Chapter Seventeen – The Origin of Strength

“Please don’t use all your strength, or I won’t be able to catch it.” Xu Yi whispered to the man in plain clothing, as if it was a real challenge for him.

As requested, Xu Yi retreated ten steps away. He then squatted a little bit, showing a ready pose. He didn’t want to show his true strength, in case the Zhou Family would somehow get wind of it. He acted as if he was intimidated by the test, cautiously waiting for the lock to be thrown.

“Here you go!” The man in plain clothing held the lock with a single hand, and then threw it towards Xu Yi.

With a roar, Xu Yi spread his arms and embraced the incoming lock successfully. However, he retreated several steps due to the impact of the heavy lock. Finally, he steadily held the lock for several seconds, until his face turned a deep red color.

Everyone was taken aback in shock. Xu Yi was a lot stronger than they had originally thought he would be.

“Not bad. Even though you trembled slightly, you did it! As a beginner in the preliminary period of a forged body, your strength is extraordinary. Hey man, welcome! You are in.” The man in plain clothing congratulated Xu Yi.

The pretended nervousness and shivers made the man in plain clothing believe that Xu Yi was just at the beginning stages of Wu Dao. Plus, as far as he knew, all the students here were mere newcomers to Wu Dao. Anyone who had entered the middle or peak state wouldn’t bother to come here. After all, in the Lecture Room, they only provided students with some rudimentary knowledge of Wu Dao.

Nevertheless, Xu Yi was an exception!

“Thank you for your leniency, or I would’ve been squashed by the weight of that lock.” Xu Yi bowed to the man in plain clothing.

“Quick, go to the classroom. Teacher Zhou is a pundit with bad temperament. If you are late, he won’t be lenient to you.” the man in plain clothing urged Xu Yi.

So Xu Yi ran in the direction the man in plain clothing had pointed him in. When he reached the classroom, he found that all the seats were empty. Actually, all of the students stood in front of a wall, staring at the portraits hanging on it.

There were twenty portraits on the wall, which were considered to be the heroes of Hibiscus Town of the last two hundred years. Most of them had obtained the state of an ocean of qi, which was why everyone here looked up to them. On the wall, their life experience and past glories had all been sculptured, using condensed words. This really encouraged the aspiring new students in Wu Dao, because they could see their future through these idols.

- Dang! –

The door slammed open, before a hoary old man in ragged clothing entered. He swaggered into the classroom, with one hand holding a gourd-shaped wine kettle. Soon, the whole classroom was filled with the fragrance of wine.

The classroom turned chaotic, as the new students started discussing the appearance of their teacher. Obviously, they were disappointed by it. Some of them even sighed to express their dissatisfaction.

Instead of complaining like the others, Xu Yi chose a seat in the front and silently sat there. He actually liked the old man’s nature and unrestrained style, which he believed to be the reflection of the old man’s advanced ability.

- Bang! Bang! Bang! -

The old man beat the ruler against the iron desk to arouse everyone’s attention.

“Hey, cheer up. It’s a blessing for you to be in my class. Look at your long faces, oh, this is such a joykill. You little bastards, now I’m no longer in the mood to drink, let alone to teach. You have all let me down. Today, I’ll allow you newcomers to ask me only ten questions, once all the questions have been answered, class will be over.” Teacher Zhou was infuriated by the students’ unfriendly response. He then uncovered the lid of his kettle and gulped like an ox. In contrast with the solemnity in the classroom, Teacher Zhou’s behavior was rather undignified.

“As far as I know, anyone in the forged body state, will boast a healthy and robust body. But look at you, Teacher Zhou, frankly, you are a mere bag of bones. I bet you aren’t even a Wu Dao cultivator, are you?” One student rose up and expressed his suspicions towards Teacher Zhou.

Everyone was astounded by the courage of this student. However, the other students couldn’t help but agree and soon the whole classroom was chaotic again.

Undeniably, judging from his appearance, it was hard to believe that Teacher Zhou was a cultivator in Wu Dao. But if he really didn’t have any achievements in Wu Dao, how would he dare to stand here and impart his knowledge.

Everyone expected Teacher Zhou to be outraged by the impolite student; while on the contrary, he smiled and enjoyed a sip of wine before he replied.

“You know what, when I was cultivating Wu Dao, you were probably still in the womb of your Mummy! Ok, boy, you wasted one question. Anyone else?”

The students were all surprised by Teacher Zhou’s response, especially when he counted this as one of the ten questions.

“Quiet, please! No more chaos, or else the class will be over!” Teacher Zhou said, as he was rather annoyed by the noisy chatter.

The students finally sat straight and stopped talking. They knew it was pointless for them to confront their teacher. They were the forgotten group in society and they lacked the resources to continue on the path of cultivation. Meanwhile, Teacher Zhou was appointed by the government and was supposed to offer them help. It was like a beggar who received some food he didn’t really like, but he was afraid to show his preference to the donator. It was exactly the same situation.

Xu Yi stood up and bowed slightly, before gently saying: “I have a question for you, Teacher Zhou. Where lies the origin of our strength?”

The students were embarrassed by Xu Yi’s naïve question, because they all knew that your strength came from your body. And the further you cultivated, the stronger your body would become. They blamed Xu Yi for wasting this opportunity with such a dumb question.

Meanwhile, Teacher Zhou was meditating over the question as he put his wine kettle on the desk. He had been a teacher in the Lecture Room for nearly twenty years now, yet no one had ever raised such a question. He pondered for quite some time, trying to come up with an appropriate answer. It truly sounded like a simple question, which everyone could casually provide an answer to. However, when you thought deeper on this question, you would be baffled. You could even say, that the simpler the question was, the harder the answer would be.

“I can’t handle this question.” He finally replied in a low voice.

His reply made the other students even more bewildered. Given that Teacher Zhou’s had twenty years of experience in the Lecture Room, the students chose to trust him. If he was really not able to answer this seemingly easy question, then the question itself was evidently not as simple as they had thought.

“Actually, it’s a good question. Though I don’t know the correct answer, either way, I’ll answer your question based on my personal experience.” Teacher Zhou was actually an honest guy, who didn’t pretended to be well-informed about subjects he knew little about.

“No problem. I’m all ears. I know that we keep gaining strength in the cultivating process of a forged body, but what if we surpassed that stage and reached the highest point – the peak state?” Xu Yi appreciated the straightforwardness of Teacher Zhou and gave some further explanation about his question.