Sky-cracking Rider

"Get up!"

Out of nowhere, the earth shook violently, and when Chen Fei opened his eyes, he found himself inexplicably standing beside the bed.

…

What's going on here?

Wait, let me straighten out the details. Shouldn't I be lying in bed right now?

Yet, Chen Fei saw Old Man Barut's face, covered with blood-red tattoos, and his shiny bald head.

Waking up to see this was seriously freaky.

"What, what's going on?"

Rookie was totally panicked.

Barut said cheerfully, "Time to exercise the body!"

"What?"

Chen Fei was utterly confused.

Exercise what?

Could you please clarify, sir?

"Heh, nothing much, just increasing your chances of survival."

The Neanderthal elder sized up Chen Fei as if he had found an interesting new toy, stretching a big hand to swipe across him a few times, clucking his tongue as if muttering to himself: "Mediocre physique, barely good enough to train."

"I don't need it, though!"

Chen Fei immediately shook his head vehemently.

I'm not some combat personnel. I just stay obediently in the base, either learning to repair planes, helping in the kitchen, or just guarding the Energy Tower. I never leave through the big gate, barely step through the second door, and sometimes help deal with various trash and waste from the base.

With these duties, where could there possibly be any danger to my life?

"Heh, it's been almost a month, how many times have you died?"

The elder from the Neanderthal tribe laughed coldly.

...

They say don't hit a man in the face, but why does this old man specifically aim for a young person's face?

Chen Fei's expression instantly turned extremely ugly, and he awkwardly said, "Twice!"

Not 24 hours into the job and I ran into a Metallic Dragon going berserk—thanks to a Dragon Slayer Missile, it got you, and almost got me too.

Connecting to the network for Teacher Shen Fei's school, I had just logged on when I was hijacked by armed personnel, then there was a standoff, and I got shot who knows how many times. If it weren't for miraculously awakening a crappy Special Ability that lets me eat bullets, I would've been a goner again.

Why the "again"…

This really sucks!

Barut looked at this unlucky kid and was speechless.

With a wave of his hand, he said, "Come exercise with me, let me see you do a horse stance."

Although he had aged and lost his past vigor, handling a young man with no strength was still easy for him.

In no time, Chen Fei was manipulated into the posture Old Master Barut wanted.

"Good, just like that, keep it up, hold it for an hour."

Barut examined Chen Fei, nodded, and then casually walked aside, picked up the breakfast he brought, and began enjoying it leisurely.

Kid Chen Fei had a smile on his face but was cursing in his heart, standing honestly in the squat-like—no, horse stance.

A minute passed.

Five minutes passed.

I can't do this anymore…

Sweat beads the size of soybeans kept popping out on his forehead, his calves started trembling involuntarily, and his body slightly swayed.

An hour in a horse stance?

Absolutely inhumane!

Why don't you have the farm's donkey try it?

"Chirp chirp!"

Little Jiu, who had finally filled his belly with berries from the bushes, knew to fly back and landed on the table, tilting its little head curiously as it looked at Chen Fei, who was motionless.

On the table, last night's leftovers were tidily cleaned up, and there was another portion of breakfast, left for Chen Fei.

The little one shook its fluffy feathers vigorously, stretched its wings, and happily flew towards daddy.

Oh no!

Chen Fei grimaced in pain. It hadn't even been ten minutes, yet, he was already struggling to hold on.

For others, it might be the last straw that breaks the camel's back, but for him, it was the final little bird that could crush a man.

The moment Xiao Jiu landed on Chen Fei's head, he instantly understood what is meant by the unbearable lightness of being. His wobbling body could no longer maintain its balance, and he plopped down on the ground, gasping for air.
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"It's only been eleven minutes, no, get up!"

The Old Neanderthal Elder, without any explanation, picked Chen Fei up from the ground like he was lifting a small chicken and kept slapping his body continuously, making Chen Fei feel completely numb.

"Jiu Jiu!"

Little Bird hopped around foolishly on top of Dad's head, curiously watching as Barut swung his hands incessantly, again and again.

One, two, three, four, let's do it again.

"Wait, wait, let me rest, just a moment!"

Chen Fei couldn't endure the fierce assault of slapping, his body feeling numb all over.

At this moment, he was only able to stand because of the continuous slapping from Barut.

"Stand straight and keep your back straight!"

The Old Man of the Neanderthal tribe utterly ignored Chen Fei's words and kept slapping him with dedication. His arms, covered in blood veins, were moving so fast they almost produced an afterimage.

It lasted for a whole half hour before Barut finally stopped, wiped the sweat off his brow, and, supporting his lower back, started shaking his head while gasping slightly, "I'm old, definitely old."

Apparently, this brutal session of unyielding slapping had greatly depleted his physical energy.

"Grandpa Barut, did Chief Mechanic Xiao ask you to do this?"

At this moment, however, Chen Fei felt surprisingly wonderful. His entire body tingled pleasantly, as if he had been soaking in a hot spring. All his muscles relaxed, the previous exhaustion vanished, and instead, he felt great.

The slapping had completely invigorated his blood flow, naturally eliminating the muscle soreness and fatigue caused by standing in a horse stance for a long time.

"Xiao Ming? Did you think I, this messy old man, was asked by him to train you? Hahahaha..."

Barut shook his head, the glory of the Neanderthal tribe from the Third Era Civilization may have faded, but the pride remained, and he ended up pointing at Chen Fei and laughing out loud.

"No, not him?"

Chen Fei's mouth dropped open.

He had been dragged out early in the morning to exercise, assuming it was because Big Brother Xiao had asked, since there had been a hint of this in Chief Mechanic Xiao's words yesterday.

He thought Chen Fei should learn to protect himself, generally to enhance his combat abilities.

If Chekhov Big Bear had encountered those armed men, it probably wouldn't just involve a Disabling Bomb followed by a simple lash of a belt in a cave.

With a proud lift of his chin, Old Man Barut declared, "Unless I willingly do so, no one can obtain the Body Refining Secret Method of the Neanderthal tribe from me!"

Chen Fei was speechless and said, "Body Refining Secret Method?"

He raised his hand and noticed the bruising that had been slapped onto the back of his hand. He then looked at the blood-colored tattoos on the old man's body and couldn't help shivering as he said, "Maybe not?"

"Making himself unrecognizable even to his parents would be less appealing than being dragged out for target practice for ten minutes."

"Jiu!"

Xiao Jiu flapped its wings and landed on Chen Fei's finger, curiously inspecting the bruise.

Suddenly, it issued a series of strange, brief chirps. The small pointed beak opened slightly, a glow emanated as if it were holding a bright Light Pearl, moving toward the bruise on Chen Fei's hand.

A wave of warmth spread, and the bruise, nearly half the size of the back of the hand, visibly and quickly diminished and faded away, the skin returning to its normal color.

"This, this, this… Grandpa Barut, did you see that!"

Chen Fei's mouth opened wide enough to swallow an egg.

Was this still the little bird he had hatched by hand?

It was performing a miracle.

"I saw, I saw, it's a Pure Light Sparrow, it's a Magical Beast, nothing strange about it,"

Barut rolled his eyes, very dismissive of Chen Fei's naive reaction from his lack of worldly experience. Having seen and known more, the old man naturally had much more wisdom than the young.

Being dubbed a Magical Beast was precisely because it naturally had a Magical Elemental Affinity, allowing it to unleash magic.

Pure Light Sparrow was not a powerful magic, but it was indeed one of the Magical Beasts, capable of using minor magic from the Light Elemental System with no surprise.

"Is Pure Light Sparrow that powerful?"

As Chen Fei had never really paid attention to Xiao Jiu's Magical Beast status, he hadn't specifically looked up information about Pure Light Sparrow.

However, after witnessing the disappearance of the bruise on his hand, he felt he shouldn't continue to ignore it.

"Jiu!"

Xiao Jiu hopped onto Chen Fei's other hand, continuing to hold the glow close, as another bruise rapidly disappeared. Then it tried to burrow into Chen Fei's collar, but he quickly caught and stopped it.

Chen Fei played with the cheerful and lively little bird, gleefully saying, "With this little guy, I can save quite a lot on Band-Aids."

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