He Bing sighed and tightened his grip on the saber in his hand. For some reason, he felt that his saber did not feel as good anymore.
However, he soon remembered something that made him happy; the instructor had finally agreed to let him learn the second stage of the Qi Induces Internal Strength technique.
His mood immediately improved.
Although Lu Heng received his own saber before he did, at least he was still ahead of Lu Heng in terms of internal strength cultivation.
Lu Heng would not be able to learn the second stage of the internal strength cultivation technique for some time.
By the time Lu Heng started his Qi Gathering cultivation, he would have already cultivated it for almost a year.
By then, the gap between them would definitely be huge.
While his comprehension ability was lacking compared to Lu Heng, he did not believe that his physique was as well.
"Lu Heng, go ahead and practice your saber technique first. I'll be heading over to the library to take a look."
He Bing was going to review his knowledge of the Qi Induces Internal Strength technique again to prepare for the official start of his training tomorrow.
Although the process of tempering one's muscles was not overly dangerous, it was still good to be careful.
He Bing strode off toward the library, and Lu Heng went off to the training hall alone.
Now that he had a saber, Lu Heng wanted to look up some information about monsters.
Otherwise, even if he was strong enough, he would not be confident enough to leave the city.
In fact, there were also biology classes in high school, but they were similar to those of the old era in the sense that the syllabus was only intended to teach students some general knowledge about monsters.
As for the specific habits and characteristics of each type of monster, only university students would study such knowledge.
The primary reason for this was that such knowledge was too specialized, and ordinary people had no need of such knowledge.
After all, a person's time and energy was limited. If that person would not ever need to deal with monsters, then it was a complete waste of time to study this topic.
'Should I look around the black market?'
Lu Heng thought about the black market that he had bought the flower poison ginseng from.
That place sold all kinds of things, so perhaps there would be books on this topic for sale too.
'Let's go there.'
Lu Heng quickly made up his mind and turned a corner to walk toward the entrance of the dojo.
In any case, he already had a saber, so he could practice his saber technique anywhere. His training was no longer limited to the confines of the dojo.
He was about to reach the entrance when he suddenly spotted a man and a woman walking toward him.
He was very familiar with the man. It was Sun Hao, who lived upstairs. Sun Hao was also his classmate during his third year of junior high school.
"Lu Heng, you're here so early."
Sun Hao smiled and greeted him.
"Yes, I'm here to practice martial arts," Lu Heng replied.
At this moment, Sun Hao noticed the saber in Lu Heng's hand, and a trace of surprise flashed across his eyes.
However, he did not ask Lu Heng about it and just walked past.
After they had walked far enough away, Sun Hao turned to look at Lu Heng's back and said with a slight frown, "Where did he get that saber from?"
"Who are you talking about?" The young woman next to Sun Hao asked.
Her name was Xu Li. She was the younger sister of the dojo's newest martial artist, Xu Cheng, and also Sun Hao's fiancée.
"The person I just greeted was my junior high school classmate," Sun Hao explained.
"Oh," Xu Li replied.
She did not know Lu Heng, so she naturally had nothing to add.
The two continued to walk forward, but Sun Hao still could not forget about the saber in Lu Heng's hand.
During this period of time, he was busy with both his internship and graduation from his vocational studies. He had only come to the dojo to send Xu Li over, so he was not up-to-date on the happenings and going-ons here.
All he knew was that Lu Heng had been in a slump ever since his parents and older brother passed away. In the end, he had dropped out of school and started working on a farm in the outer city.
Yet Lu Heng had suddenly reappeared in front of him, saber in hand.
What was going on?
At this moment, a burly figure walked over from a distance.
Sun Hao noticed the person and quickly shouted at the newcomer, "Big Mouth, come here."
This newcomer was naturally Big Mouth Jia.
Big Mouth Jia ran over to Sun Hao with a big smile on his face and greeted both of them, "Brother Hao, sister-in-law, good morning."
"Big Mouth, what's going on with Lu Heng now? I just saw him leave the dojo while carrying a saber," Sun Hao said.
Big Mouth Jia had been their classmate in their third year as well. The man was at the dojo every day and was well-informed. That was why he called Big Mouth Jia over to ask some questions.
"You're talking about that kid? That kid has been making big waves recently." Big Mouth Jia immediately revealed a displeased expression when he heard Sun Hao mention Lu Heng.
"What's going on?" Sun Hao asked immediately.
"Sigh!" Big Mouth Jia sighed and said, "That kid has caught the fancy of Grandmaster Liu's daughter."
"What did you say? Are you certain?" Sun Hao was shocked.
There was no one here who had not heard of Grandmaster Liu's illustrious name. He was a well-known hero in Jiangnan City and his status was incomparably noble.
How could his daughter have taken a fancy to Lu Heng?
"Big Mouth Jia, your stories are getting more and more unbelievable," Xu Li said with derision.
Big Mouth Jia's reputation for spreading nonsense was common knowledge to everyone in Dojo No. 9, so Xu Li naturally did not believe his words.
"Sister-in-law, this time it's absolutely true. I'll stake my good name on it!" Big Mouth Jia patted his chest and said.
"You'll stake your good name on it? Everyone already knows how much your good name is worth." Xu Li derided him again.
"Ugh, sister-in-law, brother Hao, you guys should at least listen to my story first before criticizing me."
Big Mouth Jia was a little anxious. The thing that annoyed him the most was when others doubted his words.
Just earlier, he had been telling some of the others about Lu Heng but, in the end, those people had not believed him either.
So when he heard Sun Hao mention Lu Heng, he felt especially displeased.
Of course, he did not dare to show his displeasure toward Sun Hao and Xu Li. After all, Xu Li was Senior Brother Xu's biological sister.
Although Sun Hao had been his classmate in the third year of junior high school, the man now had a different status due to his marriage to Xu Li.
"It's like this, that day I went over to..."
Big Mouth Jia quickly recounted what had happened on the day when he bumped into Lu Heng and Liu Shiyao outside the campus of Jiangnan City's No. 1 High School.
Of course, his retelling was not bereft of ridiculous plotlines and contrived exaggerations that his mind had invented.
After Xu Li heard the story, she immediately sneered and said disdainfully, "Do you know Grandmaster Liu's daughter personally? Are you able to read her mind?"
"Ah, that... it's indeed my own speculation, but I didn't lie about it either. I think it's true." Big Mouth Jia touched his head and said confidently.
After saying that, he was afraid that Xu Li would ridicule him again, so he quickly turned to Sun Hao and said, "Brother Hao, in short, you don't have to worry about Lu Heng. He's just an empty shell."
"He was just a little better than you in civil class when he was in junior high school. You're still better than he is in other aspects."
"The saber he's carrying is just for show."
"If he didn't ask Grandmaster Liu's daughter to plead for him, how could Instructor Wu allow him to learn the saber technique so early? Moreover, it's the army-breaking saber technique that Grandmaster Liu personally created... Sigh, wait a minute."
Big Mouth Jia suddenly remembered something and said, "Brother Hao, did you just say that Lu Heng left with the saber? He brought it out of the dojo?"
"Yes." Sun Hao nodded.
When Big Mouth Jia heard this, he clapped his hands and said happily, "See, I was right. Those people still won't believe me. How dare they call me a liar!"
Xu Li quickly stopped him midway and said, "Hey, hey, don't get carried away. What are you trying to imply?"
Big Mouth Jia said excitedly, "I told you that Lu Heng had caught Grandmaster Liu's daughter's fancy. Now, doesn't this confirm my speculation?"
"Brother Hao, sister-in-law, think about it. Lu Heng was part of the civil class back in school. How could he have any talent for martial arts? Could someone like him ever obtain the recognition of the instructor with his own strength, and even obtain a personal practice saber?"
"Remember, the instructor needs to vouch for the student before that student is allowed to bring the saber with him out of the dojo."
Hearing this, Sun Hao and Xu Li looked at each other and found that Big Mouth Jia's words seemed to make sense.
With Lu Heng's own ability, it did not seem likely that he could accomplish this without pulling any strings.
"Brother Hao, sister-in-law, I've told you all that I know. I'll take my leave first."
After Big Mouth Jia said goodbye, he impatiently jogged off.
As he walked away, he muttered, "This time, let's see if you guys still dare to doubt me."
Sun Hao watched him walk away. He then slowly turned his head and said to Xu Li, "From your perspective, do you think that Lu Heng is handsome?"
"He doesn't look too bad. He'd be really popular with most girls," Xu Li replied.
Sun Hao nodded slightly and said, "He might be living off a woman then."
"But this situation is probably only temporary. Once Grandmaster Liu finds out about their relationship, he will suffer." Sun Hao sneered.
"Living off a woman? And you're not?" Xu Li said disdainfully.
When Sun Hao heard that, he could not help but shudder.
He suddenly remembered that, in the eyes of others, he was also a stereotypical gigolo.
"Work hard and make a name for yourself in the unit. Don't allow others to think that our Xu family doesn't have good taste."
Xu Li lectured him.
Sun Hao quickly pleaded in a low voice, "Let's not talk about such things here. We can talk about it when we get back home."