John had mastered the skill of entering Deep Sleep at any time and place.
He had practiced "Fetal Breath" every day for a month, which boosted his physical and mental abilities. Using the milky white stone for Crystal Meditation, he could quickly clear his mind of any thoughts and fall asleep.
Deep Sleep and Fetal Breath were very different.
The third stage of Deep Sleep was even harder to achieve. It was a level of ancient martial arts that unleashed the adrenal hormones and gave one immense strength. Only a few students could reach this level.
"You two got hurt in the fight, go to the school clinic and get some bandages."
Mr Lazy Dragon glanced at the bloody Peak. He looked frightening, but his wounds were minor.
Human medicine had advanced a lot. With cell regeneration technology, a simple injection on the arm could heal the wound in a few hours.
"Well done." Peak's arm was ripped open, and it hurt terribly, but he didn't even flinch. He acted as if the arm wasn't his, and he showed a strong mental fortitude: "John, do you want to challenge me again?"
"Challenge you? Peak, you are not worthy of being my rival. In a month, I will leave you far behind!" John also felt a sharp pain in his arm, and it started to swell. He had some fractures in his bones.
He knew he lacked real combat experience.
But he had fought Peak to a draw, and that was enough to impress the other 400 students in the class and secure his status.
That was what he wanted.
"How dare you! You are so conceited!" Peak saw that John's arm was swollen, and his eyes flashed with malice: "Your arm was broken by me. You need bone-cell growth technology to heal it completely without any complications. That treatment costs at least a hundred stars. That's more than your parents' monthly salary, right?"
He was mocking John for being poor.
A hundred stars was a lot of money for students.
"I'll be fine."
John bowed to Mr Lazy Dragon: "Sir, I'll go for treatment first."
"Go ahead." Mr Lazy Dragon watched everything with a cold gaze, but he didn't intervene.
"You'll see!" Peak's eyes were icy, and he thought to himself: "I won't let you off easily."
____________________
At home, at night.
John didn't go to the clinic for treatment. He really needed to heal, but he couldn't afford to pay a hundred stars.
But he didn't have to go to the clinic either. He could heal himself by entering Fetal Breath.
"I still lack real combat skills, and my physical condition is not as good as the rich kids who have enough supplements." John touched his swollen arm, lying on the bed, thinking.
He put the milky white stone in his mouth, and slowly felt sleepy. He entered Fetal Breath.
He woke up after four or five hours.
It was a long Fetal Breath session, and when he woke up, his arm was no longer red or swollen. Most of the bone fractures had healed, and there was only some mild pain.
It was nothing serious.
He was sure he would be fully recovered in a few days and become stronger than before.
This fight had taught him a lot.
He had expected to have an advantage, but he only managed a draw.
It seemed that resource supplements were crucial for martial arts training.
Before humans explored the stars, resources were scarce, and anyone who had a vitality of "1" was a martial arts master. Only one in a billion people could reach that level.
But now, there were all kinds of powerful supplements, and some people even had a vitality of three digits.
That would have been unthinkable in ancient times.
That was the power of resources.
"How can I earn money?"
John thought for a while, "I'll go to the school tomorrow and look for any part-time jobs that pay well."
___________________
He went to school early the next morning.
But as soon as he got to the school, his student computer started vibrating and a voice came out. It was an email.
"It's from Sister Knife."
John saw it and quickly opened it: "John, come to my office."
That was all it said.
"Sister Knife wants to see me. Could it be that she found out about my second stage of Deep Sleep? That's big news, she can't ignore it. If I have a chance to get into Star and Space University, she will surely help me."
John headed towards Sister Knife's office.
If one of Sister Knife's students got into Star and Space University, she would receive a huge reward from the school, the education system, and the government. The reward was very generous, and she would even earn social contribution and merit points.
It was like the education system three hundred years ago. If a student in the class got into a prestigious university, the teacher would get a big bonus.
The school was enormous, with buildings connected to each other, and even a maglev shuttle between the hallways. The whole school was like a city, covering tens of square kilometers.
This was what modern human schools were like: centralized, technological, advanced, and most importantly, large. They had to be big enough to fit more than 80,000 students.
And this high school was just one example of many human high schools.
Soon, John arrived at a tall building.
This was where Sister Knife's office was. She had a high position in the school, or she wouldn't be teaching the senior class.
He was about to knock on the door when he heard a voice from inside: "Come in, the door is open."
"Alright!"