I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

Seeing how cooperative he was, Xue Jing patted him on the shoulder and softened his expression: "Then I'll have to trouble you."

Pei Youguang said cautiously, "Not at all, but could we skip the part about writing a self-criticism and reading it aloud in class?"

Xue Jing thought for a moment and said, "No, but then we don't need to read it ten times, once is enough."

"..." Pei Youguang felt that there was no difference between ten times and once; both resulted in the complete loss of 'majesty,' so how could he make such a concession? However, he dared not refute it and could only laugh awkwardly, "Thank you."

"Alright." Xue Jing stood up.

"That's how it is. I'll come find you this afternoon or tomorrow when I'm free to learn 'strength.' From now on, study hard and be a proper student. Don't let me hear you bullying anyone again."

Pei Youguang: "I'll do whatever you say."

……

Once Xue Jing left the dark alley, the underlings who had been lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious slowly got up, tapped their heads, and groaned in pain, all looking as if they had just woken up.

"Hey, Pei-ge, where's that Xue... Xue-xue senior?"

Pei Youguang sat up, felt in his school uniform pocket, took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, thought about lighting one, but then felt no interest and sighed.

"From now on, we should all call him Brother Jing."

The underlings looked at each other, and could only agree.

The scene fell silent for a moment. Pei Youguang pondered, his eyes deep in thought: 'He hasn't practiced martial arts, yet he possesses such physical attributes... He should be considered to have the excellent innate talent that the dojo instructor spoke of...'

Just like my older brother…

Whether it was because he was beaten into submission or something else, Pei Youguang had a hunch that Xue Jing was no ordinary person.

Words like "clinging to someone's coattails" and "benefiting from someone's rise to power" flashed through his mind, but the limitations of his perspective and understanding prevented him from immediately discerning the pros and cons.

After a long while, he shook his head.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. In short, I just need to get along well with him!"

Pei Youguang decided to follow his intuition.

……

Please read on!

Chapter 14 Fighting is fun!

After letting Li Ge go back on his own, Xue Jing also walked towards the bus stop, preparing to go home.

On the way, he opened the panel and checked his haul.

[You have survived a battle, Fitness Experience Points +109]

[You have completed a battle; aiming experience points +50]

[You have just finished a battle and feel very refreshed. Health Preservation Experience Points +33]

[Conditions met, skill activated: Combat]

[You have completed a battle; combat experience points +68]

Fitness Lv2 (431/500)

Health Preservation Lv1 (269/300)

Cooking Skill Lv2 (279/500)

Running Lv3 (502/800)

Charm Lv2 (398/500)

Aim for Lv1 (208/300)

Fighting Lv1 (68/300)

First, there's the experience points. His fitness skill level increased by over 100 points. He could only get that many points by working hard in the gym for an hour on his own, but now he gained this much experience just from fighting a relatively easy fight.

Aiming gained 50 experience points, which should include his use of dynamic vision in combat, as well as his aiming when punching. In addition, hitting Pei Youguang's left eye with a pebble is also a far greater gain than his usual training.

What made Xue Jing most nervous was that his "health preservation" experience had increased by more than 30 points.

This skill, which previously only had the option of gaining experience through going to bed early and waking up early, actually gained experience during a fight?

What, you think fighting is a form of exercise for health?

However, Xue Jing glanced at the "Feeling Good" message on the panel and thought it made sense.

Maintaining a good mindset is a very important aspect of health preservation. The impact of mindset on the body is undeniable. We often hear stories of seriously ill patients who miraculously recovered because of their excellent mindset.

After the fight, he did feel very refreshed and had a great sense of exhilaration.

Fighting is fun!

"Looks like I need to do things that make me happy more often from now on..."

The large amount of experience gained once again proves that the system doesn't encourage working in isolation; you still need to be out and about more.

Finally, there's the newly activated skill – "Fighting".

Xue Jing really didn't expect to be able to activate a skill directly linked to combat power here.

I thought all the practice I had done in the past month by following the videos was a waste of time, but I never expected that all my hard work would come to fruition at this moment.

In the quiet path, seeing that no one was around, Xue Jing did a high leg split, raising his right leg high to form a vertical split.

At this moment, he could hardly feel the pain of being pulled between his legs; this was a flexibility he had never experienced before.

And after the leg that had been raised high above his head came to a stop, he did not feel any strain. His left foot, which was still raised high, was quite balanced and very stable.

"Fighting" changed his physical structure.

The human body can be subtly changed by different lifestyle habits and exercise methods. For example, the body structures of gymnasts and weightlifters are completely different.

Years of training have made their physical structure highly compatible with their professions, combining lightness and flexibility with robust strength.

After the fighting skills were activated, Xue Jing's body structure was 'specialized', changing from an ordinary person's structure to a 'structure suitable for fighting'.

In addition to the basic physical enhancements, reaction speed, explosive power, flexibility, resistance to blows, agility, punching feel, balance... all abilities related to combat have also been enhanced to varying degrees.

"This skill only enhanced my 'fighting ability,' it didn't allow me to directly master 'fighting techniques'..."

Xue Jing pondered.

"In that case, it's actually similar to subjects like Chinese, math, and physics. Skills are also a kind of 'knowledge,' not the skill itself. 'Fighting' allows me to better control skills, but it can't instill skills into me out of thin air..."

"It's more like a 'fighting talent' than a 'fighting skill.'"

In fact, the other skills are similar. "Cooking" enhances his control over the heat and his use of cooking utensils, but does not give him recipes directly. "Fitness" does not give him fitness knowledge, but only strengthens his body.

"Running," "Aiming," "Charm," and "Health Preservation" are all examples of this; they only enhance his related abilities without directly imparting knowledge to him.

"In short, I felt great."

Xue Jing looked delighted.

This feeling of becoming stronger is truly irresistible. My body, which was already as light as a feather due to the enhancement from "fighting," feels even lighter now.

"Go home and pet your cat."

……

After taking the bus to the street where her residential area is located, Xue Jing did not go home immediately. Instead, she went to the supermarket, bought some groceries, and then returned home.

He took out his key, turned the lock, and opened the door, only to find the cat sitting at the doorway, seemingly waiting for him.

As soon as he entered, the cat meowed and its ringed tail swayed gently behind it as a greeting.

Xue Jing placed the schoolbag and the groceries from the bag on the living room table, squatted down, grabbed the cat's head with both hands, and started scratching its cheeks from both sides.

"Does the little kitten want to be petted?"

The cat tried to struggle, but immediately succumbed to the superb skills, so much so that it involuntarily squinted its eyes in pleasure.

"Meow~"

The cat's head felt wonderful to the touch. Xue Jing stroked it for a while, then stopped, still wanting more. He then pinched its cheek with one hand and laughed:

"Are you hungry, hmm?"

Even though he knew the cat in front of him was most likely a human in disguise, Xue Jing's tone still couldn't help but sound childish in front of such a cute little animal, as if he were teasing a child.

"Meow~"

The cat stretched out its two white paws and tried to push away Xue Jing's hands that were pinching its cheeks, but to no avail. It could only meow helplessly to indicate that it was indeed hungry.

Xue Jing smiled, let the poor cat go, picked up the ingredients on the table, and went into the kitchen.

The cat's face showed a very human-like dissatisfaction as it rubbed its sore cheeks with its paws.

'Foolish humans, they don't know their own strength.'

The cat, who had almost forgotten that it wasn't a cat, thought angrily.

It scurried to the corner between the living room and the kitchen, peeked at Xue Jing, and after confirming that he was busy, immediately rushed into Xue Jing's room.

Xue Jing's return was too sudden, and it didn't clean up some of the mess.

Once inside the room, the cat jumped onto the computer desk, laboriously moved the mouse with its paws, pressed the keyboard with a single paw, cleared the browsing history, uninstalled a strange piece of software, restored the computer to a state where "nothing had happened," and then clicked shutdown.

After doing all that, the cat breathed a sigh of relief, quietly left the room, went to the living room, jumped onto the sofa, lazily curled up, put its paws on the remote control, and turned on the TV.

"...Shang Mingyang, the head of the Qingcheng Police Department, stated that the police have confirmed the escape route of this smuggling gang from the border area, which is highly likely to pass through Qingcheng. The Police Department has issued a yellow security alert, and all citizens are urged to be vigilant about their personal safety..."

In the kitchen, Xue Jing's phone suddenly rang.

He put down the soy sauce and soup spoon, washed his hands, wiped them on his apron, and took out his phone from his pocket.

Xue Jing glanced at the caller ID; it was a number without a name in the contacts, but one he knew by heart.

He pressed the answer button and said, "Hello, Mom, what's wrong?"

……

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