Chapter 27: Defense

Chapter 27: Defense

Chen Shouyi was annoyed and glared at her.

The Shell Woman, however, showed no fear, planting her hands on her hips and shouting repeatedly, "Bei Qi! Bei Qi! Bei Qi..."

Chen Shouyi gritted his teeth in frustration. The Shell Woman had grown increasingly mischievous lately—why was it so hard for her to just respond properly?

He considered scaring her a little but quickly dismissed the idea. Over the past few days, she had been busy helping him earn 110,000 yuan, and she had already worked hard enough. Besides, she had been tied up for most of the day—she deserved some relaxation.

There was no need to rush things anyway.

With a resigned sigh, he picked up the remote and turned the TV back on.

"Bei Qi!" The Shell Woman immediately quieted down as the familiar images reappeared, settling back into her original spot.

Chen Shouyi returned to his studies. With his intelligence now at 12.3, he was already in the genius range—far from his former self. In just over an hour, he had memorized more than a hundred vocabulary words and mastered several short conversational phrases.

In between, he called his mother and exchanged a few text messages with Zhang Xiaoyue.

Lately, due to his erratic comings and goings—often disappearing for long stretches—his relationship with Zhang Xiaoyue hadn’t progressed as quickly as expected, remaining lukewarm at best.

Just then, the landline on the bedside table rang.

Chen Shouyi got up and answered the call. Before the other party could speak, he quickly said, "I don’t need any services, thank you!"

...

Chen Shouyi studied until 11 p.m., then practiced the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques over a dozen times. After showering, he noticed the Shell Woman was still watching TV—she had even changed her sitting position once.

He immediately grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. The Shell Woman jumped up in frustration, trying to protest, but the sight of the rope in his hand made her expression crumble.

Chen Shouyi crooked a finger at her. Understanding his intent, she tearfully extended her leg.

Soon, he tied one end of the rope around her leg and the other around his wrist.

He walked over and turned off the light.

With a click, the room plunged into darkness.

The Shell Woman lay still for a while, listening to the giant’s thunderous breathing beside her.

Then, she slowly stood up, carefully climbed onto the pillow, and glared at that infuriatingly large face. She clenched her tiny fist—no bigger than a mung bean—baring her teeth in silent fury.

After venting for a while, she glanced at the rope around her foot and let out a dejected sigh before returning to her corner of the bed. Soon, drowsiness overtook her, and her faint snoring gradually filled the air.

Chen Shouyi, however, wasn’t asleep. He had entered a deep state of Meditative Self-Refinement.

In his mind, countless lines formed a network that spread throughout his body—a monotonous image devoid of any extraneous details.

Ever since Meditative Self-Refinement had fully refined his "entire musculature" seven or eight days ago, this visualization had remained unchanged. But today, it quietly shifted.

As time passed, the lines began to exhibit subtle variations in light and shadow, gaining texture—as if a flat drawing had transformed into a three-dimensional image.

...

Early the next morning, hovering between wakefulness and sleep, he felt a strange sensation rising within him.

He didn't open his eyes, quietly experiencing this sensation.

He discovered he could vaguely sense the objects around him—no images, no light, yet an intense intuition told him what was nearby and their approximate shapes.

He could feel the Shell Woman half a meter to his right, curled into a ball clutching the blanket corner, still fast asleep.

He could sense a one-yuan coin wedged in the gap behind the bed.

The only drawback was the limited range—about one meter. Beyond that, his perception quickly blurred.

Chen Shouyi opened his eyes in surprise, all drowsiness gone.

He glanced at the Shell Woman beside him and confirmed her sleeping posture matched his sensing perfectly. Then he lifted the mattress and, sure enough, found a one-yuan coin hidden in the gap.

He swore he’d never known a coin was left there.

He opened his Attribute Panel.

The level of Meditative Self-Refinement had jumped from Proficient 2 to Proficient 10.

His Perception had also increased by 0.1, and combined with the 0.1 from two days ago, it now stood at 11.

Ever since the Book of Knowledge transformed his body—perhaps due to becoming stronger—his Perception had improved at a faster rate. In just three days, he had gained 0.2 points.

Among all the changes, Perception was the most suspicious.

From what he understood, Perception was similar to the legendary "spiritual power," also tied to intuition or a sixth sense.

But before this, the attribute had shown no obvious effect—or perhaps its influence had been too subtle to notice.

"So, 11 is the threshold for Perception?" he thought, staring at the number.

……

After getting dressed, on his way to the bathroom, he keenly noticed an added layer of control over his body. Even while walking casually, his muscles moved like interlocking gears—smooth, coordinated, effortless.

The sensation was incredible, as if every fiber of his being was under his command, his entire body feeling renewed. He had a strong intuition that his sword strikes today would be at least 5% faster than yesterday.

……

Youth Martial Arts Training Center.

"Wow, Chen Shouyi, you’ve changed so much!" Guo Qianqian, who had come along with her boyfriend, couldn’t hide her surprise when she saw him. If not for his familiar face, she might have thought he was a completely different person.

The shy boy from her memory was gone. Now, his gaze was sharp, his demeanor steady—standing out in the crowd like a crane among chickens. Even her handsome boyfriend paled in comparison, looking utterly ordinary beside him.

"Really? Maybe it’s just the clothes," Chen Shouyi replied with a faint smile, deftly shifting the topic. "Didn’t go out during the holiday?"

"We tried the day before yesterday, but halfway there, the highway was closed. They said it was due to military movements—needed to block the road for half a day—so we turned back."

"That’s some bad luck," Chen Shouyi remarked, though he didn’t dwell on it.

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, do you remember Zhu Shaoqiang from our class? The tall one."

"The sports committee member? Of course I remember. What about him?" Chen Shouyi thought for a moment and recalled.

"He enlisted in the military."

Chen Shouyi was momentarily stunned, though not particularly surprised. The Military Recruitment Propaganda had started up again recently. Before coming here, he’d seen the recruitment ads playing on the big screen at the nearby crossroads.

Ever since the fusion with the Otherworld twenty years ago, the shadow of war had loomed over humanity. Nations worldwide maintained massive standing armies, and for a major power like the Great Xia Nation, the scale was staggering. Its standing forces numbered as high as six million, and even a small city like Dongning had a regiment stationed nearby.

In fact, this was the reduced number after years of gradual cuts. Back in the early years of the fusion, the Great Xia Nation’s military had once swelled to nearly ten million, teetering on the brink of full wartime mobilization. Fortunately, it had been a false alarm, and conflicts between the two worlds remained limited to small-scale skirmishes.

Perhaps out of excitement, Guo Qianqian couldn’t stop talking once she started. With nothing else to do, Chen Shouyi had no choice but to humor her rambling.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng, who had been sitting in his seat scrolling through his phone, grew visibly darker in expression, his fists clenching tighter and tighter. Finally, he slammed to his feet, his leg knocking against the chair with a sharp screech.

Chen Shouyi immediately looked over.

For some reason, Lin Feng felt an overwhelming pressure in that instant—like a bucket of icy water dumped over his head. His heated thoughts cooled rapidly as he remembered the disparity in their strength, and his pent-up aggression dissipated instantly.

"What’s wrong?" Guo Qianqian asked.

Avoiding Chen Shouyi’s gaze, Lin Feng wrapped an arm around Guo Qianqian affectionately and said, "I just spotted a pair of platinum couple’s rings—really beautiful. Got a little too excited. Let’s go take a look later. If you like them, we’ll buy them."

Guo Qianqian was immediately hooked, and the two huddled together, chatting in low voices.

Just then, the tutor finally arrived.

"National Day break is over. I hope you’ve all been practicing diligently. If you aspire to walk the path of Martial Arts, hard work is non-negotiable.

"Enough small talk. Today, we’ll be learning something new: Defense.

"Defense can generally be divided into three categories: Distance Defense, Body Evasion Defense, and Weapon Defense.

"Distance Defense, as the name suggests, means retreating beyond the opponent’s attack range—once you’re out, the defense is complete.

"It might sound simple, but executing it well is quite challenging. An opponent’s sword strike is often much faster than your retreat. This requires not only agility in Basic Step but also the ability to anticipate in advance, demanding exceptional eyesight."

At this point, the Female Instructor turned to Chen Shouyi and said, "Chen Shouyi, go put on the Protective Gear. You’ll demonstrate with me."