Section 028: The Strongest Human on Blue Star? A Devoted Son? A New Skill?

Director Cheng Qiyuan remained silent for a moment. "...Theoretically, that is the case, but there may be exceptions."

Li Qinghong poured a bucket of cold water on the idea: "Director, the New Era has been here for two hundred years, and that exception has never once appeared..."

The Director nodded in acknowledgment. "True. In fact, there are no exceptions."

"I never expected him to become a top-tier powerhouse from the start. I recruited him because he has good character; he is firm and earnest, rational and bold—all to save little Liuli."

"Admittedly, his aptitude and bone structure... cannot detect the magnetic field fluctuations of high-nuclear energy fusion. But isn't such character exactly what I need in a successor?"

Hearing this, Li Qinghong suddenly realized: "So the Director intends for him to be your successor?"

"Exactly. But looking at the current situation, Xu Ran's aptitude and bone structure have given me a few too many surprises."

"Over these past three years, the growth rate of his vital energy and blood has been no less than that of a top-tier genius! And look at the footwork he used in the fight earlier—doesn't it already show the rudiments of a movement technique?"

Admiration filled Li Qinghong's eyes. "Yes. The rudiments of a movement technique. That is truly absurd!"

For a human child to touch the mysteries of movement techniques before the age of eight is simply impossible. It requires cultivation methods and the circulation of vital energy through the meridians, which would be fatal to a child's body!

Yet Xu Ran had achieved it. He didn't rely on the circulation of cultivation methods; he relied purely on his own comprehension, carving out a path of his own without any negative impact on his body. It was practically epoch-making!

The Director remarked: "If there are any more surprises from Xu Ran, perhaps he really will be an exception."

Li Qinghong let out a soft breath. "I'm not belittling Xu Ran, but it's a pity he lacks a Golden Bone. If only he had one! A Golden Bone combined with top-tier comprehension—he would surely become the strongest human on Blue Star in the future!"

The Director chuckled. "I thought I was bold in my thinking, but it seems you dream even bigger than I do..."

Li Qinghong: "..."

The two chatted for a while.

On the ring, Xu Ran, having won a complete victory, took off his gloves and looked down at the group of geniuses with bruised, panda-like eyes.

"Don't get cocky next time. Arrogance can cost you your life. If you die, that's one thing, but if you drag your teammates down with you, you'll feel guilty for the rest of your life. That is the most important philosophy in life."

Xu Ran suddenly transformed into a master philosopher, sighing with gravity.

After speaking, he turned to Li Qinghong. "Teacher Qinghong, what class do we have today?"

"Class? You don't need classes. You have free time, just don't over-exercise."

Xu Ran’s eyes brightened. "No class? Then I'll head to the library, Mom?"

He needed to grind out his "Advanced Comprehension" as quickly as possible! Otherwise, the completion progress of those skills... was growing too slowly!

His mother sighed: "..."

The situation now was that even if he didn't want to go, he had to. He had beaten the children up all over again, and she felt too embarrassed to stay here... The atmosphere was incredibly awkward, wasn't it? Look at the resentful expressions on those other mothers' faces...

"Go, go, go to the library..."

"Okay, Mom."

Tiger Girl's mom chimed in: "Little Liuli, are you going? Go read with Brother Xu Ran. Don't spend all day fighting and punching. You need to gain some wisdom!"

"I'm not going yet, I'll go in a few days."

Tiger Girl refused. She wanted to wait until her face wasn't bruised and swollen anymore; she didn't want Brother Xu Ran to see her looking so ugly.

"Alright, then Mom and I will head over, Auntie Chen."

"Goodbye, Little Sister Liuli."

"Goodbye, Brother Xu Ran."

Regardless of whether anyone accompanied him, Xu Ran had to bury himself in grinding progress, especially for Advanced Comprehension. He had to max it out as fast as possible.

And so, he spent the entire day in the library.

As an adult, Lin Qian was conquered by her own son's focus!

He arrived at ten in the morning, sat on the chair, and never took a break. He finished one book, then started the second, then the third. He was too lazy to even eat lunch, so she had to bring him "takeout" from the cafeteria.

"Little Ran, aren't you tired of reading?"

Xu Ran didn't even lift his head. "Not tired at all, Mom."

Progress +1, progress +1, progress +1... who could be tired? It was like Cao Cao falling into a group of wives—it was pleasure upon pleasure.

Lin Qian said: "Neither your father nor I were good at studying when we were kids. But with you, it’s definitely a genetic mutation!"

Xu Ran knew this was the time to provide emotional value to his mom. "When you and Dad were kids?"

"Yeah, we were childhood sweethearts. Neighbors since we were little."

Xu Ran clapped. "That's amazing!"

His mom opened the floodgates, rambling on about various interesting stories. Some were genuinely funny, and Xu Ran laughed along. His mother grew enthusiastic, gesturing and talking non-stop.

Before they knew it, the sun began to slant toward the west.

"Little Ran, the sun is setting. It's time to have dinner and head home."

"Okay."

Xu Ran stood up, simultaneously glancing at his progress.

[Books Read: 2550/10000...]

"Advanced Comprehension progress is the hardest to grind. Even with my comprehension and focus, I only read 50 books a day. It will still take 150 days to reach Advanced Comprehension..."

Xu Ran shook his head, put the book back, and left the library with his mom.

On the way, Xu Ran suddenly had a "filial" brainstorm.

"Mom, let me try playing dead. See if I can do it convincingly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he lay on the ground and remained perfectly still.

Lin Qian: "..."

Was he doing performance art?

"Get up, don't do such ominous things. If you don't get up, I'm going to spank you!"

She threatened to punish him. However, Xu Ran lay on the ground, his body stiff...

To achieve a realistic death effect, he used the "Advanced Fraud" skill. He not only hid his breathing and heartbeat but even caused his body temperature to drop rapidly, just like a genuine corpse.

Lin Qian: "..."

"Get up, good son. People will laugh at you if they see this..."

"Hmm?"

Lin Qian sensed something was wrong. She quickly crouched down and took Xu Ran's hand. When she felt the ice-cold temperature, she shivered with fright.

"What about breathing? Is there still breathing? And the heartbeat?"

Lin Qian panicked. When she discovered that Xu Ran's breathing and heartbeat had stopped, she grew frantic.

"Little Ran, you're playing a joke on Mom, right? Don't scare Mom like this..."

[You are playing dead. Your act has successfully deceived your mother, triggering a new skill—"Basic Feigned Death." (Advancement sequence: Basic Feigned Death — Trick Death — Near-Death Revival — Unknown...)]

[Basic Feigned Death]: Your feigned death can deceive ordinary people.

[Trick Death]: You can mimic a corpse, losing your heartbeat and breathing, and can even emit the scent of decay.

[Near-Death Revival]: When you are about to die, you can enter a near-death state, preserving your lifespan and falling into a half-dead, half-alive slumber until you are resurrected.

Hearing the notification sound, the "filial" son Xu Ran quickly opened his eyes and jumped up to explain to his mom.

"Mom, I'm fine. I told you I was just playing dead."

Lin Qian wiped her tears and gave Xu Ran a sound scolding: "Is this how you scare your poor mother? You're so 'filial'!"

Xu "Filial" Ran grinned cheekily: "I love you, Mom!"

"Love you!"

At times like this, you have to be shamelessly affectionate.

Mom: "...Alright, no more being this naughty in the future."

How could a mother ever blame her own son? As long as he was healthy and happy, she would never hold a grudge.

Xu Ran held his mom's hand tight. He had been forced to trick her, after all. Since the second kidnapping hadn't come yet, he had to try everything, grind everything, to be ready for it. If he really were kidnapped, his mom would be the most worried and heartbroken person!

Hmm... thinking about getting stronger.

Xu Ran shifted his focus to the brand-new miraculous skill. The second sequence, [Trick Death], was incredibly useful. He could "lose" his heartbeat and breathing. Combined with the next sequence of [Shadow Step]—[Invisibility]—wouldn't that be the perfect stealth with no heartbeat and no breathing?

And if combined with the next sequence of [Beast Language Mastery]—[Pressure Simulation]—that would be the perfect stealth: mimicking the aura of an alien creature plus having no heartbeat and no breathing.

It was a god-tier skill for lurking and assassination!

Invincible, wasn't it? It would definitely come in handy later!

Analyzing this, Xu Ran felt overjoyed as he strolled ahead of his mom. Suddenly, he saw some small purple flowers in a flowerbed, ran over to crouch in the garden, picked a handful of the most beautiful ones, and presented them to his mom.

"Thank you, Mom! Love you!"

His mother was stunned, her eyes slowly misting over: "Thank you, baby."

Lin Qian hugged Xu Ran, stroking his head, her smile mingled with tears. At this moment, it felt as if a honey spring had appeared in her heart, overflowing with sweetness, making her feel so beautiful that she felt ten years younger.

On the way to the cafeteria, she clutched the bouquet tightly, her eyes full of smiles and tenderness, looking at it again and again, smelling it over and over.

The flowers her son gave her, even if they were just wildflowers from the roadside, were so beautiful and fragrant, surpassing all the precious varieties in the world!

...

After a delicious dinner, Xu Ran felt refreshed. After all, a meal added 5 points to his vital energy!

His daily progress was visible to the naked eye. How could he not be happy?

...

Back home, his mother found a bottle, carefully arranged the flowers, and placed them on the windowsill, looking at them with doting eyes.

"So good, the child has suddenly become so sensible."

Mom hummed a tune. She took a photo to post on social media and showed it off in the group chat.

[The flowers my son picked for me~~]

It was predictable that for the next few days, Mom would be living in bliss. After all, for a mother, flowers given by her son had too much "lethal" power!

...

On the other side, back home, Xu Ran rested for half an hour, then started his night-time self-discipline mode—practicing darts in the small courtyard.

Two and a half hours later, Xu Ran looked at his daily progress: +95 points.

He was still 5 points short. This was absurd; it used to take only an hour and a half!

"It seems I must work hard to push for Advanced Comprehension!"

"Basic Comprehension is enough to master the first half of the second-sequence skills. But for full completion, it’s already equivalent to twenty years of hard work by an ordinary cultivator."

"To make further progress, it relies not just on mechanical repetition and practice, but on comprehension!"

Xu Ran had a premonition. If he could grind out Advanced Comprehension, he would gain an unprecedented boost!

"Then... for the next period, I must focus my main energy on Advanced Comprehension!"

Thinking this, Xu Ran's movements didn't stop. The darts flew out with a *whoosh*, hitting the mark without deviation, passing through the center of the target.

Ten rings! Ten rings! Ten rings! Bullseye every time!

At ten in the evening, his mom came out to ask: "Little Ran, practicing so late today?"

"Just a little longer. A dozen minutes will do."

Xu Ran narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the target fifty meters away. In the pitch-black night, the target, which had only been faintly visible, suddenly became crystal clear.

At the same time, a crisp, pleasant notification sound echoed in his mind.

Huh?

Triggered a brand-new miraculous skill?

"The life of a self-discipline fanatic is truly full of surprises!"

"I didn't expect that while the progress speed slowed down a bit, I'd unexpectedly harvest a huge surprise?! And this skill seems a bit extraordinary?!"

...

PS: If you have time, remember to give your mom a flower.