"Alright, let's eat first."
"Okay, Mom."
"Are you still going to practice boxing tonight?"
"Don't worry, Mom, I won't overdo it. I'll just practice a few rounds and go to bed. I want to test my Qi-Blood tomorrow—I think I might have made a small breakthrough recently."
"You didn't enter the First Rank, did you?"
Li Xianghua's heart suddenly tightened, a little excited.
Lu Chenzhou had always been steady. Every time after an exam, when asked how he did,
he'd always say it was alright, but as soon as the report card came out—
Good kid—first place!
Lu Chenzhou saying "a small breakthrough"—that was no small thing.
She couldn't help feeling a bit of anticipation.
Lu Chenzhou smiled and said:
"I haven't tested yet, Mom, don't get happy too soon. And don't rush to tell Dad. If I test tomorrow and don't reach the First Rank, it's just false hope."
Li Xianghua muttered under her breath,
"No, no, let's eat."
Speaking of which—
Just a short while ago, she also tested her Qi-Blood. It had already dropped to 0.84.
The average for a healthy adult male is 1, for females about 0.9. Once middle age passes, Qi-Blood declines uncontrollably, the heart and other organs gradually fail, and when the Qi-Blood is exhausted, so is a person's time.
Lu Guoping hadn't tested in years.
He works overtime constantly, often stays up late, and sometimes smokes when the stress gets too high—his health might be worse than hers, and his Qi Blood Value must have dropped a lot. He just uses ostrich mentality—out of sight, out of mind—doesn't do check-ups, and even says if you don't test, you're not sick.
Li Xianghua had heard that once you become a Martial Artist, you could slow down the Qi-Blood decline from aging, so the average lifespan is much longer than a normal person. If Chenzhou can make it, the two of them could die without regrets. When a grandson is born, his starting point would be much higher than others'. The Lu Family would move up a whole circle—bring glory to the ancestors!
Lu Chenzhou felt a bit bad inside seeing his father wasn't around.
"Is Dad still working overtime?"
"Yeah."
Lu Chenzhou originally wanted to tell his father to stop working overtime, but he knew the burden of providing for the family wasn't something a son's understanding could lessen.
"It's all on me to make something of myself!"
Lu Chenzhou longed to be a Martial Artist more than anything.
Money, wealth, status...these are just byproducts on the road to strength. You don't have to chase them. Become a Martial Artist, and everything will follow!
He picked up a piece of beef from his plate, chewing slowly and carefully.
Martial Arts Cultivation demands plenty of protein and nutrition.
Some rich kids start taking special Martial Arts Supplements from an early age. Giants like "Martial Medicine Factory No.6" and "Strong Martial Pharmaceutical" are super enterprises that make their money off Martial Artists—pity they're far removed from Lu Chenzhou's world.
Technology changes Martial Arts, changes life, changes so much.
...but it can't change the wealth gap.
After eating, he went outside for a walk to digest.
Lu Chenzhou returned to his room and started practicing his fist technique on the wooden dummy. Black Tiger Fist is a close-range style; as they say, "boxing in a space the size of a lying ox," so his cramped bedroom was enough.
This fist technique had many schools in its early days, but was eventually unified by the Martial Arts Association into thirty-six forms—much harder than Basic Boxing.
According to the association's data, mastering this fist technique to Perfection could let you reach Fourth Rank. Say what you will, but finding a job as a boxing coach with that is easy.
You could even be a private tutor who makes house calls.
Shi Ruyu might look down on it, but Lu Chenzhou felt as long as you make money it's fine. Teaching others doesn't hinder your own training, and improves your proficiency. Why not?
After one set, he rested a while.
After three sets—
[Black Tiger Fist: Beginner (1%) → Beginner (4%)]
"Just doing it once can raise it by 1%?"
Such tangible progress made Lu Chenzhou feel grounded.
He felt the soreness and weakness in his muscles and bones, and knew that was enough for tonight. Before breaking through the human limits, any Martial Artist needs proper sleep.
Even Martial Artists aren't superhuman.
Sleep is an Innate skill—not a matter of high Cultivation so you don't need it. That's not realistic. It's just that Martial Artists generally have better ways to preserve their Essence and rest up.
Going to bed and waking up early—it's a crucial step to being a real Martial Artist. Sounds simple, but in today's world, with endless smartphone and internet entertainment—
How many can really do it?
Just as Cangtian Dragon King·Li Ang said:
"On the Martial Arts path, diligence and focus are precious."
In bed, Lu Chenzhou watched a video on his phone. It was Cangtian Dragon King's winning moment at the Foreign Martial Arts Competition two months back—he watched it every night.
On the summit of Hua Mountain.
The Dragon King stood calm and tall, exuding majesty.
He held the trophy representing "World's Number One" like a king on his throne, and gave the simplest victory speech in history:
[I am the King of the World!]
Lu Chenzhou was filled with longing.
"The 21st Foreign Martial Arts Competition will be held on August 8, 2230. If nothing goes wrong, it should be in Huangshan. I've got ten years..."
Foreign Martial Arts Competition.
This world's highest-level martial arts event.
Martial Artist is just the entry ticket.
It originated two hundred years ago from Ying Country's World's First Martial Arts Tournament, but now the world is led by one superpower and many strong nations, with Da Xia as the superpower.
No matter the number of Martial Artists, or top fighters like Cangtian Dragon King, Da Xia holds absolute leadership. The main authority over the Foreign Martial Arts Competition shifted to Da Xia, and the organizing committee HQ also moved to Da Xia's Imperial Capital.
Out of the first twenty tournaments, ten were hosted in Da Xia.
Most of Da Xia's deep martial arts traditions also come from famous mountains and rivers and the Buddha Dao, so among the Three Mountains and Five Mountains, except for Huangshan, everywhere else has already hosted.
The 20th event was held at Hua Mountain.
In old times, martial arts masters came here for 'Hua Mountain Sword Discussion.'
Of course, top-level Martial Artists can split mountains and crack the earth, so to avoid damaging scenic sites, they'd build huge stadiums on the outskirts. Lu Chenzhou's biggest dream used to be simply watching the Foreign Martial Arts Competition live just once in his life.
Now, he felt his dream could change.
"Set a small goal first—participate in the Huangshan Foreign Martial Arts Competition in ten years." Lu Chenzhou made a silent resolve. Placement doesn't matter—it's all about being there.
He just wanted to feel that blazing Martial Arts atmosphere up close. As for meeting at the summit—that's for the big shots who broke past the "Seven Great Limitations."
...
Early the next morning.
On the sports field, Lu Chenzhou felt a bit disappointed. Sure enough, Shi Ruyu wasn't there, nor was the newly arrived fist technique teacher. Guess there was a problem with the school's handover.
He trained alone, pushing his Basic Boxing proficiency to [Great Success 3%], and then went to class. At this rate, next semester he could reach Perfection in Basic Boxing—maybe then the Martial Arts Tree would change?
Maybe it would branch out, grow leaves, even blossom and bear fruit?
In the classroom.
Math teacher and homeroom teacher Cui Yu was scribbling formulas on the blackboard.
Lu Chenzhou listened attentively, not thinking about Martial Arts. Academics mattered too; an illiterate person couldn't become a Martial Artist, and besides, it was his backup plan.
Most importantly, math is actually useful in fighting.
Some footwork is really grounded in geometry.
In the recent Foreign Martial Arts Competition, a fighter from the Northern Alliance member Innis—[Fist of Geometry·Dia]—used advanced math to precisely calculate his moves and dodges, catching opponents off guard. Of course, in the end, he still lost to Ying Country's fighter [Platinum Holy Fist·Kongsang].
Outside Da Xia, Martial Artists are usually called fighters.
After class.
The math teacher walked over to Lu Chenzhou and patted him on the shoulder.
"Chenzhou, come to my office."
The other students saw Lu Chenzhou being called out and started whispering.
"Being number one is great—the teacher must be giving him extra lessons again."
"Exactly."
In the corner—
A boy not all that tall but stocky muttered:
"Chenzhou's probably about to get chewed out."
His name is Qin Zheng, the only person at school Lu Chenzhou was really close with. He practiced boxing too, and even founded the Wanhua Martial Arts Club.
Lu Chenzhou was one of the only two members.
Qin Zheng came from money—a rich second generation. He didn't need to take the school's public fist technique classes. He would go directly to the Fei Yan Martial Arts Academy for lessons from famous teachers.
In the office.
The math teacher asked:
"Chenzhou, how do you think your studies are going?"
Lu Chenzhou replied:
"I feel pretty good."
The math teacher tapped his finger on the desk.
"I think you could do even better. I know you love practicing boxing, but this is a liberal arts school—academics come first. Not that there's anything wrong with Martial Arts, but you need to prioritize. If you put a bit more of your training energy into studying,
I believe you could at least enter the school's top ten—even top three isn't out of reach. Then you could get into Imperial Capital Liberal Arts University, which is just as good as Martial Arts.
My nephew got into Imperial Capital Liberal Arts University's law program, joined a top firm—Fang Du Law Office—and after just two years, earns five hundred thousand a year: a real elite.
And I heard some Martial Artist wants to hire him as a private legal adviser, and sometimes he even gives tips on Martial Arts. See, you can still follow a Martial Arts path this way."
To persuade Lu Chenzhou to focus everything on academics for now, the math teacher really racked his brains. Mainly, high school is nothing like elementary or middle school—these three years are crucial, so you really can't be distracted. The teacher had a point.
Lu Chenzhou replied gratefully:
"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher, but I know what I'm doing."
His gaze was firm—no one could change his mind.
Even before the Martial Arts Tree, he was like this.
The teenage years are especially important for laying the Martial Arts foundation.
He wasn't born with others' advantage—not looking for glory, just not wanting to fall too far behind. Those like the teacher's nephew who try to take up Martial Arts halfway won't get far anyway.
The math teacher saw how steadfast Lu Chenzhou was and could only sigh inside.
"Go think about it, alright?"
He was speaking as a teacher, based on experience with most students. Just as Shi Ruyu had said—survivor's bias. In a world with so many people, sure, there are a few with ordinary root bones who achieve Martial Arts greatness—
but those are always the minority. If you try too hard, you lose.
As he was leaving, Lu Chenzhou said:
"Teacher, I'll do my best to stay in the top twenty. I'll aim for the top ten too, but my boxing practice—I won't compromise for anyone."
The math teacher was stunned, then smiled and said:
"Alright, I believe in you. Just don't tire yourself out. Honestly, I'm not worried about you—with your character, you'll succeed no matter what.
I just want the best for you."