Chapter 288: No Anger

Chen Shu leaned against the sidewalk railing, popped the last strawberry into his mouth, and was left with a single bamboo skewer; he held it in his hand, swaying it back and forth, and aimed at the tree trunk nearby, making a gesture like throwing a dart.

After trying to work up the nerve several times, he eventually gave up.

"Sigh..."

He really had grown up.

If it were back in his childhood, he wouldn't have cared about any morality; the trees beside the spicy hot pot stall would have been covered in stuck wooden skewers. Back then, relying on his unique skill of throwing wooden skewers, he had tricked countless ignorant little children into giving him the supreme evaluation of "You're amazing."

After Chen Shu finished sighing, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye—

Qingqing was standing nearby watching him, half of the Sugar-coated Haws in her hand remaining; the corners of her eyes were turned downward, as if she had seen through all his childish thoughts.

Naturally, this also had nothing to do with the Secret Sect.

Just as Chen Shu could guess that she practiced "No Anger" before "Chong Nu," it was based on the two of them being childhood sweethearts and their years of understanding.

"Whoosh~"

The bamboo skewer spun in the air and flew into a trash can over ten meters away.

Chen Shu thought to himself, "Perfect," and continued leaning against the railing, turning his head to look to the side—

Zhang Suannai and Chen Banxia were taking photos of Taozi.

Taozi had specially worn a pretty little outfit today and carried a small schoolbag, looking as if it were going to visit relatives. At first glance, this little thing was walking from behind a tree with one little paw raised, but after looking a few more times, one would realize it was holding that pose, completely motionless.

The whole street was filled with blooming jacaranda.

The two girls squatted in front of it, holding up their Mobile Phone to take pictures, arguing about how to do this or that while they shot; the cat was cooperative, maintaining its pose.

Pedestrians gradually gathered around, all finding this scene rare and beautiful.

"Click!"

"Woof?"

Taozi hurriedly put down its little paw and trotted over happily, tugging at Chen Banxia's arm, wanting to see the photos taken.

Chen Shu watched from afar, a smile appearing on the corners of his mouth; once he started smiling, he couldn't help but look at Qingqing beside him, and it just so happened that Qingqing was looking at him, so their gazes met.

"Is this thing about to become a spirit?"

"It's not that easy."

"Will it become a spirit?"

"..."

"I'm just asking."

"Wanting to have a little cat-girl..." Ning Qing tilted her head to look at him, her expression subtle, "Is that it?"

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu's gaze flickered a few times, but in the end, the "No Anger" that Qingqing was practicing gave him the confidence, and he emboldened himself to reply: "Little cat-girls are so cute!"

"Very good."

"You seem to be threatening me?"

"Remembered."

"If you threaten me again, believe it or not, I'll go back and tie you up, and dress you up as a cat-girl? Anyway, you won't get angry!"

"..."

Ning Qing's expression was indifferent, looking at him with a "you might be crazy" look.

"Believe it or not?"

Chen Shu met her gaze.

The little girl nearby, who had been holding a water cup and watching the jacaranda while drinking water, also turned her head and said, "Brother-in-law, I'll help you!"

Immediately, she also looked at her sister, hoping her sister would blurt out "I don't believe it."

"..."

Ning Qing finally avoided their gazes.

These two were crazy; she wouldn't bicker with them for now.

Yet this person pushed his luck and got carried away; under the admiring gaze of his sister-in-law, he became even more puffed up, actually asking her to give him the Sugar-coated Haws to eat, and even saying it was as an apology for threatening him. Ning Qing should have been angry, but she couldn't get angry; instead, she had a feeling of wanting to laugh.

"This is our spoils of war."

"Mm."

"Five left, three for me, two for you."

"Three for me, two for you."

"Xiaoxiao..."

"?"

"You've changed."

"I've grown up."

"By the way, have you signed up for driving school?"

"Already signed up."

"How much money did you swindle from Qingqing?"

"One thousand five hundred."

"How much is driving school?"

"I originally wanted to take the C license test first, the C license is two thousand five hundred, but the money I swindled from my sister wasn't enough, so I signed up for the D license first, the D license is eight hundred fifty."

"It's all Qingqing's fault!"

"It's all Qingqing's fault!"

"You should have waited until today to sign up. Anyway, Qingqing won't get angry; you could just snatch the Mobile Phone from her hands and forcibly transfer the money."

"But even if Qingqing isn't angry, I still can't snatch it away."

"That's true..."

"Brother-in-law, this last Sugar-coated Haws is mine."

"Where? Where is the last Sugar-coated Haws... ah, how did it end up in my hand?"

Watching the two of them share the half-skewer of Sugar-coated Haws that belonged to her while discussing matters related to her in childish language, the corners of Ning Qing's mouth curled into an arc.

"It's over! Qingqing is smiling, I have a premonition..."

"I have a premonition too..."

"Have you noticed that after Qingqing finished cultivating 'Joy', she has become more prone to smiling than usual?"

"I noticed."

"Amazing."

"Amazing."

"Qingqing looks really beautiful when she smiles."

"Qingqing looks really beautiful when she smiles."

"I really want to kiss her."

"Brother-in-law, I'll help you block people!"

"There's no need to be so sneaky..."

"Then I'll help you hold Sister down."

"That's not really necessary..."

"Then you kiss, I'm a bit thirsty, I'm going to get some water."

"Oh my, the weather is a bit hot, why don't you go over there and buy an ice cream to eat?"

"How long will it take to buy?"

"A few minutes."

"Okay."

Ning Qing was expressionless as she watched Xiaoxiao turn and walk away, while the person beside her looked toward her with a face full of smug, punchable smiles... She didn't know how to describe her current mood, but she knew that perhaps she had already revealed a smile again; it was uncontrollable.

"Reason tells me I should beat you up."

"But you are clearly smiling."

"I..."

Before Ning Qing could finish her sentence, that person wrapped his arms around her shoulders, leaned his head over quickly, and kissed her on the face; she couldn't help but feel deeply helpless.

And not far away, the two people and one cat who had just finished taking photos happened to turn around and saw this scene.

Taozi widened her eyes.

Zhang Suannai was so dazed she was almost numb.

Chen Banxia was excited and thrilled, accompanied by the thought of secretly taking out her Mobile Phone to snap a photo and sending it to the family group chat.

"Bang!"

Ning Qing gave him a symbolic punch.

At dusk, Chen Shu finally returned to the Dormitory.

Two roommates were sitting on the living room sofa, each holding A Book and reading.

Jiang Lai was holding "Martial Arts Psychology", while Meng Chunqiu was holding the textbook for the first semester of freshman year in the Spell Principles major, "Fundamentals of Spell Principles (1)".

"Morning, you two study-grinders."

"Brother Chen, you're back?"

"Brother Chen, you're back?"

"Are you both blind..."

"Brother Chen, did you go to admire the jacarandas today?" Meng Chunqiu temporarily moved his gaze from the book and looked up at him; just looking at the movement, it was almost the same as when he used to hold poetry books to read, but while he was once high-spirited, there was now a bit more exhaustion.

"Yes, did you guys go?"

"Jiang and I went too." Meng Chunqiu paused, "But we came back quickly. We are from Yujing, we see it every year, and it's all much the same."

"It's good to rest, balance work and leisure." Chen Shu said, "It's rare for you two to have a break this semester."

"Brother Chen, if you are free, could you explain this spell structure to me?"

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu still sat over.

Beside him, Jiang Lai's voice rang out again: "Brother Chen, do you know any Fifth-tier Practitioner who is short on money? Any system is fine."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to push for a Five-stage Martial Artist before the end of my senior year." Jiang Lai replied, his voice as usual, "I follow the Body Tempering Method and need constant polishing to make progress, but now I might not even be able to fight a match in half a month. Powerful Five-stage Martial Artist won't just fight matches, and those who fight matches aren't powerful enough. So now the frequency and intensity of the fighting in the Arena cannot satisfy my tempering requirements; I want to find a Cultivator to be a sparring partner..."

"To beat you up?"

"Yes." Jiang Lai didn't blush or skip a beat, his expression firm instead, "I can pay, charged by the session."

"Amazing..."

"Is it?"

"I'll help you ask around."

Chen Shu took out his Mobile Phone and thought for a moment.

He knew quite a few Fifth-tier Practitioner now, but there weren't many suitable ones.

His own sister had a regular job, and her off-work time was precious and limited, needing to be used for sleep; she wouldn't take a part-time job. Furthermore, Sister followed the research path of a Modern Cultivator; she was neither skilled in nor fond of force, and she probably couldn't even beat Jiang Lai.

The Saint Son-level disciples of top-tier sects like Gate of All Wonders and Green Lamp Ancient Buddha may not necessarily be rich, but they certainly do not lack money.

Luo Huaian most likely would not do such a thing either.

Senior Brother Ji, on the other hand, has already graduated and returned to the Spirit Sect.

That leaves Junior Sister Yan.

Although Junior Sister Yan has the inheritance of the Imperial Sect, she does not seem to easily convert it into cash; she still searches for Spirit Plants on the edge of the Forbidden Land to sell for money, so it is actually possible.

Chen Shu found Yan Keling first.

Chen Shu: Junior Sister.

Chen Shu: Are you interested in finding a sparring partner? It's free.

Yan Keling: Elaborate.

It sounds promising.

Chen Shu's eyes lit up, and he continued typing.

Chen Shu: It's like this.

Chen Shu: I have a roommate who is a Five-stage Martial Artist, the kind who is exceptionally good at fighting. He wants to find a free sparring partner. I thought since we are all ancient cultivators and have a need to improve our combat power, appropriate sparring could also improve each other's combat experience, so I'm just asking you. If you also want to find one, then it works out perfectly; if you don't want to or don't have the time, then forget it.

Chen Shu: I'm just asking for him, don't feel pressured.

Yan Keling: I actually happen to be looking for one.

Chen Shu: Then you two should try it out. If it works, you can be each other's sparring partners; if it doesn't, we'll see.

Everything is under control.

Chen Shu couldn't help but smile, turned his head, and said to Jiang Lai: "I found one for you. That Imperial Sect girl from the Martial Body competition two years ago, the one we met at the edge of the Forbidden Land, remember her?"

"I remember."

Jiang Lai nodded.

In his impression, she was a very formidable classmate, and very high-profile; she had been on the news, the sole successor of the Imperial Sect, a peerless genius, a figure nearly invincible among her peers, and she had been popular for a while...

It must be very expensive, right?

Jiang Lai became embarrassed: "Brother Chen, did she say how much it costs per session?"

"Shh!"

Chen Shu lowered his voice and said to him: "I told her that you two would be sparring partners for each other, so it's free for both sides."

"Ah?"

Jiang Lai was stunned. There's such a good thing?

At this moment, he only heard Brother Chen say: "It's a pity that my relationship with her is also quite good, so it's not easy to scam her..."

Jiang Lai scratched his head repeatedly and said he was satisfied, he was satisfied.

"I'll push her Feixin to you."

"Okay."

"She follows the path of a Martial Cultivator herself. Besides her Secret Contract partner, she also really needs to improve her own combat power to protect herself in high-intensity battles. So, during sparring, you might not be able to do what you asked for before—just standing there and letting others hit you. You will also need to be her sparring partner and put in some effort."

"That would be best."

"Hmm..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but feel a bit emotional for a moment.

Pushing for the Sixth Stage before the end of his senior year...

Although Martial Artists are not like Cultivators who have Spirit Locks binding them and intuitive bottlenecks, the further one goes, the closer one gets to the limit of the Daoist martial path, and improvement becomes increasingly difficult.

Moreover, the gap between a Fifth-tier Practitioner and a Six-Stage Martial Artist is very large. For a Martial Artist to improve from combat power comparable to a Fifth-tier Practitioner to that comparable to a Six-Stage Martial Artist, the distance that needs to be crossed is also very large, and the difficulty rises linearly.

As far as Chen Shu knows—

Since the founding of Yujing Academy and Ling'an Academy, Five-stage Martial Artists before graduation have been few and far between, even fewer than graduated Fifth-tier Practitioners. This is because there are always top-tier geniuses from top-tier cultivation sects entering these two schools to study, which provides a stable source of Fifth-tier graduates, whereas Martial Artists do not have this situation.

A Six-Stage Martial Artist before graduation? Never happened.

Of course, before the Group Leader, there had never been a Six-Stage Martial Artist before graduation either.

Generally speaking, it is still easier for a Martial Artist to reach the Sixth Stage than for a Cultivator to reach the Sixth Stage; they are a cheap source of military force, and Martial Artists can also start training from a young age, which is also an advantage.

Brother Jiang is so anxious, he must have his own plans.

Although university is a five-year program, students basically don't stay at school during their fifth year, and pure Martial Artists cannot be recruited by the Ming Sect, so they often have to start looking for internships after the end of their fourth year. The destination for most graduates from previous years is likely among the military, security companies, martial arts gym instructors, or martial arts teachers.

Chen Shu let out a long sigh.

Truly a king of involution.

Even though he had been working very hard lately and originally felt he could get rid of the "salted fish" title, being compared to him like this made him seem like a salted fish again.

"Sigh!"

Chen Shu sighed inwardly and continued explaining problems to Brother Meng.