Chapter 1: Martial Arts Class

Chapter 1: 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, there were more than thirty black punching posts on a thick and soft mat-covered ground.

The posts were marked with the character "源" in large letters, and in front of each post stood a student wearing a blue martial arts uniform.

The students vigorously struck the punching posts, accompanying their actions with various shouts to boost their strength.

The rhythmic sounds created a lively atmosphere on the field.

Lu Yuan gazed quietly at this lively scene, appearing calm.

It wasn't until the sound of "class dismissed" that he was pulled back from his reverie.

He stood up.

Proactively approaching a figure running quickly through the crowd towards him.

"Lu Yuan!"

In front of Lu Yuan was a young man of similar age, with slightly dark skin.

He had thick eyebrows, slightly curly hair hanging wet on his forehead, and exuded heat all over his body as if he had undergone intense exercise.

"How is it? The atmosphere in our martial arts school is great, right?"

The young man started unwrapping the bandages on his palms.

"Martial arts not only helps in self-defense but is much more useful than the sports like badminton and swimming you mentioned before."

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, handed over the water bottle in his hand, and said, "I need to discuss this with my parents."

The young man quickly sensed Lu Yuan's hesitation and said, "Don't worry, I'll call my uncle later. I guarantee he'll agree to you coming here. We can attend classes together in the future. Look at your skinny appearance; you should learn some martial arts to avoid being bullied outside."

The young man lightly tapped Lu Yuan's shoulder with his fist and took the water bottle, opening it and drinking it heartily.

After drinking almost half the bottle in one breath, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued, "Moreover, our martial arts school is organizing an event. If you enroll now, there will be a significant discount compared to usual."

"Hmm."

Lu Yuan nodded but didn't say anything more.

The young man didn't insist and left with a quick "I'm going to take a shower. Wait for me in the lobby for a while."

Lu Yuan watched the young man go and then picked up his backpack from the chair, turning towards the entrance of the gym.

The young man's name was Cheng Peng, his classmate, and close friend, a passionate enthusiast of combat sports.

He heard that Cheng Peng wanted to join an extracurricular class to enhance physical fitness and decided to drag him to his usual training martial arts school to "audit."

Persuading him earnestly, he wished for him to enroll immediately.

Lu Yuan arrived at the entrance of the martial arts school, standing on the steps.

Above his head, there was a huge ancient-style character sign.

Yuan Martial Arts School.

On the wall at the entrance, there was a recruitment advertisement.

It briefly stated "Ancient Martial Arts," "Strength Enhancement," "Combat," "Summer Enrollment Preview," and "Special Discounts."

Lu Yuan stared at the price information on the advertisement for a long time, then finally chose to turn his head away.

During this time, people continuously passed by him.

Men and women, each one confident and assertive.

Compared to them, Lu Yuan, with his slim figure, seemed to lack presence.

He envied these people to some extent.

To be honest, he was quite intrigued by Cheng Peng's suggestion.

In this body after the transmigration, he was weak and undernourished, lacking physical exercise.

Describing it as a "skinny dog" would be quite accurate.

That's also a reason he urgently wanted to change.

Practicing martial arts and learning combat skills seemed like a good choice.

But...

The high tuition fee made Lu Yuan hesitate.

"With the current situation at home, it's probably unlikely that my parents will agree to me enrolling in this martial arts class. The price is far beyond their expectations."

Lu Yuan thought silently in his heart.

"Goodbye, coach."

Cheng Peng's voice came into Lu Yuan's ears, attracting him to turn his head.

He saw Cheng Peng, who had changed into a different set of clothes after taking a shower, standing at the entrance of the martial arts school.

Waving to a middle-aged man of average build in his thirties.

Seemingly noticing Lu Yuan's gaze, the man casually glanced in his direction.

Meeting those eyes, Lu Yuan suddenly felt a chill running down his spine, as if he were being stared at by a fierce beast, and the hairs on his back almost stood up.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Lu Yuan felt his heart beating rapidly and managed to suppress the uneasiness.

Looking again, the man who gave him an unprecedented sense of oppression had already turned and entered the martial arts school.

"Who is this person?"

Lu Yuan maintained a calm expression on his face and casually asked Cheng Peng, who had walked up to him.

"Who? Oh, you mean him. He's the coach of our martial arts school, a formidable martial artist. You don't know, our coach can send the training posts used by students flying seven or eight meters with a single punch! It's not an exaggeration; I saw it with my own eyes. The scene, tut."

As Cheng Peng spoke, a look of envy and admiration unconsciously appeared on his face. Lu Yuan was even more amazed by what he heard.

He had just seen the training posts they used, estimating them to weigh around a hundred kilograms.

Sending a hundred kilograms of stuff flying seven or eight meters with a single punch?

How much power does that require?

Even the boxing champions of his previous life might not be able to achieve such a feat.

Although Lu Yuan didn't know how much truth there was in Cheng Peng's emphasis on "not an exaggeration," he couldn't help feeling a stronger urge.

Then, this urge quickly turned into a greater sense of helplessness.

"Coach Qin is the personal disciple of the school owner, so he's so powerful. I heard he has won awards in the provincial combat competition."

"Ah, if I could become the owner's direct disciple one day, that would be great. Even becoming Coach Qin's official disciple would be enough. Then, I wouldn't have to worry about being bullied at school."

Cheng Peng kept talking, but Lu Yuan wasn't interested anymore.

He pulled his backpack and walked towards the bus stop in the distance.

"I'm going home."

"Hey!"

Cheng Peng suddenly stopped talking, looking at Lu Yuan's back a bit anxiously.

"Aren't you going to accompany me to play games? Didn't we agree to climb the ranks together?"

"Who agreed with you? I'm going home to eat."

"Damn, you betrayed me again!"

Cheng Peng raised his fist towards Lu Yuan's retreating figure.

After ten minutes, Lu Yuan was already on a bus.

"There's 638.5 yuan in my phone wallet. Including the class scholarship rewards from the past two monthly assessments, I have a total of less than 2,000 yuan. It's too far off."

Lu Yuan put down his phone and sighed softly.

His original idea was to tell his parents about enrolling in an ordinary sports interest class, get the money, and then secretly enroll in the martial arts class, using his small savings to fill the gap.

However, after a rough calculation, he found that this idea was completely impractical.

The cheapest course package at Yuan Martial Arts School was more than twice the price of an ordinary sports interest class.

The difference between the two was too great, and his savings were far from enough.

Although he was very curious about the field he had never touched in both worlds, the harsh reality forced him to give up.

Lu Yuan never considered asking his parents to pay for the entire martial arts class.

Recently, his grandfather had a sudden stroke and needed a large sum of money for surgery.

The small family shop was also facing financial difficulties.

At such a crucial time, he couldn't bring himself to ask for this.

If it weren't for the requirement to have a physical activity as a special skill for the college entrance examination, he wouldn't even want to attend an ordinary interest class.

If he just wanted to exercise, he could jog by himself every day.

"The time is June 5th, 3:27 PM, and our country's third extraterrestrial base has been officially completed. The list of personnel for the first batch to go has been confirmed, including..."

"Clearance, clearance! Clearance throughout the store! Last day, clearance throughout the store!"

The news played on the bus TV, and the sounds of shop announcements from the speakers along the street outside came in.

Lu Yuan leaned against the hard back of the bus seat, staring blankly at the passing scenery outside for a while. Soon, he heard the announcement of the arrival of the destination station.

He got off from the back door.

The sunlight at eleven o'clock in the morning in June, accompanied by bursts of rising heat, caught him off guard.

He crossed the road and then quickly stepped into the shadow of the building, walking along a road.

Soon, a small shop with a red background and white characters, saying "Xinghua Grocery," entered his line of sight.

(End of Chapter 1)