Chapter 377 : Chapter 377

Chapter 377: The Scarcely Populated Physical Arts Circle of the Witch Academy

"Alright, Senior, I admit I was too hasty."

The senior student who called herself Tao Ling slightly held her forehead, realizing her actions had been a bit too aggressive.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Tao Ling. May I ask what to call you, Senior?"

"Hm?"

I looked at the senior student who claimed to be Tao Ling suspiciously.

Does everyone at Witch Academy call someone who is stronger than them "Senior"?

The last person to call me Senior seemed to be Betty.

Speaking of which, I hadn't gone to sponge off her mentor's alchemy teaching for a while.

"Just call me first-year girl. As for my name, call me Yue."

"First-year girl? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! You must be a high-grade senior who has immersed herself in Body Cultivation for many years! Otherwise, how could Body Cultivation Energy..."

"It's just luck that I managed to master it."

I interjected.

"That's also impossible. There's no such thing as luck in Body Cultivation. Your own body is yours, and time is the ruler of effort. Every moment of forging is a personal accumulation."

"Alright, think whatever you want. Please move, I'm leaving."

I spoke in a deliberately cold tone.

Given her repeated "impossibles," it was clear she was set in her ways regarding certain matters.

Even if she was slightly off, she wouldn't be far off.

Why should I tell her I was a Self-Awakened Body Cultivator?

She wouldn't even admit I was a first-year girl.

I didn't want to waste too much energy talking nonsense with her.

"Wait... Senior, teach me Body Cultivation! I also want to punch with such a loud sonic boom! You definitely held back just now, didn't you!"

At this moment, she seemed to have noticed my attitude and quickly tried to stop me.

"Wouldn't learning from those Transcendent mentors be better than learning from me? You have your own mentor now, right?"

"I do have a mentor, but my mentor isn't good at teaching. My mentor only practices Body Cultivation as a secondary path. She can also achieve Body Cultivation Energy, but there's a Transcendent gap between my mentor and me. But you and I are about the same. I want to know how you practice!"

"Ew..."

I looked at the senior student, who was now completely different from her previous two personas.

At this moment, she looked like she wanted to hug my leg and cry, which elicited a sound of disgust from me.

Who would have thought this senior student was practicing Physical Arts with such a cool demeanor just moments ago?

"Let go of my hand, let go first."

I spoke helplessly, but I didn't hold back my leg.

As I stomped my foot, a surge of Body Cultivation Energy shook her hand off.

Using the foot and leg muscles to resonate Body Cultivation Energy was actually a pretty good idea, at least for quickly getting away from someone hugging your leg.

"Alright, I don't like being taken advantage of or flirted with, and I have a girlfriend, got it?"

"What... a girlfriend? Oh... understood, understood. I'll be careful in the future."

After a momentary shock, she quickly accepted the setup.

"Um... may I ask if I can..."

"I don't have time to teach you. Don't even think about it."

I once again vetoed her ideas.

"Um... I actually wanted to ask how you managed to achieve that level? Which mentor's Physical Arts faction are you practicing? Could you share?"

"I'm not practicing any Physical Arts, and I don't know any factions. Or rather, the Body Cultivation path I'm taking isn't conventional, so your persistence is pointless."

As I explained, I prepared to leave the area.

Now that I was outside, the atmosphere was completely different from the Body Cultivation Training Hall just now.

The outside felt like minor playtime in comparison.

Tao Ling followed me out, still asking various questions.

"Not conventional Body Cultivation? Not practicing Physical Arts? How is that possible?"

"It just is. You can think of it as innate talent."

"Innate talent? So it's an innate talent? No wonder I've never heard of you in the academy's Body Cultivation circle."

"Body Cultivation circle?"

"That's right, haven't you heard of it, Senior? How about I introduce you to the Body Cultivation circle of Witch Academy? With your ability, you'll definitely be highly sought after in that circle!"

"Highly sought after? I'll pass."

I waved my hand in refusal.

If a newcomer like me could be highly sought after, then that circle probably wasn't of much value to me.

Plus, I didn't like trouble, so I should do fewer shocking things.

After all, my name being known by the Transcendent Mentor community had already brought about many changes to my life.

"Alright, if Senior doesn't want to, that's fine. That circle is mostly just for exchanging Body Cultivation practice experiences, so it might not be very useful to you. By the way, Senior, do you have any secrets regarding your Body Cultivation practice?"

"Um... use your brain more?"

I pondered for a moment and said.

After all, neither the Self-Awakened Body Cultivation nor the so-called Martial Dao Rune was achieved through brute force practice.

I could say that practicing more was fine, but it couldn't be the only thing.

"Use your brain?"

Tao Ling immediately got a headache at the mention of using her brain.

"Of course. You're following Body Cultivation, which is essentially physical cultivation, not Physical Arts training. There are many things to cultivate in Body Cultivation. Don't you know that? Body muscles are only the most superficial part. Is your brain not part of your body?"

"Huh?"

"You really don't know?"

I slapped my forehead, speechless, and confirmed again.

This knowledge was something Big Sis Bai had told me.

It was mentioned when we talked about Spirit Vision and Five Senses Enhancement.

Five Senses Enhancement was also part of Body Cultivation.

But the girl in front of me... she didn't know?

"My mentor... might have mentioned it... perhaps."

She said with an uncertain tone.

"Then you should read more books related to this instead of looking for shortcuts from me. You yourself understand that there are no shortcuts in Body Cultivation; only effort, right?"

"Alright..."

At this moment, I swiped my membership card and left the Physical Arts Training Hall.

I had to admit, my initial experience here was... extremely poor.

I somewhat regretted spending that money.

Thankfully, I wasn't fooled into purchasing any other services.

However, the hall's name clearly indicated it was for Physical Arts training, so I suppose I had simply set my expectations too high.

At this moment.

The senior student named Tao Ling was still calling me "Senior" and talking about many things, trying to build a closer relationship.

Many of the things she mentioned were about the Witch Academy's Body Cultivation circle, which happened to touch upon the points I wanted to understand.

The Body Cultivation circle in Witch Academy was small.

After all, compared to the flashier, more convenient, and more accessible spellbooks, Body Cultivation was a thankless path for many.

Only a very small portion of those who practiced Body Cultivation genuinely loved it.

I heard that many senior students who used to be boys, who were tricked or kidnapped, were interested in Body Cultivation.

Many senior students chose Body Cultivation as a secondary path.

After all, by the higher grades, the gradual physical enhancement that came with the Witchification process from the Magic Power Source provided a certain physical foundation, so many senior students developed the idea of also practicing Physical Arts.

Some wanted to have a good figure to attract beautiful first-year girls or something... She openly talked to me about all these things.

It could be said that the Body Cultivation circle at Witch Academy was quite chaotic and was once dominated by lesbians.

Pure Body Cultivators like Tao Ling, or those who had even mastered Body Cultivation Energy, were not many anymore.

But the interesting thing was that Body Cultivation seniors who had mastered Body Cultivation Energy, like Tao Ling, were highly sought after in the Body Cultivation circle.

It was probably similar to... the principle of attracting same-sex partners by excessively working out muscles in a gym.

And a strange trend called "Body Cultivation Energy Worship" had even derived from the Body Cultivation circle, somewhat like the worship of academic achievements among external lesbians.

Tao Ling seemed to have subtly become a member of the Body Cultivation Energy Worship group.

While I didn't quite understand it, I was greatly shocked.

After being pestered for a long time, I finally shook off this person.

I had to say, being stuck to like bubblegum was truly uncomfortable, and what's worse, I would have to come here regularly for Body Forging in the coming days, so I might run into her often.

I was even considering changing to another Physical Arts Training Hall, but... if I changed, the authority I established here would be meaningless.

So... I would make do for now.

Moreover... the information I learned from Tao Ling included things that surprised me.

For example, realizing that Big Sis Bai was also a Body Cultivator, I asked her about Big Sis Bai, and she actually knew her.

And Big Sis Bai was the coldest flower in the Body Cultivation circle, having publicly stated her rejection of same-sex relationships...

If I hadn't confirmed it repeatedly, I wouldn't have believed this was Big Sis Bai.

However, I didn't hear Tao Ling mention Big Sis Bai's recent advancement to Transcendent Witch, so it seemed Big Sis Bai's advancement was truly low-key.

This was good.

Big Sis Bai was mine now!

There was no room for those people who coveted Big Sis Bai!

I checked the time.

The morning was almost over.

It could be said that one session of meditation plus Body Forging had consumed half my day.

This was truly a time-consuming activity.

But if I wanted to compress the time, it would be difficult, as all these arrangements were very important.

Anyway, besides these two things, there wasn't much else to do.

On the way back, I took the opportunity to buy some sportswear, like sports vests and shorts.

I really didn't want to practice the ritual battle dance in my current clothes anymore.

Also, I needed to buy thigh straps that were stretchy, otherwise, I was afraid the current non-stretchy ones would snap during strenuous exercise.

As for why I didn't just take them off... I don't need to elaborate on the reasons.

I must say, there was a sportswear specialty store right near the Physical Arts Training Hall, which saved me the trouble of going far.

Adhering to the tradition Big Sis Bai taught me about trying on many clothes before buying, I tried on many styles.

Ultimately, I chose styles that were comfortable and relatively conservative.

As for the more revealing and sexy ones... I just looked at them.

I could buy them later when Big Sis Bai could teach me one-on-one.

I remembered suggesting that Big Sis Bai teach Physical Arts at the academy someday, so there would still be opportunities to wear them.

"Welcome back next time."

I left the store with the enthusiastic farewells of the part-time senior students.

But I have to say, the clothes here were truly expensive.

Even though they were sportswear, the styles that used very little fabric were still so costly...

I don't think I'll be coming back for a visit next time.

Leaving the area, I opened my phone and checked my dorm group chat.

It was almost noon now.

I wanted to ask the people in the dorm who had nothing to do if they wanted me to bring them lunch.

When I sent the message, and saw the quick replies, I realized that this dorm group chat would soon turn into a lunch-ordering chat.

When I arrived back at the villa.

"Little Han Sis! You're finally here! Where's my food!"

Hong Chenyi was practically glued to the peephole on the door, watching for movement outside.

As soon as she saw me, she immediately opened the door in welcome.

"You only remember your own food, right?"

I jokingly handed her the food she asked me to bring.

"No, no. Aheh But Little Han Sis, you look great today, hey? Did something good happen?"

"Mhm"

I subconsciously touched my face.

If I set aside the unpleasant encounter at the Physical Arts Training Hall and the sadness of parting with Big Sis Bai, today was indeed a happy day, since I officially confirmed my relationship with Big Sis Bai.

"Can you even tell that?"

"Of course! Little Han Sis, your theoretical monthly exam score was the second highest! That's for the whole grade! Oh my goodness! You're defying the heavens!"

"What?"

Hearing Hong Chenyi say that, my mind didn't immediately process it.

Was Hong Chenyi talking about this?

So, it wasn't about the thing with Big Sis Bai... I thought the Academy Head pointing it out meant my change was very obvious.

"Wait, something's not right. Didn't the monthly exam just finish yesterday?"

"Monthly exam scores are released very quickly. Don't underestimate the speed of the mentors! They're all Transcendent Witches!"

"True, so that's not surprising. But... wait, how did you all know?"

I asked curiously.

"There's a public ranking list on the Academy System, ha ha ha! Little Han Sis, you're practically a genius! You don't know, but the other classes complained about you being absent from the last monthly exam for so long. Now, you've completely slapped those fools across the face! They don't dare to make a peep anymore."

"I don't care about that. By the way, who was first? Tan Han?"

"That's right, Tan Han was first. Who would have thought that the first and second place in the grade would be the only two people who had course exemptions, and you two were delayed by the Sleeping Curse for so long, only returning a few days before the monthly exam? How did you manage such scores, Little Han Sis?"

"Um... just work harder and find a learning method that suits you."

I simply brushed it off.

After all... I couldn't exactly say I had many spells for aiding my studies, could I?

And I wasn't really lying.

I knew very well that I was just an ordinary person with a huge gap compared to the geniuses around me, so I used many methods to bridge that gap until I surpassed them.

Borrowing the power of spells was only one of the means.

To learn and absorb knowledge, the only limits are what you can't think of, not what you can't do.

Not being able to do it just means your execution is lacking in that area.

"Aiya... that's easier said than done."

"Perhaps... you could try to acquire some spells that assist learning, like... spells for quick memory or memory enhancement. Although those types of spellbooks are rare in Witch Academy, they're not non-existent."

"Eh?! There are those types of spellbooks?"

"Of course. There are many good things in Witch Academy that you just haven't thought of. Perhaps you should try to access more information in this area, or maybe you don't take your studies seriously enough, and you haven't broken out of your own cognitive inertia. Perhaps you should learn how to slack off smartly. After all, studying is a very tiring thing."

"I've been slacking off all along... but my ranking dropped significantly this time. Even though... so many people were affected by the Sleeping Curse this time, my total ranking didn't go up..."

"Then that means slacking off doesn't suit you. You should hurry up and make up for your lack of talent with diligence," I said, scolding her playfully.

"Go eat your food."