Borrowing from loan sharks to get injections and take drugs?
These muscleheads really would rather have muscles than their lives!
Qin Shi was secretly alarmed. Back when he worked at Silver Horse Gym, he had only ever been around the front desk and the lounge.
He had never gone into the workout area or met the top-tier coaches who taught classes there, so he had no idea how they trained their clients.
He silently activated Internal Vision, focusing his mind until he sensed several fluctuations in their auras.
They were all more or less alike, sounding rough and powerful, like the roars of beasts.
In truth, though, they were like sausages cut into little pieces, with no continuity at all.
That meant these muscleheads had terrible stamina and endurance, and struggled to handle high-intensity exercise. They looked impressive but were useless.
Qin Shi strongly suspected that if they all ran a five-kilometer race together, half of them would burst a blood vessel.
The one thing to be grateful for was that, compared to these men's precarious physical condition, Zhou Ning was practically bursting with vitality. Aside from the top of his head sticking out, he had no other problems at all.
Coach Luo's assessment of him as "exceptionally talented" had been well deserved.
"Does Life Force gained from injections and drugs count?"
The question surfaced in Qin Shi's mind. In his field of vision, several burly men doing the Big Three Lifts in the workout area had bodies that shone brightly, but their colors were murky and uneven, like cracked jade that would shatter at a touch.
"Old Qin, wait here. I'll go talk to Coach Luo."
Zhou Ning's bulky frame, with muscle layered over fat, looked small the moment he stepped into the gym. He couldn't compare at all with the other trainees, whose muscles were absurdly massive.
"Did your friend buy fake drugs?"
Lin Yunqing's brows knitted slightly. She looked as though she wore only a touch of makeup, but in fact she had carefully made herself up.
"Silver Horse Gym is pretty well-known in the Metropolitan Area. I've heard of it a few times. I didn't expect them to let their coaches promote and sell drugs behind the scenes, too."
Qin Shi leaned closer and asked in a low voice:
"Teacher Lin, how much of a reward do people usually get for reporting a fake-drug dealing ring like this?"
When Qin Shi drew near, Lin Yunqing's nose twitched faintly, as if she had caught the fresh scent of a mountain after rain.
She sniffed softly, like a little animal. How long had Little Qin Assistant Teacher been past his limit?
Why was he still at the novice stage?
Come to think of it, the clarity and purity left in the body after a secret medicine refined it really did have a certain appeal to women!
He smelled so good!
"Teacher Lin, I asked you something..."
Qin Shi glanced at Lin Yunqing, who was staring into space. Seeing her cheeks flush faintly, he thought:
Your face is red as a teapot!
He always felt that this woman wasn't very reliable. She didn't give him the same sense of security as Old Liang, who was steady and dependable.
"The reward won't be much. For now, this seems like a minor operation. It doesn't seem serious enough to warrant much."
Lin Yunqing coughed lightly twice to hide her embarrassment.
She was usually surrounded by admirers without ever letting anyone get close, but she hadn't expected to fall so easily for Little Qin Assistant Teacher.
Silently, she changed her mental note from "Old Martial Arts dreamboat" to "Old Martial Arts seducer."
"If you want your friend to get out of this unscathed, it's actually simple. These fake-drug sellers won't dare to get too aggressive. They're afraid of attracting attention, so they're all bark and no bite."
Recalling what the High Charm Cultivation Guide said, Lin Yunqing quickly pulled herself together, eager to project the perfect image of someone knowledgeable and capable:
"Little Qin Assistant Teacher, watch my cues in a moment. We can pretend to sign up for the trial package and get the injection as evidence. Then I'll call in a friend from the Inspection Department.
"Silver Horse Gym is one of the bigger chains in the Metropolitan Area, and it cares a lot about its public image. They'll definitely want to settle this quietly."
Qin Shi considered Lin Yunqing's plan for a moment and thought it was excellent.
He just didn't want his close friend Zhou Ning to waste money and ruin his health.
If Coach Luo refunded the full cost of signing up, buying the drugs, and getting the injection, then Qin Shi had no need to press him further or rub his face in the dirt.
The fewer complications, the better!
While the two were chatting, Zhou Ning came trotting over, looking delighted:
"Old Qin, Coach Luo agreed. There's only one spot left in this session's class.
"Since you're my friend, Coach Luo said he'd save it for you."
He then glanced at Lin Yunqing apologetically and scratched his head.
"Sorry, Teacher Lin. Coach Luo doesn't take female trainees, so you came all this way for nothing."
Qin Shi's mouth twitched. He thought:
Zhou, you're a real friend! But don't ever sign me up for anything this likely to get me killed again.
He turned to Lin Yunqing and said:
"Teacher Lin, why don't you go sit in the lounge for now? We can talk after we've tried the package."
Lin Yunqing gave him an OK sign, showing she understood exactly what Qin Shi meant.
All she had to do was wait for Little Qin Assistant Teacher to knock over a cup as the signal. Then she'd call in eight hundred armed men and catch the whole gang of fake-drug dealers in one fell swoop!
"Old Qin, when it mattered, I gave you my spot. I wasn't tempted by a pretty woman! Aren't you touched?"
Zhou Ning patted his well-developed pectoral muscles, which bounced with every step.
"When we meet Coach Luo, make sure you show him what you can do. He cares a lot about his students' talent.
"If someone isn't talented, he won't take them on. He's afraid of ending up with a mixed bag of disciples and ruining the reputation of his 'Luo Family Style.'"
Luo Family Style?
They were really spreading themselves far and wide.
Qin Shi entered the workout area and looked at the burly men bench-pressing 290 kilograms and deadlifting 387. Their veins bulged on the surface of their skin as if they were about to burst.
"Several of them don't even look human anymore. They're almost like the 'orcs' that show up so often in Old Era online fiction."
If he ignored their visible physiques and judged only by their auras, these huge men were no different from half-orcs who had drunk demon's blood.
Muscles built by taking drugs only had a brief burst of strength. Aside from satisfying some people's distorted tastes, they were worthless.
They couldn't compare at all with the New Martial Arts Faction's comprehensive, systematic approach to improving everything from nutrition to muscle training.
"A bankrupt, degraded version of the New Martial Arts path."
That was Qin Shi's verdict.
Following Zhou Ning through the workout area and up a metal staircase, they reached the second floor, where VIP clients enjoyed a private lounge.
Luo Hui, a top-tier coach, sat on a wide sofa, looking like a mountain of flesh. He made quite a striking sight.
Zhou Ning introduced them enthusiastically:
"Coach, this is Qin Shi, my good buddy."
Luo Hui nodded, his tone indifferent.
"I remember him. Didn't you used to work at the gym's front desk? Several of the female trainees I coach mention you all the time."
Then the top-tier coach, who led the gym in monthly sales and had held Silver Horse's top sales spot for ages, gave Qin Shi an appraising look.
"Your physique's all right, barely passing. You've got some signs of training, but not much. It's a shame you're so skinny and scrawny. You should bulk up and build your size, like us, so you can become a man among men!"
Qin Shi put on an obedient, receptive expression.
"Coach Luo is right. Old Zhou told me that the training packages and programs you developed are really effective! I want to try the 'Nine Dragons Integration.'"
Luo Hui frowned, thinking Qin Shi had no idea how high the sky was. He scoffed:
"You skinny guys all think too highly of yourselves. Zhou has good talent, which is why he made progress so quickly.
"Your talent, to be honest, is pretty average. Your waist's too narrow, your legs aren't thick enough, and your chest isn't developed. Forget Nine Dragons Integration—even one injection of Xisilon would be too much for you."
Qin Shi fell silent. Old Liang had praised him as an Old Martial Arts prodigy whose talent was as monstrous as He Lanchán's, yet at Silver Horse Gym, he had become a talentless weakling.
He began to wonder whether this gym was some kind of Super Sect on par with the Four Great National Universities, and whether Coach Luo was a Martial Artist whose Life Force had surpassed a hundred.
"As expected, people with pointy heads are difficult to talk to."
Qin Shi kept his expression under control and said with complete sincerity:
"Coach Luo, please let me try."
Luo Hui licked his lips, thinking of how far he still had to go to meet his sales quota for the month.
"All right. You're Zhou's friend, after all. A Qiang, go to my locker room, get two doses, and inject him."
If Qin Shi made it, Luo Hui would take him on as a trainee and sell him drugs.
If he didn't, Luo Hui would send him to the private hospital owned by the boss for treatment and pocket a kickback.
Before long, a tall, muscular man named A Qiang came over carrying a case.
When he opened it, two vials of dark green liquid lay inside.
"Get an injection! Our Luo Family Style judges talent by one thing: Drug Resistance!"
A Qiang spoke in a deep, rough voice.
"Zhou was the best of all the trainees Coach Luo took on this session! I hope you're not too disappointing!"
Qin Shi stared at the unidentified drug, which looked suspiciously like demon's blood. Should he grab it and run, or stall until Lin Yunqing burst in and caught them red-handed?
Before he could decide, the Monument Panel suddenly flashed, and lines of text scrolled across his retinas.
[Ingredient classification: medication (defective)] [Quality: low] [Edible portion: all liquid contained in the vial] [Effect: mild intoxication, quenches thirst, slight feeling of fullness, and a chance to gain the "Steroid Warrior" title]
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