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"Emmmmmm."
Xiong De, facing Harry, fell into silence for a moment. He knew he had to listen to the old man's words; otherwise, he'd be in for a beating when he returned, which wouldn't be pleasant. However, he'd been away from the village for two or three years. After graduating from college, he had applied for a job abroad and only just returned this year. Although the village's layout hadn't changed much, some things had evolved rapidly.
Take entertainment, for example.
Panda people love exploring new things and are eager to experience all sorts of strange and unique activities. The things Xiong De and his friends enjoyed a couple of years ago had long been outdated, and he still didn't quite understand the new stuff. He hadn't even figured out where the places were, let alone bringing Harry there.
That old man really knows how to find interesting things for me to do.
After quickly going through the names of places in his mind, Xiong De suddenly slapped his forehead. He remembered something timeless and reliable that would be great for entertaining guests.
"Let's go, brother!" Xiong De slung an arm over Harry's shoulder. "We're going for a full-service experience, all in one package. It'll be perfect. Although I'm not sure if the girl there will press right, you can't go wrong with an eight on the menu. Eighty-eight is a safe bet. Let's go, half an hour should be enough for a quick meal."
Harry: "???"
"A quick meal?" Harry stared at Xiong De, who looked serious but somehow not quite so, and asked, "Is it the kind of quick meal I'm thinking of?"
"You..." Xiong De gave Harry a confused look. "What do you think it is? It's just a foot massage. If you're hungry, I can take you to try some of the local hole-in-the-wall restaurants. They've been around for over 200 years, and I've been eating there since I was a kid. The food's amazing."
"Or no need to worry, I'll just order some takeout. We can eat while you get massaged."
"Oh!" Harry nodded, realizing what Xiong De meant. "Vegetarian is fine, vegetarian is fine. I'm not in the mood for meat."
"A good meal should have a balance of meat and vegetables. That's healthy. Health starts from a young age. Don't wait until you're old to remember this—it's too late by then."
Though the two were clearly on different wavelengths, it somehow didn't disrupt their conversation.
Ten minutes later, at a club with a panda paw print as its logo...
"This is your liver."
"Ow ow ow~~"
"Your liver is weak."
"This is your lungs."
"Ow ow ow~~~"
"Cut back on the smoking."
"This is your kidneys."
"Doesn't hurt at all. Apply more pressure! More pressure! Alright, alright, that's enough, just press comfortably."
Xiong De, lying on the bed with his tongue out and a look of satisfaction, tilted his head to glance at Harry, who hadn't made a sound. "Hey, brother, why aren't you saying anything? Is it too light? If it is, just tell them to press harder."
As he spoke, Xiong De gave the powerful panda masseuse a glance, but the man simply shook his head calmly, showing off the acupressure stick he had bent under the pressure.
"His body is perfectly fine. You're the weak one—stop worrying about him," the masseuse said flatly without even lifting their eyelids. The offhand remark pierced Xiong De's heart deeply.
"How is that possible?! My body isn't as good as his?!"
"You're just underdeveloped, black brat. You haven't been eating well these past few years abroad, have you? Eat more meat now that you're back. Look how skinny you've gotten."
Panda Village had a population of just over ten thousand, and outsiders rarely stayed long. The No. 8 masseuse giving Harry a foot massage actually knew Xiong De. In terms of seniority, Xiong De technically had to call her aunt, but panda folk didn't bother much with formalities. If they seriously tried to sort out family relations, things would get ridiculously messy. As long as they weren't within three generations, no one really cared.
"I just look slim because I'm dark-skinned," Xiong De muttered.
But just as he said dark, darkness truly arrived.
The moment they finished their relaxing foot massage and stepped into the front hall, a massive shadow at the entrance made Xiong De instinctively clench his buttocks.
"Black brat, you sure know how to splurge. The Supreme VIP Package? Even I wouldn't spend money on that, and yet, look at you—so generous, my good son."
"I was just letting the guest have a good experience," Xiong De replied nervously, his feet unconsciously inching toward the exit.
"Then why the hell didn't you use your own membership card when you paid? Just wait till we get home, you little brat—I'll deal with you then!"
Turning to Harry, the massive figure chuckled, "Don't mind the commotion. There's actually a lot of fun stuff to do in the village. Just last month, they opened a new holographic gaming arena. Ever seen Star Wars? For fifty bucks, you can pick up a lightsaber and hack spaceships to pieces. It's amazing. This idiot here doesn't know anything. Even for a foot massage, you should wait till nighttime. The ones working during the day are just part-timers—not professionals. The good ones only come at night."
"Oh!"
Harry nodded, only half-understanding. From what Tian Shu (Uncle Tian) just said, it sounded like some kind of full-dive holographic game. The pandas sure knew how to find ways to have fun.
Meanwhile, Tian Shu had stepped out to borrow some money from his old friends. Although a few million was a hefty sum, pooling funds among his comrades wasn't a problem—especially for those still stationed at the Netherworld Battlefield. Compared to those who had already returned home, they had much more financial flexibility.
A quick five-million transfer later, the money landed in Harry's account. When Tian Shu received the hefty vial of Ultimate Life Elixir, his face beamed with uncontainable joy. He had just flipped the deal for a clean three-million profit—opportunities like this were once-in-a-lifetime.
But he also knew very well what this kind of business entailed.
Without another word, he sent a swift kick to his troublemaking son before grabbing Harry and rushing straight to the training grounds.
---
The Panda Village Martial Arena was massive. The public training area alone covered the equivalent of seventeen or eighteen soccer fields. The remaining sections, however, were restricted. To access them, one needed a special pass to go through a particular gateway. The outer training grounds were for children to roughhouse, while the enclosed inner grounds were reserved for full-grown pandas to truly unleash.
From the moment they stepped through the gate, the thunderous boom of repeated impacts echoed in the distance. About four or five hundred meters away, at the wooden training dummies, an elderly panda with graying fur was practicing his strikes at a leisurely pace.
Although his movements seemed slow, every punch sent visible shockwaves rippling through the air. The deceptively relaxed yet devastatingly powerful strikes left Harry's eyes spinning.
"That's Tai Chi Fist," Tian Shu explained after securing a private training room. "Unless you're a natural-born genius, you won't get anywhere with it unless you train for at least a hundred, maybe two hundred years. That's my great-grandfather's generation over there—just watch and enjoy the spectacle."
Pandas had exceptionally long lifespans. As true magical creatures, they weren't like short-lived human wizards. Technically, adulthood started at thirty, but in the old days, even fifty-year-olds were still considered kids.
"One to two hundred years to master?" Harry looked at Uncle Tian in surprise. "So if you don't live long enough, you're not even qualified to train in it?"
"It's fine for health maintenance. Tai Chi emphasizes the balance of yin and yang, focusing on technique rather than raw strength. What I meant was that reaching that old man's level—the level where you can actually use it on the battlefield—takes at least that long. Otherwise, it's just a way to keep your body in good shape."
"Martial arts aren't as difficult as you think—where it sounds like you need decades just to start, you're not entirely wrong. The first few decades are all about laying the foundation. Only when your physical condition is strong enough can you unleash techniques that let you explode with multiple times—sometimes even dozens of times—your usual strength in an instant."
"I know how it is abroad. You people focus only on magic and not on the body. One reason is the cost—not every country can afford to raise enough livestock to let its people eat their fill. The second is that you don't have much left in terms of heritage. Maybe only the Vatican still has a few Grand Knights left. Those metal lumps are tough, sure, but they're dumb as hell. In this day and age, still messing with Outer Gods? They'd be better off creating an external avatar—that's at least an advanced technique."
Muttering things Harry couldn't fully understand, Uncle Tian shook his head and led him through a glowing blue, semi-transparent portal.
The deafening explosions vanished in an instant.
On the other side of the magic gate was a sealed chamber, roughly 200 meters long and wide, with stone walls on all four sides. The floor and ceiling were made of thick blue stone, with a height of around 50 meters. Despite being fully enclosed, some unknown light source illuminated the entire training ground with crystal clarity—there wasn't a single hint of darkness.
"Alright, strip down. I need to check your body first. Your method of refining your physique and opening your meridians was way too wild—there's bound to be tons of blocked areas. That's normal, though. You had no teacher over there."
Uncle Tian tossed over a Magical Flow Revealing Potion. "Rub this on yourself. It'll make the flow of qi inside you clearly visible. First step: I'm gonna help you smooth out your internal energy pathways."
Feeling a bit awkward about getting naked, Harry still obediently did as he was told.
"Tian Shu, I'm done."
Before long, his body was covered in a slightly oily sheen. After waiting a few moments, the potion was fully absorbed into his skin, and countless black energy veins became visible across his body. Visible might not be the most accurate term—but even through flesh and muscle, one could see the turbulent flow of qi surging through his meridians.
Unlike the usual blue glow of normal wizards, Harry's magic had a metallic gray hue, a fusion of black and white.
For Awakened Sorcerers, the color of their magic reflected their true nature. If someone claimed to be a cheerful, sunny person but had magic that completely lacked warm tones, they were clearly just putting on an act.
"Tsk tsk tsk, not bad, kid." Uncle Tian nodded in approval. "Your muscles are well-trained—not bulky, but balanced. Some people think the bigger the muscles, the stronger they are. That's partially true, but if your body structure doesn't allow efficient power output, your actual strength gets nerfed."
"You're at a good stage right now."
After evaluating Harry's physique, Uncle Tian turned his attention to the gradually revealing energy pathways. He wasn't surprised by the dark-tinged magic—it varied for every being, after all. He didn't even believe Harry was a pure-blooded human. And even if he was, he certainly wasn't ordinary. A slight color shift in magic? Completely normal.
"Open your hands. See that? Some branches are blocked. You've only opened the main meridians, but the smaller pathways are still closed. Now that you can see them, focus on clearing them. Take your time—I'll keep checking for any more blockages. This is fundamental, so don't be sloppy."
Uncle Tian pulled out a marker, casually sat on the ground to be at eye level with Harry, and started marking spots on his body. His eyes were terrifyingly sharp—though he scanned rapidly, he didn't miss a single detail.
Harry's blind approach to refining his body had indeed pushed him far beyond human limits, but it was still like groping in the dark. There were bound to be places he had neglected.
By the time Uncle Tian was done, 40 to 50 markings covered Harry's body.
Once he carefully opened all the blocked pathways, Harry felt an unexpected lightness in his body. It wasn't much—just a tiny bit—but even his Magic Heart seemed to beat slightly faster than before.
Though he couldn't analyze the changes yet, he made a mental note to observe them later.
"Alright, that's better. Your qi pathways are clear, and energy can flow smoothly now. But kid, your training isn't enough yet. You're still young—your body's still growing, so your so-called 'enhancement' isn't quite real yet. You'll need more grinding. Eat more meat, especially dragon meat—it's cheap and high quality. Of course, if you've got the money, go for stuff that matches your body's elemental affinity."
"Elemental affinity?"
"Oh, right." Uncle Tian slapped his forehead. "I forgot—you're a foreigner. Didn't they teach this abroad? Even our elementary schoolers know this. Every person—or rather, every being—has a natural elemental inclination in their qi.
"For example, panda folk lean toward Wood and Earth elements. But that's not absolute. My own affinity is Metal, which gives me a slight advantage in attack power. It's not much, but in a critical fight, that tiny difference can be the key to a comeback."
"The five basic elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, but it's not always clear-cut. There are many special affinities outside of this framework. We don't need to test yours today—I just need to know your strongest affinity so I can teach you the right techniques."
"My legendary Iron-Bodied Panda Fist might not be the best fit for you."
"Iron-Bodied Panda Fist?" Harry blinked. "That sounds… powerful."
"Of course!"
Uncle Tian grinned smugly. "Watch closely—this is a killing technique. I'll only demonstrate once!"
Harry focused intently, his eyes locked onto his teacher.
"Antelope Leap!"
"Lotus Glide~!"
"Headbutt the Walnut!"
"TORNADO DESTROYS THE PARKING LOT!!!"
(End of Chapter)