424: Chapter 424 The Walking Source of Pollution, Today is an Auspicious Day

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the spotless living room brightly.

The freshly mopped kitchen floor tiles could even clearly reflect the outline of the ceiling.

A fresh scent of lemon-scented cleaner still lingered in the air.

Fang Cheng crouched on the ground, carefully wiping the corners of the coffee table legs with a half-damp rag.

Judging by his posture, it looked as though he would not let a single crevice that could possibly hide dust escape.

The TV behind him was on, its screen glowing brightly.

A female anchor was broadcasting the weather in a sweet voice:

"...Influenced by the continental high pressure, our city will continue to have clear and fine weather for the coming week. The maximum daytime temperature will remain stable between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius, making it very suitable for citizens and friends to engage in outdoor activities..."

After wiping away the last bit of water stains, Fang Cheng stood up and put the Cleaning tools away one by one into the storage cabinet on the balcony.

Then he picked up a towel draped over the back of a chair and gave his face a casual wipe, but new beads of sweat immediately oozed out on his forehead.

Even though he had only done some simple housework, his face was flushed, and his whole body radiated heat.

It was only mid-April, and the weather still had a bit of a chill, but Fang Cheng felt as if he were in the hottest days of summer.

He simply took off the T-shirt that had long been soaked with sweat, revealing his bare, well-built upper body.

Beneath his bronze skin, his muscle lines were distinct, exuding a tight sense of power with the slightest movement.

Afterward, Fang Cheng walked over to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of iced mineral water,

unscrewed the cap, tilted his head back, and chugged it down in gulps.

The ice-cold liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, making him burp comfortably.

However, that dry heat originating from deep within his body was only suppressed for a moment before surging back up again.

It was still very hot.

Fang Cheng let out a breath, picked up the remote control on the coffee table, aimed it at the brand-new standing air conditioner in the corner of the living room, and pressed it.

After a soft beep, the air conditioner baffle slowly opened.

A cool, gentle breeze was immediately sent out, blowing across his scalding skin, finally bringing a hint of comfort.

This air conditioner had just been installed the day before yesterday.

Fang Cheng had called the specialty store in the nearby mall directly and ordered two units.

One was delivered here, and the other was sent to his home in Jiuchang Street for his mother to sign for.

June was just around the corner.

The old house was located on the top floor of the Tubular Building. Every summer, the roof was baked by the sun all day long, and by night it was like a steamer, stiflingly hot and hard to bear.

In the past, when he didn't have the conditions, he could only go shirtless, blow the electric fan, and endure each scorching summer drenched in sweat.

Now that he was well-off, there was naturally no need to save money in this regard anymore.

Life should be lived as comfortably as possible.

Fang Cheng stood in front of the air conditioner, spread his arms, and let the cool wind blow over him.

Before his eyes, a light blue light screen quietly unfolded, revealing a notification message:

[Cleaning Experience +5]

[Cleaning Lv1 (241/250)]

After these past few days of extra effort, the Cleaning skill was not far from leveling up.

At most, in another half a week, it should reach Great Master level.

I wonder what kind of skill special effects it will reward at that time?

Fang Cheng smiled slightly, quite satisfied in his heart.

Ever since swallowing the crimson eye, out of caution, he had not gone to the club, nor had he returned to Jiuchang Street, staying quietly in the new house here at Haitian Garden.

His daily life was extremely regular: waking up early for morning exercises to work out his body, and then starting housework.

As if suffering from mysophobia, he would feel extremely uncomfortable unless he cleaned the house until it was shining bright.

When bored, he either watched TV or played a few rented discs to pass the time.

Because the flesh remaining in his stomach provided a steady stream of energy, Fang Cheng didn't feel hungry at all, saving him even from going out to buy groceries or shopping at the supermarket.

Over these three or four days, aside from making a few phone calls with his mom and uncle, the words he had spoken to outsiders totaled no more than five sentences.

Fang Cheng felt that if he continued like this, he would soon become a standard indoor slacker, and might even genuinely develop social anxiety.

But this was also unavoidable; given his current state, he truly needed to minimize contact with the outside world.

The negative effects brought by the crimson eye were still ongoing.

The mental-level issues didn't seem too serious at present.

That eyeball seemed to have learned its lesson; after experiencing two failures and suffering heavy blows, it had completely gone dormant with no further sound.

In daily life, aside from occasionally having more excited emotions, he basically showed no violent tendencies.

Especially after high-intensity workouts to vent the accumulated negative emotions, he was able to remain calm and peaceful, no different from usual.

As for practicing Meditation, Fang Cheng was no longer forcibly pulled into that blood-colored space to fight the giant-sized crimson eye.

That thing seemed to have spiritual intelligence and knew how to assess the situation.

Perhaps it was silently accumulating strength, preparing for the next showdown to fight for ideological dominance over this body.

In contrast, what Fang Cheng worried about more was actually that suddenly appearing red light.

Because its origin could not be guessed, he could only remain vigilant at all times and not dare to be careless.

Besides this, there was another hidden danger...

Fang Cheng touched his slightly sunken belly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

After the flesh of the crimson eye entered his intestines and stomach, it was exceptionally difficult to digest.

More than three days had passed, and less than a quarter of the portion remaining in his stomach had been resolved.

What Fang Cheng was most concerned about was whether this bizarre flesh would turn him into a new source of contamination.

After all, according to its manifestation in the Inner World, they possessed strong corrupting traits and could cause ordinary people to undergo terrifying flesh mutations.

No one could say for sure whether others would be negatively affected if they got too close to him and had prolonged contact.

Originally, Fang Cheng had intended to go find Ma Jianguo to learn the Visualization Technique.

It was precisely because of this concern that he temporarily shelved the plan.

Speaking of which, staying shut in at home like himself could also be considered an alternative form of cultivating oneself and nurturing character, right?

Fang Cheng's thoughts churned as his gaze cast toward the corner of the balcony.

There stood a few pots of green plants brought by his mother used to purify the air.

The leaves of the ivy and spider plants were emerald green, bright, and vibrant under the sunlight and breeze.

They didn't seem to have been affected by any corruption.

Moreover,

Fang Cheng recalled that after working out on the beach in the early morning, he had once gone swimming in the sea.

His body had exuded a lot of sweat and heat, yet it hadn't caused any harm to the nearby fish.

Judging by this, he should temporarily not have become a walking source of contamination.

"However, being careful is always for the best."

Thinking for a moment, Fang Cheng still felt his throat somewhat dry and parched, so he took another bottle of water from the refrigerator and drank it.

Speaking of which, wanting to speed up the digestion rate actually had a quicker method.

That was to first consume all the True Qi in his Dantian, and then run Qigong to refine the flesh of the crimson eye in his stomach.

But doing this was tantamount to discarding the pearl for its case.

True Qi was extremely precious. Once depleted, trying to replenish it through daily breathing, exhalation, and diet replenishment was an extremely slow process.

After all, not every Martial Artist was as lucky as him to possess ancient remains, being able to immediately replenish their Qi and blood after exhausting their True Qi.

Moreover, swallowing the crimson eye this time was already a rare opportunity.

If he wasted True Qi purely to speed up digestion, it would be tantamount to heavenly waste and purely a foolish act.

"Slow is slow..."

Fang Cheng muttered to himself in a low voice.

The most important thing right now was to keep a low profile, go dormant, and completely absorb the power of the crimson eye to make it his own.

He reined in his thoughts, threw the empty bottle he finished drinking into the trash can, walked over to the hanging heavy punching bag, and casually threw a few punches.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Muffled striking sounds echoed in the living room, each sound filled with a solid sense of thoroughly penetrated force.

Pulling back his fists, Fang Cheng swept his gaze across the attribute panel.

The various skill experiences gained from today's morning exercise surfaced one by one.

Finally, his sight fixed on several new pieces of information that were slightly glowing with light among them.

[Congratulations, through unremitting efforts, your Strength has increased by 1 point]

[Congratulations, through unremitting efforts, your Agility has increased by 1 point]

"It improved again."

Fang Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly.

Ever since returning from the Noah Building, he had first tossed and turned for a whole day.

Afterwards, during Meditation, he had a major battle with that giant eyeball.

Perhaps due to excessive mental consumption, he slept exceptionally soundly that night without a single dream.

When morning exercise arrived the next day, he discovered that the progress bars for the two attributes of Strength and Agility were finally full, both increasing to 61 points.

In the following two days, the progress bars were still growing at a speed dozens of times faster than usual.

Now that they each rose by 1 point again, it could be considered logical.

This also fully illustrated that the flesh of the crimson eye was still continuously digesting, and the transformation of his body had never stopped.

Fang Cheng looked at the newly updated attribute interface.

[Strength: 62]

[Agility: 62]

[Physique: 59]

[Spirit: 60]

The progress bar in the Physique column had unexpectedly reached 93%.

Breaking through the 60-point ultimate barrier was already close at hand.

Fang Cheng slowly clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within his body, which was a bit stronger than before.

His heart was filled with anticipation:

"If I digest all that flesh in my stomach, what level can I ultimately rise to?"

"Cheng Jiashu! Cheng Jiashu! We love you—"

Inside the TV, a cheer like a roaring mountain and boiling sea suddenly erupted.

Fang Cheng immediately turned around and looked over.

He saw heads moving densely on the screen, looking like a celebrity press conference.

Countless light boards printed with the name "Cheng Jiashu" converged into a glowing ocean.

Fans held up support items and flowers, screaming unceasingly to call out their idol's name, the wave of sound almost breaking through the screen.

The few girls given close-ups on the TV screen were even so excited they couldn't speak through their tears, their makeup ruined by crying.

Amidst this boiling wave of sound and the crowd of countless flashes, a tall and straight-figured, handsome-looking man was standing on the stage.

At this moment, he constantly waved to express his thanks to the audience below, bowing and apologizing.

His expression was so sincere that it was touching, instantly arousing wave after wave of even more enthusiastic screams.

The camera cut away to a female reporter at the scene holding a microphone, her tone unable to hide her excitement:

"Audience friends, I am now at the comeback press conference scene of the famous singer and former 'Smiling Boys' member, Cheng Jiashu!"

"After temporarily bidding farewell to the public eye for nearly a month, Cheng Jiashu reappeared yesterday, sparking widespread attention from all sectors of society."

"In response to the various speculations about his personal condition in the media and on the internet previously, Cheng Jiashu's management agency formally clarified that he had gone on a closed-circuit artistic field trip without communication devices in order to seek creative inspiration for a new album."

"Cheng Jiashu himself also appealed at the scene, hoping that the vast majority of fans and media friends could give artists more personal space and put the focus back on his musical works themselves..."

Looking at the radiant, famous singer on TV, the corners of Fang Cheng's mouth ticked up slightly:

"This guy's complexion looks pretty good."

Clearly, ever since successfully resolving the mastermind Minister Luo Lie, he was no longer hunted down by the Noah Organization.

According to the news coming from Xu Hao's side, Noah Pharmaceuticals had already been sealed by the police.

The Special Investigation Team had grasped certain key pieces of evidence and officially intervened to investigate the case involving the company's illegal human experiments.

Meanwhile, a large number of elite personnel from the Dongdu Branch of the Noah Organization were either arrested or on the run, forcing many secret operations to be interrupted.

This powerful force entrenched in Dongdu for a long time could be said to have suffered a devastating blow.

Even if the Noah Organization sent experts over from headquarters again, under the close monitoring of the Special Investigation Team, they wouldn't be able to stir up any major waves.

At least for the next year or two, they could only tuck their tails between their legs and behave themselves.

With this malignant tumor temporarily uprooted, not only could Cheng Jiashu return to normal life, but Fang Cheng himself could also breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as his thoughts turned, a ringtone suddenly sounded, interrupting his train of thought.

Fang Cheng glanced at the phone thrown on the sofa; the screen showed it was Ma Donghe's number.

Thinking for a moment, he then picked up the phone and answered the call.

"A-Cheng."

Coming from the other end of the phone was instead Ma Jianguo's resonant voice: "You haven't forgotten what I told you at the gathering last time, have you?"

Fang Cheng was slightly stunned: "What matter?"

"Didn't I tell you to properly Cultivate your character and nourish your mind at home? You didn't really forget, did you?"

Ma Jianguo's tone carried a bit of urgency:

"Nearly half a month has already passed. Today is not a bad day, very suitable for Cultivating. Come over quickly, and I will impart our sect's Visualization Technique to you in complete detail."

"Master Ma, I have some things to attend to these past few days..."

Fang Cheng was just thinking of finding an excuse to decline.

"A-Cheng, I checked the almanac."

Ma Jianguo immediately interrupted him:

"Today is the 'Heavenly Grace Day' plus the alignment of the five stars. Positive energy in heaven and earth converges, auspicious auras permeate, suitable for sacrificial offerings, consecration, enrollment, and all taboos are lifted."

"If you miss today, the next time there is such a suitable day, you'll have to wait at least a few decades!"

While speaking, someone seemed to be calling him on the other end of the phone. Ma Jianguo paused for a moment, then quickened his pace of speech:

"It's settled then. I still have some things to deal with on my end."

"Before two o'clock in the afternoon, you must arrive at my place on time. That brat Donghe has also come out of seclusion and is waiting for you to come..."

"Beep... beep... beep..."

Without waiting for Fang Cheng to say anything more, the call was decisively hung up.

Holding his phone, Fang Cheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

To learn a Visualization Technique, they actually had to pick an auspicious day?

"However..."

On second thought, he was just fretting over the negative effects of the crimson eye.

Perhaps Master Ma's Visualization Technique, which sounded quite mysterious, could help him find a way to completely resolve the hidden danger.

At the very least, it could provide some inspiration.

"Forget it, I might as well go take a look."

Fang Cheng made his decision and stood up from the sofa.