"Clap, clap, clap..."
"What are you doing?"
Xu Xin sat on the sofa watching TV, looking utterly confused. Xu Ai had suddenly lifted the hem of her nightdress, then lightly patted her thigh a few times.
"Nothing. I just need to borrow your thighs for a bit."
Xu Ai gave them a squeeze, then happily rested her head on Xu Xin's lovely pale thighs, rubbing her cheek against them.
What a shame. After taking a shower, Xu Xin had wrapped herself in a towel and gone to the kitchen. Xu Ai had thought she might get to see something spectacular.
But Xu Xin had come back out, hastily pulled on a nightdress, then put on an apron to cook. In the end, Xu Ai still hadn't gotten to see the beautiful scene Luo Feng had dreamed of.
(Luo Feng: I didn't! (▼皿▼#))
Never mind. Getting to rest her head on Xu Xin's lovely thighs was still enough to make Luo Feng jealous!
(Luo Feng: Damn it! (o﹃o))
Xu Xin rolled her eyes at Xu Ai, who was hugging her long legs, then pulled her skirt back down to cover the important parts.
Xu Ai blissfully rested her head on Xu Xin's lovely pale thighs, but when she lay back, she couldn't help sighing.
"What a shame..."
"What is it?"
Xu Xin was baffled. A moment ago, Xu Ai had been rubbing against her so happily. Why had she suddenly sighed?
"Nothing. Starting tomorrow, Sis Xin, you have to make sure you practice yoga."
Xu Ai patted Xu Xin's thigh, then nestled her head a little farther up toward the top of it.
At last, she'd managed to block some of the view! Sigh, she was still a long way from being completely blindfolded.
Xu Xin was only seventeen. She still had a little room to grow!
"By the way, weren't you supposed to go work out with Liu Ting at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall tonight?"
"...If you hadn't reminded me, I would've forgotten. I'm meeting Xiao Tingting tonight!"
Hearing that, Xu Ai blinked, then immediately scrambled to her feet.
"Take it easy..."
Xu Xin watched Xu Ai hurry around and shook her head with a smile.
Before long, Xu Ai had changed into a modest black long-sleeved shirt and trousers, then put on a loose trench coat.
"I'm heading out. Don't wait up for me tonight."
Xu Xin put on her mask and glasses, waved at Xu Xin, then went out.
"Don't wait up..."
Xu Xin was speechless. If she hadn't known Liu Ting was a girl, she would probably have locked Xu Ai in her room and forbidden her to go out.
The apartment Xu Ai and Xu Xin lived in wasn't very far from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District. After running for a while, she reached her destination.
"Xiao Ai, you're late~"
Liu Ting stared at Xu Ai in displeasure, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Clearly, she'd grown impatient waiting and had started warming up.
"Sorry, sorry."
Xu Ai repeatedly apologized to the spirited little beauty with a high ponytail in front of her.
Liu Ting was one of the four Advanced Students from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall at Yi'an District No. 3 High School. The other two were the protagonist, Luo Feng, and the minor antagonist, Zhang Haobai.
And the last one was Xu Ai, of course.
Huh? You're wondering why Xu Ai, a member of the Xu Family of the HR Alliance, had joined the Extreme Martial Arts Hall?
In fact, after the Great Nirvana Period ended, Hong and Thor had held a global conference at the War God Palace to discuss how to train the next generation of Martial Artists.
In the end, with the cooperation of countries around the world and the prestige of Hong and Thor, the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and Thunder Dojo were established, and vast resources were invested in them. All eligible teenagers around the world were required to choose one of the two.
The requirement was mandatory. Even the wealthy and powerful families had to comply, as did well-off households with enough financial means to provide their own training resources.
Even if they didn't need financial assistance, they still had to register with one of the two martial arts halls and undergo regular assessments to measure the next generation's progress.
All new students started as Beginner Students, but there was still a passing standard.
If a student couldn't meet that standard after three months at a martial arts hall, their financial assistance would be canceled.
At the same time, financial assistance for students below the Intermediate level was only available until they turned eighteen, while Advanced Students received it only until they turned thirty.
Incidentally, the passing standard for Beginner Students was a punch strength of 300 kilograms. Xu Xin had nearly failed back then. It was pretty 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 put the dumbbells back in their place, dusted off her hands, and walked back over.
"So, what took you so long?"
Her tone was as aggrieved as if she were confronting a husband who'd come home late...
Xu Ai smiled awkwardly and hurried to explain.
"I practiced yoga with my sister, then took a shower. I came over after dinner, and there was traffic on the way."
She'd never admit that she'd been so distracted by her sister's beauty that she'd nearly forgotten all about this!
Xu Ai and Liu Ting got along quite well. Aside from Xu Xin, Liu Ting was one of Xu Ai's few friends.
After all, they were both female Advanced Students at Third High School, and there weren't many girls who practiced martial arts. As long as they had a decent personality and spent time together, they'd usually become friends.
"Since you're here, let's test your stats first, then train together."
The training hall for Advanced Students at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall was full of Punch Strength Testers.
They found one nearby. Liu Ting turned it on, then stood to one side.
Xu Ai stepped up to the Punch Strength Tester, tensed her right arm slightly, twisted her waist, and slammed a punch into the target.
"Bang—!!!"
The target thudded dully. The display lit up and a string of numbers appeared.
"893 kg. You're still 7 kg short!"
Liu Ting looked at Xu Ai's result, then glanced at her chest.
"That punch was smooth. Looks like you've overcome your burden."
"My burden? Uh..."
Following Liu Ting's gaze, Xu Ai looked down and couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"You're just jealous of my gorgeous figure."
Liu Ting was the kind of girl who was almost flat-chested, naturally no match for Xu Ai's curves.
Fortunately, she was petite, so she looked like a big doll. She was just a little violent, which was why Xu Ai called her Xiao Tingting. It suited her.
"Come on, let's test your speed."
Liu Ting pursed her lips in disdain, picked up her bag, and headed for the speed-testing area.
The speed-testing machines stood beside a one-kilometer track. A few Advanced Students were running laps with weighted gear, sprinting at full speed. Two of them were Luo Feng and Yang Wu.
Liu Ting went to the far end of the testing area and adjusted the machine. She was just about to call Xu Ai over when she turned around and saw her standing off to the side, glaring at the Advanced Students running.
Well, to be precise, she was glaring at Luo Feng!
"Stop staring at Luo Feng, you hopeless sister-con!"
As Xu Ai's best friend, Liu Ting knew about Luo Feng and Xu Xin's relationship. It was the kind where everyone knew what was going on, but pretended not to know that they had feelings for each other...
There was no helping it. Luo Feng wanted to become a Martial Artist and give his family a better life, so he had no time for romance. Xu Xin worried that Luo Feng would be pressured by the Xu Family and her other admirers. Although she liked him, she didn't want to drag him into that mess.
With that mindset, neither of them had ever tried to sound the other out...
Anyway, Liu Ting had already taken to calling Luo Feng her brother-in-law in private. Xu Xin didn't know, but Xu Ai certainly did.
But becoming Xu Ai's brother-in-law wouldn't be that easy!
Xu Ai glared at him one more time, then turned and went back to the starting area. She bent her legs slightly. When Liu Ting gave her the OK sign, Xu Ai sprang forward, shooting out like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Before long, Xu Ai raced through the speed-testing area.
"25.4 m/s. That's way over the standard. By the way, don't they bounce when you run?"
Liu Ting glanced at the result, then let her eyes fall on Xu Ai's chest again as she jogged over.
"Um, could you stop staring at me there all the time?"
"Tch, I'm just worried about you."
Xu Ai was speechless. She could tell whether Liu Ting was worried about her or her chest.
Well, Xu Ai herself thought they were a burden too...
After finishing the speed test, the two of them moved to another spot, the room at the far end of the indoor east side of the third floor. Five large machines stood in a row inside. These were the Neural Response Testers.
"Let's use this one."
Liu Ting picked a tester, switched it on, then gestured for Xu Ai to step inside.
Xu Ai entered the red circle and prepared herself as a series of gun barrels aimed at her.
"Begin."
Xu Ai nodded at Liu Ting, who started the machine.
The machine beeped twice as the barrels moved to take aim. The next moment, red lights flashed from the muzzles, and bullets shot out one after another.
As Xu Ai watched the bullets fly toward her, her mind quickly calculated their trajectories and speed. In an instant, she'd mapped out the perfect evasion route for herself.
But Xu Ai still had to keep a low profile. She shifted her steps slightly, letting the incoming bullets graze past her. Each time, she dodged the bullets and the moving red lights by a hair's breadth.
When some of the bullet volleys were too dense, she still managed to dodge as much as possible, avoiding consecutive hits.
"Above average. Twenty-one times, and you never touched the red light."
Liu Ting sighed. "All you're missing is punch strength. Once you meet the standard, you can become a Quasi-Martial Artist. A Quasi-Martial Artist at sixteen, tsk, tsk."
"It's still over a week until May 24, the next Quasi-Warrior Assessment. That's enough time for me to train my punch strength up to 900 kg."
Xu Ai looked at the tester's screen with satisfaction. Now she just had to put in extra training hours and become a Martial Artist as soon as possible!
"With the Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Fist modified by Ruthless Councilor, you only need another 7 kg. If you work hard over the next few days, you should make it."
As Xu Ai and Xu Xin's friend, Liu Ting naturally knew they'd apprenticed themselves to Empress Ruthless. They hadn't kept the modified Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Fist to themselves either; once Empress Ruthless had announced that she'd become a councilor, they'd shared it with others.
There just weren't many people practicing it yet. The new version of Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Fist only slightly improved the training effect, and not by much.
"Come on, let's find a training room and practice some combat."
Liu Ting glanced at Xu Ai, took her hand, and led her out of the room.
The Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District had three buildings: one for Beginner Students, one for Intermediate Students, and one for Advanced Students.
The Advanced Student building was the tallest and largest. Its fourth floor contained a number of private training rooms. Students who wanted to practice swordsmanship or spear techniques, or spar with their friends, could come here.
As long as they showed their Advanced Student ID to the attendant, they could use a private training room for free.
Liu Ting led Xu Ai to the attendant. They got a room with little fuss, and then she pulled her inside.
Each training room had two sections: a training area and a changing room.
Students sparring couldn't be allowed to risk anyone's life, so the changing rooms provided protective gear for Martial Artists, along with some low-quality weapons that hadn't been sharpened.
Xu Ai took off her trench coat, chose a women's combat suit that was about her size, and put it on. For a weapon, she picked a Longquan Sword.
Liu Ting chose a broad-bladed greatsword. She slipped into her combat suit with ease, then left the changing room.
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