Chapter Seventy-Three: The Ice Storage

Just as she took two steps forward, Fang Nian and Guo Ji's fists collided with a ferocious force. A muffled groan echoed through the air, and to everyone's astonishment, one of them was sent flying backward, a trail of blood spraying from his lips, crashing against the wall of the space.

It was only then that they realized, to their disbelief, that the one hurled away was not Fang Nian, but Guo Ji.

Guo Ji, blood streaming from his mouth, clutched his chest, coughing incessantly, staring at Fang Nian—who still stood in his punching stance—not far away, utterly incredulous.

Of course, Guo Ji wasn't the only one shocked; Duan Rui and the others were dumbfounded. They knew all too well the terror that was Guo Ji—the god of war of District 16, a man whose prowess was legendary.

Yet such a person had just been sent flying by an obscure Fang Nian. Whoever witnessed such a thing would find it hard to believe.

Jin Jinhui rubbed her sore eyes, her face a picture of disbelief.

"My goodness, Rui, who exactly is this Fang Nian? He's just too fierce! Not only did he beat you at the lecture today, but he just performed a high-speed life-and-death drama for us. Now he’s sent District 16’s god of war flying with a single punch... Wow, he actually looks kind of handsome now, doesn’t he?"

Xu Dong was equally incredulous.

"I really can’t believe my own eyes. Fang is just too strong—even Guo Ji isn’t his match. I’m floored. He cracks passwords, understands mechanical traps, organizes stories with flair, and now his martial prowess is off the charts. He’s a true genius, both civil and martial!"

Xiao Xueluan showed a hint of jealousy.

"Yeah, really, I’m impressed. Who said the fifth member was just a placeholder, who said the fifth member was useless? That’s all nonsense! The fifth member is incredible—he’s practically a phenomenon!"

Duan Rui’s heart was filled with pride; she had never been impressed by anyone, but Fang Nian’s strength had truly exceeded her imagination. For a moment, she stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

Fang Nian looked coldly at Guo Ji, who sat on the ground, stunned.

"Don’t think you’re invincible. There’s always someone stronger. Be a little more resilient—maybe then you’ll live longer."

With that, Fang Nian ignored Guo Ji and headed straight into the tunnel on the left.

Guo Ji gritted his teeth, watching Fang Nian’s retreating figure, unable to utter a word. Though deeply unwilling, he realized from their clash that Fang Nian possessed abilities he simply couldn’t match. That punch, though seemingly ordinary, contained a hidden force that was truly terrifying.

---

"I never expected him to look weak, yet to be a master of internal energy. I misjudged him indeed."

As Fang Nian disappeared into the tunnel, the others glanced at Guo Ji slumped against the wall, hesitating. If they followed Fang Nian, what about Guo Ji? Given his temperament, he would never follow Fang Nian. But if they followed Guo Ji, Fang Nian would be left alone, which didn’t seem right either.

Just then, Duan Rui crawled toward the tunnel Fang Nian had entered, speaking calmly to the others.

"You three go with Guo Ji. I’ll take this path."

Jin Jinhui was surprised, but quickly understood. Duan Rui was giving Guo Ji an out—after embarrassing himself in front of her and Fang Nian, he naturally wouldn’t want to face them. Now, with them gone, Guo Ji’s pride would be less wounded.

So Jin Jinhui nodded.

"Alright. You two be careful—I’ll look after things here."

Duan Rui nodded and followed Fang Nian into the tunnel.

Fang Nian crawled ahead, his expression calm, but internally his organs churned. After about a hundred meters, he couldn’t suppress a sweetness in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Wiping the blood from his lips, Fang Nian finally felt his breathing ease.

"Guo Ji is no joke—he’s also a master of internal energy. If I hadn’t broken through the fourth stage of the ‘Easy Muscle Sutra: Qi Transformation Chapter’ before coming in, and comprehended hidden force, I really couldn’t have stopped him."

Fang Nian coughed dryly twice, secretly delighted.

"I always thought that cultivating internal energy only increased lung capacity and stamina, and that there wasn’t much change in the body. But now I see that’s not so—the use of qi seems even stronger than physical strength. I’ll need to focus more on cultivating qi from now on. I wonder what kind of power I’ll gain after breaking through the final fifth stage. I’m actually looking forward to it."

Just then, Duan Rui’s voice sounded behind him.

"You really concealed yourself well."

Fang Nian turned to see Duan Rui, and smiled helplessly.

---

"Concealed? I nearly got killed by your cousin—what kind of temper does he have, attacking without warning?"

Duan Rui shrugged, smiling wryly. Fang Nian could only smile bitterly; he knew Duan Rui would follow him—given her emotional intelligence, how could she not understand the situation?

"What should we do next?"

"Keep crawling and see what big surprise your grandfather has arranged for us."

...

Fang Nian and Duan Rui continued crawling forward, soon reaching an exit. They climbed out, emerging from a ventilation shaft into what looked like a cold storage room.

They surveyed their surroundings and found themselves surrounded by frozen fresh ingredients—lobster, abalone, king crab, chicken, duck, fish, meat—almost everything imaginable, even many items Fang Nian couldn’t name. Each item was labeled with a code and stored on massive shelves nearby.

The abundance of ingredients made them feel a wave of hunger. Although their spirits had entered the hunting grounds, their bodies still felt hunger and needed food.

Looking at the ingredients, both were tempted, eager to feast, their eyes shining.

"Should we eat something first? Even if it’s raw, we could slice some sashimi—it looks really fresh," Fang Nian suggested.

Duan Rui was hungry too, but not enough to eat raw food. She reverted to her cool demeanor and rolled her eyes at Fang Nian.

"Let’s find a way out first. Otherwise, we might freeze to death here without an exit."

Fang Nian smiled awkwardly—she was right. The temperature in the cold storage, while not as terrifying as the ice ring, was still below minus forty degrees. Even with their strong physiques, it would be hard to endure for long. Getting out was the priority; once they found an exit, they could eat sashimi later.

So they began searching for a way out, and after circling the room, they were surprised to discover that the cold storage had only one door, which was now locked from the outside. The ventilation shaft they had just climbed through had also disappeared.