The interior of the Crimson Bear Level Fly Shuttle was much larger than the one Gao Qing and the others had ridden.

There was a relatively independent tea room at the tail of the shuttle. When Gao Qing arrived, the scarred middle-aged man was sitting in a chair in the tea room, brewing a pot of coffee.

"Sit down."

The scarred middle-aged man beckoned Gao Qing to sit, handed her a freshly brewed cup of coffee, then walked to the wall and pressed a button, closing the partition door to the tea room and forming a small, enclosed space.

"Thank you, Sir Blade."

Gao Qing accepted the coffee and expressed her thanks.

But she was still confused. She didn't know this Crimson Bear and was unsure why she had been called over alone.

"My surname is Luo, Luo Guoxiang," the scarred middle-aged man said, sitting down opposite Gao Qing. "You're Gao Tianlin's daughter, aren't you?"

"What?!"

Gao Qing was stunned. "Sir Blade, you knew my father?"

The scarred middle-aged man nodded slightly, a hint of nostalgia on his face.

"Gao Tianlin and I joined Yellow Bear in the same batch, and we were promoted to White Bear within a month of each other. We've fought side-by-side many times; we were definitely old comrades-in-arms."

"Comrades-in-arms…"

"Yes. It's normal you don't remember me; you were very young back then." He added with a complicated expression, "Your father's last mission, before he died, was with me. At that time, the Sum Country and the Distant Star Federation were in constant conflict over the ownership of the Troby Rainforest Mine. We went to carry out an assassination mission and were ambushed by the Federation's elite Mecha troops. I'm a semi-modified human; my consciousness had already been uploaded. Your father followed the path of Pure Martial... Everyone who went on that mission died..."

The scarred middle-aged man looked at Gao Qing. "I've read your file. It seems you also follow the path of Pure Martial?"

"No, it's New Martial," Gao Qing shook her head, explaining, "I just haven't decided which New Martial modification to undergo yet."

The New Martial discipline hadn't been around for long. Although it was currently seen as a promising path, combining the strengths of Pure Martial and technological modifications and boasting many formidable practitioners, it still had its drawbacks.

First, it was expensive. Gao Qing hadn't yet saved enough for the surgery and the post-operative integration training required for a New Martial modification, though she had been trying hard to earn it.

The second issue was choosing a New Martial modification specialization. This choice would affect her future development path, combat style, and team role. Some people chose to train in Pure Martial to a certain level, identify their strengths and talents, and then decide which New Martial modification to accept. Others had clear goals from the start and, with ample resources, could skip this process of self-discovery. Gao Qing currently had several options but hadn't made a final decision.

The last point was her own psychological barrier. Disregarding the potential for adverse reactions to bodily modifications, not everyone could easily abandon the flesh-and-blood body they'd inhabited for decades to comfortably embrace the "mechanical ascension" of the new era. Especially a healthy... girl.

"New Martial..." The scarred man pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Have you considered changing teams?"

Gao Qing was taken aback. "Changing teams?"

"Yes." The scarred man nodded. "Field operations teams are too dangerous. Take today's situation, for example. If the Evil Martial Association's hunt had failed, those of you left behind would have been in grave danger. I intend to move you to the supervision team. What do you think?"

Gao Qing's breath quickened. An opportunity to join the supervision team wasn't something everyone got. The benefits were no worse than those of a field operations team, and there was far less danger. The only likely downside was that it was easy to offend people, but many would also try to curry favor with you. It was an opportunity many within Yellow Bear dreamed of.

"Can I… Sir Blade?" Gao Qing asked softly, trying to calm her pounding heart.

"What's there to 'can' or 'cannot' about?" The scarred man chuckled. "I'm short-staffed right now, and you, being Gao Tianlin's daughter, would be a perfect fit to help me. In the future, drop the formal address. When we're alone, just call me Uncle Luo. I'll submit an application, and you can leave the field operations team next month. Hmm... try not to take on any missions in the meantime."

"Thank you, Uncle Luo!" A hint of excitement appeared on Gao Qing's face as she thanked him sincerely. She couldn't help but lift the coffee in front of her and take a light sip, and it tasted faintly sweet.

Just as Gao Qing was basking in the joy of potentially joining the supervision team, Luo Guoxiang, who was in front of her, suddenly said, "By the way, there's one more thing I'd like you to help me keep an eye on."

"What can I do for you, Uncle Luo?" Gao Qing immediately put down her coffee and replied seriously.

Luo Guoxiang looked at the coffee in his cup, tapping his fingers lightly against the ceramic. "Our supervision team has recently been investigating cheating in the New Blood Trial. I saw you have a recommended New Blood candidate participating in the assessment, and their initial qualification evaluation is quite good. Soon, someone might approach you, perhaps trying to sell you assessment strategies or something similar. If that happens... remember to contact me. Consider this..."

Luo Guoxiang looked up, gazing meaningfully at Gao Qing. "Your interview to join the supervision team."

GULP.

Gao Qing's joyful and excited heart skipped a beat, and the expression on her face froze. She remained silent for several seconds before finally managing to speak.

"I... I understand. If that happens... I'll notify you immediately. Sir... Sir Luo." Gao Qing's gaze darted away, her expression appearing somewhat unnatural.

Luo Guoxiang seemed not to notice these subtleties, nodding with a smile. "That's good. You can go back now. I'll contact you if anything comes up."

"Goodbye, Sir Luo."

Gao Qing quickly stood up. The partition door to the tea room slid open, and she walked out in a few steps.

Once Gao Qing had completely left, Luo Guoxiang sat alone in the tea room, savoring his coffee, his eyes glinting as he murmured to himself, "Gao Tianlin's daughter, huh..."

***

「Nightfall.」

The full moon hung like a platter in the sky.

By a riverbank west of Burnt Rock City.

On the shimmering surface of the river, a figure suddenly emerged with a SPLASH. He was about six feet tall, with long, wet hair draped over his shoulders like black satin. His smooth, delicate skin, blindingly white under the bright moonlight, was reminiscent of porcelain and jade. White vapor swirled around his body. Despite it being summer and the river water cool, he seemed to have just emerged from a hot bath, with heat radiating from every pore.

"PHEW—"

Lu Yuan took a deep breath and stretched his limbs, and a series of crisp, pleasant cracks sounded from his bones. He shook his head vigorously, then casually tied his damp hair back. With an upright posture, well-defined muscles, and fair, smooth skin, he was as handsome as a period drama cosplayer enhanced with several filters.

Good, my appearance hasn't changed much after breaking the limit for my physique... As long as I don't activate Special Burst, I still look like a handsome young man straight out of a comic book.

CLATTER.

Lu Yuan dropped the handful of Death Qi crystals he'd been clutching onto the ground, producing a sound like colliding gemstones. A streak of scarlet among them was particularly eye-catching.

He ignored them, sitting down on the pebbled riverbank to assess his own condition.

With his physique at 20 points, breaking the limit had brought enormous changes to his body. The most noticeable change was that his internal organs had become more robust. His heart rate hadn't changed, but each beat pumped several times more blood. His blood vessels were thicker, their walls reinforced, and their numbers had increased. Bone density, muscle fiber density... even his teeth had become significantly harder.

Overall, Lu Yuan's entire "density" had increased.

My height and build haven't changed in my normal state, but my weight is probably one and a half times what it was before!

Lu Yuan raised an arm and swung it casually, creating a WHOOSHING sound in the air. Then, with a THUD, he slapped his hand on the ground, shattering several fist-sized pebbles. He hadn't used much effort; it was all due to the inherent strength of his palm.

Even if I were an ordinary person with no martial arts training, with this physique, I could easily win a world slapping championship... These devastating slaps... who could possibly withstand them?

Lu Yuan raised his hand, examining it closely in the moonlight. He felt as if a faint halo was shining between his fingers.

The enhanced bio-magnetic field must create this illusion... My looks must have improved significantly too.

As Lu Yuan pondered this, he entered the Consciousness Space. He compared himself with Zhao Qiancheng, one of the Crane Sect's core disciples, and found that his own internal organ function was now slightly stronger than Zhao Qiancheng's, who was on the verge of entering the True Intention realm.

So, have I completed PracticeOrgans now, or not?

Lu Yuan wasn't even sure if the Crane Sect's body cultivation method, Spirit Crane Body, was still effective for him. This was because, not even counting his internal organs, his skin, muscles, and bones were much stronger than they had been after his previous minor achievements in cultivating them.

Five Internal Organs Fairy, Five Internal Organs Fairy... If I increase my physique more, perhaps I can truly achieve the state of the Five Internal Organs Fairy...

The substantial improvement in his physique was an unexpected delight, and the Break the Limit mechanic showed Lu Yuan the way forward for his next breakthrough.

My physique has been reborn after breaking its limit. What effects will breaking the limits of strength, agility, and intelligence bring?

Lu Yuan called up his status panel. Several notifications had accumulated there. Most of these were rewards from his battle with Calophis of the Crow God Sect.

The battle had awarded his Fighter class a full 3,000 experience points. Since his experience bar was already more than half full, this pushed it almost to the maximum. He only needed a little over a hundred more experience points to reach Lv. 8.

Special Burst had risen to Lv. 4, unlocking the Ultimate Outburst effect. Lu Yuan hadn't examined it closely before, so he did so now.

The description of Ultimate Outburst read: "Maximally develop one's own potential; maximally amplify instantaneous explosive power."

There was no precise multiplier mentioned, only the repeated emphasis on "maximal."

It's definitely far beyond the four-fold power I could previously withstand, but I'll have to slowly test and estimate the exact multiplication factor...

In the battle with Calophis, the Fist Strength from one of Lu Yuan's full-power punches had even broken the sound barrier. However, Lu Yuan could clearly sense that this was not yet the true limit of Ultimate Outburst.

If Ultimate Outburst's amplification of his strength were compared to a car accelerating, then Lu Yuan was currently only in the initial phase of acceleration. He was still a long way from reaching maximum speed.

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