Chapter 29

The old man who walked over had sparse, white hair, gray eyes that seemed to have cataracts, a hunched back, and was breathing heavily, as if a gust of wind could knock him over.

Li Yao remembered that on the first day of school, when he and his classmates went to the warehouse to collect their school uniforms, he had seen this old man surnamed Sun.

"He’s not just an ordinary warehouse manager. I heard that this old man, Sun Biao, was already a martial arts teacher at the school over seventy years ago. He’s a very formidable expert with a keen eye, having discovered many cultivation geniuses. It was he who, in a single glance, saw the extraordinary potential of 'Devil Blade Peng Hai' in the slums and specially recruited him into the school! However, he’s over 150 years old and hasn’t taught students for the past ten years, so he’s semi-retired. But he can’t stay idle at home, so he came to the school where he worked all his life to be a warehouse manager, just to pass the time. Don’t look at him as scrawny and unremarkable; he has a very high prestige in the school, even the principal Zhao Tou has to give him some face!" Meng Jiang, the school’s gossip king, introduced enthusiastically.

"The one who discovered 'Devil Blade Peng Hai'!" Li Yao was filled with respect.

"I didn’t expect Old Sun to appear. It seems there’s still a chance. Remember, be smart in front of the old man. It might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, go on!" Meng Jiang pushed Li Yao hard, then suddenly said, "Wait!"

"Hmm?" Li Yao stopped.

"Xiao Yao, you said earlier that when facing a threat, you must fight to the end first, then talk or compromise. It sounds very impressive—what if you can’t win?" Meng Jiang had been pondering Li Yao’s words, finding them cool and awesome, but he felt something was off and only now realized it.

"If you can’t win, run. If you can’t run, endure. If you can’t endure, you can always die!" Li Yao rolled his eyes at his best friend and walked towards the warehouse manager, Sun Biao.

He was a full head taller than Sun Biao. Standing in front of him, all he could see was a sparsely haired scalp, covered with age spots, looking quite ordinary.

But Li Yao was extremely nervous, his heart pounding—this was the man who had discovered "Devil Blade Peng Hai"!

Sun Biao tilted his neck, as if his cervical spine was not in good condition, and with some effort, he turned his head to scrutinize Li Yao for a long time.

His gaze was like that of a passionate gourmet staring at a tender and juicy piece of beef. Li Yao’s scalp tingled, and his back turned cold. Finally, the old man slowly said, "You did a good job with the magnesium powder!"

Li Yao was taken aback but couldn’t help smiling. He also thought he had done a good job with the magnesium powder, taking the initiative and securing victory with one move.

Otherwise, with Zhao Liang’s 60% spirit root development, a fair fight might have ended with either of them being beaten to a pulp!

"But—" Sun Biao changed his tone and extended two withered fingers, "If it were me, I wouldn’t have used magnesium powder, but the iron sand from the sandbag. With enough force, it would instantly penetrate the opponent’s retina, completely blinding them! Then, scatter iron nails on the ground. The opponent, unable to see, would step on them, and their soles would definitely be pierced! While it wouldn’t be fatal, these pampered kids are most afraid of pain and would certainly lose their mobility! With both vision and mobility lost, it would only take two seconds to finish them off!"

Li Yao was stunned, taking a while to react. He argued, "The situation was so urgent, I was lucky to grab a handful of magnesium powder. How could I have time to cut open a sandbag to get the iron sand? As for iron nails, that’s even more exaggerated—where would I find a bunch of iron nails in the gym?"

Sun Biao chuckled sinisterly, "As a fighting expert, you should always be prepared for battle, 24 hours a day, every second. You should carry small items like iron sand and iron nails with you at all times, even when taking a shower, you should have an iron nail in your ass! You don’t even have this basic preparation, and you dare to come and learn how to fight?"

Li Yao was speechless, suddenly feeling that this old man was a hundred times more despicable than himself.

Sun Biao snorted coldly and continued, "But these days, there are fewer and fewer young people who truly know how to fight. I see that you have some potential. Come, let’s go to my place and chat, old man wants some company!"

With that, he turned around, hands behind his back, and walked towards the warehouse.

Li Yao hesitated for a moment, then obediently followed behind the old man.

Then he noticed something strange—Sun Biao seemed frail, taking small, shuffling steps, and could be blown over by a sneeze, but his speed was not slow at all. It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head, always maintaining a five-meter distance in front of Li Yao, adjusting his speed according to Li Yao’s.

Li Yao, not willing to give up, gritted his teeth and decided to use the "Spirit Snake Step" to run.

Sun Biao still had his hands behind his back, walking unsteadily.

But no matter how fast Li Yao ran, even breaking into a sweat, he couldn’t close the distance by even a hair!

"Is it an extremely advanced martial arts step, or some kind of cultivation technique like 'shrinking the earth'?" Li Yao was incredibly surprised.

It wasn’t until a few classmates walked by slowly that he realized it wasn’t that Sun Biao was walking too fast, but that he himself was too slow!

He had clearly used the "Spirit Snake Step" to sprint, but after running for a long time, he hadn’t even covered ten meters. He hadn’t noticed anything was wrong until the classmates passed by!

"Could it be a mental illusion attack?" Li Yao’s scalp tingled, finally realizing how unfathomable Sun Biao was. He didn’t dare to act rashly anymore, stopped, and obediently followed behind Sun Biao.

Strangely, when he stopped, their speed inexplicably increased. The distance from the No. 9 gym to the logistics warehouse was about a thousand meters, but they reached the warehouse gate in just a minute.

The logistics warehouse was a drab, small building, with many places where the outer layer had peeled off, revealing yellowish-brown bricks, making it look quite ugly.

It seemed small, but inside, it was a different world. After winding through several turns and passing through a pile of logistics supplies, a standard-sized spirit energy training ground appeared before Li Yao’s eyes.

Dumbbells, barbells, butterfly machines, squat racks, strength testing machines, crystal gel punching dummies... all kinds of training equipment were available.

However, most of them were decades-old models, large, rough, and black, with rust spots, exuding a rugged and fierce aura.

All the training equipment was covered in dust, as if no one had used them for a long time.

Walking to the center of the training ground, Sun Biao turned and did something Li Yao never would have guessed.

This 150-year-old, highly respected retired teacher who had discovered "Devil Blade Peng Hai," suddenly bowed deeply to Li Yao, his voice becoming incredibly serious, "First, Li Yao, please accept my apology."