Chapter 1 - Martial Arts Class
Lu Yuan sat on a long black bench, holding a gray water bottle in his hand.
About twenty meters in front of him was an area covered with thick padded mats. On it were over thirty human-height black punching bags, each imprinted largely with the character "Yuan". In front of each bag stood a student dressed in blue martial arts uniforms, forcefully striking the bags while yelling out shouts of exertion.
The shouts rose and fell in waves, making the atmosphere on the floor exceptionally lively.
Lu Yuan watched this lively scene motionlessly, looking very quiet.
Not until a voice yelled "Class dismissed!" did he snap out of his daze.
He stood up and took the initiative to walk towards a figure swiftly running through the crowd of people towards him.
"Lu Yuan!"
The teenager who arrived in front of Lu Yuan was around the same age as him. He had dark skin, very thick eyebrows, curly hair damp with sweat stuck to his forehead. His entire body emanated heat from intense exercise.
"What do you think, pretty good atmosphere at our martial arts school right?"
The youth started unwrapping the hand wraps on his palms.
"Martial arts is good for self-defense and more useful than those sports you mentioned before like badminton or swimming."
Lu Yuan hesitated, then held out the water bottle in his hand, "I'll have to discuss this with my parents first."
Sensing Lu Yuan's hesitation, the youth quickly added, "Don't worry, I'll give your uncle a call later and make sure he agrees to let you join. It'd be good to have a buddy to take classes with.
Look at yourself, so skinny. You ought to learn some martial arts, so you don't get bullied when you go out."
The youth lightly bumped Lu Yuan's shoulder with his fist, then accepted the offered bottle and guzzled down large gulps of water.
After finishing over half the bottle in one breath, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued, "Plus, our school is having a promotion for new students. It's much cheaper than normal right now."
"Mm."
Lu Yuan murmured in agreement but did not continue the conversation.
Realizing Lu Yuan's lack of enthusiasm, the youth hurriedly added, "I'm going to shower first. Wait for me in the main hall," before dashing off.
Lu Yuan watched his friend's departing figure. He then picked up his backpack from the chair and headed towards the school exit.
The youth's name was Cheng Peng. He was Lu Yuan's classmate and best friend, an avid fan of combat sports. Upon hearing Lu Yuan wanted to join an extracurricular to improve his physique, Cheng Peng insisted on bringing him to observe classes at the martial arts school he trained at. He tried ardently to persuade Lu Yuan to sign up and join.
Lu Yuan arrived at the entrance of the martial arts school and stood on the stairs. Above his head hung a gigantic sign written in an archaic style, reading "Yuan Martial Arts School".
On the wall by the entrance was a recruitment poster. It had simple phrases like "ancient martial arts", "strengthen body", "combat", "summer enrollment preview", and "special discount pricing".
Lu Yuan stared at the price information for a long time before finally looking away.
People continually passed by him, men and women, each exuding an air of confidence and swagger. Compared to them, Lu Yuan's slender build seemed to lack any presence.
He looked at these people somewhat enviously.
To be honest, he was still very tempted by Cheng Peng's suggestion. This body he transmigrated into was frail and skinny after years without physical exercise. Calling it a "scrawny dog" would be accurate. This was also why he urgently wanted to make changes.
Learning martial arts and combat skills seemed like a great option.
But...
The expensive tuition made Lu Yuan hesitate.
"Given my family's current circumstances, there's a high probability they won't agree to let me join this expensive martial arts class. The price far exceeds my parents' expectations." Lu Yuan thought to himself.
"See you coach."
Lu Yuan turned his head upon hearing Cheng Peng's voice.
He saw Cheng Peng, after showering and changing clothes, had at some point appeared at the martial arts school entrance.
He was waving goodbye to a man in his thirties with medium build.
Seemingly noticing Lu Yuan's gaze, the man inadvertently glanced in his direction.
The moment their eyes met, Lu Yuan felt a sudden chill run down his spine,
as if targeted by a fierce beast, with the hairs on his arm standing on end.
"Thump Thump - Thump Thump -"
Lu Yuan felt his heartbeat accelerate rapidly before finally managing to suppress this sensation.
When he looked again, the man who had given him an unprecedented sense of immense pressure had already turned and entered the school.
"Who was that?"
Lu Yuan kept his expression calm as he casually asked Cheng Peng who had arrived before him.
"Who?"
Cheng Peng glanced back following Lu Yuan's line of sight, quickly showing a look of realization.
"Oh him. He's our school's coach, a formidable martial arts expert.
You wouldn't believe it, but our coach can punch the training bags over 7 or 8 meters away!
I'm not exaggerating at all. He literally punched it flying in one hit, I saw it with my own eyes.
What a scene, tsk tsk..."
As Cheng Peng spoke, his face unconsciously revealed admiration and worship. Lu Yuan was quite shocked to hear this too.
He had seen the punching bags they trained with earlier, each probably weighing over a hundred kilograms.
To punch a hundred-plus kilogram object flying 7 to 8 meters away?
How much punching power would that require?
Even martial arts champions of his past life might not be able to accomplish this.
Although Lu Yuan didn't know how much exaggeration was in Cheng Peng's emphasis of "not exaggerating at all", he still couldn't help feeling an even stronger urge arise within him.
Yet this urge soon transformed into greater resignation.
"Coach Qin is the school master's personal disciple, that's why he's so formidable.
I heard he's even won prizes in the provincial martial arts tournaments."
"Ah, if I could become the school master's personal disciple one day, that'd be amazing.
No, even just becoming Coach Qin's formal apprentice would be enough.
Wouldn't I go around rampaging at school then? Hehe..."
Cheng Peng prattled on, but Lu Yuan was no longer listening.
He tugged at his backpack and headed towards the bus stop in the distance.
"I'm going home."
"Oh..."
Cheng Peng stopped short, watching Lu Yuan's departing back with some urgency.
"You're not coming with me online? Didn't we agree to play some rounds together?"
"Who agreed with you? I need to go home for dinner."
"Damn, bailing on me again!"
Cheng Peng shook his fist at Lu Yuan's disappearing figure.
Ten minutes later, Lu Yuan was seated on a bus.
"My mobile wallet has 638.50 yuan.
Adding the class rewards I got for test score improvements the last two exams, it's still less than 2000yuan total.
Far from enough."
Lu Yuan put down his phone and sighed softly.
His original plan was—
To tell his parents he was joining a regular sports hobby class, then take the money and secretly sign up for the martial arts class instead, using his own savings to fill the difference.
But after a rough calculation, he realized this idea was unfeasible.
The cheapest course package at Yuan Martial Arts School cost over double that of a regular sports class.
The price gap was too large for him to cover with his limited savings.
Although he was very curious about this field, he had never encountered in either life, the harsh reality meant he could only give up.
Lu Yuan didn't even consider asking his parents to fully pay for him to join the martial arts school. His grandfather had recently suffered a stroke and needed a large sum for surgery. The family shop was also having financial difficulties. Under these circumstances, he really couldn't bring himself to ask. If not for needing an athletic extracurricular for the high school entrance exam, he wouldn't even want to join a regular sports class. Just running every day would be enough basic exercise.
"Today is June 5th, 3:27pm. Our country's third extraterrestrial base has officially been completed. The list of first personnel to go has been finalized. It is understood the list includes..."
"Clearance sale! Everything must go! Last day clearance prices!"
The news playing on the bus TV and sounds from the street shops' loudspeakers drifted in through the window.
Lu Yuan leaned back against the hard bus seat, watching the scenes rushing by outside in a daze. Soon he heard the next stop announcement for his destination.
He got off from the rear door. The morning sun at 11am on a June day carried waves of sweltering heat that caught him off guard.
He crossed the street, then briskly walked into the shade under the buildings, following the road ahead. Very soon, a small shop with a red sign printed "Xinghua Foods" came into view.
T/N: Hi, I decided to start a new novel in addition to my other novels. I'll post 1 chapter a day. I hope you enjoy