Chapter 113: Cultivating with Basketball!!
Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Hao Ren returned to the dorm and found that his dormmates were still playing cards. Even though they only betted one yuan to two yuan at a time, they still had a lot of fun playing.
Zhao Jiayi still hadn’t returned yet; he was probably still training at the stadium. People forget their friends when they’re in love, but Zhao Jiayi forgot his friends when he prepared for the basketball match.
Hao Ren used his finger to poke Huang Jianfeng, who was grabbing his cards, and said, “Lend me the basketball from your room.”
“It’s underneath the bed. Go grab it yourself.” Huang Jianfeng’s face twitched as a result of trying too hard not to laugh as he had some really good cards.
Hao Ren went to room 301 and scooped out the basketball from underneath the bed. Then, he carried the basketball out of the dorm and went on campus.
Just a few minutes after Hao Ren left, Yu Rong ran into room 302. “Big news! Big news! Someone saw Hao Ren eating with Su Han at the Hongji Square just now!!” he shouted.
“Huh…” The cards in people’s hands fell on the table as their hands shook.
Hao Ren didn’t even know what had happened in his dorm; he left his cell phone in the dorm because he didn’t want any interruptions. He dribbled the basketball as he walked to the basketball court in Zone B.
It felt great to enjoy the school’s night view alone. When he was always with Zhao Jiayi and the guys, he didn’t have a lot of alone time of this type, and he was able to treasure it more now.
Probably because he had advanced to the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll, Hao Ren felt like his mind and spirit have become entirely different. The breeze pa.s.sed through the leaves and went by him. However, as long as his mind moved, the breeze would turn around him.
The feeling of controlling the wind with his mind was pleasant. If he leveled up to another realm, he would be even able to ride on the wind.
Hao Ren dribbled the basketball and entered the basketball court. He selected a basketball stand and started practicing pa.s.sing with the a.s.sistance of the backboard. It was already past eight o’clock; since the curfew of the school was at ten o’clock, students who were playing basketball had returned by now.
Hao Ren was the only person playing on the whole basketball court, and he maintained the correct postures and pa.s.sed against the backboard; his accuracy was getting better each time. He counted until three hundred and felt like his arms were slightly sore. Then, he started practicing dribbling.
Throughout the advancement of his realm, Mount Tai Bracelets seemed to increase its weights as well. Hao Ren roughly estimated that each Mountain Tai Bracelet was now 50 kilograms, which had doubled in weight.
He dribbled one hundred laps around the basketball stand and then began practicing shooting. Hao Ren kept on reminiscing the details Xie Yujia taught him and tried to maintain the correct postures and smooth movements.
Dong, dong, dong. The basketball hit the backboard and went inside the net. Hao Ren changed to another position and continued to practice shooting.
Occasionally, someone would pa.s.s by and would think that Hao Ren was just practicing basketball.
In fact, Hao Ren was trying to understand the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll!
Feeling the wind, feeling the strength, and feeling the trajectory of all objects!
He couldn’t communicate with the Heaven and Earth with the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll, but he could sense the energy flow of the surroundings in a radius of ten meters!
The basketball shot out of Hao Ren’s hands and landed inside the net with an elegant curvature.
Hao Ren, who learned the standard postures, seemed to have grasped the techniques of basketball, and he was able to use the Nature Essence pulled in by the Spirit Concentration Scroll.
62,63,64…
Hao Ren picked up the basketball again and changed to another shooting position; he had made 64 shots in a row.
On the other side of the basketball court, Zhao Jiayi who was wearing a pair of running shoes and running along the roads got close to the basketball court.
He ran closer to the court because he saw someone still practicing this late. When he saw that the person practicing wasn’t anyone else but Hao Ren, he suddenly felt touched; he knew that Hao Ren was going to play in the game next week for his sake.
When he saw Hao Ren shooting the basketball smoothly and had an accuracy of a hundred percent, the touched feeling he had suddenly turned into a shock!
“How… did he do that?”
Seeing that Hao Ren hadn’t missed a shot and continued to shoot for the 12th time, Zhao Jiayi felt weak in his legs.
“Hmm, my shooting is quite accurate now, I’ll practice running and dribbling again,” Hao Ren picked up the basketball on the court, jumped to warm up, and rushed towards another basket abruptly!
The basketball turned into shadows as he dribbled, and Hao Ren’s speed became equivalent to a 100-meter das.h.!.+
Pausing and shooting!
Hao Ren suddenly stopped his body, raised the basketball, and threw it forward.
The basketball drew out a high parabola.
Hua! It went inside the net!
A three-pointer!
Zhao Jiayi, who stood outside of the court, suddenly felt like he was falling apart.
“Is Xie Yujia an immortal? Or is this person playing basketball not Hao Ren but his unknown twin brother?”
Hao Ren felt a gaze looking at him; he turned back and saw Zhao Jiayi watching him through the wired fence.
“Hey! Brother Zhao!” Hao Ren picked up the basketball and greeted him.
Zhao Jiayi looked at Hao Ren and forgot to reply; he looked at Hao Ren as if he was looking at a monster.
“This is an illusion, it definitely is! I’ve been too tired lately. Better return to the dorm early and rest.” Zhao Jiayi’s body stiffened, and he continued running forward.
Hao Ren looked at Zhao Jiayi, who was running away weirdly, and thought, “Don’t tell me that Zhao Jiayi became dumb from practicing too much basketball.”
He then picked up the basketball and practiced the layup that Xie Yujia taught him.
Hao Ren didn’t return to the dorm to rest until nine thirty.
Zhao Jiayi, who was in the room was.h.i.+ng and soaking his feet, saw Hao Ren coming back with the basketball, and he looked at Hao Ren oddly. “Were you playing basketball in Zone B?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Hao Ren rolled the basketball underneath Zhao Jiayi’s lower berth and replied, “I saw you pa.s.sing by. I called you, but you didn’t answer me.”
Zhao Jiayi looked at Hao Ren with an even odder gaze, thought for a while, and said, “Come to join the Basketball Team, Ren!”
“Forget it; I’m not into basketball. I practiced basketball for fun because I don’t want to be a disgrace in next week’s game,” Hao Ren grabbed his washbasin and towel and smiled at Zhao Jiayi, “I’ll cooperate with you fully and make you a scoring king next week!”
Seeing Hao Ren taking the washbasin out of the room, Zhao Jiayi gazed in the direction of the door and thought, “Ren is such a d.a.m.n good bro!”
On Friday morning, Hao Ren and Zhao Jiayi woke up at the same time. Zhao Jiayi went to the main entrance of the school to group up with the Basketball Team for the morning run, and Hao Ren went to the Hongji Square to buy breakfast and went to Zone B to wait for Xie Yujia.
Not long after, Xie Yujia, who was in a white s.h.i.+rt and a Scottish skirt, rode her bicycle and brought a basketball to the court.
“I won’t touch the basketball today. I’ll see how you have mastered the content I have taught you in the past few days.” Xie Yujia jumped off of her bicycle and threw the basketball to Hao Ren.
She stood on the side of the court and acted like a coach.
“Do five layups, ten shots, and dribble six times in and out of the three-point line…”
She allocated the drills verbally, and Hao Ren held the basketball and completed them one by one.
After ten minutes, Hao Ren finished doing the first drill. Xie Yujia nodded in satisfaction and said, “You’ve grasped the fundamentals. In next week’s game, as long as you don’t make mistakes, you will be fine. That’ll be all for today.”
“Ah? So fast?” Hao Ren was surprised; he had two full hours of practice daily in the past few days.
“You’ve learned everything. I have nothing else to teach you,” Xie Yujia replied as she put the basketball in her bicycle’s basket.
“How about next week?” Hao Ren asked.
“You got to practice yourself next week too. I already finished what I need to teach you. There are still some difficult moves and techniques, but there’s no need to teach you. You won’t be able to absorb if there is too much information. You only need to know the fundamentals and play your role on the court,” Xie Yujia said as she pushed her bicycle forward.
“Guess that’s it…” Hao Ren felt a little sad. Practicing basketball with Xie Yujia every morning felt very pleasant.
“I heard that you ate out with Su Han at the Hongji Square yesterday?” Xie Yujia suddenly asked.
“What’s wrong?” Hao Ren asked back.
“Nothing,” Xie Yujia lowered her head slightly before saying, “Oh, and by the way, come with me after school today.”
“Hmm?” Hao Ren was a bit surprised.
“My older brother wants to invite you over for dinner. Would you come?” Xie Yujia asked.
“Xie Wanjun wants me at his place for dinner?” Hao Ren couldn’t process this information.
“There’s no hostility. It’s for you guys to get to know each other better. You guys will be playing in a game together next week. My older brother wants to treat you to get rid of any previous misunderstandings,” Xie Yujia said.
“Isn’t Xie Wanjun’s home also Xie Yujia’s home…” Hao Ren thought.
This invitation came so suddenly.
“Alright, let’s go together after school,” Hao Ren thought for a bit and said.
“Um, it’s still early. I’ll go study in the cla.s.sroom. If you want to practice basketball, I’ll lend the basketball to you,” Xie Yujia got on her bicycle and said.
“Sure, hand me the ball then,” Hao Ren took out the basketball from the basket of her bicycle.
“Remember to return the basketball to the stadium after school.” Xie Yujia rode her bicycle and left the basketball court.
Hao Ren picked up the basketball and continued practicing. However, the morning practice seemed to be less interesting without Xie Yujia there. After shooting at the net randomly for half an hour, he returned the basketball to the stadium’s equipment room and went to cla.s.s from there.
As of Xie Wanjun’s invitation, Hao Ren didn’t mention it to Zhou Liren and the others. No matter what Xie Wanjun’s real intention was, he believed that Xie Yujia wouldn’t set him up.
The morning cla.s.s was very boring, and Hao Ren couldn’t bear it anymore. Therefore, he decided to hara.s.s Zhao Yanzi with text messages.
“What cla.s.s are you in right now?”
“Mathematics. Pythagorean Theorem,” Zhao Yanzi sent a message back right away; it seemed like she was bored as well.
“I’m going to go to a cla.s.smate’s home to eat and won’t be going to your house,” Hao Ren replied.
“Humph! I don’t want you in my house!” Zhao Yanzi sent a message back.
“I advanced to the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll,” Hao Ren sent her the good news.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Yanzi’s reply was indifferent, “That’s nothing to brag about.”
Hao Ren was disappointed, so he put down his cell phone and stopped messaging her.
After a few minutes, Zhao Yanzi’s new text message arrived. “I was changing. I have P.E. next cla.s.s; I can’t text you anymore!”
“Physical Education?” Hao Ren’s heart began to beat faster.
Ding!
Hao Ren’s cla.s.s ended.
Hao Ren was tempted. “Why don’t I go to Zhao Yanzi’s school and watch her in the P.E. cla.s.s? I went to the Parent-Teacher Meeting last time anyway, and I’m pretty familiar with their school…”