The moment the alien invaders were eliminated, their weapons, armor, and a bizarre rectangular object suspected to be an interstellar travel device all self-destructed, turning into ashes. Not a single valuable part was left intact.

Ma Ran remained very calm.

Unable to win, they would self-destruct immediately; this was a typical maneuver for the aliens.

To avoid funding the enemy, invaders from different civilizations have reached a high level of agreement on such matters.

"Brother Ma, don't just listen, say something too!"

Hearing this, Ma Ran expressionlessly nodded and filled his glass.

He raised his glass, eyes firm, voice loud: "A man's heart is as firm as iron until he dies! Watch and see, filling the heavens' gaps!"

It's the longest sentence Ma Ran had said at the dining table.

After speaking, he tipped his head back and poured the spicy liquor down his throat.

In fact, many Civilization Guardians, to relieve fatigue and stress, are not averse to smoking and drinking.

However, on the eve of Earth's destruction, forget about such wild indulgences; even a small glass of alcohol or a poor-quality cigarette was precious. Time had to be specially set aside to share and savor them slowly with comrades.

No one took it seriously, only thinking it was youthful exuberance, a literary impulse spoken offhandedly.

However…

Ma Ran's drinking capacity…

Watching his actions, everyone else, already tipsy, flushed bright red.

The leader, Yang Guangzhao, shakily opened a bottle of old wine, stiffly stared at Ma Ran for a long while, then swayed and gave a thumbs up, faintly saying, "Impressive drinker!"

"Brother Ma, so bold!"

After another twenty minutes of eating and drinking, everyone at the table was laid flat.

Ma Ran gently stood up, found a black pen, and wrote a note.

"I met many new friends today, I'm very happy, want to go for a walk, just within A3 District, won't go far."

After doing this, he gently pushed open the restaurant door.

The night wind hit his face, and the dizzy feeling quickly disappeared.

As the Inner Qi naturally circulated within the acupoints, it turned the liquor into energy supply material, effortlessly absorbing it all, not a drop left.

No trace of drunkenness!

Having replenished a substantial amount of nutrients, Ma Ran's Inner Qi was abundant, spirit bright, in excellent condition.

"Nightmare, I'm coming for you!"

…

The moon was bright among sparse stars, crows flew south.

The evening wind rustled, cold leaves danced.

In the dormitory with the heating turned up, Dong Huaiming lay lazily on the bed, bored in the chat group: "The sixth day without Brother Ran, I miss him."

Group members, becoming echo machines, immediately copied Xiao Ming's message more than twenty times.

Qiangqiang: "You all are so idle, don't you need to cultivate?"

With the buzzkill Su Qiangwei speaking up, the group's lively atmosphere instantly dissipated greatly.

Xiao Ming: "We've already cultivated to the limit! Both brain and physical power are exhausted!"

Qiangqiang: "Your efforts are just for show for yourself and others, don't move yourself, it's pointless. You should learn more from Ma Ran."

One message made Dong Huaiming's blood pressure skyrocket, almost driving him to a stroke.

Xiao Ming: "You're insulting my dreams!"

Qiangqiang: "A person isn't great because of dreams, but because of achieving dreams."

Indeed, she's a results-oriented person.

Every excuse is just that, an excuse.

Did Master Su Qiangwei ever find reasons for losing to Ma Ran so many times?

No.

Never.

Xiao Ming: "Despicable fake Ability User! Even your nickname is copied from Brother Ran's!"

Ma Ran's nickname in the group is "Ran Ran Ran."

Never willing to admit defeat, Su Qiangwei insists on having one more character than him.

Seeing the two about to argue, longtime lurker and good-natured He Nanguang immediately sent a message, actively shifting the topic.

Nanguang: "@Qiangqiang, what exactly is your [Myriad Transformations] technique? I've seen you practice flying these past few days, and it feels like my [Yukong] is a knockoff, lacking speed and endurance, completely outclassed..."

Butterfly in the Heart: "Xiao Su, after all, is currently one of the only two [National Guardian] level Superpowers in China. She can practice indefinitely just by consuming fat. I advise you not to compete with her."

With the topic back on track, people quickly began sharing their personal thoughts around the theme of "Cultivation Difficulty."

"Calculating acupoints is manageable; mental work is our specialty, but refining Inner Qi is really tough!"

"Indeed! Initially, I thought eating more each day would be enough, but now it seems I was too naïve."

"Refining the first trace of Inner Qi is a threshold, transforming acupoints into mature micro-organs is another threshold, and delivering Inner Qi to other parts of the body is yet another threshold... So many bottlenecks make one's scalp tingle!"

"Sigh... Before, watching Brother Ran advance as if it were as simple as eating and drinking, I also thought Inner Qi cultivation was really simple... But after all this time, I'm still far from reaching even the First Rank of Inner Qi."

"Hasn't Su Qiangwei already filled two acupoints, reaching the level of First Rank of Inner Qi?"

"This is what's called talent. We exhaust ourselves like dogs every day and still don't improve as quickly as others who casually cultivate."

"No, dogs aren't as exhausted as we are."

First Rank of Inner Qi requires filling 2 acupoints.

Second Rank of Inner Qi requires filling 4 acupoints.

Then 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256.

To the Ninth Rank of Inner Qi, it corresponds to exactly 512 acupoints filled with Inner Qi.

Suddenly, everyone received an invitation.

[Group member "Ran Ran Ran" initiated a group video call, accept?]

"Accept! Of course, accept! I've accumulated lots of questions these days! Without Brother Ran, cultivation of Black Rock Martial Arts is like a snail crawling!"

The vast majority of the members, like Dong Huaiming, immediately chose to accept the video call and maximized Ma Ran's video frame.

On the screen, beneath the pitch-black night sky, a young man in a casual outfit of blue and red strolled along a mountain path.

He moved with ease, composed and natural.

Even though there was no light visible, presumably a dark area, everyone could see clearly.

The young man had rosy lips and white teeth, eyes like starry brilliance, brows like distant mountains.

The most striking was his radiant, glowing skin, looking like a mobile, humanoid light bulb.

"Brother Ran, you've broken through again!"

As his number one fan, Xiao Ming was the first to notice the changes in Ma Ran: "The body emitting visible light is the external manifestation of the Sixth Rank of Inner Qi?!"

The words that were already at Ma Ran's lips were silently chewed up and swallowed down.

He had to admit, having a friend like Dong Huaiming felt great!

Some lines didn't even need to be spoken; they were already imagined by him.

Seeing Ma Ran nod slightly, Xiao Ming excitedly began explaining in the group video chat: "Many years ago, in London, Dr. Walter Kinner conducted an experiment."

"Oh! Those who know, don't interrupt!"

"Surely there are people in the group who haven't heard of this experiment yet!"

"I'll just omit the process and give a simple explanation!"

"Dr. Walter Kinner used a piece of glass painted with dichroic dye to observe the human body, discovering a halo about 15 millimeters wide surrounding the body surface!"

"As the body's health condition changes, the specific shape and color of the halo change too!"

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