Junior Brother, You Scared Me

Chapter 31: Junior Brother, You Scared Me

Maintaining the standing posture of the Hibernating Dragon Art, Xue Jing remained utterly still.

With each breath, countless hidden nodes within his body were continuously stimulated. If all these nodes were connected by a single line, their shape would resemble a true dragon lying dormant.

As time passed, Xue Jing felt his flesh begin to burn and itch, as though countless needles were pricking him. His blood and vitality circulated rapidly through his body, producing faint sounds like a babbling stream.

After only half an hour, he was drenched in sweat. Nearly scalding vapor streamed from his nose and mouth, and the nodes within his body not only itched and burned, but gradually began to ache with swelling pain.

Xue Jing's breathing involuntarily faltered. He immediately lost the Hibernating Dragon Art posture and collapsed into a seated position on the floor, breathing heavily as he sank into a state of oxygen deprivation, as though his lungs had been wrung dry.

You performed a Hibernating Dragon Art stance training session. Fitness experience +98

You performed a Hibernating Dragon Art stance training session. Moving Strength experience +89

Xue Jing opened his panel for a look and could not help but feel delighted.

Just half an hour of Hibernating Dragon Art stance training had earned him 98 Fitness experience and 89 Moving Strength experience at the same time! Not only was it twice as efficient as working out directly at the gym, it also granted Moving Strength experience alongside it! "Good, good. On your first attempt at the Hibernating Dragon Art stance, you managed to last this long. Just as I thought, you're perfectly suited to the Hidden Dragon Style."

Li Qi sat in his wheelchair, sighing happily.

"Among the direct disciples besides you, the one with the best physical talent is your Senior Brother Meng Bo Shang. When he first practiced the Hibernating Dragon Art stance, he lasted twenty-three minutes."

"You lasted ten cen... ten minutes longer than him."

Xue Jing: ""

Ten what? Say that again.

"How is it? Have you thoroughly memorized all the specific steps of the Hibernating Dragon Art?"

Li Qi asked.

Xue Jing caught his breath for a while, closed his eyes to think it over, then nodded.

"I've remembered them all. Thank you, Master."

The Hibernating Dragon Art had countless complicated details. Just getting the posture right was already difficult, not to mention using one's strength and blood within the body to stimulate the nodes, which was more than ten times harder than assuming the posture itself. With such a complex stance technique, using ordinary training methods, who knew how long it would take to remember everything?

Yet Li Qi had relied on his miraculous control of strength. With nothing more than a shake of Xue Jing's hand, he had made him assume the most standard Hibernating Dragon Art stance, allowing him to focus entirely on memorizing every step. This teaching method was practically an overwhelming advantage.

"Good body, good brain." Li Qi nodded with great satisfaction.

After resting for a while, Xue Jing's breathing steadied. Once he felt recovered, he asked, "Master, what should I learn next?"

Li Qi shook his head. "Martial arts training should not be rushed. The Hibernating Dragon Art places an enormous burden on the body. Those without sufficient talent will suffer severe damage to their vitality after standing for just a few minutes. Though your talent is excellent, you still must not overtrain during the initial stages."

"I've had Shan Ying prepare some Sleeping Dragon Balm. Have her massage you with it later and help your body recover. We'll continue training tomorrow."

Xue Jing hesitated. "Zhu Senior Sister will massage me?"

Thinking of that young-looking girl... he wondered whether he had hurt her yesterday.

Li Qi waved a hand. "She offered to help you herself."

"Shan Ying is a year younger than you and possesses a rare, pure Innocent Child nature. Although she is nominally your Senior Sister, there will inevitably be times when she needs you to look after her."

"Now that you've joined my school, that girl finally has a companion around her age. She'll naturally be a little closer to you. You two should get along well."

Xue Jing nodded in agreement.

"Ahahaha, the Sleeping Dragon Balm is here~"

As though she had been waiting for this exact moment, a youthful and cheerful girl's voice suddenly rang out from the entrance to the training room. Zhu Shan Ying entered carrying a fist-sized white porcelain medicine jar, her childish little face full of smiles. She seemed entirely unaffected by having been defeated by Xue Jing yesterday.

"Mm, you young people have a good chat by yourselves. Your master got up early, so I need to go catch up on some sleep..."

Li Qi waved his hand, then turned his wheelchair and left the training room.

The moment he left, Zhu Shan Ying turned her gaze to Xue Jing.

"Come on, Junior Brother. Take off your shirt and sit over here."

Sitting on the floor with her legs folded to one side, Zhu Shan Ying patted the floor to signal for Xue Jing to sit in front of her.

The girl wore a fitted Training Suit, her hair tied into a bun. Her beautiful jade-like feet were bare and unpainted. In that side-sitting pose that displayed feminine charm, she possessed an immature yet alluring appeal.

"..."

Xue Jing felt that something was off, but it was difficult to refuse at this point. He could only nod, grasp the hem of his T-shirt with both hands, and pull it upward, exposing an upper body as perfect as though forged by a god.

"Wow."

Zhu Shan Ying praised him.

"You've got quite a physique, Junior Brother."

"You flatter me, Zhu Senior Sister." Xue Jing walked over to the girl, sat down cross-legged with his back to her.

Before long, Xue Jing felt a pair of soft, smooth, slightly cool little hands applying ointment across his back.

Everywhere the balm touched felt hot and spicy, like medicated oil had been rubbed onto it.

In the silence, Xue Jing thought for a moment before speaking.

"Senior Sister, I'm truly sorry about yesterday. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Zhu Shan Ying's hand paused as she applied the balm, then she said with a smile, "Of course I wasn't hurt."

"Though my body wasn't hurt, my heart was a little hurt."

The girl's fingers wandered across Xue Jing's back. Suddenly, she pressed down hard on one spot, sending strength through his body. Xue Jing immediately sucked in a breath from the pain.

Zhu Shan Ying's smiling voice sounded beside Xue Jing's ear, her breath fragrant.

"Junior Brother, don't be fooled by how I look. I'm actually quite competitive."

The girl twisted her fingers and scraped hard across Xue Jing's muscles.

"Don't move. Only like this can the Sleeping Dragon Balm seep deep into your body, so its effects will be better."

"..."

Xue Jing turned his head to glance at the smiling Zhu Shan Ying. He said nothing, silently enduring the massage that clearly carried a hint of petty revenge.

Before long, however, the girl herself could no longer keep it up.

"...Say something, will you?" she said coyly.

Xue Jing replied in a low voice, "It's nothing. As long as you're happy, Senior Sister."

Zhu Shan Ying: "..."

"Fine, it was my fault. I was the one who lost because I was careless, yet I still wanted to get back at you and deliberately took this chance to tease you..."

"You're not angry with me, are you...?"

Zhu Shan Ying asked pitifully.

Xue Jing was speechless.

After thinking for a moment, he said gently, "I'm not angry with you. It just really hurts a little, so I couldn't help lowering my voice."

"Continue, Senior Sister. Don't worry about me."

Seeing that he truly was not angry, Zhu Shan Ying let out a relieved breath and patted her modestly developed chest. "That's good. Junior Brother, you scared me..."

Happy New Year, dear readers.