Training ground.
Shi Ruyu's gaze instantly became sharp.
"Junior brother, you attack first."
Lu Chenzhou bent down, stepped forward in an archer's stance, and followed up with a hook punch.
Black Tiger Strikes Tree!
Shi Ruyu pushed off with her right foot and propelled her left, easily dodging the attack.
As smooth as a dragonfly skimming the water, she hooked her hand and said:
"Keep attacking."
Lu Chenzhou kept attacking by his own rhythm, unfazed by missing in front of everyone. Shi Ruyu just kept dodging, spinning and weaving through.
"Senior sister is awesome."
"Transformation Realm, Seventh Rank. Terrifying."
"This Lu Chenzhou kid is pretty good too. He's completely outmatched and can't touch the teacher at all, but he hasn't lost his composure or gotten nervous."
Just then, Ji Xuantong walked out.
He looked seriously at the chattering trainees and said:
"First courage, second strength, third skill! The most important thing in learning Martial Arts is guts. You all are so timid even when I ask you to throw a move. How are you going to fight for real? From now on, be more proactive!"
There's a saying: If you want to learn boxing, you have to practice with another person.
Sparring means exchanging moves, actual combat practice.
Anyone learning martial arts should do it with confidence!
The students looked at Lu Chenzhou, who was actively engaged and focused on boxing practice.
Some of them felt ashamed, others thought he was showing off too much.
Lu Chenzhou didn't care about any of this.
After all this, he still hadn't touched a hair on Shi Ruyu's head.
Shi Ruyu stopped and let Lu Chenzhou rest.
She looked at the watching students and explained:
"[Inch Step Bow Eight, Triangular Jump], the six step methods of Basic Boxing aren't just about memorizing the moves, they need to be used flexibly according to the real combat situation…"
Shi Ruyu turned to look at Lu Chenzhou, her eyes full of approval:
"Your fundamentals are solid, just lacking in practical sparring, so you can't accurately judge which move to use in the heat of a fight, and every punch misses. Once you're proficient enough, when to strike, how to strike—all of that will become muscle memory!"
She added:
"But you're just First Rank, and you're already doing great. There are students from Martial Arts High School with higher qi-blood than you, but their sparring and dueling aren't as good as yours."
Some students were surprised.
"He's only First Rank? I thought with that presence, he was Third Rank."
Qin Zheng, who had been standing aside doing nothing, whistled:
"Chenzhou, badass!"
He himself was Second Rank, and didn't even have the guts to step up for a practice fight.
The night deepened.
Lu Chenzhou didn't want to worry his mom.
He ended training and took the subway home early.
He unlocked his phone. Shi Ruyu had sent him a zip file.
[Shi Ruyu: Here are some materials on Basic Boxing from Teacher Ji, mostly insight and experience. Keep them for yourself.]
[Shi Ruyu: Oh, and don't tell the other students.]
[Lu Chenzhou: Thanks, does this cost anything?]
[Shi Ruyu: No need, Teacher Ji is actually pretty optimistic about you lately. You've shown real improvement in boxing practice. With your root bone, part of it is obviously hard work, but I think your talent is good too—it just needs time to emerge.]
Lu Chenzhou didn't hide his recent progress.
In Da Xia, the nation stands on martial strength. Martial Artists are highly respected. Da Xia's public funding for martial arts education is more than all other countries combined.
Even good wine fears deep alleys.
If you don't take the initiative, you expect a Bole to find you in a haystack?
He saw his progress reflected in everyone's changing attitudes.
His dad was willing to spend money. Shi Ruyu treated him better and better.
Most importantly, Ji Xuantong had started noticing him too.
He knew it costs money to become a True Inheritance disciple. But first, you had to have talent. Shi Ruyu was Low Class Root Bone, but at just twenty-two, was already Seventh Rank, which showed she had great perception. Now he needed to show his own perception as soon as possible.
Only then could he get more resources, and accelerate his growth.
[Lu Chenzhou: Thanks, senior sister and Teacher Ji!]
After chatting with Shi Ruyu, Lu Chenzhou looked at his Martial Arts Tree.
[Basic Boxing: Great Success (52%)]
[Black Tiger Fist: Beginner (60%)]
Black Tiger Fist had also improved clearly over the last month.
Advancing one rank in two months, it felt amazing.
The first three ranks are usually easier anyway. Top Class Root Bone geniuses never stay here long—breaking through is like drinking water. Only the last three ranks truly pose a challenge.
Lu Chenzhou felt no pride or arrogance.
He started late, and was far behind those genius peers. Shi Ruyu told him that at Pingjiang Martial Arts University, one teacher's kid broke through the First Shackles at eighteen, not to mention the top Martial Arts Universities and all the Geniuses at the Foreign Martial Arts Tournament.
Cangtian Dragon King once said:
"Under this sky, geniuses are as common as carp swimming across a river!"
He didn't waste time, and kept doing schoolwork on his phone in the subway.
"Fuck your mom!"
"Your mom is dead!"
Evening rush hour, the subway was packed. People started arguing over trivial things like someone stepping on someone else's foot.
In this high-speed era, some people's tempers have only gotten worse.
Lu Chenzhou ignored them and kept working on his assignments. Suddenly, a bunch of people lost balance and fell toward him. He got squeezed into a corner.
The two arguing people actually started fighting.
One of them looked like he'd trained before—tall, burly, arms tattooed, phone in his pocket blasting short videos, veins popping on his face.
"Fuck you, you dare lay a hand on me!"
He was a First Rank Martial Artist. How could he take an insult like this?
The one being hit was an old man, cursing back.
"Fucking out-of-towner, so what if you do martial arts? I've trained too!"
The old guy's qi-blood was still strong—it seemed he'd practiced when he was young. The two scuffled, tossing the crowded passengers all over the place. Several innocent people got hurt by accident.
"Stop fighting, have some decency, will you."
"Yeah, what's there to fight about over something so small."
"I've already called the cops, the metro police are on their way."
But the two brawlers were way past listening.
Lu Chenzhou thought they were pathetic.
Doing martial arts takes spirit, not bad character.
"Stop fighting, there are kids here!"
A mom holding a child shouted helplessly. The crowd was crushing her. She accidentally fell over, instinctively shielding her kid, but couldn't get up right away.
She was pregnant, with another child in her belly.
The people next to her couldn't help cursing: "Fuck you, there are kids and pregnant women here, you two idiots! If you want to fight, wait till the train stops and do it outside!"
The two still didn't stop.
Stuff like this is pretty common on the subway at rush hour. Lu Chenzhou, still in his school uniform, ran over, picked up the child, and helped the mother up.
The two kept fighting inside the carriage.
Lu Chenzhou couldn't help but say:
"Enough, you two!"
His voice was swallowed up by their shouts.
As they say: "A boxer fears the young and strong." The old man had once peaked as a Second Rank Martial Artist, but age had withered his qi-blood, and now he could barely maintain First Rank. The tattooed man spun and flying-kicked, the old man blocked with both hands, and was blasted away.
Lu Chenzhou had just helped the mother and child when the old man crashed into him. He was tall and had a solid stance. Years of basic pile skill and horse stance had given him a steady base.
"You two, please stop fighting."
As a high schooler, Lu Chenzhou was very polite.
The old man was already lying on the ground, clutching his belly and moaning, cussing up a storm.
The tattooed man, seeing red, suddenly swung at an innocent bystander—Lu Chenzhou. In the cramped space, Lu Chenzhou used an inch-step to dodge. He quickly switched his phone to video mode and handed it to the mother.
"Can you help me record this?"
"Uh... Okay, and thank you, young man."
The mom froze for a moment, but took the phone and started recording. There was metro surveillance, but Lu Chenzhou figured it was safer to have his own copy, just in case.
"What, you snotty brat think you can take me on?"
The tattooed man was surprised Lu Chenzhou dodged.
Seeing this high schooler looking all righteous pissed him off more. Before Lu Chenzhou could react, he threw a straight punch right at Lu Chenzhou's face.
Lu Chenzhou twisted his torso, caught the man's attack with his left forearm, and grabbed the man's elbow with his right in a claw, applying Eight Techniques that Shi Ruyu had taught him, flipping the man over with the momentum.
His whole body was like a taut string, suddenly exploding with force!
Over-the-shoulder throw!
Bam!
The tattooed man crashed to the floor, face up!
Lu Chenzhou threw a punch, the cutting wind blowing the man's dyed hair back.
But at the last second, he stopped inches from landing the blow and abruptly withdrew.
Lu Chenzhou took his phone back from the mother and returned to his seat.
The tattooed man was dizzy, looked around, feeling humiliated. Blood flooding his head, he jumped up and lunged at Lu Chenzhou again, even though Chenzhou had already stopped fighting.
"What the hell!"
Bam! The tattooed man's eyes rolled back and he fell again, cursing.
"Enough!"
This time, Lu Chenzhou pinned the tattooed man, twisting his arms behind his back.
The tattooed man finally gave up. He'd tried twice and been put down both times. That meant this kid's skills were far above his own. He had a qi-blood base, true, but hadn't trained for over a decade. Compared to Lu Chenzhou, who practiced day and night, he didn't stand a chance.
Soon three metro police arrived. One was a middle-aged man, qi-blood Fifth Rank, his presence towering over the carriage. He told the other two to handle the old man, then went to the tattooed guy, still on the ground wailing, and said coldly:
"What? Trying to scam this young man for money now?!"
Faced with a stronger man, the tattooed guy's attitude completely collapsed.
The police then escorted both fighters away.
The middle-aged cop looked at Lu Chenzhou, who was already back to brushing up on assignments.
"Not bad. You've got a future, kid."
"Thank you, officer. And thank you all for your work."
Right then, other passengers in the train began to speak out:
"Amazing—good looking and good at fighting."
"So satisfying."
The mother nearby asked:
"Are you from Martial Arts High School?"
Without looking up from his assignment, Lu Chenzhou said:
"No, I'm from Wanhua High."
The passengers were surprised.
"Even more impressive, then."
...
Night.
Lu Chenzhou was at home studying the materials Ji Xuantong had given him.
Suddenly, Li Xianghua knocked on the door and asked:
"Son, were you a good Samaritan today?"
"Mom, where did you see that?"
"A short video—it's trending in Su City."