I really wasn't that weak after all.
Zhang Tie could rank in the top five at Second High, at least.
On the way back, Chen Yan listened to Wang Yang's analysis and gradually understood.
It turned out Principal Zhuang didn't want to let him sit in on the classes, so he had deliberately found a student in the top ten of the year for Chen Yan to challenge.
Chen Yan understood. His mood was no longer as low as before. At least his strength hadn't embarrassed Teacher Wang.
Within the Saint Breaking Realm, the enormous golden light brought by the knowledge infusion was still nourishing the Saint Breaking Tree. Under the steady flow of golden light, a golden [Skill] Character Saint Breaking Fruit had ripened.
[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 3 (0/75)] [Saint Breaking Fruit: Strength: (88/100) Blood: (99/100) Skill: (100/100) Physique: (0/100)]
The Saint Breaking Realm had leveled up, and the Data Panel now included the data for the [Body] Character Saint Breaking Fruit.
A hint of delight appeared in Chen Yan's eyes. His phantom appeared inside the Saint Breaking Realm, plucked the fruit, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Whew!"
Chen Yan leaned back in his seat and lifted his head, his eyes shimmering.
The Saint Breaking Tree was like another version of himself. Chen Yan had received the stone tablet's knowledge infusion, filling his mind with a great deal of obscure knowledge that he was still working to decipher.
But the Saint Breaking Tree had also been nourished by the skills, and the Saint Breaking Fruit it produced let Chen Yan instantly absorb all the Skill Energy.
The moment he swallowed the [Skill] Character Saint Breaking Fruit, Chen Yan instantly absorbed the profound knowledge related to the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon.
It was as if that knowledge had been his all along.
The things he hadn't understood before finally clicked into place. His lips moved, and he could barely contain his excitement.
So it could be done this way.
And it could be done that way, too!
"Whew..."
He breathed gently, quietly circulating the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon. Under his conscious control, his body's muscles, bones, and skin began to move and breathe.
That's right, even the skin breathed, the bones breathed, and the muscles breathed!
Wu Chuhua had been right. Circulating the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon really did make it easier to get tired.
But that was his own problem. He hadn't understood the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon deeply enough.
Now Chen Yan's understanding of the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon had reached a whole new level.
He wanted to circulate the Crimson Gang Body Tempering Canon as part of his everyday life, turning the breathing technique he used to train into ordinary, effortless breathing.
As he breathed, Chen Yan looked around. He seemed to sense the flow of breath throughout the entire carriage. He could even faintly hear Wang Yang's heartbeat beside him.
His sight, his hearing, his sense of smell—every one of his senses seemed to grow sharper at that moment!
So strong. Chen Yan's eyes flickered.
If he'd had senses this sharp before, maybe he wouldn't have lost to Wu Chuhua, even with the other man's three-tenths of his Skin Stripes condensed.
Now that Chen Yan had begun practicing the Breathing Technique, his body grew stronger with every passing moment. His muscles, bones, and skin continued to develop, and his strength kept increasing!
At the same time, a vast amount of golden light remained within the Saint Breaking Realm, still nourishing the Saint Breaking Tree.
And in the boundless darkness, as Chen Yan began practicing the Breathing Technique with greater finesse, green light representing his physique and orange light representing his strength appeared.
This time, the Saint Breaking Tree didn't block the green light. A branch that had never borne fruit suddenly came to life, a fresh green shoot appearing upon it.
This was the Breathing Technique!
Every breath was a training session.
Wang Yang, sitting beside Chen Yan, was deep in thought and didn't notice the change in him.
"Since things went wrong with Principal Zhuang, tomorrow..." Wang Yang mused.
"Tomorrow I'll go to the Town Martial Division in the county and ask around," Chen Yan said.
"Mm." Wang Yang glanced at him, realizing his student had never lost his resolve. He smiled.
"Good. Don't give up."
Though he said that, Wang Yang couldn't stop himself from sighing inwardly. He was older and knew more.
The Chu Family's influence in the town's Town Martial Division ran deep...
A casual word from someone else might be a mountain that another person could never climb over in their entire life!
The one thing that comforted him was that his student truly was a genius.
Strength Stripes—that was a Strength Stripe!
The power to push back more than a thousand kilograms—that was what a Strength Stripe could do!
The bus jolted suddenly. On the narrow dirt road, a black sedan nearly scraped past it.
"Damn it, why are you driving so fast?"
The driver grumbled.
At the same time, in the sedan that had just swept past the bus, two men sat in the front seats.
"Drive faster. The Oath-Taking Ceremony is about to start."
The man in the passenger seat spoke.
"Mm. Shame Chen Yan isn't here. Director Luo told us to bring him to the county."
Luo Puxin had summoned all the high school students from the townships who'd lost their spots to the county. He planned to make a big splash at the Town Martial Class's Oath-Taking Ceremony.
Unfortunately, Chen Yan was missing.
"Missing one shouldn't be a problem. Tell him to come tomorrow. Director Luo made it clear: this time, whoever deserves a place in the Town Martial Class will get one."
Chen Yan looked out the window and saw a stretch of lush green cornfields slowly growing beneath the setting sun.
It was already nine o'clock that night.
The last rays of sunset, like a gorgeous crimson gauze, lay softly over the warmly lit streets of Green Mountain Town.
Chen Yan and Wang Yang stopped in front of a two-story house that had been built by its owner.
"Stay at my place tonight. I already told your dad this morning, so don't worry."
Wang Yang insisted that Chen Yan stay at his house for the night, then catch the earliest bus to the county tomorrow.
Chen Yan stepped into the Living Room and looked around. Wang Yang's home was simply furnished, but peaceful.
A certificate on the Living Room wall caught Chen Yan's eye. His gaze narrowed slightly.
[Top Student of Yunmeng City First High School: Wang Xinqian]
Wang Xinqian—was she Teacher Wang's daughter?
She went to school in Yunmeng City, and she was the top student, too.
Chen Yan was astonished.
Outside the window,
the sun sank in the west, and more and more fields and villages disappeared beneath the deepening dusk.
Moonlight swept through the Broken Cloud like silver, spilling a pool of faint, clear light over the earth.
[Saint Breaking Realm: Level 3 (0/75)] [Saint Breaking Fruit: Strength: (100/100) Blood: (99/100) Skill: (14/100) Physique: (35/100)]
Chen Yan shifted his awareness to the Data Panel and felt a flicker of delight.
As he kept using the Breathing Technique, his body continued growing stronger, and a [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit had ripened!
After swallowing the [Strength] Character Saint Breaking Fruit, Chen Yan stretched. A surging wave of strength flowed through his body, and every ache and trace of fatigue vanished.
Wang Yang carried a bowl of freshly cooked tomato-and-egg stir-fry and another bowl of noodles that had been rinsed in cold water into the Living Room.
Chen Yan opened his mouth. That was a huge portion. Wang Yang hadn't let him into the kitchen earlier, so he hadn't expected him to make this much food all at once.
"Sit down, Chen Yan. You're on the Body Tempering Path now, so you must have a big appetite. Eat up."
Chen Yan smiled and didn't protest. He served himself a bowl of noodles, topped it with tomato and egg sauce, then fixed himself another bowl and dug in.
Nobody could turn down tomato-and-egg stir-fry.
"Slow down. It's all yours. You must've gotten worn out fighting today..."
Wang Yang spoke with a smile, but saw that Chen Yan was eating quickly without being messy. He was surprised.
Before long, Chen Yan had finished two bowls of noodles. He patted his stomach, satisfaction in his eyes.
"Tasty, right? I'm actually pretty good at cooking, haha!" Wang Yang laughed. He was happy that his cooking had given someone a satisfying meal.
"It's delicious," Chen Yan said.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door. Chen Yan went to open it. A man in a suit and tie stood outside, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He looked at Chen Yan coolly.
Chen Yan was taken aback. He didn't think someone dressed like this was from the town.
"What are you doing here?" Wang Yang stood up.
"Manager Gong sent me to find you." The Suit Man walked into the room without waiting to be invited, casting a disdainful look around at the furnishings.
Wang Yang's expression turned cold. He walked over to Chen Yan and held out ten yuan, hesitating before speaking.
"Chen Yan, do your teacher a favor and go buy me a pack of cigarettes."
Chen Yan pressed his lips together, nodded, and left.
He closed the door and had barely walked away when he heard the unfamiliar man's voice from inside.
"Wang Yang, your wife sent you this Divorce Application. Sign it."
"Heh." Wang Yang's voice held a note of mockery. "I used to ask her to sign it, and she wouldn't."
"Manager Gong's wife died in a car accident a while ago. Your wife and Manager Gong are getting married next Monday. Remember to come." The man's voice carried a trace of ridicule.
In the hallway, Chen Yan narrowed his eyes. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop.
But his five senses were sharp now, and he could hear people talking even from a long way away.
Chen Yan shook his head. He could guess what had happened, but this was Wang Yang's family business. He couldn't interfere.
Chen Yan started to leave, but the voice inside the room reached his ears again.
"There's another document after that. It's the Custody Contract for your daughter. Sign it. Afterward, she'll have nothing to do with you."
"Impossible!" Wang Yang suddenly shouted. Chen Yan stopped in his tracks.
"Wang Yang, don't push your luck. Even if this goes to arbitration at the Legal Department, you won't win. The Deputy Minister of the Legal Department is from the Gong Family. You'd better understand that."
Inside the room, the Suit Man looked down at Wang Yang from above, disdain in his eyes.
"You're just an ordinary person. To be honest, your daughter is lowly. Manager Gong is willing to take her in. You should be happy about that."
A trace of anger flared in Wang Yang's eyes as he sat in his chair, as if it might burst out of him at any moment.
"Qianqian is my daughter. That bitch doesn't deserve to be her mother, and Gong Qing sure as hell doesn't deserve to be her father!"
The Suit Man frowned slightly, a cool smile tugging at his lips.
"Wang Yang, you still don't understand the situation. I don't have much time. I'll give you thirty seconds to sign. Every second you delay, I'll cut off one of your fingers."
He didn't have time?
He did.
He simply wasn't willing to waste it on someone as lowly as Wang Yang. So what if he beat Wang Yang to death?
He was only bothering to talk to Wang Yang because threats were a little more trouble.
And only a little.
"You!" Wang Yang clenched his teeth, his features twisting.
"You people really are vicious!"
"Twenty-nine seconds." The Suit Man turned away, ignoring Wang Yang as he checked his watch.
Wang Yang's eyes contracted. He sat frozen in place, his whole body trembling as if he'd fallen into an endless abyss, utterly helpless.
He couldn't fight back. No matter what he did, he couldn't change what was coming.
"Fifteen seconds," the man said, glancing at Wang Yang, who still hadn't picked up the pen. His eyes held a warning.
"Fourteen."
"Thirteen."
The man smiled.
"Forget it. I don't have time to waste on you."
The man moved swiftly, grabbing Wang Yang's wrist and pinning it to the table.
A dagger flashed out from his sleeve, slashing down toward Wang Yang's index finger.
"You!" Wang Yang roared, his face turning deathly pale.
The dagger hadn't even fallen when the window across from him suddenly shattered. A huge brick flew through it and struck the man's chest dead on. His eyes flashed with shock. A surge of pain shot through him, and he fell.
Wang Yang's face was deathly pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Outside the window, Chen Yan stared into the room with a grim expression and spat out each word.
"Beast!"
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