Evan Lin returned to his own room and lay on the bed for a while.
He closed his eyes and looked inward, examining his own body.
"Second Layer of Qi-Refining. More than half the qi points in the Supreme Abyss have opened. At the Inner Breath Realm, multiple streams of qi cyclones can form inside me. Compared to the First Layer, my strength has improved a lot."
"There's a basketball game and a boxing match next week. With my current realm, handling those small fries shouldn't be any problem."
Evan slowly sat up cross-legged and began circulating the Grand Dao Qi-Refining Art. Streams of qi cyclones swirled around his body, their color noticeably richer than at the First Layer.
A misty white vapor drifted across the surface of Evan's skin, surging back and forth like crashing waves.
After running a full cycle of the Grand Dao Qi-Refining Art, Evan slowly opened his eyes.
He stretched out his hand, feeling the abundant strength within his body.
"At the Second Layer of Qi-Refining, every move carries two hundred jin of force. If I reach the Third Layer, that'll be three hundred jin."
"First Layer of Qi-Refining, the qi comes from outside—called Outer Breath, also known as the Gushing Spring Realm."
"Second Layer of Qi-Refining, the qi is generated internally—called Inner Breath, also known as the Supreme Abyss Realm."
"Third Layer of Qi-Refining, qi is transformed into a sea, gathered in the Qi Sea point—also known as the Qi Sea Realm."
"Each breakthrough adds about a hundred jin of strength. Now, the Grand Dao Qi-Refining Art runs five small cycles on its own every day. At this rate, unless I find some spiritual herbs, it'll take at least three months to reach the Third Layer."
Evan quietly pondered. Three months was just a blink of an eye for him, but if he could find better spiritual herbs or medicines, his cultivation speed would increase dramatically.
"Looks like I should find some time to go collect the money from Shawn Shaw first."
Just as Evan was thinking, a knock sounded at the door.
"Hey! Are you awake yet? Get moving!"
It was Lynn Chen's voice outside, her tone sounding a bit strange.
Evan got up and opened the door.
"My mom's already ready. We're just waiting on you."
Lynn looked at Evan with a complicated expression, as if she wanted to say something but held back.
"Got it. Give me five minutes."
Evan nodded, then closed the door right in Lynn's face, leaving her momentarily stunned.
Staring at the closed door, Lynn frowned and muttered, "What's the big deal? It's just because he has some old Chinese medicine master as a teacher."
Just downstairs, Charles Chen had told Lynn the whole story about Haiyang Sheng. Haiyang heard it from Lucy Lu, who thought Evan had an old Chinese medicine master behind him, so Haiyang assumed the same and passed it on to Charles, who then told Lynn.
Lynn figured Evan only managed to help save Haiyang Sheng thanks to his so-called Chinese medicine master.
"Who knows where you meet all these weird people. No wonder your grades never go up," Lynn grumbled in front of Evan's door, shot it a glare, and stomped off downstairs.
Evan finished showering, changed clothes, and headed downstairs.
Seeing Evan come down, Lucy Lu smiled and said, "Xiaoyi, you look like you've grown taller lately."
"That's because I've been eating a lot."
Before Evan could reply, Lynn Chen chimed in.
"It's because Aunt Lucy's cooking is too good," Evan said to Lucy Lu, completely ignoring Lynn.
"You're getting better at talking, kid," Lucy laughed, then continued, "Your Uncle Charles already went ahead to the rooftop suite at Tianzi No. 1. Let's head to the mall first. I've always wanted to buy you clothes, but you kept refusing. Today, you can't say no."
Lucy drove Evan and Lynn to a commercial street in Brightsea City. After finding a parking spot, the three of them got out of the car.
Once inside the mall, Lucy took Evan to try on clothes.
"Xiaoyi, try on this shirt."
Lucy picked up a gray T-shirt and handed it to Evan.
"This shirt is perfect for this handsome young man! Young people all love this style—it's really energetic," the salesgirl, a woman in her twenties, said with a sweet smile, looking at Lucy.
When she saw Evan, she automatically ignored him and turned her attention to Lucy instead.
In her eyes, Evan was dressed in cheap street-stall clothes, obviously a poor kid fresh from the countryside. Lucy and Lynn, on the other hand, fit the city look—clearly people who understood life and had money.
As long as she convinced Lucy, the clothes would be sold.
"I think it's great too. Xiaoyi, what do you think?" Lucy asked Evan. He nodded, "It's fine."
Evan didn't care much about clothes—as long as they fit, that's enough.
"Go try it on then," Lucy said, then turned to Lynn, "Lynn, help Xiaoyi pick out a few more clothes."
"No way," Lynn huffed, glaring at Evan as he walked into the fitting room with the clothes.
Lynn felt more and more like Evan was ignoring her, which only made her more frustrated—especially seeing how calm he was, it drove her crazy.
"Honestly, kid," Lucy frowned.
Lynn turned toward the women's clothing store nearby. "I'm going to pick out some clothes. I'll find you guys later."
Before Lucy could object, Lynn sped off toward the row of women's shops across the way.
Lucy could only sigh at the scene.
Lynn Chen, now in high spirits after leaving the men's shop, dashed into the nearest women's boutique. She wandered around, humming softly, picking out clothes, and admiring herself in the mirror as she tried on different outfits.
Not far away, a group of boys approached.
Leading them was Tyson Liu, chewing gum with a cocky swagger and dark skin. A few girls with decent looks and curvy figures clung to him, letting him wrap his arm around their waists and touch them in public, all giggling and happy.
Beside Tyson was Trevor Liu, his face gloomy and clearly in a bad mood.
"Trevor, I know you like Rachel Liu. After the underground contest in Brightsea wraps up, I can help you get her. But you have to take care of Rachel Liu for me too—best if you get her pregnant. Once she's carrying Liu family blood, even Buck Niu can only stand by and watch." Tyson Liu shot Trevor a meaningful look. "Stop being so stubborn. There are plenty of pretty girls in the world. Our Liu family might not have billions, but a few million is easy money for you to play with."
Seeing Trevor still upset, Tyson's gaze shifted and landed on Lynn Chen, who was walking into a fitting room with a pink skirt. His eyes lit up.
Tyson smirked. "Hey, what about that one?"
Trevor glanced over and caught a glimpse of Lynn Chen's profile. "Not bad. She kind of looks like Mia Chen!"
Tyson scoffed. "That's all you ever talk about—Mia Chen this, Mia Chen that. Fine, take this girl tonight and have some fun. At most, hold off for a month. Once our uncle wipes out the Niu family, Damon Wang, and the Shaw family, Brightsea will be ours."
As he spoke, Tyson's lips curled into a faint smile. He brazenly groped the two girls beside him, making them squeal and giggle.