After the lunch break, Lin Zichen headed to his afternoon practical classes.
First up was the Wilderness Survival Course.
The teacher, Cheng Bei, didn't bother with concepts or theories. He went straight to hands-on practice, asking if anyone knew how to start a fire by drilling into wood.
As he spoke, he pulled out a few pieces of dry wood and tossed them on the ground to see if anyone knew the skill.
He figured no one would.
It wasn't a skill people had much use for in everyday life. Who would bother learning it?
But to his surprise, Lu Gang and Wang Shujie, the two top students from Nanguan City, both knew how to start a fire by drilling into wood.
As soon as he tossed out the wood, the two of them walked over and skillfully started drilling.
Before long, a flame sparked, and they successfully started a fire.
"What's going on? How are you two so good at this? You even know how to start a fire by drilling into wood?" Cheng Bei asked, looking incredulous.
Lu Gang smiled. "Teacher, I went to an outdoor summer camp during the summer break after eighth grade. I learned it there."
Wang Shujie replied coolly, "I taught myself online when I was in elementary school."
At that, quite a few students in the class gaped in astonishment.
Were all the top students from Nanguan City this incredible?
He'd taught himself to start a fire by drilling into wood online when he was still in elementary school?
That was downright unreal!
Lin Zichen looked over at Wang Shujie too. He hadn't expected someone else to be like him, searching online for videos and teaching himself all sorts of skills as a kid.
It seemed top students had something in common.
For the rest of the class,
everyone except those two show-offs from Nanguan City followed Cheng Bei's instructions and practiced starting fires by drilling into wood.
"Xiao Chen, this is so hard. My hands are nearly raw from drilling, and I can't even make a hole. How fast do you have to drill before it starts a fire?"
Looking at her slightly reddened palm, which kept stinging, Shen Qinghan wore a dejected expression.
Li Chuxin and He Yu were having the same problem beside her. Neither of them could get the piece of wood on the ground to turn.
Seeing this, Lin Zichen said to the three of them, "Come over. I'll teach you."
He Yu looked puzzled. "You know how to start a fire by drilling into wood?"
Lin Zichen explained, "I taught myself online too."
Li Chuxin looked at him with admiration. "Zichen, you're amazing!"
Lin Zichen just smiled. He quickly taught them his tips for starting a fire by drilling into wood and corrected their mistakes as they worked.
Of the three, Shen Qinghan was the clumsiest. She kept getting the drilling motion wrong.
With no other choice, Lin Zichen crouched beside her and guided her hand, teaching her how to drill.
With so many people watching as Lin Zichen held her hand, Shen Qinghan's whole face turned red. The flush spread all the way to her ears; she looked as if she might drip water.
After the Wilderness Survival Course ended,
the students of Class 1 Grade 1 finally had their Martial Arts Training Course with their homeroom teacher, Han Yuanfeng.
It was the most important course in high school, bar none.
The course mainly covered understanding the human body, physical training, and learning various martial arts techniques.
Han Yuanfeng began by teaching everyone a special breathing technique.
Once mastered, it could regulate one's breathing and improve the effects of physical training.
The improvement wasn't all that great, though—just a little better than eye exercises.
Lin Zichen listened to Han Yuanfeng's explanation as he watched him demonstrate the technique, and learned it right away.
It wasn't difficult. All he had to do was get the rhythm of his breathing right.
Of course, that was true only for him.
No one else in the class could learn it. They all complained that it was too difficult, and several times they nearly practiced themselves breathless.
One girl even became so short of breath that she leaned against a tree and retched.
"Don't worry, everyone. This breathing technique is a little tricky. In previous years, students in the Grade 1 Elite Class took an average of three days to learn it."
Seeing the dejected looks on everyone's faces, Han Yuanfeng promptly offered a few words of comfort.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Shujie walked over and said, "Teacher, I've learned it."
Han Yuanfeng was stunned. It was only the first class, and he'd already learned it?
Before he could get over his surprise, Lu Gang raised his hand and said, "Teacher, I learned it too. Is this how you do it?"
With that, Lu Gang began practicing the breathing technique somewhat awkwardly, repeatedly adjusting his breathing.
Seeing him, Wang Shujie began practicing it too.
When Han Yuanfeng saw that the two of them had really mastered the technique, he grew visibly excited.
He looked at Lu Gang and Wang Shujie and praised them lavishly in front of the whole class. "Impressive. Truly impressive. No wonder you both earned such excellent grades in a place full of top students like Nanguan City. Your ability to learn really stands out!"
The students around them looked on, green with envy.
At the same time, they felt defeated.
Everyone who got into Shanhai High School's Martial Arts Elite Class had been a favored child of heaven at their middle schools, the top students in everyone's eyes.
Yet standing before Lu Gang and Wang Shujie, they were like fireflies trying to outshine the bright moon, their light instantly dimmed. It was a real blow.
Time flew, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those days, the school schedule was basically the same every day.
From Monday to Thursday, they had Mechanical Modification Course and Gene Fusion Course in the morning, then Wilderness Survival Course and Martial Arts Training Course in the afternoon.
On Friday, they had Elective Course all day.
Throughout this time, Lu Gang and Wang Shujie kept making an effort to stand out, earning the esteem of every teacher.
Lin Zichen, on the other hand, kept a low profile and quietly trained his body every day.
Now and then, he organized the other three members of his group to wipe the blackboard, take out the trash, or water the classroom plants. He quietly completed these insignificant chores, raising the progress bar for his Gregarious Animal achievement.
After a few days, the progress had increased quite a bit.
[Achievement: Complete tasks a total of 1,000 times while cooperating with others] [Reward: Obtain Biological Attribute—Gregarious Animal] [Total tasks completed: 56/1,000]
That Saturday morning,
Lin Zichen got up early and waited outside Shen Qinghan's home for her to come out.
The night before, he and Shen Qinghan had agreed to go to the beach together that day.
Just the two of them, without their parents.
Shanhai City was a coastal city, surrounded by the sea.
The nearest beach was less than thirty kilometers away.
There was no problem with the two of them going out together.
They could leave in the morning and be back by evening, so both sets of parents were perfectly at ease.
Of course, they were mainly at ease because Lin Zichen would be with her.
"Xiao Chen, let's go."
At the sound of a sweet voice, Shen Qinghan stepped out of the house with a backpack stuffed full of things. She looked at Lin Zichen with a bright smile.
The two soon took a car to the nearest beach.
They said they were going for an outing, but really, they wanted to train their water skills and look into Shen Qinghan's body.
Lin Zichen had always wanted to uncover the secrets surrounding Shen Qinghan. Why couldn't she control her bladder? Why was she naturally such a good swimmer?
And what was the voice Shen Qinghan had heard underwater last time?
Had she imagined it, or was it something else?
Could it be related to the strange things that had happened to her body for years?
These questions had been circling in his mind. Every day, he wanted to find the answers.
P.S. Setting out a bowl and begging for monthly and recommendation tickets!
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