Chapter 16 – Double Ten

“Seriously, you turned down Ling Yue? How could you?”

Lu Yuan had just walked out of the teaching building when someone caught up with him.

“Are you even human?”

Cheng Peng stared at Lu Yuan with a look of utter disbelief.

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes. “If you think you’re human, I should’ve let you go. Oh, I almost forgot, your grades are terrible. Your answers are worthless. Ling Yue would never ask you for answers.”

Lu Yuan deliberately put on a “deep regret” expression, making Cheng Peng yell in frustration.

A week ago, Cheng Peng would have surely retorted with something like, “Got the guts to spar at the martial arts gym?”

But now, he couldn’t muster up any tough words.

He could only mutter resentfully, “So what if you’re handsome?”

“Yeah, being handsome is great,” Lu Yuan responded casually, then stopped for a moment.

He paused in front of the large glass wall at the entrance of the school cafeteria.

In the direct sunlight, the glass wall reflected Lu Yuan’s current appearance.

He had grown a lot taller.

From just under 1.75 meters, he had shot up to 1.78 meters, two centimeters taller than Cheng Peng.

His face was handsome, his body slender, and no longer looked frail. Instead, he was now well-proportioned and fit.

The muscle definition in his arms was clear and smooth, his hair cut short, making him look like a typical sunny young man.

In the past half month, Lu Yuan had undergone significant changes.

Not just in appearance.

“Let’s go.”

Lu Yuan called Cheng Peng and walked towards the cafeteria.

“What for?”

“What do you think? Of course to eat.”

Five minutes later, Lu Yuan sat down at a table in the cafeteria with a tray piled high with food.

Cheng Peng’s tray had about half as much food.

“Every time I eat with you, I think of one word.”

“What word?”

“Glutton!” Cheng Peng shouted.

Lu Yuan ignored him and started eating heartily.

The food in the school cafeteria naturally didn’t taste as good as home-cooked meals.

However, with the last two exams of the morning finished and it being lunchtime, Lu Yuan didn’t want to trouble his mom to cook an extra meal. So, he decided to settle for the cafeteria.

Lu Yuan ate while opening his attribute panel.

[Name: Lu Yuan]

[Age: 17]

[Strength Points: 9]

[Agility Points: 8]

[Constitution Points: 10]

[Intelligence Points: 10]

[Profession: Martial Artist Level 3 (345/400)]

[Basic Professional Skills: Basic Body Training Level 4 (34/800)]

[Basic Fist Technique Level 3 (383/400)]

[Basic Leg Techniques Level 3 (319/400)]

[Basic Footwork Level 3 (392/400)]

[Basic Grappling Level 2 (23/200)]

[Attribute Points: 2]

[Skill Points: 2]

In just over half a month, Lu Yuan had made significant progress in his [Martial Artist] profession.

Not only had he broken through to Level 3, but he was also just a few experience points away from reaching Level 4.

The three basic martial arts techniques taught at the Yuan Martial Arts Gym had all reached Level 3, and they were close to Level 4 as well.

He had also picked up basic grappling.

This was something he had learned from Cheng Peng.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t systematic, so its level was only at 2, making it harder to improve.

In terms of his four basic attributes, his strength points and constitution points had each increased by 1.

The former was a result of strength training over the past half month, a natural growth of his body.

The latter was an unexpected increase after breaking through to Level 4 in Basic Body Training.

Lu Yuan hadn’t used any of the attribute points and skill points he had gained from leveling up in both [Martial Artist] and [Student], but even so, he had been able to easily defeat Cheng Peng, who had once brutally beaten him, in practical training a week ago.

Going from being beaten to being the one doing the beating.

It had taken him less than two weeks.

No wonder Cheng Peng now frequently called him a “freak” and a “monster.”

The only thing that made Lu Yuan a bit regretful was that after all this time, he still hadn’t unlocked the professional core skill of the [Martial Artist] profession, which he had been eagerly anticipating.

Lu Yuan analyzed that the issue might lie in learning the basic grappling from Cheng Peng.

“The pre-requisite skill level is still one level short, so it doesn’t meet the unlocking conditions.”

Lu Yuan grabbed the braised chicken leg from his tray and took a fierce bite, making up his mind. “Forget it, I won’t wait any longer. There’s no way I’m going to sign up for a grappling class like Cheng Peng. I’ll use some skill points tonight to level up basic grappling to 3 and see if the professional core skill appears.”

As he was thinking, Cheng Peng casually asked him, “Lu Yuan, how confident are you about this exam?”

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and replied, “Barring any surprises, I should make the top five in the grade.”

Having reached Level 4 in the [Student] profession, Lu Yuan’s grasp of the eight basic subjects was already very high.

His response was actually modest.

Answering questions under the 2nd level of [Absolute Concentration], Lu Yuan figured he might even have a shot at being first in the grade.

“Top five in the grade, huh,” Cheng Peng said, a complex expression on his face. “I didn’t expect you to have the confidence to get into the top five now. A few months ago, we were both at the bottom of the class.”

“That was you. I’ve never been at the bottom.”

“Damn it! Hey, Lu Yuan, do you have some kind of study secret? Can you share it with me?”

“The secret is…”

Before Lu Yuan could start, Cheng Peng suddenly tugged at his arm frantically, signaling him to look in a certain direction.

Lu Yuan followed Cheng Peng’s gaze.

He saw a few girls walking hand in hand into the cafeteria.

His eyes scanned over them, understanding why Cheng Peng wanted him to look.

Among them was Ling Yue, the girl who had asked Lu Yuan for answers outside the exam hall earlier.

Ling Yue was acknowledged as one of the prettiest girls in the Senior Year 2, Class Three. She had excellent grades and was well-known throughout the school.

Boys from other classes often sent her love letters.

Naturally, Cheng Peng was one of Ling Yue’s admirers.

However, he lacked the courage, only daring to drool over her from a distance. If he had to ask her for a pen, he would blush furiously.

“How boring,” Lu Yuan muttered as he noticed the girls seemed to glance in his direction, then looked away, making a nonchalant remark.

“What if Ling Yue confessed her feelings to you? Would you accept?” Cheng Peng asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

“No,” Lu Yuan responded without hesitation.

“Yeah, right, show-off,” Cheng Peng sneered, his face full of disdain.

Lu Yuan couldn’t be bothered to explain. Dating? Between studying and martial arts training, he barely had enough time as it was. Adding a relationship to his schedule? Unless dating could unlock a [Sea King1] profession, giving him extra professional panels to rack up attribute points and skill points, he wouldn’t even consider it.

After the Monthly Test, No. 4 Middle High School traditionally gave students a three-day break. Including today, it was more like two and a half days.

After lunch, Lu Yuan asked Cheng Peng if he was going to the martial arts gym. Cheng Peng declined, saying he had plans to go to the Internet Cafe that afternoon to play games.

Lu Yuan didn’t press him. Since he had first defeated Cheng Peng in sparring a week ago, the experience points he gained from their matches had dwindled significantly, only one or two points each time. It wasn’t worth the effort to drag Cheng Peng along for more practice.

“Have I grown so strong that Cheng Peng is now considered a low-level mob I can easily crush?” Lu Yuan thought. “If I use my two attribute points and skill points and spar with him again, will I even get a single experience point?”

Walking along the tree-lined path toward the school gate, Lu Yuan pondered, “It’s time to consider finding a new sparring partner. Should I showcase my skills to Lin Zhiqin and then apply to move up a class? Or should I go straight for the official disciple assessment?”

Footnote:

1. Sea King(海王): “In Chinese internet slang, ‘海王’ (hǎi wáng), which translates to ‘Sea King,’ refers to someone who dates or flirts with many people at the same time without being serious with any of them. It implies that the person is playing the field or being a player.”