No.
I treat you like a sister, and you want to be my sister-in-law?
Little Mulberry, you've got some nerve!
Yandang Lake Park.
Jiang Shu casually went through a set of punches to warm up. His lower body held a steady Horse Stance, and as he circulated his qi and blood, a small bulge traveled around his body with each punch and palm strike.
After a full half hour, a stream of white breath shot from his mouth like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
Those few moves at the Yangming Martial Arts Training Class didn't even count as a warm-up to him.
They'd only taken one kick and one lift.
Besides, he'd held back at the time.
If he'd gone all out...
That coach would have ended up crippled at best.
After all, this was a harmonious society. And he was on Mystic Star, to boot.
If he'd been in Pingling County...
Killing intent surged in his eyes. Jiang Shu lowered his fists and straightened up, then finally took the phone that had been vibrating in his pocket for ages.
Seeing the caller ID, "Teacher Yan," he answered.
"Jiang Shu? It's Teacher Yan." Yan Dehou's voice came through the phone. "Tomorrow, March first, the school will be holding a special martial arts lecture at eight thirty in the morning. The instructor is a martial arts teacher from Shengjing. He seems to be quite influential and accomplished. I don't know the details, but if you're free, remember to come on time."
"He might talk about Xia Kingdom's martial arts policies and the realms beyond the initial stages of training. It should be very helpful to you."
"Thank you, Teacher Yan. I'll be there. The flu's been going around a lot lately, so make sure you get enough rest and balance work with relaxation. No matter what, your health always comes first."
Breathing in the fresh air of the park, Jiang Shu spoke with heartfelt sincerity.
In his previous life, he'd been an orphan. He hadn't had enough to eat or wear as a child, and his body had suffered for it. After leaving the orphanage and starting work, he'd left early and returned late for meager wages, working far too much overtime. He'd collapsed on the road home late one night before he'd even turned thirty.
By the time he was rushed to the hospital, it had been too late. His illness was already terminal, and nothing could be done.
That was where his original desire to practice martial arts had come from.
In this life, he wanted to hold his fate in his own hands!
"Good, good! Thanks for your concern, Jiang Shu. Your teacher wishes you success in martial arts, fulfillment of your dreams, and admission to a university you're happy with."
Yan Dehou laughed heartily. He wasn't like some teachers who cared only about grades.
Wasn't respecting one's teachers an obvious virtue, too?
If all students cared about was studying, and none of them respected their teachers, would teachers like them even be teachers anymore?
In the students' eyes, wouldn't they be nothing but education machines?
"Mm. I'll do my best."
After Teacher Yan hung up, Jiang Shu saw a friend request on Weixin from someone his sister had noted as a classmate. He accepted it.
"Hello, Jiang Yanyue's brother! My name's Sang Zhirou. You can call me Little Mulberry, like Yan Yan does."
"Jiang Shu."
"I'm practicing my stance. Can't chat."
Jiang Shu quickly saved Sang Zhirou's name, typed out his own, added a brief explanation, then put his phone back in his pocket and started practicing his stance.
He'd only glanced at her a few times at the time, without really looking closely.
And even after everything he'd seen in his previous life, with short videos flooding every corner of the internet...
Jiang Shu had to admit that his sister's classmate really was a classic beauty in the making.
She hadn't fully grown into her looks yet, but she was already like a lotus just emerging from the water, with a touch of breathtaking beauty.
But what did that have to do with him?
Chatting?
How could chatting compare to the pleasure of practicing his stance?
On the semitransparent panel, the proficiency of the Hungry Tiger Sitting Cave Stance and Hungry Tiger Breathing Method increased every day.
Jiang Shu felt the same joy a farmer felt watching the rice he'd planted ripen into a bountiful harvest.
"If only the Hungry Tiger Sitting Cave Stance and breathing method could progress this quickly even after reaching minor mastery."
Jiang Shu couldn't help imagining it. If that were really the case, he might need less than two months to complete the Full Body Vital Energy Circulation.
Then he'd become one of the strongest people in Pingling County's Outer City.
He'd be only one step away from becoming a true martial artist!
Martial artists. In the Great Jing Dynasty, the first realm was the Skin Grinding Realm, where one's Inner Strength could penetrate stone and one became impervious to blades and spears. What kind of power did martial artists on Mystic Star possess?
Next Monday, there'd be a special martial arts lecture.
He hoped it wouldn't disappoint him.
Jiang Shu put his thoughts aside, crouched like a tiger, and breathed like one.
Milk tea shop.
Sang Zhirou sat on a tall stool. She was less than 1.6 meters tall, and her legs swung back and forth because her feet couldn't reach the ground. "Yan Yan, your brother's amazing. All he said when he replied to my message was that he had to practice his stance."
"That's just how he is. He even practices his stance while sitting down to eat."
After a month of losing to Sang Zhirou's milk-tea offensive and handing over her older brother's Weixin account with both hands, Jiang Yanyue sighed. "He practices his stance all day and hardly ever takes out his phone. I think a smartphone doesn't suit him. He should get the kind of old person's phone my grandparents have. All he needs is one that can make calls."
"He's amazing," Sang Zhirou murmured.
In the internet age, phones had become an indispensable part of people's lives. Being able to stay off one's phone and devote oneself to martial arts—that kind of self-control surpassed that of so many people their age.
Oh no. Women who were about to fall into the whirlpool of love really did think differently.
Jiang Yanyue pressed a hand to her forehead, looking helpless. Then she took a big sip of milk tea. "His daily routine is getting up, breakfast, martial arts. Lunch, martial arts. Dinner, martial arts, then bed. Same thing every day. He's like a robot."
"How far has he gotten with his training? Has his Horse Stance reached minor or major mastery?" Sang Zhirou asked curiously, skipping right over the possibility that he'd only reached the entry level. There was no way someone at the entry level could have that kind of power.
"I don't know. I asked him last time if he'd sensed his qi and blood, and he just said no. I knew it! You can't trust a single word a man says!" Jiang Yanyue clenched her fist fiercely, showing her cute little tiger teeth. "What ordinary person has that kind of strength? He lifted someone right off the ground!"
"He lies to me all the time! He even told me that after you start practicing martial arts, your heart becomes as clear as crystal, free of stray thoughts, and you sleep deeply—one hour is worth two for an ordinary person. He said I could practice too, and get deep sleep every day. Good grief, he really has no idea how to enjoy life. Sleep is so wonderful! I wish I could sleep ten hours every day."
"Just imagine: if you really got deep sleep, five hours a day would be like ten hours. But when you woke up, you wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, and you wouldn't want to get up either. How awful would that be!!!"
Jiang Yanyue rambled on. Whenever she talked about Jiang Shu, she had an endless supply of complaints.
But in Sang Zhirou's mind, the image of a certain young man she'd never met grew clearer and clearer.
He kept his desires in check, devoted himself to martial arts, and valued his family.
His grades might be average, but with that strength and ability, he ought to be able to get into a key university, right? Even if he only went to a college, so what? She could get into a key university or better herself...
Besides, he was so handsome...
No, no, no. What was she thinking?
She hadn't even started high school yet!
Lost in her thoughts, Sang Zhirou finished the last sip of her milk tea. She shook the cup, confirmed it was empty, then finally couldn't resist asking softly, "Yan Yan, has your brother ever told you what kind of girl he likes?"
Jiang Yanyue froze. Until now, it had only been a suspicion of hers.
Sang Zhirou's words had all but confirmed it.
She held Sang Zhirou's face and looked her up and down.
Her thick, dark hair fell smoothly to her waist, and her fair skin was so delicate it seemed it could break at a touch. Her upper body was, frankly, unfairly developed for a girl their age. Even in her padded winter clothes, her curves still showed.
She was only 1.58 meters tall, which was a little short, but hadn't Jiang Shu said martial arts training could make you taller?
Maybe in a couple of years, Little Mulberry would be a gorgeous girl over 1.6 meters tall.
That face, that figure, that family background.
Thinking of Little Mulberry's family situation, and the way the teachers at school looked after Sang Zhirou in obvious and subtle ways, Jiang Yanyue sighed and said gravely, "Sang Zhirou, you're too pretty."
"He's not good enough for you."
Sang Zhirou: ???
I traveled between two worlds every day.
One time, I was practicing my stance.
The other time, I was also practicing my stance.
By the time he returned from the Great Jing Dynasty, it was already past six in the morning. The bitterly cold wind slipped through the cracks in the window and struck Jiang Shu directly.
"Circulating my qi and blood saves me the cost of a down jacket. By my reckoning, that's like earning a few thousand yuan."
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