Has No One Ever Told You That You Talk Too Much?

"One hundred thousand a month—who could resist that? As long as I become a martial artist, it'll be like the state is paying to support me. From today onward, no one can stop me from practicing martial arts. I said it—Jesus himself couldn't stop me!"

"People like you don't even dare dream big. First-realm martial artists get ten thousand a month. What about the second and third realms? Still, just thinking about it, Martial Dao cultivation must be incredibly difficult. I bet none of the current senior-year Martial Arts Students have Qi and Blood Sensing yet. But that's no problem. The senior-year guys are already old—the future belongs to us freshman students!"

"This big lecture was definitely meant to promote Martial Dao to us freshmen. The seniors have the College Entrance Examination coming up, and the sophomores are at the point where studying gets intense. Caught in the middle, neither here nor there—that's them. We freshmen are the ones with the most time and energy. We were born at the right time, brothers. Go home and practice your stances!"

"Talking big now means your heart's higher than the sky; once you start stance training, whether you live or die is anybody's guess. You want to practice martial arts and stand stances? Just try the Horse Stance. Stand there—one session and you won't make a peep."

"The seniors really have it rough. Even if they switch to becoming Martial Arts Students now, they'll have less than four months to practice martial arts. Unlike us freshmen—we still have two and a half years from now until the College Entrance Examination."

"Two and a half years to practice martial arts. No need to worry about any exams. After graduation, no need to work, and the Martial Arts Support Fund pays ten thousand a month."

The lecture ended, and the students gradually filed out.

The freshmen were the most excited, throwing their arms around one another's shoulders as they chatted. Quite a few had already made up their minds to switch to becoming Martial Arts Students. In their eyes, Martial Arts Students had always been the most carefree kind of student.

They had thought Martial Arts Students enjoyed themselves now only to face a bleak future.

But they had never expected that, once this government policy came out—

Martial Arts Students would become the real hot commodity.

It could be said that once someone became a martial artist, they would not trade that status even for a degree from a Key University.

Senior Year, Class Eight.

Jiang Shu's class.

Their homeroom teacher, Yan Dehou, walked up to the podium. Seeing every seat below filled, he cleared his throat and said, "The lecture just ended, and I'm sure everyone has plenty to discuss. We won't have class for now. Stay in the classroom and use this period freely."

"Keep your voices down. Don't disturb the students who want to study. Next period will proceed as usual. Those who want to switch to becoming Martial Arts Students can come to my office after class."

With that, Yan Dehou left the classroom and shut the door behind him.

In an instant, the classroom came alive again.

Conversations sprang up one after another like bamboo shoots after rain.

"Jiang Shu, why did you come back this time?" Xu Shuhui, seated in front of him, swung her ponytail as she turned around and asked curiously, "Are you going to keep studying in class, or are you heading home again later?"

A few days ago, when Old Yan had announced that Jiang Shu was taking leave from school, she had been deeply surprised.

After all, as Jiang Shu's former deskmate, she considered herself to know him fairly well.

His grades were neither outstanding nor poor, but he was a particularly decent person. Unlike the other boys in class, he never made crude jokes at girls' expense. Whenever he had time, he would do small things within his ability, like tidying up the classroom's trash corner.

In her imagination, a classmate like him should have gone steadily through school, taken the College Entrance Examination, perhaps gotten into an ordinary undergraduate university with a bit of luck, and begun his college life.

Taking leave from school was completely beyond anything she had expected.

"I'm going back later."

Jiang Shu sat in his chair and glanced at the books on the desk—books that did not belong to him at all. His brows furrowed slightly.

Though he had prepared himself for it, seeing it with his own eyes still felt excessive.

He had left abruptly last time and had not returned to the classroom.

Although after breaking through the Mystery of the Womb and deciding to practice martial arts, he had devoted himself wholly to Martial Dao and no longer concerned himself with anything else—

The contents of that desk were, after all, his high school memories from this life.

The notes he had diligently taken in class.

The doodles he had made while relaxing.

The casual words he had written when he was in a bad mood.

What the desk held was not books or test papers.

It was his entire high school life in this lifetime.

But now...

"Jiang Shu, I've already put my books in your desk, so don't go rifling through it. I threw your books in the corner. You've taken leave from school anyway, so you won't need the books or the desk."

Before Jiang Shu could say anything, Wang Han beside him spoke up at once. As he spoke, he shoved the books on his own desk farther in front of Jiang Shu, as if that was simply how things ought to be.

"Ah, I thought you were just under too much pressure and would come back after taking some time to adjust. The Horse Stance seems pretty difficult too. Doesn't our school have Martial Arts Students already? They still haven't achieved minor mastery even now, and they'll probably only end up in vocational college later. Honestly, I think you'd be better off taking a shot at the College Entrance Examination. Maybe you could still make it into an undergraduate program."

"After all, martial artists are obviously hard to become. A thousand jin of strength—back in ancient times, that would have made someone a match for ten thousand men. It's too difficult."

Xu Shuhui shook her head. She was the class's study representative. In her mind, studying was the most important thing, the foundation of everything. Even after everything Mr. Zheng had said in today's lecture, she still felt that martial artists changing their fate were merely exceptions, a minority.

Individual cases could not represent the general whole.

Practicing martial arts might not truly change one's fate.

But studying well and getting into a good university truly could.

"Pfft, Xu Shuhui, were you even listening to the lecture today? Didn't that Mr. Zheng say that Martial Dao would be the real future from now on? Jiang Shu took leave to practice martial arts. His future is bright—why would he care about studying?"

Wang Han curled his lip. On the surface, he seemed to be taking Jiang Shu's side and praising him.

But his tone dripped with mockery.

Perhaps some people would have bright prospects through practicing martial arts. But Jiang Shu? What was he?

He entered and left the dorm alone, ate alone.

Senior year was almost over, yet he still did not make friends with anyone in class. Wang Han had sent him several messages asking to borrow his desk, but Jiang Shu had not even replied.

Sticking a scallion into a pig's snout and pretending to be an elephant—who was he trying to fool?

What was with this act of being different?

What use would someone like that be once he entered society?

Still, Jiang Shu could only put on airs over WeiXun.

Like right now—Wang Han had put his books on the desk right in front of him.

And Jiang Shu still did not dare say a single word!

Trash!

He was only destined for vocational college!

"There's definitely no harm in studying more. It's double insurance. Even if practicing martial arts doesn't work out and you end up in a vocational college, you can still rely on studying to upgrade from vocational college to an undergraduate degree."

Raised under traditional family values, Xu Shuhui's thinking was conservative yet idealistic. Looking at Jiang Shu, she could not help offering her advice.

"Jiang Shu, what use is practicing martial arts for you? Did you hear that? Xu Shuhui wants you to upgrade to an undergraduate degree, hahahaha."

"And Xu Shuhui, you care so much about Jiang Shu... don't tell me you have a crush on him?"

Wang Han's voice grew louder and louder. By the time he said "have a crush," he was practically shouting, as if he wanted every student in the classroom to hear. He had truly never expected Xu Shuhui to say the very thing he had always wanted to say.

Upgrade to an undergraduate degree, hahahaha.

That was hilarious.

Someone who could only get an undergraduate degree by upgrading from vocational college still wanted to practice martial arts?

They were classmates. What was he putting on airs for?

Who didn't know exactly how much he was worth?

"Wang Han, what nonsense are you talking about?!"

Xu Shuhui's bright eyes suddenly widened, a flicker of anger rising in them. She turned around at once, but it was already too late.

In a senior-year classroom where academic pressure was immense, any bit of news could easily draw everyone's attention.

At that moment, countless gazes converged on their corner of the room.

Wang Han did not care about Xu Shuhui's anger in the slightest. He crossed his arms, looking immensely pleased with himself.

One simple sentence could change someone else's mood and throw the entire class into an uproar.

He reveled in the attention directed at him.

As if, at that very moment, he were the protagonist of the class.

His command of words beyond those of his peers was the confidence he would carry into society in the future!

Whether he entered politics or business, Wang Han was certain he would accomplish great things.

He did not believe Zheng Yanbo's words. If martial artists were truly so powerful, why had other countries not begun practicing martial arts?

The martial artists of the future would be nothing more than super special forces soldiers in the military and super bodyguards for business conglomerates.

The ones who truly controlled this world—

Were still—

Power and money!

Amid Wang Han's loud laughter, every student in the class looked toward Jiang Shu and Xu Shuhui.

At that moment, Jiang Shu and Xu Shuhui seemed to have become actors on a stage.

Xu Shuhui's eyes had turned red. She gritted her teeth as she looked at Wang Han, unable to say a word.

Having always focused solely on studying, this was the first time she had encountered something like this. She had no idea how to deal with it.

All she knew was that the more she tried to explain, the more outrageously the story would spread.

All she could do was sit stiffly in her chair. She wanted to be like an ostrich, burying her head in the sand and ignoring everything, caring about nothing.

Yet at that moment, in her eyes, Jiang Shu—who had always been somewhat quiet and reserved in the classroom—

Actually stood up. Under dozens of gazes shifting back and forth between them, he opened his mouth and shattered the stillness:

"Wang Han, has no one ever told you that you talk too much?"