35: Chapter 35 Sisters-in-law...?

Rainy nights in the slums always carried a musty smell.

Lin Fan double-locked the door and pulled shut the curtains, which were so worn that their original color was no longer visible.

Three small bottles were placed on the table.

The dark red [Premium Beast Blood] emitted an enticing, metallic sweetness.

Beside them lay a shimmering golden card. It was the [S-Rank Talent Advancement Card] returned by the system's "African King's Counterattack" critical hit earlier, which could upgrade any talent below S-rank by one tier.

"Whew."

Lin Fan exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Without hesitation, he tilted his head back and downed all three bottles of beast blood in one go.

As the liquid hit his throat, it felt like red-hot knives scraping down his esophagus. His stomach instantly churned, and a scalding current surged through his limbs and bones along with his blood.

Pain.

It was the kind of pain as if his bones were being dismantled and reassembled.

Lin Fan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his neck, as sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

"System, use the Advancement Card. Target: [Vajra Skin]."

He roared in his heart.

The golden card instantly transformed into countless specks of light, sinking into the space between his eyebrows.

Boom!

If the beast blood from before was boiling water, then the golden specks of light were ice. Two forces—one cold, one hot—clashed violently within his body. Lin Fan felt his skin cracking inch by inch, only to be rapidly reconstructed under the guidance of some mysterious power.

His originally bronze skin began to take on a faint, dark-golden luster.

It had the texture of metal.

His bones were popping, and his muscles were rippling.

His frame, which had been somewhat thin due to long-term malnutrition, now swelled up like it was being inflated. His lines became smooth and tight, each muscle containing explosive power.

"Break... for me!"

Lin Fan snapped his eyes open and threw a punch into the air in front of him.

Bang!

The air exploded with a crisp, sharp crack.

The membrane inside his body that had been hindering the flow of his blood qi was as fragile as paper before this violent force.

His blood qi was like mercury, surging endlessly!

Ninth-grade Martial Apprentice!

He had even... touched the threshold of a Martial Artist!

Lin Fan panted heavily, looking at his hands.

The dark-golden luster slowly faded, and his skin returned to normal. But only he knew what terrifying defensive power was hidden beneath this seemingly ordinary flesh.

[Vajra Skin (B-rank)] → [Glazed Golden Body (A-rank)]

His defensive power had at least tripled.

If an ordinary sword or blade struck him, it likely wouldn't even leave a white mark.

Lin Fan walked over to the punch-strength tester in the corner—a second-hand piece he'd scavenged from the flea market with a maximum capacity of 5,000kg.

He lowered his hips, set his stance, and threw a punch.

There were no fancy movements, only the pure venting of power.

"Boom!"

The entire wall shook, and dust trickled down.

The tester's display screen flickered wildly before finally freezing on a bright red number.

[4,021kg]

Lin Fan withdrew his fist and shook his slightly numb wrist.

Four thousand kilograms.

One had to know that the limit for an ordinary Ninth-grade Martial Apprentice was only 2,000kg. Even for a primary Martial Artist, the basic punch strength was only around 4,000kg.

Not only was his defense now maxed out, but even his attack power was overflowing.

"Wang Teng..."

Lin Fan picked up a towel to wipe his sweat, looking at the youth with knife-like eyes in the mirror.

"That B-rank gene medicine better not disappoint me."

...

The next morning, the sunlight was thin.

Jianghai City First Central Hospital, special care ward.

Lin Fan had just finished slicing a peeled apple into small pieces and skewering them with toothpicks when the ward door was gently pushed open.

First, a small head with twin tails peeked in, followed by a tall figure carrying a fruit basket.

"Hello! Client Dad is here for an inspection!"

Chu Yaoyao was wearing a pink tracksuit today, looking full of vitality. She piled the obviously expensive imported fruit onto the bedside table and leaned in toward the bed with familiar ease.

"This must be little sister Xiaoya, right? You're so pretty and delicate, much better than your black-hearted brother."

On the bed, Lin Xiaoya was leaning against a soft pillow while receiving an IV drip.

After two days of recovery, her complexion was much better. Though she was still thin, her eyes had regained their luster.

At this moment, seeing the two great beauties suddenly burst in, Xiaoya was clearly stunned.

Su Qingxue, who followed closely behind, took off her mask, revealing a cold and transcendent face.

She somewhat awkwardly set down the thermos she was holding. "This is... nourishing soup made by the auntie at home. I brought it along the way."

Along the way?

Lin Fan glanced at the "Imperial Dining Hall" logo on the thermos.

That shop was in the east of the city, while the hospital was in the west.

This "along the way" could have circled half the globe.

But he didn't expose her, only taking it with a smile. "Thanks, Su, the Campus Beauty. I'll factor the gas money for this detour into your next blind box discount."

Su Qingxue glared at him, her earlobes turning slightly red, then turned her head to look at Xiaoya.

"Hello, I am Su Qingxue."

Her voice was unusually gentle, completely lacking her usual coldness.

With two top-tier campus beauties in the same frame, the entire ward instantly seemed to brighten.

Even the little nurse who came in for rounds to change the medicine had shaking hands. Her eyes darted back and forth between Lin Fan and the two beauties, her expression as dramatic as if she were watching an 8 PM soap opera.

"Brother..."

Lin Xiaoya blinked, her gaze circling between Su Qingxue and Chu Yaoyao before finally landing on Lin Fan.

That look carried thirty percent shock, thirty percent relief, and forty percent of the teasing sentiment: 'My brother has finally made it.'

"Did you get these from a blind box too?"

Pfft!

Chu Yaoyao, who was drinking water, sprayed it out directly.

Su Qingxue's body visibly stiffened.

Lin Fan almost choked on his own saliva. He stuffed an apple slice into his sister's mouth. "Eat your apple! Don't blurt out the truth—I mean, don't talk nonsense!"

"Mmph mmph..."

Lin Xiaoya chewed the apple, her cheeks bulging like a little hamster.

She swallowed and said with an innocent face, "But Brother, you said the blind boxes have everything. These two sisters look like fairies; where else would you find them if not in a blind box?"

This logic was impeccable.

"Little sister Xiaoya really knows how to talk!"

Chu Yaoyao laughed so hard she trembled, reaching out to pinch Xiaoya's cheek. "Since I was opened from a blind box, do you want this pink sister, or that ice-block-like sister?"

What kind of death-trap question was this?

Just as Lin Fan was about to interrupt, he saw Su Qingxue also look over.

Though she was expressionless, there was an invisible pressure.

Lin Xiaoya looked left, then right.

Then, she looked at Lin Fan with extreme seriousness.

"Brother, only children choose."

"Is our house big enough?"

The entire room fell into dead silence.

Three seconds later.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Lin Fan coughed violently, his face turning the color of pig liver.

Did the genetic repair also expand this girl's imagination? Her schemes were practically slapping people in the face!

Chu Yaoyao laughed so hard she couldn't stand straight, and even on Su Qingxue's icy face, a very faint smile couldn't help but emerge, like snow beginning to melt.

The air in the ward instantly became sweet and warm.

This was the most relaxed Lin Fan had felt since his rebirth.

No schemes, no killing, only family and friends.

...

Happy times are always short.

By the time he saw off the two great deities, it was already noon.

At the hospital entrance.

"I'm leaving."

Su Qingxue stood at the bottom of the steps, not looking back. "Don't embarrass yourself at the grand competition the day after tomorrow."

"Don't worry."

Lin Fan leaned against the revolving door with his hands in his pockets. "My blind boxes are still stored with you. For the sake of a major client's asset appreciation, I have to win."

Su Qingxue's footsteps paused for a moment, the corner of her mouth curling up imperceptibly as she got into her car and left.

"Hey, Shrewd Merchant! Work hard, don't lose face!"

Chu Yaoyao leaned out of the Ferrari's window, shaking her fist at Lin Fan. "If you lose to that weakling Wang Teng, I'll go to your shop and leave a bad review—a ten-thousand-word one!"

"Sure thing, I welcome the feedback."

Lin Fan waved with a smile.

Only when the red Ferrari disappeared into the flow of traffic did the smile on Lin Fan's face gradually fade.

He turned around and looked at his reflection in the glass door.

His eyes were sharp, like a newly sharpened blade.

"Win?"

He whispered to himself.

"Just winning isn't enough."

He didn't just want to win.

He wanted to win with a bang, win beautifully, and win so decisively that everyone would shut their mouths.

This grand competition wasn't just a simple arena match.

It was his new product launch.

It was the perfect opportunity to thoroughly hammer the brand "god and demon blind box" into the eyes of the admissions officers from the top martial arts universities across the country.

Behind those admissions officers lay a broader market, higher-level 'leeks' to harvest, and more abundant resources.

Only by standing higher could he see more prey.

Wang Teng?

He was merely a... living target used to demonstrate product effects at his launch event.

"Four thousand kilograms of punch strength..."

Lin Fan clenched his fist, his knuckles emitting a crisp popping sound.

"Combined with the counter-shock of the A-rank [Glazed Golden Body]..."

"How much endorsement fee should I charge the Wang family for this advertisement?"

He rubbed his chin, revealing that signature, 'kindly' smile.