"Bro, you were awesome! You knocked Tiger House down like a boss."
Mike greeted John with admiration as he entered the classroom: "He always acts like a jerk because he has some vitality. He met his match today. How did you get so strong? Did you go into Deep Sleep?"
"I got back at him for you too."
They had been working out in the gym when Tiger House came over and pretended to teach them some body-techniques. He ended up beating them both in a two-on-one fight: "I've improved a lot lately."
He didn't mention anything about Fetal Breath. That was too shocking.
"Can you really go into Deep Sleep?" Mike asked with envy. "I've been trying for so long but I can't do it. Alas! You've made a name for yourself now. You can get a good job and a good college with 0.8 vitality." Mike sighed again. "But your brother is even more amazing. He fought Blaze Carter ten days ago and beat him."
"What?" John was surprised. "Why? What happened between them?"
He had been practicing every day for the past month, focusing so hard that he ignored everything else. He skipped some classes that he didn't care about and cut himself off from the world. He had no idea what was going on at home.
Blaze Carter was a school star, with 0.9 vitality. His family was rich and powerful, with over ten million stars in their bank.
John's family had barely saved up to ten thousand stars over the years.
"You don't know?" Mike slapped his forehead. "This is the hottest gossip in school. They fought over Yetta."
"Yetta Lou?"
John recalled that Yetta Lou was one of the Four Goddesses of the school, along with Lottie Cruz, Snow Lewis, and Cloud Smith. They had many admirers.
His brother Tedd had fallen for Yetta Lou and dared to challenge Blaze Carter, a wealthy kid.
"Blaze Carter is a tough guy. How did my brother beat him?"
"Blaze Carter's skills are boosted by resources. He eats water lotus and moon noodles for breakfast, a meal that costs hundreds of stars. He spends 500 stars on food every day while we barely afford half a star." Mike said with envy. "Yetta was on a date with your brother that day. They went to see a movie. Wow, if your brother gets the goddess, he'll make so many people jealous."
He wished he could date the goddess himself.
"I hope Blaze Carter doesn't go after my brother," John thought. "I need to talk to him and find out what's going on."
They chatted for a bit until the bell rang.
It was time for physical fitness class.
"Come on, buddy." Mike smiled. "Today we have a new ancient martial arts teacher. We're in the third year of high school. Maybe we'll learn some cool moves."
John felt a surge of confidence in his mind. He believed he could master any martial arts technique.
The sports room was huge, spanning 5,000 square meters. It had various equipment, such as treadmills, punching bags, silicone dummies… and a large open space.
More than 400 students from John's class were there, warming up for their fitness training.
After ten minutes, the fitness teacher arrived.
It wasn't "Sister Knife". She was the spiritual class teacher who taught spiritual exercises.
The teacher was a middle-aged man, 1.87 meters tall. He was not muscular, but wore loose white clothes. He looked relaxed and bored, holding his hands. His eyes only sparkled occasionally, like flashes of lightning in the dark sky.
"Shh, shh…" Some students whispered: "The Lazy Dragon is here."
The students called the physical fitness teacher "Lazy Dragon". He seemed relaxed, but he was actually a fierce dragon with hidden claws.
"Don't piss off Lazy Dragon!! He's also a military instructor. The school paid him a lot of money to teach us."
"He gets two salaries."
"I wonder what ancient martial arts he'll teach us today. They say Lazy Dragon knows many ancient techniques."
"We're in the third year of high school. He should teach us some powerful moves."
"We can learn powerful moves by ourselves. The optical brain teaching is just like having a teacher. Can we master them? Like C-level gymnastics?"…
Cough! Cough!
The teacher "Lazy Dragon" walked up to the students and scanned the crowd. He looked at each of the 400 students and asked: "Is there only one person in your class who can go into Deep Sleep with spiritual practice? Who is it? Stand up."
"Sir! It's me, I'm the class leader, Peak Zane."
Peak stepped forward proudly. "My vitality score is 0.9! Sir, please teach me."
"Good."
"Lazy Dragon" suddenly threw a punch at him!
His arm bulged as he punched, his joints grinding and making his hand bigger.
Peak was shocked.
He dodged and moved his feet fast, but Lazy Dragon's fists kept changing and hitting every part of his body. He was like a fly stuck on a sticky trap, with no way to escape or breathe.
Hey!
He puffed up his body and lunged forward, turning his fists into blades. He sliced the air with many curves and clashed with "Lazy Dragon's" arm.
D-level martial arts, Curved Hand-Knife!
He staggered back a few steps, but "Lazy Dragon" didn't budge.
The gap was obvious. Mr Lazy Dragon was very powerful, and John was amazed.
"Good!" Mr Lazy Dragon stopped attacking and nodded with approval: "Peak, you have a good fighting sense, a sharp mind, a keen sixth sense, and a fast reaction. Today I'm going to teach you the 'Dragon Claw Grabbing', a C-level physical skill.This martial art was invented by a super martial arts master in the national era, Bruce Tyson, who was also the king of human physical fitness in that era. I guess only one person in your class can practice this skill…"