Unwilling to Accept Defeat

"Ah!"

Huo Ling'er let out a scream and jumped behind Shen Qian, warily staring at the robed man standing a meter away and smiling at them.

He looked to be around thirty. His unkempt face, neat crew cut, and old-fashioned long robe made for an odd combination. He held a thread-bound copy of The Analects, its pages yellowed with age.

Shen Qian had originally wanted to laugh at Huo Ling'er for being so timid, but the moment he faced the man directly, his pupils contracted and every hair on his body nearly stood on end.

Danger! Extremely dangerous!

That was Shen Qian's first impression.

High-level Martial Artist.

That was the second thought that sprang to mind.

A closer look would reveal that the air around the robed man was faintly distorted. It was clearly the manifestation of externalized vital energy described in textbooks.

To achieve that, one needed to be at least an Advanced Martial Artist.

If Shen Qian remembered correctly, the Principal of No.7 High School was at roughly that level—the strongest person Shen Qian had ever known.

Yet this man before him was so young, and the pressure he exuded was even stronger than Principal Huang's.

Seeing Shen Qian and Huo Ling'er on guard and unable to stop themselves from trembling slightly, the robed man seemed to realize something. He smiled apologetically. "Damn it, I haven't been around weak people lately. I nearly forgot... Sorry, sorry."

As he spoke, the aura spilling from the robed man suddenly withdrew. He instantly became ordinary, and Shen Qian and Huo Ling'er both breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did Huo Ling'er realize she had been standing far too close to Shen Qian, pressed against him hard enough to hurt. Her face reddened, and she hurriedly took a step back.

"Who are you?" Seeing that the other man did not seem hostile, Shen Qian could not help asking curiously.

"My name is Liu Changqing. Changqing as in weeping willow, and as in 'the evergreen eyes that once looked upon me.'"

After saying that, Liu Changqing turned to Huo Ling'er. "Little friend, I need to correct something. I was indeed spying on you, but you weren't the only one I was spying on... Don't misunderstand. I'm not interested in you. Oh, and I'm not interested in men either. Damn it, explaining is such a pain. Forget it, I'm done explaining."

"Then why are you looking for us?" Huo Ling'er gathered her courage and challenged him.

"I'm not looking for you. You just happened to be blocking my way." Liu Changqing shrugged.

Shen Qian froze. Turning around, he discovered that Chen Feng and Zhao Hanhai had arrived at some point and were standing on the other side.

He hurriedly pulled Huo Ling'er aside. Sure enough, Liu Changqing ignored them and walked straight over, speaking in low voices with Chen Feng and Zhao Hanhai.

The other students had long been drawn over by the commotion. They had also sensed Liu Changqing's power in that brief instant. All of them stared curiously at his back and began discussing it in hushed voices.

"So he came after all... It really is him... I knew there had to be more to the school setting up this Training Class."

Zhou Xiaoguang stared at Liu Changqing's back, his gaze burning as he muttered to himself.

Someone beside him noticed Zhou Xiaoguang's unusual reaction and could not help asking, "Brother Zhou, do you know him?"

As the "strongest" member of the Training Class, Zhou Xiaoguang seemed to know some inside information, immediately stirring everyone's curiosity. They all edged closer.

Shen Qian and Huo Ling'er did the same, but Zhou Xiaoguang suddenly snorted coldly and shot Shen Qian a glance. The other students all looked over as well.

Shen Qian merely shrugged indifferently and moved farther away.

Ever since Shen Qian had directly conceded twice in a row during his sparring matches with Zhou Xiaoguang, Zhou Xiaoguang had treated him this way.

And it was not just Zhou Xiaoguang. The others looked down on Shen Qian to some extent as well.

Whether he could win or not was one thing. Not even daring to fight was just too cowardly.

But Shen Qian truly did not dare make a move. Zhou Xiaoguang might not have broken through to become a Martial Artist yet, but judging by his strength, he was most likely an Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artist. Shen Qian was afraid that the system would have an extreme reaction and directly activate AFK mode. If that happened, Zhou Xiaoguang would probably end up dead or crippled.

"Zhou Xiaoguang is going too far! He's obviously trying to isolate you!" Huo Ling'er followed him over and said angrily.

"Why did you come over?" Shen Qian asked gloomily. "Couldn't you have listened first and then come tell me quietly?"

"Oh, right, I forgot..." Huo Ling'er said ruefully. "Should I sneak back over?"

Shen Qian rolled his eyes. "That would be way too obvious. They're not idiots. Forget it, just leave it."

"Oh." Huo Ling'er nodded, then said wistfully, "I think so too. Sigh, everyone is smart. They're not easy to fool."

Who's 'everyone' with you? Could you have a little self-awareness...

Shen Qian ranted inwardly, but his face remained perfectly calm. He was used to it by now.

Fortunately, Zheng Shaoyang soon sneaked over. Seeing that Zhou Xiaoguang and the others were not paying attention, he lowered his voice. "Zhou Xiaoguang said Liu Changqing's background is insanely impressive. Even our Principal can't afford to offend him. He also said this Training Class might have some other purpose, and everyone should perform well and try to catch his eye..."

"What purpose?" Huo Ling'er widened her eyes.

"No idea. Zhou Xiaoguang was only guessing. That's all he said." Zheng Shaoyang coughed. "All right, I'm heading back. We should stay in touch secretly. I don't want to get isolated too."

"Hmph, disloyal!" Huo Ling'er said, somewhat angry.

"No, this is the right way to deal with people." Shen Qian actually admired him for it, though he himself could not be so tactful.

Still, compared to this supposed purpose, Shen Qian was more interested in Liu Changqing's identity.

After all, the system had caused trouble and sent him into this elite Training Class for some reason. Unfortunately, the system could not hold a conversation, and Shen Qian sometimes could not make sense of its logic either.

Zhou Xiaoguang was from North City, and Shen Qian had heard Zheng Shaoyang mention before that his family was extraordinarily influential. Zhou Xiaoguang's father was one of Jing City's ten wealthiest magnates. What kind of person could make the normally aloof Zhou Xiaoguang's eyes burn with such fervor?

The atmosphere during training today was somewhat strange. This was not only because Liu Changqing had appeared, but also because Liu Changqing, Chen Feng, and Zhao Hanhai had gotten into a fierce argument.

No one knew what they were arguing about. Everyone could clearly see the three arguing, yet no one could hear a word they were saying, no matter how close they got.

In the end, Zhao Hanhai stormed off with a sweep of his sleeve. Liu Changqing shrugged and left as well, leaving only Chen Feng, his brows tightly furrowed as though caught in some dilemma, to oversee the training.

Affected by the mood, even Zhou Xiaoguang seemed distracted during his sparring match and nearly suffered an upset defeat to someone else.

As for Shen Qian, his opponent today was Zheng Shaoyang.

After checking the current rankings and seeing that he was in no danger of falling out of the top ten, Shen Qian happily "lost" to Zheng Shaoyang, whose face had already twisted savagely after three straight defeats.

Chen Feng could tell that no one was in the right state of mind, so he did not force them into a second round of sparring and simply announced that training was over.

"Class Leader Chen!"

Chen Feng, who had already reached the doorway, stopped when he heard someone call out behind him.

"Shen Qian?" He glanced at the youth catching up to him and said flatly, "What is it?"

He assumed Shen Qian wanted to ask about Liu Changqing's identity, and he felt somewhat displeased.

"I'd like to ask you something." Shen Qian glanced behind him. Seeing that no one had come out yet, he said, "Do you know how to become an Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artist?"

Chen Feng was taken aback, though not overly surprised. Shen Qian had asked him about the concept of Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artists last week, and Chen Feng had been surprised then that Shen Qian even knew they existed.

Chen Feng frowned and scrutinized Shen Qian. "If I remember correctly, your Burst Strength should be around 140 kilograms?"

"Mm." Shen Qian nodded. That was the figure he had reported two weeks ago.

"Isn't it too early for you to be thinking about that?" Chen Feng said calmly. "What you should be doing now is working hard to become a Quasi-Martial Artist first."

I already became one last night...

Of course, Shen Qian only said that to himself. He had gone from 140 to 149 in barely over ten days. No one would believe it if he told them.

"I'm very curious. Could you tell me about it, Class Leader Chen?" Shen Qian could only ask again.

Chen Feng remained silent. After a while, he shook his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Shen Qian instinctively thought that Chen Feng simply did not want to tell him, but he soon realized Chen Feng did not seem to have any reason to lie.

"I really don't know." Chen Feng repeated himself. After considering it, he added a few more words. "When I became a Martial Artist, I didn't know Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artists even existed. By the time I found out, I'd already spent two years in the military and was close to breaking through to Intermediate Martial Artist. It was impossible for me to cripple my own cultivation and start over."

"Then do you know where I can find the method?" Shen Qian asked unwillingly.

"The channels I know are beyond your reach."

Chen Feng shook his head. "Becoming an Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artist places extremely high demands on one's talent, and there are also restrictions in terms of resources. I advise you to keep your feet on the ground. Don't compare yourself to people like Zhou Xiaoguang. You'll only humiliate yourself..."

"Besides, even if you found the method, it might not be a good thing. You have no idea how dangerous it is."

After saying that, Chen Feng left, leaving Shen Qian standing there with a headache.

Last night, after noticing that his training efficiency had plummeted, Shen Qian went out again and fished a Seven Flavors Fruit out of the river, brewing the third Stamina Potion of his life.

Then Shen Qian discovered that he was stuck...

It felt as though some barrier had appeared inside his body, firmly locking him in place. He could no longer advance even a fraction.

Shen Qian realized three things.

First, his physique had finally reached the threshold of a Quasi-Martial Artist.

Second, even a Stamina Potion could not directly carry him past that threshold. Much of its medicinal power had settled within his body like stagnant water.

Third, advancing to Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artist truly required some sort of secret method. It could not simply be brute-forced through endless accumulation.

The system seemed powerless to do anything about it as well. When Shen Qian tried entering an AFK request, it only frantically produced plans for him to search for a sense of vital energy and advance to Martial Artist.

This showed that the system had no comparable knowledge stored away. The method for becoming an Extraordinary Quasi-Martial Artist was clearly extremely secretive, and the system had not gathered any information on it.

That was why Shen Qian had sought Chen Feng's advice today.

Was he supposed to compromise now...

Shen Qian was still unwilling to accept that.

A 3,000-word chapter. There'll be another chapter later, and I'll slowly make up everything I owe from the past two days.