Chapter 14: Father and Son Sparring

"Five fried dough sticks, fifteen steamed buns, and two bowls of soy milk, please pack them up for me."

Early in the morning, Lu Yuan, wearing a black tracksuit, stood at the entrance of a breakfast shop, ordering breakfast.

Since it was the weekend, there weren't many people in the shop without the usual crowd of students and office workers. Only a few elderly men in shorts and tank tops who had woken up early for morning exercises were having breakfast. One of the elderly men even brought a radio with him, placing it on the table while they ate. The radio was currently broadcasting a crosstalk show.

After paying, Lu Yuan carried the packed breakfast and slowly walked towards home. It was now 6:45 in the morning. He had woken up at 6:00 and jogged through the city until now. The benefits of being strong and young were evident at this moment. Despite the intense workout yesterday, he was still full of energy and even more energetic today.

"Name: Lu Hui Gender: Female Age: 28 Height: 1.57 meters, Local accent from Jiaoyan City, wearing a white T-shirt with red hearts and black denim shorts, last seen in May..."

While passing by an internet cafe, Lu Yuan's gaze was drawn to a missing person notice posted on the wall near the entrance. The photo showed a young girl with a bright smile, holding a blue short-tailed cat. He stopped and looked for a while. He discovered that this wasn't the only missing person notice on the wall; there were four or five others. The missing persons on the notices had mostly disappeared in May and June, almost all within the past two months.

"It seems like this missing persons case is indeed quite serious." Lu Yuan frowned slightly. In this era of ubiquitous surveillance and cameras, for so many people to disappear in such a short time, and for the police to still have no leads, was chilling to think about.

"Could it be that some large-scale human trafficking organization has appeared in Jiaoyan City?" "Organ harvesting?" He suddenly felt a chill down his spine and the desire for strength surged within him. Although the probability of such a thing happening to him was low, if he were to be unlucky enough to encounter it... Having greater strength would at least give him a better chance of escaping danger.

"I need to step up my efforts." Lu Yuan thought to himself silently.

Without realizing it, he walked back to his family's small shop. His mother, Zheng Qiuling, had already opened the shop. Lu Yuan helped his mother move some of the goods that had arrived yesterday onto the shelves. Recently, due to the missing persons case, the nearby community was a little panicked, and more people than usual were coming to buy grains and oils, so the shop's inventory was selling out faster.

After a flurry of activity, Lu Yuan set up a small table in the shop and ate the breakfast he bought with his mother. After his morning run and moving the goods, Lu Yuan was already hungry. His appetite was now huge, and he ate more than three-quarters of the breakfast.

While eating breakfast, his mother, Zheng Qiuling, somehow thought of her sister, Lu Jing, and couldn't help but sigh. "Every time your sister calls, she complains about not eating well and not sleeping well... I don't know when she will be able to come back. Why did such a good girl choose to study archaeology?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Lu Yuan didn't speak. He felt that although his older sister, Lu Jing, complained about this and that when she called or video chatted, there was a sense of enjoyment in her words. If she really couldn't stand something, she probably wouldn't even have the energy to complain and would just want to fly back immediately.

At 7:30, after breakfast, Lu Yuan boarded the bus to the martial arts school. He arrived at Source Martial Arts School before 8:00.

Today, Lin Zhiqin was teaching the basic footwork in basic fighting techniques. Compared to basic punches and basic kicks, basic footwork seemed much simpler. However, when they actually started practicing, they realized that it was not the case at all. One of the most important aspects of fighting is body flexibility. If you can attack your opponent without being hit yourself, your chances of winning will greatly increase. Footwork is particularly important.

Lu Yuan was still learning very seriously. With the lv2 [Absolute Focus] state, his mastery of basic footwork was even faster than that of punches and kicks. Even Lin Zhiqin couldn't help but praise him several times in a row. Among this batch of new students, Lu Yuan was undoubtedly the best in terms of focus and seriousness during training. However, he was not the best performer.

"Yang Jiandong, come with me for a moment." After teaching all the footwork movements, Lin Zhiqin immediately called out a student individually. This student was tall and strong, with slightly dark skin. Lu Yuan had a deep impression of him. This person had boasted when he first arrived that he had trained in combat for three months and had beaten the coach of his previous martial arts school. And in the three basic classes of basic punches, basic kicks, and basic footwork, he was indeed the best performer. Lu Yuan even suspected that this person's three basic techniques had already reached the lv3 level. Originally, Lu Yuan thought that Lin Zhiqin had called this student named Yang Jiandong out because of a class change.

However, near the end of the class, a student suddenly exclaimed, "Damn, Coach Lin is secretly giving Yang Jiandong extra training! Not only is he giving him individual practice, but he's also teaching him things beyond the course content!"

"How do you know?"

"I'm friends with Yang Jiandong, and he just sent me a message bragging about it!"

"Damn, Lin Zhiqin is really something!"

"Complaint, we must complain to the martial arts school about him." A group of people were clamoring about unfairness and wanting to complain.

Lu Yuan was also slightly touched by what he heard. Apart from envying Yang Jiandong's treatment, he also felt a little bit unwilling.

"If I could perform better, wouldn't this opportunity for individual guidance from Coach Lin be mine?" Lu Yuan asked himself, if he could train more, he could definitely catch up to and even surpass Yang Jiandong quickly. Unfortunately, he was still a student and had to go to school five days a week.

"No matter what, I still need to become an official disciple of the martial arts school as soon as possible!" Lu Yuan thought to himself silently.

"You want to spar with me?" Cheng Peng blinked, looking at Lu Yuan with a slightly stunned expression. Lu Yuan, however, had a calm expression.

"Yes, I've learned all three basics now, and I feel like I can try sparring."

"Don't joke around." Cheng Peng immediately shook his head. "You just learned all the techniques, and you haven't even learned the fighting methods yet. Sparring now... I'm not bragging, but I can easily defeat you with one hand."

"I mainly want to experience the feeling of actual combat in advance. The martial arts school only has two classes a week, and the teaching is too slow. By the time I really get the chance to spar, it will probably be the second half of the year. If you teach me how to fight, I can also master the basics faster."

"But..." Seeing that Cheng Peng was still hesitating, Lu Yuan couldn't help but become "impatient."

"Are you scared? You always brag to me about how you're about to qualify for a rank, about becoming an official disciple... And now you're afraid to spar with me for a couple of rounds."

"I'm afraid of you?!" Cheng Peng, as expected, couldn't stand this kind of verbal provocation and immediately jumped up. "I'm afraid of hurting you!"

"Come on, let's change." Cheng Peng rolled up his sleeves and said, "See you at the training ground in five minutes. Father and son sparring, whoever loses is the son!"

"That's more like it, good boy." Lu Yuan nodded with satisfaction.