Chapter 29: Extraordinary Tag

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Extraordinary Tag

The next day.

Gu Qing woke up before dawn.

He didn’t rush to get out of bed.

He just lay there quietly, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

The things Xia Shuran had told him last night were still circling in his mind.

One person taking on dozens of men alone.

Going into seclusion for hundreds of years.

’I never imagined that such seemingly Extraordinary beings actually existed in the world.’

’And here I thought I was one of a kind, that I’d soon be able to achieve my dream of becoming untouchable.’

’Once I grind out the Muscle Knots Attribute and my strength increases significantly, I’ll find some time to meet her family’s old ancestor and see what he’s made of.’

’If even an old monster who’s lived for centuries is no match for me, then my dream of being untouchable shouldn’t be too hard to achieve.’

Then again, when Ningyu broke up with me, she said we were from different worlds now. ’Could it be that she’d come into contact with the Extraordinary?’

’Too bad she blocked me everywhere, or else I could’ve tried to sound her out.’

And another thing. If the Extraordinary really exists in this world...

...does that mean...

...there will be corresponding Extraordinary labels too?

Like...

Hero, Superman, Cultivator, Ultraman, Mage, Masked Rider, Superpower User, and so on?

Thinking about all this, Gu Qing’s heart began to race with excitement.

Just then, the alarm in his dorm room rang, interrupting his thoughts.

His three roommates got up one by one to wash up.

...

「Half an hour later.」

Gu Qing left for class with his roommates.

When they got to the classroom, he, as usual, ditched his three roommates and sat with the top student, Yang Yuntong, to grind out practice problems.

This week, Yang Yuntong was clearly much colder than she had been the previous week.

Gu Qing knew she hadn’t gotten over the awkwardness of him turning down her movie invitation last week.

But he didn’t care about that at all. He only cared about whether they could sit together and grind for Attributes.

In the blink of an eye, four hours passed.

The two long morning classes were over.

[You have studied with your classmate Yang Yuntong for over an hour] x4

[Focus +1] x4

[Learning Ability +1] x4

[Your cumulative Learning Ability has increased by 100 points. You can obtain the Attribute—Extraordinary Comprehension]

[Current points obtained: 42]

Forty-two points.

Another 58 hours of studying together, and I’ll get the Extraordinary Comprehension Attribute.

Excluding weekends, 58 hours means I can grind it out in just two weeks.

...

After lunch, Gu Qing didn’t go back to his dorm.

Instead, he wandered around campus, looking for rats.

He searched for nearly three hours but only found three.

The Beast Language information he collected was:

[Cat, fierce, scared...]

[Trash, tasty...]

[Hole, big, nice...]

It was all useless, trash information.

But Gu Qing wasn’t worried at all.

As long as he was patient enough, he would eventually gather useful information and root out the deranged Cannibal Giant hiding on campus.

Seeing that it was almost four in the afternoon, Gu Qing stopped looking for rats.

He turned and headed for the athletic field.

It was time to meet Xia Shuran to learn the Mountain-Shattering Palm.

As soon as he reached the field, Gu Qing saw Xia Shuran was already waiting there.

He had no idea how early she’d arrived.

"You’re here early again?"

He walked over with a smile and greeted her.

Xia Shuran wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead and said with a bright smile,

"I wasn’t that early. I just came from the gym after my class."

"Earlier than me, at least."

Gu Qing chuckled. Not wanting to waste any more time on small talk, he got straight to the point. "So, are we practicing your ancestor’s Mountain-Shattering Palm today?"

Xia Shuran nodded. "Yes, that’s the plan."

Soon, the two of them found a secluded corner of the field.

Xia Shuran didn’t start teaching right away.

Instead, she first asked Gu Qing,

"Senior, do you know why the Mountain-Shattering Palm can unleash such terrifying force, even though it looks so ordinary?"

"Because of a special force-generation technique?"

"Exactly."

Xia Shuran nodded. "It’s precisely because of this special force-generation technique that the Mountain-Shattering Palm can unleash such immense power."

With that, she didn’t keep him in suspense and began to explain,

"Senior, this special technique is actually about mobilizing the Qi Blood Power in your body, gathering it in a specific spot, and releasing it in a concentrated burst."

"So, to learn the Mountain-Shattering Palm, you first have to learn how to sense your Qi Blood, and then how to mobilize it."

"Only when you’ve mastered these two steps can you perform the Mountain-Shattering Palm."

"Senior, don’t think it’s simple just because there are only two steps."

"My ancestor said that back in his day, someone with average talent would need at least two months just to master these two steps."

"But it only took me two days. My ancestor praised me as a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy."

As she said this, the pride on Xia Shuran’s face was unconcealed.

But after hearing her description, a strange expression appeared on Gu Qing’s face.

’Sense Qi Blood?’

’Mobilize Qi Blood?’

’I think... I can already do that?’

As he thought this, Gu Qing clenched his right fist tightly.

In the next second, Qi Blood surged through his body. A massive amount of it rushed into his right arm, concentrating entirely in his fist.

’I really can sense and mobilize my Qi Blood.’

’And I can do it by instinct.’

’I didn’t need to spend time deliberately learning it.’

’This instinct is something I gained the moment I unlocked the Physical Strength Attribute.’

’Could it be... that the so-called Martial Dao is, in essence, a path of continuously developing the physical body and growing stronger step by step?’

’And I, by just relying on the corresponding labels and grinding a few points in the Physical Strength Attribute, can easily possess the foundation of martial arts that others spend years of hard training to achieve?’

For the next while, Xia Shuran became a patient Martial Arts Grandmaster, teaching Gu Qing how to sense and mobilize his Qi Blood.

Her teaching method was simple: have Gu Qing practice the Mountain-Shattering Palm with her, trying to sense and mobilize his Qi Blood while striking.

Gu Qing didn’t tell her he could already do it. He just quietly followed his junior’s lead and practiced.

He wasn’t wasting time; he was grinding for the Physical Strength Attribute.

Just like when they practiced with the Red Tassel Spear.

Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Xia Shuran was completely absorbed in her patient teaching, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being Gu Qing’s teacher for once.

After all, having been so thoroughly outmatched by Gu Qing’s talent for so long, she had finally found one area where she was superior.

It was hard not to enjoy it.

[You have practiced martial arts with your classmate Xia Shuran for over an hour] x3

[Martial Arts Techniques +1] x3

[Physical Strength +1] x3

[Your cumulative Physical Strength has increased by 100 points. You can obtain the Attribute—Muscle Knots]

[Current points obtained: 47]

Before he knew it, three hours had passed.

Gu Qing only realized so much time had gone by when the text notifications popped up in front of him.

"Senior, it’s almost seven. Let’s go get dinner at the cafeteria."

Xia Shuran said, wiping the sweat from her face, "Sensing and mobilizing Qi Blood isn’t easy. It’s totally normal not to get it in one day. We can continue tomorrow."

Gu Qing replied, "Alright, let’s go eat then."

Throughout the entire afternoon, he hadn’t revealed to Xia Shuran that he could already mobilize his Qi Blood.

Back when he thought he was the only one with special powers, he didn’t have so many concerns. He would show off his abilities whenever he wanted.

But now that he knew Extraordinary beings might exist in the world, he had to keep a low profile until he had a clearer picture of the situation.

He had to be especially careful in front of Xia Shuran.

Of course, it wasn’t her he was wary of, but her family’s old ancestor.

Gu Qing didn’t know how powerful her ancestor was, nor did he know anything about the man’s character.

’What if he’s like one of those villainous Demon Cultivators from a Cultivation novel, who came out of seclusion just to find a body to possess? If I reveal my ridiculously heaven-defying physical talents in front of someone like that, wouldn’t I be a lamb walking into a tiger’s den?’

’In any case, I’ll wait until I’ve grinded out the super-buff Muscle Knots Attribute before doing anything else.’

’Only when I’m strong enough can I look down on everything and fear no threat.’

...