Chapter 23  : Commotions in the Gym

Sitting on the ship that ferried him across the lake back to the shore, Chen Fan heaved a sigh of relief.

“In the future, I should refrain from using these flashy moves. That one attack had used up one-third of my True Essence.”

The move was sleek and swift, shaping air into a blade in the blink of an eye. However impressive it looked, it also came at a very high cost of energy. This attack could only be used by those who had already reached the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Level. Even if he was able to wield the technique, he could only use it once or twice.

“If not to convince Zhou Tianhao of my power, I would never have used such a wasteful technique. One arcane spell would be enough to pound Linbao into pulp.” Chen Fan shook his head as he lamented.

“Once I have reached the Ethereal Enlightenment and finished compiling my sword tome, I should be able to summon over ten blade auras at the same time. Even a single ray of the blade aura would be much more powerful than the pulse of the True Essence I had unleashed.”

As Chen Fan thought about his next move, he found that the ship had already reached the shore.

The next morning, Zhou Tianhao had personally come to his door and handed over to him a bank card with 20 million yuan credits: a reward for Chen Fan’s help last night.

Chen Fan’s mood was unaffected by such a sudden surge of wealth. In the eyes of a cultivator, money was just a string of numbers.

Around noon, Chang Wen came up to Chen Fan again and asked him to help out the school basketball team.

This time Chen Fan refused the request.

“What did you say? I am not asking you; it’s an order!” Chang Wen said hotly.

“I said I am not going with you. Let the basketball interest group handle their own chores.” Chen Fan flung back at her.

He agreed to help out last time for the sake of team building. But after he had heard the conceited remark Chang Wen made about him, Chen Fan decided that he would never help her out ever again.

Chang Wen had thought that Chen Fan was already gone when she gave the ungracious remark about Chen Fan. Little did she know that all cultivators possessed extremely sensitive hearing and Chen Fan had heard every single word loud and clear.

“You are really not going?” Chang Wen’s eyebrows knitted together as anger rolled through her. She shot Chen Fan a cold glance.

“No means no!” A few words managed to escape Chen Fan’s tight jaws.

“Are you saying that you don’t care about the school’s interest group?” Chang Wen asked hotly.

She was born in a wealthy family, and god had favored her so much that she had not only a pretty face but also a smart brain. Since childhood, she was surrounded by a boy’s attention, just like a princess. Only someone as handsome and outstanding as Si Yingxia could have tugged her heartstrings ever so slightly. Therefore, she had never taken the ordinary new-boy seriously.

Chen Fan didn’t want to waste any more breath on the girl, so he ignored her and buried his head in his book.

“Hey loser, she is asking you a question! ” A tall boy rose from the front row and walked over to Chen Fan with an angry gaze.

His name is Ji Xingyu, a member of the sports committee, as well as a substitute player on the school basketball team. He took the honor and reputation of the school basketball team very seriously.

Si Yinxia also noticed the commotion, so he looked at this direction with a scowl.

“So what?” Chen Fan looked up at him with a fake smile.

“You...” Ji Xingyu’s face flushed red and was about to raise his hand to the new boy.

Jiang Tanqiu quickly held him back from behind.

“Brother Yu, Brother Yu! Give me face and don’t hurt him. He is just a silly transfer student; a country boy, that’s all! Don’t even be angered by him; he isn’t worth your time.”

After having placated Ji Xingyu, he berated Chen Fan: “Get your ass out of your chair, I will go fetch the drinks with you! Come on!”

“I am not going, suit yourself if you are so eager to help out.” Chen Fan said calmly, and he rested his back against the back of his chair.

“You think you are special, don’t you, new boy?” Ji Xingyu was amused by Chen Fan’s stubbornness. He then said in a threatening voice: “I wager you already know what happened to the last guy who didn’t respect the school team. I hope you won’t follow his example.”

“Try me.” Chen Fan’s voice was almost lazy.

Everyone was shocked by the boy’s calm reply.

They knew that the school basketball team was not to be messed with. Those boys were not only tall and big, but they were also the cream of the crop at the Ivy League High School. Therefore, no one in their right mind would stand in their way.

“Who would think that the new-boy is so full of himself.”

“He is feisty, so what? Does he have the clout to back himself up?”

“Touche, He needs a mirror to look at himself. How dare he cross Ji Xingyu and Chang Wen.”

Manny people gloated at Chen Fan impending misfortune.

Ever since school started, Chen Fan had been mostly keeping things to himself. His reticent nature had further isolated himself; in other words, he had no friends, except for Jiang Taniu. Therefore, when Chen Fan and Ji Xingyu were at it, no one had stood up for him. After seeing Chen Fan’s stubbornness, even Jiang Tanqiu had given up on his rescue mission.

On that day, the last class was the Taekwondo. It was an elective class, and whoever took this class would have to pay extra fees for the instructor and uniforms.

The leaders of Ivy League High School harbored the great ambitions of exposing their students to international education standards. Therefore, the gym class was reshaped into different sub-categories such as swimming, track and track, and Taekwondo. Chen Fan was interested in none of those subjects, and therefore he decided to pack his books up and leave for work right away.

Although he didn’t like Boss Yang, he got along with the rest of his coworkers.

Before Chen Fan could make it out of the classroom, someone blocked his way.

“Hey, where are you going, tough guy? Why aren’t you taking the Taekwondo class?” Ji Xingyu said with a smiley mask.

“None of your business.” Chen Fan raised his eyebrows.

“Ow... Are you so poor that you can’t even afford the extra fee? Don’t worry; I will pay it for you.” Ji Xingyu said sarcastically.

“Well—” Even as Chen Fan’s eyes grew icy cold, someone else caught his attention. It was Chang Wen, the class leader, and she had approached them.

She gave Chen Fan an icy glance and then said: “It has come to my attention that you have been late in the mornings and you leave school in the afternoon before anyone else did. If you dare skip the Taekwondo class, I will let Miss Xue knew about your actions.”

“Oh?” Chen Fan looked at the two classmates as he weighed his options. Finally, he slowly loosened his knitted brows.

“Sure, sure! I will go to the class!”

The Taekwondo Hall at the Ivy League High School was very spacious and was fully decked out with all kinds of decorations.

The Taekwondo class was held for students from all classes and even those in tenth and eleventh grades.

Jiang Tanqiu filled Chen Fan in about the school Taekwondo team:” Our Taekwondo team is very famous. The founder had won the second prize in a National Taekwondo Competition. He is a fifth-dan-black-belt. You have to see him when he is in action. He kicks ass!”

He turned to look at Chen Fan and then heaved a sigh.

“You better be careful. Ji Xingyu would not drag you to the Taekwondo class for no reason. He is a blue belt. Maybe he is trying to find a chance to get back at you. Just ignore him when he starts to act like a jerk.”

Chen Fan nodded and smiled back at Jiang Tanqiu for his heads up.

The coach came up to them, and Jiang Tanqiu hurried to his feet and bowed deeply at him.

The coach was a second-dan-black-belt. After having led the warm-up exercise, he announced that it was time for sparing.

“Si Yinxia, Please demonstrate the move to everyone,” the coach ordered.

Si Yinxia nodded expressionlessly and then broke rank with his classmates.

Chen Fan noticed that his belt was red.

The red belt is second only to the black belt in Taekwondo’s ranking system. Red meant danger and aggression. It was an acknowledgment to the practitioner’s dedication and years of hard work.

The coach then assigned Si Yinxia an opponent: a blue belt student. The two were to spar with each other while Si Yinxia demonstrates the set of new moves.

The blue belt was one rank lower than the red belt. It required at least one year of hard work. However, Si Yinxia was able to land a roundhouse kick at his opponent and ended the sparing after just ten cautious exchanges of blows.

“I submit!” The blue belt that got sent flying by the kick was Ji Xingyu. He struggled to his feet and raised both hands above his head.

“Si Yinxia had been practicing Taekwondo ever since he was a child.” A beautiful girl proudly proclaimed the other girls around her.

“No kidding. Si Yinxia is the best!” Another girl chimed in.

A swell of cheers and applause rose in the gym. The pupils of many girls from the tenth and eleventh grades had already turned into little hearts. When they heard that the boy was the most excellent student in the twelfth grade, their hearts almost skipped a beat.

Si Yinxia seemed unimpressed with his easy victory. He knitted his brows and said, “You have been slacking off. Otherwise, we could fight a little longer.”

Ji Xingyu smile mischievously and then said, “I don’t take it as seriously as you do.”

“Si Yinxia should challenge the black belt so that we could take his red belt spot.”

“Who else wants to practice with him?” The coach asked the students with a broad smile. He was very pleased by Si Yinxia’s improvement.

“If not, then find your partner and practice with each other.”

“Oh fuck!” The boy who was chosen as Si Yinxia’s partner grimaced as every one gloated at his luck.

Ji Xingyu was considered the second most powerful Taekwondo fighter right after Si Yinxia among all seven or so blue-belts.

Suddenly, Ji Xingyu raised his hand and asked loudly: “Coach, before we practice with our partners, can I challenge someone else?”

He then looked toward the corner and then said:

“Chen Fan, will you accept my challenge? Let’s settle our score the old way.”

Everyone looked toward the corner, and they saw a teenager sitting all by himself.

It was Chen Fan, and his belt was white.