44: Chapter 44 is a bit dead.

The receptionist looked bewildered. "What's going on lately? Why is everyone looking for Coach Su Chenyu? He already has enough students."

Lu Zhiyu stifled a laugh. "Oh, we were referred by his students. They said he teaches well, so we're looking for him. Just get us registered."

After registering, the receptionist led them over to Su Chenyu. "Coach Su, four more beautiful ladies have come to take your classes."

Su Chenyu turned around. Seeing the four beautiful ladies, his eyes flickered. "Leave them to me. You go get busy."

Su Chenyu had a great physique, rivaling Lu Chengyue's, though he wasn't very tall—probably around 170cm. However, no one would think he was easy to bully; just looking at the muscles on his arms, a single punch could kill someone.

He wasn't particularly handsome, but he wasn't ugly either—just an ordinary person, with his physique being a plus point.

Jiang Heng and the others were in the middle of training. Seeing Xu Wanning and the others, they stopped one after another and ran over.

"Sister Ning, you're here too! Coach Su teaches really well. Look at me." Jiang Heng flexed his muscles. "Perfect, right?"

"Perfect, perfect." Xu Wanning obligingly poked his bulging muscle. They had only been training for a few days, so it was barely protruding a little bit.

Su Chenyu looked at them. "You know each other?"

Wen Shuyang nodded. "Yes, we came specifically because we heard from them that you teach well. The four of us want to train our arms and legs so we can run longer and have more strength in our arms."

Su Chenyu was even more stunned. "You even have the same requirements. I really don't know what you are planning to do."

Lu Zhiyu's eyes darted around, and she thought of an excuse. "Oh, we're preparing to challenge Mount Tai."

Su Chenyu had a sudden realization. "Is that so? Then you definitely need to train. Otherwise, it's one thing not to be able to climb up, but it would be troublesome if you couldn't get back down."

Wen Shuyang chimed in. "Yes, yes! Coach, hurry and teach us. We're planning to go in June."

Su Chenyu actually believed them and began teaching them very seriously. The intensity for boys and girls was different, so they had to take it slow.

Xu Wanning's stamina wasn't bad, but she hadn't been to a Gym before. Su Chenyu had her warm up first and then go to the treadmill.

There were quite a few people in the Gym, but relatively few women, especially women who looked as good as they did, so many men couldn't help but look over.

Of course, there were also some men who didn't even look; on the contrary, they seemed rather indignant.

Xu Wanning and the others weren't affected by these gazes at all and focused on their own training. As for showering, they decided to do that back home.

After staying at the Gym for two hours, the group left. Jiang Heng and the others still had to practice weapons with Grandpa Zhou in the afternoon, and Xu Wanning and the others were going to join in.

On the way back, Lu Zhiyu drove. Xu Wanning thought about how Lu Chengyue would be off tomorrow, so she figured she might as well send him his jacket. "Zhiyu, is your brother coming over tomorrow?"

Lu Zhiyu shook her head. "I don't know. He rarely came home when he was on leave before. Who knows if he'll come out this time."

Then she would just wait until tomorrow morning to send him a message and ask. He had said he was off tomorrow and the day after. If he wasn't coming, she would send it over; if he was, she would just give it to him then.

Back at Grandpa Zhou's house, Zhou Ke was surprisingly there as well.

Wen Shuyang asked in surprise. "Zhou Ke, did you also take a leave of absence from school?"

Zhou Ke scratched his head. "Yeah, I wasn't good at studying anyway, and I couldn't keep up at school. Since you all took a leave of absence, I did too. This way I can train my body more, and when university classes resume in the future, I'll go back."

Grandpa Zhou walked over, dressed in his martial arts uniform. "Come over here, follow me to the training ground next door."

The electric fence here was still in the finishing stages, so it was safer to go next door.

The group quickly followed. Xu Wanning and the others received their training uniforms, which fit perfectly; Grandpa Zhou must have prepared them long ago.

"The four of you start with the basics. Warm up, then practice sword swings." Grandpa Zhou tossed the four swords to them.

Xu Wanning nimbly caught her own, drew the sword from its scabbard, and touched it—it wasn't sharpened.

Grandpa Zhou noticed her action. "I was afraid you might accidentally hurt someone. These are basic ones that aren't sharpened."

"When you can nimbly demonstrate a move or two, I'll have a master sharpen them for you, and this sword will serve as the first sword you carry in your life."

These swords were very ordinary, all produced by his disciples in batches. They were certainly different from what he forged himself, but they were still better than what was on the market.

They couldn't cut through iron like mud, but they would certainly have no problem chopping off a zombie's neck.

The sword in Xu Wanning's hand had golden patterns on the blade, just like the one she had chosen before. It was very beautiful, though there were some differences in the material.

It was a sword she had used for a long time in her past life. Holding it, she immediately felt a sense of familiarity. She tapped the blade gently. "Baby, from now on, we will fight against zombies together."

A golden light slid across the blade, and Xu Wanning took it as a response.

Zhou Ke led them in warming up, and afterwards, they practiced individually.

The task for Xu Wanning and the others was to hold the sword still for ten minutes, followed by three sets of thirty sword swings, with a one-minute break between each set.

It sounded like it wouldn't take long—only forty minutes to complete—but it was actually very difficult to finish.

Forty minutes later, Xu Wanning and the others were wilted. They were too tired; they couldn't even feel their arms anymore.

"Come, come, come. Grandpa has set up a 25-day basic training plan for you starting tomorrow." Grandpa Zhou walked over holding an A4 sheet of paper.

The four of them craned their necks to look.

Morning 6:30 to 7:20: Warm-up 5 minutes; hold sword 10 minutes; basic sword swings 30 times × 3 sets;

Afternoon 15:00 to 16:10: Basic standing posture 10 minutes, basic footwork 15 minutes, air swings for consolidation 40 times × 2 sets;

Evening 19:00-19:40: Physical training 20 minutes (plank 30 seconds × 3 sets, knee push-ups 15 times × 3 sets, squats 20 times × 3 sets), stretching and relaxation 10 minutes.

The four of them looked at each other; they were basically dead.

Grandpa Zhou stifled a laugh. "These are just the basics. Later, we will conduct intensive training, and you still have to go to the Gym as usual."

"Understood." A listless voice came from the four of them. Even if they were tired, they had to do it; this was the skill needed to survive in The Apocalypse.

After resting for a while, they helped each other massage their muscles. If they didn't relieve the tension properly, they definitely wouldn't be able to lift their arms tomorrow.

Grandpa Zhou frowned. "It's still too aggressive. I should have switched you to wooden swords."

Xu Wanning shook her head. "Grandpa, this is fine. Wooden swords are too light. If we get used to wooden swords, we won't be able to adapt to these. It's better to use these from the start."

Lu Zhiyu and the others agreed strongly. They would eventually be using these, or even heavier ones. Using wooden swords wouldn't give them the right feel, and besides, they didn't have much time left.

"Are you going out later?" Grandpa Zhou looked at them expectantly. As long as they didn't say they were going out, he would assign them tasks.

Xu Wanning rubbed her arms. "We're going to the hospital. A friend's mother is sick and hospitalized, so we're going to visit."

Grandpa Zhou sighed regretfully. "Alright, go ahead. I originally wanted you to come with me to learn forging, but we'll have time for that later."

Forging?! Grandpa Zhou was really overestimating them, wasn't he?!"]}```