Chapter 9 – How Old Are You to Be Going to Such Places?

“Beep beep beep—beep beep beep—”

The alarm rang five times and Mom, Zheng Qiuling, had called to wake him up three times.

Finally, Lu Yuan managed to drag himself out of bed.

“Worse than I expected.”

Lu Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, his face full of resignation.

What happens when a person who has long lacked physical exercise suddenly engages in intense physical training?

Just look at Lu Yuan now.

Lu Yuan felt like every part of his body was in pain. Even when brushing his teeth, he had to use one hand to hold onto the sink for support.

If today weren’t Monday, he would have just stayed in bed all day.

Breakfast consisted of porridge, buns, fried dough sticks, and two boiled eggs.

Lu Yuan ate slowly.

What normally took him fifteen minutes to get ready for school took over half an hour today.

Fortunately, after breakfast, he felt a bit more energized. His limbs loosened up, and he felt slightly better as he went downstairs with his backpack.

At least, he was better than when he first woke up.

Initially, Lu Yuan planned to jog to school this morning, but in his current state, that was out of the question. Walking was already a struggle, and he didn’t have enough time.

So, he decided to splurge a little and took a taxi to school.

The taxi driver seemed to notice that Lu Yuan was a senior high school student, and that studying was crucial at his age.

The driver sped along the road.

Despite the morning rush, Lu Yuan arrived at school five minutes earlier than usual.

“Lu Yuan!”

As soon as Lu Yuan walked into the classroom, a figure darted towards him like an arrow.

“You’re finally here.”

Cheng Peng said as he reached for Lu Yuan’s backpack. “Quick, let me copy your homework.”

“What’s in it for me?”

Lu Yuan clutched his backpack to his chest, deliberately playing hard to get.

Cheng Peng glanced at the electronic clock above the podium and said urgently, “Anything you want! Please, just hurry up, there’s only fifteen minutes until morning study session.”

“Two meals, the best kind.”

“Deal, deal!”

Cheng Peng nodded frantically like a pecking chick. Only then did Lu Yuan, satisfied, take out his homework from his backpack.

Cheng Peng snatched the homework and, without even returning to his seat, sat down next to Lu Yuan and started writing furiously.

The black gel pen in his hand moved like a wild snake, its path impossible to track.

“Cheng Peng, go back to your own seat and copy. This is my seat,” said a chubby kid with glasses, trying to pull Cheng Peng up.

Cheng Peng looked up at him without stopping his writing. “Did you finish all your homework?”

“None of your business,” the chubby kid replied irritably.

“Let me sit here for a while. Find whatever homework you need,” Cheng Peng said, slamming a stack of Lu Yuan’s homework and test papers in front of the chubby kid.

The chubby kid was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Lu Yuan. Seeing no reaction from Lu Yuan, he quickly pulled out two books from the pile and started copying as well.

After a while, he seemed to realize something. “Wait, if we all have the same answers, won’t the teacher notice? Forget it, I won’t copy anymore.”

“Idiot, can’t you intentionally change some answers to avoid the correct ones?” Cheng Peng scolded him, and the chubby kid suddenly understood.

“Oh right, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Physics and Chemistry homework, hand it in! Cheng Peng, you’re the only one who hasn’t turned it in yet,” a girl holding a stack of test papers shouted from the teacher’s desk.

“Wait a minute, I’m almost done. It’s not even the start of the morning study session. Why are you in such a hurry to collect the homework?” Cheng Peng grumbled.

Monday mornings were always the busiest.

No. 4 Middle High School wasn’t the top school in Jiaoyan, and Class Three was just an ordinary class. Students like Cheng Peng were not uncommon.

Lu Yuan used to be one of them.

Then one day, he suddenly stood out.

Lu Yuan took out his foreign language textbook, flipped to a random page, and laid it open in front of him.

His eyes appeared to be on the textbook, but in reality, he was looking at his professional panel.

[Martial Artist Level 1 (35/100)]

[Basic Professional Skills: Basic Body Training Level 1 (71/100), Basic Fist Technique Level 1 (53/100)]

The intense training session last night had boosted his Basic Body Training experience by nearly fifty points.

His professional experience also increased by about twenty points, a significant improvement.

“Professional experience has reached thirty-five points. I need sixty-five more to level up to Level 2. Considering the time needed for my body to recover, a week should be enough.”

“To level up from [Student] Level 3 to Level 4, it should take about a week as well.”

“When both of these professions are upgraded, I’ll have two free attribute points and two skill points.

At that point, my overall strength will undergo a significant transformation!”

At this stage, Lu Yuan no longer plans to spend his attribute points and skill points on the [Student] profession and intelligence attribute. He intends to use the gains from the [Student] professional panel to support his martial arts training.

For him, the [Student] profession has now become a sub-profession, while [Martial Artist] is his main profession.

He even came up with a new leveling strategy:

“If I can unlock several sub-profession panels and use them to support one main profession, the improvement speed of the main profession will be very fast!”

This is because, regardless of the profession, the initial levels are the easiest to upgrade, and acquiring attribute points and skill points is relatively less challenging.

However, he is still unclear about the conditions for unlocking new professional panels. He needs to research this thoroughly and hasn’t yet thought of a new profession that suits him.

“Ring ring ring…”

With the piercing sound of the bell, morning study session at No.4 Senior High School in Jiaoyan began.

Every classroom buzzed with the sound of students reciting foreign languages, marking the start of a new week.

The morning classes were Language, Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry.

Under the influence of [Absolute Concentration], these were naturally “instances for grinding experience” for Lu Yuan.

After having lunch in the cafeteria and a brief midday break, there were four more classes in the afternoon.

It wasn’t until 5:45 PM that the day’s study tasks were completely over.

“Finally, school is out. I’m exhausted.”

Cheng Peng, carrying his backpack, walked weakly along the tree-lined path on campus, grumbling to Lu Yuan, “I always feel that Mondays are the most tiring, and time seems to pass especially slowly, like every second is an eternity.”

Lu Yuan didn’t bother responding. Compared to Cheng Peng’s exhaustion, he found that attending classes was much easier than martial arts training.

Under the state of [Absolute Concentration], the forty-five minutes of each class flew by.

During the ten-minute breaks, Lu Yuan would stretch and move around in the corridor outside the classroom. By the end of the day, he actually felt much better than when he first arrived at school in the morning.

At least his body didn’t hurt as much anymore.

“By the way, are you going to the martial arts gym?” Cheng Peng suddenly perked up and asked Lu Yuan, “I can train with you for two hours before heading home.”

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. “I’ll pass today. I went hard on myself at home yesterday, and I’m still sore all over.”

“No wonder you were walking funny all day. I thought you had hemorrhoids or something but didn’t want to ask in class,” Cheng Peng said, his face lighting up with realization.

“Get lost!”

“Just kidding.”

Cheng Peng threw an arm around Lu Yuan’s shoulder and, after thinking for a moment, said, “Since you let me copy your homework every week, I’ll take you to a place today. I guarantee you’ll feel refreshed and pain-free afterward.”

Hearing this, Lu Yuan’s eyes widened as if seeing Cheng Peng for the first time.

“Cheng Peng, how old are you? Going to places like that already? Do you want me to tell your mom?”

“???”