Double buffs stacked!

After taking a shower, Chen Jue found that the guesthouse aunt had already finished cleaning and left, the main door firmly shut behind her.

This time, he learned a valuable lesson: “I really should listen to the elders more! Next time, remember to keep your wallet and phone safe. The door wasn’t even locked when I went out just now—if a thief had come in, it’d be real trouble.”

Such carelessness is a common trait among modern people. With public security improving throughout the country, thieves and burglars have become rare; the root cause is a more developed society where crime comes at too high a cost.

Add to that the prevalence of electronic wallets—hardly any household keeps much cash anymore. Even if someone did sneak in, there’s little of value to steal. And nowadays, surveillance cameras are everywhere; any would-be thief would only be gifting the police an easy achievement.

...

Chen Jue settled in the living room, watching a documentary, and browsed the forums. He hadn’t visited in a few days, but the regulars were as lively as ever.

Reflecting on his progress, Chen Jue realized most of his martial arts were perfected, save for Taiji Fist and the Thirteen Posture Standing Exercise, which could be rapidly advanced thanks to buffs and deep-level training bonuses.

With time to spare, he thought of further training in a hard skill akin to the Thirteen Guardians’ Body Conditioning Techniques. To Chen Jue, these hard skills represented the ideal of low investment and high reward—just a few free attribute points could multiply his stats.

Moreover, the newly awakened “Supreme Guardian” status could accelerate his hard skill training. The thought made his hands itch to start.

Glancing at his skill panel with its various status bonuses, inspiration struck. He composed a post: “Masters, any recommendations for authentic Taoist body conditioning techniques? Newbie seeking advice!”

He’d previously trained in the Thirteen Guardians’ body conditioning because it was a prerequisite for Shaolin’s striking resistance skills, benefiting from the “Shaolin Bronze Man” bonus.

Now, with the freedom to choose, Chen Jue wanted to leverage all his existing buffs. The “Supreme Guardian” acceleration wasn’t enough; ideally, he could add “Pure Yang Lüzu, Enlightened Complete Reality” Taoist skill acceleration too. If he was training anyway, why not combine both for even greater speed?

With this in mind, Chen Jue felt clever—adapting flexibly to maximize his panel’s efficiency.

Chen Jue’s post was barely live before replies began pouring in!

Dragon Subduing Palm: “Level 8 master pretending to be a newbie (side-eye)”

Evil-Repelling Sunflower: “Host, did you go sign up for a crash course in computer CG effects? The video in your last post was awesome! (dog head emoji)”

Shaolin Sweeping Monk: “I practice Shaolin skills, can’t help you with Taoist ones, sorry (shrug)”

Half-Step Crushing Fist Rules the World: “!!! Master, you finally showed up! Please accept my friend request—I really want to chat privately!”

Wudang Junior Daoist: “Host, you’re level 8 and still pretending to be a newbie? (glaring) Taoist body conditioning has many forms. Depends on what you want to learn. I recommend our Wudang Barrel Skill, Soft and Hard Skill, Tiger Roar Golden Bell, Dragon Chant Iron Shirt, etc.!”

Little Fist Punches Your Chest: “Wait, aren’t Golden Bell and Iron Shirt Shaolin skills? How are they Wudang now? (confused)”

Wudang Junior Daoist: “It’s Tiger Roar Golden Bell and Dragon Chant Iron Shirt—not Shaolin’s Golden Bell and Iron Shirt! These are our Wudang Taihe Sect’s secret authentic skills, integrating internal and external training. Don’t believe me? Look it up online! Bookstores sell them! (angry emoji)”

Sun Family Taiji Successor: “Also asking if the master will accept my friend request? Been waiting days! Urgently online, please! (kneeling emoji)”

...

Relaxing with his documentary, Chen Jue saw the replies and responded to each expert with thanks (bowing emoji), then searched online for the Taoist hard skills mentioned by the Wudang junior.

As for the friend requests from the two forum moderators, he didn’t accept—too many people had added him and messaged, and he couldn’t be bothered to sift through them.

His research revealed that Wudang’s hard skills branched into many schools—Taihe Sect, Dragon Gate, Songxi Sect—making his head spin. After searching for a while, he found that Tiger Roar Golden Bell and Dragon Chant Iron Shirt had the most comprehensive tutorials, both video and written, with matching books available online for thirty-three yuan a copy—not expensive. Chen Jue promptly ordered “Secret Manual of Tiger Roar Golden Bell Illustrated.”

He started learning Tiger Roar Golden Bell from online videos, experimenting with practice.

With the dual buffs of “Supreme Guardian” and “Pure Yang Lüzu, Enlightened Complete Reality,” his progress in this new hard skill was astonishingly fast.

Within five minutes of training, his skill panel showed “Tiger Roar Golden Bell Lv0 (1/100).”

“It really is a Taoist hard skill!”

“Looks like I’ve got plenty to train!”

“Once I finish Tiger Roar Golden Bell, I’ll move on to Dragon Chant Iron Shirt!” Chen Jue’s enthusiasm rose, but having exhausted his energy training underwater that evening, he only made a preliminary start before heading upstairs to rest, planning to continue tomorrow.

...

Meanwhile, as Chen Jue drifted to sleep, a Mercedes van sped along the Shenhai Expressway. In the back, a wealthy young man with a touch of androgyny reclined, opening his eyes from a nap and addressing the buzz-cut bodyguard in the front passenger seat: “Ajun, what time is it now?”

“Boss! It’s already eleven fifteen!” The bodyguard glanced at the Mercedes dashboard clock and reported.

“After eleven already?” The young man mused, “That means it’s almost noon on the other side of the globe.” He muttered, unlocked his phone, scrolled through his contacts in WeChat, hesitated, then tapped a long-unused avatar, initiating a video call.

After a few rings, the call was answered.

On screen appeared a middle-aged man in golden training attire, with an imposing air, square face and yellow skin. He sat cross-legged in a practice room lined with ancient yellow scriptures, visible incense burners, meditation mats, a full-sized bronze training dummy marked with meridian points, and other martial arts equipment.

“Junior brother!”

“It’s been a while. What made you reach out?” The stern-faced man spoke slowly, his eyes—marked with faint traces of blood—turning sharply toward the camera, clearly held by an attendant beside him.

The young tycoon, feeling the piercing gaze almost cut through the digital divide, turned pale and exclaimed, “Senior brother! What happened to your eyes?”