Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 20 Thunder Dojo

At ten o’clock, Xiang Ning turned off the television and sent Xiaoyu upstairs before collapsing on his bed. Staring at the starry night sky, he let his mind wander off. 

The cheapest set of Spiritual Armor was at least five hundred thousand dollars, and the entire set including weapons required at least a million dollars. With his current earning abilities, he would need at least twenty years to buy a single set. 

There was a reason why he made the promise though. He had the system. Other than the four hundred Fury Points he’d spent, he had more than a thousand three hundred points left. That was enough to push a basic skill to the Assimilation level. So far, Xiang Ning had only one skill, Mountain-Splitting Slash. Advancing it to the Awakened level would take three thousand points. 

Assimilation and Awakened were only a tier apart but advancing required five times the price. That meant cultivating to advance a single level must be extremely difficult. But this wasn’t the time to think about this. His priority was earning more points. Entering the raffle interface, he spent one hundred Fury Points and received a pill that replenished ten percent of his health. 

Many rewards in the raffle pool awaited Xiang Ning—martial skills, books on various topics, blueprints for scientific inventions, and also the inventions themselves. All were essential to him. If he tapped into the marketplace within the system, he could directly purchase a blueprint using Fury Points. 

That’s right, only the blueprint. No matter how hard he searched, he only found more blueprints, each of them costing at least ten thousand Fury Points. At the moment, they required no thought, because even if he could afford them, he wouldn’t know what to do with them. Certain knowledge was required to understand scientific inventions, knowledge that he currently didn’t possess. Despite being good in his cultural subject classes, there were specialized courses only available at a martial university or through entering the military that he didn’t have access to. If he really wanted to learn, there was only one solution: spend more money. 

Xiang Ning had discovered that learning these subjects was charged by the hour, at a minimum of three hundred dollars per hour. He was struck speechless as he read through the information. 

Another method was hunting fearsome beasts. Naturally, they were worth a lot of money; if he could drag a Beast Soldier back from the wilderness, he would earn at least two thousand dollars. Even just selling the most valuable parts of the bodies could bring him at least five hundred dollars. 

However, those were paths Xiang Ning couldn’t take. If he wanted to hunt one, he must be at least a tier one, four-star martial artist to be able to survive. 

After some thought, he spent six hundred Fury Points on more Mental Power, boosting it up to twenty points. The remaining seven hundred were thrown into the raffle pool. He had been excited in the beginning, but three consecutive empty draws left him disappointed. On his fourth draw, the interface exploded in fireworks. 

Congratulations! User has gained 1 technical skill: Keen Observation 

Xiang Ning froze. Technical? Not combat? He hurriedly tapped it. 

Keen Observation: Select a target to begin scanning for weaknesses. (Note: skill is more effective with larger cultivation gaps) 

After a moment of silence, he let out a guffaw, but because he was a little loud, he heard a grumble from upstairs and quickly covered his mouth. This was awesome! If he’d had this skill earlier this afternoon, couldn’t he have scanned Fang Rou for weaknesses? Then defeated her with the information? He grew more excited by the second. Every person had their weaknesses; even fearsome beasts had them. What if he could scan for their weaknesses before the fight, i.e. hidden injuries? 

His efforts would be reduced by half! 

If he did things right, he would soon be able to gain a thousand Victory Points from the Battle Network’s dueling mode and exchange them for a second combat skill. 

He continued drawing from the raffle pool in anticipation, but didn’t receive anything much, just another more pill. Although his chances of winning a reward were low, it was still worth it. Xiang Ning began his Advanced Breathing Technique practice in a good mood, which was now his daily routine. 

The next morning, Xiang Ning and Xiaoyu left for school. 

At the school gates, they saw Wang Zhe standing next to a car. When he saw them approaching, he gave a cheery wave. 

“Haha, good morning, Xiang Ning, and good morning to you too, Xiang Xiaoyu!” Fatty Wang was happy to see Xiang Xiaoyu. 

As usual, Xiang Xiaoyu sweetly greeted Wang Zhe, which was enough to put him in a good mood for the rest of the day. He had already taken her as his own little sister. 

“Let’s go, get in the car. We’ll head to the dojo now.” 

The Thunder Dojo was a famous dojo in Marsh City, situated in the city center. Within the thirty-story-tall building were complete facilities and equipment for training, as well as professional coaches. This was a highly esteemed institution headed by a powerful tier seven martial artist. Everyone who trained there was rich. 

In fifteen minutes, the car gradually slowed to a stop. The three of them got out of the car and an usher stepped forward, greeting them politely. “Young Master Wang, we received instructions from Mr. Wang. Please follow me.” 

“Alright, lead the way.” Wang Zhe waved. 

The usher led them into the dojo, which left Xiang Ning and Xiaoyu in awe. Everything was so luxuriously decorated, how could this be a dojo? Xiang Xiaoyu stared at everything like a curious baby. 

Very soon, they arrived at the training hall. There were many experts training there; it was the place where martial artists sparred with each other. Right now, there were two muscular men dueling with loud thuds and clangs. Xiang Ning grew excited as he watched the match. 

Only Xiang Xiaoyu looked bored, prompting Xiang Ning to ask with a grin, “What? You don’t like it?” 

“Uh.…” Xiang Xiaoyu didn’t want to say she didn’t like it—her brother was here to train, after all, she couldn’t distract him. 

“You don’t like it? Excuse me, please bring Xiang Xiaoyu to the entertainment area on the fifth floor,” instructed Wang Zhe. 

The usher nodded. “Yes, Young Master. I’ll make arrangements accordingly. Please wait a moment.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Hey, it’s nothing. I don’t want your sister to bore herself watching us hit each other. Don’t worry, this is a dojo, no one will bother Xiang Xiaoyu. And I’m a guest here, too.” As he spoke, Wang Zhe turned to her and continued, “Xiang Xiaoyu, are you alright being alone?” 

“I’m alright as long as I don’t affect my brother’s training,” she said with understanding. 

“Hahaha, you’re a good girl. I’ll let you in on a secret: there’s many pretty ladies on the fifth floor, and a lot of good food there, too. Just ask any of them for anything you want.” 

Then the usher approached together with a girl of about twenty years old.