In that instant. Fei Wei had already left the kitchen. Only faint, grumbling sounds could be heard: "Damn fat man. Always trying to snatch everything from me. Snatching my ranking in the Domain, and now even my disciple!"

The kitchen, which had been somewhat lively moments before, instantly fell into a deathly silence. Manager Hua glanced at Fei Wei’s vanishing silhouette in the doorway, then shifted his somewhat stunned gaze to Qin Fen.

This—Old Master Fei Wei of the Tianma Fitness Club—just left? Because of a few casual words from this young Lieutenant Colonel? Manager Hua swallowed hard. His usually calm and clear mind was suddenly throbbing with pain. How was he supposed to explain this to the Big Boss? A ringing telephone call interrupted Manager Hua's daze. He quickly answered. The Big Boss’s voice came through the line: "Take good care of the young man beside you. I know about the Fei Wei situation. It’s not your fault."

Beep beep. The call ended, leaving only the dial tone. Manager Hua swallowed again, his eyes now filled with extreme caution as he observed Qin Fen, who was lightly chuckling while examining the keys.

The Big Boss making a personal call to demand someone be looked after? Manager Hua had never dreamt such a thing could happen. Even when the Big Boss’s immediate relatives visited the fitness club, they never received such special treatment; they were usually told, "Treat everyone equally."

What in the world was going on today? Manager Hua desperately wanted to look out the window to see if the sun had truly risen in the west. Who was this young man before him—no, this young master—and what was his background that he could prompt a personal call from the Big Boss, along with a request for special attention?

“Excuse me,” Qin Fen broke the strained silence, “where is Mr. Fei’s safe located?”

“Oh?”

Manager Hua started, then quickly strode toward the exit, his deference deepening. “Mr. Qin, please follow me this way.”

Fei Wei’s private room was not large, nor was the decoration particularly luxurious. Upon entering, a faint, pungent medicinal smell struck the nose. This scent immediately reminded Qin Fen of Instructor Cook’s private quarters, which smelled exactly the same.

Manager Hua did not enter the room. The Big Boss had stipulated that within a radius of a certain distance outside the room, the space was to be considered Fei Wei’s exclusive personal domain.

The safe opened, revealing four special boxes, each about three inches square. Qin Fen felt a slight surprise; this was the first time he had encountered metal whose material he could not discern at all. Judging solely by the material, the contents within must be incredibly precious.

The first box opened, holding four golden elixirs, each the size of a small fingernail. A faint, fresh aroma emanated from them, stimulating a sense of appetite.

Qin Fen smiled. As expected of Mr. Fei, who pursued perfection in taste. If Instructor Cook had made these four elixirs, one sniff might make a person want to vomit, right?

[Limitless Elixir]

Engraved on the inner side of the metal box was a string of characters. This was standard practice for any apothecary after creating a medicine: instructions for consumption and explanations of efficacy.

In this day and age, not every tonic was beneficial when swallowed. Often, the more advanced the grade of the elixir, the more specific and demanding the conditions required for its use became.

[Limitless Elixir]: Can improve a martial artist’s physical aptitude to a certain extent. Consumption condition: must be in an environment below minus twenty degrees Celsius. While taking this elixir, the body must not circulate internal energy to resist the severe cold, not resist the heat generated by the elixir stimulating the body, and not move in any way. One must only remain seated quietly.

Improving a martial artist’s physical aptitude. Qin Fen’s arm, which could hold an object weighing a ton without the slightest tremor, trembled faintly for a moment.

Improving physical aptitude—since the rise of Ancient Martial Arts and New Martial Arts, the world of medicine had shouted this slogan for countless years, generating countless theoretical models, yet no one had ever conquered this seemingly insurmountable problem.

This subject was, in the medical field, arguably one of the most heaven-defying achievements possible. An improvement to a certain degree… Qin Fen sucked in a sharp breath. Even a slight enhancement to his body could lead to monumental changes in his future development. A minor improvement in a person's physical aptitude could shock the entire martial world.

In this world, methods for improving martial artists' physical aptitude were not entirely nonexistent. For instance, the supreme esoteric arts, the Tendon-Changing Scripture and the Marrow-Washing Scripture, were both secret treasures capable of improving physical aptitude to some degree.

However, such treasures could not be popularized; they also possessed extremely demanding prerequisites and cultivation conditions. Even if laid out before the world, the number of those capable of practicing them would be minuscule.

Gently closing the first box containing the shocking [Limitless Elixir], Qin Fen took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He wondered if any laboratories in the Federation had managed to create elixirs that could improve physical aptitude to some extent.

The massive Federation, with its countless personnel, made it difficult for anything to exist in complete singularity. Qin Fen carefully put away the [Limitless Elixir]. He supposed that even if someone could create such a thing, the production cost would be astronomical. Based on Instructor Cook’s description of Fei Wei’s personality, this master dearly loved creating mass-produced items; if something could be mass-produced, he wouldn't consider the consequences—he’d just hand it over to a factory immediately.

[Ice Cold Elixir] and [Extreme Fire Elixir]. Exclusive elixirs, suitable only for those cultivating cold Qi and Fire-Yang Qi respectively. Upon consumption, one enters seclusion to break through. If breakthrough is unsuccessful, cultivation level will still increase significantly. Environmental condition: must be buried in a deep pit of frozen earth with only the head exposed, or buried in scorching desert sand with only the head exposed. One must not break out of the earth before the elixir's effects dissipate, or the backlash could lead to dire consequences.

Qin Fen sighed inwardly. The better the medicine, the more restrictive the usage terms. However, these two elixirs seemed of little use to him, as he didn’t know any particularly good friends who specialized in cold or supreme Yang internal arts. “I wonder,” Qin Fen mused, stroking his chin, “does my revised internal art count as Supreme Yang?”

Putting the two boxes back, Qin Fen opened the third box: [Bone Regeneration and Skin Nourishment Elixir]. Primarily for treating broken bones and damaged skin. It included a large amount of high-quality nutrients and special materials to stimulate nutrient absorption.

Consumption condition: Before taking the medicine, one must finish three kilograms of bone broth made from cattle bone, pig bone, deer bone, and yellow goat bone within fifteen minutes. For the ten hours following consumption, the above requirement must be repeated hourly. During this time, the body will rapidly absorb nutrients for repair. The wound area will experience an itching and gnawing sensation akin to millions of ants biting. One must not touch the wound; one must endure.

[Internal Meridian Repair Elixir]. For treating internal organ damage. Consumption condition:

Qin Fen suddenly noticed that Mr. Fei seemed to have a peculiar affinity for the number four; every type of elixir he made came in a set of four. “Du Peng and Ji Zhen Xuan Yi could certainly use these,” Qin Fen murmured, gently stroking the surface of the metal box. This friend and this disciple, although recovering quickly in the hospital after the Recruit Competition, still had a long way to go before they could resume combat. Such elixirs were truly a timely blessing.

“It’s just,” Qin Fen worried, looking at the stringent consumption requirements, “if these two guys really get healed by the medicine, won’t they develop new problems from the excessive reinforcement?”

Qin Fen carefully placed all the elixirs into the dragon-patterned belt. Protecting medicines usually required special measures. He trusted that the belt provided by Zharota was by no means an inferior product regarding preservation effects. Seeing Qin Fen radiating contentment in the room, Manager Hua quickly stepped forward. “Mr. Qin, since this is your first time at Tianma Fitness Club, are you interested in touring our Martial Arts Hall? Judging by your hands, Mr. Qin, you must also be a martial arts enthusiast.”

The Martial Arts Hall? Qin Fen nodded repeatedly. On the official website of Tianma Fitness Club, besides the restaurant receiving a special feature, a significant amount of text was dedicated to the martial arts hall. Its importance, judging by the website, was in no way secondary to that of the kitchen and dining areas.

Having witnessed the methods of a thousand schools of boxing, Qin Fen was certain that in the massive city of Shengjing, there were definitely more than just the so-called Four Heavenly Kings. In this major center of politics and economy, it would be strange if it weren't filled with hidden masters.

Manager Hua cautiously led the way, feeling a bit uneasy himself. There were two people at Tianma Club who absolutely could not be provoked: Chef Old Master Fei, and the head instructor of the Martial Arts Hall, Wang Ying—a strange eccentric who might be even weirder than Old Master Fei.

Under normal circumstances, Manager Hua truly would have preferred not to take Qin Fen to tour the Martial Arts Hall. That woman’s personality was notoriously peculiar; she was certainly not easy to get along with.

However, the Big Boss had given explicit instructions to treat him well. Manager Hua dared not show the slightest negligence. The most distinctive part of the club—the Martial Arts Hall—had to be shown.

Thinking of that woman, Manager Hua felt a headache coming on again. He had met many people who were devout Buddhists, but few who showed such fervent worship for the Panchen Lama that they even earned the nickname "Panchen Bull."

If that were all, it wouldn't qualify as truly strange. The truly bizarre part was an action she once took that stunned everyone who heard of it: she rejected an invitation from the Sacred Martial Hall.

Since its inception, no one had ever refused an invitation from the Sacred Martial Hall, the pinnacle of martial arts glory. But she had done it.

When this woman independently created a movement technique called [Feathered Immortal Flight], the Sacred Martial Hall sent representatives to invite her, and she refused.

The Sacred Martial Hall was not lacking in talent; although the rejection of such an invitation was surprising, there was no retaliation or punitive action.

But not long after, this woman created another set of boxing techniques called [Night Lotus Flower]. Once again, the Sacred Martial Hall appeared before her, presenting reportedly generous terms for her induction.

The result? This eccentric once again said something to the Sacred Martial Hall—the holy ground in the eyes of all martial artists—that still reverberates with shock among every member of the Tianma Fitness Club:

"I’m not interested."