Chapter 42: The Gym

Wednesday.

As soon as his morning classes were over, Fang Ping made a beeline for Scenic Lake Gardens.

At the real estate gallery.

Fang Ping paid the final payment, receiving the paperwork and keys in return. After that, he went to the house to check it out, and with that, the preliminary handover was done.

After settling the final payment, Fang Ping only had slightly over 410,000 points left in his savings and cash.

…

The salesperson at the gallery left.

Without anyone in the way, Fang Ping felt much more at ease.

Taking a walk around the empty house alone, Fang Ping found himself in a very good mood.

It had barely been a few days, but he had already bought himself a large house.

Fang Ping considered Fang Yuan’s reaction upon finding out he had bought a large house. It would definitely be interesting.

However, Fang Ping did not plan to tell his family about this just yet. Even if he were to tell them, it had to be after Gaokao.

Once he made it into the martial sciences, he could say he earned it from working with Wang Jinyang. He could even say a large corporation was investing in him in advance. Either way, he would have an excuse.

If his family found out about it now, he would inevitably make his parents worry.

“I’ll buy some workout equipment, but the furniture can wait.

“I’ll just get some necessary items, like a sofa, a table, and some chairs. Otherwise, I won’t have anywhere to sit.

“Oh yeah, I need to get a bed too. I might have to stay the night here…”

Once he made a list of what items he needed to buy, Fang Ping wasted no time and headed out right away.

…

An hour later.

Fang Ping walked out of the city’s largest furniture store.

He had booked everything he needed and paid the deposit too. Two days later, all of his purchases would arrive at his doorstep.

With the sofa, table, and chairs, he did not splurge on quality. He just bought whatever that was serviceable.

For the workout equipment, though, Fang Ping made sure he invested in items that were above average.

Even when he was done with the equipment, he could leave the stuff to Fang Yuan. That would not be a waste.

The sofa, table, and chairs did not cost too much, but the equipment cost him a pretty penny.

After he added everything up and settled all the outstanding payments, he only had about 390 thousand left.

…

When he returned to school, Chen Fan asked him slightly curiously, “Fang Ping, why have you been acting all mysterious lately?”

In the past, Fang Ping did not go home during lunch break, and neither did Chen Fan.

The two of them often went to the cafeteria or ate out, but recently, Chen Fan did not see Fang Ping very often at all.

“I’ve been caught up with some things lately. It’s been a little busy.”

“Although you signed up for martial sciences, the Martial Science Exam is really hard to take. Social science classes are easier…”

Chen Fan reminded him again patiently, and Fang Ping smiled as he nodded.

He was only advising Fang Ping before they were close. His other, more distant, acquaintances would be more than happy to see him abandon his studies. It would rid them of some competition.

As the two of them were chatting, Yang Jian turned around from where he was sitting in front of them. “Fang Ping, wanna go train together tonight?”

For the past few days, Fang Ping had been getting accustomed to the effects of the increase in his Vitality.

He had no time to train with them, and he had not seen much of a point in it either.

However, now that he had learned a cultivation method, he had not found it particularly efficient to just practice his stances or cultivate at home.

There was nothing at the new house right now, and Fang Ping did not intend to go there just yet. In that case, it may be a good idea to see how others trained.

After a moment’s consideration, Fang Ping nodded. “Sure, let’s train together tonight.”

Yang Jian had just been venturing the invitation casually. The last few times he asked, Fang Ping had declined to go.

This time, however, Fang Ping actually agreed to his half-hearted suggestion. It was so sudden that Yang Jian did not fully comprehend it right away.

Soon enough, though, Yang Jian’s face split into a grin. “Alright, then let’s go together after class.

“Fang Ping, there will be loads of people there, and quite a few of the school’s top hopefuls will be training there too.

“Watching how others trained might help you out a little.”

“Okay…”

“…”

The two of them agreed to go together after class, and soon they fell quiet, waiting for the teacher to start teaching.

…

The afternoon classes were over in no time at all.

The social science students might stay until nighttime for self-study, but martial science students like Fang Ping and the others almost never did.

Wu Zhihao and the others had found out that Fang Ping was participating in the group training session that night too.

As the boys walked out, Wu Zhihao laughed and said, “Fang Ping, you’ve never been to the gym, have you?

“I guarantee it’ll blow your socks away!”

The gym he mentioned was No. 1 High School’s very own gymnasium, prepared especially for the martial science students to train their bodies.

Not every student had their own private workout gym.

Even if they did, the atmosphere would not be quite the same.

Wu Zhihao could train at home, but he preferred to go to the gym with everyone else.

With a crowd around, it may get a little chaotic, but having some healthy competition around would provide some motivation, spurring them to train.

Training all alone was dry and boring. Many people could not withstand that loneliness.

Fang Ping laughed at that. “Blow my socks away? What could be so interesting about watching other people train?”

Before Wu Zhihao could even say anything, Zhang Hao had already begun to snigger. “Fang Ping, you really have no idea!

“It’s not like we only have male martial science students. There are plenty of girls too.

“And while they’re training, do you really think they’d be fully covered up?

“Tsk-tsk, you’ll know once you see it for yourself…”

Before he could finish his sentence, one of the female Martial Science Exam candidates from Class (4), Zhang Nan, huffed. “Could you stop being so pervy? Fang Ping is nothing like you!

“You’re always staring at girls and embarrassing our class!”

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Zhang Hao was not unduly bothered either, smiling as he said, “Did you get what Zhang Nan said? We shouldn’t stare at girls from other classes. We should just ogle her instead.”

“Get lost!” Zhang Nan rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be so fierce. The fiercer you are, the more afraid I am of looking at you. If no one’s checking you out, isn’t that your loss…?”

“Zhang Hao, are you asking for a beating?”

“…”

The two of them were always at odds, and the others were not even surprised by their bickering anymore.

Wu Zhihao ignored the two of them completely and walked as he said with a laugh, “Don’t listen to Zhang Hao’s crap. Checking out the girls there is an extra benefit, but it isn’t the main point.

“There are many hopefuls from the other classes training at the gym, and some of them have their own training methods.

“We can stand by and watch them. It helps, and we can use some of their tricks too.

“Still, all of us have more or less settled on our styles. You can check them out, Fang Ping, and see if you can learn a few tips here and there.”

Fang Ping nodded. Amidst the chatter, they arrived before the gym.

There were guards taking shifts at the gym, as it was not open to the public.

Students of No. 1 High School, however, were allowed to enter, be they martial science or social science students. Of course, they had to pay a fee.

It was a token sum, though. They paid two bucks per entry, regardless of how long they stayed inside.

Fang Ping paid the fee but the others did not have to. Those who came here regularly could get a card and a monthly subscription.

The fee was just so the place would not be overrun by everyone coming in at once.

While the fee of two bucks was not much, it still meant that those who were not really interested in training would not waste the money, just for the fun of it.

…

On the second floor of the gym.

As soon as Fang Ping walked in, he was assaulted by a wave of heat.

There was a cacophony of voices, with people yelling all the time.

The layout inside was similar to that of regular gyms, but only young men and women were in here now.

As soon as Wu Zhihao and the others entered, someone immediately called out, “Zhihao, over here!”

“Zhihao, let’s compete!”

“Yang Jian, how high is your Vitality now?”

“…”

They were all from the same school, and No. 1 High School had fewer than 300 students taking the Martial Science Exam. Even fewer came here regularly, adding up to less than 200 in total.

Wu Zhihao had a decent level of Vitality, and he was one of the best candidates here. As a result, many people knew him.

Faced with their greetings, Wu Zhihao just chuckled and said, “I’m not competing today, we’re just here to do our own thing.”

Fang Ping asked in a low voice, “Competing in what?”

“Nothing much. It’s just some harmless fun, so we compete to see who can do the most push-ups, sit-ups, or who wins in tug-of-war…”

Wu Zhihao gave him a simplified explanation as he led Fang Ping and the others to a spot with fewer people.

The others had their own plans, so they each found a free machine and began to facilitate their own training.

Wu Zhihao, on the other hand, found a free composite machine and taught Fang Ping how to train.

Although Fang Ping knew how to use these things, he could not bring himself to pour cold water on Old Wu’s passionate help. As he listened to Wu Zhihao’s explanations, he began to look around.

There were quite a few people on the second floor of the gym, but the place was so big that it did not feel particularly cramped.

Quite a few of them were actually girls, and they did not dress very modestly when working out either.

To tell the truth, though, Fang Ping was not very interested, and he did not find the prospect of ogling at them especially attractive either.

They were young and pretty high school students. If they were at the beach, Fang Ping might still give them a second look.

Now, however, they were all drenched in sweat, and a girl’s sweat was no more fragrant than a boy’s. That was why he had no intention of approaching them.

As Wu Zhihao taught Fang Ping how to use the equipment, he whispered, “The gym has a third floor too.”

“Huh?”

“Very few people go to the third floor, but it’s more interesting than the second floor. Those who come here for the first time like to check out the third floor.”

Wu Zhihao explained in a low voice, “I mean, you know that No. 1 High School is the best high school in Sun City, and it’s not like Sun City is completely devoid of martial artists.

“The kids and grandkids of martial artists here almost always end up in No. 1 High School for their high school studies.

“There aren’t many of these martial artists’ descendants, but there are definitely a few.

“For our year, there are two students with martial artists in their families.

“Add that to the ones from the first and second years, and there are a total of 7 students in our school who have a martial artist in their families.

“The 7 of them come to train here very often too.

“But they tend to train on the third floor, not the second.

“You interested, Fang Ping?”

“We can go too?” Fang Ping was slightly surprised.

“Of course. It’s not like the school forbids us from going. We just don’t go that often.

“There isn’t a lot of equipment on the third floor, and those guys are all descended from martial artists. They don’t click well with us.

“Still, they won’t say anything if you just stopped by for a look. Those who come here for the first time tend to go for a look or two.

“Of course, if someone comes here regularly enough, soon they won’t be bothered to go up there anymore. There’s nothing much to see.”

Fang Ping was intrigued. Getting up, he said, “Let’s go up and have a look. Do these guys have high Vitality?”

“Kind of but not really, I guess. Their Vitality is slightly higher than ours, but not by much.”

Wu Zhihao led Fang Ping up the stairs, saying again in a low voice, “The martial artists in Sun City aren’t all that high-ranked, so their assets are limited too.

“I mean, would the really good ones stay in Sun City?

“Those with slightly higher ranks wouldn’t have their kids study here either. They’d either be at Auspicious Sun City No. 1 High School, or at some other school in the big city.”

Fang Ping understood. No wonder he rarely heard of any particularly powerful second-generation martial artist here at No. 1 High School.

The second-generation martial artists studying at No. 1 High School were mostly descended from Rank-1 or Rank-2 martial artists, most of them Rank-1.

Most of them were community martial artists, too. They cultivated on their own, so they had limited access to resources. Naturally, they could not provide their children with too much.

Even if their Vitality was slightly higher, it would not be much higher than most other people.

As they chatted, the two of them reached the third floor.

It was extremely spacious and quiet!

That was Fang Ping’s first impression of the place. It was vastly different from the hustle and bustle of downstairs.

There were very few people here too!

Although there were 7 second-generation martial artists at No. 1 High School, not every one of them would come here, and they would not come here every time either.

Fang Ping glanced around. There were only 5 people in the entire spacious third floor, and two of them were clearly tourists like Fang Ping and Wu Zhihao.

Only 3 of them were actually cultivating here.

Yes, they were cultivating!

They were not using the Methods of Honing. It was too low-leveled for martial artists to teach to their children. Instead, these students were practicing their stances.

Having seen the Sixteen Styles of Pole-standing, Fang Ping could instantly tell that 3 people here were practicing their stances.