Brother has left, but the legends about him remain.

"I really want to study you."

Although it had been a week since Li Dan Niu single-handedly subdued forty New Humans, every time Robert saw him, he couldn’t help but say those words.

"Why don’t you try tying me to a hospital bed?"

Li Dan Niu was cooperating with Carl for some tests. Over the past week, Carl’s physical fitness had improved dramatically, and, with proper nutrition, had doubled his previous stats.

Here, 'physical fitness' referred to a comprehensive index—far more professional than those fitness scams like body fat percentage.

Body fat percentage is the ratio of fat content to total body weight. For ordinary people, it’s around thirty percent; for professional athletes, it’s below ten percent.

Li Dan Niu had read reports that athletes like Jordan and Ronaldo had body fat as low as five percent. Bruce Lee’s was said to have reached a staggering three percent.

If one simply calculated body fat percentage, Carl’s was now at five percent.

Of course, body fat alone doesn’t represent physical fitness. The comprehensive index Robert used was much more professional, including strength, speed, reaction time, endurance, and other metrics.

Carl’s previous test score was six—what only rigorously trained professional soldiers could achieve. Ordinary people scored four. Carl now scored twelve.

"I feel like your index is just like a fighter jet in a game—strength, speed, all those stats, just like game characters," Li Dan Niu remarked as he recorded Carl’s test results.

"Uh, rumor has it the guy who designed this system was a gaming enthusiast," Robert replied awkwardly. He wasn’t the originator; it was a system used by certain US military special forces.

"Alright, forget I asked." Li Dan Niu was curious to see what his own test results would be.

"Do you want to try?" Carl no longer talked about waiting to finish his enhancements before competing with Li Dan Niu. He now knew that even after full enhancement, he might not be able to beat Leviel, let alone someone who had disarmed nearly forty people at once.

"Why not." With only one day left before leaving this world, Li Dan Niu wanted to know his current combat strength.

Following Robert’s instructions, Li Dan Niu, without using his internal energy, completed the entire test suite. The result was seven.

Robert and Carl couldn’t believe it. Abel’s current stats were sixteen—four times an ordinary person’s. Most New Humans exceeded ten. Li Dan Niu had faced forty New Humans, including Leviel, whose stats might even surpass Abel’s. How could his score be only seven?

"Were you holding back?" Robert looked at Li Dan Niu, full of disbelief.

"Not at all. Absolute full effort," Li Dan Niu replied. He had indeed given his all, but only used physical strength, not internal energy.

"Then how could your speed be so fast?"

"And your strength so great?"

After posing their questions simultaneously, Carl and Robert exchanged glances and asked in unison, "How could your voice be so loud?"

"I told you, I know Kung Fu—Chinese Kung Fu," Li Dan Niu shrugged indifferently.

"Don’t try to fool us. We all know Chinese Kung Fu. Bruce Lee is my idol, but even he couldn’t do what you do," Robert’s face was still full of skepticism. He pondered, then asked, "Have you mutated?"

"Mutated?" Li Dan Niu laughed. "Only the poor rely on mutation. I’m a man with jewelry worth hundreds of millions of dollars."

Robert scoffed, "Bah, who knows how much the dollar has depreciated. Your jewels and diamonds aren’t worth as much as an equivalent weight in ammunition."

I never said I’d use them in this world, Li Dan Niu thought. Seeing Robert and Carl persist, and since he was about to leave, he decided to leave behind a legend.

"You two stand still."

Li Dan Niu walked over, placed his hands on their shoulders, and channeled a thread of internal energy along their meridians.

"My God, what is this?"

Robert and Carl felt the energy flow from Li Dan Niu’s hands into their bodies, and exclaimed in astonishment.

"Do you know Doctor Strange?"

Li Dan Niu withdrew his hands. "This isn’t a thing—no, you can’t call it a thing. And Robert, you’re a fan of comic books, right? Doctor Strange is a Marvel character, isn’t he?"

"Just get to the point! What is going on?" Robert and Carl grabbed Li Dan Niu’s hands, agitated.

"Don’t be like this—I don’t like men."

Li Dan Niu shook them off and began to weave a legend.

"When I was a child, because of my parents’ work, I often played in Chinatown. In an antique shop there, I met an old man. He said I had extraordinary bones, a martial arts prodigy destined to maintain world peace. So he taught me a type of Chinese Kung Fu called ‘Buddha's Palm.’

"I believed him and devoted myself to practicing this Kung Fu, but gained no special powers—just a slightly better constitution. So I chose a career in sports.

"It wasn’t until I was bitten by a Night Demon and Robert vaccinated me that I had a dream. The old man appeared again and told me: the time to maintain world peace had come. When I awoke, I discovered a mysterious energy within me—the highest realm of Chinese Kung Fu: Qi!"

As he spoke, Li Dan Niu walked to the strength tester, channeled a layer of internal energy—without using special Tai Chi techniques—wrapped his fist in it, and struck the board.

Bang!

The instrument’s readings shot up, and at their highest, smoke drifted from the device.

The thick pad covering the steel plate was blown open, exposing the steel beneath, and the steel bore a fist mark an inch deep.

"Teach me! You must teach me!" Carl suddenly knelt before Li Dan Niu. "I know, in China, you must bow to your master to learn. Master, please accept your disciple’s bow!"

Robert, less emotional than Carl, was deep in thought. He’d been led into a dead-end by Li Dan Niu. Was this power called Qi due to 'Buddha's Palm,' the virus, or the vaccine? Perhaps all three were indispensable?

"Do you know Chinese?" Li Dan Niu had already decided how to refuse Carl’s request.

"Chinese? Does that matter?" Carl barely managed English, let alone Chinese.

"Of course it matters. Without Chinese, you can’t master this power. All Kung Fu is written in manuals," Li Dan Niu remarked, pondering if he could moonlight as a Chinese language ambassador.

"Then translate the manual! Into English!"

"Do you know spells?" Li Dan Niu hadn’t expected Carl to pivot so quickly, but he had a way to respond.

"Even a syllable’s error makes a spell fail. Moreover, Chinese Kung Fu requires years of cultivation—you can’t change a single word. Besides, the cultures are different; English can’t fully capture the profundity of Chinese. Not only must you learn the language, but also Chinese culture and lifestyle."

"You’re lying! I believe you speak Chinese, but how could you know Chinese culture? If you were as skilled as you claim, you wouldn’t be in sports. Any university would want you as a professor!" Carl, knowing he couldn’t reach Li Dan Niu’s level, tried to prove he was lying.

Honestly, I’m not lying, Li Dan Niu sighed, reciting in Chinese: "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name..."

Then he switched to English: "This is the Tao Te Ching, China’s classic. Any Chinatown bookstore will have it. If you ever understand its true meaning, you’ll be able to master my power."

Carl didn’t understand, but he knew this was a formidable challenge. Americans are used to shortcuts, always seeking scientific explanations, so he wouldn’t let go.

"I don’t care, teach me Chinese, teach me the manual. Robert, do you want to see the manual?"

Robert finally emerged from his dead-end, nodding furiously. "I want to learn! We’re brothers. All my prized bacon was served for you, so you can’t keep secrets!"

What logic is that? Your almost expired bacon versus my Nine Yang Divine Skill?

"Alright, I’ll write out the manual. If you ever meet a Chinese person, show them, and let them teach you Chinese."

"Why can’t you teach?"

Li Dan Niu smiled. "I’m leaving."

"Leaving? Where? When will you return?"

"I’m going to search for someone important to me. Maybe I’ll never return."

Carl thought Li Dan Niu was just making excuses to avoid teaching, since this world was a wasteland—where could he go?

"What if I don’t learn?"

Li Dan Niu shook his head. "It’s not about that. I always wanted to find her, but knew it was futile. Now, things are different: we have the vaccine and enhancement drugs, so I must search for her."

Robert, seeing Li Dan Niu was serious, fell silent for a while before saying, "Tarek, forgive me for being blunt, but it’s been three years. She may not be here anymore."

"Perhaps, but still, I must try," Li Dan Niu smiled, then asked, "You aren’t hesitating to give me the vaccine and enhancement drugs, are you?"

"I’m damn afraid you’ll never come back!" Robert shouted.

Li Dan Niu recalled romantic movies, and, with a touch of gravity, said, "Robert, if your wife and child might be alive somewhere in this world, would you go?"

Carl knew he couldn’t interject, but seeing Li Dan Niu touch Robert’s sore spot, he became worried for him.

Robert gave no response, silently turned, and took out a suitcase, placed three doses each of vaccine and enhancement drugs inside, then added a USB drive.

"The USB contains the formulas for the vaccine and enhancement drugs," Robert said, then strode out of the medical bay. When Carl tried to stop him, Li Dan Niu pulled him back.

Robert paused at the door. "When you leave, don’t say goodbye."

Seeing Robert leave alone, Carl complained to Li Dan Niu, "You know that’s the last thing he wants to talk about. Why bring it up?"

"He must face it, and without a push, he might never realize that the dead can’t return," Li Dan Niu replied, turning to Carl. "Anna won’t wait for him forever."

"Anna is mine," Carl muttered.

"Ha, do you still want the manual?"

Manual? Carl’s eyes lit up. "I was joking—Anna belongs to Robert. If anyone in this base dares challenge Robert for Anna, they’ll answer to me."

Li Dan Niu fetched pen and paper, and carefully wrote out a weakened version of the Nine Yang Manual, akin to how Guo Xiang and Zhang Sanfeng had interpreted it into Emei and Wudang versions in the original 'Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre.'

Even weakened, this martial art was extraordinary. Both Emei and Wudang considered their versions as school-defining internal arts.

Li Dan Niu simply wanted to leave a seed in this world. By writing it in Chinese, he hoped it would benefit Chinese survivors here.

Why leave it with Americans? In a world where transportation had collapsed, he couldn’t cross the Pacific to reach China in three months.

Besides, seeds—even cast in cracks—will one day sprout and grow into towering trees.

If this seed died prematurely, blame the heavens.

Li Dan Niu imagined returning someday to see what this world would become with enhancement drugs and internal martial arts.

Having finished the manual, he signed his name.

He handed it to Carl, then began packing—diamonds and jewels, vaccines and enhancement drugs, and two large-capacity hard drives with identical contents, wary that after returning, files of music, novels, movies, and comics might be corrupted.

With strict system limits on carrying volume, Li Dan Niu reluctantly left behind some less valuable jewels.

"System, can you give me storage equipment in the next movie world?"

"Travel is random. Your gains in the movie world depend only on your efforts. The system cannot provide assistance."

"So you mean you could help?"

"No comment."

Li Dan Niu sighed. With a day and a night left, he decided to do more for the base and for Robert and Carl.

He mobilized all hunting squads. At every Night Demon nest he’d previously scouted, he would rush in alone, knock out all the Night Demons, then let the squads bind and bring them back.

As a result, before Li Dan Niu left, he indeed left behind legends—two, in fact.

The first legend was of a man who, in a day and a night, knocked out over three thousand Night Demons, overwhelming the squads’ ability to bind and transport them. This legend was believed only by the survivors at Robert’s base—until one day, a second legend emerged.

This second legend had yet to show signs, but soon it would sweep the world irresistibly, as foreigners everywhere began to pursue Chinese survivors, learning Chinese language and culture.

Because a man named Li Dan Niu left behind a power called 'Buddha’s Palm.'

Yet, every Chinese who saw the manual preferred to call it 'Nine Yang Divine Skill.'

So, what was this power actually called?

The whole world agreed: it was Chinese Kung Fu.