Basic Sword Technique's First Diagram, along with the First Diagram of the First Layer of Qi Cultivation, practiced together, made Lin Fei distinctly feel his body swelling up rapidly like a balloon.
Looking in the mirror every day, he could see his cheeks slowly gaining some flesh, and his originally pale complexion was starting to look rosier.
In the blink of an eye, the daily cultivation in the woods had continued for five days, and Friday had arrived, coinciding with the weekend holiday.
During this period, the more Lin Fei practiced the stances and movements of the Basic Sword Technique, the more he felt the endless variations and profound truths contained within it.
If he had been just an ordinary high school student without any combat experience, perhaps he wouldn't have discovered the mysteries hidden in it.
But he wasn't an ordinary high schooler. Lin Fei from his previous life was equivalent to a professional level fighting enthusiast. Naturally, his perspective was different from ordinary people. Therefore, he could feel a wealth of precious techniques within the Basic Sword Technique.
The afternoon sunlight was orange-red as it shone through the windows into the classroom, slightly dazzling. It was now the time for a break. Students in the class were busily packing their things to go home, creating a cacophony of noises as they tidied up.
"Everyone, hold on a moment, don't rush to leave. Mr. Wu has some words for us, so please wait a bit after school," the class president Zhao Chuanfang suddenly stood up and announced loudly.
Instantly, the classroom was filled with groans.
"Again! Oh my god~~"
"It's always like this, so annoying!"
"Someone's waiting for me outside!!"
Lin Fei quietly packed his things into his desk drawer, his expression unchanged.
Wu Zhong always liked to hold the students up at crucial moments like this, deliberately whetting their appetites. He was infamous for this kind of bad taste from his previous life.
After a short while, Wu Zhong entered the classroom with a stern face, striding in swiftly. The whole classroom immediately quieted down. His authority as the homeroom teacher was indeed impressive.
Although no one particularly liked him, known for his stern demeanor and his famous rigid face with the students, when a conflict occurred between students from other classes and his own, he would defend his class without a word, favoring them even when they were unreasonable. This naturally built a strong prestige for him within the class, making him widely supported by the students.
Standing on the podium, waiting until the sounds below had completely quieted, he cleared his throat and loudly said, "Recently, two vicious assault incidents occurred in the area around our school involving some thugs and ruffians causing trouble everywhere. One of our students has been injured and hospitalized, while a neighboring school had one student dead and another injured. The impact is immensely negative. The criminals have not yet been apprehended."
"I want to warn certain people here, particularly those who like spending their time in internet cafes and gaming arcades, it's best you restrain yourselves for a while, it won't be too late to go after this period is over. You must take responsibility for your own lives!!"
As Wu Zhong finished speaking, Lin Fei's gaze unintentionally fell on a female student who was sitting diagonally in front to the right, packing her things.
He suddenly recalled from his previous life when a girl in his class had quietly transferred schools without any prior signs.
Latter, while having dinner with his parents, he overhead a family conversation about a rape incident involving a female student that occurred around that time.
In the sunset, this beautiful girl named Xie Shishi, serene and gentle, yet her eyes revealed a hint of heroic spirit. As she packed her things and stretched lazily, her beautiful curves were highlighted clearly.
************
"Beep beep beep beep!!" A sharp electronic bike horn sound approached from afar, along with the friction of the wheels against the ground, the bike swooshed past Lin Fei and Chen Yun. Stirring a gust of wind as it passed, the sound quickly faded away.
"Damn! Are you trying to kill yourself! Going at such a speed!" Chen Yun was startled and yelled at the receding bike. However, his shout was met with the other party's triumphant laughter.
"Luo Xiaoqiang! You just wait for Monday!" Chen Yun yelled back defiantly.
Since they were held up alone for a while, Lin Fei and Chen Yun left when most of the school's students had almost gone. The cement path leading to the school gate was quite empty.
Lin Fei, hands in his pockets, walked quietly alongside Chen Yun, his face wearing a thoughtful expression.
"Hey, hey! Feifei, you've been like possessed recently! This week you've been so secretive and abnormal!
You stopped borrowing novels, stopped watching comics, just diligently listening in class, taking notes, submitting assignments. You even turned in today's test earlier than me. Are you.. you know.." Chen Yun made weird faces and noises with squinting eyes.
"What do you mean 'you know'?" Lin Fei asked, puzzled.
"That! Come on, tell me, which girl in our class caught your eye?" Chen Yun, wearing a mischievous grin, adjusted his glasses and asked in a whisper.
"What are you talking about? How could that be possible! Get your mind out of the gutter!" Lin Fei responded irritably.
"Is it Xie Shishi? At the end of school today, I saw that look you gave her, way too affectionate! It gave me goosebumps!" Chen Yun chuckled slyly.
"Affectionate? Then tell me if the look I'm giving you now is affectionate?" Lin Fei stared intentionally at Chen Yun.
Normally, with Chen Yun's personality, he would continue the banter and tease Lin Fei, but at that moment, Chen Yun just glanced at Lin Fei, turned a bit pale, and hurriedly looked away, his face flashing a trace of unease.
Lin Fei immediately realized he had been a bit reckless. He had practiced the Eye Sword at noon, and the nourishment of his whole body's Essence Qi made his eyes emit a strong oppressive feeling when he concentrated slightly. He must have unintentionally scared Chen Yun just now.
"What's up? Did you actually fall for me? It makes sense, with my charming and dashing style, a handsome guy like me is loved by everyone..."
"Shit!! It sounds so natural when I say it, but hearing you say it, that contrast!! Can you not imitate me speaking like that?" Chen Yun suddenly got spirited. "What was with you just now? That look was kind of scary!"
"It's nothing, just remembered some sad times from the past," Lin Fei said somberly.
"Gross!"
The two teased each other and laughed as they walked to the school gate.
"See you Monday!"
"See you Monday!"
Lin Fei stood in the sunset, his backpack under his arm, watching Chen Yun ride off in the opposite direction of his usual route on a friend's bicycle.
The kid always spent his weekends at his aunt's place where there was a computer with internet access. He could play games for free.
Turning his gaze, at the school gate, a group of girls from his class walked together, chattering and bursting into fits of silvery laughter from time to time.
These girls were all stylishly dressed, each slinging a finely made bag over their shoulder, clearly coming from wealthy families.
Behind them, Xie Shishi, dressed plainly in white T-shirt and jeans, emerged carrying a somewhat worn black backpack.
Obviously, with her poor family background and mediocre academic performance—barely ranking around twentieth—she wasn't accepted by the clique of the second group in the class.
Lin Fei didn't need to think to guess that for a girl like her, her family must have sacrificed a lot to get her into this expensive school.
Lin Fei averted his gaze; he was considering whether to follow Xie Shishi. If she actually got into trouble, he might regret not going after her later.
It wasn't about feeling guilty for not helping a classmate in distress, but rather a simple lament for the potential destruction of something beautiful.
"I might as well follow her. It's best if there's nothing wrong," Lin Fei thought as he watched Xie Shishi walk toward the snack street, just about to step forward.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, a figure from his right side collided harshly with him. Accompanied by a fragrance, the impact made Lin Fei sway slightly.
Lin Fei quickly realized he had been bumped into.
"Damn it! Are you blind?!" A pleasant voice came from the right.
Lin Fei recognized the voice. Turning around, he saw that it was Xu Ke from Class 2-3, well-known in the school as a tough girl.
However, at this moment, she looked just like the girl next door, innocent and pure. Her hair was shoulder-length, with a little clip on the left dividing a strand, and she wore a plaid blouse that accentuated her slender waist perfectly, with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath. Her faded tight jeans highlighted the curves of her long legs, and her pink lips glistened under the sunlight, obviously coated with lipstick.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Did I hurt you?" Lin Fei asked gently.
Xu Ke probably remembered the situation and felt a bit embarassed as it was actually her who wasn't paying attention and had bumped into someone yet had lashed out at them. She was about to apologize and then leave, but when she heard Lin Fei's comment, her eyebrows shot up, and a surge of anger bubbled up inside her.
Though Lin Fei's words may have sounded innocent, they were tinged with a tone that would be similar to an adult asking a child, "Did you get hurt, sweetie?" This only incensed Xu Ke more.
"Xu Dong! Someone is bullying me!" Xu Ke raised her little face and yelled loudly.
"Who! Who! Who dares to bully my little sister!" Luckily, there weren't many students left at the school now, and the incident between Lin Fei and Xu Ke only drew a few onlookers, who, upon hearing Xu Ke's loud shout for Xu Dong, quickly turned and scattered as if fleeing from the plague.
Lin Fei frowned slightly.
Usually, his classmates often talked about the episodes of Xu Dong and Xu Ke: whether they had fought with students from other schools today, what number girlfriend Xu Dong was on, or what expensive brand of perfume Xu Ke wore and how much it cost. Conversations often revolved around these two siblings.
Even a fool would understand that the Xu siblings came from a highly influential family. Being able to continue their education here with so many notorious rumors circulating, their family's background was undoubtedly strong.
If it wasn't necessary, he didn't want to start a conflict with such people.
As a rough, boisterous voice sounded from afar, more than ten tall and robust students surrounded a handsome, buzz-cut young man in a basketball uniform, running towards them.
The momentum of over ten people rushing over was quite intimidating.
Lin Fei surveyed the approaching crowd and, looking toward where Xie Shishi had gone earlier, realized her figure was nowhere to be seen. He quickly grew impatient.
Suddenly, he felt a tight grip on his hand. Looking down, Xu Ke was gleefully grabbing his right hand.
"Thinking of running? Too late now!" she exclaimed.
Lin Fei didn't want to get entangled with these kids. With a slight twist of his hand, he effortlessly slipped out of Xu Ke's grip using a little trick.
"I have things to do, I don't have time to waste with you!" he stated.
Now slightly stronger than before, Lin Fei didn't regard these ordinary high school students highly. Even if there were more than ten of them, and they didn't know the Combined Attack Technique, facing only two or three at a time was akin to practice. With his foundation in Basic Sword Technique, he could knock them all down in less than a minute. But at the moment, the issue wasn't about them—it was about catching up to Xie Shishi.
"Wasting time!!?" Xu Ke glared, her eyes wide, "Can you be any more shameless?"