Chapter 67: Su Muzi

Not to advance is to go back; sailing against the current means regression.

Even though the night was deep, Xia Yu was still persisting with his training alone in the spacious training ground. The bright lights cast the figures of Xia Yu and his three Pokémon onto the ground.

"Noibat, hold on." Noibat had a huge tire attached to its body, flapping its wings with all its might and moving forward at a turtle's pace.

After recent targeted training, Noibat's weight-bearing capacity had advanced by leaps and bounds, already reaching twenty kilograms. Because of this, Xia Yu had also increased the training intensity, constantly stimulating and tapping into Noibat's potential.

On the other side, Grovyle had both legs bound with weights, and while moving at high speed, it continuously unleashed moves like Magical Leaf, Dragon Breath, and Dragon Pulse.

Finally, Charmander, having lost to Noibat, turned its shame into courage. It had put its all into training the entire night, spinning its body and fiercely striking a training dummy with its tail, producing dull thudding sounds, followed by slashing at the dummy with its sharp claws.

Xia Yu was not idle either; he was also working out his physique, training alongside his three Pokémon. This was passionate youth, constantly growing amidst sweat, supremely fulfilling.

............

Meanwhile, inside the restaurant of the Dragon-type mystic realm, the students of the elite training class were enjoying a banquet. Cups crossed and intertwined, and cheerful laughter filled the air everywhere.

The boys had put on brand-new clothes, and a few had even taken advantage of the afternoon to style trendy haircuts, making them look somewhat dashing and forming a sharp contrast with their dust-covered appearances at the training ground.

The girls had obviously also dressed up elaborately, wearing light makeup on their faces, and even their fingernails had been meticulously manicured. With every smile and glance, they tugged at the heartstrings of the boys.

Boys and girls sat together as if they had an endless stream of topics to discuss, whispering softly while giving full play to their personal charm.

Amidst the crowd, Shen Zijun was pushed to the front by three or five close friends.

"Brother Shen, sing a song."

"Give us one, give us one."

Surrounded by the crowd, Shen Zijun picked up the microphone with reluctant modesty and bowed to everyone.

"Since hospitality is hard to refuse, I shall make a fool of myself here. Let me serve as a modest spur to induce someone valuable, and sing a song for everyone."

Shen Zijun spoke with humility, but he had specially studied vocal music. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, he sang a pop song for everyone. His voice was slightly husky, and it was virtually indistinguishable from the original singer, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.

A few girls were already looking at Shen Zijun with glowing eyes. Handsome, talented, young and wealthy, strong in ability, and from a good family background, Shen Zijun could be said to be a perfect romantic partner. Moreover, Shen Zijun was also very handsome; if not for Xia Yu, he probably would have been the most handsome boy in the entire elite class.

Once the song finished, everyone applauded enthusiastically, and then they started egging on the female class monitor, Su Muzi, to perform as well. Su Muzi appeared extremely poised and magnanimous. Today, she wore a white pleated skirt, stepping forward on fair, slender legs, and sat before the piano amidst the gaze of everyone.

In the blink of an eye, melodious piano notes filled the air. Her slender, fair fingers danced across the keys, graceful as startled swans and lithe as swimming dragons, resembling fluttering butterflies. At this moment, Su Muzi seemed to be the focal point of the world, exquisitely beautiful beyond compare. As the song ended, applause thundered like rolling thunder.

............

The liveliness inside the restaurant formed a sharp contrast with the solitude of the training ground.

The hustle and bustle had nothing to do with Xia Yu. In his eyes, there was only the firm belief in becoming stronger. In this regard, he and Grovyle were actually very similar.

Grovyle had its own dream. Leaving the mystic realm from the expectations of its parents, it had only one conviction: to prove itself, to prove that it was the strongest Pokémon.

For this goal, Grovyle had always been the hardest-working Pokémon. It lacked neither talent nor diligence; the only thing it lacked was time. But as long as the seeds of time were sown, its future would surely bloom with the fruits of harvest.

Xia Yu also desired the restlessness of youth and a life of enjoyment, but after a series of incidents involving Xu Xiu, the Zhao family, and ghost-type Pokémon, he now had only one conviction in his heart: to become stronger. Everything else, like women or eating, drinking, and making merry, would only slow down the speed of his sword drawing.

The prerequisite for all enjoyment must be built upon corresponding strength.

............

Inside the restaurant, the banquet had reached its conclusion. Influenced by the atmosphere, almost everyone had drunk a little alcohol, and even Long Yanning, acting as the teacher, was no exception. She belonged to the category of people whose faces flush easily from alcohol; even though she had only drunk a single small glass of red wine, her face was already radiant with a rosy glow.

"Everyone remember to go back and rest early; we still have training tomorrow," Long Yanning exhorted her students, "The girls come with me; I'll send all of you back to the dormitories."

"Understood, Teacher Long."

"Thank you, Teacher Long."

............

After sending all the students back to their rooms to rest, Long Yanning also prepared to return to her own dormitory for the night, intending to check on the training ground along the way.

She had noticed that Xia Yu was absent during the banquet today. Knowing that Xia Yu had skipped the gathering, Long Yanning felt a trace of gratification in her heart. Xia Yu's diligence made even her extremely astonished and impressed.

Through such a long period of contact, her impression of Xia Yu had completely changed long ago. Although Xia Yu's strength was indeed currently the weakest in the class, he was also the most hardworking among them all.

Every night at nine o'clock, when Long Yanning passed by the training ground, she would always see the figures of Xia Yu and his three Pokémon training on the grounds, regardless of wind or rain. And every morning a little past six, Xia Yu would punctually appear at the training ground once again. Such painstaking perseverance made Long Yanning look at Xia Yu in a completely new light, completely forgetting how much she had initially disliked this transfer student.

Having such a diligent student, Long Yanning, in her capacity as a teacher, naturally wanted to help Xia Yu as much as possible. As she approached the vicinity of the training ground, she indeed saw Xia Yu still training within the area, and a smile appeared on her face.

However, just as Long Yanning wanted to walk up to inspect Xia Yu's training results and impart some special private guidance, she suddenly saw a familiar figure holding a bottle of water walking into the training ground.

"Student Xia Yu." A bright smile bloomed on Su Muzi's face as she handed the water she had just bought to Xia Yu. "Here, water I bought for you."

Xia Yu was pleasantly surprised. He glanced at Su Muzi and found her looking at him with a gentle smile. Being stared at by such a cute young girl actually made Xia Yu's face flush slightly.

Sin, oh sin, an old fellow like me can actually still blush! Thinking of this, Xia Yu directly turned his head, took the water handed over by Su Muzi, and stared openly at Su Muzi's face.

"Thank you. Class Monitor Su, has your banquet finished?" Xia Yu took a sip of Su Muzi's water. *Hmm, a bit sweet; there shouldn't be any poison in it, right?*

Although one shouldn't casually drink water handed over by strangers, Su Muzi probably wouldn't want to poison him and harvest his kidneys, right? Xia Yu thought maliciously in his heart.

"Yeah, it just ended. I didn't see you come, and figuring you must be at the training ground, I came to take a look," Su Muzi said straightforwardly. "Student Xia Yu, I cast my vote for you today when we chose the class monitor."

Listening to Su Muzi's words, Xia Yu felt a start in his heart. *This girl wouldn't happen to fancy me, would she?*

Before Xia Yu had time to think much more, he immediately heard Su Muzi speaking again: "Student Xia Yu, blindly training alone won't do. Would you like to have a real battle? I also have a Pokémon whose strength is about the same as your Grovyle. What do you say, care to compare?"

"Oh?" Xia Yu was just worrying about finding no one to spar with. Since you delivered yourself to my doorstep, don't blame me for showing no mercy. Watch me beat you down! "Bring it on."