Chapter 5 — Level 2 and Arm Wrestling

The moon shone an enchanting moonlight, brightening the ground beneath and chasing the clouds out. The sky was clear, and the stars intertwined. Hollow Magnolia, the tallest tree of Sky Fire County, silently stood under the deep of the night.

Sitting above the roof of a house, Li An watched the ancient tree with euphoria. That tree had already been part of the city for centuries. Its origin could not be traced by the passage of time.

What the common people knew was only that the government strictly prohibited anyone from approaching it. Those bold enough to try had already been buried beneath the ground.

Despite this fact, the citizens of Sky Fire County still admired the tree. They loved its beautiful white and pink flowers, which shone during the night.

When people were lost or depressed, they would silently stare at this tree. It was a magical tree. A healing tree. Although people had different terms for this tree, it was all but positive. It was without a doubt a one-of-a-kind tree.

Li An found himself mesmerized that he could not take his eyes out of it. When he felt lonely or lost the meaning of life, he would watch Hollow Magnolia silently. He felt a sense of peace and no longer felt alone.

The cold wind brushed off his hair, making him shiver a little. Li An silently stared at the tree. He had decided to shake off the thoughts of martial arts. However, he did not set aside the exercise.

He believed that once he completed the achievement, forty-plus attributes should be enough to kill a young man like young master Hao. After killing him, Li An would be at ease that he avenge Lin Fan.

Only then he would focus on the path where he rightfully belonged.

But is this the right choice?

"Ah, I don't know anymore." Scratching his hair, Li An sighed, "I want a bloody life but I'm also scared to lose my life."

"This system should have not come to give me some hope."

Li An shook his head and headed back to his bed. He felt rather exhausted today and wanted to rest early.

....

Four days passed in the blink of an eye.

After the break was permitted, Li An was free these days. He had no qualms about being unable to work. The owner of the tavern said it would be leave with pay, so Li An was rather happy to receive free money.

Of course, he had not stopped his exercises. He was rather curious about the second achievement and hoped he would receive an intelligence attribute reward. His comprehension might improve with the increase of his intelligence, so he could not wait to unlock that 'Knowledge is Power'.

[Progress: 6/7 days]

| Task |

[Complete] PUSH-UPS [100/100] (Refresh next day)

[Complete] CURL-UPS [100/100] (Refresh next day)

[Complete] SQUATS [100/100] (Refresh next day)

[Incomplete] RUNNING [8/10km]

At this moment, Li An could be seen running on the street. It was somewhat boring to run around the house, so he figured he should do it outside. He could visit the streets at the same time.

After running for half a kilometer, Li An was breathing heavily, so he rested on the side. He bought a bottle of water and drank silently. The refreshing water went inside his mouth and body, cooling him.

Hmm?

He noticed the area beside him was crowded. Something seemed to be going on there. Li An approached the crowd and heard a loud voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new challenger! Aya, this challenger looks fearsome. Is this it? Could he beat our defender?"

After he managed to pass the crowd, Li An was enlightened.

A young woman stood beside a table, entertaining the crowd. Next to her was a vigorous man with thick muscles. In front of the man was a round board. And opposite him was a man in green robes, the challenger.

Li An watched curiously. They were definitely doing an arm wrestling event. This kind of event was once in a while, so people were interested to watch when someone hosted this event.

The crowd whispered with one another.

"Heh, impossible. There had been thirty challenges, as strong as this green-robed man. However, they all lost."

"The strength of the defender is simply monstrous. If this continued, he would get fifty wins very quickly."

"Sigh, the reward tempted me. Unfortunately, I'd only donate him a win if I did."

Li An silently left the crowded area. He had no interest in arm wrestling. After all, he still had weak ass stats. Watching there had no benefits. He might as well finish the task so he could get the twenty points he had been working hard on these past seven days.

After running one and a half kilometers, Li An happened to bump into a familiar figure. His eyes squinted.

Chu Ying was walking with a few girls around her age. There was nothing wrong with hanging out with friends. However, this girl seemed to be hanging with those bad 'bitches'.

Li An thought for a moment. This was none of his business. However, she was, after all, the daughter of Old Fu to whom he was indebted. He could not just leave this matter as it is as this might cause Chu Ying to go ashtray.

Hanging out with these people would do nothing good for her. These bitches were fond of bullying others and hanging out with those arrogant kids born from the great clans.

Li An gnashed his teeth and jogged in front of them.

Chu Ying who was chatting with her friends noticed him almost immediately. Her eyes squinted. She whispered a few words and then approached Li An.

"Hey," Li An said, "what are you doing here?"

"It's none of your business." Chu Ying snorted and suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, that tavern that caused ruckus was where you were working, right? I heard someone died there."

"Yes." Li An nodded. "But anyway, do Old Fu know about them?"

Li An looked at the girls behind her.

Chu Ying snorted. "Why do you care? Just leave me alone. You make it seems we are some friends."

"Don't misunderstand, I don't care about you, okay? Old Fu is my friend, and you're his daughter, which means I just can't ignore this."

The girls behind Chu Ying suddenly called her name. Chu Ying sneered and pointed at Li An. "You! You better don't say anything in front of my father. Otherwise, I'll tell him you tried to touch me."

Saying that she turned around and smiled cheerfully at her friends. They talked as they walked away.

"Who's that guy? He looks so poor. Don't tell me his your boyfriend?"

"What? How could that be? That person is just my father's friend. He relayed some message for my father."

"I see...But you should not hang with that kind of person. I'm telling you there's no bright future being friends with them."

"You're absolutely right!"

Li An listened to their conversation as he shook his head. He had already done his best to persuade her not to hang with them. It was none of his business if something happened with her.

With that, Li An continued his exercise. He was half a kilometer away.

After running for a while, Li An finally saw a text hovering in front of him. Then he felt strength entering his body.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations Host, you've completed the level 2 achievement 'Preparation For The Rise']

[You've been awarded 10+ strength and 10+ agility]

Li An felt an incredible power brimming within his body. He had a feeling that his punch could leave a dint on the tree without injuring his fist. His body felt light as if he could run for thirty minutes without exhaustion.

"Let's check my stats."

[Status]

[Name: Li An]

[Age: 18]

[Strength: 14]

[Agility: 13]

[Intelligence: 8]

[Spirit: 1.2]

[Condition: Healthy]

[Realm: None]

[Martial Techniques: None]

Li An was satisfied. With his current strength, he could probably take two grown men alone. The only downside is that he doesn't have any combat experience. Strength was useless if he could not hit somebody.

"Right, the system said after I completed two out of three of the first achievement, I can unlock the second achievement!"

Li An hurriedly opened the achievement function and clicked the [Knowledge Is Power].

[Knowledge Is Power]

Level 1

★☆☆

[Achievement Condition: Complete the following Task]

| Task |

— There is no best attribute, but only a high attribute. Strength, Agility, and Spirit have their own unique usage. Intelligence is the same. Choice the following way to gain knowledge.

[A. Read Ten Books]

[B. Study The Art Of Painting]

[C. Learn Other Related Knowledge]

[Reward: +1 Intelligence]

Level 2

[Locked]

Level 3

[Locked]

Looking at the screen, Li An almost cursed loudly.

Ten books?

That would take a month to complete at least. As for the second option, there was no way he could complete it within a year. After all, the instruction was vague. It did not specify whether to master or just learn a bit of painting.

So that leaves him the third option...

Other related knowledge?

As he walked along the street, Li An pondered upon this option. How should he complete this thing within the shortest amount of time?

Thinking about this, Li An suddenly halted. He realized he had already walked back to the place where the arm wrestling was taking place.

"It still ongoing?"

Li An was surprised. He blended into the noisy crowd and noticed two people battling intensely. The defender was still the same man, and there were sweats on his forehead as he tried to wrestle his opponent.

However, the other party gnashed his teeth, trying his utmost best to defeat his opponent. However, at this moment, the defender suddenly shouted loud and the hands of his opponents were pressed against the board. The challenger was defeated!

"Ah, how fearsome! This defender had won for the 49th time. One more win and he would win the grand prize — two hundred silver!"

"Is there any new challenger?"

The young woman shouted beside. She seemed enthusiastic as she looked around the crowd. But no one raised their hands. They knew they could not defeat the defender. It would only be a waste of two silver if they challenge.

Two hundred silver?

Li An was somewhat tempted. He was not confident in fighting, but arm wrestling was a simple game. He felt that with his current strength, he should be capable of defeating this man.

Pondering, Li An nodded his head. Two silvers was a lot, but this was the best time to test his strength.

Hence, Li An raised his hand.

"I want to challenge!"

The young woman immediately noticed him, and the people around also noticed the youth.

When they saw how young he was, they felt it was rather absurd.

"Pardon?"

The young woman looked at Li An with disbelief. "This young sir, you like to challenge this man over here?"

Li An nodded.

"Yes if possible."