At that moment,
Zhao Guangming didn't bother with Wang Ren anymore. Instead, he turned a grateful and sincere look towards Lu Xiaobai and said,
"Thank you, Young Master Lu."
He knew that if the other hadn't stepped in, he would never have gotten his wages back in this lifetime...
Lu Xiaobai waved his hand dismissively and said with a smile,
"It's nothing. Since the matter is settled, I'll take my leave."
With that, he didn't linger, turning and leaving with Ah Da.
Zhao Guangming watched him go and quickly hurried after him.
Wang Ren tried to say something to stop him, but no words came out.
He knew he couldn't fool this person anymore...
Just then,
Lin Lei'er said with a mocking tone,
"I never imagined the corporate culture of the Excellence Star Martial Arts Gym was like this. I certainly won't be looking for a sparring partner here again."
Lin Xue'er beside her nodded in agreement.
"......"
Wang Ren's mouth opened slightly, wanting to offer some defense, but in the end, he fell silent.
Ultimately, he could only watch helplessly as the Lin sisters left.
"It's over..."
He would never have dreamed in his wildest dreams that a mere Zhao Guangming could lead to such severe consequences.
Once the board of directors of the Star Martial Arts Gym found out about this, even with his connections, he wouldn't be able to keep his manager position.
Now,
Lu Xiaobai arrived at the roadside. He wasn't in a hurry to board his flame flyer and instead waited quietly.
Not long after,
Zhao Guangming caught up and once again said earnestly,
"Young Master Lu, truly, thank you. Counting that incident the other day, you've helped me twice now!"
Lu Xiaobai waved his hand and said with a smile,
"That time was an internal issue with my Immortality Pill Group, it wasn't really about helping you."
"But this time, you genuinely helped me!"
Zhao Guangming, his face full of gratitude, then lowered his voice and said,
"Young Master Lu, you want to ask me about the Star Skill on me, right?"
"Hmm?"
Lu Xiaobai's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of surprise in his eyes as he smiled and said,
"Why do you say that?"
"Young Master Lu, I know my place..."
Zhao Guangming scratched his head and said,
"I'm not some genius Star Warrior, nor am I some peerless beauty. I'm not worth someone of your stature going out of your way to help..."
Lu Xiaobai hadn't expected the other, who seemed ordinary, to be so perceptive.
Seeing this, he decided not to hide it anymore and said frankly,
"I stepped in to help partly because I found that guy's behavior somewhat intolerable, and partly, I am indeed extremely interested in the Star Skill you possess!"
Unlike others, his eye was sharp. He had seen at a glance that the other's defensive Star Skill was anything but ordinary.
After all, he was a direct descendant of the Lu family. If he hadn't eaten the pork, he'd at least seen the pig run...
Now, with his special advantage, he was particularly interested in powerful Star Skills.
Hearing this, Zhao Guangming wasn't offended at all. Instead, he felt a sense of relief.
He wasn't afraid of the other having an ulterior motive; what he feared was the other having no motive at all. That kind of situation was the most unsettling...
Now, with no intention to hide anything, he said directly,
"Young Master Lu, this Star Skill is called [Divine Guard]. It's a defensive-type Star Skill!"
"Oh? Divine Guard?"
Lu Xiaobai's expression changed. He searched his memory but found no related recollection. Clearly, it was a Star Skill he had never heard of before.
"What are its effects?"
"If I unleash it at full power, I'm confident I can withstand an attack from a Level 25 Star Warrior. Oh, and my Vitality is Level 15."
"That strong?"
Lu Xiaobai was shocked, a look of disbelief in his eyes. He quickly asked,
"What level have you raised that Star Skill to?"
"Uh..."
Zhao Guangming scratched his head and said,
"My aptitude is too poor. In six years, I've only raised it to Level 3. Based on my estimation, this Star Skill's level cap is at least Level 10 or above."
"......"
A flicker of disappointment appeared in Lu Xiaobai's eyes.
This meant it would be ages before the other could create a Star Skill Stone for it.
For [Divine Guard] to provide cross-level defense at only Level 3 meant it was absolutely a top-tier Star Skill. Even their Lu family didn't possess a defensive Star Skill of this caliber.
Zhao Guangming saw the disappointment in the other's eyes. He didn't speak but began thinking intensely, seemingly wrestling with a dilemma.
After a long moment, he made a decision and said in a low voice,
"Young Master Lu, actually, back then, I came across two Star Skill Stones by chance. [Divine Guard] was just one of them."
"Huh?"
Lu Xiaobai was startled and said in surprise,
"There's another Star Skill?!"
For two top-tier Star Skills like this to appear at once seemed a bit too unbelievable...
Zhao Guangming nodded and said,
"I don't know what the other Star Skill is either. To learn it requires a max-level Body Refinement Technique. I've worked hard all these years, and my Body Refinement Technique is only at Level 3 now..."
"That really is a pity."
Seeing this, Lu Xiaobai offered words of comfort.
But thinking that he perfectly met the condition, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, though he forced it down. This made his expression look rather strange.
Helplessly, he could only turn his head away, not looking at the other, thinking to himself:
Lu Xiaobai, ah Lu Xiaobai, you really are terrible at pretending...
"......"
Zhao Guangming, looking at the other's expression, smiled. He understood perfectly well what the other was thinking.
He reached into the inner pocket of his clothes, pulled out a white Star Skill Stone, and directly handed it to Lu Xiaobai.
"Huh? You're just giving it to me like that?"
Lu Xiaobai was taken aback, not reacting immediately.
Zhao Guangming said with a serious expression,
"Young Master Lu, you just helped me get my wages back. Naturally, I should offer some repayment."
"......"
Hearing this, Lu Xiaobai said,
"Let me be clear first. If this Star Skill Stone is on the same level as [Divine Guard], its value is inestimable, far beyond what those wages of yours are worth."
By his estimate, the wages the other just received were probably only around a hundred thousand Alliance Coins, not even enough to buy a single strand of hair compared to the value of [Divine Guard]...
Hearing this, Zhao Guangming thought for a moment, then said,
"Young Master Lu, how about this: if this thing isn't worth much, then consider it my repayment to you. But if its value really is high, just give me whatever compensation you see fit."
"Anyway, I don't have anything else. Besides offering myself, there's only this Star Skill Stone!"
He also knew the Star Skill Stone was extremely valuable, otherwise he wouldn't have been so conflicted earlier. But now that he had decided to give it away, he wouldn't hesitate.
"Forget about offering yourself, but compensation is possible..."
Lu Xiaobai raised an eyebrow, then said with a laugh,
"Then let me first see what Star Skill this thing actually is!"
Without hesitation, he immediately crushed it.
The Star Skill Stone shattered, turning into points of light that swiftly merged into Lu Xiaobai's mind.
"Young Master Lu... you?!"
Zhao Guangming's eyes widened, his face filled with shock.
If the target did not meet the prerequisite conditions, those rays of light would coalesce back into a skill stone. Only when the conditions were fully satisfied would they merge into one's consciousness.
The scene unfolding before him meant Lu Xiaobai's [Basic Body Refining Technique] had reached its maximum level!
Having worked as a sparring partner for so long, he had naturally witnessed many geniuses from Starlight City, but not a single one possessed a Body Refining Technique of this caliber!
"As expected of a direct descendant of the Lu family. This is simply too prodigious..."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
