Chapter 184 - 148: Captain Huo: You Might Not Believe This, but Mr. Zhu and I Are Life-and-Death Comrades

"But in reality, if you could actually develop it to that point! You’d probably be at the very pinnacle of power." Huo Qiming noticed the dissatisfaction on Chu Bamboo’s face and was at a bit of a loss for words. He sighed. "Kid, do you have any idea how many known... methods of Equivalent Exchange there are? Dharma Gates that can remove the contamination?"

"? Please, go on." Chu Bamboo was intrigued.

"As far as I know, there are three in total!" Huo Qiming held up three fingers. "The Bright Pope’s Divine Technique: Light of Life! It’s said this light contains the ultimate life force. When pushed to its limit, it can even bring someone who has been dead for no more than ten seconds, and still has their head and most of their torso, back to life!"

"When a heavily contaminated person is cleansed by this Skill, all the contamination in their body is removed, but so is all their Extraordinary Power. They are given a new life!"

Chu Bamboo: "...?"

’Wait, isn’t the Bright Pope’s Divine Technique the noun-type: Light?’

’Hold on! So it’s... what Zhang Hai said about spreading false information about one’s Divine Technique?’

’Then...’

A serious look appeared in Chu Bamboo’s eyes, his thoughts racing like lightning.

’If even Captain Huo doesn’t know the full story, then the true identity of that Two-headed Scale Person in the nuclear facility is highly suspect.’

"Pretty incredible, isn’t it?" Huo Qiming raised an eyebrow. Seeing Chu Bamboo nod, he scoffed. "But the real price is far from as simple as just your Cultivation..."

Chu Bamboo: "?"

"A new life! Sounds nice, doesn’t it? But those holy rollers, that’s where they get you! They always use a nice-sounding phrase to cover up a fatal flaw." Huo Qiming let out a soft sigh. "If the contamination is severe, it’ll wash away your memories too! The less severe the contamination, the fewer memories are lost. A new life, ha!"

As he said that last word, Huo Qiming’s tone was dripping with sarcasm.

Chu Bamboo: "...?"

’Damn! What a garbage Divine Technique!’

"Second, in the Imperial Capital’s Grand Ancestral Temple, you could receive a blessing and baptism from the Great Goddess Nuwa! That might also work... but the specifics are unknown..." When he mentioned Nuwa, a look of reverence appeared on Huo Qiming’s face.

Chu Bamboo: "...?"

’That’s even more bizarre! How can an AI cleanse contamination?’

’Wait! Or is it... ’ Chu Bamboo fell into deep thought. ’Some kind of technology from the Ancient Era, or something else inside the Grand Ancestral Temple?’

’It can’t be that the Grand Ancestral Temple is actually some ruin left over from the ancient past... with professional medical equipment inside for repairing bodies, right? That makes no sense.’

After all, in Chu Bamboo’s view, this contamination had two layers... one was genetic collapse caused by nuclear radiation, and the other was highly suspected to be information pollution released by an Outer Civilization.

’If the Real World could really do something like this in the later stages... then it obviously wouldn’t have been completely helpless against an alien civilization... It wouldn’t have just left ruins behind...’

Chu Bamboo forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart. ’It’s not a huge problem. Sooner or later, I’ll have to go to the Imperial Capital’s Grand Ancestral Temple anyway. I’ll find out then!’

"As for the last method..." Huo Qiming shrugged. Just as Chu Bamboo’s curiosity was piqued, he saw Huo Qiming point at him.

Chu Bamboo: "...?"

’Seriously? You...’ Chu Bamboo nearly choked. ’I haven’t even gotten started, and I’m already one of your three solutions? Are you messing with me...?’

However, he was also now getting a taste of just how absurdly difficult this was...

"So!" Chu Bamboo suppressed his roiling emotions and looked Huo Qiming straight in the eye. "How are you going to teach me? Old Huo!"

Li Kang: "???"

’Who are you calling Old Huo...? Have some respect for your elders! You should call him Elder Huo.’ Li Kang almost choked. He didn’t know how old Huo Qiming was, but he knew that when he’d first joined as a green-as-grass rookie... Huo Qiming had looked exactly the same! He hadn’t changed at all in all these years.

Huo Qiming, however, didn’t seem to mind at all. He held up a finger and wagged it gently. "I only know how to hit. According to you, the main use of your Reproduction Divine Technique is to get injured and then use Rewrite to heal... The drawback is that it consumes a lot of power. Don’t look at me like that! You didn’t mention the consumption... but I’ve never heard of a First Realm Cultivator who had enough Blessing Power to spare."

"Fine," Chu Bamboo nodded.

Huo Qiming coughed. "My Divine Technique has a rather special effect!"

"When I feel like hitting someone..."

The next moment, Huo Qiming abruptly appeared in front of Chu Bamboo, his fist slamming into Chu Bamboo’s stomach.

Chu Bamboo’s pupils contracted, and he shot away like a cannonball.

"Damn it! Stop!" Li Kang let out a sharp cry. Before Huo Qiming could say anything to calm him down, his next sentence blurted out, "You’ll offend the Great Goddess Nuwa!"

Huo Qiming’s face turned green. In the next instant, he appeared behind the rapidly flying Chu Bamboo and caught him securely. At that moment, Chu Bamboo was less than a meter from the wall!

Cold sweat poured down Huo Qiming’s forehead... Just a little more! He would have had to run to the Moisture Teaching, begging and pleading for one of their big shots to come to this Underground Temple of Nuwa to do plastering work.

’That would’ve been a total nightmare!’

After all, letting a Pagan into the temple required filing an application all the way to the Imperial Capital... The thought of his direct superior chewing him out from a thousand miles away... made him break out in a cold sweat.

"...What the!" Chu Bamboo looked at his own hands in astonishment. He could clearly feel the excruciating pain in his stomach, but he could also feel that the radiation energy? Or rather, Blessing Power? Even his Divine Thought? Had been greatly restored?

"A pity, though." A look of regret appeared on Chu Bamboo’s face. ’Divine Thought and the fatigue from resetting aren’t the same thing. Otherwise, wouldn’t this mean I could use this to keep refreshing and resetting indefinitely?’

"Curious, aren’t you?" Huo Qiming said with a grin. "My Divine Technique is called: Empowering Fist! As the saying goes, the harder you’re hit, the faster your Blessing Power and Divine Thought Power recover."

Li Kang: "..."

’Didn’t you say last time that your Divine Technique was Return Your Beauty Fist?’

’Puffy bags under the eyes, bruised body—a couple of punches from you and they’re back to normal, right? The harder you hit, the faster the recovery, after all.’

Chu Bamboo didn’t even have to think to know that Huo Qiming was definitely bullshitting.

In this world, honest people like Chu Bamboo, who actually revealed the true name of their Divine Technique... were a rare breed!

In fact, Chu Bamboo still suspected that Huo Qiming probably thought the name of his Divine Technique was fake, too.

"So you mean!" Chu Bamboo fell into thought.

"Using a Divine Technique consumes Divine Thought and Blessing Power!" Huo Qiming waved his fist. "Kid, even though it hurts a bit! It’s like I’m using my Divine Technique, Return Your Beauty Fist, to charge you up! You just need to keep training... you’ll have an endless supply of Energy, and since I’m hitting you, the pain will also motivate your Cultivation!"

"Isn’t it a plan that kills two birds with one stone?"

Chu Bamboo: "...?"

’Didn’t you just say your Divine Technique was Empowering Fist?’

’Fine, fine, fine. So that’s how we’re playing this, is it!’

"Bring it on," Chu Bamboo said, frank and direct.

"?" This time, Huo Qiming was genuinely surprised. He had thought the boy would complain a little, hesitate, or do something else...

But now...

A trace of admiration appeared in Huo Qiming’s eyes. ’Good heavens, how could there be a young man so perfectly suited to my taste? If he weren’t certain that, in his current identity, this was truly his first time meeting this young man, he would have suspected the kid knew him and was doing this on purpose.’

’Yes, his other identity, the Masked Hero, knew Mr. Zhu! You could even say they had a strong bond.’

’During the shantytown unrest five years ago, he was even invited by Mr. Zhu to intervene deeply!’

’Back then, he was the one who carried Mr. Zhu out of a hail of bullets from that damned gang—’

’That battle was so, so dangerous. It nearly forced him to rip off his mask and just steamroll all enemies using his identity as Captain Huo.’

’It scared him to death at the time! He had already imagined how he was going to get chewed out by *that person* in the Imperial Capital...’

’All in all, he felt that Mr. Zhu definitely considered him and the Masked Hero to be sworn brothers who had been through life and death together—of course, he himself actually agreed with that sentiment.’

’After that battle, Mr. Zhu even invited him to become a high-level executive in the union, inviting him to be the captain of the union’s self-defense force... but he refused...’

’Huo Qiming was certain that Chu Bamboo couldn’t possibly know the Masked Hero’s true identity... After all, even though he couldn’t use Extraordinary Power and could only use Kung Fu to uphold justice, his senses were still sharp!’

’When he went out to uphold justice, he would always use Extraordinary Power to change his body shape, and no one could get past his Divine Thought’s perception to remove his mask...’

’So...’

’Forget it! Even without considering their past life-and-death bond, they could now be considered to have formed a friendship that transcended age.’

Huo Qiming shook his head, dispelling the stray thoughts from his mind. His gaze sharpened. "Well then, Mr. Xiao Zhu, I’ll have to trouble you to stand up straight! And... take it."

The moment his words fell, another fist, like a rainbow from beyond the heavens, came crashing down.

...

Li Kang: "..."

’I’m numb.’

’So, what exactly were they here to do?’

’Watch Captain Huo beat up Chu Bamboo... oh, no, *specially train* Chu Bamboo?’

Li Kang felt like he had a lump in his throat. A dazed look appeared in his eyes, and he felt so disoriented he almost thought he was dreaming—this helplessness reminded him of when he was seven years old, separated from his mother on a crowded street...

No matter how hard he thought, he still couldn’t understand—his direct superior had come for an inspection. It was supposed to be a serious, solemn affair, wasn’t it?

How had it inexplicably devolved to this point?

’Does this make any sense?’

Ning Linglong, on the other hand, was watching with great interest, especially as Chu Bamboo’s clothes were torn to shreds in the fight... Yep! She appreciated the beauty in violence.

"Captain, don’t be like that! It’s an official mission anyway... and Guan Fei and the others are here to wipe memories! You’re just... you feel guilty whenever you have a moment of downtime! There’s really no need for that." Ning Linglong glanced at Li Kang and tried to patiently console him.

"...Maybe," Li Kang managed to force a smile, but it looked uglier than crying.