Chapter 1 – The Martial Arts Class

Lu Yuan sat on a black bench, holding a gray water bottle in his hand.

About twenty meters in front of him, the floor was covered with thick mats, and over thirty black boxing stances, each about human height, were set up.

The word “Yuan” was printed in large characters on each stance, and in front of each one stood a student dressed in a blue martial arts uniform.

The students were vigorously hitting the boxing stances, accompanied by various shouts to add power to their strikes.

The atmosphere was particularly lively with the sounds rising and falling.

Lu Yuan quietly observed the bustling scene, appearing very calm.

Until a voice called out “Class dismissed,” pulling him out of his reverie.

He stood up.

He proactively moved toward a figure swiftly running through the crowd towards him.

“Lu Yuan!”

The person approaching Lu Yuan was a boy around his age, with slightly dark skin.

He had very thick eyebrows, slightly curly hair that stuck in wet strands to his forehead, and his whole body radiated the heat of intense exercise.

“So, what do you think of the atmosphere at our martial arts gym?” the boy asked while unwrapping the bandages from his hands.

“Learning martial arts can help you defend yourself. It’s way more useful than the badminton or swimming you mentioned before.”

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, then handed over his water bottle, saying, “I need to discuss it with my parents first.”

Seeing the interest in Lu Yuan’s eyes, the boy quickly responded, “Don’t worry, I’ll call your uncle later, and I’m sure he’ll agree to let you join here. We can come to class together, and you’ll have a companion. You’re so skinny; you should learn some martial arts to avoid getting bullied.”

The boy lightly tapped Lu Yuan’s shoulder with his fist, then took the water bottle from him, unscrewed the cap, and drank deeply.

After finishing most of the bottle in one go, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued, “Besides, our martial arts gym is running a promotion right now. If you sign up for classes now, it’s much cheaper than usual.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuan responded with a simple “okay,” not saying much more.

The boy didn’t say anything further either. He just left a quick, “I’m going to shower. Wait for me in the hall,” and then ran off in a hurry.

Lu Yuan watched as the boy walked away, then picked up his backpack from the chair and turned towards the gym entrance.

The boy’s name was Cheng Peng, his classmate and best friend, a passionate enthusiast of combat sports.

Hearing that Lu Yuan was looking for an extracurricular class to improve his physical fitness, Cheng Peng had dragged him to the gym where he trained to “audit” a class.

He had passionately tried to persuade Lu Yuan, almost begging him to sign up immediately.

Lu Yuan reached the entrance of the gym and stood on the steps.

Above him was a large sign with the ancient character “Yuan.”

Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

On the wall next to the entrance was a recruitment poster.

It simply read terms like “Traditional Martial Arts,” “Strengthen the Body,” “Martial Arts,” “Summer Enrollment Preheat,” and “Special Discount.”

Lu Yuan stared at the price information on the poster for a long time before finally turning his head away.

People continuously passed by him.

Men and women, all exuding confidence and assertiveness.

Compared to them, Lu Yuan’s thin and weak frame looked completely out of place.

Lu Yuan watched them with some envy.

To be honest, he was quite tempted by Cheng Peng’s suggestion.

His current body, after crossing over, was frail and thin, lacking in physical exercise for a long time.

The term “skinny dog1” described it perfectly.

This was why he was eager to make a change.

Training in martial arts and learning combat skills seemed like a great choice.

However, the high tuition fees made Lu Yuan hesitate.

“Given our current family situation, my parents probably won’t agree to enroll me in this martial arts class. The price is way beyond their expectations,” Lu Yuan thought to himself.

“Goodbye, Coach.”

Cheng Peng’s voice drew Lu Yuan’s attention, and he turned to look.

He saw Cheng Peng, freshly showered and in a change of clothes, now standing at the entrance of the gym, waving goodbye to a man of medium build, in his thirties.

The man seemed to notice Lu Yuan’s gaze and glanced over casually.

Meeting those eyes, Lu Yuan felt a shiver run through him, as if he were being watched by a predator, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

“Bang, bang—bang, bang—”

Lu Yuan felt his heart racing and struggled to calm himself down.

When he looked again, the man who had given him such an overwhelming sense of pressure had already turned and gone back into the martial arts gym.

“Who was that?”

Lu Yuan tried to keep his face calm and casually asked Cheng Peng as he approached.

“Who?”

Cheng Peng followed Lu Yuan’s gaze, then quickly showed a look of realization.

“Oh, him? That’s one of our coaches at the gym, a really skilled martial artist. You wouldn’t believe it, but our coach can punch one of those training boxing stances seven or eight meters away! I’m not exaggerating at all; I saw it with my own eyes. It was incredible.”

As Cheng Peng spoke, his face naturally showed admiration and awe, while Lu Yuan was left astonished.

He had just seen the training boxing stances they used, and they probably weighed around a hundred kilograms.

Punching something that heavy seven or eight meters away?

How much boxing power would that take?

Even the heavyweight champions from his previous life might not be able to do that.

Although Lu Yuan wasn’t sure how much Cheng Peng’s “not exaggerating at all” was an exaggeration, he couldn’t help but feel an even stronger urge.

Then that urge quickly turned into greater frustration.

“Coach Qin is the master’s direct disciple, that’s why he’s so amazing. I heard he’s even won awards in provincial martial arts tournaments.”

“Man, if I could one day be taken in as the master’s direct disciple, that would be incredible. No, even just becoming Coach Qin’s official disciple would be enough. I’d be unbeatable at school!”

Cheng Peng kept chattering, but Lu Yuan wasn’t listening anymore.

He adjusted his backpack and started walking toward the distant bus stop.

“I’m heading home.”

“Huh?”

Cheng Peng’s words came to an abrupt stop, and he looked a bit anxious as he watched Lu Yuan’s back.

“You’re not coming with me to the internet cafe? Didn’t we agree to play games together?”

“Who agreed to that? I’m going home for dinner.”

“Damn, you’re ditching me again!”

Cheng Peng shook his fist at Lu Yuan’s retreating figure.

Ten minutes later, Lu Yuan was already on a bus.

“I have 638.50 yuan in my wallet. Including the class scholarship reward from the last two Monthly Tests, it’s still not even 2,000 yuan in total. It’s far too little,” Lu Yuan thought, putting down his phone and sighing lightly.

Originally, his plan was—

Tell his parents he was signing up for a regular physical education Extracurricular Class, then secretly use the money to enroll in the martial arts class, covering the shortfall with his own savings.

But after a rough calculation, he realized this plan was completely unfeasible.

The cheapest course package at Yuan Martial Arts Gym was more than twice the cost of a regular physical education Extracurricular Class.

The gap was too large, and his own savings were far from enough to fill it.

Even though he was intensely curious about this field, which he hadn’t encountered in either of his lifetimes, the harsh reality forced him to give up.

Lu Yuan hadn’t even considered asking his parents to cover the full cost of the martial arts class.

His grandfather had recently suffered a cerebral infarction and needed a large sum of money for surgery.

The family’s Small Shop was also facing financial difficulties.

Given these circumstances, he simply couldn’t bring himself to ask.

If the Unified Examination didn’t require a physical education specialty, he wouldn’t even want to take a regular Extracurricular Class.

If it was just about getting some exercise, he could simply go running every day.

“Time: June 5th, 3:27 PM. Our country’s third extraterrestrial base has officially been completed. The first group of personnel has been confirmed. It is understood that the list includes…”

“Clearance sale! Everything must go! Last day, everything must go!”

“…”

The bus’s onboard TV played the news, while the loudspeakers from the street shops outside added to the cacophony.

Lu Yuan leaned against the hard bus seat, staring blankly at the swiftly passing street scenes outside. He soon heard the announcement for his stop.

He exited through the rear door.

The June midday sun, with its sweltering heat, caught him off guard.

He crossed the street and quickly sought refuge in the shadow of a building, then walked along the road.

Soon, a small shop with a red sign and white lettering that read “XingHua Food Store” came into view.

Footnote:

1. Skinny Dog(细狗): The term ‘细狗’ (xì gǒu) in Chinese internet slang is often used to refer to a person who is very skinny, sometimes in a somewhat teasing or derogatory manner.