If I let you practice martial arts, you'll compress your vital energy ten thousand times?

The first rays of morning sunlight struggled to squeeze into this narrow, dilapidated rented room through the dusty glass windows.

In the air, fine dust particles danced silently within the beam of light.

The old mechanical alarm clock on the bedside table made a monotonous "tick-tock" sound.

"what!"

Lin Xiaoya, who was lying on the single bed, suddenly let out a gasp.

Like a drowning person finally surfacing, she instantly sat up in bed, gasping for breath.

Large beads of cold sweat covered his fair forehead.

Lin Xiaoya stared wide-eyed in terror, her hands gripping the blanket tightly in front of her. Her brain felt as if it had been pierced by a rusty nail, a nauseating, tearing pain shooting through her.

"I...I'm not dead?"

Xiaoya reached out her hands, trembling, and touched her arms and then her cheeks.

Warm to the touch, like real skin.

Her gaze drifted blankly as she looked around.

The walls were yellowed and peeling, there was a makeshift wardrobe with a few old school uniforms hanging on it, and a desk that my brother had nailed together from scrap wood.

This is my home in the working-class neighborhood.

Lin Xiaoya looked down and saw the cheap jade pendant hanging on her chest.

The jade pendant rested quietly on her collarbone, emitting a faint, cool warmth.

"Could it be... that was just a dream?"

Lin Xiaoya murmured to herself, her eyes welling up with tears.

In that incredibly realistic "nightmare," she was walking home from school in an alley when she was suddenly kidnapped by a black car.

She remembered the pungent smell of ether, the old man in the blood-red robe with eyes as cruel as a viper, and even the poisonous dagger raised high, about to sever her hands!

The overwhelming despair and fear she experienced kept her heart racing even now.

And then there's the end of the dream.

That dark golden meteor that tore through the sky, crashing down like the wrath of a god!

That's so true.

It was so real that even the smell of blood in the air lingered in her nostrils.

Click.

Just as Lin Xiaoya was still in shock, the slightly warped wooden door to the bedroom was gently pushed open.

A wave of heat, rich and delicious, mixed with the subtle aroma of scallions, instantly dispelled the chill in the room.

Lin Yuan slowly walked in, carrying a steaming hot bowl.

He was wearing a faded gray loungewear set, with an old apron with cartoon prints tied around his waist.

His handsome face wore the same gentle smile as always.

"woke up?"

Lin Yuan placed the large bowl on the bedside table and pulled over a chair to sit down.

"Quickly drink this bowl of braised mutated grass carp soup while it's hot."

Looking at the older brother in front of me, someone I know to the core.

The grievances and fears in Lin Xiaoya's heart erupted like a flood bursting its banks at that moment.

"elder brother!"

She threw off the covers and threw herself into Lin Yuan's arms, hugging his waist tightly and bursting into tears.

"I had a terrible nightmare!"

"I dreamt that bad guys were trying to kidnap me and cut off my hand! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Listening to my sister's terrified cries.

Beneath Lin Yuan's gentle expression, a chilling killing intent, enough to freeze the Nine Netherworlds, flashed uncontrollably in his dark eyes.

That wasn't a dream at all.

If he had been even a fraction of a second late last night, Lin Xiaoya's life would have been completely ruined.

But when Lin Yuan lowered his head and looked at his trembling younger sister in his arms...

That violent killing intent vanished instantly, transforming into an unprecedented gentleness.

He reached out and patted Xiaoya's back with incredibly gentle movements, as if comforting a frightened fledgling.

"Silly girl, dreams are always the opposite of reality."

Lin Yuan's voice was steady and calm, possessing a magical quality that made people instinctively believe him.

"Did you faint in the alley after school last night?"

"faint?"

Xiaoya lifted her head from Lin Yuan's arms, her eyes red and her face full of confusion.

"yes."

Lin Yuan grabbed a tissue and, while wiping away her tears, smoothly wove together a flawless lie.

"You've been staying up late every night to study for your midterms. Coupled with malnutrition, you suffered from hypoglycemia and fainted right at the alley entrance."

"If it weren't for the kind-hearted city guards on patrol who checked your student ID and brought you back, you would be sleeping on the streets today."

Hearing this reasonable explanation...

Xiaoya was stunned for a moment.

She tried hard to recall the details of the alley last night, but found that her memories before being drugged with ether were already blurry.

"Oh... so I fainted because of low blood sugar."

Xiaoya rubbed her temples a little embarrassedly.

"I knew it! How could such a powerful villain kidnap me, an ordinary student with no money or martial arts talent? It's absurd."

Xiaoya breathed a sigh of relief, and the gloom in her heart was swept away.

"I'm sorry, brother, I made you worry." She stuck out her tongue guiltily.

Knowing I was worried, he drank every last drop of the soup.

Lin Yuan picked up the bowl of fish soup and handed it to her.

"I simmered it for two whole hours, extracting all the essence and blood from it, specifically to nourish your body."

"Um!"

Xiaoya nodded emphatically, took the large bowl, and drank it in big gulps.

The extremely delicious taste of the mutated grass carp, mixed with the gentle and nourishing power of qi and blood, flowed down her throat into her stomach, quickly dispelling the last trace of weakness remaining in her body.

Lin Yuan rested his chin on one hand and quietly watched his younger sister devour her food.

The morning light shone on his profile, outlining a peaceful and serene scene.

For Lin Yuan.

He was neither a fearsome, bloodthirsty god of war nor an invincible master to whom even military commanders had to kneel.

He was just Lin Xiaoya's brother.

That's it.

Just as Lin Yuan was quietly enjoying this warm moment...

His seemingly languid eyes inadvertently glanced out the window.

The ultimate five senses brought about by 250,000 compressions of Qi and blood allow him to passively perceive every microscopic corner within a radius of one kilometer, even in his untransformed state!

The streets of the civilian district were unusually quiet at this moment.

The drunkards who used to yell and curse early in the morning, and the stray dogs that rummaged through the trash cans, have all disappeared.

in contrast.

In Lin Yuan's holographic radar-like physical perception.

Behind the water tower across the street, two elite snipers lay prone, their breathing deliberately suppressed to the extreme. Their optical camouflage uniforms blended perfectly into the background.

The sanitation worker sweeping downstairs. Although his movements were very convincingly disguised, his strong and powerful strides, and the calluses on the inside of his thighs, clearly worn from the butt of a pistol, had already betrayed his true cultivation level as a peak Qi Gathering Realm cultivator.

And in the underground parking garage in the distance.

At least ten heavily armored assault vehicles, fully camouflaged, were parked inside. The soldiers inside were fully armed, their inner energy concealed, like a pack of tigers ready to pounce on their prey.

Not only that.

High in the sky, six micro-drones, completely silent, are monitoring every blind spot leading to the apartment building.

"They were pretty quick."

Lin Yuan silently commented to himself.

This elite special forces team of over a hundred personnel completely sealed off this civilian area.

But they had clearly received a death order.

All security measures and surveillance were strictly controlled outside the "absolute red line" of 500 meters away from this rental house.

Without a single probing glance, they dared not cross the line.

They were like a pack of the most loyal and reverent guard dogs, carefully protecting this sacred place that could not be violated, for fear of disturbing Lin Yuan and his sister.

"You guys know what's good for you."

Lin Yuan withdrew his senses, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

The military's attitude greatly facilitated his subsequent plans.

With a massive state apparatus acting as a free security guard, he can devote all his energy to the ultimate sprint of compressing the extreme qi and blood 300,000 times!

Just then.

Gudong.

Lin Xiaoya finished the last sip of fish soup and let out a satisfied burp.

"Brother, your cooking skills are getting better and better!"

Xiaoya wiped her mouth, regaining her usual energy. She glanced at the alarm clock on the wall and suddenly exclaimed.

"Oh no! We're going to be late! Bro, you have to go to Gaowu No.1 Middle School for resuming classes today!"

Xiaoya jumped off the bed in a flurry and rushed into the narrow bathroom to wash up.

Looking at my younger sister's energetic back view.

Lin Yuan stood up and slowly took off his old apron.

"Schools will resume..."

A deep, dark light flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes.

dong dong dong.

Just as Lin Yuan was about to go back to his room to change his clothes.

The rusty security door of the rented room was gently knocked on.