「Several days passed.」
At 8:00 in the morning, Lu Chao, wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, left the station and headed toward the boxing hall with a black satchel on his back.
The nearby streets were quite busy, and the mixed aromas from several breakfast shops drifted through the air.
Office workers brushed past him one after another, some carrying briefcases, others with simple sandwiches dangling from their mouths, all looking rushed.
Glancing left and right, Lu Chao's eyes were vigilant, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
'Perhaps it was just a coincidence?'
Because of the two people he had seen on Factory Street and their unsettling, appraising gazes, he had been particularly vigilant these past few days.
However, several days went by peacefully. Nothing unexpected happened.
Shaking his head to himself, Lu Chao suppressed his distracting thoughts.
THUD! THUD!
He strode forward, passed through the large iron gate, and greeted the old man on duty.
He crossed the concrete training ground under the envious gazes of many ordinary students and entered the training building.
Although it was only 8:00 in the morning, the several rings in the central area and the training area to one side were already bustling with activity.
Some were stretching their limbs, warming up for sparring.
Others were throwing combination punches, hammering away at punching bags with muffled THUDS.
The senior disciples, in particular, were practicing their stances on firm posts or training with kettlebells and iron balls, drenched in sweat but not daring to slack off in the slightest.
Reaching the Fighting Level within three months, breaking through to Rock Hide.
This wasn't just Master Luo's requirement; it was the goal of every disciple in the boxing hall.
Failure meant it would be incredibly difficult to break through later on—a truth verified by countless senior brothers.
Unless one came from a wealthy family, most could only give up in despair and leave.
'Hm?'
Soon, Lu Chao noticed something unusual.
The ever-diligent Zhang Hong was standing in a corner, uncharacteristically not training.
Two other senior brothers who had also yet to break through to the Fighting Level were gathered around him. All of them had gloomy expressions, as if they were discussing something.
Several minutes passed. It was only when he returned from the locker room, having changed into his training clothes, that he saw them disperse.
"Senior Brother Zhang."
Seeing Zhang Hong still looking dejected and standing alone in the corner, Lu Chao thought for a moment before walking over to his side.
"Have you run into some trouble?"
"If you need my help, just say the word."
He asked frankly, not shying away.
During this time, the two had been training hard together every day. Moreover, Zhang Hong had often spent his energy sparring with Lu Chao to help him practice. Lu Chao had naturally taken this kindness to heart.
"Junior Brother Lu..."
Snapping out of his daze, Zhang Hong was a little touched.
He mumbled his thanks, then shook his head lightly and sighed.
"It's not me who's in trouble, it's... Senior Brother Wang."
"Oh?"
A bit surprised, Lu Chao recalled how last week, two senior brothers had failed their breakthrough and left the boxing hall in despair.
One of them was a senior brother with the surname Wang, who seemed to be on good terms with Zhang Hong and the others.
"Senior Brother Wang... *Sigh*. His family has it rough. The tuition to become a disciple and his expenses for these three months were all paid for with loans."
"Out of respect for Master Luo, no one dared to come after him before. But after he went back last week..."
With a complicated expression, Zhang Hong said bitterly, "The loan company and the gang members came to his door. They took the kidney he used as collateral."
As his words fell, Lu Chao's expression froze.
An inexplicable mix of emotions arose within him. He finally understood why Zhang Hong and the others had looked that way earlier.
To bet everything on the path of Martial Arts, only for the price of failure to be so heavy.
He fell silent, not knowing how to offer any comfort.
The entire Jinshi Boxing Hall seemed to be shrouded in a gray haze.
All that remained were the increasingly frantic, furious shouts of the senior disciples as they desperately trained, pushing their potential to the absolute limit.
...
'Fighting Level...'
That night, neon lights flickered endlessly, filling his vision.
After a day of martial arts training, Lu Chao arrived once again at the Dreamfire Bar.
He had changed out of his training clothes into a black suit. Wearing an earpiece, he stood in a corner of the first-floor hall.
Thinking about what he had seen over the past two days, Lu Chao felt a stir in his heart.
'If I didn't have [Glutton] and [Primary Resilience], would I have ended up like Senior Brother Wang?'
The thought flashed through his mind, and his desire to reach the Fighting Level grew even stronger.
Then, he looked at his panel.
[Life Energy: 10 → 11!]
After six consecutive days of arduous training, combined with practical combat practice, his Life Energy had finally increased by another point.
His strength had increased by another notch, approaching 110 kilograms.
In addition, there were also slight improvements in his stamina, reflexes, and explosive speed.
But that wasn't the biggest gain.
The crucial part was this.
'My rate of improvement really hasn't slowed down at all.'
His eyes brightened slightly as Lu Chao confirmed a suspicion.
The enhanced recovery effect from [Primary Resilience] would persist as his strength increased.
Because of this, he could constantly maintain a higher intensity of training, always pushing the limits of his physical stamina.
In other words,
Others might hit a bottleneck as their Life Energy continuously increased, causing their rate of improvement to gradually slow down.
But he, at least before breaking through to the Fighting Level, would not face this situation.
Nodding to himself, Lu Chao once again dispelled all his negative emotions.
His gaze swept around, taking in the entire bar.
The concrete ceiling, crisscrossed with pipes, was hidden in darkness. The second-floor corridor of the bar wrapped around all four sides.
Noisy, flashy, chaotic...
The DJ's deep electronic music poured from the wall speakers, making his eardrums vibrate.
The air was a mix of alcohol and hormones. On the central stage of the first-floor hall, a woman with a fiery figure swayed around a pole.
After a month, he had completely adapted to this security job.
BZZT BZZT!
His watch vibrated, and Lu Chao glanced down at it.
[Rock Loan Company: Dear Customer, our company is offering a limited-time special on collateral loans!]
[Receive a 30% discount on interest by using an organ as collateral. If interested, click the link below or contact us via messenger...]
A new text message appeared. Lu Chao's eyes paused on the word "Rock."
'The Rock Gang's company?'
Frowning slightly, he was a little confused.
'Who the hell leaked my information, causing so many loan companies to come after me?'
Racking his brain, he thought about the cleaning crew, the boxing hall, the bar, and even his few friends from the orphanage, but he didn't have a single clue.
As he was thinking, the voice of the security manager, Zhou Qiang, suddenly came through his earpiece.
"Lu Chao, Luo Wei."
"There's some trouble at Booth Three. Go handle it."
The duty of nighttime security was to maintain order in the bar. Hearing this, Lu Chao pushed aside his thoughts, nodded, and walked into the main hall.
The bar's business was booming at night, and every booth was filled with people.
There were young, attractive men and women in revealing clothes, as well as middle-aged men in collared shirts and watches.
In the dim environment, colorful lights flashed in all directions, and a constant din rose and fell.
Soon, as the two of them reached the left side of the hall,
"You fucking bitch, I was trying to be nice!"
A young man with yellow-dyed hair and a thick silver chain was holding a beer bottle, standing beside the booth and screaming at two young women, spittle flying as he pointed and cursed.
Realizing something was wrong and understanding what Zhou Qiang had meant by "trouble," Lu Chao quickened his pace. He moved through the crowd like a mobile reef, his black leather shoes making crisp sounds on the dark floor tiles.
"I'm doing you a favor asking you to drink, and you have the nerve to refuse?"
"We're all just here to have fun, who are you putting on an act for?"
The yellow-haired youth shouted arrogantly. Ignoring his friends' attempts to hold him back, he smashed the beer bottle.
CRASH!!
Shards of shattered glass and beer flew everywhere. He gripped the jagged neck of the bottle, pointing it at the two women.
The two young women were clearly startled. Their faces filled with terror as they tried to back away. Many of the surrounding customers glanced over, most of them with the expressions of people watching a show.
"Fuck, you think you can run?"
Cursing, the yellow-haired youth saw the two trying to escape. Enraged, he thrust the broken bottle forward.
CLACK!
At the critical moment, a powerful hand reached out and clamped down on his wrist.
"Sir, fighting is strictly forbidden in the bar."
The black suit was snug against his body, outlining the lines of his muscles.
Lu Chao said seriously, hoping the man wouldn't make things difficult for him.
However.
"Fuck off!"
Seeing that it was just a security guard, the yellow-haired youth cursed and tried to struggle free, attempting to stab forward again with his right arm.
"Sir..."
"Motherfucker!"
His face flushed an ugly red. Seeing he couldn't break his right arm free, the yellow-haired youth grabbed another beer bottle from the table and smashed it violently at Lu Chao's head.
"You dare to stop me!"
"I'd like to see how many you can take—"
BANG!!
The beer bottle shattered in mid-air!
A fist shot out like a rock, tearing through the air. Splashing beer and glass shards flew in all directions.
The yellow-haired youth stared blankly for a second. Then he saw Lu Chao's eyes turn cold as his left arm shot up, fist turning into a claw that grabbed him by the hair.
Without a shred of courtesy.
The next instant.
THUD!!
The sharp sound echoed through the bar, and the nearby booths fell silent for a moment.
The yellow-haired youth's head had been slammed onto the hard metal table of the booth. He was knocked out cold on the spot, a trickle of blood running down from his hairline.
Pairs of eyes turned to look, their expressions varied, but most were of shock.
The two cowering, scantily-clad women stared wide-eyed, trembling in silence.
CLATTER!
Finally, the jagged beer bottle fell from the yellow-haired youth's limp hand, hitting the floor.
Lu Chao released him, reached up, and straightened the collar of his suit.