Chapter 1 August · Suiyang

August, Suiyang.

The weather is turning cooler.

Inside the professional training floor of Hongjin Company, two figures were rapidly exchanging blows, launching attacks at each other with swift rhythm.

Punch, dodge, shift, then punch again.

They repeated this process continuously. Both were wearing form-fitting, sweat-absorbent black sportswear, the sleeveless tops highlighting the distinct contours of their muscles.

Bang.

Suddenly, a muffled sound. Song Ran took a slight step back, looking at his opponent with a hint of surprise.

"You've improved so quickly?!" He remembered that Li Cheng Yi had only been studying Cross-Orbit Combat for a few months? How did it feel like he'd improved so much...?

"No, your punching technique is still rough, but your strength and speed have increased." He quickly reacted.

"Recently, I've felt that my body has improved a lot after training. It's probably an overall improvement in my physical fitness, which makes me feel stronger," Li Cheng Yi said, wiping sweat from his face.

"But it's still not enough. I couldn't beat any of the opponents I encountered before," he sighed.

"How long have you been training?" Song Ran shook his head. "Besides, combat skills don't do much good. In this era, no matter how long you train, it's all wasted when a modified human comes along. What *jing* strength, what whole-body strength, it's all useless. Special alloy, hong iron, Wells copper, sutie – any strong alloy can destroy your fist with one punch."

"Although it's not very useful, I can't be without it. I can't have weaknesses at critical moments," Li Cheng Yi replied.

He knew very well that after wearing the Flowscale Armor, hand-to-hand combat was the most suitable for him.

So in this regard, he wanted to pursue stronger and better skills.

"In that case, my Cross-Orbit can't meet your needs. I'm a semi-modified human myself, so I haven't delved deeply into this area. However, the boss knows some powerful combat masters."

"Not the kind that are hyped up, are they?" Li Cheng Yi frowned.

"The kind who fought their way up. They used to be special close combat training instructors for the security department. Later, they retired. Because there was less and less need for combat, they ended up with nothing to do all day," Song Ran replied.

"When the old man was young, he integrated many schools and created the Dragon Whisker Force technique, which is very powerful. The Dragon Whisker Force is a highly destructive, refined force technique. Ordinary metal plates, thinner ones, really can't block his palm. Of course, he's wearing metal gauntlets when he hits."

"That's really strong!" Li Cheng Yi nodded slightly.

"But it's not working now. A few years ago, the old man's last student announced that he was giving up Dragon Whisker Force cultivation to get married and start a family, and then no one ever tried this school again," Song Ran sighed.

"These days, no matter how hard you study, someone can surpass you just by replacing a part. A dozen years of hard training can't compare to someone spending money to recharge and quickly succeed overnight. That kind of frustration is not something that ordinary people can bear."

Li Cheng Yi thought about it and could understand.

In his previous era, technology was far inferior to what it was here, and there were already signs that combat skills were slowly declining.

Here, the so-called combat skills are becoming even less valued.

"Okay, let's go again!" Song Ran shouted and charged forward again, throwing a swing punch.

Bang.

Li Cheng Yi blocked it with one hand, his body swaying slightly, and raised his foot for a front kick.

In the blink of an eye, the two were fighting again. Song Ran's combat skills were rough but lacked refinement. It was obvious that many of his movements were designed for other functions, but now, because his mechanical limbs were limited and his functions were incomplete, his close combat skills were not advancing but retreating.

Since the company's group returned from Zhaoshan, Zhong Ying's death had been constantly echoing in Li Cheng Yi's mind.

Every time he rested at night, after falling asleep, he would dream of Zhong Ying from time to time.

Dreaming that she was wearing a white dress, her face covered in blood, standing coldly by the bed, watching him.

So every night, Li Cheng Yi would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, and then get up and look around.

This state of suspicion gradually disappeared until he began to devote himself wholeheartedly to combat training.

Half an hour later, Li Cheng Yi and Song Ran rested, agreeing to mention the matter of finding a new combat instructor to the boss later.

Cross-Orbit Combat techniques are simple and easy to exert force. He had almost mastered them. Most of the rest was about the development and utilization of modified limb functions.

Unless he also modified his limbs like Song Ran and became a semi-modified human, there was no need to practice the other parts.

Leaving the company, Li Cheng Yi took a long breath.

Although he failed to complete the mission this time in Zhaoshan, Xindela still gave them a bonus of five million each. After all, they had indeed encountered considerable danger and were only one step away from completing the mission.

With these five million, although Li Cheng Yi couldn't afford a flying instrument, the botanical garden plan he had been considering before was also beginning to be put on the agenda.

He didn't need to plant all the flowers; he only needed to plant the ones he needed, a carefully selected portion of the species.

So such a botanical garden didn't need to be too large.

'Besides the botanical garden, the most important thing is to find flower energy and evil thoughts to absorb.'

Only after evolving the Flowscale Armor could he open the new Flower God position and absorb the little white flower in the dead corner of Mist Street!

Li Cheng Yi had always kept the flower language of that *shanlihong* in mind.

Walking to the side of the road, he took out his mobile phone and pulled up the ride-hailing app.

"Want a ride?" A white Calais sedan slowly drove out of the parking lot exit next to him. The car window rolled down, revealing Sima Gui's lazy face.

"Never mind, Brother Gui, you go back first," Li Cheng Yi said with a smile and declined.

"I told you not to call me Brother Turtle!" Sima Gui said speechlessly, rolled up the window, and accelerated away.

Li Cheng Yi smiled, opened the ride-hailing app, entered the address, and was about to click start.

Suddenly a text message was sent to his phone.

Ding dong.

Li Cheng Yi casually opened it and glanced at it.

"Li Cheng Yi, Wenxing Lane on the right, see it? We saw you! It's close by, let's have a meal together."

*

*

*

Not far from the New Century Building, inside a home-style restaurant called Wenxing Lane.

Chen Pi (Chen Yijun) leaned forward and waved at Li Cheng Yi from a seat by the window.

"I just met a brother, a very nice person. By chance, Xing Tong, you're here too. Let's get to know each other and make friends."

"Have I met him before? It wouldn't be good if he's a complete stranger, would it?" A plain-faced girl with a ponytail sat opposite her, looking a little embarrassed.

The girl was dressed simply and plainly, just a plain white t-shirt with a cartoon bear on her chest, paired with washed-white skinny jeans. Her entire outfit probably didn't cost more than a hundred yuan, but even such simple attire revealed an aura of youthful vitality.

Her round, slender legs and slim waist became the focus of attention around her.

Compared to her, Chen Pi (Chen Yijun) was wearing a purple thin sweater with a gray skirt and thick black stockings. She was beautiful and revealed a curvy figure, making her look more fashionable overall, but also more mature.

In addition to the two of them, there was a third person, also a young girl, with long golden curly hair, heavy makeup, a long pink and black floral dress, and a small black leather bag in her hand that could only hold her phone.

Her name was Xue Xue, and she was also Chen Yijun's classmate and friend.

The three of them were good friends in university dormitories. Later, Chen Yijun went abroad to study, but she did not break contact with the two of them.

"Back to the topic just now," Chen Yijun sent a text message to Li Cheng Yi, then looked at Zhou Xing Tong again.

"How about this, you can't find a job right now, and you're not willing to go back like this. It will be really difficult to come out again in the future. Why don't I help you find a boyfriend here and settle down?" Chen Pi suggested after thinking for a while.

Zhou Xing Tong came from the countryside. Her family was not the kind of rich farmers who had been compensated for land acquisition, nor were they farmers with land, just simple, ordinary farmers.

Her parents worked hard farming the land and occasionally did odd jobs in nearby cities to earn money and finally sent her to university. After graduation, she thought that the good days had finally come, but she didn't expect to be unlucky and encounter an unemployment wave.

The large-scale development of automation had replaced too many manual positions.

Most of the college graduates who could find jobs were in areas that machines could not replace.

The rest had to compete with machines on cost to see who was lower.

Zhou Xing Tong sat in her seat, looking a little uneasy.

She hadn't felt it when she was at school, but now she could clearly feel that there was a huge, insurmountable gap between herself and Chen Yijun.

Chen Yijun's father was a university professor, and her mother was a senior executive in a listed group. Their family connections and assets were far stronger than hers, and the circles she moved in were far beyond her reach. So after graduation, Chen Pi was able to find a good job immediately and was even qualified to pick and choose, disliking this and disliking that.

But after graduation, she could only rely on herself. She didn't have parents who could help her, so she had to go to different places for interviews and assessments.

"I've looked at it for you. It's probably not possible to find someone with too good conditions. How about this, I have a senior brother. He's very smart and was a student that my dad valued very much before, but he became a little颓废 (tuifei, dispirited) later. He now works in a private company with a monthly salary of more than ten or twenty thousand, which is not bad. You can find a suitable time to meet." Chen Yijun said seriously.

"Aren't you just talking about Li Cheng Yi in a roundabout way?" Her friend Xue Xue said with a smile. "Weren't you getting pretty close to him before? Why don't you try it yourself?"

Chen Yijun smiled and didn't reply.

As a friend, she could be friends with anyone. It was her freedom to choose. But if it was a boyfriend, or even a marriage partner, some things really didn't need to be said explicitly, because that would be too hurtful.

Whether it was suitable or not, everyone actually knew in their hearts.

The circles and levels that she and Li Cheng Yi were in were too different. Even if the two of them got along, her mother would not agree.

"Li Cheng Yi is really good. After he comes in later, you can talk to him and see how it goes. If it works out, that's the best. If not, you can still have another friend and another path," Chen Yijun said softly.

"It's really not necessary..." Zhou Xing Tong sighed, and was about to say something when the windproof door of the restaurant automatically opened, and a well-built man in a black vest walked in.

It was Li Cheng Yi, who had just gotten off work from the company.

"Hi."

He waved towards Chen Yijun.

The change in energy and spirit from regular combat training had transformed him from an ordinary liberal arts major into a healthy male with a sunny aura in just a few months.

His body, which was originally just average, had now become slightly thicker, and his gestures vaguely had a sense of power that he didn't have before.