At No. 4 High School, today's sun was still merciless, baking the students in the class until they suffered immensely.
Instructor Li showed no mercy during drills. Privately, some students muttered that Instructor Li was practically working them to death, and a few even went to complain to Dan Qingrong, but Instructor Li remained entirely unfazed.
The students were out of options, leaving them no choice but to find amusement in their misery. The breaks were the happiest moments for everyone, gathering in groups of three or five to chat.
Throughout military training, Jiang Ning had been cultivating. As a Cultivator, he only needed to circulate his Spiritual Power to regulate his body surface temperature and maintain a comfortable state at all times.
By diverting just a fraction of his focus, he easily breezed through military training. In fact, Instructor Li had specifically praised him that morning, holding him up as a role model for the class—though this naturally drew disdain from quite a few boys.
In their eyes, Jiang Ning's frail build meant that even if his military posture and goose step were standard, what of it? Wasn't he still just a weakling?
Two particularly rebellious boys decided that once military training was over, they would spar with this kid Jiang Ning.
Since they dared not vent their grievances on Instructor Li, they redirected their frustration toward Jiang Ning.
Faced with Instructor Li's praise, Jiang Ning felt no pride whatsoever. The very essence of his life had diverged from ordinary people; if he couldn't even manage a basic military posture, that truly would be laughable.
As for the opinions of these classmates, he didn't care in the least. If anyone crossed the line, Song Sheng would serve as a clear example.
The formation for Class 8, Grade 1 was situated right next to the basketball court. During the break, the students sat on the concrete ground of the court, clustering in small groups to chat.
One boy, getting carried away in conversation, pointed at the backboard and said, "Do you guys believe I can touch the backboard?"
The boy speaking was Hu Jun, who looked mature for his age and stood around one meter seventy-five.
Ma Shicheng played basketball frequently and was roughly the same height as Hu Jun. He had tried it many times himself and still fell quite a bit short of the backboard.
"Stop bragging without blinking. Do you know how hard it is to touch the backboard? You'd need to be around one-eighty for that."
Hu Jun retorted, "Wanna bet a bottle of cola?"
Ma Shicheng wasn't scared of him at all:
"If you can touch it, I'll treat you to a Red Bull."
Their wager quickly drew the attention of the other classmates in the class.
Guo Kunnan, a somewhat dark-skinned boy with a mischievous streak on his face, chimed in:
"Hu Jun, you really can't do it."
"I'm one-seventy-eight, and I only managed to touch it after doing track and field training for a while in middle school."
Provoked by this, Hu Jun immediately got fired up:
"I bet a bottle of cola."
Guo Kunnan pointed at him and issued a challenge: "Go touch it right now. If you can't jump up and get it in three tries, I'll run over to the small supermarket and buy you one right away."
"Fine, I'll show you." Hu Jun stood up, and the male classmates gathered around cleared a path for him, all of them starting to hoot and holler as they watched the three of them bet.
During high school, boys with good physical fitness and strength were quite admired. They loved comparing themselves against each other and took joy in defeating their opponents.
Hu Jun stood on the basketball court and looked around. The students who had been sitting on the ground resting now stood up one after another to watch him touch the backboard, giving him a sudden sense of being the center of attention.
He backed up a short distance, took a few steps of approach, leaped upward, and his fingertips grazed the backboard.
"Impressive!" Ma Shicheng admitted defeat and praised Hu Jun.
Guo Kunnan's expression turned somewhat ugly; he hadn't expected Hu Jun to actually be able to touch the backboard.
With so many people watching, it wouldn't do to go back on his word, so he simply said:
"Your vertical jump is pretty good. We can play basketball together in the future."
With that, he and Ma Shicheng headed off to the school's small supermarket.
Several students tried to copy Hu Jun's method to touch the backboard, only to find that when they jumped, they fell short by at least a dozen centimeters. After trying several times in a row without success, they finally realized how incredible Hu Jun's leaping ability truly was.
A few boys crowded around Hu Jun, asking how he had trained his vertical jump, while the girls nearby cast curious glances his way. For a moment, Hu Jun couldn't help feeling a bit full of himself.
When Ma Shicheng and Guo Kunnan returned with the drinks, Hu Jun popped open the chilled Red Bull, took a blissful sip, and felt completely refreshed all over.
Jiang Ning watched from the side, knowing full well that Hu Jun's moment of glory wouldn't last even a few minutes.
Over in the girls' formation, a discussion had broken out. Some of the girls used this opportunity to approach Huang Zhongfei and asked him if touching the backboard was difficult.
Huang Zhongfei replied that it was pretty hard; although he was one meter eighty, he didn't work out much and couldn't reach it.
Not far away, in the formation for Experimental Class 1, the chubby boy looked at the boy beside him and said with amusement:
"Hui Ge, someone over there is showing off. Aren't you going to go give it a try?"
The boy addressed as Hui Ge had a striking presence—tall, handsome, and with a refined air. He smiled and said:
"Alright, I'll go show them a thing or two today."
Lin Zida, the chubby boy, trotted to the edge of the formation, found a black backpack, and unzipped it to reveal a basketball with a rather textured look.
He scooped up the basketball and tossed it toward Zhuang Jianhui. The ball cut through the air in an arc and landed securely in Zhuang Jianhui's palm.
Lin Zida shouted toward the nearby crowd:
"Ever seen a slam dunk? I'm going to put on a dunking exhibition for you today."
He yelled it out several times, acting as if he were the one about to dunk.
Zhuang Jianhui found Lin Zida's sycophantic behavior amusing. Outsiders probably thought Lin Zida was just his lackey, but in reality, Lin Zida had grown up with him in the same residential compound and was an absolute genius—it was just that ordinary people were easily fooled by his appearance.
Zhuang Jianhui was already handsome, especially with that special aura of nobility about him, leaving a positive impression on quite a few girls. Lin Zida shouted with great enthusiasm, and though the girls didn't quite understand what a slam dunk was, they still followed Zhuang Jianhui as he walked toward the basketball court.
Once the girls moved over, the boys naturally followed suit. Regardless of their underlying motives, everyone wanted to witness the spectacle, resulting in a large crowd trailing behind Zhuang Jianhui.
Students resting in other formations across the playground couldn't help being drawn over by the commotion, and even those in the middle of standard drills kept casting frequent glances their way.
Consequently, the students of Class 8, Grade 1 watched as a tall, handsome boy walked by with a massive crowd trailing closely behind him, everyone instinctively stepping aside to clear a path.
Hu Jun hadn't even finished his Red Bull when he saw someone approaching with a basketball. He found a spot to stand and see what this kid was up to.
In no time at all, two to three hundred people had gathered around the basketball court.
A young instructor, observing the chaos at the basketball court and then glancing at his own distracted formation, gave a wave of his hand:
"Dismissed in place!"
More and more students flocked to the basketball court.Shen Qing'e, Chen Siyu, and other girls from Class 8—due to their formation's proximity to the playground—had managed to secure prime spots in the front row, their eyes blinking as they stared at Zhuang Jianhui at the center.
Zhuang Jianhui's expression remained completely calm, entirely unfazed by the intense gaze of the crowd. His composure was remarkable.
He dribbled the basketball, warming up and trying to find his shooting rhythm.
Guo Kunnan asked doubtfully, "Is this kid actually going to dunk?"
Ma Shicheng was startled: "Are you kidding me? I've grown this old and I've never seen anyone actually dunk a basketball in person!"
Guo Kunnan had seen it before, but anyone capable of dunking started at a height of one meter ninety. The boys on the playground were only around one-eighty—what did they have to dunk with?
Zhuang Jianhui executed a few flashy moves, then started dribbling into a sudden burst of acceleration.
Rushing toward the backboard, he tensed his calves and suddenly launched himself into the air, cradling the basketball. His elevation easily cleared the rim, and with a swift snap of his wrists—*bam!*—he hammered the basketball down through the hoop, grabbing the iron rim with both hands and swinging his body with a primal, raw aesthetic of power, looking just like a flying athlete.
"Damn!"
"Whoa!"
A cascade of gasps erupted from the surrounding crowd, especially the girls, whose eyes were filled entirely by that stunning figure. Their hearts raced, a sight they would likely never forget for the rest of their lives.
"Guo-ge, what level is this dunk?" Ma Shicheng asked.
Guo Kunnan replied, "It's hard to judge whether it's high-level or not, but it's definitely the super impressive kind. Mostly because the way he dunks it... is just really cool."
He felt an inarticulable wave of admiration. As someone who played basketball frequently, he knew how difficult dunking was; he would probably never be able to dunk in his entire life, let alone pull it off with such cool style even if he somehow managed a lucky break.
Lin Zida shouted, "Do another one!"
The surrounding girls joined in, chanting together: "Do another one! Do another one!"
"Handsome, do another one!"
Zhuang Jianhui smiled. He dribbled the ball once more; this time, instead of driving straight for a dunk, he hurled the basketball far out against the backboard, leaped up to catch the rebound, and threw down a reverse slam dunk through the hoop.
An astonishing roar of cheers exploded from the crowd, and the girls screamed in a frenzy.
Compared to the previous dunk, this sequence was packed with flashy aesthetic appeal, making people want to watch it over and over again.
Instructor Li had wandered over at some point, sighing with emotion:
"Each generation really is more formidable than the last. This kid has amazing athletic ability!"
Despite the crowd's passionate demands for an encore, Zhuang Jianhui remained unmoved, walking off the court amidst their fervent cheers.
As a result, by the second day of military training, Zhuang Jianhui of the freshman grade had become the primary topic of conversation among the girls.
Good-looking, excellent temperament, from the experimental class, and capable of dunking—with all these advantages combined in one person, there was no telling how many teenage girls had developed a crush on him.