Chapter 1 Two Hours

After more than two hours of flying, nearing noon around eleven o'clock, the two officially arrived in Qinggang. This place was a small city, only half the size of Suiyang.

They found a place to park and quickly ate a meal at a small restaurant.

After the lunch rush, avoiding nap time, around four o'clock, they finally carried their gifts to pay a visit.

To Li Cheng颐's surprise, he had originally imagined Master Yulong, as a former army chief instructor, to be an imposing, powerfully built man with a forceful voice.

But when they actually met...

"Oh dear, you shouldn't have bothered! You're visiting, that's enough, why bring gifts? Old Xin and I are such good friends, how can I accept this?"

In a small courtyard with a rockery, stream, and wooden bridge, a round, spherical old man with a croaking voice and a friendly face greeted them, smiling as he led them to the main room facing the garden.

"Master Yulong... look, this is the student who wants to learn Longxu Li (Dragon Beard Force), Li Cheng颐." Song Ran bowed first, then introduced Li Cheng颐 beside her.

"Hello. I am Li Cheng颐, hoping to learn the essence of Longxu Li from you!" Li Cheng颐 followed suit, bowing slightly.

"It's very hard... can you handle it?" The spherical old man was skeptical, his eyes squeezed together by fat, only showing two slits staring at them. It was impossible to see the expression within...

"I'll know after I try. Words are useless," Li Cheng颐 said seriously.

"Well said, words are useless!" Yulong slapped his knee, his flesh jiggling. "Young man, you have ambition, so let's skip the formalities and do a test first."

He stood up and led them to a corner of the main room where a black, square metal plate was placed.

"Just stand on it."

Li Cheng颐 did as he was told, taking off his shoes and stepping onto the plate.

As soon as he stood on it, two streams of tingling electricity surged up from the soles of his feet. *Chi chi!*

He shuddered, instinctively wanting to jump down. "This thing is leaking electricity!"

"Normal. This is the basic training test for our Longxu Li," Yulong stood beside him, his meter-and-ninety height like a wall, blocking him.

"Don't be afraid, this training method is called You Long Xi Feng (Playing Dragon with Phoenix), customized for practicing the Longfeng Zhuang (Dragon Phoenix Makeup) in Longxu Quan (Dragon Beard Fist)!" "Zhuang (Pile)?" Li Cheng颐 suspected he misheard.

"It's *zhuang* (makeup)!" Yulong corrected, "You'll understand when you've mastered it. Applying makeup to yourself isn't skill, applying makeup to your enemies, that's skill."

After speaking, he coughed twice, looking unwell.

"Master Yulong, last time I saw you, you were just a little rounder, but now...?" Song Ran couldn't help but ask.

"I'm getting old. I used too many drug enhancements before, suddenly stopped moving around, and ate too much. It'd be strange if I didn't gain weight," Yulong sighed. "But I'm in a good mood now. I didn't expect that after that incident, someone would still be willing to learn Longxu Li from me... It's quite unexpected."

"What incident?" Li Cheng颐 felt something was off.

"Ah, it's nothing, just an accident." Song Ran quickly smoothed things over. But Yulong frowned slightly.

"You didn't tell him?"

"It's not a big deal, so I didn't mention it. After all, it's in the past, and maybe someone framed you," Song Ran said with a smile.

"It wasn't a frame-up. It's true." The smile slowly faded from Yulong's face. "Those two students were both innately weak. Their cerebral blood vessels burst during practice. The emergency treatment was too late. Now they can only have extensive body replacements."

"..." Li Cheng颐 felt a cold sweat break out.

"So you still need to think about it. Do you want to continue practicing?" Yulong looked at him, his gaze like two sharp thorns, pinning him.

"Why not? I think I definitely can!" Li Cheng颐 said seriously, of course, he was thinking about the sunflower's flower language ability, the Guanghui Lichang (Radiant Force Field), which could be secretly activated to heal and restore his body from injuries.

"Determination isn't about words, it's about actions." Yulong smiled, pointing his fat finger at the black square plate. "Go up and stand there for an hour first."

Li Cheng颐 hesitated, but still stepped onto the plate.

Soon, the prickling and itching electricity reappeared. And this time it wasn't as weak as before, the intensity was much greater.

Even with Li Cheng頤's physical strength, enhanced by the Hualin Yi (Flower Scale Armor), he felt a stinging pain.

"Not bad physique." Yulong looked at him with a smile. "Just keep practicing like this, and see how it goes after a month. This is the foundation stage, don't think about being lazy. The previous two children were lazy here, and then..."

He shook his head, pulled the somewhat helpless Song Ran away, and went to sit and drink tea together.

Li Cheng颐 was about to speak when a sudden surge of electricity pinned him to the spot, unable to move. This thing could adjust the current intensity by sensing the strength of the human body!

He didn't dare to neglect, quickly stood firm, closed his eyes, and endured.

He was dragged into training as soon as he arrived. Yulong's Longxu Men (Dragon Beard Sect) truly deserved the name *yu* (prison).

In the subtle buzzing sound, Li Cheng颐 stood there, allowing the ever-increasing current to flow through his body. With nothing else to do, he began to think about how to use his flower languages more appropriately.

He now possessed three actively usable flower language abilities.

Chenzui Zhi Shou (Hand of Intoxication), Jiangu (Fortification), and Guanghui Lichang (Radiant Force Field).

Among these three flower languages, Chenzui Zhi Shou (Hand of Intoxication) was the most practical, saving him from danger many times. Moreover, it was effective against both living people and other alien beings, a true close-combat divine skill.

"If I can seamlessly integrate Chenzui Zhi Shou (Hand of Intoxication) into my close combat techniques, especially in the killing move, the effect will be explosive."

Jiangu (Fortification) strengthens my body, Chenzui Zhi Shou (Hand of Intoxication) prevents opponents from escaping. Guanghui Lichang (Radiant Force Field) accelerates recovery during training.

Looking at it this way, the combination of these three flower languages is perfectly suited for close combat training! Li Cheng颐 thought while enduring the scorching current under his feet.

An hour passed quickly.

His body hair was standing on end, like a hedgehog, and his face was tight, slightly pale.

Yulong glanced at him, left a comment that his physique was good and didn't need recovery, and then chased them out, arranging for them to come twice a week.

Song Ran drove Li Cheng颐 back, and kept looking at him in the car.

"Your physique is really good. Longxu Li training is very hard and dangerous. No one who has tried it wants to continue. You seem to be fine so quickly..."

"I don't know why either, but I feel okay now. Maybe I'm just naturally strong," Li Cheng颐 said, activating Guanghui Lichang (Radiant Force Field), controlling it to stay close to his skin. He felt warm all over, as if soaking in a hot spring.

"It's good that you feel okay. Remember, if you feel uncomfortable anywhere, you must tell me immediately. Don't force yourself!" Song Ran earnestly instructed. "You know the army used to have training death quotas. Master Yulong's training methods... were too harsh, and many people died..."

"..." Li Cheng颐 was speechless.

"But don't worry, if you feel uncomfortable, tell me immediately. The biological repair package that the boss prepared for you in advance is absolutely world-class, the same one used for Lien. As long as we catch it in time, repair is no problem!" Song Ran gave a thumbs up.

"The boss is awesome!" Li Cheng颐 was immediately touched. This package obviously cost a lot of money. "Keep it up." Song Ran wanted to say something else, but opened his mouth and didn't speak.

Li Cheng颐 knew what she wanted to say. Fighting and killing were already declining industries in this era. Years of hard training couldn't compare to someone replacing a modified limb.

No matter how strong you train, your explosive power has a physical limit.

But cyborgs don't. Their limit is the limit of the materials that make up their body. That upper limit far exceeds the human body.

Martial arts, in this era, can only rely on technology. Independent schools have long been useless. If Li Cheng颐 wasn't using Hualin Yi (Flower Scale Armor) to fight and lacked close combat skills, he wouldn't have thought of learning this. In essence, he was just using Longxu Li as an auxiliary means.

Thinking of this, he sighed slightly. The two remained silent for a while.

The car returned, and Li Cheng颐 stopped halfway to eat a claypot rice. Then, according to the address, he went to one of the four supply packs.

In a series of sharp screams, he satisfiedly harvested a malice pack. The Titan Sunflower's malice, which was just 0%, instantly soared to 62%.

Covered in a faint bloody aura, he rushed to the second blood pack, no, malice pack's house.

Among a group of ambushing security guards, he forced his way in and easily killed the second blood pack in their despairing and hateful eyes.

The malice also soared from sixty-something to 100%.

Then, Li Cheng颐 quickly retreated from the hail of bullets, completing one evolution progress for the Titan Sunflower.

The flower god position reopened a new slot, and all other main flowers also gained an additional evolution chance. This was a prerequisite for absorbing the next main flower, Jie Mao Fei Lian (Ciliated Flying Goat).

Next, he went to Yulong twice a week for training, and then wandered around the place where he first entered the Silent Shop.

With an empty flower god position, he was now waiting to enter a blind spot and absorb a new main flower.

*

*

September 17, 21:01.

Li Cheng颐 looked at his phone and slowly strolled along the road where he had previously entered the Silent Shop. Same time, same feeling.

This street was called Screaming Street by the locals. Every night, from eight o'clock to four in the morning, it was a haven for karaoke, bars, and barbecue.

Several venues inside were relatively famous underground entertainment spots in Suiyang.

Now, just after nine o'clock, Screaming Street was already crowded with fashionable young people.

Men and women, various perfumes mixed with barbecue smoke, faintly mixed with the smell of alcohol, formed a unique and strange scent unique to Screaming Street.

Li Cheng颐 changed into an outfit that blended into the atmosphere.

A gray-green shirt, earth-colored mid-length shorts, white socks, white sneakers, his hair combed and styled with gel, and AR glasses, paired with a now-solid broad-shouldered upper body.

He even had a bit of a refined air.

He didn't know how to dress. This outfit was suggested by Pencil Eyebrow. He just bought it. Unfortunately, after walking back and forth on Screaming Street three times, the memory flash still didn't come.

Bored of walking, Li Cheng颐 felt a little thirsty, so he sat down on a seat set out by a juice shop on the side of the road and ordered a juice by scanning the QR code.

The shop had seven or eight chairs, individually enclosed by black railings into a rectangle, close to the street. To the right of where Li Cheng颐 was sitting was an old-fashioned ornament shop.

The shop's entrance was decorated like a forest cabin, with fake wooden textured doors, a few piles of straw, and wooden stools and basins.

On the wall beside the door hung a large stag head with a crooked, yellowed foreign newspaper pasted on it.

Looking through the glass window, he could see many human-shaped puppets, children's toys, wooden clocks, old wooden horses, small circus tents, and even a skeleton dressed in a pirate captain's outfit.

Li Cheng颐 waited for his juice, occasionally glancing at the somewhat unique shop. *Jingle.*

Suddenly, the door of the small shop was pushed open from the inside, and an old man slowly walked out.

He held a cane, dressed in white slacks and a shirt, with a thin V-neck sweater, a kind face, round glasses, and a small child had stuck a gemstone sticker on his cuff.

The old man came out, tapped his cane, peeled off the sticker from his sleeve, carefully put it away, then put on a small round hat, pulled out a chair from the juice shop, and slowly sat down.

"This place is really good, quiet and peaceful," the old man sighed, his brown eyes naturally falling on Li Cheng颐.

"Li Cheng颐 of Hongjin?" he asked softly.

"You are?" Li Cheng颐 was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that just sitting down like this, he would meet someone who knew him.

"Looks like I didn't find the wrong person." The old man smiled, "Your company, came from White Star. Xindra, that person, is very ambitious. He did a lot of great things in the past."

"You are?" Li Cheng颐 narrowed his eyes slightly, unable to tell what the other party meant.

"Ah, my surname is Bai. Because of something, I'm looking for someone from your company. I heard that you're close to that person, so I came to see you," the old man explained with a smile.

"Close to me? Tell me, maybe I can help you." Li Cheng颐's mind quickly flashed through a list of names.

"I don't know his name, but he's done some very good things recently. Although the direction is wrong, I can tell he's a very energetic and good child, so I want to get to know him through you," the old man replied casually.