Chapter 8: Twins
Watching the excited Xia Youhui opposite him, Chen Chu discreetly kicked him under the table.
However, the kick wasn't too forceful, and Xia Youhui didn't react. Just as he was about to continue speaking, a cold voice came from behind him.
"Is 67th place amusing to you?"
Instantly, Xia Youhui tensed all over. He turned his neck stiffly, a wide, frozen smile on his face. "Ha...hahaha... It's our class monitor. Would the esteemed class monitor like to join us for a seat?"
With such enthusiasm, one couldn't tell that he was laughing at the other's low ranking just a moment ago.
"I'm only ranked 67th. I dare not sit here with such a low ranking." Lin Xue crossed her arms, a cold smile playing on her lips. She glanced at the handsome young man sitting across from her before lowering her gaze onto Xia Youhui.
"If I remember correctly, your name is Xia something, right? May I ask, what's your rank on the freshman list?"
"Rank? What rank?" Xia Youhui looked completely bewildered.
Seeing him play dumb, Lin Xue sneered. "What's this? You dare to mock others behind their backs but you don’t dare to admit it? Weren't you just laughing at my low ranking a moment ago?"
"Did I? Class monitor, you must have heard wrong. You're the pride of our class, how could I possibly mock you? I'm full of admiration." Xia Youhui spoke with a righteous tone, then glanced at Chen Chu. "Isn't that right, Ah Chu?"
Cough...
Chen Chu cleared his throat, lowered his head, and took a sip of soup. "I don't know anything."
Xia Youhui rolled his eyes, his expression conveying, Bro, you're not loyal enough.
Chen Chu glanced back at him with a look that said, She heard everything already. I can’t help you. You might as well off yourself to spare her the trouble.
Hmph!
Watching the two boys exchange glances, Lin Xue didn't say anything more. She snorted and turned away, leaving the scene.
As soon as Lin Xue left, Xia Youhui put on a distressed expression. "Ah Chu, it's over. I'm going to be put on her blacklist."
Chen Chu responded unsympathetically, "Who told you to laugh behind people's backs? It's one thing to discuss rankings privately, but you actually mocked her."
"Forget about mocking, the person in question happened to pass by and hear it..."
Even Chen Chu couldn't help but shake his head at such luck.
Anyway, the class monitor was actually very beautiful. With jet-black hair dyed into a shade of purple, her oval-shaped face was fair and radiant. The delicate features, already refined, were further accentuated with a subtle eyeliner, enhancing the allure of her slender, captivating eyes.
Standing at around 1.7 meters tall, she was slender and graceful. The short-sleeved white school uniform shirt was stretched taut across her chest; she was at least a B+, perhaps even a C cup.
Her legs, clad in trousers, were long, straight, and elegantly slender. Combined with the youthful aura unique to a teenage girl, it was no wonder she gained high popularity in the class in just two days. Following the online rating standards, based solely on her appearance, she could easily score 90 points, placing her in the goddess-level category.
Chen Chu had originally thought that the class monitor would have a cold and aloof personality. Unexpectedly, she turned out to be rather fiery and not easy to mess with.
"Speaking of which." Xia Youhui glanced around mysteriously and then whispered, "Ah Chu, did you know that the class monitor has a twin sister?"
"Twin sister!" Chen Chu paused slightly.
Xia Youhui nodded, "Yes, the monitor's sister is named Lin Yu, also a monitor for Class Nine. She's as beautiful as our monitor."
Even Chen Chu was a bit surprised to hear that. To think that such a beauty had a twin!
Tsk tsk...
It was unclear where Xia Youhui got the information, but he continued to share all sorts of gossip about the class with Chen Chu as they ate their meals and finished the rest of their break.
The afternoon martial arts class was still held in the same cultivation room. Forty people were scattered about, and there was no teacher to supervise them. Order was maintained by the class monitor, Lin Xue, and the martial representative, Yi Rui.
Perhaps, in the eyes of those martial arts teachers, students who hadn't even built their foundation weren't worth their attention.
However, Chen Chu felt that they had been screening for individuals with cultivation talent since yesterday. This talent wasn't just about physique, but also willpower and self-discipline.
If someone didn't exert effort in cultivation without supervision, being negligent and lazy, then even if they could cultivate true martial arts, they wouldn't gain much value from it. Rather than exerting so much effort, it would be better to give up early.
Chen Chu found a corner to sit down, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and in the blink of an eye, entered a meditative state.
***
A little after four in the afternoon, the dismissal bell rang. Chen Chu, who was feeling sore all over, sat on the ground in the cultivation room as he panted.
By now, his shirt was soaked with sweat. After the half-hour meditation, he had taken a short break and then began practicing the Body Refining Art, channeling his vitality.
Utilizing the red light emitted from the activated Vitality Crystal, after more than an hour of practice, he successfully completed three cycles of circulation. He gained a proficiency increase of +3, a Physique increase of +0.2, and achieved a record time of twenty-four minutes.
With the meditation, he gained a proficiency increase of +4 and a Spirit attribute increase of +0.1. Overall, his progress was quite good.
However, the extra cycle of circulating vitality had depleted his stamina. Even now, Chen Chu felt a sense of emptiness and weakness in his body, yet his meridians were clear and his vitality was flowing smoothly.
It was a strange feeling.
"Finally, school is over."
"So tired."
"Yeah, the Body Refining Art is too challenging."
"Wang Gang, do you want to go to the club together?"
"I need to take a shower first."
"Alright, we'll go ahead then."
Geniuses were always in the minority, as Chen Chu had observed today.
Most of his classmates were able to do one cycle in about half an hour during their first cultivation session yesterday. Today, however, many people still only managed to do two cycles after a whole class, with durations around twenty-something minutes. There were only about a dozen students who completed one in less than twenty minutes.
Although these people didn't feel as exhausted and strained as he did after cultivation, and their physique was somewhat better, their progress seemed to be much slower than Chen Chu had imagined.
Of course, he didn't pay attention to geniuses like Lin Xue and Yi Rui. He wasn’t on the same level as these people, whether in talent or background. Trying to compare himself to them would only lead to frustration and discouragement.
Life was long, and the race between the hare and the tortoise had just begun. There was no need to rush.
Chen Chu rested for a while, and only when his strength had recovered significantly did he stand up.
Each floor of the cultivation building had a shared bathroom, separated for males and females. After taking a shower, they only needed to toss their clothes into the cleaning and drying machine. In just a few minutes, the clothes would be fresh and clean.
After Chen Chu finished his shower and got dressed, he ran into Xia Youhui.
"Ah Chu, are you heading back?"
Chen Chu nodded. "Yeah, what’s up?"
"Nothing important," Xia Youhui shook his head and then suddenly asked, "By the way, Ah Chu, have you bought anything to nourish your vitality these past few days?"
"Vitality nourishment?" Chen Chu was slightly puzzled.
Seeing his confused expression, Xia Youhui facepalmed. "I knew it would be like this."
He then patiently explained, "The main purpose of the Body Refining Art is to circulate vitality, clear your meridians, and refine your body. The thing is, it uses up a lot of stamina. When ordinary people start cultivating, going through three or four cycles at once is the limit. Practicing twice a day is already pushing it, and doing more would deplete and harm your body.
"Only in the later stages, after your physique has become stronger, can you do ten cycles in one go. If you want to increase the number of cultivation sessions you can do and quickly strengthen your physique, you have to buy some low-level supplements to nourish your vitality," Xia Youhui explained.
"Even those geniuses ranked on the freshman list, who have a bit more talent than us, still need to use vitality supplements," Xia Youhui continued.
Chen Chu paused slightly.
So that's how it is. I was wondering how those people could reach the fifth or seventh cycle in just one day. They are just ordinary people, how could there be such a big difference in physique?
Even if Xia Youhui hadn’t mentioned it, Chen Chu’s doubts would have prompted him to search for more information online when he got home.
As for cultivating forcibly, he wasn't worried. He was aware of the issue of vitality deficiency. Today, he had just wanted to use the assistance of the Vitality Crystal in the cultivation room to test his limits.