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Lou Zhengfu frowned. "Lu Zhao, what are you so nervous about?"

She was stunned.

"I noticed something was off with you from the beginning," Lou Zhengfu said, looking at her with exasperation. "Are you afraid to fight them?"

Her pupils contracted slightly, and she guiltily turned her head away.

"Hmph!" Lou Zhengfu removed his rough hand from her shoulder and let out a long breath, which sounded more like a sigh than an exhale.

Lu Zhao hesitated for a moment before calling out, "Master, I..."

“I know your concerns,” Lou Zhengfu said, giving her no chance to explain, his gaze fixed intently into her eyes. “But Lu Zhao, as a martial artist, no matter how strong you are, the most important thing is your spirit!”

The heart refers to the mind that always strives to become stronger, no matter when or where. Only in this way can a martial artist keep improving. The spirit refers to your courage. Without courage, no matter how strong you are, you may still be defeated when facing someone weaker than you!

Only by possessing both of these qualities can one be called a martial artist, but right now, you are still some distance from being a true martial artist.

She stared blankly at the man in front of her, who was over fifty but still robust, her throat moving slightly, but she didn't know what to say.

Master Lou is right. She is not a martial artist at all. She came here to practice in order to save her life in the future plot. Her motives were impure to begin with, so how could she possibly master these things?

Just as she was hesitating whether to leave, she heard Lou Zhengfu shout impatiently, "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and go inside, your senior brothers and sisters are all waiting for you inside!"

Lu Zhao blinked helplessly, and finally managed to utter a sound from his dry throat: "But didn't you say..."

"Enough with the nonsense, get in here!" Lou Zhengfu pushed her inside with displeasure, quickly slammed the door shut, and shouted loudly inside, "Don't even think about leaving this room today until you've beaten them all down!"

What?

Lu Zhao was completely stunned. This wasn't what they had said before! It was supposed to be just a friendly sparring session!

She turned around in a daze, looking at the senior brothers and sisters in front of her who had already warmed up and were staring at her with a sneer. She immediately felt a chill run down her spine.

"Um..." she hesitated, raising her hand, "Could you not slap me in the face?"

If Xia Zhifei sees this when I get back, it will only make her worry for nothing.

Li Xiao nodded thoughtfully, "Just not slapping your face? Okay, we can grant you that request!"

Lu Zhao gave a wry smile, knocked on the door again to confirm that Lou Zhengfu didn't want her to leave anytime soon, then sighed. He scanned the four people standing separately for a moment before finally locking onto one of them. With a sudden burst of speed, he charged towards that person.

Hearing the sounds of fighting coming from inside, Lou Zhengfu finally managed a smile on his usually stern face.

Indeed, Lu Zhao lacked the ambition of a martial artist, but she possessed something more important, which was the reason he decided to take this halfway disciple as his apprentice.

"I hope you can help me regain my former strength so that I can protect the important people in my life!"

The voice that echoed in his mind gradually synchronized with the shouts inside. He chuckled softly, walked to the outer courtyard again, casually picked a wooden dummy, calmed his mind, and assumed a starting stance. His upper body muscles were fully exposed, and countless afterimages appeared from his movements, leaving the students stunned.

As dusk fell, the training ground, which had been closed, was finally opened from the inside.

Li Xiao and Deng Yue, two girls, helped the almost powerless Lu Zhao stumble out of the room. Behind them, two burly men, covered in injuries, sat on the ground, exchanging helpless smiles.

"This new junior sister is ruthless."

Chapter Thirty-One: Defeat

The result was, of course, that Lu Zhao lost; there is no doubt about that.

However, according to Ji Lin, one of the parties involved, the four of them didn't actually gain much advantage. It was just that... Lu Zhao, this junior sister, was really too ruthless when she got into a fight.

Instead of adhering to the techniques of various schools, it reminded him of the feeling when he faced the UFC world number one a long time ago, but the techniques were much more immature, and... the stamina was also much more terrifying.

It could be said that the four of them working together could easily defeat this talented junior sister, but for some reason, Lu Zhao seemed to have unlimited stamina. She fought with them for an entire afternoon, nearly four hours, before collapsing due to exhaustion.

These four world-class martial artists could only defeat her by wearing down her stamina.

This alone is enough to show how terrifying Lu Zhao is. Moreover, according to her master, she also possesses very strong spiritual energy, which she has just not used yet.

I heard that even the eldest brother couldn't withstand a single blow from that spirit beast. If it were them, who don't have any spirit energy themselves, then...

He couldn't help but shiver.

"I wonder where Master found such a monster." Ji Lin was so tired that he could only sit against the wall, drinking energy drinks to replenish his strength while resting.

Lu Zhao had chosen him first, and he, who was ranked seventh in the world, almost lost to Lu Zhao's mad dog-like fighting style.

"How's it going?" Lou Zhengfu walked in from outside and stood in front of them, asking, "Have you figured out her tactics?"

Qi Fengyu nodded, and then gulped down a lot of drinks before saying, "Her fighting style doesn't seem to have been learned systematically. It's more like she learned from others everywhere and then integrated it in street combat. It's a fighting style that only suits her."

His strength was slightly greater than Ji Lin's, so he saw more of Lu Zhao's methods. After an afternoon of fierce fighting, he had roughly figured out Lu Zhao's tactics, but figuring them out didn't mean he could see through them.

You could tell from the several obvious scars on his face. To him, until the moment Lu Zhao finally collapsed from exhaustion, she was faster than him; he couldn't even imagine that she would suddenly stop working.

Eighty percent of Lu Zhao's attacks were aimed at the two of them, while he wasn't as harsh on the other two girls. So Li Xiao and the others still have some energy to help them out.

As for those who were attacked the most, they were not so lucky. Now, let alone standing, even sitting down, they can feel the pain in their bodies at any time.

Lou Zhengfu laughed heartily, squatted down, and gave each of them a flick on the forehead: "There are always people better than you. Do you think getting a world ranking is enough? If you don't keep moving forward, someone will eventually surpass you!"

Ji Lin smiled wryly, "Master, please stop scolding us. Go check on Junior Sister Lu. She's been fighting all afternoon, and I'm worried she'll be exhausted."

"Your two junior sisters have gone to take care of her. The Spirit Clan's recovery ability is much stronger than that of ordinary people, so you two don't need to worry!" Lou Zhengfu then stood up, lifting one of them with each hand as he stood up. "Come on, let's go get some medicine first. Your master will treat you to something good!"

Meanwhile, Lu Zhao, who had been helped to the second-floor guest room, finally woke up after resting for a while. Before he could even speak, he grabbed a bottle of mineral water and drank it all down before lying back down, looking exhausted.

Like a salted fish that has lost all hope, it doesn't even have the strength to turn over.

"How are you feeling now?" Deng Yue asked her with a smile.

Lu Zhao looked completely exhausted: "I feel like my whole body is going to break."

Her senior classmates took good care of her; her face, neck, and other potentially exposed areas were never attacked.

Even so, every bone in her body felt weak and limp, every muscle ached and screamed, and her mind was foggy, giving her the illusion that she would die if she closed her eyes.

"You've already tried your best. To be able to fight to this extent by relying solely on physical strength is something none of us fellow disciples have the willpower to do." Li Xiao didn't hold back his praise. "Being able to fight us to this extent is enough to demonstrate your strength."

In fact, if any one of the four of them were missing, Lu Zhao would probably have found a weakness and dragged them down to their deaths.

Thinking of this, Li Xiao couldn't help but marvel at his master's sharp eyes, which allowed him to see so clearly where Lu Zhao's physical limits were.

Before coming here, they knew a little about Lu Zhao. Although they had made some preparations, they still did not expect that their junior sister would be so fierce once she got into a fight.

“No… I don’t really care that much about winning or losing…” Lu Zhao’s somewhat embarrassed voice rang out. She lay on her back and looked at her two senior sisters who were covered in bruises. She could only smile bitterly. “There are still people waiting for me at home. It’s just that if I go back like this, they will worry.”

Having received years of peaceful education, Lu Zhao didn't really care much about winning or losing. Even when taking exams, he usually hovered in the middle to upper ranks, never actively striving for first place.

What she valued most was the relieved smiles on her parents' faces when they saw her grades.

"Grow up safely, healthily and happily, and never hurt yourself no matter what happens."

These are the words her parents say most often, as if they are afraid that she might do something bad to them.

However, for more than 20 years, she has been living well according to this saying. Although she lives frugally, she is generally happy.

Once she arrived here, she didn't want her injuries to upset those who cared about her.

Even if the reason these people care is only because of her current physical body.

As for why I fought so fiercely just now... it was simply because I had to use all my strength to show respect to these senior brothers and sisters.

Deng Yue and Li Xiao exchanged a glance, both seeing a sense of helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Even if you are a spirit race member, these injuries will take at least half a month to heal..."

"I just don't want anyone to know." Lu Zhao slowly sat up from the bed, and even this slight movement caused a light sweat to bead on her forehead.

It's clear she's enduring a lot of hardship.

Seeing this, Li Xiao could only sigh and say, "Alright, over the years of martial arts training, we've summarized quite a few tips for dealing with injuries. But you have to remember, these can only make outsiders not see that you've been injured, but you yourself must be clear that these injuries are real and you need to calmly recuperate."

"Yes, thank you both, senior sisters." Lu Zhao nodded gently.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Invitation

As dusk fell and the sun set, Lu Zhao returned to Song Lingge's house just in time.

At that time, apart from being a little pale, she looked perfectly normal.

"Ah Zhao, you're back!" Xia Zhifei was the first to run to the door to greet her. "How did it go? Did you get things done?"

She paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's done."

Because of her excellent performance, Coach Lou gave her a ten-day break so she could recover and continue training.

For Lu Zhao, this was just right. He could use these ten days to quickly bring Wen Ruo into the Bureau of Spirits and urge Li Manqiu to bring in the people she recommended. That way, everything would be perfect.

"Sister Lu!" Wenruo ran over with a flushed face.

Lu Zhao looked at her with some surprise: "Your face... is the air conditioner at home set too high?"

Xia Zhifei rolled her eyes at her, then pulled Wen Ruo back, saying as they walked, "This person doesn't know how to talk, just ignore her!"

ha?

Completely bewildered, Lu Zhao took off her shoes and went inside. She looked at the two whispering people, wondering what she had said wrong this time.

"Um... Xiao Ruo," she called out to Wen Ruo, and seeing that the other turned to look at her, she said somewhat awkwardly, "I have something I'd like to talk to you about alone. Do you have time?"

"Oh?" A hint of ambiguity flashed in Xia Zhifei's eyes. "What is it that you two have to talk about alone? A-Zhao, something's not right with you."

Lu Zhao was completely bewildered. What was wrong with her? Wasn't this her tone when the original owner of this body contacted someone privately?

While she was still wondering what was going on, Xia Zhifei chuckled and pushed Wen Ruo towards her.

"Ah!" This was the sound Wenruo exclaimed in surprise.

"Ugh..." This was Lu Zhao's low moan as he was knocked down and injured his shoulder.

This young lady is trying to murder me!

With a look of grief and indignation, she pulled Wen Ruo behind her and strode aggressively towards Xia Zhifei.

"What...what are you doing!" The young lady was cornered against the wall and frantically tried to pry her away.

Lu Zhao stared at her with an air of righteousness for a while, then suddenly reached out and forcefully pinched Xia Zhifei's face!

"Ouch! Lu Zhao, you bastard, that hurts so much!"

Faced with the young lady's incompetent rage, Lu Zhao immediately turned around, grabbed Wen Ruo, opened the door, and ran out. It wasn't until they got into the elevator that he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Sister Lu?" A weak voice came from beside her.