Shown Up by Brother Yuan Again

The young shopkeeper didn't give Lu Yuan any time to linger in sentiment. He grinned. "We're all square — next time you've got goods, come find me again! I promise I won't shortchange you."

"Since you say so, I'll look you up when I have more stock."

Lu Yuan found the boss genuinely entertaining — the one who couldn't go two sentences without randomly barking like a dog. Worth coming back to.

After leaving Wild Wolf Materials, he swung by a shopping mall to restock the supplies he'd burned through. Beyond replacing what he'd used, he also picked up a few new items — a tent, a sleeping bag, that sort of thing.

The 15,000 he'd just collected hadn't even had time to warm his pockets. By the time he was finished, barely 4,300 remained.

He stared at the money in his hand. Still broke.

He'd bought quite a lot this time, so the bill was naturally steep. But everyday supplies were genuinely useful in the right situation — without the combustion oil and rope from before, he never would have gotten that chest open. Of course, at higher levels these things would be next to useless against top-tier beasts, but for now they pulled their weight.

Fortunately, as his strength had grown, his battle-mark space had expanded along with it — now roughly two meters across. Otherwise fitting everything inside would have been a real challenge.

He took a deep breath and made himself a firm promise: he was moving out, as soon as possible.

Wanting to leave the slum district and actually managing it — that was still a long road ahead.

He left the mall and headed back. The minor scuffle from that morning hadn't caused so much as a ripple here. People went about their lives exactly as before.

On his way, Lu Yuan dropped by the Daming Martial Arts Gym.

The moment he stepped inside, a wave of heat and the shouts of training hit him at the same time. One by one, the gym members who spotted him offered respectful nods — a world of difference from the first time he'd walked in here. He smiled and nodded back, making his way deeper into the gym.

Two muscular men were sparring on the platform, a small crowd of spectators looking on.

Franming usually trained here, but today there was no sign of him.

Xiaohu was working a metal punching rack nearby. Each massive fist landed with a dull thud, the metal buckling inward under the force.

Lu Yuan's expression stayed blank. His mind, undisturbed.

Spotting Lu Yuan, Xiaohu stopped, wiped his face with the towel around his neck, and walked over.

"Brother Yuan, you're here? How come so late today?"

"Went to do some shopping."

Lu Yuan glanced around. "Where's Brother Ming? Haven't seen him."

"Oh, Brother Ming — he went out last night and hasn't come back yet."

Lu Yuan paused. "He left last night? Did something happen?"

"No idea. He goes out every now and then — sometimes for a few days, sometimes he's back the same day. I really don't know the details."

Xiaohu crossed his arms over his chest and flashed a wide grin.

"Brother Yuan, I heard you went to the Land of Origin? How'd it go? You didn't die in there and crawl back out, did you?"

Nearby, the rest of the crowd chimed in.

"Isn't it obvious? Brother Yuan's a Gene Warrior, and he went to the Land of Origin yesterday. Look at him — he's clearly alive and well. He must have made serious progress."

Xiaohu waved it off entirely. "First time in is only twenty-four hours. How much progress are we realistically talking? You think I don't know anything? Trying to play me?"

Lu Yuan caught the dismissive look on Xiaohu's face and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Xiaohu said. "I've made obvious progress these last couple of days. You scared or something?"

"If you insist, I'll spar with you for a bit," Lu Yuan said. "Fair warning, though — I did go to the Land of Origin last night, and there was some improvement."

Xiaohu didn't give it a second thought.

"Hmph! Kid, let me show you exactly what these past few days of training have produced!"

He knocked his fists together and grinned at Lu Yuan, teeth showing. "This is my REVENGE match! Everyone, watch closely! Today, I — Xiaohu — am putting this guy in the hospital!"

The crowd lit up. Cheers and jeers broke out in every direction.

"Hey, who do you all think's going to win?" one of the bigger men asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Do you even need to ask? Brother Yuan, obviously."

"I know Xiaohu's been training hard lately and he's come a long way — but I'm still going with Brother Yuan."

The big man scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. "Cough — yeah, of course Brother Yuan wins."

"You honestly think Xiaohu's got a shot?"

One guy, unable to stand it, finally spoke up for the underdog. "Come on — seriously, not a single one of you thinks Xiaohu can win? The poor kid."

"Hmph," Xiaohu said.

The crowd gave him a collective middle finger.

"He's not YOUR Brother Yuan — he's MY Brother Yuan!"

"The hell he is! He's MY Brother Yuan!"

"Hey, you two up there! Get down already!"

"Yeah! Make room for Brother Yuan and Xiaohu!"

The two fighters on the platform, not the least bit offended, hopped down at everyone's urging. The crowd parted as Lu Yuan and Xiaohu walked toward the ring.

"Get on the platform."

"Come on then."

The two climbed up and faced each other.

Xiaohu gave Lu Yuan a provocative look and flipped him the finger.

"Hmph."

With a roar, he launched himself at Lu Yuan like a tiger bounding off a mountainside — raw and relentless.

Lu Yuan caught the look on Xiaohu's face and raised one finger, holding it up in front of the incoming fist.

Xiaohu's wind-charged punch hit what felt like an immovable wall — and stopped dead.

Xiaohu's eyes went wide. He stared at the single finger that had stopped his blow and froze completely.

The noise below died in an instant. Dead silence.

Then — a beat later — someone cried out.

"He blocked that — that massive punch — with ONE FINGER?! Is Brother Yuan even human?!"

"What the — !!"

Lu Yuan gave the faintest push. Xiaohu stumbled backward, step after step, until he reached the very edge of the platform and teetered on the verge of falling off.

"BROTHER YUAN IS AN ETERNAL LEGEND!!"

The crowd erupted.

He'd only used one finger, Lu Yuan reflected — because if he hadn't been careful, he might have actually sent Xiaohu to the hospital. And he hadn't been going anywhere near full force. Not even a third of it.

On the platform, Lu Yuan smiled faintly at the thoroughly stunned Xiaohu.

"Still going?"

Down below, the discussion was well underway.

"Yesterday Brother Yuan wasn't this strong, was he? Did he really get all this from one trip to the Land of Origin?! That's insane!"

"Isn't it obvious — he's a Gene Warrior, and he went in yesterday. He's alive, and he clearly improved. A lot."

"First time is only twenty-four hours! How much can anyone improve in twenty-four hours? You really think you can fool me?"

Up on the platform, both of them could hear every word.

Lu Yuan couldn't help it — he laughed, and then said with perfect solemnity:

"All of this is the fruit of my own hard work."

Xiaohu's easy, good-natured face had gone completely dark. He stared at Lu Yuan with a dejected look and scratched his head.

"Damn it... shown up by Brother Yuan again."

After a long moment of silence, he smiled ruefully and shook his head.

"No more, I'm done. I'm no match."

The crowd's shouts and cheers rolled on. Looking at Lu Yuan, more than a few of them had something close to reverence in their eyes.

People who trained at the gym here in the slum district were simple at heart. Lu Yuan's showing over the past few days had earned their respect — even though he was noticeably younger than most of them. In a place like this, where the law could barely reach, strength was everything. And where strength was great enough, respect followed naturally. So did admiration.

As for the Land of Origin — how long you could stay depended on your strength. The first trip was always fixed: twenty-four hours for everyone, since that was right after Awakening. After that, it was up to you. At his current level, Lu Yuan figured he could probably manage several days inside. He'd likely end up sleeping under the open sky.

He took a deep breath and made himself the same silent promise he'd been making all day.

Next time, he was definitely moving out.