High School Student with Immortal Race System

Jiangti Gymnasium 13, "Advanced Spear Technique" course.

Holding a training longspear, Yang Shen moved across the open ground, his movements creating a blur of afterimages.

Many students in the same course, ranked far below him, watched curiously, trying to see what was so special about this Champion Scholar.

Since it was an advanced course, a number of upperclassmen were also taking it as an elective. Hearing the younger students’ discussions, they too looked on with curiosity.

But in the end, they all discovered there was nothing to see... It was all just fundamentals...

However, the gray-haired and bearded instructor standing to the side stroked his beard, looking quite pleased. His eyes were full of appreciation. "Not bad!"

Yang Shen exhaled a long plume of white breath, then propped his longspear on the ground and cupped his fists in a salute to the teacher.

It seemed the teacher was finally going to grant him permission to practice Spear Martial Arts.

Getting permission for the advanced course in just one week was practically light speed for most people. Someone starting from scratch would likely need an entire semester.

But for Yang Shen, it felt slow.

The main reason was that his Spear Skill had been taught to him by a Madman... it was of the Slaughter Sect.

This course at Jiangti, on the other hand, was of the Academic School.

The Academic School wasn’t weak; it was the culmination of knowledge from countless masters. His own instructor, for example, was a powerful expert at the Late-stage True Gang realm.

But the Academic School emphasized fundamentals. Yang Shen’s overpowered combat abilities couldn’t get him a free pass. In fact, the teacher paid even more attention to Yang Shen’s "remedial" work, not wanting this talented young man to have an unsteady foundation in his Spear Technique.

And so, he’d been forced to practice nothing but fundamentals for a whole week...

Fortunately, Yang Shen’s talent and existing foundation in Spear Technique were extremely strong. The teacher had originally thought it would take at least a month.

Yang Shen said respectfully, "Sir, do you have any recommendations for which Martial Arts I should choose?"

The Spear Skill instructor smiled. "Your Spear Technique has already reached a high level of proficiency. The main purpose of Martial Arts is to increase your Slaying Power. I suggest you first choose a martial art to supplement your lethality. ’Dragon Break’ would be a good choice."

Yang Shen recalled the information he’d read about it. It was a Thrusting Martial Skill with a long history...

The name sounded incredible, but the effect was simple and unadorned: gather all your body’s power into a single point and thrust. With the aid of the Source, you could break the shackles of air resistance, generating speed that surpassed your own Power and creating a sound like a dragon’s roar.

It was essentially the "Basic Attack" of Martial Arts.

But that didn’t make it useless. One good trick is all you need. It could be easily integrated with the various moves of the Academic School’s Spear Technique, allowing one to suddenly unleash a killing blow in the midst of combat. This was no pathetic lunge.

As long as it could kill, the flashiness of the move didn’t matter. In fact, Martial Arts filled with sound and light effects were more likely to alert the enemy.

Even a passing dog would know you were about to use your ultimate.

"Excuse me, Sir. Compared to ’Overlapping Waves’... how powerful is this martial art?"

The Spear Skill instructor stopped stroking his beard and rolled his eyes. "What a stupid question... Of course Overlapping Waves is stronger..."

They’re not even in the same league.

He didn’t even know Overlapping Waves himself.

"You know Overlapping Waves?"

Yang Shen nodded. He had used it during the college entrance exams; it wasn’t a secret.

The instructor sucked in a sharp breath. ’What kind of maniac would teach Overlapping Waves to someone in the Innate Realm!’

’And the kid actually managed to learn it!’

"In that case... you’d be better off just continuing to master Overlapping Waves. It’s a technique with no upper limit. You can fold it three times, four times, even dozens of times."

Yang Shen raised a hand. "That’s not right, Sir. Overlapping Waves can only be an odd number of folds. An even number would just come back and smack you in the face."

The instructor’s beard bristled as he glared. "Fine, fine! You know better than I do."

’Now he’s just showing off.’

Yang Shen said earnestly, "I’d still like to learn at least one martial art. After all, it’s a rare opportunity to be at Jiangti. I’d like to try ’Wind Return’."

The instructor thought for a moment. "’Wind Return’... Alright. I’ll write you a permission slip..."

He was capable of teaching this martial art, but in theory, the "intellectual property" belonged to the university, so it still had to go through the proper channels.

With the permission slip in hand, Yang Shen planned to go to the academy office to submit it after class.

’Wind Return’ was a "defensive martial art" that manipulated the power of the air to block ranged attacks.

Yang Shen was already highly capable of dealing with ranged attacks. At his current level, even if someone opened up on him with an automatic rifle, he could emerge completely unscathed.

But... his ultimate parrying technique was more effective against physical attacks. It was a different story against energy-based attacks; they would just explode on impact.

Yang Shen’s hypothetical opponent was Luo Sheng... He felt they were bound to face off sooner or later.

When he got to the door of the academy office, Yang Shen glanced at the "Challenge Board" and saw Jiang Xin standing before it, lost in thought.

He was staring at Yang Shen’s name. The single red tag next to it had, of course, been placed there by Jiang Xin himself.

He was also the only person who dared to challenge Yang Shen.

Yang Shen found it amusing, being stared at so profoundly by another man—or rather, having his name stared at...

’Would it be weirder to pretend I didn’t see him?!’

So, as he passed, he stopped and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. "Thinking of taking it back?"

Jiang Xin turned his head at the words and, surprisingly, said in earnest, "I believe I can win. But I also feel I can’t afford to lose, not even if the probability is just one in ten thousand."

This Legitimate Son of the Jiang Martial Arts Family said calmly, "If I lose to you once, everyone will just think I had bad luck."

"But losing to you twice... that’s a different story. It’s putting a lot of pressure on me."

He didn’t seem to think he was losing face; instead, he was speaking his mind frankly.

This surprised Yang Shen. He didn’t actually know much about Jiang Xin. They’d often had classes together during the first week of school, but the two had coexisted peacefully.

There had been none of the trouble-making, provocations, or incidents you’d find in a cliché story. On the contrary, because his privileged background removed him from the typical campus pressures, he was actually a bit more mellow than the other students.

Except for his habit of raising his eyebrows and the fact that he was, for lack of a better word, abstract.

Hearing this, Yang Shen chuckled. "You’re making two mistakes. First, a challenge isn’t just about ’seeking to win,’ it’s also about ’daring to lose.’ The path of Martial Arts is the same. If you can’t handle this little bit of pressure, you won’t get far."

To put it in the terms of the Cultivation Side, your Dao Heart isn’t firm enough. You covet the easy and fear the difficult.

Jiang Xin looked thoughtful. "You have a point. And the second mistake?"

"You’re not the one with a one-in-ten-thousand chance of losing. That’s my line."

With that, he chuckled and walked away.

’A good deed a day accumulates great virtue,’ they say.

’Two good deeds a day accumulates great, great virtue.’

’Just helping a classmate see the light. No need to thank me.’

Jiang Xin watched Yang Shen’s retreating back and, after a moment, called out, "Lesson learned. But only your first point."

Yang Shen waved a hand dismissively without stopping.

But Jiang Xin’s next words made Yang Shen pause for a fraction of a second.

"Xu Bamboo... is she from the Xu Family? Senior Xu Cheng’s daughter? I figured it would be better to ask you."

Yang Shen turned his head and said flatly, "She’s one of the Yang Family."

Jiang Xin was taken aback. "Huh? Did you two get married?"

Yang Shen gave a dry cough. "Such a narrow mind. She can’t be one of us without a certificate? And what business is it of yours?"

’Kid, if you have any dangerous ideas... you’d better pray you don’t have an acute allergy to kinetic energy. Otherwise, you might find it difficult to live long enough for the challenge match at the start of the month.’

Jiang Xin frowned in thought for a long while before shaking his head. "No, it’s just... my family is on good terms with the Xu Family. I must be overthinking things."

"If she were Senior Xu Cheng’s child, how could she possibly be ranked 48th..."

Yang Shen: ...

He ignored him after that and left for good.

—

The first week of campus life ended smoothly. Yang Shen was still adjusting.

He had certainly seen a few things...

He’d witnessed a confession below the dorms, where a tall, short-haired girl stood beneath the men’s building. She had arranged candles in the shape of a heart and was shouting, "Zhang XX! Come down and face me one-on-one, or I’ll challenge you on the board next month!"

On a balcony above, some handsome guy had turned pale.

He’d seen a scion from a Martial Arts Family—a junior or senior, it seemed—surrounded by an entourage. They already had a solid crew and were discussing their "Exotic Realm Exploration Practicum" before graduation.

He’d even noticed that in a very short time, Jiang Xin had already gathered a few followers. Of course, there was no shortage of people who wanted to latch onto Yang Shen, but he had no interest in having so many people cling to him.

All the hustle and bustle made the weekend, when he could finally rest, feel like a long-lost moment of peace and quiet.

At the Yang Residence, Yang Shen lay back in his Clan Leader’s chair, feeling utterly relaxed.

The four little ones were in the backyard, meditating and practicing the "Yang Family Secret Transmission," while Xu Bamboo watched curiously from the side.

Unlike the four little ones, she had been trying for a week or so but still hadn’t gotten the hang of it.

After watching for a while without seeing anything special, Xu Bamboo sat back down next to Yang Shen. "Can I really learn this? What am I doing wrong..."

Yang Shen, flipping through a book of Pre-Qin Ancient Texts, said, "The Yang Family Secret Transmission is an Ancient Skill, after all. Its principles are completely different from modern Martial Arts. The little ones were exposed to it from the start, so their minds are free from distractions. You, on the other hand, will probably just need more time."

Cultivation values intent over form. Whether your posture is perfect is far less important than whether you’ve grasped the underlying concept, especially in the early stages.

"What about you? How long did it take you to succeed?"

Yang Shen shrugged. "Maybe ten-odd minutes..."

"Liar..."

Just then, one of the four little ones, Lei Lv, suddenly opened his eyes and said in astonishment, "Big Brother... I think... I had a breakthrough?"

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