Forge a path to success.

Chapter 68 Your Tentacles
"Mr. Ji, can't I be considered a martial arts genius?"

"Of course you are a genius." Ji Qiufeng smiled. "Looking at the entire Chendong Realm, it would be hard to find someone more talented than you."

"Can my attitude towards cultivation be considered diligent?" Chu Hengkong asked again.

“Apart from academic subjects, he deserves praise.”

"I have both talent and the right attitude," Chu Hengkong said, spreading his hands. "There's really no reason why I can't get promoted."

Ji Qiufeng unfolded the bamboo slip in his hand. On the front was a detailed anatomical diagram of the human body, down to the bones, while the back was covered with tiny, vertically formatted characters. He said unhurriedly, "Heng Kong, the particle you are about to ascend to is called 'Solid Bone.' What is 'bone'?"

"The main trunk, the support."

“That’s right. Human bones are like the trunk of a tree. If they are too soft, the tree will bend; if they are too rigid, the tree will break. Only by being tempered by wind and rain can they develop resilience, connecting the roots and leaves to support a great tree.” Ji Qiufeng explained in detail, “The characteristic of this quality is tenacity and resilience, like a towering divine tree that stands for a thousand years!”
The key to transforming into a strong and resilient body is 'forging bones and regulating qi.' You must use your intention and qi to penetrate into your bones, connecting your qi and blood with steel-like bones, so that your entire body is integrated, in order to create a body that is impervious to water and fire..."

“But Heng Kong, you just broke into eighteen pieces a while ago, and it took you almost half an hour to piece them back together.” Ji Qiufeng changed the subject. “Don’t even mention the strong bones, they’re all shattered. How are you going to refine them now?”

Chu Hengkong's facial muscles twitched; upon hearing this, he was reminded of his dream of turning into a grilled squid...

"Isn't it?"

“Absolutely.” He strolled into the study, climbed onto the desk, and sat up cross-legged. “You weren’t even a mutilated body back then, you were practically a mass of flesh. It took the young men ages to collect your parts. Do you want to hear the details?”

Chu Hengkong shook his head with a dark expression.

“You should listen to this, it’s very educational.” Youyou gloated. “Everything else is negotiable, but your spine was broken into four pieces back then, it was too severely tainted by demonic power. If you want to heal it, you’ll have to get Jiewen to do it, I don’t have that ability.”

Chu Hengkong pondered for a moment: "Then I just need to replace my spine..."

“Or you can take your time to recover.” Ji Qiufeng emphasized, “The worst thing in cultivation is to blindly rush things. If you steadily practice the basics, you will have no shortage of opportunities to improve. First, master this method, and then consider advancing to the next level.”

Ji Qiufeng tossed out the bamboo slip in his hand. Chu Hengkong caught it and saw that the book was titled "Secret Transmission of Qi Method forging bones," which was the foundation of the strong bones mentioned earlier.

Chu Hengkong didn't pay much attention. There were plenty of magical treasures in this other world; he didn't believe there wasn't medicine to heal his bones. He put away the bamboo slip, thanked them, and left with light steps.

Ji Qiufeng tapped his fan and praised, "Look at that, what a fine character."

"Of course! Anyone with a bad temper would have run away long ago after three months of training under you." Youyou glared. "I'm telling you, Ji Qiufeng, you can't keep fooling people like this. What have you been training us with lately?"

"I've only practiced one move, 'One Qi Across a Thousand Autumns,' in the past month," Ji Qiufeng said, sipping his tea.

"You have the nerve to say that? Only someone with a level 3 mass would dare to practice that!" Youyou snatched his teacup. "That's going too far..."

Since recovering from his injuries, a spirited Ji Qiufeng has designed a professional development program specifically for young talents. Its core idea is sustainable, rapid growth – train them relentlessly, even to the point of exhaustion, as long as they don't die.

The plan has been in effect for three months and appears to be quite successful: Jie An has started putting chili powder in his lunch, Ji Huaisu hasn't spoken to his father for a week and throws stink bombs into the study every two days, while Chu Hengkong is fully committed, overjoyed, and greets each week's challenge with great enthusiasm...

Sometimes, Youyou even felt that if they continued training like this, some unlucky kid would eventually be turned into a human-shaped heretic. But Ji Qiufeng himself didn't care at all: "The environment is full of crises, so we have to let the kids learn more."

"No matter how many methods you have, it's useless if you don't have the means to advance." Youyou said dismissively. "Seriously, how do you plan to handle Hengkong's matter? If you're stuck for too long, you'll lose your drive and your career will suffer."

Promotion is like the growth of life; staying at one stage for too long is not a good thing. In Longquan Township, there are always self-proclaimed little geniuses who think they can use their skillful hands and quick wit to learn more skills, hoping to surpass their peers after promotion. But they don't realize that they have also fallen into the trap of "taking shortcuts," and often regret it only after a long time when they find that they have lost their ambition.

Ji Qiufeng understood this principle better than Youyou. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Would you like me to tell your fortune?"

Lady Huilong perked up at the news. She picked out a few tea stalks and arranged them into a miniature array around herself. The array, which was as large as a grass platform, emitted a faint yellow light. Youyou closed her eyes, calculated for a moment, and said, "This child's opportunity lies in the Netherworld Divine Kingdom!"

Ji Qiufeng pursed his lips, trying hard to appear serious. Youyou couldn't hold back any longer: "Ah, forget it, forget it! This is too outrageous, think of something else!"

"You've never been good at divination..."

"I predict that I'll get full marks every semester in my prediction class! Even Lord Zhulong says I'm a genius!" Youyou argued logically. "It's just that there's a margin of error between theory and practice, you understand? A reasonable margin of error!"

·
Chu Hengkong was completely unaware of the elders' argument. After leaving the study, he went to the cafeteria, where Ji Huaisu was munching on an egg pancake. When he saw his partner arrive, he put his paw on Chu Hengkong's shoulder and asked with great interest, "Can you get promoted or not?"

Chu Hengkong moved the other person's hand away, his face expressionless. Ji Huaisu chuckled, "Looks like for quite some time to come, I, Sister Huaisu, will still be stronger!"

"Sister Huaisu? Don't you even know how old you are?" Chu Hengkong went to get a bowl of waterweed sweet soup and scoffed at the words.

"I'm a vibrant 23 this year, full of youthful energy and in the prime of my life, hehe." Ji Huaisu made a peace sign. "Although I'm not as old as you, I'm still a reliable adult... What the heck is that expression?!"

Chu Heng stood frozen in place, holding the sweet soup, his eyes filled with horror. Jie An, never one to miss a good spectacle, exclaimed in a shrill voice, "Hey! Speaking of which, how old is our assassin this year?"

Chu Hengkong put down the sugar water: "I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now..."

Ji Huaisu's eyes lit up. She stuffed the egg pancake into her mouth and clung to someone's back like a sloth: "Don't run away! Tell me! How old are you this year!"

"Miss Ji, may I ask what my personal privacy has to do with you?" Ji Huaisu chuckled sinisterly, "Tell me yourself, or I'll make it up for you. Choose one."

All the brothers in the canteen were staring at this spot, and Chu Hengkong realized that he was in deep trouble today. He spoke with an almost lifeless tone: "...22 years old."

Ji Huaisu burst into a joyful and unrestrained laugh, his expression vividly illustrating the meaning of a petty person achieving success. Just before the major event was about to occur, Chu Hengkong stretched out a tentacle and darted out of the canteen, leaving his brothers' laughter behind.

Ji Huaisu clung to his back like a persistent ghost, poking his cheek with her fingernails, her voice as affected as could be: "Xiao Kong, come here, call me Sister Huaisu~"

Chu Hengkong sighed deeply: "Don't you think it's childish of you?"

"The thought of disgusting you fills me with motivation."

"I'm so touched I want to leave you behind." Chu Heng walked aimlessly towards the dormitory building. "What's the schedule for today?"

"No assignments. I'm done with my work, no more martial arts practice, I'm going hiking!"

"So lazy."

Chu Hengkong landed in front of his house, and Ji Huaisu got off his back and turned around on the spot: "Let's go together."

"I want to practice martial arts."

"You haven't practiced enough after three months?" Ji Huaisu made a face. "Dad said to wait a little longer, so don't be in such a hurry. It's rare for the world to be at peace now, so you should seize the opportunity to have fun."

Chu Hengkong, who had been preoccupied with the bamboo slip, considered it after hearing this and temporarily put the thought aside. After all, it wasn't the most difficult time anymore; the city lord, this pillar of the city, had recovered, and the city didn't urgently need him anymore. Besides, Ji Huaisu had just worked overtime for a week, and she was quite eager to go out and have some fun…

These past three months haven't been easy, so taking a day off isn't a sin.

"Okay, I'll pack up."

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Chu Hengkong walked into his single dormitory room and habitually picked up a watering can to water the potted plant. The small potted plant he bought during the last holiday was now more than half his height, and like every plant that grows in swamps, it was seizing the opportunity to grow wildly.

He began packing. For a detective and assassin, the things he needed to bring on a trip were actually similar to those he needed for a mission, except that he would carry more beads in his pocket.

Considering he would be out for half a day, Chu Hengkong stuffed a bag of nuts into his pocket, then checked his belongings one by one: light armor, his usual relics, his knife, and the book he never parted with. The silver eyes on the cover were glowing.

"...?"

He wasn't mistaken; the silver-eyed book was glowing. Page after page turned, the blank pages rustling softly. Chu Hengkong suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity. He tossed the book out the window, but by the time it left his hand, the twilight had already illuminated the room.

He was sucked into the book.

"Ah Kong?"

Ji Huaisu grew impatient and simply pushed the door open.

She saw nothing; the room was empty except for a plant that had just been watered.

·
"Oh! Oh! Finally!"

Chu Hengkong felt as if he had been flattened, reduced to a paper doll with no thickness. He dug deep into his mind to find the source of that familiarity. It was a summoning circle. The summoning ritual he performed upon arriving in Huilong City…

He was in the midst of a bizarre summoning ritual, surrounded by thick fog so dense that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Within the fog, a strange object writhed and twisted, accompanied by a shrill sound.

"Seven whole months! Do you know how I spent those seven months? Every night I reminisced about the sweet times we had. After all the hardships, we can finally meet again..."

The thing wriggled closer amidst its intoxicated mutterings, its outline resembling a lollipop with ears: a round "upper body," two pointed ears, and a twisting "stick." It... or rather... hopped to the summoning circle, its voice rising with excitement: "Come back! My tentacles!"

Then, Chu Hengkong stood up from the summoning circle.

The thickness of his life force returned to his body, and the light from the summoning array pierced through the mist, allowing him to see the true form of that thing.

That was an eyeball.

An eyeball about the size of a man's palm.

The eyeballs occupied about two-thirds of the round "head," the rest covered by smooth, glossy silver skin. On either side of the round head were a pair of pointed protrusions, reminiscent of the triangular gills on a squid's head. Its lower body consisted of several bright silver tentacles, the central one being particularly shiny and significantly longer than the others. This tentacle supported it as it stood on the ground, just like the stick of a lollipop.

The two stared at each other in silence, their large eyes meeting. The giant squid lollipop remained motionless, its gaze displaying a mixture of surprise, astonishment, embarrassment, and utter terror and disbelief.

"No, buddy," it said pitifully, "why do you have my tentacles?"

(End of this chapter)