5

By the time Lin Kai returned to his room, it was already dark. In the corner of the large building where he was staying, he noticed a few glowing papers stuck to the wooden walls, casting a dim, hazy light around the area. He had seen these papers scattered throughout the city of Qinglong and had learned that they were called Glowing Runes.

After practicing at the Martial Hall for a month, he discovered that his talent was as bad as they had told him. At that time, he had wanted to learn runes too, but unfortunately, he had already put all his eggs in one basket. Without money, learning them was just wishful thinking. After that disappointment, Lin Kai never thought about it again.

But now, looking at the glowing runes again, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. He wanted to learn them too. Not just runes, but all the mysterious and magical things he had only dreamed about in his past life... he wanted to see and understand them all.

With a reluctant gaze, he finally entered the dining hall. Just like the previous night, it was desolate. At first, he had thought of making friends with the other people who came here with him. But after today's work, he realized that was merely wishful thinking. Although the Ji family didn't work the servants to death, they still made them work hard. After a full day of labor with little to no rest, making friends was likely the last thing on everyone's mind.

"Sigh…" Lin Kai shook his head, sighing, before grabbing a bowl and filling it with pottage. After gaining Iron Bones, his fatigue from the day's work had vanished. While everyone else was dead tired from working, he was the only one still full of energy.

After finishing his meal, Lin Kai returned to his room. He had thought he'd eat more than usual, but he didn't.

Lying on his bed, he closed his eyes as the events of the day flashed before him. From his initial anger towards that man in blue to the excitement of discovering that he could absorb new things, to finally absorbing something and stepping into the ranks of the Martial Artists... it had been a day full of ups and downs.

As these thoughts continued swirling in his mind, Lin Kai slowly drifted off to sleep.

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*Clang... Clang...

The next morning, it was the sound of the bell that woke him up. Stretching his body, Lin Kai didn't feel tired like he usually did. On the contrary, he felt full of energy.

Walking out of his room, he saw the familiar faces from the day before. But this time, he could clearly see the exhaustion etched on their faces. It was obvious that yesterday had been hard on them. None of them even bothered to look at each other as they sluggishly made their way to their tasks.

After a quick glance, Lin Kai also made his way back to the bamboo forest. But unlike the others, he was beaming with excitement. Just absorbing one bamboo tree had been enough to elevate him to the rank of Martial Artist, and even beyond. He was dying to know what would happen if he absorbed a few more.

In high spirits, Lin Kai finally arrived at the clearing and looked around.

"Phew... that bastard's not here." Seeing that the man in blue was nowhere to be seen, Lin Kai let out a breath of relief. Unknowingly, that man had left an inexplicable shadow in his heart. Perhaps it was because he had been the first martial artist Lin Kai had spoken to, or maybe it was because of the pranks he had pulled. Either way, Lin Kai didn't want to see him again.

"You're here." In the middle of the clearing sat the middle-aged man who was in charge of him and the others in the forest.

"Umm…" Lin Kai nodded briefly before grabbing an axe and heading back to the spot where he had chopped bamboo yesterday. He tried to see if he could absorb the axe as well, but to his disappointment, it didn't work. With a sigh, he accepted it.

It didn't take long before Lin Kai stood in front of the dense bamboo grove. He didn't use all his strength right away. Instead, he raised the axe and swung it gently. His sudden surge in power made it hard to control, and if he wasn't careful, he could cause an accident. Lin Kai wanted to get familiar with his new strength, and what better way than chopping the sturdy Iron Bamboo?

*Swish

With a single swing of the axe, he managed to cut more than half of the bamboo trunk.

"Hiss..." Looking at the axe stuck in the trunk, Lin Kai took a deep breath.

"Control… control…" he muttered in a low voice as if reminding himself. He pulled out the axe and swung it again, this time more gently.

*Bang

This time, the cut wasn't as deep, but he still chopped almost a third of the remaining bamboo.

"Much better." Pleased with the result, Lin Kai swung the axe a few more times, each time reducing his strength. By the end, he wasn't even putting any force behind his swings.

*Bang

With a loud thud, the bamboo finally fell. Lin Kai had finally managed to control his strength to a sufficient degree, though he couldn't quite suppress it to match his strength from yesterday. No matter how hard he tried, there seemed to be a limit to how much he could hold back.

"Forget it." Shaking his head, Lin Kai grabbed the freshly cut bamboo and pulled it into the grove, vanishing from sight.

After making sure no one was in the vicinity, Lin Kai finally focused on the window that appeared before him.

[Absorb Iron Bamboo?]

[Yes/No]

He hesitated, unsure of how intense the changes might be this time. Taking a deep breath, he chose [Yes] and braced himself for the worst, expecting another wave of agonizing pain, possibly worse than the first.

He stood still, eyes tightly shut, waiting for the inevitable.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Huh? Nothing?" After waiting for what felt like forever, the anticipated pain never came. Nor did he feel any significant changes in his body.

"What's going on?" Lin Kai frowned, staring at the now-empty space where the bamboo had been. He had clearly absorbed it, so why was there no effect?

Perplexed, he quickly pulled up the panel in front of him. Sure enough, there were changes.

[Name: Lin Kai]

[Realm: 8th Step (False) (1/10 Iron Bones)]

[Skills: None]

"What!?" Lin Kai rubbed his eyes, blinking repeatedly. When reality finally sank in, he stammered, "Ten... ten Iron Bamboos to progress further?"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant.

He stood in stunned silence for a moment before shaking his head. Without another word, he picked up his axe and swung it with full strength at the nearest bamboo. As for controlling his power, that could wait until he absorbed nine more trees.

The powerful swing almost cleaved the bamboo clean through, leaving only the edges connected. The bamboo trembled from the impact. Without missing a beat, Lin Kai swung again, chopping the tree down completely. If he could have unleashed his full strength, it would've been a single strike.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the tree and dragged it into the dense bamboo cluster.

[Absorb Iron Bamboo?]

[Yes/No]

This time, without hesitation, Lin Kai chose to absorb it. But the moment he did, something unexpected happened.

[Daily Limit Reached]

"Huh...?" That one sentence was enough to stop him in his tracks.

"A daily limit? What is this, a mobile game?" He stared at the message, irritation rising. Up until now, he had been under the impression that he could absorb unlimited items in a day, thinking his future path would be a breeze. But seeing this message, he could only sigh in frustration.

Alas! No matter how much it annoyed him, he had no choice but to accept it. Training on his own wasn't an option either—three months of effort had shown him how ineffective that was. So, like it or not, all he could do was wait for the next day.

Resigned to his situation, Lin Kai didn't waste any more time. He pulled the bamboo back out to the open road and sat down to pass the time, waiting for the evening so he could head back with his daily quota.

With nothing else to do, he tried practicing the boxing set he'd learned at the Iron Fist Martial Hall, hoping it might help refine his muscles. But no matter how long he practiced or how hard he pushed himself, there were no changes—no progress.

Eventually, he gave up and decided to explore the bamboo forest. Though not vast, it was still a sizable place, spanning nearly a mile and filled with twists and turns. Thankfully, wooden signs marked the paths, making it impossible to get lost.

Lin Kai wandered aimlessly throughout the day, hoping to stumble upon something else he could absorb. But after hours of searching, it was clear: the only thing here was bamboo. Reluctantly, he abandoned his hopes and waited for evening to arrive.

---------

"Today's quota." By the time evening came, Lin Kai had chopped down two more bamboo trees, tied them to the third, and dragged the lot to the clearing. After tossing them onto the pile, he bowed to the middle-aged man and took his leave.

Since his strength reached the 8th Step warrior, his workload has drastically lightened. On the first day, he had feared spending all his time chopping bamboo. But now, with his newfound strength, what had once seemed an insurmountable task felt laughably easy. Lin Kai couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of it all.

With a hollow chuckle, he entered the desolate dining hall, ate his meal, and went to bed.

--------

For the next four days, Lin Kai followed the same routine: wake up, head to the bamboo forest, chop down four trees, absorb one, and then wander the forest, searching for something new to absorb.

After four days, the results were gratifying.

[Name: Lin Kai]

[Realm: 8th Step (False) (5/10 Iron Bones)]

[Skills: None]

"Only five more to go," Lin Kai muttered as he walked out of his room, ready to start the day. Today marked his seventh day with the Ji family. But as soon as he stepped outside, he was surprised to see the old man standing there, smiling.

Raising an eyebrow, Lin Kai glanced at the four others standing nearby, who seemed just as confused as he was. No one understood why the old man was here.

And just as they were beginning to wonder, the old man spoke, his words so unexpected they made Lin Kai question if he was still dreaming.

"You've worked six days. Today's your break... Go out, explore, or sleep if you like. It's your day off."