Chapter 166: There Are Those More Powerful Than Me |
Building 6, Unit 1, Apartment 301, residential complex.
Cao Biansheng was sitting on the living room sofa, surrounded by a circle of former roommates and classmates he used to be close with.
"Brother Cao, we really miss you! Without you, our hunts just feel empty."
"Get out of here, stop talking nonsense. Do you think you can't eat without me?" Cao Biansheng laughed and cursed.
"Hey, Old Cao, how exactly did you leave? Some say you were caught by Old Luo peeping at girls taking a shower, you knelt on the ground begging him not to tell anyone, and then Old Luo kicked you out."
"What a load of stinking dog shit!" Cao Biansheng suddenly sat up straight, unable to hold back an angry shout. "Who's spreading these slanderous rumors about me?"
My head can be broken, my blood can be shed, but my innocence must remain intact.
"Hahaha, Qi Xiang just made that up on the spot." A guy next to him pointed at the one who had just spoken.
"Cao, you little punk, looking for a beating, huh?" Cao Biansheng stood up and locked Qi Xiang in a hold.
Cao Biansheng let go, and Qi Xiang rubbed his own arm. "Your strength is just too much. Hey, speaking of which, Old Cao, how are things over at the Qin Alliance? If you're not comfortable there, just come back. The brothers all kind of miss you."
Cao Biansheng said with a smile, "It's great. Don't miss me. If you miss me, you guys can come over."
"I'm going to tell Old Luo you're poaching his people," Qi Xiang said disdainfully.
"Go ahead. Old Luo might just have the same idea." Cao Biansheng chuckled. Since coming to the Qin Alliance, he had seen many advanced buildings he had never encountered in the Home back at the teaching building.
He immediately gave a mysterious smile. "All I can say is, there are some things I can't talk about, but if you come and be my teammate, you definitely won't regret it. Those who understand, understand. For those who don't, no amount of explaining from me will help."
Hearing Cao Biansheng say this, it immediately piqued the curiosity of the others.
They all knew Old Cao's personality. Although he sometimes liked to brag a little, overall he was reliable. They had no idea what he had seen.
"We'll see. We've been with our classmates for a long time; coming to your place might not feel right," one male classmate said.
Qi Xiang said, "There are more girls over at the teaching building. We heard your place is just a nest of monks."
Cao Biansheng rolled his eyes. "What do you need women for? The reason you guys aren't as strong as me is because you're not pure enough! You need to be like me, become a pure powerhouse."
The others looked at him with pity. This guy seemed to have been single since birth. It wasn't that no girls had shown interest in him, but whenever that happened, this guy would shrink back and avoid them.
People who have been single since birth for too long are like that.
Suddenly, the sound of an argument and angry shouting came from outside the window. The sound wasn't far, coming from downstairs.
"Downstairs is arguing again," Qi Xiang said. "Brother Cao, aren't you going to manage it? That seems to be someone from your Qin Alliance."
"What?" Cao Biansheng's brows slowly furrowed.
......
Building 6, Unit 1, Apartment 101, outside the lawn and greenery, a large crowd had gathered.
There were men and women, old and young.
Wei Zhaohua was protecting a circle of soil, saying angrily, "This soil at the entrance is what I brought back bucket by bucket from the last world myself. It's not the complex's soil. If you want some, you can dig the soil next to it, but you can't touch this!"
Beside Wei Zhaohua stood three other men. The four of them formed a circle.
Opposite them was a larger circle that surrounded them.
"This is the complex's public property. What do you mean you dug it? None of us saw it!" someone from the opposite side shouted.
"Make way, make way."
The crowd parted, and a team of people walked in. The leader was a man with a crew cut, about 1.7 meters tall, with dark skin and a sturdy build.
"Brother Biao."
Many of the onlookers recognized him: He Biao, former captain of the first squad of the Alliance's Hunting Team, now transferred to the third squad.
Although his team's ranking had dropped due to poor performance in the last Giant Hyaenodon incident, his reputation within the Alliance was still considerable because he "knew how to handle things," often showed his face, and had many friends.
"What's going on?" He Biao asked after entering, looking directly at the person arguing with Wei Zhaohua.
That person said, "Brother Biao, didn't the Guild Leader say we should plant more things? So we were planning to dig up more of the complex's soil to take back, but this person stopped us and even pushed one of our people down."
Wei Zhaohua grew anxious. "I didn't push anyone."
"Alright, I understand the situation now." He Biao raised his hand. He turned to Wei Zhaohua and said, "I'll give your Qin Alliance some face. We'll forget about you pushing someone. As for this soil, we'll take two-thirds of it, leaving the rest for you."
Wei Zhaohua said anxiously, "This soil is what I dug up!"
He Biao frowned. He had already taken a step back; why was this person still clinging to it?
He looked back behind him. From behind him, a young man with slightly curly hair, thick eyebrows, and big eyes strode out.
"I advise you to be more sensible. If you back off now, you can still save some face. Otherwise, in a moment, you'll lose both face and substance, damaging the reputation of your Qin Alliance." The young man spoke confidently.
Some of the university student onlookers whispered among themselves. "This guy is so pretentious." "Yeah, just like that Cao Biansheng guy."
"Oh? Then why wouldn't it damage the reputation of your Alliance?" Cao Biansheng strode out from behind the crowd.
"I've heard of you," the curly-haired man said, looking at Cao Biansheng, his eyes showing no fear.
Ever since obtaining a Human Constitution Enhancement Card during the settlement, his strength had greatly increased, and his confidence was now sky-high. He had always exercised regularly, and his physical fitness was better than the average person's. Now, it was like adding wings to a tiger.
He believed that even if he wasn't as divinely brave, he wasn't much worse than professional strongmen.
Cao Biansheng looked at He Biao. "Are you looking for a fight or what?"
"That's what I should be asking you," He Biao said in a low voice. If it weren't for the Guild Leader's instruction to avoid conflicts with other forces in the complex as much as possible, he definitely wouldn't be this calm.
Now it was troublesome. Things had developed to this point. It wasn't just a personal matter anymore; it involved the face of both sides. If he backed down first, who knew how others would gossip? They might even say their Alliance was afraid of the Qin Alliance.
"If you don't want trouble, then why come to steal our stuff?" Cao Biansheng said.
He Biao frowned. He looked at the person who had spoken earlier and guessed some clues from the other's evasive eyes.
But he couldn't back down now. He pointed at the curly-haired man beside him. "What do you mean 'your stuff'? Fine, we won't bully you with numbers. As long as one of you can beat Jiang Shan in wrestling, not only will I return this soil as it was, I'll even give you an extra hundred jin of soil! Do you dare?"
Jiang Shan stepped forward, his eyes full of challenge.
Cao Biansheng shook his head and chuckled lightly. "If only you had said it was this simple from the start."
Jiang Shan took off his jacket, revealing well-defined, lean muscles. He lightly shifted his feet, eager to try.
Seeing Cao Biansheng approach without even taking off his jacket, Jiang Shan felt looked down upon. "You're not taking off your jacket? Don't make excuses later if you lose, saying you weren't in good condition."
"Come on, stop the chatter."
Their arms locked together. Jiang Shan let out a low shout, drawing power from his core, preparing to flip the guy in front of him.
But the other side seemed rooted to the ground, his feet firmly planted.
The next second, a tremendous force came from the other end of the arm. Jiang Shan had no power to resist and was directly lifted into the air.
Before he could react, the world spun around in an instant, and his whole body was slammed onto the pile of soil.
Lying on the soil pile, Jiang Shan stared blankly at the sky, still unable to accept this harsh reality.
"Why... why..."
Cao Biansheng looked at He Biao. "Captain He, don't forget what you promised us."
He Biao's face was as dark as water. He glanced at Jiang Shan on the ground. This kid was always boasting about how strong he was, calling himself number one in the Alliance, and yet he was taken down in one move. What a damn disgrace!
"Don't worry, I'll have someone send it over to you later." After saying that, he left in a hurry.
Many of the onlookers who saw this scene burst into laughter.
Amidst the laughter, He Biao walked even faster.
Jiang Shan muttered to himself for a while before getting up from the ground. He looked at Cao Biansheng, somewhat unable to comprehend. "If you're this strong, why go to the Qin Alliance? Wouldn't it be better to come to our Alliance? We have more people, a larger scale."
"Because in the Qin Alliance, there are those more powerful than me." Du Yu's figure surfaced in Cao Biansheng's mind.
Hearing this, Jiang Shan's pupils contracted. In his view, if Cao Biansheng was already this strong, and there were even more powerful people in the Qin Alliance, just how strong would they have to be?
His mind involuntarily conjured up the image of Qin Ziwen.
He had heard that the Qin Alliance was initially built on his reputation.
Could it be that the stronger person Cao Biansheng mentioned was the Guild Leader of the Qin Alliance?
Returning to Wei Zhaohua's side, Cao Biansheng asked with concern, "Old Wei, are you alright?"
Wei Zhaohua said gratefully, "Thank you for earlier."
"We're part of the same alliance, no need for that." Cao Biansheng waved his hand grandly, not caring about such a small matter at all.
For him, since they were companions in the same alliance, helping was just what should be done.
"Come in and have something to eat. I have some fruit here, fresh little tomatoes, sour and sweet, guaranteed delicious."
"Hey, isn't that inappropriate?" Cao Biansheng said this while pulling Wei Zhaohua's hand towards the house.
Looking at their retreating backs, then glancing at the empty team beside him, a trace of loneliness flashed in Jiang Shan's eyes.
"Jiang Shan, you don't seem that great either. Always bragging about how strong you are." Someone in the crowd of onlookers laughed mockingly.
Jiang Shan looked at that person and suddenly walked over.
That person's face changed. Seeing the taller, stronger Jiang Shan walking towards him, he immediately stepped back repeatedly. "What are you going to do!"
A big man weighing nearly two hundred jin next to that person disdainfully reached out his right arm to grab Jiang Shan. "You couldn't beat someone else, so you take it out on your own people?"
Jiang Shan glanced at him, grabbed his arm in return, stepped forward half a step, slipped to the side, and twisted. The powerful force directly twisted the big man's arm, making him suck in cold air from the pain and beg for mercy repeatedly.
Jiang Shan didn't even look at him. He walked up to the person who had just spoken, looking down from above, his tone cold. "I'm not good enough?"
That person's face turned pale. At this moment, not just him, but all the surrounding onlookers, with such a clear contrast, finally understood. It wasn't that Jiang Shan was weak, but that Cao Biansheng was stronger!
And what kind of existence must that person in the Qin Alliance, the one Cao Biansheng said was even stronger than him, be?
......
Evening, on the platform.
"Hey, Cao the Mighty Man, heard you pulled off a little show-off today."
On the platform, Qin Ziwu teased.
A trace of helplessness flashed in Cao Biansheng's eyes. "Don't mention it, don't mention it. Others might not know, but you do. What does my strength count for in the alliance?"
Forget about Du Yu, there's still the Guild Leader ahead.
The Guild Leader's physical fitness was no worse than his, and he had archery skills far surpassing his.
Plus, the newly acquired Crowned Eagle, with its eight claws like eight large scimitars, diving down from high altitude at speeds over a hundred kilometers per hour—how could an ordinary person defend against that?
Somehow, the events of the afternoon had spread.
The first thing people said to him when they saw him was, "Cao Biansheng, you showed off again."
Opposite them, Du Yu held a long spear. "Don't get distracted!"
Du Yu took the initiative to attack with his spear. On the platform, a nine-person team was arranged in two long rows, four in front, five in back.
The front row thrust, withdrew their spears, and at the moment of withdrawal, the back row thrust out their long spears!
Faced with this spear formation, all Du Yu could do was use his long spear to disrupt the formation, then take advantage of the chaos to charge in.
However, within the opposing formation, two people had strength not inferior to his at all.
They could always block his spear at critical moments, delaying his attacks. The group's coordination became increasingly familiar.
After half an hour of drills, Du Yu stopped his movements. "Your coordination with the spear formation is already familiar. Next, you just need to polish your techniques and improve your physical fitness."
It wasn't until 9 PM that everyone finished training.
Qin Ziwen said, "Our main task tomorrow is to head to the eastern region to hunt beasts. If there is a suitable target, Instructor Du will hunt alone, and we should not interfere."
Hearing this, everyone was somewhat puzzled.
Cao Biansheng laughed. "Is Instructor Du going to put on a performance battle for us?"
Qin Ziwen said, "No. It's his challenge trial to break through the mortal limit and step onto the path of the extraordinary."
As soon as these words were spoken, not just Cao Biansheng, but the entire group below fell silent.
They stared dumbfounded at Du Yu, as if seeking confirmation of its truth.
Du Yu nodded. "When you also break through to five stars and then obtain a Limit Card, you can undergo the trial. Passing the trial allows you to break the human limit."
Although many in the group hadn't even touched their limits yet, it didn't stop them from feeling anticipation.
Because this represented hope.
After all, transmigration could happen, and there were these mysterious cards. Who wouldn't hope to break their limits and transcend the ordinary?
This stemmed from the innate human desire for power.
Since ancient times, every major civilization system has had gods. Stories of humans obtaining power to become gods are common.
"What are five stars?" Yuan Ming asked curiously.
Qin Ziwen explained about the Constitution Enhancement Card, then talked about its special characteristics and how he could see a person's star rating through his Insight ability.
"So that's how it is..." Wang Yun suddenly understood.
A flicker of curiosity appeared in Yang Cunshen's eyes. "Guild Leader, I wonder, what's my star rating?"
"You're three stars."
"What about me, what about me?"
A group of people crowded around, curiously asking about their own ratings.
Cao Biansheng wasn't too surprised that he was five stars.
Because their school had previously obtained three Human Constitution Enhancement Cards. He had used two, but the remaining one prompted him that he couldn't use it. From that moment, he knew his constitution should already have been enhanced to the full five stars.
He had also always wondered if there was a way to continue improving beyond five stars.
Now, learning that there was a path forward, Cao Biansheng felt ecstatic in his heart, filled with motivation.
Cao Biansheng asked curiously, "Instructor Du, is the challenge task just hunting these dinosaurs?"
"No, it's a choice of three. You can choose one from three tasks of different difficulty levels. Everyone's three tasks are different." Du Yu briefly explained his own challenge tasks.
After listening to Du Yu's tasks, everyone fell silent.
Yuan Ming smiled bitterly. "If it were me, I'd definitely only be able to choose the first tier."
Cao Biansheng sighed inwardly. If it were him, he might try to challenge the second tier, but he knew that if he chose the second tier, his probability of success might be less than twenty percent.
......