Section 007: Tiger Girl, a Golden Legend?

"No nonsense, that golden achievement must be mine!!!"

Xu Ran nodded slightly.

[Perfect Infant]: Fortune +30; allows for the extraction of innate bone structure.

This was a treasure. One had to understand that in Xu Ran’s status window, his "Innate Bone" column was marked only with a "None." This meant he lacked any inherent cultivation foundation. The "Perfect Infant" trait could perfectly compensate for this deficiency; with enough fortune, he could even draw a crimson-gold innate bone!

"Take it. I must take it."

"Heh-heh-heh-heh..."

As he was deep in thought, the infectious, tomboyish laughter of Tiger Girl reached his ears. With her bizarre strength, she lunged at him with a clumsy, tiger-like enthusiasm, tackling Xu Ran to the ground.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh..."

Xu Ran sighed helplessly. Rolling over while Tiger Girl struggled to get back up and regain her balance, he quickly scrambled away, hiding behind a group of other infants and lying flat on the floor to conceal his presence.

Tiger Girl searched everywhere, unable to find a trace of him, and began to babble anxiously in place.

Lin Qian and Auntie Chen giggled not far away.

"Look at my little Ran, he even knows how to play hide-and-seek. So clever," his mother remarked.

Tiger Girl’s mother gave a thumbs up. "A little genius!"

The other mothers nodded repeatedly. "Look at how well he hides. He even knows to lie flat on the ground, hahaha. What a little genius."

Xu Ran: "..."

If only little Tiger Girl weren't so annoying, he wouldn't bother with hide-and-seek. Besides, now that she had learned to walk, she would only become more of a nuisance in the future. He could only hide among the crowd to find a moment of peace.

However, what Xu Ran never expected was that at this very moment, a notification chime rang in his mind.

[Congratulations: You have completed your first game of hide-and-seek, triggering a new skill—Hide-and-Seek. Train diligently to increase your progress; once the progress bar is full, you can advance to the next tier. (Advancement Sequence: Hide-and-Seek — Traceless Steps — Invisibility — Erasure from the River of Time)]

[Current Hide-and-Seek progress: 0/10,000...]

"Huh???"

Xu Ran was full of questions. This worked too? Hide-and-seek could trigger a magical skill? Truly, the system never ceased to amaze. Was it possible that everything could trigger a magical skill?

Xu Ran pondered, his consciousness focusing on the advancement sequence to check the details.

[Traceless Steps]: A subtle movement technique. You can hide behind an opponent, following their shadow. Unless they possess overwhelming strength, they will find it difficult to perceive your presence.

[Invisibility]: Direct concealment.

[Erasure from the River of Time]: You can erase your own traces from the river of time, remaining completely hidden.

"System, you're a bit heaven-defying."

How could one describe such a massive surprise? It meant that infant crawling could advance into the Gecko Wall-Climbing technique and eventually transform him into a tiny gecko. It meant that running fast could advance into the Grass-Skipping lightfoot technique, or even the Kunpeng Precious Technique. It meant that hide-and-seek could advance into Traceless Steps, then Invisibility, and finally, erasure from the river of time...

Xu Ran felt as if he were gradually beginning to understand everything. It seemed that many things in life could trigger magical skills. That made him invincible.

At this moment, the world suddenly opened up before him!

"In just one day, I've triggered two incredibly powerful, heaven-defying skills. Choosing the [Celestial Presence] trait was definitely the right move. A couple of kidnapping attempts are nothing more than minor trials in the face of such an overpowered system."

"As long as I stay disciplined, I can handle anything with ease."

"Of course, I shouldn't let my guard down."

The danger level of this world was indeed a bit excessive. He didn't know what a "Resentful God" was, but anything with the word "God" sounded difficult to deal with. Moreover, in a world with a cultivation system, human traffickers were likely to possess considerable martial strength! What if they weren't just individuals, but part of a syndicate? Could an infant’s wall-climbing and Traceless Steps really guarantee an escape from a powerful criminal organization? Not necessarily!

"So I must be disciplined. Grind out more skills. Prepare for every contingency."

"I don't want to just barely scrape by. I want to crush those traffickers with one hand."

Since he had a system to grind for proficiency, if he didn't play for a speedrun and total domination, he’d be a complete failure. Crushing them was the only way to go!

A gleam appeared in Xu Ran's dark, intelligent eyes.

[Current Hide-and-Seek progress: 2/10,000...]
[Current Hide-and-Seek progress: 3/10,000...]
[Current Hide-and-Seek progress: 4/10,000...]

"Keep hiding, then. Just 100 points of progress a day... it will only take 100 days to acquire Traceless Steps."

Xu Ran knew the rules well; obtaining Traceless Steps would certainly take 100 days. However, he now had the Gecko Wall-Climbing, Fast Running, and Hide-and-Seek; he didn't need to worry about wasting time. He would grind this, then that, and never have to worry about downtime again.

"And playing with the other kids makes gaining progress so easy! Nothing could be simpler."

Xu Ran smiled warmly.

[Current Hide-and-Seek skill progress: 5/10,000...]

He continued to hide. With Tiger Girl's eight-month-old brain and intelligence, she couldn't find his hiding spot at all. She was just a little fool who had just learned to walk. Lacking confidence and prone to fear, she would only take five or six steps before crawling back to her mother’s side. Xu Ran, bullying a little brat... was having a blast grinding his progress!

Although every time Tiger Girl began to cry, his mother would scoop him up and toss him in front of her to soothe her, he always managed to use his "cunning" to slip out of her sight, leaving her spinning in circles.

Progress +1...
Progress +1...
Progress +1...

By the end of the day, excluding the time spent at home eating and sleeping, the daily progress for both Hide-and-Seek and Fast Running had reached the 100-point cap. Today’s tasks were complete!

...

"Say bye-bye to big brother~"
"Say bye-bye to little sister~"

Xu Ran’s hand was held by his mother as he waved goodbye to Tiger Girl and her mother. Tiger Girl watched Xu Ran with big, sparkling eyes, suddenly grinning to reveal a few milk teeth, looking as silly and dim-witted as ever.

Xu Ran, resting on his mother’s shoulder, gave a small wave before turning his head away. But just as he turned, a wisp of golden light suddenly bloomed from Tiger Girl’s chest.

Xu Ran was stunned: "What was that? A legendary golden item?"

It was strange. He looked again. However, when Xu Ran focused his attention, the golden light in Tiger Girl’s chest retracted rapidly, leaving no trace, as if it had never appeared...

"Did I see it wrong?"
"It shouldn't be an illusion."
"Among the twenty or so infants, Tiger Girl is the most unique. She's remarkably strong for her age."
"And at only seven months old, she learned to walk in a fit of rage. She is definitely a gifted individual."

Xu Ran kept a secret note of it in his mind...

...

"We're home! Did you have fun today, baby?"
"If you had fun, nod your head."

Lin Qian rubbed her cheek against his, asking earnestly.

Xu Ran nodded his little head. "Wah, wah, really? You understand everything, baby?"

Lin Qian made a fuss. "Come, Mommy will make your milk powder."

After locking the door and placing Xu Ran on the living room sofa, Lin Qian busied herself preparing food. Well-fed, Xu Ran fell into a deep sleep.

Nine o'clock at night.

In the dead of night, a pair of dark, bright eyes opened.

The 90-centimeter shadow nimbly climbed out of the crib, crawling silently across the ceiling.

[You practiced the Gecko Wall-Climbing technique diligently, progress +100, current progress: 200/10,000...]
[Current Fast Running progress: 100/10,000...]
[Current Hide-and-Seek progress: 100/10,000...]
[Current Qi and Blood value: 201/1,000...]

"Perfect."

"In 100 days, I will reap a bountiful harvest..."