Secret Crush

It was two in the afternoon, and the core members' daily lesson had ended.

"Alright, everyone, let's gather here again at one tomorrow. Dismissed."

After Yao Juan announced the dismissal, the students bowed and saluted, quickly leaving without a single one lingering.

If it weren't for their families forcing them, how could they possibly waste their prime youth on this useless martial arts?

Only Su Ti remained in place, continuing to practice the Dragon Shape Five Forms.

"Su Ti, class is over."

Seeing that he wasn't leaving, Yao Juan reminded him.

Su Ti stopped his movements and nodded.

"I know class is over, but can I still use the training ground?"

Practicing the Dragon Shape Five Forms required some movements to be done on the ground, which needed a certain kind of space.

He definitely couldn't practice at home after leaving here, the space was too small. As for the park, there were too many people. Su Ti really didn't have any other place to go.

Seeing him so dedicated to martial arts, Yao Juan was also very happy.

"Of course you can. This training ground is provided for core students to practice. Our martial hall is open 24 hours a day. If you want to practice, you can do so here anytime."

"I'll be practicing next door. If you have anything you don't understand, you can come and ask me anytime."

Although her guidance time was only the one hour during class, facing a talented and dedicated student, Yao Juan was not stingy with her advice.

She instructed Su Ti that if he wanted to find her, he must knock on the door. Ancient Martial Arts had strict privacy rules. The Ancient Martial Arts she practiced could not be seen by any outsiders before being taught to others with her master's permission, not even by students of her own martial hall.

In the Ancient Martial Arts world of this world, secretly learning martial arts was a major taboo for a sect, one that would lead to a fight to the death. Therefore, Yao Juan had already warned students like Su Ti, who didn't understand the rules, beforehand. After all, if something unexpected happened and they were seen, it would be a big deal.

Furthermore, the Dragon Shape Five Forms that Su Ti learned today were absolutely not allowed to be spread outside. This was clearly written in the contract, and the consequences of spreading it were quite severe, definitely not as simple as just paying compensation as stated in the contract.

Not only did Su Ti learn Ancient Martial Arts today, but he also learned many rules of Ancient Martial Arts from Yao Juan.

For the rest of the time, he stayed in the martial hall, practicing the Dragon Shape Five Forms.

Practicing this martial art wasn't too tiring, but Su Ti found that he got hungry very easily.

Almost every hour he practiced, he had to go out and eat something, otherwise, he would be too hungry to bear it and would lose stamina.

Afterward, Su Ti found that for every hour he practiced, he could gain 0.1% proficiency in the Dragon Shape Five Forms.

This also meant that with his aptitude, it would take 1000 hours to cultivate the Dragon Shape Five Forms from beginner to minor accomplishment.

Even if he practiced martial arts for twelve hours a day, rested and ate for four hours, and slept for eight hours, it would still take nearly three months of cultivation.

Moreover, it was uncertain whether he could practice for 12 hours a day. High levels of fatigue could cause internal organs to fail. Su Ti's foundation was already poor, so he couldn't recklessly push himself for progress. He didn't want to end up practicing until he was peeing blood and had kidney failure instead of strengthening his body through martial arts.

Su Ti felt that practicing for six hours a day was already very difficult. The remaining time was needed for his muscles to rest and recover, as were his internal organs.

With his current 31% proficiency, it would still take four months to reach minor accomplishment.

"Four months for minor accomplishment, and I don't know how long it will take to reach major accomplishment. A conservative estimate would be several years."

Thinking this, Su Ti practiced the Dragon Shape Five Forms again, exhaling. This was likely just the introductory technique of the Dragon Gate Martial Hall. There would definitely be other, more difficult and time-consuming techniques later on.

After all, whether it was his previous life or this life, ancient or modern martial arts, skill was honed through time. This was correct.

Practicing in the coldest winter and hottest summer could wear down stone drop by drop and hit a target a hundred paces away.

Without the tempering of time and the accumulation of years, any technique was just a superficial skill. Only time could forge true gold and turn decay into wonder.

"Hoo."

Su Ti slowly withdrew his stance. By this time, the sky had darkened. Unknowingly, he had stayed at the Dragon Gate Martial Hall until night.

He took a sip of the bottled water he brought and checked the time. It was already nine o'clock.

He had stayed at the Dragon Gate Martial Hall for eight hours, spending all of it practicing except for eating, drinking, and resting.

His gain for the day was a 0.6% increase in proficiency, reaching 31.5%.

Looking at the proficiency line, Su Ti was not satisfied, and he even felt a faint sense of anxiety.

"This won't do. Although I'm working hard enough, time waits for no one. Relying on diligent practice, I definitely won't be able to gain enough strength to protect myself in a short time. And although Team Leader Liu recommended me to the Dragon Gate Martial Hall to learn martial arts, and Yao Juan waived my tuition, I haven't become a direct disciple of the Dragon Gate Martial Hall. I'm just a student who paid to learn martial arts. This relationship probably won't protect me."

With insufficient strength and no one to protect him, if Li Mingyuan were to make a move against him in a short time, Su Ti would be helpless.

As for going back to find Liu Xing and asking him to find a way?

Su Ti shook his head.

He could see that although Liu Xing was a deputy police captain, his status wasn't high. At least he was powerless against Li Mingyuan, the organizer of the underground black boxing matches. Recommending him to the Dragon Gate Martial Hall was already his best effort.

And asking Yao Juan for help?

Yao Juan had already waived his tuition, given him great help, and even pointed him to a clear path to become Long Yuanzheng's disciple. She had no relation to him, and being able to do this much was already very righteous. Therefore, after thinking it over, Su Ti felt it was best to rely on himself.

Thus, his gaze turned to the Crimson Martial Arts Modifier, or more accurately, the empty 0% energy below it.

Su Ti stared intently. Although he hadn't set an energy limit for his modifier, he assumed it was automatically installed by the modifier to adapt to the environment.

After all, if it could modify real martial arts cultivation, how could it not consume energy?

But this energy, once consumed, where could it be replenished? It should at least provide an explanation!

At this time, because the modifier's energy was completely depleted, the '+' sign for Dragon Shape Five Forms also disappeared.

To quickly improve martial arts, energy is needed, but because the modifier was too simple and didn't indicate where Su Ti could obtain energy, the top priority was to figure out the energy source.

After greeting the front desk and asking them to inform Yao Juan that he had left, Su Ti walked home with his small bag containing his martial arts uniform, thinking about this problem the whole way.

He walked very carefully, always taking the main roads and avoiding deserted alleys.

First, he ruled out getting energy from eating. He had eaten so many meals today, but he hadn't seen even a trace of extra energy.

"Could it be elemental energy, like fire or electricity?"

Thinking of this, Su Ti immediately went to the roadside and bought a lighter.

He used the lighter to burn his hand and then took apart a motor to shock himself a few times. Su Ti confirmed that energy acquisition had nothing to do with these two things.

After returning home, he ate and slept, and the night passed without incident.

In the following days, besides practicing martial arts, Su Ti also kept searching for the source of the modifier's energy.

He conducted, but was not limited to, the following experiments.

Biological energy: Drinking high-energy products such as chocolate, candy, etc. He even suspected it was cellular energy obtained from living things, and he even squatted at a slaughterhouse just to drink a mouthful of freshly killed pig blood. He even endured the nausea and ate a few grasshoppers and other insects raw, but he gained nothing.

Elemental energy.

Su Ti had carefully considered the electricity and fire from the lighter last time, thinking the power might be too low. For this, he specifically bought a self-defense stun gun online and also used the gas stove fire to burn himself and the ice from the refrigerator to chill himself, but none of it worked.

High-energy radiation.

Regarding this, Su Ti specifically went for an X-ray, wanting to use the radiation generated by the X-ray machine to experiment if it could enhance the modifier's energy, but it also ended in failure.

Plant energy.

He messed up all the flowers in the community and the park, but it was useless.

After several days of experiments, he had no clue at all, and Su Ti was also very troubled.

Just then, he suddenly received a call from his university roommate that evening, inviting him out for skewers. Su Ti readily agreed, just treating it as a way to relax.

Su Ti had three roommates in university, all locals, and they all came for the skewers this time.

The location was an outdoor barbecue stall they often frequented, very close to Mingguang University where Su Ti studied.

Su Ti was the last to arrive. When he got there, he saw his three roommates sitting on small stools at a low table.

"Old Su, damn, long time no see. Our Mingguang F4 is finally reunited."

Before he even walked over, a big guy stood up. With a height of 1.85 meters and a body full of muscles, he gave Su Ti a bear hug.

"Old Zhao, are you trying to strangle me?"

Su Ti pushed the person away in annoyance. This big guy looked mature, like a socialite, but he was actually the same age as him.

This person was named Zhao Xu, a local. His father taught at the same school as Su Ti's father and was also a teacher, but he taught sports.

It was fate. Their fathers already had a good relationship, and the two of them were assigned to the same school and the same dormitory, so they naturally became very close.

After Su Ti sat down, the other two roommates also started talking.

"I heard from Old Zhao that something happened to you recently. What's going on?"

The person speaking was a refined man with glasses named Yao XiaYu. While speaking, he had already wiped Su Ti's bowls and chopsticks with a tissue and set them up. This guy was a Virgo, very meticulous, and was recognized as the "old mother" of the dormitory.

"Huh?"

Su Ti turned his gaze to Zhao Xu, who pouted.

"Don't look at me. We agreed to play basketball a few days ago, but you stood me up. I couldn't reach you, so I asked my dad to contact your family. Later, I learned from my dad that something seemed to have happened to your family."

The fatty next to him shrugged and said.

"That's right, brothers were afraid of bothering you these past few days, so we're only inviting you out now. If you need anything, just say so. We'll help if we can, don't hide anything."

This fatty was named Hu Rong. He had squinty eyes and looked like a cunning villain, but he was actually very loyal.

On the third day of enrollment, because Yao XiaYu had a conflict with the class next door during military training, the fatty was the first to act and was even disciplined for it.

As soon as Hu Rong said this, Yao XiaYu and Zhao Xu both turned their gaze to Su Ti. Their dormitory had a very close relationship, advancing and retreating together. If a brother was in trouble, they would naturally lend a hand.

Su Ti picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth, saying casually.

"It's nothing big. You know about that underground black boxing murder case in our city recently? I was kidnapped a few days ago."

"Ah?"

"Ah?"

"Ah?"

Seeing their astonished expressions, Su Ti laughed, opened a bottle of beer, and began to recount the process.

From when he was captured, to him single-handedly breaking out, killing his way out to call the police, he told the story vividly, like an urban soldier king fighting against evil forces.

Anyway, he was there to relax, so he naturally did whatever felt comfortable.

Only the other three listened to the end with expressions that said, Are you f**king kidding me?

Seeing the three of them with such expressions, Su Ti laughed heartily.

"Alright, alright, the truth is, I was captured, and then rescued by the detective before they even took off my hood."

As soon as he said this, the three of them immediately scoffed.

"Why didn't you just say so earlier? Solo dismantling a group? Are you even worthy?"

"Exactly, who doesn't know who? With your limited abilities."

"Alright, alright, let's celebrate your successful escape. Cheers."

"Cheers."

The four of them clinked their glasses, and after a gulp of wine, the conversation flowed freely.

Although they knew Su Ti was bragging about solo dismantling a group, his capture still greatly piqued their interest.

"What did the person who captured you look like?"

"Didn't see clearly, they were all wearing masks. I was delivering food at the time, and as soon as they covered my mouth, I didn't know anything."

"You're really lucky to be alive. I saw the news, many people who were captured died. Did you know, they were beaten to death, some of their heads were flattened, even exploded."

Yao XiaYu clicked his tongue and shook his head, looking horrified.

Hu Rong snorted coldly.

"Exactly, those underground black boxing people are inhumane. Once they're on stage, they're beasts, fighting each other for the rich to watch."

Zhao Xu also said seriously.

"But that's others. If it were me, hehe, let's not talk about whether they could capture me, even if they did, I'd win on stage. What black boxer has biceps like mine?"

Saying that, he showed off his strong arm, looking self-satisfied.

Hu Rong picked up some food with a speechless expression.

"Oh please, no matter how big you are, you're just a big sandbag. Haven't you heard of a pig winning against a butcher just because it's big? I think, Old Yao is right, Su Ti is really lucky this time."

As he spoke, he looked at his phone, muttering.

"It's this time, they should be here."

Su Ti casually asked.

"Who else did you invite?"

"Your crush."

"Pfft!"