After the Lunar New Year, Yu Fei refused to visit relatives with his parents. Aside from some brief indulgence on New Year's Eve and the morning of New Year's Day, he continued to study and train diligently!
He would practice martial arts, and when he got tired, he would read.
Awakening his past-life memories was already a blessing from the heavens, to say nothing of the Reversing Destiny Pearl in his spiritual space. This was an incredible stroke of fortune!
Only by putting in an extraordinary amount of effort could he be worthy of such luck.
Besides, he wanted to see for himself the magnificence of a Martial Saint. And what lay beyond a Martial Saint? What was beyond this universe?
He was intensely curious!
The Reversing Destiny Pearl gave him infinite possibilities for the future, but for now, he was still just a relatively outstanding youth in a remote county town. Across the country, there were countless others more exceptional than him. He had no room to slack off.
While Yu Miao was still at home, leisurely binge-watching shows, Yu Fei's school year had already begun!
In the new semester's martial arts class, Yu Fei was assigned to the sprint class!
The sprint class was supposed to have thirty students, but there were actually only twenty-eight. Five of them were from the second year's Class Six.
The minimum requirement for entering the sprint class was the completion of the skin refinement stage. However, after the first semester, the total number of second-year students who had achieved this was still under thirty.
Nanguan Second Middle School had nine classes in its second year. Class Eight, however, only had a single student selected, showing a huge disparity.
The martial arts teacher for the sprint class was still Yan Hai. The only difference was that classes were now held once a day, six times a week. There was an extra half-day session on Saturday mornings, and students could take a leave of absence if they didn't want to attend.
However, at the end of each month, there was a ranking battle. The bottom five students had to accept challenges from the top five of the advanced class. Losers would swap places with the challengers, so no one dared to slack off.
Furthermore, the twenty-eight students in the class were divided into six tiers for training purposes, with five students per tier.
The school provided the sixth tier with one portion of Blood Storage Powder per month. Currently, it only had three members. The fifth tier received two portions, and the fourth received three.
The resources for the third tier changed to Vitality Elixirs—a single elixir. The second tier received two, and the first tier received three.
Then, Mr. Yan announced the initial provisional rankings.
Yu Fei was first and Jiang Yifan was third, placing them in the first resource tier.
Zhang Qingyu was twelfth, in the third tier.
Du Mingxuan was eighteenth, in the fourth tier.
Liu Min, the last student from the second year's Class Six to complete skin refinement, was ranked twenty-seventh and placed in the sixth tier.
According to Mr. Yan, since the sprint class currently had fewer than thirty members and no one in the advanced class had completed skin refinement, the challenge system would not be activated for now.
If someone from the advanced class completed skin refinement, they would automatically fill the two empty spots in the sprint class. Once the total number of students who had completed skin refinement in the entire school exceeded thirty, the last-place challenge and elimination process would begin.
In addition, Yan Hai explained that the rankings he had just announced were provisional. Any student dissatisfied with their placement could challenge anyone in a higher tier. The winner would advance, and the loser would fall back.
Afterward, at the end of every month, students from the second tier and below could challenge those ranked above them. The winner would trade ranks and resource stipends with the loser.
"Alright. Anyone who questions their ranking can speak up now."
The words had barely left his mouth when a boy from the crowd, nearly two meters tall and incredibly heavyset, raised his hand.
"I have an objection! I want to challenge him!"
Feng Shuhao was ranked sixth in Yan Hai's announced list, placing him squarely in the second tier.
If it were just about the ranking, he wouldn't have cared.
But since the ranks determined the number of Vitality Elixirs one received, he couldn't stand for it.
Everyone had been practicing martial arts for half a year and deliberately gathering information on the subject. Who hadn't heard of a famous first-realm cultivation medicine like the Vitality Elixir? The only problem was that there was no way to buy them. 'Now that an opportunity is right in front of me, how can I possibly pass it up?'
'We're all at the skin refinement stage and have only been doing this for six months. On what grounds did Mr. Yan decide Yu Fei is number one?'
"I refuse to accept this! I don't acknowledge the ranking Mr. Yan announced!"
Feng Shuhao declared loudly to Yu Fei, his arms crossed over his chest.
Yu Fei stared at the guy, astonished.
'We're both sixteen, but what on earth did this guy eat growing up?'
'He's got to be at least 150 kilograms. On top of that, he looks to be a full two meters tall, like a young giant.'
'Is he really fucking sixteen?'
Yu Fei felt like he was looking at a glitch in the system.
In fact, in the first realm of martial arts, being overweight was generally a disadvantage. The process involved refining one's skin and muscles. If you had over a hundred pounds of extra flesh compared to others, your cultivation speed would naturally be slower.
'Activate Reversing Destiny Vision!'
The blue gem above Feng Shuhao's head was dazzling. Yu Fei quickly scanned the talents of everyone in the class.
Everyone in the first tier had a blue-level talent, as did the sixth-ranked Feng Shuhao. The rest were mostly green or white.
Yu Fei's interest was suddenly piqued. He had saved up one Copy Point from the competition before the New Year and had planned to keep accumulating them. But seeing Feng Shuhao, he couldn't resist. He had to know the details of this guy's talent.
"Excellent! I support you all challenging one another!
The martial path is all about having a spirit that refuses to admit defeat. However, don't get too caught up in a single win or loss. A true master is one who conquers themselves, becoming a little bit stronger every day!"
"Come on, everyone to the training grounds!"
On the way, Yan Sea had a smile on his face. He knew Yu Fei's situation. 'That kid is a monster. Forget the second-years; even among the third-years, he estimated that besides Jian Dalong, no one else stood a chance against Yu Fei!'
"Begin!"
Yan Sea's right hand chopped down through the air.
Feng Shuhao slowly approached Yu Fei. His massive size meant his agility in close quarters wasn't great. This was his disadvantage, but his advantage was just as obvious.
Few could withstand a serious punch from him. After all, in the early stages of martial arts, the strength advantage granted by a large frame was difficult to overcome.
However, Feng Shuhao wouldn't be careless. 'To be provisionally ranked first by Yan Sea, Yu Fei can't be weak!'
Yu Fei cracked his neck and moved forward to meet Feng Shuhao, marking him with his ability at the same time.
"Line-Piercing Kill!"
Feng Shuhao was highly compatible with the Straight-Line Thrust Style, and he had already reached the initial mastery stage in a short amount of time.
Yu Fei tilted his head slightly, and an arm as thick as an average man's thigh grazed his hair as it flew past.
MISS!
At the same time, Yu Fei exploited the opening Feng Shuhao created after throwing the punch, launching his own Line-Piercing Kill—one far more practiced than his opponent's.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Three consecutive punches slammed into Feng Shuhao's heart, lungs, and lower abdomen.
He had held back. With his progress in the Muscle Stage more than halfway complete, his punching power was considerable.
Feng Shuhao's face instantly turned beet-red, and he came crashing down like a toppling mountain.
Yu Fei's three punches had shattered the Qi Blood Feng Shuhao had gathered. The sudden, heavy blow to his lungs made it hard to breathe. Compounded by the punch to his abdomen that made his stomach seize up, he couldn't draw a single breath and felt like he was about to die.
Yan Sea swiftly stepped onto the platform and pressed several major acupoints on Feng Shuhao's back.
"Haaaa..."
Feng Shuhao let out a long, ragged breath. He was alive.
Now, as he looked at Yu Fei standing nearby with a slight smile, he felt an inexplicable sense of lingering fear.
'So it's the quiet dogs that bite!' he thought to himself.
'The guy's a total monster!'
Few people could remain poker-faced while a fist the size of a bowl flew at their head.
Jiang Yifan stood off to the side, looking calm and unperturbed, his eyes clear.
Unbeknownst to most, Wang Jiale was his cousin, and he had sent Jiang Yifan videos of Yu Fei's matches over the break.
After a period of confusion and dismay, Jiang Yifan had come to terms with it completely.
'He was just an ordinary person, maybe a little clever, but there was no point in competing with a monster like that. It just wasn't worth it.'