"That piece of s***, he acts like he's better than us just because he's at Gaoshou High School," Fatty Fang complained to a group of delinquent boys.
"Just ignore that f***, not worth our time," Bufu said as he typed various messages on his Ephone 4.
The group of a dozen high schoolers was in detention, again, for fighting against the neighboring school.
"If those jerks dare to cross into our territory again, I'll make sure they cry next time!" Said Ju De.
"Try not to get beaten up next time," said Ersan with his eyes slightly rolling as he glanced Ju De’s small frame. After his remark, he wondered if that was good advice to give to someone with a slight masochist tendency.
Ersan walked leisurely toward the imposing figure of Fatty Fang, and sat down across from Fatty Fang.
"Boss Fang, Gaoshou High doesn't look like they will give up soon. Should we strike first with their vice boss out?"
"Nah, Gaoshou High is just a small outlying area," said Fatty Fang after cooling down a bit. He enjoyed a good fight, but he didn't make it his mission to stir up trouble. "Besides, I have a match to prepare for."
"All right Boss, I'll let the others know to lay low and wait for them to strike first."
"Never mind those f*****, let's cheer for Boss Fang for making it to the Yide City tournament!" Ju De cheered while pounding on the desk.
It was the first time Fatty Fang appeared on the local newspaper. His parents initially didn't know what to make out of it. Being a fighter was tough and didn't pay well, so no parents wanted their children to be a professional fighter. Nevertheless, they were proud of his success.
All the guys joined in on the celebration, pounding their fists on their desk and drumming the floor with their feet. Soon, the classroom turned rowdy with excitement.
In the rear corner of the room, Li Yun, with his legs stretched out atop the chair in front of him, ignored their tirade and focused on inking three straight lines. The strokes were even and concise, as though it was printed by a machine.
A bloodstain on the bottom edge of the paper scroll momentarily distracted him and he clicked his tongue in irritation. He had used the scroll in the fight, but drawing blood wasn't his intention. The Gaoshou High School's 2nd in command had a mask on so he didn't realize that the guy had a bad tooth. Hopefully, the system didn't count that as a mistake.
He gritted his teeth, and continued drawing the diagram from the I, Ching. He was almost there, just a few more strokes left, he reminded himself.
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Three years and 1,421 completed texts later, he needed only one more text to complete the mission. Although the quest was long, it didn't feel like his efforts were wasted. Every brushstroke carried a wealth of Taoist teachings and wisdom.
Meanwhile, the other students crushed their homework and threw paperballs at each other like a baseball. Within minutes, the classroom was littered with crumpled papers.
"You punks! This is detention, not a playground!" The detention monitor, Wu Bin, scolded them as soon as he walked in.
Fatty Fang and Bufu both shrugged off Wu Bin's warning; they never thought of detention as anything more than another hangout spot.
"Old Bin, it's just paper, not mud, whatcha angry about?" asked Fatty Fang.
Bam!
Wu Bin angrily slammed the desk with a ruler. "You have 30 seconds to clean up. Otherwise, this will all go into your record!"
The delinquents quickly scrounged around to pick up their mess, except for Li Yun, who was still focused on finishing the I, Ching. Wu Bin glared at him as he strode toward the rear corner like a panther seeking a prey.
"Li Yun, you brat, the kid you beat up is still missing his tooth," Wu Bin magged. "You better hope his parents don't call the police to press charges."
"Old Bin, they are not going to contact the police," Li Yun replied.
Li Yun and his gang had beaten up a lot of people before, but none of them had ever caused trouble afterward. Most of the time, it was the other gangs who had initiated the conflict and Bufu was good at recording evidence in case problem escalated in the future.
In the few instances where they had encountered kids from affluent families, they had Ning Xuxu's assistance. As a favor for protecting her little brother, she had used her family's influence to prevent the more powerful families from coming after them. Even without Ning Xuxu's help, the delinquents, led by the Evils of Kaishi High, were already known as people to avoid.
Wu Bin looked annoyed. "Look brat, can you lay low until the exams are over with? The principal is already stressed out and giving me a hard time about the lack of discipline. Not only that, our school is ranked last for the past three years."
Aside from being the detention monitor, Wu Bin was the guidance counselor, tasked with the role of guiding students to a future of 50 hours workweek for the next 50 years. It was no wonder most students hated their guidance counselors.
"What does that have to do with me?" Li Yun responded, still focused on finishing the text.
"Who do you think is bringing the average down!? Our school reputation is known as the worst school in the area. What university will admit our graduating students with such a poor reputation? Even little Xuxu will have difficulty getting into a good school."
"What does that have to do with me?" Li Yun was pretty sure Ning Xuxu was already accepted into a university.
"Even if you don't care about your classmates, think about your sister!"
"I don't have a sister."
"My sister, who is also your elder cousin! Thank goodness you will be gone by the time she gets to high school…."
As though being the guidance counselor was not bad enough, Li Yun had to endure Wu Bin at the apartment, whose unit was located just above his.
Wu Bin continued to talk about his sister, while Li Yun zoned him out to complete the elaborate seal. As soon as the seal was completed, Li Yun triggered something.
Jing Qi Shen awarded.
Next mission: Achieve the state of Zuowang .
An image of a translucent and bright pyramid appeared in his mind, followed by a dark shadowy pyramid. The two structures overlapped and rotated around each other.