He had just rejected two of Sarah Sutton's suggestions in a row. Even though Henry Harper had his own plans, he still felt a bit awkward, so he stood up and said, "Thank you for your kindness, miss, but I have my own plans. I have to keep moving forward to know what’s right for me. In another year, I’ll be nineteen. I’ll wait until after I turn nineteen to decide everything."

Around his nineteenth birthday was when Henry Harper would begin practicing the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic. Whether he would live or die, whether his future would be gruel or meat, or whether he could, as he hoped, see this vast world he was so curious about—all of it depended on whether he could cultivate inner strength by then. If he couldn’t, he would decisively give up all the system’s benefits and simply live quietly and steadily in this world.

Sarah Sutton was a bit disappointed, but also understanding. As a true martial artist herself, she understood the mindset of a martial artist. Every true martial artist is someone with strong convictions and unwavering character. If someone could be so easily persuaded, then this young man before her could never have achieved such mastery of external martial arts at his age.

Sarah Sutton watched as Henry Harper picked up the remaining steamed buns, ready to leave. In the end, she couldn’t suppress the sense of recognition and sympathy she felt for a true martial artist, and spoke up directly: "Since you have your own plans, I won’t say any more. But training like this without proper nutrition really isn’t good. If you damage your body’s foundation, your future path will be much narrower. How about this... Every morning at eight o’clock sharp, I’ll be in this cafeteria. Lunchtime is uncertain, but at five-thirty in the evening, I’ll also be here on time. As long as you can meet me at these times, I’ll order an extra bowl of meat soup and a serving of ribs for you. This isn’t charity—let’s just call it a good deed between us. If you really manage to cultivate inner strength in the future, maybe you’ll even be able to give me some pointers. How about it?"

Only now did Henry Harper look carefully at Sarah Sutton, at this girl with clear eyes. He immediately grinned and said, "How could I refuse... Thank you for your kindness. I’ll make sure to come on time every day. As for the future... I’ll definitely repay this favor, as long as I have the ability."

Never underestimate the promise of a transmigrator.

Henry Harper turned and left. He had his own pride. Although the pressures of reality had made him a slacker for quite some time, that pride still remained in his heart. Repay kindness with kindness, repay enmity with enmity. Ten years...

Ten years!

Chapter Five: Brothers

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Henry Harper stood at the entrance of Blue Shadow Fast Food. He just stood there quietly. Even though he had been standing for more than twenty minutes, he wasn’t the least bit impatient, because his mind had already sunk into the system.

After nine years of martial arts training, although the Arhat Fist was granted by the system, he had also gained a substantial understanding of the technique itself. For example, the routines of this fist style, its combat techniques, the key points of exerting force, the footwork and movement patterns—these were all things he had come to understand and acquire bit by bit over nine years and more than ten million punches.

In fact, Henry Harper suspected that the martial arts provided by the system weren’t like those in the novels he’d read before, where they were directly instilled into him. It wasn’t like that. It was more like a kind of martial arts knowledge—after he learned it, he had to rely on physical training to gradually master these skills, turning them into his own abilities and memories. Even without the system, if he were given a set of techniques and practiced them day after day for nine years, throwing more than ten million punches, he could probably achieve mastery as well.

Arhat Fist, attack power 250. After training the technique to level ten, it increases the fist technique coefficient by 20 points. Henry Harper's character template is "Benevolence is Invincible." At the start, the four main categories—fist, sword, blade, and unorthodox—each had a coefficient of 40 points. This coefficient represents the limit of martial arts he can learn. For example, the ultimate fist technique, "Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms," has an attack power of 1500 and requires a fist technique coefficient of 140 to learn. When Arhat Fist is trained to level ten, it adds 20 points to the fist technique coefficient. Now his fist technique coefficient is 60, so he can already learn some higher-level fist techniques. Of course, he still can’t learn intermediate techniques that require a 30-point increase in the coefficient—those require a learning threshold of 70 points. It really does seem like there’s a long way to go...