Chapter 23: A Tremendous Advancement!

[Name: Li Xia]
[Number: 1]
[Rank: First Generation Walker]
[Merit Rank: Prince]
[Physical Strength Assessment: 1 (Tier 1, Carbon-based Organism)]
[Strength: 6 (Improving this attribute increases physical power)]
[Agility: 6 (Improving this attribute increases attack and reaction speed)]
[Intelligence: 6 (Improving this attribute increases spell model construction and complex fuzzy processing capabilities)]
[Spirit: 6 (Improving this attribute increases the upper limit of mental energy and reduces the consumption of ability activation)]
[Physique: 6 (Improving this attribute increases recovery, cardiovascular function, and other stamina-related traits)]
[Luck: 0 (Raising/lowering this attribute increases the probability of low-probability events, trending results toward positive/negative impacts)]
[Skills: Breath of the Sun LV5 (Mastery: 6%), Basic Combat LV1 (Novice: 70%)]
[Equipment: Scott Type I Combat Assistance System (Blue)]
[Personal Storage Space: 100 cubic meters - ??? (Depends on the degree of temple restoration)]
[Talent Ability: A Blessing in Misfortune (Destiny-tier)]
[Current Attribute Points: 6]

Compared to before, strength increased by 2 points, agility by 1, spirit by 1, and physique by 1. A total improvement of 5 attribute points—nearly what Li Xia would get from risking his life in an entire trial dungeon! This is the charm of having a low base! A little effort leads to progress, and a focused, diligent effort leads to massive progress.

Logically, a month of training shouldn't have yielded such significant gains; those 2 points were only possible because Li Xia’s physical condition was previously quite average. However, adding the breathing technique changed everything. By effectively integrating the breathing method into his daily routine—even without "Total Concentration"—it functioned like a combination of high-efficiency aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Furthermore, just as he expected, his combat skills truly "leveled up" after a complete and holistic practice session.

[Basic Combat LV1 (Novice: 70%)]
[Skill Effect: Provides a minor bonus to footwork agility and attack power during unarmed combat.]

This "minor" bonus was quite metaphysical. Only through the temple’s annotations did Li Xia barely manage to understand it. Because technique-based bonuses cannot be quantified with specific values, the upper limit is the theoretical strike you could land at your best, while the lower limit is that no matter how well you train, if you panic, you forget everything and must rely on instinct. Thinking about it, it actually made sense; he wasn't a character in a game, so how could there be perfectly precise and stable values? The range of the "minor bonus" was between 0-10%. It was useful, though he wondered if it would improve after further leveling.

Off to Hong Kong!
...

Ever since discovering the Scott Type I’s absolute control over camera equipment and its powerful hacking capabilities, Li Xia found life had become much more convenient. As long as he could fool facial recognition systems and networked computer devices, many things became exceptionally simple. For instance, as long as the gates opened and verification passed, the vast majority of staff wouldn't even bother to take a second look. Even if some were hyper-responsible, what were their verification methods? Still the machines... as long as the machine returned a "verified" status, there were no further doubts. This remained true even if the device in their hands hadn't performed a proper read or data packet exchange and was merely displaying an image on the screen.

...

"Please keep your documents safe. Have a pleasant trip!"

Li Xia smiled and tucked away his forged documents. The exquisite monocle on his right eye was particularly eye-catching, and paired with his strikingly handsome face, it lent him an inexplicable charm. The monocle clearly displayed the route to his destination, but only a fool would walk there.

"Taxi!"

As the yellow cab drove off, Li Xia looked up at the traditional Chinese sign before him: "Qi Champion Martial Arts Hung Ga Academy." The gold-leaf lettering was peeling, and the sounds of shouting could be heard from within. Upon entering the main gate, the girl at the front desk stood up and offered a professional smile. When her gaze lingered on Li Xia’s face, her smile widened slightly.

"Hello, sir. Is this your first time here?"

She spoke in Cantonese, but the combat power tester’s built-in translation system synchronized it into Mandarin.

"Yes," Li Xia nodded and asked directly, "Will Master Qi Champion be at the academy?"

Suddenly, the smile on the receptionist’s face vanished, replaced by a look of disdain. She coldly spat out "I don't know" and sat down. Li Xia frowned; he had only heard of "exclusion" online, and this was his first time encountering it. Still, he wouldn't do anything just because she didn't smile—that would be beneath him. With a cold nod, he prepared to walk in to see if any students could answer his question.

"Hey! Non-students are not allowed in!" the receptionist called out.

Li Xia stopped and looked at her coldly, pointing at the text on the wall. "Not allowed in?" The notice on the wall clearly read, "Visitors Welcome."

The receptionist’s face fell, and she said impatiently, "I said you can't go in, so you can't!" She then muttered an insult under her breath, which was unfortunately picked up perfectly by the combat power tester.

*Whoosh!*

A silver flash flew past her ear, the wind from it ruffling her hair. With a sharp *crack*, the marble slab behind her shattered, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface. She turned back, eyes widening in horror to see a coin embedded directly into the marble. Her face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling. Just then, the wooden door was pushed open, and several men in training uniforms rushed out.

"What happened?"
"What was that noise?"

Seeing them, the receptionist found her backbone. She let out a shrill scream, pointed at Li Xia, and with a tearful, performative act of accusing the victim first, cried, "He came here to cause trouble!"

"Heh," Li Xia sneered. "I only came to ask if Master Qi would be at the academy and to take a look around. Why don't you ask her what she said?" He tensed his muscles, preparing for a fight.

"Mainlander?" The lead man frowned upon hearing the Mandarin. Then, he did something that surprised Li Xia: he turned around, face dark with anger, and asked, "Ah Mei, were you running your mouth again?"

"No! Tiger Brother, how could I—" Ah Mei was clearly flustered, shaking her head frantically.

"Shut up! I know what you did when those tourists from the mainland came to take photos last time. They come because they like the Master, not you! You’re just the receptionist! You have no right to stop them, let alone talk trash! Don't think that just because you're the Master's wife's niece, I won't tell the Master to fire you!"

Tiger stared into her eyes, his face cold, and said word for word, "The Master is Chinese, born in the mainland, and so was your grandfather. Don't forget who you are!"

He then turned to Li Xia, clasped his hands in a salute, and said apologetically, "I apologize, brother. She doesn't know the rules; we failed to teach her well. How about this—take this commemorative training uniform. It has the signatures of the Master and Jackie Chan on it. Consider it an apology. I hope you won't take it to heart."

As for the shattered marble, he didn't even mention it. Li Xia looked at this rugged man and felt a surge of goodwill. *This* was a normal person! As a university student of the new era, he believed in being as strong as his opponent required. He waved his hand, "I just wanted to see Master Qi. The apology isn't necessary."

"I take it you’re a martial artist, brother?" Tiger lowered his hands, his gaze shifting from the coin in the marble to Li Xia, his face filled with intense excitement. He chuckled, "Brother, our academy has a rule: martial artists who want to see the old man must spar first. Otherwise, it’s not happening!"

Li Xia paused, looking at Tiger’s gleaming eyes and rubbing palms. He smiled helplessly—what kind of rule was that? It was just an excuse to fight; the guy was a total martial arts fanatic! He had hoped to avoid a fight, but it seemed he couldn't escape it after all.

Li Xia took a deep breath. The sheer volume of air he inhaled made Tiger’s eyes light up—this was a true expert!

"Come!"