Chapter 43 – Routine

Applying for homeschooling went even smoother than Lu Yuan had anticipated.

After a few teachers in the office gave him some questions to answer, the head teacher simply agreed to his request.

Surprisingly, they didn’t notify his family but required him to return to school once every three days.

Lu Yuan felt like he had received a great amnesty. For the first time in his two years of high school, he found the head teacher to be so understanding and even adorable.

He could hardly resist the urge to hug him and plant a kiss on his bald head.

After class, Lu Yuan went back to the classroom to pack his things.

When Cheng Peng asked, “Lu Yuan, did the head teacher really approve your leave?”

Lu Yuan didn’t stop what he was doing. He glanced at Cheng Peng and replied, “Yep! I just need to come back for the final exam.”

Instantly, there were gasps of surprise all around.

“Seriously, what the heck! It’s almost the final exam, and they still gave you a two-week break. I can’t believe it…”

Cheng Peng’s eyes were practically green with envy.

“Does the second in the grade really have to be this cocky?”

Lu Yuan patted Cheng Peng on the shoulder and said with a sincere tone, “When you reach my level, you’ll understand.”

With that, Lu Yuan grabbed his backpack and left under the envious and admiring gazes of his peers.

As he reached the classroom door, a pink hairpin blocked his path.

The girl looked hesitant, as if she had something to say to Lu Yuan.

Unfortunately, Lu Yuan didn’t give her the chance. He said, “Excuse me,” and walked around Ling Yue.

He could still feel the resentful gaze behind him.

“I’m not interested in dating right now!”

Lu Yuan left the school and headed straight to the largest bookstore in the city.

He spent the entire afternoon there, thoroughly going through the senior year textbooks for the upcoming semester and even delving into some subjects that are typically covered in university.

He even found time to read some leisure books for over an hour.

The experience points he gained on his [Student] professional panel in one afternoon were far more than what he would have accumulated by attending classes at school.

“It should have been like this all along.”

With an intelligence score of 11, Lu Yuan had completely distanced himself from the average senior high school student in terms of IQ.

Self-study was indeed a much better fit for him than the standard school education.

Lu Yuan checked the time and, seeing that it was about right, grabbed a quick bite to eat at the bookstore entrance before taking the bus to Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

“Again!”

“Stop!”

Lin Zhiqin suddenly called a halt, ending Lu Yuan’s training session. He frowned and motioned for Lu Yuan to come over.

“Why did you regress so much today? Are you still not healed from yesterday’s injury?”

He tugged at Lu Yuan’s martial arts uniform and noticed the marks left by the plasters underneath. Unable to resist asking, he said, “Is the therapeutic massage on the second floor not working for you?”

“No, the effect is great.”

Lu Yuan replied somewhat guiltily, “I went home and did some extra practice last night. I overdid it a bit.”

“Extra practice? Which move were you practicing to end up like this? Show me.”

Lin Zhiqin looked at Lu Yuan with a stern expression.

Obediently, Lu Yuan started practicing the crane stance.

Without the Level 3 [Absolute Concentration] boost, he could only get to the fifteenth move before he had to stop.

He didn’t notice Lin Zhiqin’s expression change from calm, to slightly moved, to shocked, then complex, and finally back to a serene state.

“Don’t practice anymore today, and cancel the combat training as well.”

After some thought, Lin Zhiqin said, “Head upstairs now. I’ll arrange a medicinal bath for you.”

“Medicinal bath?”

Twenty minutes later.

Lu Yuan was soaking in a large wooden tub steaming with hot water.

The tub was covered except for a hole through which he could stick his head out.

With the steam rising, Lu Yuan couldn’t see what was in the water, but he could smell the rich aroma of Chinese herbs.

“Coach.”

Lu Yuan looked at Lin Zhiqin, who was standing nearby.

Lin Zhiqin simply said, “Just soak well in there. When the water cools, you can go home.”

“Oh.”

Lu Yuan watched Lin Zhiqin leave, and then he was alone in the room.

It felt like countless tiny insects were relentlessly burrowing into his body from the hot water, making him feel both tingly and itchy, with a strange sense of comfort.

“It seems like my treatment has been upgraded.”

Feeling bored, Lu Yuan started scrubbing the old dirt from his body, under his arms, and the soles of his feet.

After scrubbing thoroughly, his body didn’t seem to hurt as much anymore.

The hot water was still warm when Lu Yuan dozed off.

When he woke up and glanced at the clock on the wall, he realized it was already past 9 PM.

“Oh no, I forgot to message Mom!”

Lu Yuan hurriedly got out of the tub, noticing the water had long gone cold.

Without bothering to rinse off, he quickly dressed and ran out the door.

Lin Zhiqin silently emerged from the adjacent room.

Watching Lu Yuan’s figure sprint into the distance, his eyes flickered slightly.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Lin Zhiqin, your daughter is in the hospital, and you’re doing nothing about it? You’re always at that damned martial arts gym. Boohoo…”

Listening to the woman crying on the other end of the line, Lin Zhiqin frowned, took a deep breath, and said, “I’ll come over right now.”

“Impressive! Truly impressive!”

In his bedroom, Lu Yuan threw punches into the air, creating a whooshing sound.

His face was filled with amazement and disbelief.

Tonight’s medicinal bath had an effect much stronger than the previous massages.

After soaking for a while, it seemed like all the tears in his muscles had healed.

Lu Yuan tried practicing the crane stance again.

This time, he managed to perform the sixteenth move before he had to stop.

Perhaps the newly healed muscle tissue had become stronger, and the pain had significantly reduced.

Lu Yuan didn’t dare push himself too hard.

That night, he behaved, doing no extra training, and went to bed early to “play” in the consciousness battle.

The middle-aged man in the rainy alley scenario had become less of a threat and less helpful for real combat. Lu Yuan focused more on Lin Zhiqin and Qin Feng.

Normal combat practice alternated with high-risk, sacrificial combat.

After all, dying in the conscious space had no real effect on him.

Who knows? Maybe one day, through repeated “deaths,” he might achieve sudden enlightenment.

Lu Yuan’s life became more routine.

After no longer needing to attend school, he still woke up early every morning.

He spent the mornings training at the martial arts gym, afternoons at the bookstore or the library, and evenings receiving personal guidance from Lin Zhiqin.

He didn’t hide his homeschooling from his family either.

After Lu Yuan laid out the pros and cons to his parents, Lu Xinghua didn’t say much, while Zheng Qiuling, being more conservative, felt it was inappropriate but only nagged a bit and let it go.

In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.

In a training room on the first floor of Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

Lin Zhiqin, dressed in casual clothes, stood expressionless.

A white figure attacked him like a hurricane, launching a series of assaults.

The whip leg sliced through the air, producing a fierce wind sound, like a battle axe slashing through the sky.

However, when these attacks landed on Lin Zhiqin, they were effortlessly neutralized, as if rain falling on a sandy embankment, without making a sound or causing any disturbance.

Suddenly.

Lin Zhiqin swiftly raised his hand.

His palm landed precisely on the white figure.

The latter immediately flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

He flew a good seven or eight meters before landing on the mat.