Daily Practice

Days passed, and Jiang Jiu's life was slowly being occupied by Xiao Wu.

Relying on her own cuteness, plus a little bit of face given to Jiang Jiu, Xiao Wu even managed to sneak into the blacksmith shop.

She wasn't an apprentice, though; she simply moved a small stool to sit not far from Jiang Jiu, and when he took a break, she would take out a newly bought handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Xiao Wu could put on a well-behaved act when she was out, calling everyone "uncle" and helping pour tea without any hesitation, so no one in the blacksmith shop gossiped about her.

Well, not entirely.

For instance: "Kids these days... back in my day, I didn't even start to get the hang of things until I was ten!"

"When I was young, I once knew a girl just like this..."

"You're full of it!"

Basically, there was no malice in it.

Furthermore, Xiao Wu showed she had a knack for strength, though she truly had no interest in blacksmithing.

Outside of smithing hours, Xiao Wu would also help Jiang Jiu clean the garden.

She was much more lively during these times, fluttering about like a pink butterfly.

As for work efficiency, however, it could only be said that it took the two of them longer to clean the garden than it did for Jiang Jiu to do it alone.

Fortunately, it still didn't take too long, and Jiang Jiu was able to accept it.

Then there was Teacher Xiao Wu's private tutoring time.

During Soft Technique lessons, Teacher Xiao Wu was full of authority, and under the guise of letting Jiang Jiu experience it firsthand, he was thrown around by her quite a bit.

Every trade has its master, and since Xiao Wu was the expert, Jiang Jiu had no choice but to accept it.

The results were certainly there, too.

After just these few lessons, he felt that the current version of himself could easily defeat the version of him from the day he reported to the academy.

When the gap in physical fitness wasn't too large, having learned combat techniques or not made a world of difference in a fight.

As for sparring with the Xiao Wu of that day, well, that was just wishful thinking.

That evening, after finishing dinner, Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu returned to Dorm Seven.

The atmosphere in the dormitory was off.

Xiao Wu frowned and asked, "Did someone bully you all?"

Wang Sheng kept his head lowered, and several others were lying on their beds instead of meditating as they usually did.

"It must be Xiao Chenyu and his lot." Jiang Jiu was aware that something like this would happen.

Jiang Jiu's own time and location within Nuoding Academy rarely overlapped with Xiao Chenyu and the others.

Xiao Wu should have been surrounded by Wang Sheng and the others, wandering the academy in a high-profile manner, but because she stuck to Jiang Jiu's side all day, she actually had no reputation at all within Nuoding Academy.

The conflict between Wang Sheng, Xiao Chenyu, and the others was entirely a one-sided bullying of the work-study students by those people.

Such things happened often, but this was the first time Jiang Jiu and Xiao Wu had seen physical signs of a conflict.

"Is it that spoiled brat?"

Jiang Jiu's eyes widened involuntarily—was this really Xiao Wu?

"Hmph, as if you're the only one allowed to read books." Xiao Wu acted coyly before turning her attention back to the bullying incident.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to go beat that guy up," Xiao Wu said decisively.

"Boss, let's just forget it." Wang Sheng looked up, then shook his head.

The other work-study students chimed in as well; after all, Xiao Chenyu was already a Spirit Master.

"Forget it? Forget what!"

Xiao Wu immediately activated her martial soul, her yellow spirit ring shining brilliantly.

She glowed in the dim light.

"A... a hundred-year spirit ring?!"

Including Wang Sheng, the group of work-study students were so shocked they seemed to freeze in place.

Wait, Boss, if you were this fierce, you should have said so earlier!

"It's just a hundred-year spirit ring, what's there to be surprised about? How embarrassing. Jiu is completely different from you lot."

Xiao Wu pretended to be dismissive as she retracted her martial soul and hopped back to the bed she shared with Jiang Jiu.

"Well, Brother Jiu... how could Brother Jiu be the same as us?"

If the work-study students accepted Xiao Wu as their boss from the bottom of their hearts, their feelings toward Jiang Jiu were far more complex.

They could understand Xiao Wu's outward thoughts and follow her train of logic, but Jiang Jiu was entirely different.

His speech was one thing, his actions another; he had clear goals, strong execution, and a sense of balance in his choices that made him seem like he was in a completely different state from those who just went with the flow.

They didn't understand him, but they could see Jiang Jiu's diligence.

This kind of person put a certain amount of pressure on the other work-study students, and for children, it was hard not to develop a desire to keep their distance.

However, this did not affect the admiration they felt in their hearts.

Even though he was younger than them, "Brother Jiu" came out of their mouths naturally, accompanied by a sense of looking up to him.

"Xiao Jiu really is different." Xiao Wu smiled, stretched, and then tucked herself into her bedding, watching Jiang Jiu as he sat in meditation to cultivate.

"That's enough for now. Tomorrow, we'll go find that Xiao Chenyu together."

Xiao Chenyu was indeed a playboy, but he was also a very clear-headed one.

He liked to bully the weak, but only those he could afford to bully.

If he hit a brick wall, he was the type who could swallow his pride to admit his mistakes and apologize, and he would never offend that person again afterward.

Such a person was not a good man, but given his background as the son of the city lord, as long as he stayed in this Nuoding City, he would certainly live a very comfortable life.

"Mm-hmm, then you go ahead and cultivate, Xiao Jiu. I won't disturb you."

Once Xiao Wu spoke, the other work-study students also shut their mouths, returning to their own cultivation.

However, that yellow spirit ring was still shining brightly in their minds.

Heh, their group of work-study students had produced a battle spirit master with a beast spirit and a century-old spirit ring; surely no one would dare to bully them in the future.

They held onto this thought right up until they finished their cultivation and drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning.

Today was a rest day in Jiang Jiu's plan, but not running didn't mean he had no other arrangements.

Before the sky had even begun to brighten, he and Xiao Wu were already on the playground practicing "Dance-Style Yoga."

Xiao Wu might be lazy at times, but she was never ambiguous about waking up early now.

Whether it was staying on the playground to watch Jiang Jiu run or leading him through flexibility training as she was now, she was committed.

Compared to watching him run, Xiao Wu naturally preferred leading Jiang Jiu through "yoga."

There was no helping it; it was just too much fun.

"Here, right here, keep it tightened, hold it! Come on!"

Xiao Wu guided and cheered him on with a grin, her hands wandering freely over the joints of Jiang Jiu's body.

She was being diligent and responsible, so what was wrong with a little touching?

She wouldn't let Jiang Jiu suffer a loss, either.

When it was her turn to perform the guided movements, she would also let Jiang Jiu feel the condition of her tendons and bones, as well as how her muscles exerted force.

She loved the way Jiang Jiu would put on a fake, serious expression during those moments.

"That's about enough, right?" After holding the pose for a while, Jiang Jiu spoke up.

"Is it?" Xiao Wu nonchalantly withdrew her hand from Jiang Jiu's hip.

After all, the largest joint in the human body was located there, and the flexion, extension, rotation, and abduction of the lower body all relied on it.

It was definitely not because the texture was excellent!

After changing through a few more poses, the flexibility training for the day finally came to an end.

According to Xiao Wu, the earlier these flexibility exercises were performed, the better; once the foundation was laid, advancing later would be much easier, and there would be no need to go back and specifically strengthen them later on.

In this regard, they were already much stronger than ordinary people.