Cheng Qi, the principal, was silent for a while: "…In theory, that's the case, but maybe there will be exceptions."
Li Qinghong added some cold water: "Principal, it's been two hundred years since the New Era arrived, and such an exception has never occurred..."
The principal nodded in acknowledgment: "Yes. In fact, there are no exceptions."
"Initially, I didn't expect him to become a top-tier strongman. I brought him in because he has good character, he was strong-willed and serious, rational and bold, all to save the young Liuli."
"Indeed, his Comprehension Root Bone… it can't even detect the magnetic field fluctuations of high nuclear energy fusion. But with such character, isn't he the perfect candidate to be my successor?"
Upon hearing this, Li Qinghong came to a realization: "So the principal wants him to be the successor?"
"Yes. But judging from the current situation, Xu Ran's Comprehension Root Bone has surprised me a bit too much.
In the past three years, his Qi Blood Value growth rate has not been weaker than top geniuses! And look at his footwork during the fight just now, isn't it showing a bit of Body Technique in its embryonic form?"
Li Qinghong's eyes were full of admiration: "Yes. There is an embryonic form of Body Technique. That's quite outrageous!"
For a human child to touch the mysteries of Body Technique before the age of eight is simply impossible.
Because that relies on Cultivation Techniques, with Qi Blood circulating through the meridians, it's deadly damaging to a child's body!
But Xu Ran actually did it, and he didn't rely on Cultivation Techniques, purely using Comprehension, he paved his own way, without any negative impact on his body.
It's simply revolutionary!
The principal: "If there are more surprises with Xu Ran, maybe he'll be an exception."
Li Qinghong sighed slightly: "Actually, I'm not belittling Xu Ran, but regretting that he doesn't have a Golden Root Bone. If he had a Golden Root Bone, paired with top-tier Comprehension, he could surely become the strongest human on Blue Star in the future!"
The principal chuckled: "I thought I already had bold ideas, but I didn't expect your dreams to be even wilder…"
Li Qinghong: "..."
The two chatted for a while.
On the arena, Xu Ran, who had won a great victory, took off his gloves and looked down at a group of panda-eyed geniuses.
"Don't get too cocky next time, arrogance can get you killed. If you die, it's one thing, but if you drag your teammates down, you'll feel guilty for a lifetime. That's the most important philosophy of life."
Suddenly, Xu Ran turned into a teacher of philosophy, uttering a sentiment.
After saying that, he turned to look at Li Qinghong: "Teacher Qinghong, what class do we have today?"
"Class? You don't need to attend class, just do your own thing, just don't overtrain."
Xu Ran's eyes lit up: "No class, then can I go to the Library, mom?"
He needs to quickly grind out High-level Comprehension!
Otherwise, the perfection progress of those skills… grows too slowly!
His mom sighed: "..."
The current situation is that, whether to go or not, he already beat up the kids again, I feel embarrassed to stay here...
The atmosphere is quite awkward, isn't it? Look at the resentful expressions of those moms…
"Go, go, go to the Library…"
"Okay, mom."
Tiger Girl's mom: "Little Liuli, are you going? Go with Brother Xu to read books. Don't shout about fighting all day. You need to gain a bit of wisdom!"
"I'll pass for now, I'll go in a few days."
Tiger Girl refused, waiting until she's no longer bruised, she didn't want Brother Xu to see her looking awful.
"Alright, then we'll head over, Aunt Chen."
"Goodbye, Sister Liuli."
"Goodbye, Brother Xu."
Whether or not there's someone to accompany him, Xu Ran will focus on grinding progress, especially High-level Comprehension.
He must grind it out as fast as possible.
So he spent the entire day in the Library.
As an adult, Lin Qian was impressed by her son's resolve!
Coming at ten in the morning, sitting down on a bench, he didn't rest, finished one book after another, too lazy for lunch, she had to bring "take-out" from the cafeteria.
"Xu Ran, aren't you tired of reading?"
Xu Ran didn't lift his head: "Nope, mom."
Progress +1, Progress +1, Progress +1… Who gets tired?
It's like Cao Cao fell into a heroine's group—Doubling the satisfaction.
Lin Qian: "Your dad and I couldn't read when we were young. Now, look at you, definitely a result of genetic mutation!"
Xu Ran knew, at this moment he needed to provide emotional value to his mom: "When my dad was young?"
"Right, we were childhood sweethearts. Neighbors since we were little."
Xu Ran clapped his hands: "That's amazing!"
His mom opened up with a pile of funny anecdotes, sometimes really amusing, Xu Ran laughed along.
His mom got into it, talking excitedly non-stop.
Unconsciously, the sun began to set.
"Xu Ran, Mr. Sun has gone down. Time for dinner and heading home."
"Alright."
Xu Ran stood up, glancing at his progress.
[Reading Thousands of Books: 2550/10000...]
"The progress of High-level Comprehension is the hardest to grind, even with my understanding and focus, reading 50 books a day, it would still take 150 days to achieve High-level Comprehension..."
Xu Ran shook his head, put the books back, and left the Library with his mom.
On the way.
Suddenly, Xu Ran had a hilariously grand idea.
"Mom, let me try playing dead, see if I look convincing!"
As his words fell, he lay on the ground, motionless.
Lin Qian: "..."
Is he doing performance art?
"Get up, don't do such unlucky things. If you don't get up, I'll spank you!"
She threatened to hit him.
But Xu Ran lay stiffly on the ground…
To achieve a true death-like effect, he used an advanced Deceit skill, hiding not only his breathing and heartbeat, but even his body temperature dropped rapidly, like an authentic corpse.
Lin Qian: "..."
"Get up, dear son. If people see, they'll laugh at you…"
"Hmm?"
Lin Qian sensed something was wrong, quickly squatting down, grabbing Xu Ran's hand.
Feeling that icy temperature, Lin Qian shivered in fright.
"Breathing? Is there still breathing? Heartbeat?"
In a panic, she found Xu Ran's breathing and heartbeat stopped, making her frantic.
"Xu Ran, you're joking with mom, aren't you? Don't scare mom…"
[You are playing dead, and your act successfully deceives mom, triggering a new skill—Ordinary Playing Dead. (Promotion Sequence: Ordinary Playing Dead—Fake Death Illusion—Near-Death Resurrection—Unknown...)]
[Ordinary Playing Dead]: Your playing dead can deceive ordinary people.
[Fake Death Illusion]: You can mimic a corpse, lose heartbeat, lose breathing, and even emit a decaying stench.
[Near-Death Resurrection]: When you are about to die, you can enter a near-death state, preserving your life, and remain in a half-living, half-dead state until revival.
Hearing the notification sound, the filial son Xu Ran quickly opened his eyes and jumped up to explain to his mother.
"Mom, I'm fine, I told you I was just playing dead."
Lin Qian wiped her tears and angrily twisted Xu Ran a bit: "Is this how you scare your mother? You're really a filial son!"
Xu · Filial Son · Ran, shamelessly grinned: "I love you, Mom!"
"Love you!"
At this moment, it's time to shower her with affection.
Mom: "…Alright, no more being naughty like this in the future."
How could a mother blame her own son?
As long as her son is healthy and happy, she'd never blame him.
Xu Ran held his mother's hand tightly; he had no choice but to trick her.
After all, the second attempted abduction hadn't happened yet.
He needed to try crazily and work hard to cope with the second abduction attempt.
If he were really kidnapped, his mom would be the most worried and heartbroken!
Hmm…Thinking about getting stronger.
Xu Ran focused his mind on the brand new magical skills.
The Second Sequence [Fake Death Illusion] is extremely useful.
It can "lose" heartbeats and "lose" breathing.
Combined with the next sequence [Invisibility Skill] from [Mysterious Footwork], it becomes a perfect invisibility with no heartbeat and no breathing, right?
And if combined with the next sequence [Suppression Simulation] from [Beast Language Proficiency], it simulates the aura of alien creatures + perfect invisibility with no heartbeat and no breathing.
It's simply a divine skill for lurking and assassination!
Is it unbeatable?
It will surely come in handy in the future!
Analyzing this, Xu Ran was overjoyed, leisurely walking ahead of his mother.
Suddenly.
He saw some small purple flowers blooming in the flowerbed, hurried over to squat in the flowerbed, picked the prettiest bunch, and handed it to his mom.
"Thank you, Mom! Love you!"
Mom was dumbfounded, her eyes gradually moistening: "Thank you, baby."
Lin Qian hugged Xu Ran, stroked his head, smiling with tears.
At this moment, she felt like a fountain of honey had emerged within her, continuously overflowing with sweet water, making her feel ten years younger.
On their way to the cafeteria.
She held the bouquet tightly, her eyes filled with smiles and tenderness, looking at it over and over, smelling it again and again.
The flowers her son picked for her, even if they were roadside wildflowers, were so beautiful, so fragrant, surpassing all the rare varieties in the world!
…
After a fragrant dinner.
Xu Ran felt refreshed, after all, a meal increased his Qi Blood Value by 5 points!
Every day's progress is visibly noticeable.
How could he not be delighted?
…
Back home.
Mom found a bottle, carefully nurtured the flowers, and placed them on the windowsill in the room, cherishing them with many glances.
"So nice, the child suddenly became so sensible."
Mom hummed a song.
She took pictures and posted them on her friend circle, showing off in groups.
[The flowers my son picked for me~~]
It's not hard to predict that, for the next few days, Mom will spend them in pure joy.
After all, the flowers given by her son are too powerful for a mom!
…
On the other side, back home, Xu Ran rested for half an hour.
Then he started his night self-discipline mode - practicing darts in the courtyard.
Two and a half hours later.
Xu Ran looked at today's progress: +95 points.
Still 5 points short, which is ridiculous, it used to take just an hour and a half!
"Looks like I must strive for High-level Comprehension!"
"Ordinary Comprehension is still suitable for understanding the first half of the Second Sequence Skills.
But the progress to Perfection already equates to twenty years of hard cultivation for an ordinary cultivator.
To become more refined, it's not just mechanical repetition and practice that are needed, but comprehension!"
Xu Ran had a premonition.
If he achieves High-level Comprehension through hard work.
He will experience unprecedented improvement!
"So... in the coming period, I need to focus my main energy on High-level Comprehension!"
Thinking this, Xu Ran's hands didn't stop.
The darts flew out with a swoosh, precisely through the center hole of the target ring.
Ten points!
Ten points!
Ten points!
Bullseye every time!
At ten in the evening, Mom came out to inquire: "Little Ran, practicing so late today?"
"Just a little more practice. It'll only take a few more minutes."
Xu Ran focused, intensely staring at the target ring fifty meters away.
In the dark night, the originally faint target ring suddenly became clearly visible.
At the same time.
A crisp and pleasant notification sound rang in his mind.
Hmm?
Triggered a brand new magical skill?
"The life of a self-discipline maniac is indeed full of surprises!"
"I didn't expect the liver progress to slow down a bit, but unexpectedly I gained a huge surprise?! And this skill seems a bit different?!"
…
PS: If you have time, remember to give your mom a flower.