Xu Ai's Physical Fitness

"Pat, pat, pat, pat..."

"What are you doing?"

Xu Xin, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV, looked completely bewildered as she watched Xu Ai suddenly lift the hem of her nightgown and gently pat her thigh a few times.

"Nothing, just borrowing your thigh for a second."

Xu Ai gave it a squeeze, then happily rested her head on Xu Xin's fair, shapely leg, even rubbing her cheek against it.

It was a pity; after Xu Xin finished her shower, she had wrapped herself in a bath towel and gone to the kitchen, and Xu Ai had hoped to see something spectacular.

As it turned out, Xu Xin had suddenly come back out, hastily thrown on a nightgown, and put on an apron to cook, so Xu Ai ultimately failed to see the scenery that Luo Feng dreamed of.

(Luo Feng: I do not! (▼皿▼#))

But it didn't matter; enjoying a lap pillow on Xu Xin's beautiful legs was something even Luo Feng would envy!

(Luo Feng: Damn it! (o﹃o))

Xu Xin rolled her eyes at Xu Ai, who was hugging her long leg, and pulled the hem of her gown back down to cover the important parts.

Xu Ai rested beautifully on Xu Xin's fair leg, but as she lay there looking up, she couldn't help but sigh.

"What a pity..."

"What's wrong?"

Xu Xin was confused. Wasn't she just rubbing against her happily a moment ago? Why the sudden sigh?

"It's nothing. Sister Xinxin, you must practice yoga diligently starting tomorrow."

Xu Ai patted Xu Xin's thigh and tucked her head a little deeper toward the top of her leg.

Finally, it was blocked a little! Sigh, there was still a distance to go before being completely blinded.

Xu Xin was only 17; there was still room for growth!

"By the way, didn't you have an appointment to go to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall to train with Liu Ting tonight?"

"...If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten! I have a date with Xiao Tingting tonight!"

Hearing Xu Xin say this, Xu Ai blinked her eyes and immediately scrambled up.

"Slow down..."

Xu Xin watched Xu Ai's hurried movements and shook her head with a smile.

Before long, Xu Ai had changed into a conservative black long-sleeved shirt and trousers, with a loose trench coat over the top.

"I'm heading out! Don't wait up for me tonight."

Xu Xin put on her mask and glasses, waved at Xu Xin, and then headed out the door.

"Don't wait up tonight..."

Xu Xin felt a headache coming on. If she didn't know that Liu Ting was a girl, she probably would have already locked Xu Ai in her room and forbidden her from going out.

The apartment where Xu Ai and Xu Xin lived wasn't far from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in the Yi'an District, and she reached her destination after a short run.

"Xiao Ai, you're late~"

Liu Ting stared at Xu Ai with dissatisfaction, holding a barbell in each hand. Clearly, she couldn't wait any longer and had already started doing some warm-up exercises.

"Sorry, sorry."

Xu Ai apologized repeatedly to the heroic and spirited young beauty with a single ponytail standing before her.

This Liu Ting was one of the four senior students at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in the Third High School of the Yi'an District. The other two were the protagonist, Luo Feng, and the minor villain, Zhang Haobai.

The last one, of course, was Xu Ai.

What? You ask why Xu Ai, a member of the Xu Family of the HR Alliance, joined the Extreme Martial Arts Hall?

In fact, after the Grand Nirvana period ended, Hong and Thor convened a global meeting at the War God Palace to discuss methods for cultivating the new generation of martial artists.

The final result was that, with the cooperation of countries around the world and the prestige of Hong and Thor, the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and the Thunder Dojo were established. They invested massive resources and required all age-appropriate teenagers globally to choose one of the two to join.

This requirement was mandatory; even wealthy families had to comply, as did middle-class families who had the economic strength to provide for their own cultivation resources.

Even if you didn't need the financial subsidies, you still had to register with one of the two halls in name and undergo assessments periodically to determine the progress of the new generation.

Although everyone was considered a junior student upon joining, there was a passing grade.

If a student failed to reach this passing grade within three months of joining, the martial arts hall's financial subsidies would be canceled.

At the same time, financial subsidies for those below the level of intermediate student were only provided until the age of 18, while subsidies for senior students were only provided until the age of 30.

As an aside, the passing grade for a junior student was a punch force of 300 kilograms. Xu Xin had almost failed to pass back then; it was quite embarrassing...

Although Xu Ai was a member of the Xu Family, she still had to follow the rules set by the War God Palace.

Liu Ting threw the barbells back onto the rack, clapped her hands, and walked back.

"Tell me, why are you so late?"

The tone was as resentful as a wife questioning a husband who came home late...

Xu Ai smiled awkwardly and hurriedly explained.

"I was helping my sister with yoga, then I took a shower and ate before coming over. Plus, there was traffic on the way."

She certainly wouldn't admit that she had been so mesmerized by her sister's beauty that she almost forgot about this.

Liu Ting and she had a pretty good relationship; aside from Xu Xin, she was one of the few friends Xu Ai had.

After all, both of them were female advanced students at Third High School, and since there were so few women practicing martial arts, as long as their personalities clicked, they would basically become close friends.

"Since you're here, let's test your stats first, then we can spar."

In the training hall for advanced students at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Punch Strength Testers could be seen everywhere.

The two found a nearby Punch Strength Tester, and Liu Ting turned the machine on before standing to the side.

Xu Ai stepped up to the machine, gathered a bit of strength in her right arm, twisted her waist, and landed a heavy punch on the target.

"BOOM--!!!"

A dull thud echoed from the target, the display screen lit up, and a string of numbers popped up.

"893kg, still 7kg short!"

Liu Ting looked at Xu Ai's score, then glanced down at her chest.

"That punch was quite fluid. It looks like you've finally overcome your burden."

"Burden? Uh..."

Xu Ai followed Liu Ting's gaze, looked down, and couldn't help but roll her eyes at her.

"You're just jealous of my alluring figure."

Liu Ting was the type who was practically flat-chested, so naturally, she couldn't compare to Xu Ai's curves.

Fortunately, she had a petite frame and looked like a cute, doll-like girl, though she was a bit violent—which was exactly why Xu Ai called her Xiao Tingting; it was quite fitting.

"Let's go, let's test your speed."

Liu Ting curled her lip, looking dismissive, then turned around, grabbed her bag, and headed toward the speed testing area.

The speed testers were located next to a 1,000-meter track, where several advanced students were currently doing weighted runs at full speed, two of whom were Luo Feng and Yang Wu.

Liu Ting walked to the end of the testing area and adjusted the machine. Just as she was about to call Xu Ai over, she looked back and saw Xu Ai standing still, glaring fiercely at the advanced students running on the track.

Well, to be precise, she was glaring at Luo Feng!

"Stop staring at Luo Feng, you hopeless sister-complex!"

As Xu Ai's best friend, Liu Ting naturally knew about the relationship between Luo Feng and Xu Xin—the kind of secret crush where everyone knew, but everyone pretended not to.

There was no helping it; Luo Feng needed to become a martial artist to provide a good life for his family and had no time for romance. Xu Xin, meanwhile, worried that Luo Feng would be suppressed by the Xu Family and her other admirers; although she had feelings for him, she wouldn't drag him into that whirlpool.

Holding onto that mindset, neither of them had ever thought to test the other's feelings...

Regardless, Liu Ting had already privately started calling Luo Feng "brother-in-law." Xu Xin didn't know that, but Xu Ai was well aware of it.

But becoming Xu Ai's brother-in-law wouldn't be that easy!

Xu Ai glared at him one last time before turning back to the starting area. She bent her legs slightly, and after Liu Ting gave her an "OK" gesture, she lunged forward, shooting out like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Before long, Xu Ai had sprinted through the speed testing zone.

"25.4m/s, you've already exceeded the standard by quite a bit. Tell me, don't you feel them bouncing when you run?"

Liu Ting looked at the data, then let her eyes drift back to the chest of Xu Ai, who was jogging back.

"Ugh, can you stop staring there?"

"Tch, I'm just concerned about you."

Xu Ai was speechless. She could tell perfectly well whether Liu Ting was actually concerned about her or just obsessed with the "burden" on her chest.

Fine, even Xu Ai herself felt it was a burden...

After testing her speed, the two changed locations again, heading to the innermost room on the east side of the third floor, where five large machines were lined up side by side. These were the nerve reaction testers.

"Let's use this one."

Liu Ting found a machine, turned it on, and signaled for Xu Ai to step inside.

Xu Ai walked into the red circle, watched as the muzzles aimed at her, and braced herself.

"Start."

Xu Ai nodded at Liu Ting, and Liu Ting activated the machine.

Following two beeps from the machine, the muzzles began to track her. The next moment, red light flashed from the barrels, and bullets began to fire out in rapid succession.

Watching the incoming bullets, Xu Ai quickly simulated their trajectories and speed in her mind. In an instant, a perfect evasion route for her was mapped out.

However, Xu Ai still had to keep a low profile. As she moved her feet lightly, the bullets grazed past her, each one missing her—along with the moving red light—by the narrowest of margins.

Only when faced with clusters of dense fire did Xu Ai perform a "maximum effort" dodge to avoid being hit repeatedly.

"Exceptional performance, 21 hits avoided, zero contact with the red light."

Liu Ting sighed in admiration, "You're only lacking in punch strength now. As long as you hit the mark, you can become a Quasi-Martial Artist. A 16-year-old Quasi-Martial Artist, tsk tsk."

"There's still over a week until May 24th, the next Quasi-Martial Artist assessment. That's enough time for me to train my punch strength to 900kg."

Xu Ai looked at the test machine screen with satisfaction; next, she would have to work overtime and train hard! She had to become a martial artist as soon as possible!

"With the Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Fist modified by Empress Ruthless, it's only 7 kilograms. If I work hard these days, I should be able to reach the standard."

As a close friend of Xu Ai and Xu Xin, Liu Ting naturally knew that they had become disciples of Empress Ruthless. They hadn't kept the modified Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Fist to themselves either; after Empress Ruthless announced she had become a Councilor, they had shared it along with that news.

It was just that there were still relatively few people learning it. After all, the new version of the Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Fist only increased the training effect slightly; it wasn't very obvious.

"Let's go, let's find a training room to practice some combat."

Liu Ting looked at Xu Ai, then took her hand and left the room.

The Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District had three buildings: the Primary Student Teaching Building, the Intermediate Student Teaching Building, and the Advanced Student Teaching Building.

Among them, the Advanced Student Teaching Building was the tallest and largest. On the fourth floor, there were individual training rooms. If some students wanted to practice sword techniques, spear techniques, or spar with friends, they could all come here.

As long as they showed their Advanced Student ID to the administrator, they could get access to an individual training room for free.

Liu Ting pulled Xu Ai along, found an administrator to open a training room with practiced ease, and then led her inside.

The training room was divided into two parts: the training area and the changing room.

When students sparred, there certainly couldn't be any life-threatening incidents, so the changing room provided protective gear used by martial artists, plus some low-quality, unsharpened weapons.

Xu Ai unbuttoned her trench coat, chose a set of female combat gear that fit her figure, and put it on, while for her weapon, she chose a Longquan Sword.

Liu Ting chose a broad-bladed greatsword, and after easily putting on her combat gear, she left the changing room.