by Dragon King
A tall and robust man threw the ball at Zhao Jiayi as if it was a bullet. Zhao Jiayi jumped high, caught the basketball, turned quickly, and jumped again for the shot!
Chance!
As the basketball left his hand, Xie Wanjun suddenly appeared like a huge mountain and blocked it solidly.
The basketball dropped to the floor.
However, Zhao Jiayi landed quickly, turned his body, and grabbed the ball again!
He did a layup!
Passing through Xie Wanjun’s mountain-like body, Zhao Jiayi utilized his amazing vertical jump ability and approached the basket!
Yet, Xie Wanjun’s heavy-looking body suddenly turned!
Pa!
The basketball got slapped away again!
Zhou Liren and the others were dumbfounded.
In a few short seconds, many offense and defense moves happened continuously. They couldn’t imagine this intensity as it wasn’t at the same level as their regular games.
Zhao Jiayi fell to the ground but didn’t cry in pain. He crawled up immediately, ran toward the other half court, and yelled, “Blacky, defend Kitty closely!”
Xie Wanjun who was bigger and Zhao Jiayi who was smaller were both the commanders of their team. Zhao Jiayi had become one of the leaders of the Basketball Team in only a few days.
Seeing the continuously changing situation, offense and defense kept on switching. The team members wearing red shirts and blue shirts kept on running back and forth like they were training for a shuttle race. Cao Ronghua turned his head and asked Zhou Liren, “You still want to join the Basketball Team?”
Zhou Liren shook his head like a dice. “You got to be kidding me! Can normal people endure such intense training? Don’t even mention an hour; one would be tired to death in half an hour!” he replied
Zhao Jiayi, who had the best stamina in the dorm, was covered in sweat, and his legs were trembling!
Peng!
Xie Wanjun went for a layup and did an explosive dunk, and the whole stadium resonated with the sound.
“Okay, break time!” Xie Wanjun stood on the ground and waved his hand as he said.
He looked at the direction of the entrance and yelled, “You guys, don’t be sneaky and come here!”
Zhao Jiayi grabbed the towel on the side, wiped his sweat, and saw Hao Ren and the others.
Hao Ren couldn’t help but admire Xie Wanjun’s sharp observation. He could not only notice the situation on the court but could also pay attention to what was happening outside of the court in the distance.
Since Xie Wanjun called them over, Zhou Liren and the others didn’t hesitate and walked across the wide stadium.
“You did great!” Xie Wanjun threw a sports drink at Zhao Jiayi.
Zhao Jiayi caught the drink and unscrewed the cap as he replied, “Thanks a lot!”
Zhou Liren walked in front of Zhao Jiayi and patted Zhao Jiayi’s sturdy shoulder. “Zhao Jiayi, you got much better!”
“F*ck! I’ve always been this good! When I played with you noobs before, I only used 50% of my strength!” Zhao Jiayi jabbed Zhou Liren with his elbow and replied.
Hao Ren smiled and knew that Zhao Jiayi was bluffing on purpose. How could Zhao Jiayi conceal his strength as he was the type of person who got anxious when they were down in score?
However, from the scrimmage just now, Hao Ren could tell that Zhao Jiayi’s basketball skills improved at a fast pace. Even though the blue team he led still couldn’t defeat Xie Wanjun’s red team, his performance already made him look like a master!
If it was the official game, his movements could totally win the screams from the girls!
This proved that he had learned a lot from Xie Wanjun’s special training! No wonder he didn’t want to come back from the stadium; it was because that as a basketball lover, learning new things continuously and improving his strength quickly were more addictive than gaming!
“How’re your practices with Yujia lately?” Xie Wanjun drank up all the drink and asked Hao Ren suddenly.
“Uh…,” Hao Ren didn’t expect Xie Wanjun to talk to him and thought, “I pretty much learned all the basic movements.”
Xie Wanjun picked up the basketball beside him and dribbled twice as he said, “Why don’t we try?”
Hao Ren took half a step back and replied, “Maybe later.”
He still knew his advantages and disadvantages. He might not lose against this big guy, Xie Wanjun. in terms of strength. However, if they competed in basketball skills, he was definitely no match for Xie Wanjun.
“I’ll spare you one hand. Let’s play for a bit; I want to see what Yujia has been teaching you in these past few days,” Xie Wanjun said as he threw the basketball to his left hand and hid his right hand behind his back.
108 Was It Really a Breakthrough?
“Sh*t, this guy is too arrogant,” Zhou Liren looked at this two-meter tall giant and thought.
Cao Ronghua looked at Xie Wanjun’s aggressive posture and had the same thought.
Hao Ren raised his hand, looked at Xie Wanjun’s dark face, thought for a bit, and nodded. “Sure!” he replied.
“Bear! Go get the tape from the equipment room!” Xie Wanjun said to a team member.
The tall and sturdy guy ran to the equipment room and quickly came out with a roll of black tape.
Xie Wanjun took over the black tape and threw it to Zhou Liren as he said, “Please!”
Zhou Liren just thought that Xie Wanjun was way too arrogant. He didn’t hold back when he got the tape as he tore off a long strip of tape and fixed Xie Wanjun’s right hand firmly on the back of his shirt; it was so firm that he couldn’t even move it around for a bit.
Xie Wanjun knew that Zhou Liren stuck the tape on him firmly on purpose, but he didn’t comment on it. He dribbled the ball with his left hand and entered the basketball court.
Hao Ren unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt, swung his arms, and walked in as well.
“Go, Ren!” Zhou Liren cheered loudly. Even though Zhao Jiayi was a part of the Basketball Team, he still didn’t like this arrogant Captain of Basketball Team too much.
“Ren, you have to win now that he’s against you single-handed!” Cao Ronghua cheered too.
Zhao Jiayi looked at the court curiously because he had never seen someone play basketball with one hand. Other players also looked at those two on the court with expectancy and had their own presumptions.
Most people would think this way, “Even if the opponent is a newbie, playing with only one hand still sounded unbelievable!”
Xie Wanjun threw the basketball to Hao Ren on the court and said, “Defense, and offense; You start first.”
Hao Ren grabbed the ball and dribbled it a few times, and the echo suddenly sounded in the empty stadium.
He recalled Xie Wanjun’s moves when this man played basketball earlier and didn’t notice that he was left-handed. Yet, Xie Wanjun tied his right hand to his back just now… “Could he be ambidextrous? That’s way too good…” Hao Ren thought.
Hao Ren still had some doubts in his mind as he stared at Xie Wanjun, who’s a head taller than him.
Suddenly, he started his offensive play!
He dribbled the basketball and rushed toward the basket at the same time!
“Not bad, kid, didn’t travel!” Zhao Jiayi sat on the floor outside of the court and said in amazement.
At this moment, Xie Wanjun moved!
With one hand tied to his back, he couldn’t run as fast as before. Yet, his legs slid fast, and he cut inside immediately!
Hao Ren held up the basketball and wanted to make a shot, but Xie Wanjun raised his left hand immediately and blocked Hao Ren’s shooting route!
However, Hao Ren faked it! He drew the basketball back promptly, passed through Xie Wanjun’s right side, dribbled another two steps inwards, and raised his hand to make a shot!
Pa!
An arm came from an impossible angle and knocked away the basketball that Hao Ren just shot out!
Hao Ren looked down and saw Xie Wanjun, whose right hand was taped at his back, jumping backward and blocking with his left hand!
Dong! Xie Wanjun landed firmly and stared at Hao Ren without emotion.
Zhou Liren, Cao Ronghua, and the players including Zhao Jiayi were in astonishment.
With one hand tied to his back, Xie Wanjun could still do a back jump and block! Could a normal person do this?
Dong, dong, dong… Bear from the basketball team reacted first and rolled over another basketball.
Xie Wanjun bent over and picked up the basketball. “It’s my turn to be on the offense now,” he said.
Hao Ren panted, walked in front of Xie Wanjun, and spread his arms open in a defensive position.
“Looking good,” Xie Wanjun complimented Hao Ren and reminded him, “Here we go!”
He dribbled the ball with his left hand, and the brown basketball turned into a brown shadow due to his fast dribbling; the ball couldn’t even be seen clearly!
Also, he dribbled it behind his back from time to time to prevent Hao Ren from stealing it!
Xie Wanjun’s left leg was suddenly lifted as he made a move!
Hao Ren quickly blocked to his right!
Unexpectedly, Xie Wanjun’s dribble route was also faked! He continued and stepped his right foot out and ran forward from his own right side!
As if a goalkeeper had picked the wrong position to defend for a penalty kick, it was already too late for Hao Ren to change!
Xie Wanjun cut in from the right; he still moved smoothly despite dribbling with one hand! His body was slightly slanted due to his right hand being tied up, but it didn’t affect his speed at all!
He made a shot!
Xie Wanjun used his left hand and pushed the basketball out!
Hua…
Hao Ren ran abruptly like a rocket!
He raised both of his arms up and blocked the basketball!
Seeing that Hao Ren could still block the basketball he shot out, Xie Wanjun didn’t know how to react. “What kind of movement is this, blocking from volleyball?” he asked.
Hao Ren didn’t know how to answer as his movement was weird. However, no matter what kind of move it was, it would be a good move if it could stop the opponent from scoring without fouling.
Even though Xie Wanjun was talking, his movement didn’t slow down. He landed first, twisted his body, and hooked the ball that Hao Ren just blocked with his left hand.
He raised his hand again, and the basketball flew over Hao Ren’s head, who was dropping down from the jump.
Guang, guang, guang… the basketball bounced four to five times on the basket before falling out.
Hao Ren saw that the basketball didn’t score and jumped up immediately. Xie Wanjun also moved forward with a huge step and jumped up!
Rebound! Both of their arms went up at the same time as their back and waist bumped into each other!
Dong! Xie Wanjun, who was two meters tall, actually got knocked away by Hao Ren!
While everybody was stunned by this scene, Xie Wanjun lost his balance but grabbed the basketball to adjust his body position. After he landed on the ground, he went straight up again. He caught the basketball and followed up with the dunk.
“These two guys are both abnormal… One doesn’t look strong at all but has scary strength, and the other is two meters tall but faster than a monkey…”
The players on the Basketball Team thought of the first point about Hao Ren while Zhou Liren and Cao Ronghua thought of the second point about Xie Wanjun.
“Okay, let’s stop here,” as Hao Ren picked up the basketball and prepared to go again, Xie Wanjun said suddenly.
“Your fundamentals are pretty solid. At this rate, you can play in next week’s game,” Xie Wanjun evaluated Hao Ren.
Zhao Jiayi looked at Hao Ren, who was standing under the basket, and laughed, “This kid already learned about fake movements. A week ago, Hao Ren was still a noob who would pass the ball right away once he received it!”
“Hao Ren could play in the game against Jinghua University?” Zhou Liren found it hard to believe as he stood outside of the court.
Seeing Hao Ren standing underneath the basket with the basketball in his hand and not unmoving, Xie Wanjun took off the tape and asked at the same time, “What’s wrong? You blanking out?”
Dong, dong, dong…
The basketball fell from Hao Ren’s hand, bounced a few times, and rolled beside his feet.
Hao Ren stood still as if he was a sculpture.
“What the heck, Ren!” Cao Ronghua sensed that something was wrong and yelled.
At the same time, Hao Ren shivered suddenly and ran outside of the stadium!
“What the heck! Why is a breakthrough of the Spirit Concentration Scroll happening now? Is it possible that playing basketball could exceed my physical limit? So, I could sense the laws and rules in nature through the process of battling others?” Hao Ren thought.
His head felt heavy and his feet felt light, and the acupoints in his body kept on expanding as if they were about to explode!
The clouds in the sky outside of the stadium gathered together like a whirlpool and formed a vortex.
109 Slim Chance of Survival!
Hao Ren dashed out of the stadium and saw the vortex.
It was very hot, and there was not even one cloud in the heated sky beforehand. However, layers after layers of clouds rushed towards the sky above the campus all of a sudden!
It was only the advancement the Spirit Concentration Scroll from the second level the third level, but it had already created such a tremendous phenomenon. Who knows what would happen if it was a Tribulation!
Hao Ren suppressed the heated blood in his body as he sprinted.
He needed to find somewhere quiet to level up, and there was only one place he could think of.
Boom, boom, boom…he dashed into the Administrative Building and ran upstairs to Su Han’s office!
He didn’t bother to knock because unlike Lu Qing, Su Han was always in her office.
Boom! Hao Ren pushed the door open and went inside.
Su Han wasn’t surprised to see Hao Ren come in. She looked at the sky and flipped her fingers.
Whoosh! The clouds were immediately expelled.
She waved again, and the door behind Hao Ren automatically closed.
Hao Ren had no time to greet her. He sat down at his usual spot and started his cultivation.
Su Han raised both hands and put two layers of purple light spheres around Hao Ren as a protection barrier.
Hao Ren breathed out deeply after half an hour. He opened his eyes and said to Su Han, “I’m on the third level!”
Su Han lightly nodded as she took the protection barriers back without a word.
Hao Ren thought Su Han was upset, so he explained, “I didn’t mean to intrude. It’s just that I suddenly felt like I was about to break through, and there was nowhere else to go…so…”
Su Han waved her hand to stop him.
Hao Ren couldn’t see through Su Han’s thoughts from her attitude. He stood up and said, “Sorry to disturb you. This will count towards my practice for today, so I won’t be coming again after four o’clock.”
He examined his body and felt the Nature Essence filling up every single part of his body; it made him feel really comfortable. If he could guide the essence flow and transfer it out of his body now, it would mean that he was now on the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll.
It seemed like breaking through the Spirit Concentration Scroll wasn’t as difficult as Hao Ren had imagined; it all depended on the luck and timing. However, hard work and dedication definitely helped. Hao Ren felt relaxed and less stressed out after he had reached the third level.
“It won’t be a problem getting to Kan-level after solidifying the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll and cultivating another technique. It shouldn’t be hard to get started as long as my foundation is built well,” he tho
ught.
Dang!
He got to the door, and he suddenly sensed an intense pain in his head as if he walked into an iron board; the sharp pain made him back up two steps.
He turned back to look at Su Han, and he saw her pointing at the mat that he was sitting on.
He was bewildered for a few seconds and then suddenly remembered something. His face turned green as he recalled that the real ordeal was to follow!
A heated flame raised up from his body.
All 108 vital acupoints in his body started burning.
It felt even worse than being set on fire!
Hao Ren dashed to his mat in a hurry and sat on his legs, and he used the Spirit Concentration Scroll to suppress the pain.
He almost forgot about the torment of rebirth after the thrill of the breakthrough.
Peng! Peng!
Each acupoint was like a miniature explosive device. Nature Essence kept gathering, expanding, and exploding in his acupoints, and it made it extremely hard for Hao Ren to endure.
Hao Ren couldn’t even keep his sitting position after a few minutes; he was in too much pain to care about his presence in front of this beautiful girl. Hao Ren laid straight down on the chair with his body bent and fists clenched.
It was an unimaginable pain; he felt as if over ten needles were drilling hard on each of the acupoints at the same time.
His shirt and pants were soaked in sweat, and even the chair got stained.
Su Han opened up her drawer calmly and took out a bottle of spherical pills. Then, she flipped it over to Hao Ren.
“What’s…this…” Hao Ren asked, gritting his teeth.
“Fengqing Pill; it can release you from the pain,” Su Han said.
As Hao Ren was reaching for it, she added, “This pill may reduce the pain. But at the same time, it will end the self-building process earlier and harm your potential. Of course, this won’t be a problem as long as you are not looking to get to Qian-level.”
Hao Ren was almost passing out from the acute pain. However, he heard Su Han’s words and thought about it. Then, he put the bottle back on the desk, pushing it further away from him.
Su Han was a little surprised by Hao Ren’s behavior as she didn’t know if she should be admiring him or laughing at his cockiness.