<h4>Chapter 24 - Baichuan City</h4>


    [Wind Elephant Basic Combat Arts: Extreme (Stage Three)]


    The Wind Elephant Sect’s Basic Combat Arts, which originally only had two levels, had unexpectedly increased to three and had grown to the extreme level.


    If he thought about it in passing, numerous basic moves flowed through his mind like water, as clear as a mirror. If he thought more carefully, images of basic movements would sh before his eyes.


    His mastery of the Wind Elephant Sect’s basic Combat Techniques had skyrocketed, reaching a whole new level.


    Cassius had a hunch that if he used the the extreme stage of the Wind Elephant Sect’s Basic Combat Arts to learn the Wind Elephant Covert Martial Arts with, it would yield twice the result with half the effort. A tree with strong roots and stems would allow its branches and leaves to grow faster and more lushly.


    It continued to drizzle. By the time Cassius came back to his senses, his clothes were already soaked through. He stared up at the sky, the rain falling like spiderweb threads. Cassius followed their trajectory and saw an endless expanse of deep ck clouds. Thunder was rumbling like cannon fire, and a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.


    <i>Time to head back to the inn.</i> Cassius checked the fake documents in his inner pocket, then picked up his wide-brimmed hat and the umbre that had flown away. He turned around and his figure blended into the light rain.


    A dayter, at the train station in the northern suburbs of Fengnan City.


    The tall, gray-white t roof building loomed in the morning mist, a gray rectangr tform in front. Dozens of passengers with luggage waited for the train to arrive.


    A shrill whistle sounded from afar as a ck-green train spewing ck smoke approached the tform. The train''s headlights shone like an oing meteor and cut through the mist.


    All the passengers took a step back, and a bald middle-aged man bumped into something. He spun around.


    A man, nearly 1.85 meters tall, stood behind him. He looked like an ordinary morning passenger with amon ck coat and wide-brimmed hat. In one hand, he held a travel wooden box, a serious look on his face.


    "Sorry about that," the middle-aged man quickly apologized.


    "It''s okay," Cassius said, taking a few steps to the left, revealing a ck rectangr iron pir behind him.


    "Over here! Over here! Come aboard!" a train attendant in a blue uniform disembarked and shouted loudly. The passengers in coats and windbreakers quickly gathered around and started lining up to board, luggage in hand.


    The train attendant shouted a few more times, "Check your tickets carefully, don''t get on the wrong train! And watch your luggage and kids!"


    In the crowd, Cassius nced at his watch. It was five minutes past seven.


    "All aboard," the train attendant patted the painted train body and yelled for thest time.


    Cassius picked up his suitcase and stepped onto the train. His seat was by the window, allowing him to gaze at the scenery outside. The white curtains were tied to one side, and the ss was wet from the condensation.


    <i>ng, ng, ng...</i>


    White steam spewing from above, the train began elerating as the wheels started to spin quickly. The train gradually gained speed. He reached out and wiped the ss clean.


    In front, rows of guard trees rushed by like fleeting shadows. Behind, the scattered lights of Fengnan City gradually got farther and farther away. Cassius took a long look.


    He would be back...


    ***


    Half a monthter, in Beiliu County, Baichuan City.


    Edelweiss Middle School ranked fourth in the province and first in Baichuan City. It had both junior and senior high school divisions. Its faculty members were skilled and many students enrolled there.


    Edelweiss Middle School was dedicated not only to improving academic performance but also actively expanding the students'' extracurricr interests. The streets around the school were lined with food and entertainment shops along with various sporting venues for basketball, baseball, swimming, and even archery and fencing.


    In addition to the multiple sports fields, Edelweiss Middle School covered arge area, with numerous tall, new buildings that were all the same style and all used for teaching. There were many simr buildings behind the teaching area. Out of all the middle schools, this was the most well-equipped and boasted the best education for students in all of Baichuan City.


    A towering teaching building with white walls and a blue base stood next to a circr flower bed. The sounds of the teachers'' lectures along with the asional student being called to answer questions could be heard from outside.


    In the first ssroom near the stairs on the third floor, a middle-aged teacher with sses ced his textbook on the desk. "Alright, now let''s turn our books to page 107 to the next chapter, ''International Situation and World Structure.'' Everyone, please take a look."


    He turned and picked up a piece of chalk, quickly sketching something on the ckboard. Before long, a fairly standard world map was created, with some major countries marked and several oceansbeled in the empty spaces. The teacher dragged the chalk across the board, snapping it in the process.


    "The Hongli Federation has been established for 156 years and, right from its inception, is one of the three major powers in the world! Look here!" The middle-aged teacher pointed to a section of the map, which represented arge coastal country. The overall shape resembled a hand grenade, with a small indentation in the center.


    The Hongli Federation upied a vast area of the map. It was almost two-fifths of a continent called the Northern Reef Continent. The Southern Reef Continent, another continent of simr size, was just below it. The eastern part of the Southern Reef Continent was also upied by arge, t country called the United States of Yana.


    To the east of the Southern and Northern Reef Continents was an exceptionallyrgendmass. Called the Blue Star Continent, thisndmass was about four-fifths the size of both continentsbined.


    Marked on the map was thergest country in the world, the Blue Star Empire. It was about a fourthrger than the Hongli Federation and a thirdrger than the United States of Yana. Dotting around the Empire were some smaller inds.


    The teacher used up half of the ss time just to introduce them one by one.


    In the ssroom, by the window, in the second-tost row, a handsome boy with brown hair and attractive eyebrows was carelessly flipping through his textbook. His eyes flicked asionally at the ckboard and then out the window. His mind was clearly not on the lesson.


    "Phil, the teacher is calling you." His deskmate suddenly nudged him with his elbow.


    Phil snapped out of his daze and shot to his feet. With his deskmate''s whispered reminder, he managed to muddle his way through the question.


    "Whew... Thanks Milo," Phil said as he sat down.


    "Why have you been so absent-mindedtely?" Milo, a freckled-faced boy, leaned over and asked Phil quietly.


    "Ah, I''m about to be kicked out of the Combat Club. I was in the bottom three against time. Two more times, and I''ll have to quit." Phil sighed, feeling regretful about being kicked out of the Combat Club and disappointed at not being able to see Senior Sister Tifa anymore.


    After all, that was the whole reason he joined the Combat Club in the first ce!