100 points can only be exchanged for entry-level martial arts; anything higher is not possible. Moreover, because the system is rigid and short-sighted, with no understanding of investing in quality stocks, there is no loan function.

If there were, Jack Linton dares to bet he could owe so much that the system would have to call him boss.

There’s only one chance, so he must be cautious.

Actually, there are plenty of entry-level martial arts in the 100-point range in the mall, including many cool and flashy fighting techniques. Picking any one of them would be enough to handle three gang underlings, but he still chose Iron Shirt.

Jack Linton knows very little about martial arts, but he understands one thing: scaring people is better than hitting them!

Today he might use fighting skills to deal with some punks, but what if he meets a real expert tomorrow?

Even if it’s not an expert, it’s still just entry-level. Lacking combat experience, he’d probably get beaten up eight times out of ten.

Since he’s going to get beaten anyway, he might as well choose Iron Shirt. At least it won’t hurt as much, and he can hold out a bit longer for someone to come help.

If taking a few punches scares the opponent, even better.

After the fight, Jack Linton felt a bit of regret.

It’s not that Iron Shirt is bad—on the contrary, its effect far exceeded his expectations. As long as the opponent isn’t armed with knives or guns, or isn’t a master who can hit like hanging a painting, entry-level Iron Shirt is more than enough for defense.

The regret came after saving Old Walker. As the saying goes, “Never think any good deed is too small to do, nor any evil too small to avoid.” His financial power reset to 200 points, making Iron Shirt seem a bit awkward.

200 points isn’t much, but it’s also… really not much. It’s just enough to upgrade Iron Shirt from “entry-level” to “proficient,” meaning he’d actually master it.

Or, he could use the 200 points to exchange for two other entry-level martial arts if he budgeted carefully.

As for Daoist techniques, not only does he not understand them, but even if he exchanged for them, he wouldn’t know how to use them. With his current assets, he can only dream about it.

Too expensive!

So, Jack Linton decided to hold onto the 200 points for now. There’s no rush, and it’s always wise to be prepared.

However, one thing puzzled him: why would a Daoist system have Buddhist martial arts?

After thinking about it, maybe it’s because names like Golden Bell Shield and Iron Shirt are so famous, and the heads of each sect are too lazy to come up with new names, so they just borrowed them.

The Iron Shirt he exchanged for might not even be Buddhist.

As for those obviously Buddhist techniques in the system…

Jack Linton thought about it, but since it was getting late, he decided not to worry about it.

……

At dawn, Jack Linton went to work at the company. Steven Clark was whining early in the morning, claiming he had a fever and wanted to take a day off, refusing to get out of bed.

As fellow academic slackers, David Carter saw through Steven Clark’s lie at a glance and dragged him into the school by force.

First period, Steven Clark was punished to stand in the hallway for not turning in his homework. The same happened in the following classes—daydreaming, doodling in his books, and other antics got him kicked out by the teachers.

He spent the whole morning standing as punishment, being pointed at and gossiped about by classmates. Steven Clark’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point.

During recess, he angrily kicked a classmate who was mocking him, only to be caught by the dean, who hung a “Star of the Week” sign on him and made him stand in the center of the playground for the whole school to see.

Standing in the hallway in the morning, standing on the playground in the afternoon—after just two days at school, Steven Clark earned the title “Standing God of Edinburgh High,” a status that was unshakable.

After school, when he got home and opened his homework again, the number one killer of the Flying Tigers was sweating buckets, already seeing his own fate for tomorrow.

As always, more standing punishment.

Standing wasn’t so bad. Compared to the torment of being in class, Steven Clark would rather be punished to stand. But he was at school to investigate a case—if he couldn’t even get into the classroom, how could he make any progress?

For a moment, Steven Clark was at a loss and planned to return to the police station to ask the boss to find someone else. He really couldn’t handle school.

Just as he picked up his brick phone, he suddenly thought of the beautiful teacher Emily Harris, and hesitated.

“Ah Xing, why do you look so down all day? Did you get beaten up at school again?”

When Jack Linton got home from work, he couldn’t help but tease. He didn’t mean anything by it—he just found it amusing.

“Are you kidding? Who would dare beat me up?”

Steven Clark rolled his eyes at Jack Linton. “Uncle David told me everything about last night. Since you already know, you should call me Brother Steve or Officer Clark when no one’s around. Young man, you need to respect seniority—don’t make me teach you that.”

“Alright, Officer Clark.”

Jack Linton nodded and turned to head to his room.

“Wait, Jack Brooks, Uncle David said you’re a top student—is that true?”

Steven Clark was fretting over his homework. Seeing Jack Linton’s back, he suddenly remembered something and quickly called out to him.

“Not really. I just know a bit of astronomy, a bit of geography, some math and physics, a few foreign languages, and a little biology and chemistry…”

Jack Linton shook his head slightly. To be honest, he was a slacker too, but thanks to a good transmigration, he inherited a top student’s knowledge base in this life, so he knows a bit of everything.

“Really? Then help me take a look—can you handle this homework?” Steven Clark’s eyes lit up as he invited Jack Linton to the coffee table in the living room.

“Officer Clark, did you grab the wrong homework? Isn’t this for elementary school students?”