped and found someone knocking on the door.

He opened the door to find a balding uncle standing outside, looking anxious. It was Police Captain Liu Jianjun. Li Pu had inherited his aunt's property in the country and had been neighbors with him for a few years.

Seeing Li Pu open the door, Liu Jianjun looked around and asked, "Little Li, has my Qianqian come to your place?"

Liu Qianqian was the little girl who used to cling to Sister Xiaoxian, three years younger than Li Pu and now in the second year of junior high. Since Chenxian left, she rarely came to play with the somewhat intimidating young neighbor, and at most would politely call him "Brother Li Pu" and then run home.

Li Pu stepped aside and showed the inside of his house to the uncle, "Uncle Liu, you must be joking. Why would Qianqian come to play with me? We don't have much to talk about. Hasn't Qianqian come back yet?"

Liu Jianjun looked inside, sighed anxiously, and said, "It's almost nine o'clock, and this brat still hasn't come home. I called the school, and they said she didn't attend evening study. Sigh... I'll go look for her elsewhere."

Li Pu thought: She's a fourteen-year-old girl in her rebellious phase; it's normal for her to have her own activities. But he didn't say it out loud, just smiled and closed the door to see off the police officer.

The next day, Li Pu went to school neither early nor late. Even though Xiaoxian was gone, he still wanted to finish high school—his father had always said that if the boy couldn't go to college, he should at least finish high school.

His class was next to Qin Xia'er's. His seat was still in the back row by the window. In school, he didn't socialize much with his classmates, but he was well-known for a certain reason.

Throughout the day, Li Pu encountered Qin Xia'er a few times. This excellent student, though new to the school, was already thriving in the neighboring class and was likely to become the class representative soon. Seeing Li Pu from a distance, the always-perfect Qin Xia'er subtly wrinkled her nose and made a face, looking like a mortal enemy.

Li Pu, who was heading to the toilet, suddenly changed direction and pretended to walk towards her. Qin Xia'er, who had been acting proud, was scared like a kitten being stared at by a fierce dog. She took a few steps back and quickly fled into the classroom.

The classmates who witnessed this scene looked at Li Pu in surprise. This student from the neighboring class rarely bothered with girls and didn't socialize much with his classmates, appearing very isolated and hard to approach. They didn't expect him to know the new beautiful girl...

Li Pu, who had instinctively scared Qin Xia'er, suddenly felt a nostalgic feeling. He thought to himself that he was only seventeen and not old, so why did he have such thoughts... He decided to go to the toilet to take care of his urgent needs first.

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Just as he came out of the toilet and was about to return to the classroom, he was called by a guy who could be considered a "familiar acquaintance."

"Hey, Li Pu! Wait!" A tall, well-groomed, and handsome boy ran over, looking distressed. "I'm in trouble, please help me!"

Li Pu moved slightly to avoid the guy grabbing his sleeve. "...Wang Shujun, what's wrong?"

The boy Li Pu called "Wang Shujun" was the literary youth Wang Shujun from back then. Although he felt very melancholic about not being able to win the heart of his dream girl, Chenxian, he admired Li Pu greatly. After graduating from junior high, Wang Shujun coincidentally entered the same city's No. 1 High School as Li Pu, in the same grade.

Originally, Wang Shujun was a student who occasionally wrote and showed off his literary skills. However, in the first year of high school, he was taken to an internet cafe by some bad friends and first came into contact with online games. Like many "internet addicts" in the news, he couldn't stop, and the literary youth turned into an internet addict. His enthusiasm for studying literature and prose was completely replaced by researching how to level up, PK, and get equipment. Fortunately, his family was quite wealthy, and his daily pocket money was enough for him to indulge in the internet cafe. With his saved New Year's money and other savings, he even managed to get some of the best equipment in the game, earning a reputation and a sense of virtual glory.