Xue Na immediately let out a low gasp beside him, but didn’t say anything. Henry Harper was also moved. After all, he had lived in this world for nine years and was familiar with its general common sense. Naturally, he knew how precious this set of Spirit Snake Fist was. Although the governments of various countries in this world vigorously promoted martial arts for all, advanced martial arts were still held by the great families, sects, and the powerful. Ordinary people could generally only buy third-rate martial arts on the market—for example, the martial arts distributed by universities were of third-rate standard. Second-rate martial arts required a hefty price, and if it was a top-tier second-rate martial art, it was even more precious, possibly even bringing disaster to ordinary people.

As for first-rate martial arts, it was impossible to find them circulating on the market. Even if they did appear, it would only be on the black market or at auctions, and they were generally collected and monopolized by the great families, sects, and the powerful. As for top-tier first-rate martial arts, even those families, sects, and powerful figures had very few of them—almost only a notch below the signature techniques that guarded a family or sect. Their value was simply immeasurable. Judging by Xue Na’s expression, perhaps the martial art they originally intended to give him wasn’t this Spirit Snake Fist at all. Maybe Paul Thompson was giving it to him for Xue Na’s sake, or perhaps because he had mastered the Arhat Fist. But no matter the reason, this favor was simply enormous. As the saying goes, it was almost like being given a new lease on life.

Unfortunately, Henry Harper already had his own path and plans. Although he did desire this Spirit Snake Fist, by comparison, it was probably equivalent to the stronger ones among the intermediate martial arts with a 70 coefficient in his system, or even the weakest among those with a 100 coefficient. You had to know, the Xumi Mountain Divine Palm and the Tianshan Six Yang Palm of the Xiaoyao Sect were only the strongest among the 100 coefficient martial arts.

“…This is a great favor.” Henry Harper sighed. The other party had already said so much, and now he really didn’t know how to refuse. In the end, he could only say, “Big Sis, Brother Li, I know I may seem ungrateful right now, but please give me three more months. Three months from now is my nineteenth birthday. If… after my nineteenth birthday, I will agree to your request.”

Xue Na shot Henry Harper an unhappy glance and said, “If what? Are you planning to train this fist technique to the pinnacle of perfection? Seriously, is anyone as stubborn as you!? Do you know, by agreeing to give you this Spirit Snake Fist, my husband is taking on a huge responsibility? I bet when we get home today, he’ll be punished to kneel too!”

Paul Thompson smiled and patted Xue Na’s small hand before saying, “It’s fine, three months won’t make much difference. Besides, being able to train a martial art to the pinnacle is a huge improvement in understanding martial arts. You know, up to now, I haven’t trained any martial art to the pinnacle. Once you reach that level, even a low-grade fist technique could be transformed by you into something miraculous—at least as powerful as a second-rate fist technique. By then, you might even innovate and create your own second-rate fist technique. So… three months, is this your promise, Brother Hao?”

Henry Harper thought seriously about his ordinary life back on Earth, about the frustration and despair after coming to this world, about the eventual excitement, about the dream that gave him the courage to keep living… The world is so big, he wanted to see it…

He thought of many things, but then reality came to mind—life, the money Brian Lincoln scraped together for him, seeing Brian Lincoln often with a bruised and battered face, the promise he made to Brian Lincoln that after becoming an inner strength expert, he’d take him to enjoy the good life…

And the uncertainty of the system—whether practicing the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic would really make him an inner strength expert, just like how, despite knowing no martial arts before, once he equipped the Arhat Fist, he immediately became level one in it…

All these things made Henry Harper come to a decision. If, by his birthday, he had trained the Arhat Fist to the pinnacle but still couldn’t practice the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic, or if he could but still didn’t gain inner strength, then he would truly abandon the system and set his feet firmly in this world, relying on this world’s martial arts to strive forward, whether for himself, for Xue Na, or for Brian Lincoln…

Henry Harper clasped his fists and said solemnly,

“Agreed!”

Chapter 8: Break…

After that conversation, Henry Harper returned to his daily routine: going to school, practicing boxing, eating, sleeping…

As the proficiency of his Arhat Fist drew closer and closer to the pinnacle, Henry Harper grew more and more anxious. After all, this was truly the biggest turning point of his life. What the future would be—whether he could fulfill his dreams or would have to settle for an ordinary life—would all be revealed the moment his Arhat Fist reached the pinnacle. He simply couldn’t calm his mind.

“Your mind is unsettled. That’s enough for today,” Sarah Sutton said with a frown.

Henry Harper took a deep breath and looked at the sky. It was about three in the afternoon. Although he could keep practicing, he had already completed his daily minimum of five thousand punches, and his mind was indeed unsettled. So he decided to end early; otherwise, like those last punches just now, he wouldn’t even gain any shadowboxing experience—just a waste of energy.