Longde Food

Shu Han looked Chen Chuan over. Standing there, Chen Chuan was tall and handsome, with clear eyes. Shu Han couldn't help muttering to himself, This kid certainly looks the part.

He reminded him, "Junior Chen, be careful. I specialize in close-range striking, and I've mastered techniques you haven't yet."

Chen Chuan nodded. It was his first time meeting Shu Han, so he had no idea what the man was thinking. Whether revealing that information was meant to confuse him, he couldn't say. But regardless of what kind of opponent he faced, he would fight according to his own rhythm.

After considering it, he said, "I don't have any particular specialty. My physical conditioning is probably just a little better."

"Physical conditioning?"

Shu Han nodded with unusual seriousness.

That, he believed. From the information he had received, Zhong Wu had supposedly been beaten so badly his brain was nearly pulp. He was only alive because of medicine keeping him going. The academy did not allow him to die for the sake of its reputation, but he was practically a vegetable already, with no hope of waking up.

With Zhong Wu's build, for Chen Chuan to inflict that kind of damage barehanded was impossible without a certain degree of strength and skill.

After settling things, the two clasped fists in greeting, then stepped back several paces and prepared to begin.

Shu Han cared about appearances. As a senior, he naturally would not take the initiative to attack. He extended one hand, assumed a polite opening stance, and waited where he stood.

Chen Chuan did not stand on ceremony either. If Shu Han would not come to him, then he would go over. He strode forward in large steps.

Shu Han was not tall. Seeing Chen Chuan march straight toward him, he immediately felt a sense of pressure. If he dodged now, Chen Chuan could follow up. Though the space was large enough for him to evade, that would look too unsightly. As a senior, he had his pride too. So instead of retreating, he tucked his body in and darted forward a step.

Chen Chuan saw Shu Han blur, then suddenly appear before him. It felt jarringly abrupt, as though he had not needed to exert any force at all to get there. Chen Chuan immediately realized that Shu Han had used some sort of technique.

When people fought, they made prior judgments about where strikes would land and where their opponent was positioned. If the opponent was not where expected, their rhythm could immediately be thrown into disorder.

Under these circumstances, Shu Han was very likely about to grab and throw him. The best choice would have been to leap back and lower his center of gravity, but that might also have been exactly what Shu Han wanted him to do.

So Chen Chuan did the opposite. Rather than retreating, he advanced. His feet stamped forward in rapid succession, his center of gravity pressed ahead, and he surged forward with force. A harsh scraping sound that made one's teeth ache rang out from the floor as he used a move from the Great Unrestrained Hands: Mountain Crash Body! This move relied on the attacker's physical advantage to forcibly smash through the opponent's stance while charging forward. One force could overcome ten techniques; no matter how exquisite a move was, it ultimately depended on strength. Without it, the move was useless no matter how it was employed.

Shu Han had indeed intended to wait for Chen Chuan's reaction. If Chen Chuan had been deceived by his movement and shifted his center of gravity backward, Shu Han could withdraw his hand and make Chen Chuan's force fall into empty space. Then he could easily seize Chen Chuan by the head and end the match directly.

But then he realized something was wrong. He suddenly felt an irresistible force crash into him. He could not keep his footing at all and was sent flying sideways by the impact. Yet after being knocked away, he rolled with the momentum and sprang back to his feet in one motion, looking completely unharmed.

Shen Shao said, "Little Shu, you lost. If Student Chen had kept pressing forward just now, you wouldn't have been able to win."

Shu Han fell silent for a moment, but he was quite straightforward as he admitted, "Yes, Student Chen. You won."

Chen Chuan shook his head. "Senior was holding back."

That was not mere politeness. He had sensed an extremely subtle movement from Shu Han at the end, but Shu Han had immediately stopped himself. Chen Chuan guessed it was probably some injuring technique, but since this was only a spar, Shu Han had not used it.

This victory was only a sparring victory. In a life-and-death fight, the outcome would not have been so clear-cut.

Shu Han became much more courteous then. "Junior, you haven't eaten yet, right? I'll take you there."

"Hey, I haven't eaten either. Take me with you," Shen Shao called out.

Shu Han jabbed at him, "You've got legs. Do you need someone to take you?"

Shen Shao said with a shameless grin, "Someone else can refuse you, and you can refuse them in turn. But why can't you take me along just because I have legs?"

Shu Han immediately felt his fists harden again.

Chen Chuan laughed to himself. He then took the elevator downstairs with the two of them. Along the way, he explained why he had not come that morning. When they heard he had gone on an external assignment, the two exchanged surprised looks, but neither said anything. They merely looked at him meaningfully.

Wuyi Academy's main cafeteria was located on the southwestern side of the campus. This was because Class B Students made up the largest group, and the places where they studied were all in the old building district.

As for food, apart from recommended students having their own private chefs, Class A Students and Class B Students all ate together, though there were still distinctions within the cafeteria itself.

After the three entered, they headed straight into the dining lane for Class A Students.

Just then, the cafeteria broadcast suddenly came on, and a gentle, calm female voice sounded from it:

"Longde Food has cast aside the inherent rigidity and constraints of food, broken through traditional concepts, and given food a completely new form of expression and interpretation. Longde's philosophy is to return food to its most primitive state..."

"The primary ingredient used in our food is Fu Neng Algae—high quality, high content, easy to digest and absorb, providing balanced nutrition and all substances essential to the human body..."

Chen Chuan saw that some people in the cafeteria wore numb expressions, while several obvious freshmen sighed and said, "Here it comes again." More people acted as if they had not heard it at all.

"...Longde Food employs strict sterilization measures and fully sealed management, eliminating the drawbacks of contaminants from the outside world. The safety issues of traditional diets have been resolved. Longde Food can be preserved for more than one hundred and fifty years in extreme temperatures..."

Shen Shao said with a smile, "First time hearing it, right? We Class A Students have it easy. We only need to hear it once every time we eat. Over in Class B, it loops nonstop, and you can't even leave. Either pay for your own meal delivery or come over here to eat."

Chen Chuan thought about it and said he understood. Hearing it for the first time was fine, but hearing it every day was practically brainwashing. Still, he knew the academy's Nutrient Paste was supplied free of charge by this company, so advertising every day was not overly unreasonable.

The three arrived inside the cafeteria and chose a table for four near the edge. Shu Han took out a clipboard menu with a pen attached from beneath the table and pushed it over. "Order whatever you want. Everything on the list is provided free of charge. If you want a special flavor, the cafeteria can make that too, but it'll cost extra."

Chen Chuan did not stand on ceremony. He took it and checked off several items with the pen. He was not a picky eater anyway; he could eat anything. After Shu Han and Shen Shao made their selections as well, they tore the order slips off the top and handed them directly to the student waiter who came over.

Chen Chuan looked around and found that although it was mealtime, there did not seem to be many people.

Shen Shao smiled. "Junior Chen, don't be fooled by the fact that there are more than two thousand additional students this semester. Fewer than two hundred passed the second examination, and that's already far more than in previous years. How many were there in past years? At the lowest, forty or fifty. At the most, seventy or eighty. This year, the number has doubled. I heard it even has something to do with you."

Chen Chuan was somewhat surprised. "Me?"

Shen Shao leaned forward slightly and stared at him. "It's because of you. You know? After word got out that you took down Zhong Wu that day, many of the people responsible for testing students no longer dared to be too ruthless. They were afraid that if they pushed too hard, someone like you would appear again and beat them to death or cripple them."