Chapter 25: Don't Stop!

Ten minutes later, at the second-year teaching building, a person and a cat finally stopped after running all the way here. 

After being cleared by Kiana, this place was temporarily a safe zone, making it the safest place to retreat to.

Li Huan placed Tom, who still had stars spinning around his head, on the ground and shook him awake. By now, after less than a day together, Li Huan had completely understood that no matter how deeply Tom was unconscious, shaking him would always wake him up.

Tom jumped up, his fur standing on end, clearly traumatized by the recent experience of jumping off a building. 

Li Huan just let Tom be—after all, everyone was okay, so it didn't matter how he reacted.

However...

Li Huan looked at himself in surprise. After jumping from the third floor and hitting the ground, he had not sustained a single injury. No internal bleeding, no ruptured organs, no broken bones—his body was in excellent condition.

"Is this the power of the ancient Chinese martial arts?" He thought, but as he twisted his body slightly, a sharp pain shot through him, causing him to gasp.

He touched the source of the pain, which was at his waist.

"Tsk, the residual pain hasn't faded yet?" He muttered, feeling somewhat helpless.

Why did he still feel pain despite having learned ancient Chinese martial arts? To understand this, one needs to look at the skill description.

[Skill: Ancient Chinese Martial Arts (Upper)]

[Skill Level: Excellent]

[Skill Requirement: Just being a person is enough]

[Skill Effect: Copper skin, iron bones, and impregnable defense]

[Description:A legendary ancient martial art that has been passed down in China for ages, divided into two volumes. The upper volume focuses on enhancing defensive power, while the lower volume includes offensive techniques and ultimate moves. Mastering both volumes would make one invincible.  

[PS: Although your defense has greatly improved, allowing you to block chainsaws and bullets with ease, pain will still be felt. Pain is the beginning of strength; a person cannot lose their sense of pain.]

[PPS: Note, while the highest level of this martial art allows one to remain unfazed by any skill, a beginner can only withstand rocket launcher-level attacks. Anything beyond that will penetrate your defense easily.]

This description of ancient Chinese martial arts shows that the boost in defensive power is quite terrifying. Li Huan's defense now surpasses that of the bosses in the Resident Evil series, able to withstand a direct hit from a rocket launcher without injury. 

However, while his defense has increased, his pain tolerance hasn't been completely eliminated.

This was why he lay on the ground for so long after jumping—because it hurt!

The impact from jumping from the third floor caused him significant pain, which took a while to recover from, something he hadn't anticipated beforehand.

However, considering the outcome, learning ancient Chinese martial arts was not a loss. 

Li Huan now had the defense to withstand rocket launcher-level attacks, giving him the ability to protect himself against zombies. Even if they were enhanced, they wouldn't be able to break his skin.

"Haa... ha... wait... wait up..." Kiana arrived late, panting heavily as she ran.

Seeing her bent over with her hands on her knees, exhausted like a dog, Li Huan teased, "You're so slow."

"What?!" Kiana snapped, "You're the one who's too fast—cough, cough, cough!" She began coughing violently as she nearly ran out of breath.

Li Huan silently patted her back to help her catch her breath.

Once she recovered, Kiana straightened up, crossing her arms and looking at Li Huan with a suspicious expression.

"You jumped from the third floor, hit the ground, and got up without a scratch, then outran me. And you still claim to be an ordinary person?"

Li Huan was silent for a moment before pointing to himself. "You know I'm from Shenzhou, right?" 

(T/N: Shenzou is China but Honkai Impact 3rd refers to it as that, probably to avoid copyright so we'll use that)

"Yeah, so what?"

"The truth is, I've practiced a bit of ancient Shenzou martial arts, which has given me a body of copper skin and iron bones. An average person can't hurt me, but I haven't practiced any offensive techniques, so in terms of fighting, I'm still at an ordinary level."

Kiana seemed to believe the ancient martial arts explanation and switched topics. "Then why were you running so fast?"

"That..." Li Huan's eyes wandered. "I have good shoes..."

"Huh? You're definitely lying to me!"

"No, no, no, I'm not lying to you."

This time, Li Huan was telling the truth. The reason he could outrun Kiana was actually because of his shoes.

As mentioned earlier, when Li Huan first arrived in this world, he had three chances to draw rewards. The first thing he drew was the shoes he was wearing.

[Item Description: Hope Flower Running Shoes]

[Item Level: Excellent]

[Equipment Requirement: A pair of feet sized 40 or above]

[Equipment Effect: Your walking and running speed increases by 300%, and stamina consumption is reduced by 80%.]

[Equipment Description: Titles like Iron-Blooded Leader, King of Mars, and the Man Who Can't Stop Running belong to a legendary traveler who, through countless worlds, became a meme due to persecution. These shoes, left behind accidentally during his endless travels, contain a fraction of his power, constantly changing owners across infinite worlds. So, don't stop running.]

This is a terrifying piece of equipment. With these shoes, even a 300-pound person could easily outrun the average person.

When Li Huan got this equipment, he wondered—if this level of equipment is considered excellent, how terrifying would higher-level items be?

Of course, the things he drew later, as well as Tom, gave him an understanding of how scary higher-level items can be... but that's a story for another time.

Li Huan and Kiana bickered for about ten minutes before she abruptly ended the conversation.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter if you're really ordinary or not," Kiana seemed to let go of the issue. "Since you're so capable, you should be able to help me."

"Help you with what?" Li Huan tilted his head in confusion.

"What else!" Kiana said as if it were obvious, "Since I've helped you, it's only fair for you to help me now."

"Let me remind you, you still owe me a favor from the bet..."

"We'll deal with that later!" Kiana interrupted him. "If you don't help me with this, we'll both be in big trouble soon."

Li Huan immediately shut up and listened as Kiana continued.

"What I need you to help with is..." Kiana's expression turned serious. "Help me defeat the Herrscher of Thunder!"

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