Starry Sky Professional

"Bai, my classmate?"

Fang Xing greeted politely, fully aware that this classmate Bai was here for the two of them.

"I... I'm sorry, I was too forceful earlier."

Bai Lianyi's eyes were gentle, her voice trembling slightly like a girl who had just done something wrong. Her demeanor evoked a sense of tenderness and confusion in Liu Wei.

Wasn't this the same person they had seen at the Huiguang Jiang Manor before?

"No worries, sparring always has its risks..."

Liu Wei quickly added, "How could I blame you, my classmate?"

"That's great to hear."

Bai Lianyi took out an old frog-shaped wallet from her pocket and extracted a campus card, saying, "Please charge the cost of the treatment to my account..." The warm sunshine filtering through the leaves cast a radiant halo around her face, giving her an air of determination and purity.

"Do you think... we've wronged her somehow?"

Exiting the infirmary, Liu Wei's expression turned slightly perplexed: "I took a quick peek earlier, and Bai's card didn't have many star credits on it..."

'Kid, that's just because your rank is too low...'

Fang Xing mused to himself, then earnestly replied, "Whether we have or not, it doesn't concern us. We didn't spread any rumors..."

"Yes, thankfully."

Liu Wei carefully stored the campus card, saying, "I really need to return this to her quickly..." He could already picture Bai working hard, struggling to make ends meet.

Witnessing this, Fang Xing felt utterly speechless inside.

'Ah, the essence of youth... even if it's foolish or awkward, it's still youth...'

'Anyway, Liu Wei isn't exactly her type, so let it be...' he thought. He intuitively felt that Bai Lianyi had approached them with no ill intentions, merely putting on a show.

As they walked back to Xingfu Garden Community, Fang Xing received a few more deliveries.

"Hmm, not bad..."

Fang Xing examined a selfie stick in his hand and the drone beside him, nodding in satisfaction. With all these preparations, plus the air quality monitor and weapons, he could almost cobble together a makeshift exploration gear for another world.

'There's also the gravitational sensor and other devices... the school gym has them, see if I can borrow them and save a bunch...'

Due to the training to become an interstellar warrior, encountering hostile environments on different planets is inevitable, so Tianyi High School offers specific courses on alien combat.

Fang Xing believes that even in a different world, following the textbook procedures should not pose significant problems.

...

A few days later.

At the Happy Home Community.

In the practice room.

Fang Xing, dressed in casual attire, assumed the posture of the Great Dragon Stance, sweat pouring like rain.

"Fifty-nine minutes..."

"Sixty minutes!"

"Time's up!"

Fang Xing plopped onto the ground, panting heavily: "Indeed, one hour of the Great Dragon Stance daily seems to be my limit. However... limits are meant to be broken."

Over this period, he repeatedly challenged his limits, finally managing to shift from standing twice for thirty minutes each to once for a full sixty minutes.

It's not that he couldn't last longer, but doing so would clearly harm his body, causing more harm than good.

"Mr. Xia Long's assessment is spot-on, for most students, an hour of staking practice a day is the limit..."

Although pushing the limits is possible, Fang Xing is clearly unwilling to do so at the expense of his health.

After catching his breath, he stood up and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

After changing into a set of dry clothes, he collapsed into a chair, assuming a relaxed posture, and began examining his status panel:

[Name: Fang Xing]

[Age: 16]

[Profession: Martial Artist]

[First Realm: Skin and Flesh]

[Military Boxing Twelve Forms: 60/100]

[Great Dragon Stance: 70/100]

[Gate of Infinity: 9/100]

...

"It's been nine days since the crossing..."

"From observation, without guidance from Mr. Xia Long or other external aid, just by my own hard practice, the mastery of the Great Dragon Stance seems to increase by one point every three days..."

"As for techniques like Military Boxing, having guidance indeed makes a difference, progress is faster."

"The progress of refining the skin and flesh will accelerate with the advancement of the Dragon Stance, but at my current level, it's impossible to create any significant enhancement..."

"At this rate, in three months or so, I might only be able to push the Dragon Stance and Military Fist to the next level, but breaking through as a martial artist will still be out of reach... I may even be stuck at the surface level of skin refinement, unable to progress to flesh refinement!"

Simply refining the skin wouldn't make a significant difference from ordinary people.

Fang Xing considered this for a moment and suddenly felt a bit restless.

'Damn it...'

'Why am I striving so hard?'

'Isn’t being a lazy fish good enough? At least I could coast through three years of high school…'

'This otherworld is too dangerous. Why should I take the risk?'

These chaotic thoughts surfaced, and Fang Xing carefully contemplated them.

'So soon after crossing over, do I still harbor confusion, fear, and other negative emotions?'

After analyzing his own psyche, he put on his holographic glasses.

When faced with difficulties, don't panic, play a couple of games first.

"Hey, can’t you move properly?"

"Must be a kid, right?"

"What a lousy mechanic, better off playing an 18+ game..."

...

"Crap... I'm running out of money."

Fang Xing's expression immediately turned grave.

Purchasing a series of products like beginner nano protection suits and drones only strained his already threadbare wallet.

"Working, I still have to be forced to work..."

"Forced to work in my past life, and now again after crossing over, haven’t I crossed over in vain?"

At that moment, a communication came through.

"Ah Xing, we have a guest. Get to work!"

Liu Wei's holographic image appeared.

"Alright, I’m on my way."

Fang Xing, with a piece of bread in his mouth, hurried out the door.

...

Green Water Manor.

“I’ll take on ten of you!”

A boastful shout came from a boy around eleven or twelve years old.

“Yes, Wenwen, you're the best.”

Beside him, a mother, not striking in appearance but gentle in demeanor, smiled in encouragement.

‘I’m so envious…’

Liu Wei cast Fang Xing a meaningful glance.

‘With the father away for long periods, there’s no one to train the kid… This is our chance.’

Fang Xing was stirred, signaling with a gesture.

Immediately after, the two confronted the little brat.

“Watch my Light Wave Fist!”

The kid swung a punch, not even reaching the level of beginner clarity.

Seeing this, Fang Xing and Liu Wei were comforted, thinking they'd found a suitable client.

At least, nothing like that nuisance Gu Yun from before.

“Ah!”

Fang Xing took the first punch, dramatically flying backwards with a scream.

Liu Wei followed up, engaging the boy in a lively scuffle…

Two hours later, the two left with arms over each other’s shoulders, a hint of joy on their faces: “That young master sure was easy to handle… Certainly, the last one was just trouble!”

Liu Wei still remembered Gu Yun from before vividly.

If all their clients were like that, he would’ve quit long ago.

At this moment, he massaged his shoulder, suddenly wearing a doubtful expression: “Ah Xing… Why do I feel you had it easier than I did?”

“Simple, because I wore protective gear… Kids can’t tell the difference.”

Fang Xing replied with a serious tone.

“Damn, you’re cheating… Wait, you actually bought protective gear, living it up much?”

Liu Wei's eyes widened, then a serious note crept into his voice: “You’re not thinking of taking any risky paths, are you? Bounty hunting and all that, without reaching third stage strength, it’s a death wish…”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Fang Xing didn’t want to continue on this topic and switched it instead: “And you, why are you so close with Bai Lianyi lately? What’s going on?”

“I… It’s just a normal classmate friendship.”

Liu Wei answered immediately, his gaze clear, his expression open.

"Oh really? That classmate Bai is not simple, don't forget what we saw before..." Fang Xing cautioned.

"I'm sure she's not... Besides, for us bio-humans, seizing every opportunity to move up is instinct," Liu Wei waved it off. "...It's not a big deal."

After entering the interstellar age, a messy personal life was hardly considered a problem.

Fang Xing studied Liu Wei closely, confirming that he didn't seem to be distressed by any emotional issues, which struck him as somewhat odd.

'It feels like there's an issue... If Bai Lianyi isn't what she appears to be, then that's even more problematic. Liu Wei getting close to her may not be a good thing.'

'It's best to remind him more in the future.'

Of course, given their current level of friendship, it would just be a few words of caution.

As for secretly investigating Bai Lianyi for Liu Wei, Fang Xing clearly had no intention of doing so; he was already overwhelmed with his own affairs.

'From now on, it's better to focus on training...'

Fang Xing silently resolved.

...

As an educational planet, Hawk Star might not be 100% safe, but the security was quite good. Coupled with Fang Xing's simple relationships as a former high school student,

his low-key and non-confrontational nature meant that trouble rarely found him.

In a blur, a month passed quietly.

Yucai High School.

Fang Xing swung his right arm and delivered a punch.

Boom!

It sounded as if a cannon had fired in the void, startling the surrounding classmates.

"Is this... the elusive Cannon Fist?"

A classmate exclaimed in surprise, "Fang Xing, have you mastered the Cannon Fist in Bow Stance?"

"It's just an occasional state..." Fang Xing closed his eyes, trying to capture the feeling.

In reality, he knew that once a breakthrough was achieved, it remained permanent; having completed the true Cannon Fist this time, he would undoubtedly succeed again.

At this moment, as he closed his eyes, he focused mentally on his stats.

The other classmates, initially shocked, quickly found a rationale to explain it to themselves.

They had all witnessed Fang Xing's consistent progress; his dedication to the Bow Stance Cannon Fist was evident in his practice.

Now that it's achieved a small degree of success, it seems... understandable?

(End of Chapter)