Shackles of Humanity

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Fighting Tournament

Luo Kai returned to the courtyard house he was renting. Just as he reached the gate, a young man in his twenties immediately came up to him and asked respectfully, "Are you Luo Kai, Master Luo?"

"Yes." Luo Kai looked at him, confused.

"I was sent by Uncle Fu. The young miss was very worried when she heard you’d been taken away by the Security Department. It’s good that you’ve returned safely. I’ll go back and report to them now."

Luo Kai’s heart warmed. He nodded and said, "Please thank Xiaozhuo for me. Tell her I’m fine and not to worry."

It was already noon. Luo Kai simply cooked himself a pot of rice, threw in a strip of cured meat, and after eating, sat cross-legged on his bed. Forcing himself to ignore his body’s fatigue, he first looked at his arm. With a single thought, his arm bone immediately bent, swiveling and twisting almost a full 360 degrees like an octopus’s tentacle.

Seeing this, even Luo Kai himself found it incredible. ’Am I even human anymore?’

Only now did he truly appreciate the power of the Soft Body Technique. Generally, the parts of the body a normal person could control had to be densely packed with nerves and meridians. Bones, for instance, had no nerve endings on their surface; only the marrow within was connected to the nervous system. Furthermore, internal organs like the heart, stomach, intestines, and lungs were not under a person’s conscious control and could only passively react to stimuli.

But now, Luo Kai could not only freely control his bones but could even control his heart rate, which was how he had figured out the Dharma Gate of the Qi and Blood Surge.

’I don’t necessarily have to stimulate all my organs at full power every time. I can also control some of them locally. For example, I could speed up my stomach’s peristalsis to increase digestion speed, or control my lungs to improve oxygen filtration rate. I could also accelerate my kidneys’ adrenaline secretion to boost my Explosive Power and reaction speed. The same applies to all the other organs in my body. That way, fighting wouldn’t be so exhausting.’

He grew even more curious about the mysterious Shui Su. ’How could a person like that be content to imprison himself underground, seemingly spending all day researching machinery?’

The next morning, Luo Kai rallied his spirits and headed for Pan Shi Sports School. The mysterious Body Techniques were simply too powerful, capable of transforming a person into... something non-human. He, on the other hand, severely lacked systematic knowledge of Body Techniques. Although he was reluctant to truly take that big fatty as his master, no one didn’t yearn to be powerful, and he was no exception.

The school’s gatekeeper had gotten to know Luo Kai over the past few days. He glanced up at his quartz watch and said with a smile, "Here to see Xiaozhuo again? Class just started, so you’ll have to wait a while."

Luo Kai shook his head. "No, I’m here to see Liu Hou."

"Liu Hou? Is he a student?"

"Um... I think he’s a teacher."

The gatekeeper said doubtfully, "There are no teachers named Liu Hou at this school."

Luo Kai was taken aback. The fat guy wouldn’t lie to him, would he? He could only gesture as he described, "He’s a big fatty, probably weighs two hundred kilograms, and he’s very tall..."

Before Luo Kai could finish, the gatekeeper interrupted him in terror. "You’re not talking about Principal Liu, are you?!"

"He’s a principal, too? I only knew his name was Liu Hou."

The gatekeeper quickly pulled Luo Kai into the guardhouse and whispered, "Buddy, you’re the first person I’ve ever heard talk about Principal Liu like that. You should get out of here! I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything."

"No, he’s the one who told me to find him here. Sir, could you please announce me?"

The gatekeeper looked at him skeptically and shook his head. "Someone like Principal Liu isn’t a person I can just go see. I’ve been working here for five or six years and I’ve only seen him once."

Luo Kai frowned. ’This is a bit troublesome.’ He couldn’t just force his way in, could he? He had no choice but to squat by the gate and wait for Xiaozhuo to get out of school. As he waited in boredom, his gaze was drawn to a small mountain behind the school.

It was called a mountain, but it was actually more like an impossibly huge rock. What was astonishing was that the mountain had been split in two down the middle, creating two steep cliffs where it had been divided. The cross-section was extremely smooth, not looking like a natural split, but rather as if it had been cleaved by some enormous weapon. Faintly, a few houses could be seen sitting atop the two peaks.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that the final bell rang. The school gates opened, and a swarm of boys and girls poured out. Xiaozhuo and Erya emerged hand in hand. Seeing Luo Kai, their faces lit up with joy, and they rushed over like a gust of wind, chattering, "Big Brother, it’s so good you’re back! I was worried to death!"

"Uncle, did the bad guys take you away?"

The first sentence was from Xiaozhuo, the second from Erya. Luo Kai smiled and said, "I’m fine. Xiaozhuo, is your principal named Liu Hou?"

Xiaozhuo thought for a long time before saying, "Liu Hou is our vice principal. I think the principal’s name is Gao Han."

"Can you take a message to him for me? Just tell him I’m at the gate and can’t get in."

"Of course! But the principal and the others all live on Pan Shi Mountain. Only High Rank students are allowed to go up there, and it takes a long time to climb. Wait for me, I’ll find someone to help."

Xiaozhuo was a bit of a whirlwind. She immediately dashed back onto campus and only came out a long time later, pulling a long face. "I told Teacher Li, and he’s going to inform him. But he said if I was lying, he’d punish me by making me run laps. Big Brother, do you really know Principal Liu?"

Luo Kai smiled and ruffled her hair. "Of course I do. In fact, I might even be taking this Principal Liu as my teacher."

Xiaozhuo’s eyes lit up. "Really? Then, Big Brother, you’ll be coming to school too! We’ll be classmates!"

Erya was also extremely excited. "Uncle, you’re so amazing! You can actually get the principal to be your teacher!"

About an hour later, a middle-aged man with an honest face came out, a confused look on his face. There were many people there picking up students. He scanned the crowd and asked loudly, "Who is Luo Kai?"

Luo Kai took a step forward. "I am."

"You’re Luo Kai? Alright, follow me." The middle-aged man nodded, his expression blank.

"Teacher Li, I wasn’t lying, was I? You won’t make me run laps now, right?" Xiaozhuo said hurriedly as she saw the middle-aged man about to turn back.

A fond smile appeared on Teacher Li’s face. "Alright, alright. Not only will I not punish you, I’ll even reward you."

Luo Kai followed Teacher Li onto the campus. The school grounds were immense. Aside from a few rows of classroom buildings, the rest of the space was open training grounds. All sorts of strange training equipment were scattered across the rubberized surface; the only things Luo Kai recognized were black wooden posts, barbells, and dumbbells. Even though it was winter, the campus was still lush and green. The flowers and plants in the nursery were thriving, creating a beautiful environment.

Teacher Li led Luo Kai through a series of turns to a small, standalone courtyard behind the main campus. A tall, strong black man was standing at the courtyard gate. He broke into a smile when he saw them, his dark skin making his teeth look like white porcelain.

The black man extended his hand and introduced himself. "You must be the junior brother. Hello, I’m Roz, Master’s second disciple."

Luo Kai stepped forward and shook his hand. "Hello, I... I’m Luo Kai."

"Teacher Li, thank you. Junior Brother, come with me. Master is waiting for you inside." The black man led Luo Kai into the small courtyard.

Teacher Li watched Luo Kai’s back, his face full of astonishment. ’I can’t believe this young man is actually Liu Hou’s fourth disciple!’

The big fatty was sitting on a sofa in the main hall, his massive body stuffing it completely. When Luo Kai entered, he just stared at him without blinking, not saying a word.

Luo Kai shifted uncomfortably, wondering how to begin. ’Calling him Master right away feels awkward, but just using his name would be rude.’

After a long time, the big fatty finally spoke. "Not bad, little guy. Who taught you Body Techniques before?"

The moment the fatty spoke, Luo Kai felt an invisible pressure envelop his entire body, forcing him to take a small step back. He didn’t want to reveal Shisan’s name, so he answered vaguely, "One of my sworn brothers taught me."

The fatty didn’t seem to intend to press the issue. "Hmm... show me what you can do."

The invisible pressure suddenly vanished. Luo Kai breathed a sigh of relief, struck a pose, and went through the three offensive moves of the Mighty Dragon Fist. In reality, it was just three moves—a straight punch, an uppercut, and a hook—nothing special to look at.

The fatty waited for a moment before realizing he was finished. He asked in surprise, "That’s it?"

"That’s it."

"Something’s not right. Try punching me." The fatty stood up from the sofa and beckoned to him.

Luo Kai nodded. He took a few steps back, then suddenly charged forward, throwing a straight punch.

Only then did the fatty’s expression change. He raised a massive palm to meet the blow.

With a BANG, Luo Kai was thrown back several steps by the rebound force. He was inwardly astonished. ’This fatty is even stronger than I imagined. Yesterday in the prison, I activated the Qi and Blood Surge, but it was too rushed and I couldn’t use my full power. This time, I used all my strength and was still at a disadvantage.’

When the fatty received the punch, the fat on his body rippled, instantly neutralizing the ferocious Fist Power. He made it look easy, but his expression was grave. He looked down at his own palm, his brow deeply furrowed, and muttered, "What kind of fist technique is this? How can its Power be so immense!"

The black man to the side also had a strange look on his face. ’Who is this junior brother? A single, simple punch actually forced Master to use Transforming Force.’

The fatty frowned in thought for a long time, then suddenly burst out laughing. "Excellent! True mastery is unadorned! Excellent! Defeating the enemy with pure strength! Against this kind of Power, any fancy tricks are useless! Haha!"

Then, he turned to Luo Kai with a fanatical expression. "Kid, I won’t hide it from you. The reason I want to take you as my disciple is so you can participate in next year’s National Body Techniques Fighting Competition and win an exchange student spot at Shangjing University for me!"