Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Nineteen: Enchanting Scenery

The two had been “sparring” for nearly twenty minutes. During that time, Wang Jue had been mercilessly beaten hundreds of times; every inch of him throbbed with pain, and he could barely stand. He could only sit on the ground, his back against the trunk of a tree. In contrast, Luoshui stood nearby, refreshed and satisfied, a delighted smile playing at the corners of her lips and a glimmer of amusement in her bright eyes.

“Ugh…” Wang Jue sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, his whole body aching unbearably. He grimaced and complained, “Luoshui, I protest! This is revenge, isn’t it? I know you must be jealous that I’m more talented than you!”

“I’m only helping you reach your potential. You should be thanking me,” Luoshui rolled her eyes, her smile undiminished. “Think about it—before this, you hadn’t even started learning the basic footwork, right? Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how quickly you’ve improved? It’s nothing but your fear of getting beaten by me that’s motivated you! Now you’re just a step away from moving from beginner to adept in basic footwork. That’s entirely thanks to me. Without my guidance, do you think you’d have learned so fast?”

Wang Jue was speechless. He had to admit, it was only because he’d been beaten so badly that he’d managed to master the basic steps at such a pace.

Seeing Luoshui’s radiant, smiling face, a chill crept into Wang Jue’s heart. Everything she said was true, but something still felt off to him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

“Here, take this,” Luoshui said, pulling a small bottle filled with red liquid from her pocket and tossing it to Wang Jue. “This is a healing potion. Drink it, and don’t let yourself end up with any lingering injuries.”

Wang Jue recognized the potion. It was a type of gene agent, the most suitable kind for martial artists at the Body Tempering stage. Among all gene agents, only this non-starred healing potion was so affordable: while the cheapest starred agents easily cost over ten thousand, this one cost just over a thousand, less than two thousand per bottle. The price difference was substantial.

Body Tempering martial artists, though strengthened by star energy, still did not possess rapid physical regeneration until breaking through to the next realm. Without timely treatment with healing potions, hidden injuries could accumulate easily. Too many such injuries, and at best, one would never advance; at worst, it could mean death.

Given their close relationship, Wang Jue didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the potion, unscrewed the cap, and downed it in one gulp. The flavor was sweet and tart, reminiscent of a blend of strawberries and lemons—quite pleasant, actually.

He closed his eyes and began circulating his energy, focusing on speeding up the potion’s effects.

Seeing Wang Jue drink the healing agent, Luoshui sat down beneath a nearby tree. Her energy was only half spent and would recover quickly with a little cultivation—no need to waste a potion worth over a thousand. She had offered it to Wang Jue readily only because of their friendship; for anyone else, she would have been far more reluctant.

Her family could not afford such luxuries. In fact, she had only managed to buy that one bottle by scrimping and saving for two or three months. For now, there was no hope of replacing it. She’d planned to save it for emergencies, but seeing Wang Jue writhing in pain, she’d been unable to watch any longer.

Of course, knowing Wang Jue as she did, she hadn’t told him it was her only bottle—she feared he wouldn’t accept it if he knew.

A few minutes passed, and both had mostly recovered. As if by tacit agreement, they opened their eyes at the same time and exchanged a smile.

“If I’m not mistaken,” Wang Jue said, a complicated expression on his face and a fleeting tenderness in his eyes that vanished as quickly as it came, “that potion I just drank was your only bottle, wasn’t it?”

Luoshui’s smile faltered for a moment, a flicker of panic in her eyes, but she forced herself to remain calm. “That’s right. I usually carry just one for emergencies, but there’s more at home. They’re not expensive.”

As she spoke, her gaze drifted, unable to meet Wang Jue’s, afraid he’d see through her lie.

Wang Jue, watching her closely, caught every nuance. He knew her too well: just like when they were children, she couldn’t lie—her eyes always darted around.

He chuckled softly, letting it go. “We’ve rested enough. It’s almost time for class; we should head back.”

He chose not to expose her lie. Since she didn’t want him to know, he’d pretend ignorance and find a way to repay her later.

Luoshui was briefly startled, then nodded gently. “Alright, let’s go.”

They returned to the classroom together, Luoshui’s mood a little complicated.

Time passed quickly. Before they knew it, the day was over.

The morning had gone by in playful bickering, but in the afternoon, perhaps because of that little incident at lunchtime, Luoshui seemed oddly uneasy—almost as if she had a guilty conscience. She hardly dared to speak to Wang Jue as she had earlier, drifting in and out of wakefulness as if the teacher’s lecture were a lullaby.

Even Luoshui, whose physical resilience was formidable—almost like a “Tyrannosaurus”—could hardly keep from being lulled into a stupor. Naturally, the other martial artists in the class fared no better.

Wang Jue alone seemed unaffected. Perhaps it was due to the merged memories that his mental strength far surpassed ordinary people’s, or maybe his studious habits from his previous life gave him unusual endurance. Regardless, he endured with ease.

The bell signaling the end of the day rang out, announcing the conclusion of the last class. The teacher gathered up their materials and left first.

“Finally, school’s out! Wang Jue, let’s go see the homeroom teacher,” Luoshui exclaimed. Just minutes before, she had been half-dead with boredom, but at the sound of the bell she sprang to life, her rapid mood shift earning Wang Jue’s silent admiration.

He was about to leave with her when he noticed something odd: the classroom was not empty as usual. The other students showed no intention of leaving; it seemed everyone wanted to see what would happen next.

They all believed the policies for martial artists in the safe zone would be more complex than those for ordinary students. Human curiosity is only natural.

Wang Jue noticed that many students were already gathering around their martial artist classmates, chatting and clearly planning to tag along to the homeroom teacher’s office.

Luoshui, seeing Wang Jue hesitate, also became aware of the unusual atmosphere. She scanned the room in surprise and turned to Wang Jue. “How strange! Why isn’t anybody leaving today? They’re all still here?”

Luoshui was the undisputed champion of physical strength in Class Six of the third year, but when it came to thinking things through, she was usually at the bottom of the list. Not that she wasn’t intelligent—she was actually quite bright—but she was so used to relying on Wang Jue to handle things that she’d grown accustomed to solving problems with her fists rather than her head.

“What’s so strange? They just want to see what the homeroom teacher wants with us martial artists,” Wang Jue explained patiently, casting a helpless glance at Luoshui’s furrowed brow. Why did she always avoid thinking things through? Did she really not realize that, at this rate, one day she might be tricked and still help count the money for whoever fooled her?

“Oh, so that’s it!” Luoshui’s face lit up in sudden understanding. “To be honest, I’m curious what’s going to happen too.”

As they spoke, some martial artists had already left, surrounded by their curious classmates. Like falling dominoes, once the first group left, the rest soon followed in small clusters, leaving only Wang Jue, Luoshui, and three classmates assigned to clean the classroom.

Seeing this, Wang Jue wasted no more time. He got up with Luoshui and headed for the homeroom teacher’s office.

Soon, they arrived at the teaching building, only to find a large crowd of students gathered outside. Wang Jue, worried that someone might take advantage of Luoshui, instinctively shielded her behind him and tried to force a path through the throng.

Unfortunately, he had overestimated himself and underestimated the students’ enthusiasm for excitement. After much effort, he had barely moved two meters.

All around, shouts and chatter filled the air.

“Hey, you in front—either go in or move aside! Don’t just stand there!”

“Yeah, we’ve been waiting forever and haven’t moved an inch!”

“Who’s the idiot who just touched me? You’d better hope I don’t catch you!”

“Ah—don’t touch me!”

“I’m done! Get me out of here—someone make way!”

“Seriously? So desperate you’ll grope anyone? I’m a guy, for crying out loud!”

“Damn it, who just hit me?”

Listening to the cacophony, Wang Jue couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth. When he heard that even men were being groped, he felt a chill run down his spine and his face grew wary.

Quietly, he summoned his internal star energy, using both hands to push open a small gap in the crowd. Before the space could close up again, he quickly spun around, grabbed Luoshui’s hand, and pulled her in front of him.

No sooner had he done so than the gap was filled, and the crowd pressed in around them. The worst part was the people behind—pressed forward by the throng, Wang Jue found Luoshui’s back pressed tightly against his chest. She was nearly 1.7 meters tall, and Wang Jue only 1.75 himself, so the result was that, thanks to the pressure of the crowd, their bodies were pressed together almost seamlessly.

The whole thing happened so abruptly, neither of them had time to react. In that moment, it was as if the rest of the world had faded away, leaving just a boy and a girl in an unexpectedly intimate embrace, suspended in a brief, enchanted moment…