Gao Sheng

Beizhou, Dongjiang City, Ninth Middle School.

Early November. The north wind carried scattered snowflakes drifting through the sky, and the campus was already a vast expanse of white.

A skinny boy hunched his neck, one hand clutching the collar of his padded jacket. He complained softly, "The temperature dropped so suddenly. The weather forecast didn't even say a word. Not accurate at all!"

"It's not that cold, is it..."

Gao Wu glanced at his deskmate, Shen Yue. The sight of him shivering made Gao Wu want to laugh. "Your body's too weak. Did you sneak off to cast spells again last night?"

Shen Yue said irritably, "You're an intermediate Martial Artist, built like a bull. What am I supposed to use to compare with you?"

Ever since demonic beasts from other realms had invaded Earth Star a century ago, Martial Emperor Qin Liuhe had emerged from nowhere, swept away the demonic beasts, established the Holy Alliance, and ushered humanity into a new Epoch, the status of Martial Artists had risen higher and higher.

By now, everyone practiced martial arts. Yet only a tiny minority could truly achieve anything.

There were nearly three hundred thousand middle school students in Dongjiang City, but only a little over eight thousand held Martial Artist certificates. That came out to just three percent.

As for intermediate Martial Artists, there were even fewer. Gao Wu was also a member of the school's Martial Arts Team. Even if he was only a substitute, his physical ability surpassed Shen Yue's by who knew how much.

Not wanting Gao Wu to get too smug, Shen Yue pulled out his phone and opened Dongjiang Middle School's Martial Arts points rankings. Pointing at Gao Wu's position, he sneered, "Look at you. You're only in the five hundreds!"

"The coach is dead set on promoting his nephew and won't even give me a chance to compete. What can I do..."

Gao Wu then declared proudly, "I'm destined to become the strongest person in the world. A little setback for now is nothing!"

Just as Shen Yue was about to mock him a few times, a commotion rose from ahead.

"Someone jumped into the water..."

"A girl jumped into the water!"

The two looked up. Shen Yue was too short, and his eyesight was poor, so all he could see was a dense black mass on the long bridge, shouting toward Bailin Lake below.

Gao Wu's eyesight was far better than Shen Yue's. From nearly two hundred meters away, he could see a black figure in Bailin Lake.

"Hurry..." Disdaining Shen Yue for being too slow, Gao Wu left him behind and ran quickly onto the bridge.

It was lunchtime, and a large crowd of students had already gathered on the bridge. Quite a few were filming with their phones, while others shouted anxiously, yet no one went down to save her.

Bailin Lake was not small. To rescue her, they would at least have to swim a hundred meters with the girl before reaching shore. For that very reason, even those who could swim did not dare jump in to save her.

Strong and sturdy, Gao Wu easily pushed through the crowd to the bridge railing. He looked down and saw the girl's deathly pale face bobbing up and down in the icy lake water, her eyes tightly closed. Things looked extremely bad.

A thin layer of ice had already formed over Bailin Lake. With today's sudden plunge in temperature, the water was probably only two or three degrees Celsius.

A person in low-temperature water would rapidly lose body heat, easily going into shock or even suffering organ failure.

Gao Wu hurriedly stripped off his coat, trousers, and sneakers, then performed two stretches to warm up.

The people around him saw that Gao Wu was about to go down and save her, so they automatically cleared a space for him to move. Plenty of phones were also thrust toward Gao Wu, filming furiously.

In his tank top and shorts, Gao Wu had rugged, heroic features, long limbs, full yet smoothly defined muscles, and healthy ivory-white skin brimming with vitality.

A long scar ran from his neck down toward his chest. It looked somewhat ferocious, but it also gave him an extra air of courage and fierceness.

"Those muscle lines are gorgeous..."

"So handsome!"

Every boy was envious, while the girls' eyes gleamed.

"Holy crap, it's Gao Sheng!" Some people recognized Gao Wu, who loved doing good deeds.

Doing one good deed was not difficult. What was difficult was that Gao Wu had persisted in doing good deeds all along.

This helpful nature had earned him the teasing nickname "Great Saint Gao," abbreviated as Gao Sheng. He was somewhat famous at Ninth Middle School.

Gao Wu was secretly delighted by everyone's praise, but time was urgent, and he had no leisure to show off further. Once he had adjusted his condition, he braced himself on the railing and lightly flipped over it.

Another round of gasps rose around him.

The bridge stood a full six or seven meters above the lake. Gao Wu pierced through the ice and sank into the water, icy lake water closing in around him from every direction.

The chill stabbed into Gao Wu's body like tens of millions of needles. Even his scalp went numb from the cold, and his limbs cramped, powerless.

In an instant, Gao Wu lost control of his body.

It was as though an invisible water ghost hid in the frigid lake, wrapping around him and dragging him toward the depths.

Gao Wu was startled. With his physique, this should never have happened. The lake water was cold in an evil way! No wonder that girl had made no sound after falling in...

At the critical moment, Gao Wu instead calmed down. He held his breath tightly to avoid choking on the water. At the same time, he silently recited the incantation: "Taiyi Azure Dragon, Qi rises from the east..."

The icy, deep lake water formed an enclosed environment, allowing him to focus on chanting the incantation instead.

It took nearly two minutes for Gao Wu to recite the entire incantation and activate the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation.

A point of Qingguang shone within Gao Wu's brow before transforming into a vigorous Azure Dragon that coursed through his entire body.

The pure primordial Qi transformed from the Azure Dragon made his blood and Qi boil, instantly driving away the cold that had frozen his whole body.

Gao Wu immediately regained control of his body. He kicked and stroked forcefully, bursting from the water's surface, then took a long breath. His whole body instantly perked up.

Cheers erupted from the bridge again. After Gao Wu entered the water, there had been no sign of him. Nearly two minutes had passed without him resurfacing, and everyone on the bridge had thought something had happened to him!

The girl was unconscious. That actually made it easier for Gao Wu to save her.

Gao Wu grabbed the girl by her collar, keeping her head above the water, and used one hand to paddle toward shore.

The girl's body was cold as ice, and he could not hear her breathing. Her condition was likely extremely critical.

Not sparing his strength, he swam forward at full speed. His swimming technique was average, but he made up for it with his great strength and endurance.

Gao Wu forcibly carved a churning white line across the lake's thin layer of ice. His powerful, flowing swimming posture was filled with both strength and beauty.

Many people on the bridge exclaimed in heartfelt amazement.

"Holy crap, this guy is seriously awesome!"

"He's so strong! Carrying someone, he's still swimming faster than I can by myself..."

The lake water was grimly cold, its chill piercing straight to the bone.

Having only just activated the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation, Gao Wu's blood and Qi were boiling all over, and he was almost unaffected by the cold. In one burst of effort, he brought the girl ashore.

Without caring about anything else, Gao Wu first laid the girl flat on the snowy ground. He bent close to her mouth and nose to listen for breathing, then listened to her heartbeat. Sure enough, she had stopped breathing and her heart had stopped beating.

The girl's skin had already turned an ugly deathly white.

Bailin Lake's water was cold in an evil way today. Even he could not endure it, so the girl's state was only normal.

Gao Wu immediately followed the standard procedure, rhythmically compressing the girl's chest while silently reciting the incantation.

After nearly another two minutes of silent chanting, Gao Wu finally completed the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation once more.

Casting the incantation twice in succession had drained a great deal of Gao Wu's energy. He barely roused his spirit and activated the Divine Mantra. The Azure Dragon followed the path of his pressing palms into the girl's chest, transforming into a thread of pure primordial Qi of life that spread through her body, reactivating her halted heart and lungs.

The flowing Qingguang finally entered the girl's brain, awakening the consciousness she had lost from oxygen deprivation as well.

After coughing up several mouthfuls of water, the girl suddenly began coughing violently. Two patches of red rose on her paper-white face. She had clearly come back to life...

Gao Wu let out a breath of relief and helped the girl sit up.

The girl's soaked short hair clung in strands to her little face, while her thin trousers tightly wrapped around her legs.

From the chest compressions just now, Gao Wu had discovered that although the girl looked slender, her bones and muscles were strong and well-proportioned. She was clearly a Martial Artist.

Only now did he notice her exquisite features, slim waist, and long legs. She was actually an incredibly, incredibly beautiful girl.

The beautiful girl was only dazed for a moment before coming to her senses. She glanced at Gao Wu.

Though the boy before her was dripping wet, his face was bright as sunshine, making people instinctively feel favorably toward him.

The girl did not like making eye contact. Lowering her gaze, she said quietly, "Thank you for saving me."

Perhaps because she had choked on water, her voice was somewhat hoarse, adding a touch of fragility to her cool voice.

Gao Wu laughed and waved a hand. "I like helping those in danger and aiding those in need. Saving you was simply being there at the right time. No need to be polite."

Gao Wu's voice was unusually hoarse. The girl initially thought he was imitating her, but when she looked again, she noticed the deep scar on his neck. He must have injured his vocal cords before, which was why his voice was so raspy.

Precisely because of that, his voice left an especially deep impression on people.

There was a complicated meaning in the girl's eyes, but she said nothing more.

Taking the opportunity, Gao Wu silently recited the incantation and summoned the divine artifact that belonged solely to him.

A yellowed ancient book appeared before Gao Wu. Five ancient characters were written on its cover: Boundless Merit Book.

Across the blank pages that opened before him, a flood of Merit +1+1+1+1+50+60+1... emerged.

Among them, several Merit +50 and +60 numbers were especially glaring amidst the sea of +1s.

Gao Wu could not help glancing at the girl. Needless to say, only the person he had saved would produce such a large amount of Merit through sincere gratitude. The many other Merit +1s had clearly come from the onlookers.

The girl had an aloof, chilly air about her, and her thanks had been neither warm nor cold. He had not expected her to be so grateful and appreciative!

Seeing the large amount of Merit, Gao Wu smiled. In his heart, he sincerely praised her: What a good kid!

He could not help reminding her, "Swimming isn't allowed in Bailin Lake..."

"Hm?" A trace of confusion appeared in the girl's beautiful eyes. She immediately understood that Gao Wu was joking, and also reminding her not to take her own life.

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

The girl lowered her head and apologized to Gao Wu, her delicate, deathly pale face full of sincerity.

For some reason, a sentence suddenly popped into Gao Wu's mind: Emotionally stable. Want to date!

New book uploaded. Please give it lots of support~ Deep bow of thanks~

For now, there will be two updates daily, at nine in the morning and noon.

I don't know what to say. I hope everyone likes the new book and likes Gao Wu.

I hope everyone can draw some vibrant, uplifting energy from it, and I hope you all have an enjoyable reading experience.

I hope for world peace, prosperity for our motherland, and wonderful lives for everyone~

Bow, bow, thank you, everyone~