Return to the City: The Strongest King

"Don't be mad, Coach Xu is fine, she might have just forgotten. Stop arguing, hurry and go watch the movie!" Sun Yiyi couldn't stand it anymore and decided to act as a mediator.

"Come on, how am I supposed to call you when I'm diving?" Xu Duoduo's attitude towards her boyfriend was worse than towards Song Xiaodong, whom she met for the first time.

"Yeah, Coach Xu just wanted to see who could stay underwater longer, so she might have been late after work. Don't be mad!" Song Xiaodong felt sorry and walked over to speak to Xu Duoduo's boyfriend.

"What's there to compare? How much oxygen is left? What's the point? Haven't you heard - good swimmers drown, stubborn people get hit!" Her boyfriend continued to scold Xu Duoduo.

"Alright, it's just an hour late, your movie is at 7 tonight, and it's only 6 now!" Xu Duoduo became a bit impatient and pulled her boyfriend away.

"Come on, stop looking, she's taken!" Sun Yiyi stood up and patted Song Xiaodong's shoulder.

"Is this appropriate, diving and getting all ambiguous!" Chu Xianling rolled her eyes, looking at Xu Duoduo and her boyfriend's backs.

"Swimming and holding hands, how shameless!" Chu Xianling was still annoyed.

"While you're picking up girls, we're here waiting, can't even have shrimp at home!" Chu Xianling pinched Song Xiaodong's waist.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't don't don't, we held hands because Coach Xu was worried I'd have an accident."

"Bah!"

The next day in training again, after work in the evening, Xu Duoduo still wanted to compete with Song Xiaodong.

"Coach Xu, don't you need to inform your boyfriend in advance?" Sun Yiyi kindly asked Coach Xu.

"Don't worry about him!"

"Oh dear, couldn't wait, you two compete slowly, we're heading back first." Chu Xianling had no patience waiting for the two of them.

"You're leaving, huh?" Song Xiaodong asked.

"Of course, otherwise we'd be here watching you two bubble?" Sun Yiyi also wanted to leave.

"Then Dragon Three and Dragon Six, you go too."

"Mr. Song, shall we both stare at the wall this time, alright?"

"Okay!"

The two dove down again.

Still paused at 50m deep.

50 meters is a relatively safe diving depth, but if Song Xiaodong wanted to salvage a ship, this depth is nowhere near sufficient, and this time the two were competing on who could stay longer without going to the 100m pool bottom.

The two faced the wall side by side, looking at the blurry water light on the pool wall.

This time, Song Xiaodong entered a deeper level of visualization, running the cultivation technique learned from Teacher Wang to the fullest, his body's breathing extremely slow, entering a state of semi-sleep with no thoughts, senses gradually numb, leaving only the instinct of breathing and the natural flow of true qi within, with the third meridian true qi following the breathing, gathering blood qi, gradually enhancing at an imperceptibly slow speed.

After an unknown amount of time, Xu Duoduo signaled Song Xiaodong to start ascending, the two floated up, checked the time, and Xu Duoduo excitedly hugged Song Xiaodong.

"Ah haha——" Xu Duoduo let out a sharp shout.

"New record, new record! 63 minutes!" Xu Duoduo excitedly kissed Song Xiaodong's cheek, released him, and splashed water on Song Xiaodong.

"Congratulations, Coach..." Song Xiaodong just started speaking, but his mouth was filled with pool water, so he played with Xu Duoduo instead, starting a water fight.

After a while, Xu Duoduo stopped and said to Song Xiaodong: "Check the tank readings!"

Xu Duoduo checked her tank reading, then looked at Song Xiaodong's, displaying a frustrated look.

"Ugh...I lost..." Xu Duoduo grumpily splashed more water.

"Actually, if there was a third person to remind us when to ascend, Coach Xu could have won." Song Xiaodong said.

Song Xiaodong was speaking the truth, both entered a meditative state, breathing slowed, oxygen consumption was low, but Xu Duoduo had to regularly wake to check if the oxygen reading reached one-third, then ascend immediately as ascending also needed time and oxygen.

Because Xu Duoduo had to stay awake periodically, she consumed a bit more oxygen.

Both holding hands swam towards the edge and saw a pair of men's legs, suit pants, and leather shoes.

Standing on the edge was Xu Duoduo's boyfriend who silently witnessed everything that just happened.

"Why did you come?" Seeing her boyfriend, Xu Duoduo wasn't even panicked, but rather seemed a bit angry.

"Can't I come?" Xu Duoduo's boyfriend looked at both Xu Duoduo and Song Xiaodong, fists clenched.

"What are you doing here?" Xu Duoduo asked her boyfriend.

"I came to check if you're cheating, seeing another guy!" Xu Duoduo's boyfriend's words were extremely harsh.

"What nonsense are you talking!" Xu Duoduo and Song Xiaodong let go of each other's hands, climbing out of the pool, Xu Duoduo frowned and glared at her boyfriend.

"Sir, you might have misunderstood, I'm just here to learn diving, I have a girlfriend."

"I have many girlfriends," Song Xiaodong thought to himself but did not say aloud.

"Even if you have a girlfriend, shouldn't you restrain yourself and stay away from other people's girlfriends?" Xu Duoduo's boyfriend shouted at Song Xiaodong angrily, face flushed, eyes wide, brows slanting.

"What are you doing? He's my client, speak properly!" Xu Duoduo frowned and snapped at her boyfriend.

Her boyfriend glared at Song Xiaodong without speaking.