"Being able to take the citizenship exam doesn't mean you'll pass it."
"Failing the citizenship exam makes you just like the dropout you all laughed at yesterday—empty, living trash in the city."
"Tell me, who among you will become city trash?"
"Good, no one's talking. In these last three months, every second counts, no slacking off. Train as hard as you can until you can't go on."
"Especially with the Body Forging Exercise, everyone must practice it twice daily, making sure every move is perfect."
"I know many of you despise the Body Forging Exercise, think it's commonplace, and that's true."
"That's why it's an easy scoring question on the martial arts exam. If you want to pass the citizenship exam, you can't afford to lose points here. If you can't manage the basics, you might as well quit now."
"Now, everyone follow along with me."
The martial arts instructor, nearly 2 meters tall and well-built, stood at the center of the dojo.
His voice was rough and his tone aggressive, his almost unreasonable roar echoing through the martial arts dojo.
As he demonstrated, his eyes glared, scrutinizing every student, ready to shower them with harsh criticism at the slightest mistake.
This was always the most terrifying scene in Feng Mu's martial arts class, as frightening as being singled out to sing in music class in his previous life.
Before, there was a group of dropouts with him, but today he was alone, his twisted and awkward movements particularly noticeable.
As if amidst a gymnastics show, someone was dancing out of rhythm.
"Where on earth is this basic? Standing on one leg and doing a front split is supposed to be the simplest move—damn it, give it a try yourself."
"Alright, they can all do it. Maybe I'm the one who's lacking."
Feng Mu could feel the instructor's voracious gaze, making his face burn.
Thankfully, the instructor didn't chastise him, instead moving his gaze away.
Feng Mu was stunned: "Not worth wasting spit on trash, huh? Fair enough."
Feng Mu wasn't embarrassed or angry and chose not to contend with the instructor, slowing down his pace entirely, like an old man climbing stairs, his movements stiff and sluggish.
That way, Feng Mu could barely manage to make his positions a bit more standard.
Of course, others probably saw this as a total giving up by a complete failure.
Feng Mu, however, couldn't care less about the strange looks from others; he focused entirely on his stomach.
"The feeling of heaviness is diminishing—does the Body Forging Exercise speed up the digestion of the iron?!!"
Originally, Feng Mu was just trying to muddle through the two martial arts classes but unexpectedly made a discovery.
30 minutes later.
Gasping for breath, Feng Mu finished a set of the Body Forging Exercise, unintentionally curling the corners of his mouth into a smile.
He thought to himself, "It's really working. The stomach doesn't lie; it's shrunk a lot. The digestion speed has nearly doubled. Now, to fully accumulate 100% digestion of the iron, it only takes 50 days, given I practice the Body Forging Exercise for 20 hours a day. Hmm, it's doable."
"Hey, what are you smiling about? Performing like that, how do you have the nerve to smile? Have you no shame?" sneered a voice beside him.
Feng Mu skeptically turned his head to look; it seemed to be a student who got scolded the worst earlier, name unknown.
"He's probably pent up and looking for someone to vent on, and I'm the only one here more inept than him, the perfect target?"
Feng Mu, harboring the souls of two lifetimes, wouldn't cause a conflict over such trivial matters. He wasn't interested in arguing with such a fool.
"I can't compare to how amazing you are. I'm just happy I could complete it. Hmm, you did great; I'm sure you'll score high on the citizenship exam. Keep it up!" Feng Mu sincerely wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Unknown name: "….."
He praised me for being great and wished me good luck on the exam. Though he's terrible, he seems sincere; maybe I shouldn't mock him.
The unknown student felt something wasn't quite right, but couldn't pinpoint it, feeling like he punched a pillow, unable to release his anger, leaving more frustrated.
Feng Mu dismissed the fool and moved a few steps to the corner, starting the Body Forging Exercise once again.
This time, with his stamina somewhat depleted, he performed even slower, drenched in sweat as though in a sauna, soaking through his clothes.
Consequently, the digestion speed increased again.
From afar, a girl with high ponytail and heterochromatic eyes glanced shockingly at Feng Mu in the corner, murmuring, "This guy is clearly lousy but somewhat…"
Lower City didn't have black or green tea beverages, so she couldn't use any concise terms to describe this feeling.
…..
After two more rounds of the Body Forging Exercise, over an hour had passed.
Once the dojo was gradually empty, students heading to the cafeteria in groups, Feng Mu finally stopped.
He pressed his finger on his stomach, feeling the fullness clearly gone.
He judged that his stomach now had 3/10 of the space free.
2/10 was the digested Iron Beads, and 1/10 was the breakfast metabolized normally.
"Can I stop eating and just consume iron?" Feng Mu regretted eating breakfast and immediately decided to skip lunch and dinner.
After flexing his slightly sore muscles, possibly just his imagination, Feng Mu felt a chill in his bones, particularly around the xiphoid area, a cold seeping through the skin.
"Does digesting iron start by transforming bones?"
Since Martial Arts Body Refining begins with the skin and progresses to muscle, sinew, finally reaching bone, Feng Mu was a bit puzzled but didn't overthink it.
Exiting the classroom, he went down the stairs, walked to the first-floor restroom, opened the door and, after confirming no one was inside, climbed out the window.
Outside the first-floor men's restroom window were uneven shrubs and wild grass, chaotic and thick, perfect for concealing his movements, the path Feng Mu mapped out for his covert operations.
3 minutes later.
Feng Mu scaled the old route and entered the warehouse.
Landing quietly, he waited a full 5 minutes, ensuring there was no sound, before revealing himself from the wall's edge, slowly approaching the woman's corpse.
The body remained unmoved.
After fermenting overnight, the corpse had a slight stench, not overwhelming, masked mostly by the warehouse's damp, moldy smell.
Feng Mu moved on to the male corpse behind the wooden rack.
The male corpse also remained, lacking any transformation due to sinister ceremonies, and having been drained of blood and moisture, it wasn't even decomposing.
Darkly humored, Feng Mu mused, "The sacrificial rite didn't include full post-sale services, cleaning up the bodies, but at least they performed some preservation!"
This reduced a significant burden for Feng Mu's upcoming tasks.
As to how to handle the two corpses, Feng Mu had gradually come up with a plan from last night to now, like dissecting a math problem.
Problem:
Inside the room are two corpses, one you killed and one you didn't. How will you handle them?
Challenge 1: Dispose of only one or both?
Challenge 2: The Patrol Office may have already received a missing person report; time is critical.
Challenge 3: No experience for a first-time crime can't ensure a clean crime scene.
Challenge 4: Lacking physical strength, dismembering the bodies is too laborious.
Challenge 5: Only mode of transportation is a bicycle.
Challenge 6: Can't be absent from the sight of classmates, teachers, or parents for long periods.
Considering the challenges, only one solution remained!
…..