Chapter 133: Train at Sunrise, Rest at Sunset
Lin Yi and Wei Nan arrived at the market.
The morning market here was bustling with activity.
The overwhelming variety of breakfast foods was dazzling.
It was also the biggest and liveliest market in all of Xinghai City.
The two of them found a stall and sat down.
Wei Nan immediately started scarfing down his food.
"Slow down, no one’s going to steal it from you. You look like you haven’t eaten in years."
Watching the way Wei Nan was eating, Lin Yi was afraid he might choke.
Wei Nan glanced up at Lin Yi.
"You have no idea. These past two months of special training were like being in prison.
Completely cut off from the world, you get it? I didn’t see a single new face for two months..."
After saying his piece, Wei Nan went back to lowering his head and eating.
"Where on earth did you go for special training? I went to your house to look for you before.
Your mom said your dad found a really impressive master for you?" Lin Yi asked, a little curious.
From the moment he saw Wei Nan,
Lin Yi had noticed a change in the attribute tags above his head.
’His realm has reached One-Star.
And he’s gained two new blue talent tags.
One is [Diligent], and the other is [Fist Arts Mastery].’
To be honest, Wei Nan’s innate talent had never been that great.
You could only call it average.
Before he left for training, his realm was only at the 3rd-rank.
But now, two months had passed.
His realm had shot up by a huge margin, going straight to the One-Star Realm.
For a high school student, reaching the One-Star Realm was enough to be called a Martial Arts genius.
Most people were considered pretty good if they could even reach the 4th-rank.
So, Lin Yi was curious. What exactly had Wei Nan gone through in these two months?
What could have pushed his realm all the way to One-Star?
His body was much stronger than before, and he’d even shot up past 1.8 meters tall.
Two months of secluded training had brought about immense changes in him.
"Yeah, he’s pretty damn impressive!"
"But he’s also an old sadist. Training from sunrise to sunset—can you even imagine that kind of torture?
In some remote mountain forest, it was just him and the wild beasts!"
"Every day was either training or hunting, and I even had to do his laundry and cook for him!"
"Holy crap... For two months, man, it was like I was his live-in nanny!"
"The food had to be good! The clothes had to be washed perfectly!"
"He just made my life difficult in every possible way. He even woke me up in the middle of the night a few times to go hunting with him... That’s just no way for a human to live, you know?"
"I finally made it through. You have no idea—the moment I came down from the mountain, I fucking knelt on the ground and cried!"
"Good thing I came down at night, so no one saw me..."
After Wei Nan finished his rant,
Lin Yi could kind of empathize.
He smiled. "It was tough, sure, but your hard work wasn’t for nothing. You’ve already reached the One-Star Realm!"
"That just goes to show your two months of special training paid off!"
As soon as the words were out, Wei Nan gave Lin Yi a look of astonishment.
"Holy crap, how did you know I reached One-Star? I was planning to tell you as a surprise!"
Lin Yi froze for a moment.
’He had never told Wei Nan about his ability to see other people’s talent tags.
He was the only one who knew this secret.
And he had just accidentally blurted out the truth about Wei Nan’s realm.’
He smiled. "Your Qi and Blood gave you away. It’s just like mine..."
"Just like yours? Don’t tell me you’ve reached One-Star too?" Wei Nan’s eyes went wide as saucers.
He stared at Lin Yi, seemingly in disbelief.
"What, are you the only one allowed to break through to One-Star while I have to stay put?" Lin Yi said with a light chuckle.
At that, Wei Nan’s eyes turned red.
"Fucking hell, being talented really makes a difference!"
"It took me two months of brutal special training to reach One-Star! Do you have any idea how much I suffered?"
"And you? You just casually hit One-Star?"
"So all this time, I’m the one who’s been chasing after you..."
Wei Nan said, pretending to cry.
Lin Yi shot him a glance. "That’s enough, people are staring."
"But with your current realm, getting into a Martial Arts University shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
Hearing this, Wei Nan looked up and broke into a wide grin again.
"Of course! Otherwise, would I have suffered for two months for nothing?"
"Lin Yi, seriously, I’m happy for you!"
"I was an idiot back then. I took you Demon Hunting and got you started, but I never told you anything!"
"The main thing is, I didn’t even have time to say anything before my dad dragged me away.
It all happened so suddenly. I was still sleeping when they sent me up the mountain!"
"To this day, I still suspect my mom drugged me. How else could I have not felt a thing?"
"When I woke up, I was already in the mountains. No phone, no way to communicate at all!"
"I didn’t even get a chance to tell you... It wasn’t until my dad came up the mountain to see me that I finally got the privilege of holding a phone!"
Wei Nan said pitifully.
’But, from what Lin Yi knew about him,
his dad had definitely drugged him. Otherwise, with his personality,
even if they had calmly told him he was being sent to the mountains for two months of special training, he absolutely wouldn’t have gone.
He might have even run away from home.
So, the probability of being drugged was high.’
’The two months of special training had made him grow up a lot; that was the biggest gain.
It was just that after two months, Wei Nan seemed to curse a lot more than before.’
"What other reason could there be? If you were trapped in the mountains for two months, training and waiting on that old bastard, you’d be spouting profanities just like me!"
"You know, I even learned a new skill. Oh right, I brought something for you!"
Before he finished speaking, Wei Nan quickly pulled something out of his pocket.
Lin Yi took it and glanced down. It was a wood carving.
It was a palm-sized figurine, and a closer look revealed it to be Lin Yi in his school uniform.
The carving was incredibly lifelike, especially the eyes, which seemed almost alive.
Lin Yi said in surprise, "You carved this?"
"Duh. If I didn’t carve it, why would I be giving it to you?"
"That old bastard forced me to carve it. Said it would temper my state of mind!"
"He was spouting nonsense all day long, something like, ’For a martial artist, the state of mind is more important! Train the mind before the body. If your mind is well-trained, your path in Martial Arts will open up!’"
"Anyway, it was just that kind of talk, on repeat every single day. My ears are calloused from hearing it!"
Lin Yi held the wood carving, listening to Wei Nan’s complaints.
After a moment, he said with a soft chuckle, "Not bad. Your master is a good man!"
"He was probably afraid you wouldn’t get into a Martial Arts University, so he taught you this wood carving skill ahead of time. That way, you’ll have something to fall back on after graduation!"
"This is pure handcrafted wood carving. You could probably make some money live-streaming your carving, right?"
At this, Wei Nan shot Lin Yi a harsh glare.
"Forget it. I only have one goal: to get into a Martial Arts University!"
"By the way... haven’t you already registered? And with your talent and realm, your chances of getting in are pretty high.
Have you picked which university you want to apply to? Got a target?" Wei Nan asked with a smile.
Lin Yi shook his head. "Haven’t decided yet. Got any recommendations?"
"Recommendations? What is there to recommend? There are only four Martial Arts Universities in the whole New District!"
"What you should be considering is which major you’re good at and what field you want to go into!"
"Dragon Tiger University’s strongest major is Daoist Arts—entering the Dao through martial practice, the natural way of the Dao... Lanshan University’s majors are more life-skill oriented, like Medics, Pharmacists, Spiritual Masters, Blacksmiths... they all come from Lanshan University!"
"As for the other two, Xingwu University and Martial Alliance University, they’re both focused on combat!"
"After graduating from Xingwu University, you can go straight into a department like the Demon Hunting Bureau. Graduates from Martial Alliance University join the army directly and can go to the battlefield..."
"Anyway, these four universities each have their own specialties. It just depends on which one you want to choose!"
Wei Nan had adopted a serious expression.
He was very earnestly explaining the different university majors to Lin Yi.
Choosing a major was choosing your future path in life.
It would determine which road you would walk after graduation.
To put it bluntly, for those who wanted a stable life,
choosing Dragon Tiger University or Lanshan University was the right call.
One specialized in Daoist Arts, the other in life-skill professions.
After graduation, most of their students worked in rear-line support roles and wouldn’t go to the battlefield.
Just like Tang Qinru.
As for Xingwu University and Martial Alliance University,
one sent its graduates to the Demon Hunting Bureau, the other to the army.
They were purely combat-focused.
Therefore, choosing a major required careful consideration.
It all depended on which path you wanted to walk in the future.
Lin Yi nodded and said with a smile, "What about you? Which university are you planning to apply to?"