Shackles of Humanity

"I brought you something to eat. It’s the roast goose from Jinlan Prefecture—it’s very famous." Liu Hou, naturally confident in Luo Kai, beamed as he took out a steaming hot package and a bottle of fine wine.

Luo Kai never turned down food. He took the roast goose and began to eat with relish. The flavor was a bit like Cantonese-style roast goose—very good.

"Xiaokai, come with me to the Body Technique Association tomorrow. We’ll get you registered and tested at the same time."

"What kind of test?"

"The test to become a Martial Artist, of course!"

Luo Kai had no interest in such empty titles. He shook his head and said, "There’s no need."

Liu Hou smiled and said, "Being a Martial Artist is more than just a title. They’ll issue you an Identity Token, which will let you travel freely between countries. Martial Artists usually travel to different nations to broaden their horizons. Xiaokai, you’re so young—you must want to get out and see the world, right? It’ll be very inconvenient without a Martial Artist’s status."

"Oh, alright then." Luo Kai nodded in agreement. He quickly devoured the entire large roast goose by himself. His gaze suddenly fell on the newspaper it had been wrapped in. A few lines of large text were particularly eye-catching: "Two Body Masters Appear in Xingma Kingdom..." The rest was obscured by grease stains.

"Alright, Xiaokai, you get some rest." Liu Hou stood up and left.

In this world, newspapers were the main source of information about the outside world. Luo Kai had one by his bed, but he wasn’t yet in the habit of reading it. After seeing Liu Hou out, he picked it up and began to read it carefully.

The newspaper described the scene in vivid detail, adding many exaggerated elements. It portrayed Luo Kai and Big Beard as bandit-like figures who had brazenly crashed the party and abducted the Fierce Beast. The ensuing clash between High-level Martial Artists, as well as the fight between the Body Masters, were described with incredible flair. In the end, after an arduous battle, the side of justice finally triumphed over evil. It could have been read like a novel.

Below the text was a realistic sketch: an old man with a face full of beard, a handsome man with three eyes, and another person covered in blood, looking quite ferocious. Without a doubt, that last one had to be him.

The Jinlan Prefecture branch of the Body Technique Association was located in the northeastern part of the prefecture, a standalone building covering dozens of acres. Several large words were carved into a great stone at the entrance: "Xingma Kingdom Body Technique Association Branch."

All forms of knowledge require exchange and integration to advance, and Body Techniques were no exception. The Body Technique Association was initially established to provide a place for human Martial Artists to spar and exchange knowledge, but it gradually evolved into humanity’s most powerful civilian organization. Generally, any human who became a Martial Artist would join. Given the immense power of individual Martial Artists, the association also served to regulate order.

The certification for a Martial Artist involved three tests, primarily focused on the most basic stages: Skin Refining, Refining Tendons, and Bone Refining. These could also be summarized as Power, speed, and Defense. The three were complementary, and tests were adjusted for each individual. Some people were exceptionally agile, some possessed Infinite Strength, and others specialized in Defense. As long as a person mastered any one of these aspects, they could be certified as a Martial Artist by the Body Technique Association.

Luo Kai hadn’t cultivated these three stages. The power of the Soft Body Technique lay in its transformation of tendons, bones, and muscles. Therefore, his Refining Tendons and Bone Refining had already reached an impressive level. His only weak point was Skin Refining; his new skin was nowhere near as tough as it had been after being transformed by Evil Energy.

Liu Hou had already arranged everything for Luo Kai. Three somewhat elderly Martial Artists served as judges. The first test was for Power, which measured the force of a punch in kilograms. The threshold to become a Martial Artist was generally around three thousand kilograms. If the score was too low, other tests would be required.

What did three thousand kilograms mean? To put it simply, a single punch could go through a ten-centimeter-thick steel plate, and a person with that much Power could easily lift a car. This was the transformation Body Techniques brought to humanity.

For Luo Kai, it was incredibly easy. Without even using the Dharma Gate of Qi and Blood Circulation, a casual punch from him exceeded three thousand kilograms. There was nothing else worth testing. He received a small booklet stamped with a steel seal and left with Liu Hou. From that day on, he was officially a registered Martial Artist of the Body Technique Association.

On the way back, he parted ways with Liu Hou and wandered through Jinlan Prefecture alone. The city wasn’t really any different from Longyang City; the air was just as full of the smell of coal smoke. The only difference was that there were many more fuel-powered cars.

He passed a small plaza and sat down on a bench, his mind still pondering the mysteries of the Little Cosmos. ’Granny Hua once told me about the six types of Power that construct a world. It reminds me of a marvelous ancient book from China. That book described a Correspondence between the human body’s meridians, bones, and internal organs and the Material Energy of the outside world. The heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys correspond to the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The Yang and Yin Veins correspond to Light and Darkness. Chaos should be the muscles, bones, and so on. As for the remaining Time and Space, I don’t know what they correspond to. It’s likely related to one’s Spiritual Will.’

"Mister, would you like to buy some flowers?" A grimy little girl, only about seven or eight years old, walked over holding a large bouquet, looking at him with a pleading expression.

Luo Kai took out a small, embroidered wallet and pulled out a ten-Star Dollar bill. Lu Qing had stuffed the wallet into his hands before he left; everyone around him knew he was broke.

"Thank you, mister!" The little girl took the money joyfully, then pulled out the largest bouquet and handed it to him.

Luo Kai took the flowers and sniffed them. They smelled very fragrant, but sadly, not of Zilan. He got up and started walking away. As he walked, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. His Sixth Sense was astonishingly sharp, and he detected several faint auras trailing him from behind.

He was puzzled. ’I don’t seem to have any enemies right now, nor is there anything particularly special about me.’ He began to walk faster, his expression gradually darkening. Every time he thought he had shaken off the auras, the feeling of being followed would quickly return. His pursuers were clearly skilled in some kind of tracking Secret Technique.

After a moment of thought, he decided to head toward the Jinlan Hotel. ’If someone really has ill intentions toward me, they’ll make a move sooner or later. With my current strength, as long as it’s not a Body Master, there’s nothing to fear.’

「Around midnight.」

In a small alley not far from the Jinlan Hotel, three people dressed all in black gathered together.

The leader said in a low voice, "The target’s tough. This job isn’t going to be easy."

"Yeah, that kid is uncanny. I just glanced at him for a second and he noticed me immediately."

"Boss, the intel says this kid has the strength of a High-level Martial Artist. I’m afraid the three of us won’t be enough."

The leader sneered, "Where else are you going to find a thirty-million-Star-Dollar job? Keep tailing him. I’m guessing a lot more people will be coming to Jinlan Prefecture for this. We don’t have to get our own hands dirty. We can just fish in troubled waters when the time comes."

"You want to kill me?" An icy voice sounded from above. Unbeknownst to them, a young man with eyes like lightning was now standing on the eaves of the roof.

The three were startled; they hadn’t sensed his arrival in the slightest. After exchanging a look, they immediately scattered and fled, their three dark figures swiftly vanishing into the night.

Luo Kai remained standing quietly on the eaves, not giving chase. His mind was filled with questions. These three were the same auras that had been tracking him during the day. From their conversation, it seemed someone had put a sky-high bounty of thirty million Star Dollars on his head. ’Since when am I worth so much?’