Silent Counterattack

Outside the classroom, the front and back doors and several windows were packed with people.

There were also quite a few students who took out their phones, turned on video mode, and aimed their lenses at Yu Bu'e inside the classroom.

Yu Bu'e, who was immersed in his own world, had not yet realized that he had become the center of attention.

He loved the feeling of his vital energy boiling inside his body, with every pore able to stretch out as a wave of heat surged through his limbs and bones like a fierce dragon...

This was a man's romance!

A student outside the classroom raised his arm high, wanting to record more clearly, but a voice came from behind him.

"Classmate, lower it a bit. You're blocking me."

"Then why didn't you grow taller... Principal?" The student, whose youthful awkwardness had not entirely faded, saw the silver-templed man behind him, shuddered, and hurried to step aside, though his gaze kept glancing at the man beside the principal.

That man was very tall, easily around one meter nine, wearing a thin, coffee-colored windbreaker. He was in his early thirties, with sharp facial contours, a high-bridged nose, and faint stubble on his chin.

One of his hands was shoved into his pocket, while his other arm hung straight down, his wide palm gripping the rim of a coffee cup as he gazed at Yu Bu'e inside the classroom.

The principal smiled. "Little Shen, this student's Meridian-Opening Fist is quite something! How many years of skill would it take to reach this level?"

"It varies from person to person." Little Shen's voice was deeply magnetic. "Still, his Meridian-Opening Fist has indeed reached a realm of perfection. That isn't something you can achieve just by spending time and effort."

"Oh? High praise! How about I arrange for you two to meet later?" The principal bantered. "You old senior should offer some pointers to your junior."

Little Shen shook his head. "No need."

"Not interested?"

"No, I've seen him before. It's not time to meet again yet." As Little Shen spoke, there was a hint of playfulness on his face. "Principal, I'll head back first."

With that, he turned and walked toward the stairwell. When the principal called out to him, he only raised a hand and waved.

"This brat. No matter how old he gets, he still has this weird temperament."

Inside the martial arts classroom, when Yu Bu'e finally stopped, he belatedly realized that the previously noisy environment was now exceptionally quiet.

He turned his face to look outside the classroom and was startled by the sight before him.

Slightly prone to camera shyness, he had so many phone lenses aimed at him that his temples twitched twice.

Wu Yang suddenly lunged forward in a rush, pressing both hands onto Yu Bu'e's shoulders and shaking him fiercely. His spirits were abnormally excited, and his chubby face was somewhat flushed.

"Old Yu! You're too awesome! Where did you learn this Meridian-Opening Fist?!"

Xu Hu and two other classmates similarly cast looks of bewilderment and shock.

They were all classmates in the same group and knew each other extremely well.

In the past, the martial arts teacher often praised Yu Bu'e's "Meridian-Opening Fist" for having standard movements, but it was completely in a different dimension compared to today's performance!

It was just like... some kind of metamorphosis!

"Good, good!" Standing at the doorway, the martial arts teacher clapped vigorously, his eyes full of approval. "Student Yu, your progress is simply advancing by leaps and bounds!"

Yu Bu'e was just about to speak when the person in a lab coat beside him reminded him, "Little classmate, hurry up and go draw blood."

Yu Bu'e slapped his head and quickly hurried over to sit down at the desk. The staff member, who was also wearing a lab coat, snapped back to reality and picked up a syringe.

"Little classmate, if I hadn't seen your age, I'd suspect you'd been practicing this Meridian-Opening Fist for fifty years," the lab coat responsible for drawing blood joked.

This was also heartfelt praise for Yu Bu'e.

"Thank you..."

"If you don't clear all the Spirit Meridians, you can't enter the Martial Arts Academy. What's the bloody use of having such good Meridian-Opening Fist form? Are you going to street-perform in the park?" Xu Hu suddenly spoke up from nearby.

"Exactly! Yu Bu'e has only cleared eight Spirit Meridians. No matter how well he throws the Meridian-Opening Fist, it's worth shit!" the classmate beside Xu Hu chimed in defiantly.

The martial arts teacher standing at the entrance flashed a complex expression in his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

The students outside the classroom also began to discuss it, with some gloating and others feeling regretful.

The gold-rimmed glasses looked outside the classroom and then glanced back at Yu Bu'e. The latter's eyes remained bright and were not struck down by these words.

This also piqued his curiosity.

"The test report hasn't come out yet. Don't speak too soon." He recorded data in his notebook and spoke slowly.

Xu Hu was choked up by the retort, but didn't dare lose his temper at the man, leaving him with no choice but to suppress it himself.

Just at that moment, a voice came from near the back door.

"Xu Hu, your report is out! Tested Spirit Meridians... eleven?"

The lab coat holding the test report raised his head, looking with a strange expression at Xu Hu as he approached.

Out of professional ethics, he still offered words of comfort.

"Classmate, don't worry. Your vital energy is very robust, and you're just a hair's breadth away from the twelfth. There's still time, it's a sure thing."

The fingers with which Xu Hu clutched the report turned white from exertion, and his face felt as though he had been slapped-burning hot.

"Yo-yo-yo, still eleven Spirit Meridians! And here I thought Student Xu Hu had already cleared all twelve!" Wu Yang's sarcastic voice drifted over.

Naturally, he wouldn't let slip this opportunity to kick a man while he was down.

"Hah, didn't you hear? Old Yu is just a hair's breadth away, and it'll probably all be sorted in these next few days!"

"That's right! This is way better than Yu Bu'e, who only cleared eight Spirit Meridians!"

The two members of Xu Hu's small clique immediately chimed in to help.

"Actually, you can't put it quite like that. After all, Yu Bu'e also took a Meridian-Opening Pill. Let me think, maybe this time it's nine Spirit Meridians?"

"Aha, since his Meridian-Opening Fist form is so good, he still has a bit of talent. Maybe it's ten! But even so, it's too late now, isn't it?"

Seeing that the atmosphere was turning sour, the martial arts teacher immediately walked over, scolded the few of them to silence, and then reached out to pat Yu Bu'e on the shoulder by way of comfort.

Over the next moments, the report cards of the other few people came out one after another.

Of the remaining two classmates, one remained stuck at ten Spirit Meridians, while the other had cleared the eleventh.

One wore a look of utter disappointment, while the other beamed with joy.

Yu Bu'e's heartbeat quickened as he waited for his own results, but he heard Wu Yang shouting first.

"Eleven! Old Yu, I cleared eleven Spirit Meridians! Haha, with a final sprint, I'll have a chance to enter the Martial Arts Academy too!"

Carried away by his emotions, Wu Yang failed to control himself. Only after finishing his sentence did he cautiously observe Yu Bu'e's expression.

"Mm, heard it. I've said it long ago: my boy Wu Yang possesses the bearing of a Great Emperor!"

Seeing that this was Yu Bu'e's reaction, Wu Yang finally set his mind at ease.

At last, Yu Bu'e heard his own name.

"Yu Bu'e! Oh? Not bad at all! You've cleared eleven Spirit Meridians!"

Wu Yang looked at Yu Bu'e in disbelief, while a relieved smile hung on the latter's face.

Xu Hu, who had already walked to the door, abruptly halted his footsteps. He instinctively turned his head, locking eyes with Yu Bu'e's bright gaze, and recalled what the other person had said to him earlier.

"You'd better actually clear twelve spiritual meridians!"

The continuation of that sentence should have been...

"Otherwise, your meager sense of superiority will also vanish into thin air!"

When Yu Bu'e stepped out of the martial arts classroom, the staff member beside the gold-rimmed glasses stared at the drastically fluctuating curve data on the paper and sucked in a breath of cold air.

"Brother Ning, this kid's dynamic data... is abnormal!"