This entry is suspicious.

The night wind whistled past my ears, and the neon lights on the street were stretched into blurry streaks of light.

Not wanting his family's driver to see him in that state and cause trouble for Zhou Ran, Ming Shu changed his mind and had Song Ci take him home on her bicycle.

Ming Shu sat on the back of the motorcycle, the heat on his face gradually carried away by the evening breeze. His mind, which had been in complete chaos in the training room, gradually calmed down in the rushing wind and regained its usual clarity.

While waiting at the traffic light, Song Ci turned to look at Ming Shu and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

She was focused on her cultivation during the tutoring session and didn't pay much attention to Ming Shu. She wondered why he suddenly decided to leave. Was it because Zhou Ran wasn't a good teacher? That couldn't be right; he seemed better than many so-called top tutors.

Does this mean that Ming Shu is really feeling unwell?

"..."

Ming Shu was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, "Aquarius, do you believe in love at first sight?"

Song Ci turned around abruptly, her pupils dilating in shock beneath her helmet. "Hey, what are you saying?"

Considering Ming Shu's behavior at the dinner party... could it really be what I'm thinking?

"It's like suddenly feeling very attracted to someone. Even simple physical contact makes my heart race. It's a bit like physiological attraction, but not entirely... I think it's more like psychological attraction," Ming Shu said to himself.

The air was silent for two seconds.

"You...you..." Song Ci was completely dumbfounded and couldn't say a word.

"How much do you know about Zhou Ran?" Ming Shu asked again.

Before Song Ci could answer, she added, "Never mind, I'll just open the box."

He immediately took out his phone, found a number in his contacts, and dialed: "Could you help me find Zhou Ran from Class 3, Grade 1 at Xiandao No. 1 Middle School in Qinghe City? I need detailed information. Can you get it done within ten minutes?"

"No problem, it won't take ten minutes, three minutes is enough." A mixed electronic mechanical voice came from the other end of the phone.

Song Ci finally couldn't hold back any longer. She pulled her bike to the side of the street, turned off the engine, took off her helmet, and looked at Ming Shu incredulously: "What's wrong with you?"

"I just think I should learn more about him," Ming Shu replied seriously.

"No, I mean you actually like him?"

Song Ci found it unbelievable; falling in love at first sight was just too ridiculous.

"Don't you think he's really cool? Especially when he tore up the painting to warn me."

"...I didn't realize you had this fetish of being treated roughly."

Song porcelain is speechless. Is that all? It can only be attributed to accidentally touching on Ming dynasty apprehension.

Just then, the phone rang.

Ming Shu was slightly surprised to see the caller ID, not expecting the other party to find it so quickly. He answered the call: "You found it?"

"There's been a problem. This guy has a criminal record with the authorities, and not just one. One of his files is even in the classified archives. Are high school students these days really that capable?"

The electronic voice on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat surprised, as they never expected that a high school student would be involved in an incident in a confidential archive.

"A classified archive?" Ming Shu paused for a moment, "Is it possible to get hold of it?"

"The security measures for the Bureau's classified archives are extremely stringent."

"That means it's not possible."

"No, I mean...it costs more!"

Ming Shu pondered for a moment: "I'm willing to pay more, but we can't leave any trace."

"Don't worry about that. If any traces are left, I'll be the one who suffers, not you."

After saying that, the other end of the phone hung up.

Upon hearing the conversation, Song Ci frowned slightly: "How could Zhou Ran be involved in a classified incident?"

Then, she subconsciously thought of what happened yesterday, but Zhou Ran said he was called to be a sparring partner... Damn it, could I have been tricked?

A few minutes later, Ming Shu received another call.

"Everything's done. Verification code: QZS89. Remember to give me a good review. By the way, this high school student is no ordinary person. To survive in this situation is definitely ruthless. Whatever you want to do, be careful. I don't want to lose a big client like you."

Hearing this, Ming Shu became even more curious. He hung up the phone, unlocked the phone's hidden space with his fingerprint, and opened a software called "Gray Domain".

This is an illegal intelligence trading platform operating on the dark web. It has no fixed domain name, and the encrypted link changes every hour. Access is only possible through a password verification code provided by a designated member.

In addition to real-time news and discussion forums, the platform also features an intelligence trading industry. Regardless of origin or identity, as long as you can afford the price, you can buy almost any information.

Logically speaking, a young lady like Shu shouldn't be involved in such things, but her curiosity about the bizarre is too strong, and ordinary channels simply cannot satisfy her thirst for knowledge.

In order to get firsthand information about bizarre events, she came into contact with this gray area that walks on the edge of the law, and even occasionally stepped into the deeper dark areas.

After entering the verification code, the page redirected and refreshed to show her personal account. A glaring red dot lit up the message bar, which was the file sent by the information broker.

Detailed information about Zhou Ran.

As Ming Shu looked at the documents, he was overwhelmed with shame and guilt. Was this really okay? But in the end, curiosity prevailed over his conscience.

She opened the file, and dense text filled the screen. Her gaze quickly swept over the useless information. There were only two things that were truly worth noting: one was the strange incident in the alley a week ago, and the other was the file that the Response Bureau had added to its confidential archives, with the timestamp showing that it was from last night.

Last night... Ming Shu's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he immediately thought of the big incident that happened at the Mingzhu Hotel last night. He decisively opened the file.

The archives compiled the testimonies of the four survivors, and were therefore extremely detailed and contained a vast amount of information.

Ten minutes later.

Song Ci and Ming Shu felt as if they had just watched a long and immersive movie, their hearts filled with a turbulent mix of emotions: shock, astonishment, disbelief... They were so stunned that they couldn't recover for a long time.

"Are you sure that intelligence broker is reliable? This isn't a story he fabricated using artificial intelligence?"

Song Ci couldn't believe that this was Zhou Ran's experience last night. It was too terrifying and bizarre. Every step was on the edge of death, and if one was even slightly unlucky, one would be condemned to eternal damnation.

"The most important thing for an intelligence broker is credibility, and I don't think he would lie about something like this."

Ming Shu stared blankly at his phone screen.

The file also included photos taken by the response team at the scene. Zhou Ran had just emerged from the Pearl Hotel, a knife at his waist, his clothes stained with blood, and his expression cold and solemn.

Wow...so handsome!

Ming Shu gripped his phone tightly, his gaze fixed on it, while something inside him seemed to be growing wildly.

During the day, Zhou Ran lives a monotonous and boring campus life with everyone, but at night she transforms into a weird and strange expert, wandering in a bizarre and eerie world... This contrast is just too unfair!

How could there be such a mysterious man!

"I want to transfer to your class!"

Ming Shu has made up his mind.

……

Three days have passed since Zhou Ran tutored Ming dynasty scholars and Song dynasty porcelain.

For some unknown reason, Ming Shu never came to tutoring again after that day, nor did she ever appear in front of him again.

Zhou Ran thought it was because he hadn't taught well, and felt a sense of defeat. After all, he hadn't even been able to get Ming Shu's life pattern, while Song Ci had gotten her life pattern on the first day of tutoring.

However, Song Ci said that was not the case; it was just that Ming Shu had family matters to attend to and could not come for the time being.

When Song Ci said this, her eyes were very complicated, so Zhou Ran quickly understood what she meant by "something going on at home"—a family marriage!

Intermarriage between various families is a perfectly normal occurrence. Some families with close ties even arrange marriages for their children from a young age. Zhou Ran remembers that there were two scions of prominent families in Class 5 of the first year of high school who were betrothed since childhood.

However, the two did not like each other, each had their own boyfriends or girlfriends, and lived their own lives without disturbing each other. The marriage was just to fulfill a family obligation.

I never expected that Ming Shu, the top student in the grade, would also be forced into an arranged marriage. It seems that being a scion of a noble family isn't all that great; they lack freedom, and even geniuses are subject to various restrictions.

Therefore, let's reject the buyout agreement that Ming Shu previously proposed.

Since no new students had been recruited yet, Song Ci was the only student available for evening tutoring, so Zhou Ran had to lower the tutoring fee to 20,000 yuan per hour.

Because there is a gap in financial resources among the children of elites, Ming Shu is the kind of extremely wealthy and beautiful girl who can spend 800,000 yuan without batting an eye, while Song Ci starts complaining about being poor after spending 100,000 yuan a day on tutoring.

In short, with three days of tutoring, plus the 800,000 given by Ming Shu and his previous savings, Zhou Ran's total savings now amount to 1.22 million!

A staggering million dollars!

Zhou Ran took a screenshot of his balance as a souvenir and then began purchasing body-refining resources in large quantities.

After learning "The Hundred Solutions to Power", his skills were no less than those of a martial arts master, but his physical strength was too weak to unleash the full power of this technique.

My physical body is too weak and my strength is insufficient. Even if I equip myself with the "Strong" attribute, I won't hurt anyone much. So the most urgent thing is to improve my basic stats.

So the question is, what methods are there for quickly strengthening the body?

The answer is known to everyone in the cultivation world.

—Three parts training, seven parts diet, and the remaining ninety parts acupuncture!

The only way to dramatically increase physical strength in a short period of time is through acupuncture and medication!

Zhou Ran was actually somewhat resistant to this. Wasn't this just like nine dragons pulling a coffin? He didn't want things like testicles shrinking into raisins or souls ascending to a steroid planet!

However, after reviewing the information, Zhou Ran realized that he had underestimated the immortal cultivation techniques of this world. The side effects of acupuncture and medicine had been reduced to an acceptable level, and the cultivators' own metabolic capabilities were sufficient to expel the waste and toxins produced on the same day.

Low risk and high reward have led to acupuncture and medication becoming the optimal solution for improving physical strength, even among high school students.

Zhou Ran specifically asked Song Ci, and all the elite children had their own physical training programs. They improved their physical strength through a combination of intense acupuncture and medication, scientific physical training, and nutritious meals, with very significant results.

The only problem is that it's expensive; only elite families can afford it.

With Zhou Ran's current savings of 1.22 million, it's barely enough for one month's worth of procedures.

In a regular, non-members-only practice room.

Zhou Ran opened the package; it contained muscle-building and bone-strengthening medicine he had purchased online, a brand recommended by Song Ci.

Because of its excellent efficacy and high cost-effectiveness, this medicine is in short supply year-round. After placing an order, it took two full days to receive it.

Enter the password to open the safe. Inside are six vials of a pale golden liquid.

He picked up a vial and twirled it in front of his eyes. He could vaguely see tiny specks of light slowly sinking into the liquid, like stardust falling into amber—quite beautiful.

"The six vials of medicine cost 100,000 yuan. I hope you got a good deal."

The pang of heartache in Zhou Ran's heart was fleeting. Then she took a deep breath, took off her clothes, and revealed her slightly thin upper body.

The medication comes with a built-in ejector needle. As Zhou Ran aimed at the shoulder muscle and pressed the bottom button, the needle precisely pierced the muscle, and the medication was automatically injected into the muscle by compressed gas.

A sharp pain followed, like being stung by a wasp, but the pain only lasted for two or three seconds. Then, a burning sensation of power exploded from the injection site and spread wildly throughout the body.

Zhou Ran injected the remaining five vials of medicine into his body one by one. He felt as if he were being roasted over a fire, extremely hot, and immediately a layer of fine sweat appeared on his body.

"It's getting exciting!"

Zhou Ran felt every muscle in his body was roaring and screaming, clamoring to be released.

Blood surged through my veins like a tidal wave, my heart pounded like a drum, and the heat felt like it was about to explode from under my skin.

I have to vent.

Zhou Ran strode towards the weight room, pounced on the bench press rack, gripped the barbell with both hands, and pushed up with tremendous force.

One, two, three...

As the training intensifies, a strange, pleasurable sensation, both painful and exhilarating, spreads from the arms to the shoulders, and then from the shoulders throughout the entire body.

Before long, waves of tearing pain came over him. Zhou Ran was covered in sweat, gritted his teeth and persevered, his lungs were panting like an old bellows, and his mouth was full of the taste of rust.

But no matter how difficult it was, he never stopped to rest.

The body is like a piece of raw iron; only through repeated hammering and tempering can refined steel be extracted from ordinary iron.

Under the influence of the medication, the torn muscle fibers will be rapidly repaired and healed. As the process of tearing, rebuilding, tearing again, and rebuilding again continues, the muscle strength will become stronger and stronger.

Every painful tearing apart is the prelude to a more powerful rebirth.

Moreover, in addition to its muscle-building and bone-strengthening effects, this drug can also increase training efficiency several times over. Every extra workout within the drug's effective duration is a bonus.

Zhou Ran gritted his teeth and lifted the barbell again until he was completely exhausted, then stopped to rest for five minutes.

After the press comes the squat, after the squat comes the deadlift, after the deadlift comes the pull-up, after the pull-up comes the dumbbell fly...

The medicinal power within his body was like a never-ending engine, roaring and driving Zhou Ran to constantly train and break through the limits of his endurance.

Only his heavy breathing and the clanging of equipment remained in the training room.