Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 55: Limit

He took a glance.

Most of the missed calls were from Hu Lemei, a few were from Li Yi, and there were also several from unknown numbers and spam callers.

Hu Qi thought for a moment before calling her back.

As expected, it was about the incident at Hanlin Garden District.

The incident’s impact was too great to be concealed.

However, matters concerning the Black Blood Species had to be kept secret within the Xia Federation, so the official report stated it was caused by a natural gas leak.

The area was also cordoned off, with no one allowed to enter, supposedly to prevent injuries from a secondary leak.

This left his aunt’s family, who had wanted to understand the situation, with no way to find out more.

Hu Qi’s excuse was that he had a lot of delivery orders last night and happened to be out working, so he was unharmed.

Seeing Hu Lemei’s red-rimmed eyes on the video call, Hu Qi joked.

"I’m fine, see? I’m as healthy as an ox. Don’t worry."

As he spoke, Hu Qi even flexed his left bicep.

"Alright, just take good care of yourself."

Hu Lemei chuckled at Hu Qi’s gesture.

"Yeah, don’t worry. By the way, in a couple of days, I might be heading to Anshan City..."

Hu Qi then briefly explained that he was going to the Red Scale Fighting Club for advanced training in the core class.

Hu Lemei wasn’t too surprised. Li Yi had already told her about it when he came home.

She simply reminded Hu Qi to be careful while he was away on his own and offered words of concern, telling him he could always call his aunt if he needed anything.

————

Early in the morning, beside a cobblestone path in the park, elderly people doing their morning exercises and joggers occasionally passed by.

They couldn’t help but cast curious and strange glances toward a certain spot.

There stood a tall, handsome young man, holding a leash attached to a pet.

Well, the pet wasn’t a cat or a dog, but a strange-looking, entirely purple duck.

A rope was tied around one of the duck’s legs, its other end held in the young man’s hand.

At that moment, the duck was waddling forward with its feet turned out, its webbed feet shuffling along the ground as its body swayed from side to side.

With every step, its plump, round bottom would wiggle, creating a rather comical sight.

However, the duck looked listless, its eyes nearly closed.

Feeling Hu Qi tug on the rope, it would let out a low quack from time to time, as if expressing its dissatisfaction.

"Camphor Tea, all you do every day is sleep or eat. We’ve only been walking for a little while and you’re already tired. Look at all this fat on you. You’re making things very difficult for me!"

Hu Qi shook the rope in his hand, a look of displeasure on his face.

Ever since that day, this Camphor Tea Duck had spent all its free time sleeping, not moving at all.

Because of this, Hu Qi had even taken it to the vet for a full check-up and was only relieved after confirming nothing was wrong.

"Hurry up and walk properly. Don’t drag your feet on the ground."

After being glared at by Hu Qi, the Camphor Tea Duck knew better than to argue and shut its quacking beak, obediently following behind him.

That Hu Qi could find time in his busy schedule to take it for a walk was proof enough of his affection for his one and only "employee."

Of course, it absolutely wasn’t to increase its egg production.

...

For the next few days, Hu Qi ate and slept at his hotel whenever he was tired.

In the mornings, he would take the Camphor Tea Duck for a walk, and once the sun was out, he would head to the Red Scale Extreme Fighting Club.

He would then immerse himself in training there for the entire day, constantly practicing his Fighting Techniques and honing his physique.

This rigid, three-point routine was extremely disciplined.

Although it wasn’t much fun, Hu Qi reveled in it.

He watched his strength grow day by day.

With no troubles to bother him, Hu Qi was very content with this kind of life.

Other than that, the past few days had been relatively calm.

The only piece of news was something he’d heard a couple of days ago about an explosion at a villa complex in North City.

A three- or four-story villa had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the accident.

After seeing the photos in the news report,

he noticed that the fracture points on some of the collapsed sections were perfectly smooth.

This couldn’t help but remind Hu Qi of that blonde, red-eyed Second Senior Sister.

He had a feeling the incident was related to her.

Of course, that was just his speculation.

Whether it was true or not, he had no way of knowing.

...

「Inside the force-testing room.」

Looking at the 509kg displayed on the screen, a hint of satisfaction appeared on Hu Qi’s face.

Over the past few days, he had cultivated several more Fighting Techniques.

——————

Eagle Claw Hand (Perfection) — Trait: Grapple

Iron Body Skill (Perfection) — Trait: Resistance

One-Inch Fist (Perfection) — Trait: Burst

Maga Technique (Perfection) — Trait: Tolerance

...

Modification Points: 1 (59%)

Of these four Fighting Techniques, the type of the first three was obvious from their names.

The last one, the Maga Technique, was a military Fighting Technique originating from some small country.

This Fighting Technique was all or nothing; to use it was to cause either death or serious injury.

This wasn’t because the technique was overwhelmingly powerful,

but because it employed the most efficient and brutal methods to disable an enemy.

These included, but were not limited to, striking the groin, gouging the eyes, and jabbing the throat.

Once engaged, its practitioner forgoes all defense and focuses solely on offense.

Therefore, this Fighting Technique demanded an extremely high capacity for tolerance, which also led many people to look down on it and disdain its cultivation.

However, that didn’t matter to Hu Qi.

To him, as long as it increased his chances of winning, it didn’t matter whether the methods were despicable or not.

"Have I nearly reached my limit?" Hu Qi muttered to himself.

By now, his punching power had already surpassed the so-called human limit.

Achieving this was inextricably linked to the various Traits stacked upon him.

Additionally, as his own strength and physique constantly improved, the number of Modification Points required to enhance a Fighting Technique had decreased significantly.

It had gone from originally needing three or four points to now only needing two or even just one point to modify a Fighting Technique to Perfection.

At the same time, the amplification effect the Fighting Techniques had on him was also diminishing.

After raising the final Maga Technique to Perfection, the feeling of enhancement was almost negligible.

Hu Qi understood that he had reached his own limit.

If he wanted to continue improving, he couldn’t possibly do it by relying solely on these ordinary Fighting Techniques.

"What on earth is the Limit-Breaking Technique?"

He hadn’t seen Lin Tong or that Second Senior Sister these past few days.

Hu Qi had tried to subtly ask Lin Tong about it over the phone.

But the man was completely unwilling to reveal anything, only saying that Hu Qi would naturally find out once he joined the core class.

The feeling was like having a cat scratch at his heart—agonizing, yet he was helpless to do anything about it.

Fortunately, tomorrow was the day he was to report to the core class.

Thinking of this, Hu Qi glanced at the darkening sky outside the window and walked out the door.

"Brother Qi, done training?!"

"Take care, Brother Qi!"

"Brother Qi, let’s grab a meal sometime when you’re free. My treat."

...

Along the way, everyone he encountered, whether they were students or instructors, greeted Hu Qi with extreme enthusiasm.

After all, everyone had witnessed the scene of Hu Qi’s assessment.

Anyone who had spent some time at the Red Scale Club had at least some understanding of the prestige the core class held.

The instructors and senior students, in particular, knew exactly what it represented, so they naturally wanted to get on his good side.

Later, when they heard that even Sims had been defeated by him, their reverence for Hu Qi reached its peak.

Hu Qi didn’t put on any airs, simply responding to everyone with a smiling nod.

He didn’t see Li Yi during this time. Counting the days, it was about time for school to start, so Li Yi had probably gone to register at his university early.

Hu Qi had heard of the university; it was a local one in Qirong City, not far from his home. That was why Li Yi wouldn’t have much time to practice here for a while.