I Can See Experience Points

Chapter 24: Chapter 23: Why Is the Nanny Gone Again?

In his room, He Xiaotian held the secret manual titled *Iron Sand Palm* and was lost in thought.

An old saying goes: an inch longer is an inch stronger; an inch shorter is an inch more dangerous.

But this was a peaceful society. Carrying a dangerous weapon would get it confiscated, and you’d be detained and fined.

’Forget it. I’ll worry about weapon techniques later. At least if I’m bare-handed, the police won’t accuse me of carrying a dangerous item and arrest me for threatening public safety.’

Focusing his Spirit, he tapped lightly on the scan function.

[Ding! An incomplete martial art has been discovered. Would you like to spend 50 Experience Points to complete it?]

”Spend them.”

An invisible force erupted in his mind, swiftly sweeping over the *Iron Sand Palm* manual in his hand.

A moment later, the text in the upper-left corner of his vision changed.

[Experience Points: 3550

Functions: Scan

Martial Arts: Fire-refined Golden Body -/3000+ (Mastery: ... Expand↓), Iron Sand Palm - 0/50+ (Uninitiated)]

He Xiaotian didn’t hesitate and continued to upgrade it.

It instantly maxed out at 50/50.

A faint, tingling pain spread through his hands, but it was no different from a pinprick—certainly not enough to make him cry out.

[Experience Points: 3500

Functions: Scan

Martial Arts: Fire-refined Golden Body -/3000+ (Mastery: ... Expand↓), Iron Sand Palm - 0/50+ (Initiate).]

’Is that it? What a pathetic upgrade. I barely feel any stronger.’

He Xiaotian muttered to himself, but he more or less understood why.

The *Fire-refined Golden Body* was a relatively complete martial art, costing one hundred Experience Points. The *Iron Sand Palm* was incomplete, so it only took fifty Experience Points to restore it.

The next upgrade also cost fifty points.

”Upgrade.”

[50/50 to 100/100, Beginner -> Adept.]

[100/100 to 150/150, Adept -> Proficient.]

[150/150 to 200/200, Proficient -> Mastery.]

He Xiaotian spent five hundred Experience Points, and a series of notifications scrolled past in the upper-left corner of his vision as he upgraded *Iron Sand Palm* four times.

[Experience Points: 3000

Functions: Scan

Martial Arts: *Fire-refined Golden Body* -/3000+ (Mastery: ... Expand↓), *Iron Sand Palm* - 0/500+ (Mastery: ... Expand↓)]

’As expected. Once a skill reaches Mastery, the Experience Points required for the next level skyrockets. *Iron Sand Palm* isn’t as good as *Fire-refined Golden Body*, so the cost only a little more than doubled.

’But for *Fire-refined Golden Body*, the cost tripled directly! Based on my past experience with the system, this must mean a qualitative leap in power. I have to ask Mom for some money tomorrow and buy a few stalks of wild ginseng to replenish my energy.’

With such a huge upgrade, He Xiaotian didn’t think a single trip to a buffet would be enough to sustain him.

Besides, going once or twice already drew too much attention.

If he kept going back, never mind exposing himself, the restaurant owner alone would probably hire someone to get rid of him.

Did he really think restaurant owners were suckers?

According to the manual, this *Iron Sand Palm* originated from a martial arts eccentric from Turpan in the Western Regions during the Song Dynasty. This man lived in the Flaming Mountains for many years, where he created the Flame Divine Skill and the Iron Sand Palm. After coming to the Central Plains, he founded the Iron Palm Gang and became known as the Iron Grandmaster.

It combined the strengths of four freestyle combat techniques: chopping, piercing, striking, and pushing.

It was truly a first-rate palm technique for close-quarters combat.

He Xiaotian tapped the ”Expand↓” symbol, and a long description appeared.

[*Iron Sand Palm* - 0/500+ (Mastery: Strength greatly increased, equivalent to one ox. Palms become like forged iron, impervious to blades and unbreakable. First Form—Iron Ox Pushes the Mountain: Palm strikes with the force of a charging ox, delivering immense power. The force is as sharp as an ox’s horn, capable of shattering earth and splitting stone, destroying all in its path. Second Form—Iron Palm Splits Gold: The edge of the palm can chop with more sharpness than a steel blade. The fingertips can pierce with the force of a drill, able to penetrate a five-inch-thick steel plate.)]

’My Experience Points are amazing! I even learned the specific moves automatically.’

(Five inches = 12.7 cm).

That’s a steel plate nearly five inches thick.

The *Iron Sand Palm* gave him the strength of one ox. Adding the six from his *Fire-refined Golden Body*, he now had the strength of seven oxen in total.

Assuming one ox has the strength of 800 jin, and seven times eight is fifty-six.

Fifty-six hundred jin.

He was, without a doubt, a humanoid T-Rex, a superman who could tear apart wolves and tigers with his bare hands.

’Sigh, I wonder what level of ”special agent” I’d be considered now. It’s a shame Zhao Lei and the others were unconscious. Otherwise, I could have stayed at the slaughterhouse a bit longer to ask them some questions.’

In truth, He Xiaotian had considered establishing contact with Zhao Lei.

But he gave up on the idea as soon as he thought about exposing himself and attracting the attention of the ”relevant departments.”

It came back to the old saying: laying low and getting strong was the only way to go.

The world had changed, becoming completely unrecognizable.

All kinds of ghosts and Demons had come out to wreak havoc.

The only thing he wanted to do was acquire Experience Points and continuously improve himself.

And protect his family. That was all.

He had no delusions of being some novel’s protagonist, some chosen one destined to save the world.

How cringey would that be?

If the sky falls, the tall people will hold it up. ’Have faith in your country, young man.’

His mind swirled with all sorts of chaotic, even wild, thoughts.

He Xiaotian didn’t know how much time had passed before he finally managed to fall asleep.

Early the next morning, he heard voices talking in the living room.

”Where’s Xiaoyang?”

”Now that you mention it, I just remembered. Xiaoyang said she was going out to buy groceries yesterday at noon, but she never came back last night. It’s all my fault. I’ve been in such a panic with your brother being sick.”

The voices of his mother and aunt drifted into his ears.

He Xiaotian groggily got out of bed, and only came out after getting dressed.

”What’s wrong now? Don’t tell me something else has happened?”

His muttering immediately earned him an eye-roll from his mother.

”Hush, hush, hush! Don’t say such things! There’s a strange mood in Z County right now, don’t say such unlucky words.”

”Where are Dad and Uncle?” He Xiaotian asked with a yawn.

”They went to the paper mill. A special task force from the provincial capital is here. They were supposed to start investigating yesterday, but I heard they got held up by something else.”

’A task force? It couldn’t be a man and a woman, could it?’

”I’m not sure.”

His mother shook her head, indicating she didn’t know.

He Xiaotian, however, felt it was highly likely to be those two incredibly unreliable agents, Zhao Lei and Zhou Yun.

If he hadn’t gone to the slaughterhouse last night, those two idiots would have been long dead, with their colleagues burning paper money for them at a crossroads.

Now they were here to investigate the disappearance case? ’This is probably a lost cause!’

”Maybe Aunt Yang had a family emergency and went home?” He Xiaotian could only try to think of the best-case scenario, otherwise he felt he’d go crazy.

’I just risked my life to kill a Pig Grudge. If another monster, who knows what, shows up, my weak body really can’t take another beating like that.’

”Wait here, I’ll go make a call and ask.”

A while later, He Xiaotian came out of the bathroom after washing up and saw his mother’s grim expression.

”Did something really happen?”

”She didn’t go home. What do you think?”

”...”

’Damn my jinxing mouth!’

”I’m going to win five million in the lottery today! No, five hundred million!”

His words made his mother and aunt speechless with exasperation.

’What’s gotten into him so early in the morning?’

’One person is already missing from the house, and now this one’s lost his mind. I feel awful, I want to cry.’ℯ