Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 57 Hopeless

Fang Rou was confused by Lu Shiyu’s smile. It came from the heart, just like how she used to grin when her father praised her. That didn’t make any sense at all. Although she had only known Xiang Ning for a few days, she’d learned about his past from Xiang Xiaoyu. He had never mentioned any relatives, so why was Lu Shiyu acting so intimate with Xiang Ning? What was she up to? 

Fang Rou couldn’t help but wonder. He was her friend after all, and she couldn’t stand by while her friend got taken advantage of, right? She had given herself an excuse. Even she did not realize there had been a shift in her behavior since Lu Shiyu’s appearance, nor did she notice she had started paying more attention to Xiang Ning. 

Xiang Ning, on the other hand, couldn’t read minds and naturally didn’t know what his teammates were thinking. He was in a great mood, as he had been gaining many consecutive Fury Points. In just a short time, he had gained more than seven hundred. In addition to what he had accumulated before, he now had more than six thousand points! He would spend them before bed tonight. 

He suddenly thought of something and turned to Lu Shiyu with a smile. “Hey, what’s your cultivation tier?” A person’s cultivation tier was private information and few people publicly announced theirs. Xiang Ning and the rest only knew of each others’ strengths because of the physical examination. However, not many people knew about the fact that Xiang Ning was already a tier one, nine-star martial artist now. Furthermore, only Lei Zhongyuan and Dong Qianyi knew he was a spiritual cultivator. But he was willing to declare his tier if needed. 

“Hmm… I’m a tier one, five-star martial artist and a tier one, six-star spiritual cultivator,” Lu Shiyu generously answered, but not loudly. Since the other teams had begun their training, no one else heard her. 

“Indeed.” When Liu Ruoxue heard that she was a tier one, six-star spiritual cultivator, she nodded. She had once calculated that a person must be at least tier one, four-star to be able to inflict damage using a mentally-controlled weapon. Below that, they would only be able to activate their spiritual armor or supplement a hot weapon’s accuracy. 

However, this was their first time meeting a person with higher spiritual than martial cultivation. Within Qiling High School, almost everyone was a better martial artist than a spiritual cultivator, and by a huge gap too. Just like the student from Class 1 who was a tier one, seven-star student but only tier one, one-star in terms of spiritual cultivation. 

“In that case, I’m sure our team will win first prize,” Li Zimo said with a grin. Initially, lacking one member hadn’t been a huge problem, but they would have struggled. But now, with Lu Shiyu, winning would be much easier. 

The following session was time for the teams to practice. With the addition of a new member, the team prioritized improving their team chemistry. They killed three fearsome beasts in one afternoon, which Xiang Ning greatly benefited from. His Fury Points had been steadily increasing. 

The afternoon class soon ended. After Xiang Ning bade farewell to his teammates, he took the bus home with Xiang Xiaoyu. 

“I heard there’s a new transfer student, is it true she’s very pretty?” Xiang Xiaoyu asked, sitting next to Ning. 

“Uh… we indeed have a new transfer student, how’d you know?” he asked, puzzled. 

“Don’t you read the school forum?” As she spoke, she pulled out her communicator and gave it a few taps. A ten-inch screen appeared with all kinds of posts from the school. There was one particular post at the top. 

“Breaking News: Mesmerizing Transfer Student” 

When Xiang Ning saw the header, he knew that he would have read the post if he had never met the new student. He was quite curious, too. But now, the transfer student was his teammate. 

Xiang Xiaoyu noticed his lack of response and thought that he wasn’t interested in knowing about the new student. She opened the post and showed Xiang Ning. “Her hair is beautiful, I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.” 

Xiang Ning took a look. It was indeed Lu Shiyu. Although the picture was taken from afar, her side profile was enough to cause the thread to erupt in compliments. He frowned when he heard Xiang Xiaoyu, realizing she was right. He had a faint memory, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He shook his head, unable to recall; Xiang Xiaoyu didn’t pay much heed either. 

They arrived home and as usual, they chatted during dinner. 

“Xiang Ning, you’ll be heading out to the wilderness the day after tomorrow. Will you be going with only Fang Rou?” Xiang Xiaoyu was worried. 

“I have other teammates and they’re all very reliable. Stay home and don’t worry about me, alright?” he said with a smile. 

“Alright, that’s good.” She nodded. She didn’t have a grasp of her brother’s true capabilities, despite having witnessed his fight in the martial arena. However, she understood that humans and beasts were different. Since Fang Rou was from the dojo, and Xiang Xiaoyu saw dojo members as powerful fighters, she had begged Fang Rou to take good care of her brother when the girls had last chatted. 

After dinner, Xiang Ning washed the dishes and accompanied Xiang Xiaoyu as they watched a live stream. At eight o’clock, he left for the Thunder Dojo. With this sparring session completed, his savings would finally hit fourteen thousand dollars. That would be more than enough for Xiang Xiaoyu to support herself until he returned from the wilderness. 

He should only be gone for at most one month, including travel time there and back and time for any unforeseen delays, and Xiang Xiaoyu only needed about two thousand dollars to live well for a month. However, he was still worried that she might not have enough if she wanted to go out with her friends or buy something. No matter what, he had considered everything when saving this amount. 

If there was a research organization for brothers who spoiled their sisters, they would diagnose Xiang Ning as one with a terminal illness, the hopeless kind. 

Xiang Ning jogged up to the Thunder Dojo, though he was forced to stop along the way. Two people stood in front of him. He squinted. One of them was Zhao Huatai, and he had some vague recollection of the other person, but didn’t care. 

When the person saw Xiang Ning ignoring him, he was both humiliated and furious. Am I not worth being remembered? 

Fury Points +88 

“What do you two want?” he coldly asked. He needed to get to the Thunder Dojo. 

“Nothing, we just want you to come with us,” Zhao Huatai said with a chuckle. His arm was mostly healed now, though it still had a dull ache. The injury itself, as well as the residual ache, was all thanks to Xiang Ning.