In his room, Li Yang sat silently cross-legged, absorbing a strange energy from the air.
After obtaining the Cultivation Technique, he had barely left the house for days. He would begin cultivating the moment he recovered, eager to increase his strength as quickly as possible!
His personality was on the calmer side, so he knew that after obtaining the Cultivation Technique, the best path was to cultivate in secret.
Eventually, Li Yang stopped.
He took a moment to feel the changes in his body, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"The first stage of cultivation is complete!"
Clenching his fist, he could feel a power that far surpassed an ordinary person's!
The body tempering process had four major stages. Each stage tempered the body from the outside in, for a total of four temperings. Li Yang had just finished the first one, and it had taken him a week!
'My strength must be several times that of a normal person now!' Li Yang thought, clenching his fist in disbelief.
Even with the Cultivation Technique and his rapidly improving physique, he had thought that just doubling an ordinary person's strength would have been incredible.
But in just a few short days, Li Yang could feel his body transforming daily. The transformation was so rapid he could clearly sense it happening.
He could easily lift his family's nearly 330-pound refrigerator. He'd even shattered a hard rock downstairs into dust with a single punch!
This power was practically like being a mini-superman!
Li Yang was startled by his own physical prowess!
But more than anything, he was happy.
'I'm already this strong after just the first stage. Once I complete the second, third, and subsequent stages of tempering, what level will my body reach?' Li Yang wondered in anticipation.
'However, the time required for each stage is bound to be different. The first stage took one week; the second will probably take at least several weeks to complete.'
After finishing his cultivation, Li Yang ate a meal and decided to go for a walk.
Over the past week, he had figured out how his body absorbed the energy from the air. He learned that absorbing it after he was well-rested was far more efficient than forcing it when he was fatigued.
Leaving his residential complex, Li Yang made his way to the beach.
Coastal City was, as its name suggested, right by the ocean. The residential complex where the Li family lived wasn't far from the sea, and his family used to come to the beach often.
There were a few people foraging at the water's edge during low tide.
Of course, even after the tide receded, it didn't leave much behind—mostly just shells, with the occasional crab.
Trying to make a living by foraging was unreliable; it was all down to luck. If there were really that much to be found, everyone would quit their jobs and just come here to pick up free money.
Walking on the sand, with the sea breeze on his face and the vast ocean before him, Li Yang's heart felt heavy.
'I'm stronger now, but I still haven't found a way to cure Dad,' Li Yang thought, his heart sinking.
'Just because I have strength doesn't mean I can cure my father.'
He still had no clue how to treat Li Guohai's cancer.
"Hm?"
As he was walking, Li Yang's head snapped toward a spot where cries of surprise had broken out.
"So many mud crabs!"
"We've stumbled upon a whole swarm of them!"
"Quick, catch them!"
The voices that drifted over were a mixture of anxiety and excitement.
'Mud crabs?' Hearing the shouts, Li Yang quickly ran over.
The tide had just receded, and in a shallow pool, some thirty mud crabs were crawling about.
Mud crabs and swimming crabs were among the most common types foragers might find, but they were usually found one at a time. It was rare to see so many appear at once.
Moreover, these mud crabs were quite large, each weighing about a pound.
In terms of price, mud crabs were much more expensive than swimming crabs. The current market price for them had even reached two hundred yuan a pound!
In other words, each of these crabs was worth two hundred yuan!
Two people were already there catching the crabs and had managed to grab several. They must have been the first to spot the swarm and hadn't called anyone else over.
Of course, this was just human nature. When possible, everyone wants to keep a good find for themselves; that's just how people are wired.
Seeing the mud crabs brandishing their pincers aggressively, Li Yang's eyes lit up.
The Li family was comfortably well-off and hadn't been short on money—they had even owned a supermarket before. But Li Guohai had been in the hospital for several months now, and the medical bills were draining their savings like water.
They no longer had the energy to run the supermarket, so they had sold it.
Although they still had money for his treatment, they didn't know what future costs would be. As such, money was still very important to the Li family.
This was why Li Yang always cooked for himself when he was home alone instead of spending money eating out.
Now, seeing these mud crabs that he could catch and sell, he was naturally tempted.
With the first stage of body tempering complete, Li Yang's physical abilities far surpassed those of an ordinary person. This applied not only to his strength but also to his speed.
He didn't hesitate for a moment. While the others were struggling with tongs, cautiously trying to find an opening to catch the crabs, Li Yang shot his hands forward like lightning. He plunged them into the water and snatched up two mud crabs.
The pool was about thirty feet across and a couple of feet deep. This actually made catching the crabs very difficult, as it was hard to see where they were in the murky water.
One moment of carelessness and you could get pinched.
But Li Yang had no such worries. With his physique and reaction speed, it was virtually impossible for a crab to even touch him.
However, Li Yang ran into a problem.
'I should have brought a bag or something.'
Li Yang only had two hands, and with a crab in each, he couldn't catch any more.
"Wow, Big Brother Li Yang, you're amazing!"
Just then, a cheerful, childish voice called out.
Nearby, a little girl who looked to be younger than ten was staring at the two flailing crabs in his hands and shouting with excitement.
'Tingting?'
Li Yang glanced at the little girl, but his eyes lit up when he saw the rubber bands in her hand.
Her full name was Zhang Tingting, and she lived in his residential complex.
Mrs. Li and Zhang Tingting's mother were on good terms, and Tingting herself was very fond of her "Big Brother Li Yang."
Whenever the little girl, Zhang Tingting, saw him at the beach, she would run over excitedly to play with him.
"Tingting, can you lend me a few of those rubber bands?" Li Yang asked directly.
"Okay!" Little Tingting nodded and handed the rubber bands to Li Yang.
Li Yang immediately set one crab down, pinning it with his foot while his free hand skillfully tied it up.
He did the same with the second crab.
Having grown up by the sea, Li Yang had caught mud crabs before, so he naturally knew how to catch and tie them.
He placed the two bound crabs on the ground and, ignoring little Tingting who was now curiously poking at them, quickly returned to the edge of the pool.