Head Coach of the Boxing Gym

"Beep—beep—!!!"

In the dead of night, the crisp, piercing sound of an alarm echoed against the cliff face.

Lin Ye sat on the branch of a pine tree growing at a slant, panting slightly as he lifted his gaze to check his watch.

23:00. The total time taken was about two hours, including a short break in the middle.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling the damp mountain breeze as hot air billowed from his chest.

This body was still lacking.

If he were in his peak state from his past life, a mere hundred-meter cliff—even with slippery rock faces—wouldn't have taken him more than half an hour to scale.

"I am still too weak," he sighed softly.

Leaning back against the pine tree, the white moonlight reflected in his eyes, and a satisfied, relaxed smile appeared on his face.

For no reason, he thought of the time he had successfully conquered the Master of Fate in his past life; he had been watching the moon alone just like this.

The moon of today did not shine upon his past life, but this time, he could go even further.

More than an hour later, at the edge of Yamada Village.

Lin Ye stood before a low courtyard wall and stepped directly into the yard.

He walked to the door of the tile-roofed house, took out the cash he had withdrawn earlier that day from his backpack, counted out twenty-four bills, and placed them on the chair beside the door.

After finishing this, he glanced at the dark window and turned to leave.

Time passed, the moon shifted, and a pale, fish-belly white light began to brighten the horizon.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

A black-tailed, multi-colored rooster leaped onto the courtyard wall and crowed toward the sky.

Before long, the door creaked open, and an old man dressed in black cloth stepped out slowly.

Breathing in the fresh air, he was just about to start a set of health-preserving boxing exercises when his gaze suddenly fell upon the chair beside him.

A stack of bright red bills lay there, and he froze in place.

After a while, he picked up the red bills and looked toward the winding mountain road outside the courtyard.

He remained silent for a few seconds, then pressed his palms together in a bow and silently put the money away.

*

*

*

In the bedroom, Lin Ye sat quietly by the window, watching the sky brighten.

His gaze swept over the alarm clock: 05:58.

Summer mornings always arrived a little earlier.

He opened his phone and sent the photos he had taken of the Black Spiral Grass to his mentor.

"Teacher, I have acquired some Black Spiral Grass. Can the laboratory accept them?"

This time, there were thirty-two stalks of Black Spiral Grass in total. He had kept seven as potion materials, leaving twenty-five.

If they could be purchased at the internal academy price, that would be ten thousand yuan—enough to solve his immediate financial crisis with some to spare.

Even if not, as long as he got over three thousand, he wouldn't be at a loss.

He put down his phone and took out a bowl-sized stone mill from his backpack, which he had bought at the mall to grind the Dieluo Seed.

After fiddling with it for a while, he muttered to himself, "According to the procedure, the Dieluo Seed must first be stir-fried until it turns jujube red, then put into the mill."

"After grinding it into an oily paste, pour it into a pot, and then use the water-replacement method... was it boiling water or warm water?"

"Right, it's adding boiling water while stirring, and finally, the oil-shaking step."

Having confirmed the process, he didn't rush to start.

In two more hours, it would be time for the head coach of the boxing gym to give a lecture. The entire process of grinding Dieluo Seed oil would take at least three or four hours, so the timing conflicted.

The head coach didn't even give a lecture once a month; it was a higher priority than the Dieluo Seed oil and could not be missed.

"Buzz, buzz~~"

Just as he was planning to take a shower, his phone vibrated twice.

[Teacher Zhuang]: "Sure. I have some things to attend to here that will delay me for a few days. Your senior brother will be back the day after tomorrow; you can go to the lab building and find him then."

[Teacher Zhuang]: "The price will be at the market rate, four hundred per stalk, for a total of ten thousand. Once the accounts are settled, I'll have your senior brother transfer it to you directly."

Looking at his teacher's reply, a warmth spread through Lin Ye's heart.

Normally, fresh Black Spiral Grass had to go through several processing steps before it could be used as medicinal material.

Therefore, the price for fresh Black Spiral Grass should have been lower, but his teacher had paid him as if it were already dried.

"Thank you for the trouble, Teacher," he replied.

"Buzz, buzz~~"

[Teacher Zhuang]: "Alright, I'm busy right now. We'll talk about the gathering when I get back. No need to reply."

Looking at his teacher's message, Lin Ye silently turned off the screen, which reflected his own face.

Staring at his reflection, he noticed that compared to his past life, his features were less sharp, the corners of his eyes softer, no longer so pointed and aggressive.

"Is this... a bond?"

He muttered to himself, tilting his head to look at the ceiling.

"The shackles of being human..."

After a long moment of distraction, he suddenly snapped back to reality, his forehead covered in a fine layer of sweat.

Taking a deep breath, his gaze fell upon the cover of the Elementary Potionology Notes on his desk.

"Kalon Ismayil."

He silently recited the name.

After a few seconds of silence, he stood up and walked toward the bathroom.

After showering and warming up with some boxing drills, he headed straight for the gym, arriving at the entrance at 7:30.

As he pushed the door open and stepped inside, a gust of wind rushed toward him, and he immediately sidestepped to avoid it.

"Whoosh!"

A sturdy, dark shadow flew past, slamming directly into the door and hitting the floor with a heavy thud.

"Cough! Cough!"

Coughing a few times to ease the tightness in his chest, Lei Long propped himself up against the doorframe.

A bright red footprint was stamped across his face, stretching from his lips to his forehead, with five clear toe marks lined up above his eyebrows.

Lin Ye looked at Lei Long, feeling somewhat bewildered.

He turned his gaze toward the center of the hall, where the students were standing in three rows.

They were all from his intake; there were no senior students, which was likely an intentional arrangement.

The most eye-catching figure was a person wearing a black training suit, standing barefoot beside a punching post, slowly retracting her right leg.

She was tall, around 1.75 meters, wearing rimless glasses, with long, slender legs.

Her wheat-colored arms were exposed, showing well-defined muscle lines that looked full of explosive power.

Her long black hair was tied into a simple high ponytail, and she looked to be in her early twenties, appearing refined even without makeup.

Her posture was upright and agile, and a thin gold necklace hung around her neck, giving her an indescribable sense of vigor.

"Hiss!"

Lei Long gasped, looking at Lin Ye and forcing a pained smile.

"Sorry about that, classmate. Go ahead and join the ranks. This is our branch's head coach, Head Coach Lin Fei."

He raised his hand to cover his forehead, rubbing it gently, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Senior brother! Over here!"

Yan Yi's voice rang out as she stood in the queue, waving her arm to signal him.

"Classmate, join the ranks."

Lin Fei glanced over, her voice not sounding particularly feminine, more like a boy who hadn't yet hit puberty.

Lin Ye nodded, walked over quickly, and stood next to Yan Yi.

"What's going on?" he asked in a low voice.

"I don't know, I just got here too, and I saw the head coach beating up the instructor," Yan Yi whispered back.

She had actually only arrived a few minutes before Lin Ye, and by then, the head coach had already been beating up Coach Lei for a while.

It had to be said, Coach Lei was certainly durable.

This head coach could leave a footprint on a floor made of Ripple Ironwood, which was as hard as steel; she was simply impossibly tough.

If it were an ordinary person, one kick would have snapped them in two or blown their brains out.

Yet, Coach Lei only ended up with a footprint on his face.

Practicing martial arts, fighting is exhilarating!

This is what it means to practice martial arts!

At the front of the queue, Lin Fei crossed her arms, watching Lei Long hunch over and approach cautiously, her eyes narrowing sharply.

"I told you to read the instructor's manual more often, but you never listen!"

"What kind of nonsense were you teaching in the introductory course?! The realms are actually one, two, three, four, five, what the hell?"

"Is your head filled with crap?! Are you trying to go up the mountain to fight tigers?"

"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?! Are you deaf?!"

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a dull thud, Lin Fei smashed her arm against the punching post beside her.

The leather covering shattered instantly, and the steel structure inside twisted ninety degrees in a heartbeat.