Chapter 68 Your Tentacles

"Mr. Ji, I am considered a martial arts genius after all, right?"

"Of course you are a genius." Ji Qiufeng smiled, "Looking across the entire Shendong world, it's hard to find someone more talented than you."

"Can I be considered diligent in my cultivation?" Chu Hengkong asked again.

"Except for the cultural subjects, everything else is worthy of praise."

"Well, I have both talent and attitude." Chu Hengkong spread his hands, "There's really no reason why I can't get promoted."

Ji Qiufeng unfolded the bamboo slips in his hand. On the front was a detailed diagram of human anatomy, detailed down to the bone. On the back was tiny, vertically typed characters. He spoke slowly, "Hengkong, the particle you want to raise is called 'hard bone.' What is 'bone'?"

"The backbone, the support."

"That's right. Human bones are like the trunk of a tree. If they're too soft, the tree will bend; if they're too hard, the tree will break. They must be tempered with toughness through wind and rain to connect the roots, crown, and leaves, supporting a large tree." Ji Qiufeng explained, "The characteristic of this particle is its toughness and tenacity, like a towering sacred tree that stands for a thousand years!

The key to strengthening bones is to 'forge bones and control qi.' You must imbue your spirit and will into your bones, connecting your qi and blood with steel and iron, connecting your entire body into one, thus creating a body impervious to water and fire..."

"But Hengkong, you were just broken into eighteen pieces a while ago. It took you almost half an hour just to fight." Ji Qiufeng changed the subject, "Forget about strengthening your bones. They are all broken into pieces. How can you still practice?"

Chu Hengkong's facial muscles twitched. Upon hearing this, he recalled the dream of turning into a grilled squid...

"Not really?"

"Very serious." Youyou strolled into the study, climbed onto the desk and coiled up. "Your body wasn't even a mutilated body at the time. It was basically just a piece of meat. The guys spent a long time picking up your parts. Do you want to hear the details?"

Chu Hengkong shook his head with a dark face.

"You should listen to this, it's very educational." Youyou gloated, "The rest is easy to handle. Your spine was broken into four sections and was severely contaminated by demonic power. If you want to heal it, you need Jie Wen. I don't have the ability to do it."

Chu Hengkong pondered for a moment: "Then I just need to replace my spine..."

"Or you can slowly recuperate." Ji Qiufeng emphasized, "The most important thing to avoid in cultivation is blindly seeking quick results. Solidly practice the basics, and you'll never run out of opportunities for improvement. First, master this method, and then consider upgrading."

Ji Qiufeng threw the bamboo slips in his hand out. Chu Hengkong took it and took a look. He found that the title of the book was "The Secret of Qi Method to Strengthen Bones", which was exactly the foundation of strong bones mentioned earlier.

Chu Hengkong didn't really care. There were plenty of magical weapons in the other world, and he didn't believe there wasn't medicine to heal the bone. He put away the bamboo slips, thanked them, and walked out the door with brisk steps.

Ji Qiufeng tapped his fan and praised, "Look, what a good character."

"That's not true. After three months of training under you, those with bad character would have already run away." Youyou glared, "Ji Qiufeng, you have to stop fooling people like this. What have you been training lately?"

"Didn't I just practice one move called Yi Qi Qian Qiu this month?" Ji Qiufeng drank tea.

"How dare you say that? That's something you only dare to practice at the level of particle 3!" Youyou grabbed his tea bowl, "That's too much..."

Since recovering from his injury, the energetic Ji Qiufeng has designed a career development program specifically for young talents. The core idea is to continuously push for growth, and to train until death.

The plan had been in place for three months, and it seemed to be working remarkably well: Jie An had started putting chili powder in his lunch, Ji Huaisu hadn't spoken to his father for a week and was throwing stink bombs into the study every two days. Only Chu Hengkong was fully committed, overjoyed, and welcoming the challenges of each week with enthusiasm...

Sometimes Youyou felt that if they continued this way, sooner or later some unlucky child would be transformed into a humanoid heretic. Ji Qiufeng himself, however, was unconcerned: "The overall situation is full of crises. We have to let the children learn more."

"It's useless to have many tricks without upgrading." Youyou said disdainfully, "Seriously, how are you going to deal with Hengkong? If he's stuck for too long and loses his enterprising spirit, he'll be wasted."

Progress is like the growth of life; staying stuck at one stage for too long is not a good thing. In Longquan Township, there are often self-righteous young geniuses who imagine leveraging their dexterity and intuition to acquire new skills, hoping to surpass their peers once they reach the next level. However, they fail to realize that this also falls into the trap of taking shortcuts, often only to regret their actions long after realizing they have lost their ambition.

Ji Qiufeng understood this principle better than Youyou. He thought for a long time and said, "Would you like to tell me a fortune?"

Upon hearing this, Lady Huilong perked up. She picked up a few tea leaves and arranged a miniature formation around them. A faint yellow light emanated from the formation, which required multiple grass platforms. Youyou closed his eyes, calculated, and said, "This child's fate lies in the Netherworld Divine Kingdom!"

Ji Qiufeng pursed his lips, trying hard to appear serious. Youyou couldn't hold it in any longer: "Ah, forget it! Forget it! This is too outrageous. Think of something else!"

"You've never been good at fortune-telling..."

"I get full marks in prophecy every semester! Lord Zhulong says I'm a genius!" Youyou argued. "It's just that there's a discrepancy between theory and practice, you know? A reasonable discrepancy!"

·

Chu Hengkong was completely oblivious to the elders' debate. After leaving the study, he headed for the cafeteria. Ji Huaisu was munching on an egg pancake. Seeing his partner approach, he placed his paw on his shoulder and asked excitedly, "Can I get promoted or not?"

Chu Hengkong moved someone's claw away, expressionless. Ji Huaisu saw this and laughed: "It seems that for quite some time, Sister Huaisu and I will be stronger!"

"Sister Huaisu, don't you see how old you are?" Chu Hengkong went to get a bowl of water grass soup and sneered when he heard it.

"I'm a vibrant 23 this year, full of youth and vitality." Ji Huaisu made a scissors gesture. "Although I'm not as old as you, I'm also an adult... Damn, what's that expression on your face?!"

Chu Hengkong froze in place, holding the sugar water, his eyes filled with horror. Jie An, watching the fun, shrilled, "Hey! Tell me, how old are you, Comrade Killer?"

Chu Hengkong put down the sugar water: "I have something else to do first..."

Ji Huaisu's eyes lit up, he stuffed the omelet into his mouth, and hung on someone's back like a sloth: "Don't run! Tell me! How old are you this year?"

"Miss Ji, may I ask what my personal privacy has to do with you?"

Ji Huaisu smirked and said, "You can choose one yourself or I can make one for you."

The men in the cafeteria were all staring at this scene. Chu Hengkong realized he wasn't going to make it through this day. He spoke with a deadpan tone, "...22 years old."

Ji Huaisu burst into a delighted and frantic laugh, his expression a vivid illustration of what it meant to be a villain who triumphed. Before anything major could happen, Chu Hengkong extended his tentacles and darted out of the cafeteria, leaving his brothers' laughter behind.

Ji Huaisu hung on his back like a ghost, poking his cheek with her nails, her voice as artificial as it could be: "Xiaokong, come, call Huaisu sister~"

Chu Hengkong sighed deeply: "Don't you think you are childish?"

"The thought of disgusting you gives me motivation."

"I'm so moved that I want to throw you down." Chu Heng walked towards the dormitory building. "What are your plans for today?"

"No plans. Now that I'm done with my work, I'm not going to practice martial arts anymore. I'm going to go hiking!"

"How lazy."

Chu Hengkong landed in front of his own door. Ji Huaisu got off his back and turned around: "Let's go together."

"I want to practice martial arts."

"Three months of practice isn't enough?" Ji Huaisu made a face. "Dad said to wait a little longer, so don't be impatient. It's rare that the world is peaceful now, so we should have fun while we can."

Chu Hengkong was still thinking about the bamboo slips, but after hearing this, he temporarily put the thought aside. After all, now is not the most difficult time. The city lord, the pillar of the city, has recovered, and the city does not need him so urgently. Besides, Ji Huaisu just worked overtime for a week, and she also wants to go out and play...

Think about it, these past three months haven’t been easy, so it’s no sin to relax for a day.

"Okay, I'll clean it up."

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Chu Hengkong walked into his single-person dormitory and habitually picked up the watering can to water the potted plants. The small potted plants he had bought during the last holiday were now more than half a person tall, and like every other plant born in the swamp, they took advantage of the opportunity to grow wildly.

He began to pack his things. For a detective and assassin, the things he needed to bring when traveling were actually similar to those he needed to bring when on a mission, except that he needed to carry a few more beads in his pocket.

Considering that he would be out for a long time, Chu Hengkong stuffed a bag of nuts into his pocket and then checked his belongings one by one: light armor, commonly used relics, a knife, and the book he never left behind. The silver eyes on the cover were shining.

“……?”

He wasn't mistaken; the silver-eyed book was glowing. The blank pages rustled as he turned them. Chu Hengkong suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. He flung the book out the window, but by the time he had done so, the twilight had already illuminated the room.

He was sucked into the book.

"Akong?"

Ji Huaisu became impatient and simply pushed the door open.

She saw nothing, only a plant that had just been watered in the empty room.

·

"Oh! Oh! Finally!"

Chu Hengkong felt like he'd been flattened, a paper-thin figure without any thickness. Deep in his mind, he dug out the source of the familiar feeling. It was the summoning circle. The summoning ritual he'd used when he first arrived in Huilong City...

He was in the middle of a strange summoning ritual, surrounded by thick fog, unable to see his hand in front of his face. In the fog lay a strange object, twisting back and forth with a shrill sound.

"Seven whole months! Do you know how I spent these seven months? Every night I missed the sweet times of the past. After going through so much hardship, we can finally meet again..."

The thing twisted closer, mumbling intoxicatedly. Its outline resembled a lollipop with ears: a round "upper body," two pointed ears, and a wiggling "stick." It... or "Him"... hopped over to the summoning circle, its voice rising with excitement: "Come back! My tentacles!"

Then, Chu Hengkong stood up from the summoning circle.

The thickness of life returned to his body, and the light from the summoning circle penetrated the fog, allowing him to see the true form of the thing.

That's an eyeball.

An eyeball about the size of a man's palm.

The eyeballs occupied about two-thirds of the round "head," the rest of it covered in smooth, glossy silver skin. A pair of pointed protrusions flanked its round head, reminiscent of the triangular gills on a squid's head. Its lower body was covered in several bright silver tentacles, the central one, gleaming with oil and significantly longer than the others. This tentacle, like the stick of a lollipop, supported it on the ground.

They stared at each other in silence, their eyes wide open. Big Eyeball Squid Lollipop stood motionless, his gaze a very human expression of three parts surprise, four parts amazement, sixty parts embarrassment, and twelve thousand parts horror and disbelief.

"No, buddy," it said pitifully. "Why do you have my tentacles?"

(End of this chapter)