Emergency Aid

Walking into Class Five, the students were already gathered, sitting cross-legged on their chairs and cultivating diligently.

Gao Teng walked softly to his seat and joined their ranks.

It was an ordinary day, and by the time school ended in the afternoon, he had only gained 9 points of cultivation, along with a negligible amount of proficiency in his techniques and martial skills.

As for his physical body and spirit, the values had barely changed.

Improving these two aspects was an arduous, grinding process that required not only internal consumption of medicinal pills to nourish the body and soul, but also external body-tempering exercises to toughen the bones and muscles, as well as seated meditation to hone one's will. It would take a long time to see any real results.

"Practicing martial arts is truly difficult."

Gao Teng couldn't help but sigh. Just as he stepped out of the classroom, he suddenly heard the sound of a shrill siren.

He followed the noise and saw an ambulance with flashing lights roaring toward the teaching building, coming to a halt at the entrance.

Immediately after, the rear doors swung open, and several medical staff rushed into the building with a stretcher, their faces filled with anxiety.

Gao Teng looked on in surprise. Who needed emergency care?

He walked downstairs and saw the medical staff hurrying into Class Eight, Grade Three. A moment later, they rushed out carrying Zhou Xing.

Zhou Xing's eyes were rolled back, his body twitching uncontrollably, and blood was gushing from his mouth. He looked like he was on the verge of death.

Gao Teng's heart tightened. He hadn't let Zhou Xing suffer enough punishment yet; was this guy really going to die?

Could he be that fragile?

"Make way! Quickly, make way!"

The medical staff shouted urgently as they ran through the hallway. The surrounding students scrambled to the side, their eyes fixed on Zhou Xing on the stretcher.

Gao Teng scanned the crowd in the hallway and walked over to his former deskmate, asking curiously, "Zhu Hong, what happened to Zhou Xing?"

Zhu Hong curled his lip, a look of schadenfreude on his face. "He overdosed on pills and suffered a backlash.

Think about it—what kind of good medicine could Zhao Dapeng possibly recommend? It might be cheap, but the side effects are massive.

Zhou Xing must have lost his mind. He'd already met the admission standards for a key university; I don't know what he was in such a rush for."

Gao Teng couldn't help but laugh. How could Zhou Xing not be in a rush?

His strength was dropping every day, and even piling on pills couldn't stabilize his cultivation. It would be strange if he weren't anxious.

He clicked his tongue and said, "I just saw that Zhou Xing lost control of his bowels. I wonder if he'll even make it."

Zhu Hong snorted, his face full of disgust. "If he dies, it's heaven's justice. Who told him to always bully people? He deserves this retribution!

But it would be best if he just became a cripple and spent the rest of his life being bullied by others. That would be truly satisfying!"

"Yeah."

Gao Teng replied, resting his hands on the railing as he looked downstairs.

Zhou Xing had already been loaded into the ambulance, and it sped off toward the hospital amidst the wailing of the siren.

He withdrew his gaze and said to Zhu Hong, "Alright, I won't keep you. I have to go to work to pay off my debts."

Zhu Hong nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"By the way, how are things in Class Five?

I heard you even reported Zhao Dapeng to the principal. You've got guts."

Gao Teng said with a helpless tone, "I had no choice. If I didn't report him, wouldn't Zhao Dapeng have bullied me to death?

Now that I've transferred to Class Five, things are much better. Teacher Chen is excellent; she's very dedicated to her teaching and treats every student equally without playing favorites."

Zhu Hong said enviously, "I want to transfer too, but my family is too poor. I don't have the money to buy pills from the big pharmaceutical companies.

Even though Zhao Dapeng is despicable, at least he makes the medicine affordable, which saves me a lot of money.

Sigh! Everyone knows the medicine from the big companies is more effective with fewer side effects, but I just can't afford it!"

Gao Teng understood this predicament well. This was the reason why, despite Chen Yan's dedication, she had so few students.

Practicing martial arts was simply too expensive. University admission standards rose every year, and if you didn't use pills to boost your cultivation speed, you would be eliminated.

For students from ordinary backgrounds, it was incredibly difficult.

Even if the medicine from small factories was less effective and had worse side effects, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and buy it, as it was cheap and saved money.

A hint of sympathy appeared in Gao Teng's eyes. If he weren't able to steal cultivation to improve his strength, he would be living this same miserable life, popping low-quality pills every day.

He might even be worse off, burdened with massive debts, unable to afford even the low-quality pills from the small factories!

"When I stand at the peak of this world, I will definitely change this situation."

Gao Teng made a secret resolution.

However, the thought was fleeting. Right now, the most important thing was getting into one of the Top Five universities; it was too early to talk about such things.

He said goodbye to Zhu Hong and walked out of the school at a leisurely pace.

He hopped on his bicycle and rode toward Mercy Hospital.

He wanted to confirm if Zhou Xing was safe. If the guy survived, he would have to go to the hospital to steal some cultivation tomorrow morning.

After riding for over an hour, Gao Teng entered the gates of Mercy Hospital.

He parked his bike in a corner of the courtyard, locked it, and walked quickly toward the emergency building.

Before he could even enter the lobby, a sharp siren wailed behind him as an ambulance sped in and screeched to a halt outside the emergency entrance.

The rear doors were flung open, and several medical staff rushed out carrying a stretcher with a blood-covered student lying on it.

Seeing this, Gao Teng immediately stepped aside to clear a path, watching as they rushed into the resuscitation room.

It seems Zhou Xing isn't an isolated case.

Gao Teng thought to himself. With the college entrance exam drawing near, many people were undoubtedly abusing drugs to boost their strength, ultimately causing their bodies to collapse and landing them in the hospital.

He scanned the lobby and walked toward the information desk.

"Hello, I'd like to ask, about an hour ago, was a senior student from Fifth Middle School brought in for emergency treatment?"

The nurse reacted immediately upon hearing this: "You mean Zhou Xing?"

Gao Teng nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's him."

The nurse wore a pained expression: "He's been such a handful. He had barely been resuscitated before he started demanding to be discharged, claiming he didn't have much time left and insisting on going home to cultivate."

Gao Teng let out a sigh of relief; it was a huge relief that Zhou Xing was still alive.

"So, did he go home?"

The nurse replied: "Of course not. How could we possibly let him leave?

His meridians are severely damaged and he must recuperate properly in the hospital. If he keeps taking those reckless drugs, he'll surely lose his life."

After a pause, the nurse added: "I have no idea which manufacturer's Meridian Opening Pill he took. His meridians were practically bursting, yet he didn't even feel it—they must have packed it with painkillers.

If it weren't for the brain injury he sustained, he would have been completely ruined, and he could have forgotten about practicing martial arts ever again."

Another nurse couldn't help but interject: "Your school is being so irresponsible. How could they recommend such inferior medicine to students?

The factories producing these pills load them with additives just to suppress the side effects and keep people buying more. How could any human body withstand that much?"