In this world, techniques were categorized based on their levels. In the West, people used to rank them according to SABCDE. In the East, dojos back then were categorized in heaven, earth, black, and yellow. Buddhism was about enlightenment and wisdom. Although this was a more accurate description of techniques, it was not as easy to memorize them. Therefore, the foolish netizens simplified them and ranked the level of the techniques in the categories iron, bronze, silver, gold, diamond, and king. This type of ranking corresponded to the Western ranking of SABCDE.
In fact, the gold technique was fairly powerful. It was the equivalent of the Western B level. Such a technique should be very rare in the world of martial arts.
It was a pity that China was not a feudalistic society and the government's policy was to leave wealth to the people instead of suppressing and controlling them.
That was why China placed great importance on techniques. However, because there were limited resources, it was impossible to eliminate the gap between the rich and the poor, and the training resources were not easily accessible by everyone.
However, the country made sure that everyone could access the basic techniques they needed.
In order to make the techniques as easily accessible to everyone as possible and ensure the safety of the people, thus maximizing their potential, the government worked with top martial arts experts and medical experts and made use of cutting-edge computers to jointly develop a set of gold techniques. They made sure that all citizens could learn them.
This technique was the 13th Military Boxing.
It was the technique that Lin Yao was practicing now. This was the gold technique that everyone practiced.
This gold technique was very stable and worked on one's foundation.
For this reason, the gold technique was considered standard training in China. No one would practice techniques that were below the gold level.
It was a national policy to leave wealth to the people. The advantage was that the country had an army of 70 million at present, with a steady stream of soldiers. There was no need for forced conscription like in other countries. At the same time, when the country faced a crisis, it could expand its army anytime to more than one billion.
A powerful army and a huge number of martial artists had made it possible for China to remain generally stable, even though there had been continuous Spirit Energy Revival on the Blue Planet.
It was good that everyone could access techniques. This technique was meant to be practiced by everyone, so it had to cater to the public. Hence, its most important features were safety and stability. Lin Yao found it a pity that there was nothing special about it. It mainly consisted of defensive moves.
However, this was the gold technique after all. It was the most suitable technique for laying a foundation. Some small countries even regarded this technique as their most treasured technique.
'It is fortunate that there is a stable government. I can grow and develop with peace of mind now.'
As Lin Yao walked back home, were it not for the powerhouses who walked at the speed of light, given the few vehicles present on the road, he would have thought that he had returned to the original world. Basically, the world he was in now was as safe as the world in his previous life.
Nothing happened to them on the way back. Lin Yao had woken up at five o'clock and gone out. By the time he came back from his training, it was already 20 minutes past seven in the morning. Lin Yao quickly washed and ate. Then, since he and Zhang Heng were physically fit, they ran directly to school and entered the school gate before eight o'clock.
'Regardless of whether the distance is short or long, one always travels around on foot. The consumption of resources in this world has been reduced a lot.'
As Lin Yao was reflecting on the present situation, Zhang Heng suddenly elbowed him.
"What are you doing?"
"Over there. Your goddess is here."
"Uh…"
Lin Yao turned with an exasperated look and saw an indifferent-looking girl in a school uniform walking toward the campus. She was unusually beautiful. However, due to her aloofness, she seemed very unapproachable. She was one of those icy beauties.
Apart from her beauty and aloofness, there was something even more striking about her. The girl frowned, as she was displeased about being the center of attention. This slight frown of hers was nothing noteworthy. However, Lin Yao felt chills and palpitations. It was a scorching summer day, and the sun was very bright. However, the chill lingered, and Lin Yao felt as if winter had arrived.
In fact, his body shivered from the cold.
'Such a powerful presence… She is indeed the Ice Snow Princess of our school. She must be an advanced martial artist. Damn! We are the same age, yet we aren't even considered martial artists. Instead, she is already on the brink of surpassing the level of a martial artist. A comparison would indeed be odious.'
The Ice Snow Princess, whose name was Yan Yan, was one of the top ten geniuses at school.
It was kind of ridiculous to have a top ten of geniuses at a small school like theirs. However, it seemed normal on second thought. After all, since ancient times, it had not been easy to determine who wrote better literature, while it was easy to determine who was better at martial arts.
Unlike the poems of talented scholars, for which there were no criteria, one could easily judge who was the strongest martial artist by making them fight in the arena. This was why one could easily be ranked as the best or the worst.
Besides, the profession of a martial artist involved combat. It was natural that they were competitive and needed more combat experience. Although the country did not encourage martial artists to bully the poor and average citizens, it encouraged martial artists to fight to become the champion in the arena. Therefore, the country allocated funds to hold numerous competitions in the entire country, super genius competitions in the cities and on provincial levels, as well as the nationwide battle of the kings. In fact, all human nations would jointly organize an international competition similar to the Olympic Games every year.
Each country selected geniuses through domestic competitions, and the international competition was a chance to showcase the talents and power of each country. Unlike the Olympic athletes, the martial artists were the foundation of the military strength of this world. Therefore, the international competition between the kings could even be regarded as a battle without real weapons… No, it should be considered a small-scale battle. The winning country would gain prestige and other benefits.
It could be said that in the world of martial artists, arena competitions were very common and frequent. Schools that worked on cultivating the foundation of martial artists would naturally hold countless competitions. In particular, it was very common for students in their third year of high school to have a small competition every three days and a large-scale competition every seven days. There was also a monthly exam at the end of each month. This was similar to the testing strategy of the humanities course.
Talented martial artists would certainly stand out at this kind of competition, and Yan Yan was one of them. She had a talent for ice and snow and came from an established background. She was the absolute top talent at their school and ranked first among the girls.
Zhang Heng marveled at Yan Yan's beauty and strength, but Lin Yao had other thoughts in his mind.
'There are rewards for the competitions at school. The school, the city, and the country jointly fund them as a form of support to the students. She has amazing talent and an extraordinary background and wins the school's rewards. We are the same age. I have yet to break through the human limits to become a martial artist, yet she is about to surpass the level of a martial artist to become a warlord figure.'
Lin Yao had a gentle disposition, yet he also felt like swearing. He had to admit that at times, the gap between people was even larger than the gap between humans and dogs.
He could not help but sigh over the gap between them. While he was in a trance, the Ice Snow Princess walked over from a distance and reached him in no time, exuding a terrifying aura.
"Are you the one who botched his love confession and left the city?"
When he heard her words, Lin Yao's face instantly darkened. Logically speaking, Zhang Heng had already told the girl his predecessor had confessed his love to that he was leaving the city. It was not surprising that Yan Yan would make such a remark now. However, the girl right in front of him was not the girl that his predecessor had confessed his love to.
His predecessor had known his limits. He had merely been an ordinary student. He couldn't possibly have confessed his love to a top genius and sought his own humiliation. Besides, the Ice Snow Princess was also known for her indifference. Since she'd entered this school more than two years ago, countless people had confessed their love for her and had been rejected by her with indifference. Many of them had been students from rich families or students with extraordinary talents. However, all of them had failed. His predecessor had been no fool. He would not have felt affection for her.
Therefore, the girl that his predecessor had confessed his love to had been only an ordinary girl.
With that thought in mind, Lin Yao looked behind the girl. He saw a petite girl in the distance who looked like a junior high school student following the Ice Snow Princess.
'Judging from her figure, I suppose my predecessor was a Lolita fan?'
Surprised, Lin Yao kept casting odd glances at the petite girl, yet again leaving a bad impression on the Ice Snow Princess.
"It's okay to prefer petite girls. However, you threatened to take your own life after botching your love confession. You are such a lousy man. I would never allow Xiaoxue…"
"Yanyan, say no more. Will you leave this to me?"
The petite girl next to her had noticed that Yan Yan's expression had turned even colder and hurriedly stopped her. The girl with the icy demeanor seemed to ease up slightly at her words.
"Well, we are friends. There is no need to ask for permission. Go ahead. If he dares to bully you, tell me."
"Nothing will happen, Lin Yao is a good person."
After talking with the aloof girl, the petite girl, Qin Xue, gave Lin Yao an apologetic look and told him, "Lin Yao, shall we talk over there?"
"Sure."
Lin Yao looked indifferently at Yan Yan, who shot him a cold glance, before he walked to the woods in the school campus with Qin Xue without even a trace of an expression on his face.
Upon reaching the woods, Qin Xue immediately apologized to Lin Yao.
"Sorry. Yanyan didn't mean it. She said that because she was worried I would be deceived."
"I could tell."
The girl named Qin Xue was indeed very petite. He could not help but want to protect her and be nice to her. However, he felt upset about what the Ice Snow Princess had said. In his previous life, he would already have been considered an adult. He would not vent his anger on others. No matter what, he was the main reason things had turned out that way.
After apologizing on behalf of the aloof girl, Qin Xue seemed to ponder hard what to do next. She was thinking of ways to clarify this love confession without hurting Lin Yao's feelings.
She was indeed a gentle and kind person. It was no wonder his predecessor had liked her. Yan Yan was overprotective of her. People indeed felt like protecting gentle and kind girls like her.
Qin Xue struggled for a long while, but no words came to her mouth. In the end, it was Lin Yao who spoke up. "Would you believe it if I told you that you had nothing to do with me leaving the city yesterday?"
"Uh?"
Upon seeing Qin Xue's surprised expression, Lin Yao stopped hesitating. He had made everything clear to her.
"This is a misunderstanding. I still remember the reason you gave me when you rejected me. You won't consider entering a relationship before the college entrance examination. I agree with you. Students should behave like students. Puppy love is absolutely prohibited. I left the city yesterday to improve my skills."
After he said that, Lin Yao felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had just arrived in this world and he was worried that the secret of his transmigration would be leaked. This was why he'd used the rejected love confession to justify his different personality.
A month had passed, and most people had gotten used to Lin Yao's current personality. There was no need to use that as a reason anymore.
After saying everything that was on his mind, Lin Yao sincerely thanked the young girl in front of him. He had saved himself a lot of trouble by using her as an excuse.
"Thank you for your concern. Rest assured, I will not do anything foolish."
At the same time, Lin Yao was reminded of her hesitation.
"Being gentle and kind is indeed a good quality. However, it is better to reject someone outright in such situations. Don't give others a chance to make use of your kindness. This will only hurt you and your friends."
"Huh???"
Qin Xue felt confused now that Lin Yao had lectured her instead.
'What's the matter? Am I not here to comfort you? Why am I being reprimanded now?'
Qin Xue was at a loss, while Lin Yao was still thinking about Qin Xue's kind-hearted nature.
'Perhaps she is too petite and gentle, as I cannot help but treat her as a younger sister.'
Lin Yao shook his head and left after clearing things up.
After a while, Qin Xue walked out of the small forest. Yan Yan, who looked like an icy fairy, saw her look of confusion and her expression hardened.
"He must still be pestering you!"
There was not much intonation to her voice. However, Qin Xue, who had been friends with Yan Yan for a long time, knew that she was showing signs of anger.
Startled by the Ice Snow Princess' words, she hurried to explain. "He did not pester me. We have cleared things up. In fact, he even lectured me."
Speaking of that, Qin Xue still felt unhappy.
Yan Yan grew curious at her words. She was very beautiful and naturally had many suitors. She had seen her fair share of methods that others used to woo girls. She could also see through Lin Yao's standard tactics. He knew that Qin Xue was a gentle and kind girl and would give in and become his girlfriend if he expressed his infatuation for her and told her he had given up on himself after getting rejected. This was very despicable of him, which was why she had a very bad impression of Lin Yao.
She also knew that he would not act harshly given the situation. Instead, he had to express his love for her and his despair over being rejected. He couldn't possibly have lectured her.
"What happened? Can you tell me what you two talked about?"
Upon hearing Yan Yan's questions, Qin Xue told her everything. Her expression turned weird after she listened to her account.
It became particularly weird when she mentioned the phrases "A student needs to work on their studies. Puppy love is absolutely prohibited…" and "Don't give others a chance to make use of your kindness. This will only hurt you and your friends…" The icy beauty nodded in a rare and unexpected way.
"If that's his way of thinking, it seems that we have indeed misunderstood him."
With that, the misunderstanding between Lin Yao, Qin Xue, and Yan Yan was resolved. However, after learning about Lin Yao's thoughts, although Qin Xue felt relieved, at the same time, she was slightly unhappy. Still, she shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.
'This is the best outcome. I should be happy. I must say that Lin Yao looks freer and more relaxed than before.'
While petite Qin Xue sorted out her thoughts, Yan Yan was lost in thought.
Yan Yan, who had always prided herself on being righteous, would rant against wicked people like Lin Yao but would dare to admit her own mistakes as well.
Right now, she wanted to find an opportunity to apologize to Lin Yao for her bad attitude in the morning.
'Since it was a misunderstanding, I must apologize. I have something to do after school today. I will apologize to him tomorrow morning.'
They were not in the same class or even in the same building and she had something to do after school, so Yan Yan felt that she might not get a chance to run into Lin Yao today. Thus, she was thinking of apologizing to him tomorrow. Besides, Qin Yue had told her that Lin Yao had said, "A student needs to work on their studies. Puppy love is absolutely prohibited…" This was in line with her values. Hence, she felt that Lin Yao was a good person.
School had ended, and it was now evening. Yan Yan was in a yard full of children when she noticed Lin Yao. Although she was always indifferent, she smiled with a surprisingly cold sneer.
"Is this what you meant by 'A student needs to work on their studies'? Don't tell me that you stalk Xiaoxue all the way to the orphanage after school? Or perhaps, this is another misunderstanding? Stal-ker!"
Yan Yan enunciated her words with a startling chill in her voice. She sneered while fixing her gaze on Lin Yao. At the same time, Qin Xue, who was nearby, seemed to get mad. She looked as if she felt fooled. Lin Yao had no idea what to do about them.
"Would you believe me if I said that this is a misunderstanding?"
"What do you think?"
Boom!