Chapter 19: The Basketball Ace

“I’m already a senior, and the Gaokao is coming up soon, so I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you…” Yang Qi said with a smile, politely declining.

“I know that too.”

Li Mingwei spread his hands helplessly. “But, our coach is a stubborn old man. He definitely won’t give up that easily. So, it’s better if you tell him yourself. Otherwise, he’ll definitely come find you in person.”

“Alright.”

Yang Qi wasn’t a cold person. With Li Mingwei’s attitude being like this, he really couldn’t refuse again, so he went with Li Mingwei towards the basketball court.

The school basketball team was practicing. There were seniors among them too, since some students were aiming for sports recruitment, which has lower academic requirements. Seeing Li Mingwei and Yang Qi arrive, they all stopped what they were doing and looked over. Among them was a middle-aged man around forty, staring with wide eyes, who strode over with big steps.

“It really is you!”

The coach, named Niu Fengshan, stood in front of Yang Qi, chuckling. He circled Yang Qi once, looking at him like a rare creature, and said loudly, “Kid, join the school team!”

Hearing such a direct invitation, Yang Qi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had only made two shots. For the coach to act like this, wasn’t it too rash? He smiled wryly. “Coach, I have the Gaokao soon, so I can’t join.”

“I’ve heard about your fight,” Niu Fengshan said heartily. “With your strength, casually lifting a person, plus your long-range shooting accuracy, and your hot-blooded spirit, getting into the best sports university through sports recruitment would be absolutely no problem!”

When Niu Fengshan said this, he naturally didn’t know that Yang Qi had already been identified by Yang Zirong as Ruiyun High School’s only hope to secure the title of Gaokao Top Scorer in Jiangzhe Province this year. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing.

Before Yang Qi could reply, Niu Fengshan continued, “Next Friday, there will be an international-level friendly match at our Ruiyun High School. Many university coaches and even provincial team coaches will come to watch. It’s a golden opportunity that comes once in a thousand years! If you get a chance to play and perform outstandingly, you could pretty much choose any university, and there might even be a chance to enter a professional basketball team.”

Niu Fengshan looked at Yang Qi seriously again. “Of course, all of this depends on your own performance. I’m someone who can’t stand seeing good talent go to waste, that’s why I’m earnestly persuading you like this. I hope you’ll take it seriously.”

Just as Yang Qi was about to refuse, a prompt sounded in his mind.

“Ding! Task triggered: Help Ruiyun High School win the friendly match.”

“Task completion reward: 5 Level-1 Energy Stones.”

“Task failure penalty: Deduct 5% of the current training value for all superpowers.”

“Ding! This task has an additional reward. If you become the MVP of the match, you will be awarded an additional 2 Level-1 Energy Stones.”

…

Yang Qi felt both helpless and happy deep down. He was happy because he had triggered a task again and had a chance to get Energy Stones, and the reward this time was quite generous.

“Thank you for your good intentions, Coach.”

Yang Qi thought for a moment, then said, “I can join the school team, but on one condition. I hope you can agree to it.”

“What condition?” Niu Fengshan asked.

Yang Qi said, “I won’t participate in training.”

“Not participate in training? How can that be!” Niu Fengshan’s eyes widened instantly. The reason he sought out Yang Qi was because he didn’t want to bury a good talent. He wanted to train Yang Qi into an extremely skilled basketball player. If there was no training, why would he bother with this thankless task?

Yang Qi explained, “It’s like this, Coach. The Gaokao is coming up. My main focus right now is on studying, and I’m not very interested in sports recruitment myself. The reason I’m agreeing to join the school team is mainly because of your kindness and because I want to help our school win the friendly match.”

“Win the match?”

Niu Fengshan interrupted Yang Qi. Yang Qi’s words were a bit too arrogant. His expression clearly turned displeased. “Kid, even though your long-range shooting is accurate, I’m not counting on you to win the friendly match. I’ll say it again: I’m asking you to join because I don’t want gold to be buried, to give you more opportunities and training! I think you have potential, not that you have skill already! Don’t get too cocky!”

Yang Qi smiled slightly. He knew his words had caused a misunderstanding, but he wasn’t angry at the coach’s overly intense reaction. He knew it was natural.

“I’ll make you change your mind.”

Yang Qi didn’t explain further. He really didn’t want the coach to end up misunderstanding and not giving him any playing time. He jogged out, picked up two balls, holding one in each hand. Standing at the center line, he threw the basketballs towards the opposite hoop one after the other.

Swish!

Both balls went straight through the net.

All the team members watching were stunned. Some had seen Yang Qi’s amazing shots before, some hadn’t, but their expressions were the same.

Niu Fengshan was no exception, but he still spoke stubbornly. “I know you’re good at long-range shots, but do you think the opponents during a match will just stand there and watch you shoot without defending?”

A bright smile appeared on Yang Qi’s face. “Then get two people to guard me!”

“You, and you.” Niu Fengshan pointed to two players on the team who were good defenders. “Go guard him. Guard him tightly.”

“Okay!”

These two entered the court, spread their arms, lowered their bodies, guarding Yang Qi from left and right, their eyes fixed on the ball in Yang Qi’s hands.

Although Yang Qi hadn’t played basketball much, he was originally pretty good at it. His physical fitness was better than others from the start, and dribbling was no problem at all. And now, after Muscle Enhancement, his strength and speed were beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Thud, thud!

The ball bounced heavily on the floor twice. Suddenly, Yang Qi moved with speed. The direction of his body movement was very strange, looking both left and right, making it hard to tell. The two players closed in from both sides, blocking Yang Qi’s path. One even reached out to steal the ball. However, Yang Qi’s hand suddenly hooked and pushed the ball, accurately passing it through one player’s legs, while Yang Qi’s body somehow appeared behind both players and caught the ball. After dribbling quickly for a few steps, he casually tossed it, and it went straight into the basket.

Yang Qi’s technique wasn’t particularly outstanding but it was fast. What Niu Fengshan noticed was more important: every move Yang Qi made was very clean, executed almost perfectly.

“Guard him again!”

Niu Fengshan shouted at the two. “Don’t reach out actively. Just stick to him and guard him tightly.”

“Okay!”

The two were clearly a bit unconvinced, especially the one who got the ball passed through his legs.

This time, when the two pressed forward, Yang Qi didn’t dodge or make any extra moves. He directly did a jump shot from where he stood. With the two players right on him, he jumped up like pulling a green onion from dry ground. He didn’t lean back because these two players jumping with him couldn’t interfere with Yang Qi at all. Their raised hands couldn’t even block Yang Qi’s… eyes.

He shot.

Swish!

It went in again!

“That vertical jump!”

Niu Fengshan’s eyes widened even more.

Those two defenders were quite a bit taller than Yang Qi, yet they couldn’t even interfere.

Niu Fengshan estimated Yang Qi’s vertical leap from just now. It was probably around 90 centimeters. That height was top-notch even in the domestic professional basketball league! And they still didn’t know if that was his maximum height!

The best direct jump height in the domestic professional league was a bit over 100 cm. The NBA’s best vertical leap was 120 cm! Spud Webb, known as the man who could jump the highest on Earth.

Fast speed, great power, accurate long-range shots, high jump.

In Niu Fengshan’s eyes, Yang Qi had already become a freak, a freak glowing with gold.

Yes, that last shot made Niu Fengshan change his view of Yang Qi. He had a feeling Yang Qi might really be able to help Ruiyun win the upcoming friendly match, or at least not let Ruiyun High School lose too badly.

Because the opponents were from a high school basketball team across the ocean, from the United States, Anderson Osborne High School. Even though its ranking in the NSAA wasn’t high, and even though they might only play two main players for the friendly match, for domestic high school basketball teams, it was a very tough opponent to match.

“You, you, and you, all go!”

Niu Fengshan wanted to see what other abilities Yang Qi had. He sent three more people, including Li Mingwei, to make it five people guarding one!

Then he shouted at Yang Qi, “If you can score another basket against the defense of these five players, I’ll agree to your request of not training. But you have to drive inside to shoot, not from outside the three-point line!”

“Okay.”

Yang Qi grabbed a basketball again and started from the center.

The five opponents instantly formed a zone defense, all lined up outside the three-point line, like a net, trapping Yang Qi inside.

With every step Yang Qi took forward, this net followed tightly, blocking all his paths.

Ruiyun High School’s basketball team was an absolute powerhouse among all high school basketball teams in Jiangzhe Province. Moreover, this team had just won the Jiangzhe Province High School Basketball Championship two months ago. Otherwise, how would they have the qualification to play a basketball friendly match with a high school from the United States.

The imposing momentum this championship team exploded with in this moment was quite shocking. Niu Fengshan, watching from the side, smiled with satisfaction.

For one person to successfully drive past and shoot against the defense of these five players would be very difficult, even for that brawny and tall provincial team player who came here to practice with them before.

Niu Fengshan didn’t expect Yang Qi to actually succeed in shooting. He just wanted to see how truly strong Yang Qi was.

But clearly, his estimate was going to be wrong.

Yang Qi held the ball. His feet seemed to have wind under them. He moved left and right with great speed within the zone defense of the several players, making it impossible to guess when he would actually make his move to break through, whether he would go left or right.

“All close in, I’ll cover the gaps!”

Li Mingwei shouted. The other four moved forward, almost surrounding Yang Qi.

At that very moment, Yang Qi suddenly accelerated. With a very graceful and precise cross-over dribble, he tricked one player, then a spin move shook off another, followed by a quick step directly breaking through two more. From start to finish, his speed was incredibly fast, making it impossible for their feet to keep up.

Yang Qi dribbled right in front of Li Mingwei but didn’t advance. He suddenly leaped back, stepping on the three-point line. Then he jumped up, pressed his fingers on the ball, and shot.

This whole process definitely took less than three seconds!

However, there was a “clank” sound as the ball hit the rim.