Chen Shouyi was a bit annoyed and glared at her.
However, the Shell Lady was unfazed, placing her hands on her hips and repeatedly shouting, "Prepared, prepared, prepared..."
Chen Shouyi was so irritated that his teeth itched. This Shell Lady had become increasingly mischievous lately. How hard could it be to respond properly?
He considered scaring her a little, but ultimately decided against it. The Shell Lady had been busy helping him earn one hundred ten thousand yuan these past few days and was already quite exhausted. Especially after being tied up for most of today, he decided to let her relax.
Besides, there's no rush at the moment.
He helplessly picked up the remote control and turned the TV back on.
"Prepared!" The Shell Lady immediately quieted down and returned to her original position upon seeing the familiar screen reappear.
Chen Shouyi continued reading. His intelligence now was as high as 12.3, which could be considered that of a genius, a far cry from before. In just over an hour, he had memorized more than a hundred vocabulary words and familiarized himself with a few conversational sentences.
During this time, he also made a phone call to his mom and exchanged a few text messages with Zhang Xiaoyue.
Recently, due to his mysterious nature, he often went long periods without contact, preventing his relationship with her from rapidly warming up as expected, remaining lukewarm.
Just then, the landline phone on the bed suddenly rang.
Chen Shouyi got up and answered the phone. Without waiting for the other party to speak, he quickly said:
"I don't need services, thank you!"
Then he hung up. Every day he stayed in the room, he would receive such calls. Initially, Chen Shouyi thought it was room service, so he asked more questions one time but ended up astonished and speechless.
I really am still too young!
...
Chen Shouyi continued reading until eleven o'clock, practiced the Thirty-Six Techniques of Body Refining over a dozen times, and after taking a shower, noticed the Shell Lady was still watching TV, even changing sitting positions once.
He immediately took the remote control and turned off the TV. The Shell Lady jumped up angrily, attempting to watch again but immediately deflated upon seeing the rope in the other's hand.
Chen Shouyi beckoned her with his finger, and the Shell Lady understood him, tear-filled eyes extending her leg.
Soon, Chen Shouyi used a rope to tie her leg, the other end connected to his arm.
He went forward to turn off the lights.
With a "click!" the room swiftly dimmed.
Listening to the giant's huffing breath beside her, the Shell Lady lay quietly for a while.
Then she slowly stood up, carefully scuttling to the pillow, looked at the detestable big face, compared her small fist, hardly larger than a mung bean, and glared viciously with grit.
After venting for a moment, seeing the rope on her feet, she sighed dispiritedly and returned to sleep at the bed corner. Soon, sleepiness came over her, and faint snores gradually sounded.
But Chen Shouyi didn't sleep; he merely entered a deep state of silence.
In his mind, countless lines spread like a network throughout his body, the image quite simple without any excess details.
Ever since entering the deep silence to hone his body "full muscle practice" seven or eight days ago, this scene hadn't changed, but today, it quietly shifted.
As time passed, shadows started appearing between lines, gathering some texture, evolving from a flat picture into three dimensions.
...
The next morning, as he was awakening, he felt a wonderful sensation rising.
He did not open his eyes, silently sensing everything around him.
He found he could intuitively perceive nearby objects, absent any images or light, yet possessing a strong sense of what existed around him, even the approximate shapes.
He could sense the Shell Lady half a meter to his right, clutching the sheet corner, sleeping soundly in a tight ball.
He sensed a coin seemingly wedged in the seam behind the bed.
The only drawback was this perception range was quite short, roughly only one meter, beyond which things swiftly blurred.
Chen Shouyi startledly opened his eyes, fully awake.
Glancing at the Shell Lady beside him, he found her sleeping posture exactly matched his perception, then hastily lifted the mattress and indeed found a one-yuan coin in the gap.
He swore he never knew a coin was left there.
He opened his attribute panel.
Discovering the level of "Deep Silence Body Cultivation" had jumped from (Proficient 2) to (Proficient 10).
Perception also increased by 0.1 points, adding to the 0.1 from two days ago, it has already reached eleven points.
Since the Book of Knowledge modified his body, perhaps because he became much stronger, the speed of his perception's progress quickened significantly. In just three days, he increased by 0.2 points.
Among all the changes, the most suspicious one is perception.
In his understanding, perception is similar to the legendary Spiritual Power, also related to a person's intuition or sixth sense.
But before, this attribute hadn't shown any effect at all, or perhaps its effects were subtle and not obvious.
"It seems that eleven points is the watershed for perception?" He looked at the number eleven and thought to himself.
...
He dressed and was on his way to the bathroom.
He keenly noticed that his body seemed to have gained a touch of control. Even just casually walking, his muscles operated like a gear system, closely interlocking, moving in coordination, naturally and effortlessly.
This feeling was quite amazing, feeling every fiber of his body under his control, his whole body seemed to be renewed. He had a strong intuition that today his speed in drawing the sword would be half a degree faster than yesterday.
...
Youth Martial Arts Training Center.
"Wow, Chen Shouyi, you've changed a lot!" Accompanying her boyfriend, Guo Qianqian came over and showed a hint of surprise upon seeing Chen Shouyi. If it weren't for his face still being the same, she would've almost thought it was someone else.
She couldn't find any trace of the shy image in her memory. Now, his eyes were sharp, his demeanor steady, standing out in the crowd like a crane among chickens. Even her handsome boyfriend beside her seemed dull, as if he was just a passerby in front of him.
"Really, maybe it's because I changed my clothes." Chen Shouyi smiled, subtly changing the topic, "Didn't you go out during the National Day holiday?"
"We originally planned to go out with my parents the day before yesterday, but halfway, the highway was closed. I heard it was due to military maneuvers, needing to close the road for half a day, so we came back."
"That's really unfortunate!" Chen Shouyi commented, not thinking much of it.
"Yes, yes, by the way, do you remember Zhu Shaoqiang from our class before, the tall one?"
"The sports committee member, right? Of course I remember, what's up?" Chen Shouyi thought for a moment and recalled.
"He enlisted in the army."
Chen Shouyi was slightly stunned but not surprised. Recently, recruitment propaganda had started once again.
On the large screen at the nearby cross street, he had seen military recruitment ads playing before he came over.
Since the world fusion with another dimension twenty years ago, the shadow of war had been looming over humanity. The number of armies around the globe has been maintained at large scales, and in a great country like the Great Xia, the size is astonishing.
Its regular standing army is as many as six hundred thousand. Even in a small city like Dongning, a regiment of soldiers is stationed nearby.
Actually, that number is what's left after gradual reduction over the years. If it were back when the worlds first fused, the Great Xia Country's military force once reached as high as ten million, nearly entering a state of combat readiness.
Luckily, it was just a false alarm in the end, and the war between the two worlds has always been kept within small scales.
Perhaps somewhat excited, once Guo Qianqian started talking, she couldn't stop, and seeing nothing else was going on around, Chen Shouyi had no choice but to engage in the conversation with her.
Originally sitting and looking at his phone, Lin Feng's expression grew darker and his fists clenched tighter, until he finally stood up with a bang, his leg knocking the chair, making a harsh sound.
Chen Shouyi looked over immediately.
For some reason, Lin Feng felt a huge sense of pressure, like a basin of icy water, instantly calming his somewhat heated mind, reminding him of the disparity in strength, and his built-up momentum rapidly dissipated.
"What's wrong?" Guo Qianqian asked.
He avoided Chen Shouyi's gaze, affectionately wrapping his arm around Guo Qianqian, and said, "I just saw a pair of platinum couple rings, extremely beautiful, got a bit too excited. Let's take a look together later, and if they're satisfactory, we'll buy them."
Guo Qianqian was indeed attracted, and the two leaned in to chat quietly.
At this moment, the tutorial teacher finally arrived.
"During the National Day holiday, I wonder if everyone practiced diligently. If you're determined to pursue the path of Martial Arts, diligence is indispensable.
No more chitchat, today we will learn something new: how to defend.
Defense generally falls into three types: distance defense, body dodging defense, and weapon defense.
Distance defense, as the name implies, is accomplished by retreating beyond the range of attack, with defense thus naturally achieved.
While everyone might think it sounds simple, it actually requires certain skill, because the opponent's sword speed is often much faster than your retreat speed. This requires not only agility in basic steps but also anticipation, with high demands on eyesight."
At this, the beautiful instructor looked at Chen Shouyi: "Chen Shouyi, put on the Protective Suit, and demonstrate with me."
PS: Next chapter will still be at five o'clock in the afternoon. Also, please give some recommendations.