Chapter 42: Pushing Harder

His points have stopped increasing.

The spectator netizens, who had been closely monitoring the rankings, noticed that Your Grandpa's rocket-like ascent through the ranks had finally come to a halt at 1500 points. He ultimately stabilized at 10th place on the high school trial ranking.

The system also did not announce Your Grandpa's final rating for the level-four trial.

What was going on?

Logically, with a continuous gain of a thousand points, clearing the Ancient Desert City trial should have been more than enough.

The netizens were puzzled. At that moment, someone made a new discovery.

Latest news, Your Grandpa has exited the level-four trial, Ancient Desert City.

The system shows that he was killed.

Dead?

He actually died in the trial.

Many veteran forum members, familiar with the point-earning process, were baffled.

How could he have died after achieving 1000 points?

This situation was very rare. When the netizens looked at the other people on the leaderboard, some had earned 500 points in the Ancient Desert City and cleared it with an Upper Limit rating.

So what exactly had happened?

At that moment, One Thought Supergod appeared again and casually dropped a bombshell.

Just received insider information that the light-network monitoring system, the Divine Sword, detected abnormal fluctuations in the level-four trial where Your Grandpa was.

This one sentence stirred up a storm.

What does that mean?

Isn't it obvious?

Supergod is implying that Your Grandpa was cheating.

Cheating? I've never heard of anyone being able to cheat in the trial rankings.

That's because you're just an ignorant commoner. In fact, many scions of noble families cheat.

I just spent 100 star coins to consult with the official customer service. They confirmed that Your Grandpa did experience abnormal fluctuations during the level-four trial scene.

It's confirmed.

I thought he was a genius, but he's just a cheater.

The forum's sentiment quickly turned overwhelmingly negative. The furious netizens seemed determined to nail Your Grandpa to the pillar of shame.

***

In Yongxing Hotel. Ye Xiang, having just vented his frustration on his secretary, still looked somewhat irritable.

Two days had passed. The adventurer team that had taken up the darknet bounty had vanished. Despite being the employer, he had contacted them dozens of times through the darknet's private channels, but there had been no response.

"Did they take the money and run? That shouldn't be the case. The darknet has its own rules. No, the team is also a well-known adventurer squad; they wouldn't do something as foolish as offending both the darknet and the Ye family. Moreover, the remaining payment is still in the darknet's monitored account. They can't access it without completing the task. So why is there no news? Unless..."

Ye Xiang suddenly considered a possibility.

Could it be that this adventurer team was counter-killed by that slum rat?

The thought sent a chill down Ye Xiang's spine, running from his tailbone to the top of his head. He had witnessed the brutality and filth of the slum dwellers and had seen the ferocity of that demon, Li Xiaofei.

Could that little brat's strength have grown so rapidly? No, I have to increase the bounty and eliminate this pest as soon as possible.

Ye Xiang took out a high-security private light-core device, connected to the darknet, and began editing a new bounty notice.

Target: Li Xiaofei, Cloudy Sky Gang, slum area of Liuhe Base City.

Task: Elimination.

Reward: 200,000 star coins.

Deadline: As soon as possible, permanently valid.

After editing the content, he posted it immediately. This time, he decided on physical annihilation, abandoning his secretary's suggestion to try to recruit Li Xiaofei.

***

At the same time, at the Starry Sky Hotel, a faint smile crossed Inspector Li Zhoumin’s face.

"Interesting. This kid actually triggered the hidden mechanism in the level-four trial, Ancient Desert City, and brought out the Golden Scorpion King... This is the first time in the history of Liuhe Base City."

He laughed happily. "It seems I'll have to keep a close eye on this little fellow in the future."

A genius martial artist emerging in the base city he oversaw was undoubtedly a significant achievement for the Inspector. If it was properly handled, the long-term rewards could be beyond imagination.

"It's just a pity that the Golden Scorpion King is too powerful. A Qi Refining Realm martial artist cannot contend with it. This kid will be stuck in this level-four trial for quite some time."

***

In Light-Network World, at the Initial Virtual Base.

Li Xiaofei looked down at his fist. He had finally mastered the last move of the Great Strength Vajra Fist. He suddenly struck out with the Vajra Thunderous Strike, Vajra Earth-Shaking Blow, Threefold Divine Strength and Vajra Wrathful Mountain Split.

The four major moves seamlessly connected, each move flowing into the next. The complete force and essence of the Vajra finally fully manifested in Li Xiaofei's body.

A faint golden glow enveloped him. As he transitioned between moves, it was as if a fierce Vajra deity was gazing upon the mortal world. Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through him. Blood seeped from Li Xiaofei's muscles and pores. The light-network system determined that the virtual body couldn't withstand the power of the Great Strength Vajra Fist, causing damage to his simulated body.

However, it was not a significant problem. In the virtual world of the light-network, even death could be reversed. A mere muscle tear was trivial.

"Light-core, repair," said Li Xiaofei, commanding the system.

The electronic voice of the light-core responded, "Respected super account user, as you wish. The cost of this repair is 500 star coins, which has been deducted from your private account."

A faint light flashed. Li Xiaofei's body was restored to its theoretically optimal state.

He continued his training. He repeated the cycle of his punches until the end of the school day. When his reminder alert went off, Li Xiaofei promptly exited the light-network virtual world. When he calculated, he realized that repairing his virtual body had cost a total of 4,000 star coins. For a boy from the slums like Li Xiaofei, this was a considerable sum. But he didn't feel the slightest regret.

Spending 4,000 star coins to achieve complete mastery of the four moves of the Great Strength Vajra Fist was absolutely worth it. The training memories and insights gained in the light-network world would translate to his real body. If he spent a little more time practicing in the light-network world, he would fully master the Great Strength Vajra Fist in reality.

Li Xiaofei stepped out of the light-core mainframe room and glanced around. Fang Buyi and the other members of the school battle team were still fervently training and climbing the rankings.

This was the final push to prepare for the upcoming High School War God League. The saying, sharpening your sword before battle, even if it’s last-minute, still gives an edge held true.

Improving the level of one’s starforce qi was a gradual process that required long-term persistence and dedication. Short-term intensive training wouldn't significantly enhance combat power.

For Fang Buyi and the others, honing their combat techniques was clearly the better choice. The light-network virtual world could adjust the user's physical state to its theoretically perfect condition, achieving twice the result with half the effort compared to the real world. Thus, their obsession with online training was understandable and reasonable.

But Li Xiaofei had to head back home, so he could get a massage from his aunt and have dinner as a family of three. For Li Xiaofei, who was determined to become a strong person in this era, cultivation was undoubtedly important, but so was spending time with his family.

The small two-bedroom apartment in the slums was his home now. The scarred blind woman and the skinny little girl were his family. However, he didn’t expect that some unwelcome and malevolent guests were already waiting for him on his way home.