Two days later, after sending his sister to school, Qing Feng headed towards Skycloud Martial High School in a zipped-up jacket, hood down.
As he trudged along, holding his backpack straps as he brooded over the post-break practical, he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders as a familiar face appeared to his left.
"Old Tian, how have you been! What've you been up to?"
A cheeky grin appears to his left with black hair, wearing a similar school uniform.
A loose navy blue nylon pants with a deep blue strip starting from the side of the waist, twisting down the back, going between the legs, and stopping at the bottom of the outer pants leg, accompanied by a navy blue nylon jacket with an azure stripe down the arms, with a hoodie on the back.
There is also the school logo on the upper left sleeve and a horizontal white rectangle on the upper left breast, on which was plastered their name and class.
Worn over a close-fit blue slanted-collar top with accompanying close-fit blue pants worn under the nylon pants.
Underneath all that is a skin-tight black compression suit that has shimmering, faint dark blue arcane writing flowing across the fabric.
His nylon jacket was unzipped, showing the close-fit blue slanted-collar top with the black compression shirt faintly showing over the collar.
"Knock it off, old Chen."
Tian Qingfeng shoved his arm off his shoulders and smiled back at him.
"So, what are you thinking about all serious-like?"
"I was thinking about the upcoming practical. How do you think you're gonna do?"
"Me? I'm fine. In fact, we're all fine. The only one we're worried about is you. You think you've got it?"
"You'll just have to wait and see."
Tian Qingfeng had a mischievous smile on his face as he grinned at old Chen.
While bantering, they rounded the corner and saw the school gates in the distance.
"Hey, Old Lu!" Tian Qingfeng called out to a boy dressed in a similar uniform across the street.
The kid looked up from whatever he was doing on his wrist-mounted virtual device and looked across the street. Recognition filled his eyes, and he quickly jogged across the street to join up with the other two.
"Hey, you two look jolly today."
"Lu Tai, what were you fiddling with on your virtual device?" Old Chen asked
"Look," Lu Tai extended his arm and projected the visual from his wrist band in front of them
The screen showed a video of a battlefield from atop a giant wall. A person with a lively voice commented on the battle as it raged on.
"Hey, chat, this is the outer walls of our Tian Ping city. The Mutant Beast wave is almost over!"
"You can see that there aren't many left. Hey, look over there!" The live caster panned the camera to an area of the battlefield where a group of five people in red combat suits ganged up on an injured giant canine mutant beast. Four of them surrounded it while one of them was locked in combat with it. The beast had matte black fur with the occasional dark grey scales covering it. Between the scales were flowing golden lines. It bled golden blood laced with black streaks.
"That seems to be a team of the Divine Wu family. The one fighting it must be this generation's Divine Successor. You can see the Sky Piercing Halberd they're using."
As the battle dragged on, the canine became covered in golden blood as the Successor slashed and stabbed. In one quick motion, the successor stomped hard on the ground, sending dirt splashing outwards, leaving a crater while they rocketed forward. They swung the Halberd down in one quick motion, and the canine's head separated from its body.
"Did you see that chat? The Divine Successor killed a stage 2 mutant beast! If I recall, the Wu family successor is currently only at the muscle tempering stage, and yet they killed a mutant a whole rank above them!"
"Dang, those Divine Successors really are strong. Even with the enhancement of the Divine weapon, they still have exceptional control of their strength." Old Chen exclaimed, clicking his tongue
"Of course they do, the Successors resonate with the weapon as a child and then train their entire lives to wield the weapon. They also have access to vast quantities of precious resources since birth. This should be expected," Lu Tai retorted as he closed the screen.
"That said, the power that particular divine successor released was way stronger than what the Mandarin Duck Crescent Blade Successor displayed at the same realm."
"True, that was impressive." Tian Qingfeng agreed, "If I recall, we are all the same age and the best in our class are only nearing the middle of stage 4, while they are nearing stage 5 at more than 4,800 kilograms of force. Truly Impressive."
"What's so impressive about that?" Old Chen scoffed, "If I also had the same access to the Divine Family's vast quantities of resources, I, Chen Zhiyu, would also be able to accomplish such a thing."
"As if," Lu Tai scoffed, "You might have all the resources in the world and still only reach 4,000 kilos with your slacker self."
"Hey, can't a guy have dreams around here?" Chen Zhiyu grumbled
As the three bantered, they arrived at the school gates, a large mechanical gate barred by a translucent celadon barrier providing access to the school. A giant plaque above the mechanical gate read Skycloud Martial High School, the words radiating a majestic presence. As they walked towards the gate, the trio each tapped their wristbands on the barrier. After the wristbands were connected and their identities verified, the celadon barrier rippled as they walked straight through it.
After passing through the gate, they headed into the main building and up the stairs. Arriving outside of room 2-2B, laughter, the scraping of chairs, and raucous chatter echoed from the room and the adjacent classrooms.