Most of the people who can attend classes at the Flying Swallow Martial Arts Hall come from fairly well-off families. Even Lu Chenzhou's family isn't really poor.
But for most people present, ten million is an astronomical amount of money—enough to buy a luxury apartment in the Inner City before the prices crashed.
After a moment of dead silence, everyone dispersed.
"Don't even think about fighting Void Things. If you run into one, just run for your life."
"Yeah, leave dealing with the Void to the country and the professionals."
Lu Chenzhou stood where he was, deep in thought.
He had just added another goal to his list.
"Void Blade!"
He had finally seen a method to deal with Void Things before becoming a Martial Artist. But with a starting price in the hundreds of thousands, he could only bury that thought in his heart for now.
Martial Arts Supplements, martial arts university tuition, groceries and daily expenses... there were just too many things his parents needed to cover. There's no way he could afford a Void Blade.
...
At the training ground.
Lu Chenzhou was sweating buckets.
Punches, punches, and more punches!
He kept going until he heard the system prompt in his mind.
[Black Tiger Fist: 89% (Mastery) → 90% (Mastery)]
"Only 10% away from Small Success."
Lu Chenzhou stopped to catch his breath.
Qin Zheng ran over and asked,
"Chenzhou, don't tell me you're thinking about going for the Void Blade license?"
"I've thought about it, but it's still way too early."
"Yeah, best to listen to the Lord—don't try to be a hero if you meet a Void Thing."
"No way, just being prepared, just in case."
Qin Zheng's family was actually well-off. If he mentioned it to his dad, he'd almost certainly get him one. Problem was, he sucked—he didn't know when he'd even reach Fourth Rank at this rate.
But deep inside, he thought of another possibility.
If Lu Chenzhou could pass the test one day, maybe his own family could take out a loan to buy one first, so his best buddy could stay safe... and, in turn, protect him, too.
Qin Zheng didn't want to leave Su City. He'd lived here for over a decade, and now he'd met a girl he liked in high school—too much to walk away from.
Plus, with Void Disasters breaking out everywhere in recent years, is anywhere else really any safer? There might be more places like the Taihu convergence point out there.
Compared to that, Su City, which is already under close watch from the central government—
Might actually be safer!
At the end of the day… he just couldn't bear to leave Li Linling!
His senior's family had already decided not to leave Su City.
She also planned to apply to Su City University.
With her grades, she'd almost certainly get in. Qin Zheng felt like he and Li Linling would be together soon; if he left now, he'd totally regret it.
But for now, this was just an idea. He still had to talk it over with his family. He figured he'd tell Lu Chenzhou once he hit Fourth Rank—give him a surprise.
And honestly, for some reason, he had zero doubt that Lu Chenzhou could pass the exam. Maybe it was all the times this guy had blown his mind over the past half a year.
"Senior is here."
As the students greeted her, Shi Ruyu arrived at the Martial Arts Hall.
She was wearing those tight black yoga pants that really showed off her figure, the same simple white sneakers, with a white tank top that revealed toned arms.
She had that uniquely feminine kind of physique—not at all menacing.
"Today we're still doing 'Sea-sweeping Body' training. It'll come in handy in case of a Void Disaster," Shi Ruyu said, stretching before moving to the wooden posts and giving a demonstration.
"Who wants to give it a try?"
As soon as she finished asking, a bunch of hands shot up.
The recent Void Disasters had made everyone more eager to train.
After everyone had a turn, she looked at Lu Chenzhou.
"You're all doing well, but you're still a notch below Lu Chenzhou. His Sea-sweeping Body is pretty much on par with mine. Why don't you let him show you how it's done?"
The students were all shocked.
They knew Lu Chenzhou was strong—even Du Men couldn't beat him. But to hear Seventh Rank Shi Ruyu herself say Lu Chenzhou's Sea-sweeping Body was as good as hers—
Damn, this guy's insane!
Lu Chenzhou didn't hesitate—he stepped up and demonstrated. Qin Zheng, also Second Rank, couldn't touch him at all on the posts, and eventually collapsed from exhaustion and fell off.
Qin Zheng was utterly crushed.
His so-called "Second Rank" felt like a joke.
What could he do? He'd only just hit Beginner level for Sea-sweeping Body.
Shi Ruyu was quite pleased.
She figured she could use this as an excuse to have Lu Chenzhou teach her Sea-sweeping Body class in the future—she'd just focus on helping the others with Basic Boxing.
After class, Shi Ruyu called Lu Chenzhou over.
"Chenzhou, come to my Martial Arts Room for a bit."
As a True Disciple, she had her own private training room. Once the door was closed, she brought out a plate of dried fruits and nuts, and some jerky snacks.
"Eat something to recharge first."
"Sure thing, Senior."
Lu Chenzhou tore open some jerky and had a sip of water.
"What's your current Qi-Blood?"
"Haven't checked these last couple of days—it was 1.67 a week ago."
Hearing that number, Shi Ruyu's eyes lit up slightly.
"You're not far from Third Rank now."
You'll definitely be Third Rank by the recruitment exam.
Meaning, in less than a year, he'd broken through three ranks!
For this kind of progress, from what she knew, even a regular intermediate root bone would have to work really hard and take plenty of Martial Arts Supplements.
For example, that Huang Hao—he studied at Pingjiang Martial Arts School, achieved Perfection in Basic Boxing by eighth grade, became a First Rank Martial Artist, then broke through to Third Rank before junior high graduation, Fourth Rank in first year of high school, Fifth Rank in second year. That's considered a pretty quick pace for an intermediate root bone. Any faster, you're in genius territory, not really worth discussing.
Shi Ruyu encouraged him:
"Not bad, keep it up—don't get arrogant."
Lu Chenzhou had already eaten half a plate of fruit and nuts.
He and Shi Ruyu were pretty close these days, so he asked,
"Senior, have you taken the Void Blade qualification test?"
Shi Ruyu opened her phone and smiled,
"You mean this?"
Lu Chenzhou took a look.
[Virtual Blade Holding Electronic Certificate (Civilian Level)]
[Name: Shi Ruyu]
[No: scpj*****21980601]
[Level: Amateur Seventh Rank]
[Permitted Blade Level: Low Level]
[Validity: 10 years from date of issuance]
[Annual Inspection: Passed]
...
Lots of info on the certificate.
It's valid for ten years, with annual inspections required. If the holder is found unfit or breaks the law, the license will be revoked.
Lu Chenzhou was filled with envy.
Shi Ruyu had only taken the test not long ago.
"Once you reach Fourth Rank, you can try too, but the pass rate at Fourth Rank isn't high. At my level—Seventh Rank—it's pretty much a sure thing."
"Got it, thanks, Senior."
"Want to see my Void Blade?"
"You have one already?"
"Yeah, but mine's the cheapest mass-produced model—not as good as the Lord's, whose is custom-made. The C9 alloy he uses is more expensive than gold."
Shi Ruyu put on a pair of black gloves.
She casually threw a punch, and it seemed a faint white glow flickered. The longer Lu Chenzhou stared at it, the more it felt like his spirit was getting drawn in—must be the psychic radiation from the Void material inside. Pretty freaky, but if this was all, he figured he could handle it.
Shi Ruyu said:
"These are the 'Void-breaking Gloves', the lowest-level Void Blade, made from cutting-edge synthetic fibers. With these, grabbing naked blades bare-handed is routine—at least, regular person's blades. They can also do respectable damage to [Drifter]-class Void Things, so they're good enough for self-defense most days."
With her skills, as long as she didn't meet anything above a [Drifter]-class Void Thing—
If she kept her cool, she could escape just fine.
Since she called it cheap, Lu Chenzhou worked up the nerve to ask,
"Senior, how much did it cost?"
Shi Ruyu did some quick math.
"All up, a bit over half a million... Mainly because the Void Blade tech is so new and production can't keep up. Even I had to pay a premium just to get one."
"Wow."
Turns out, what counts as "cheap" for rich people isn't quite what he imagined.
How many Martial Arts Supplements could you get with that kind of money?
Shi Ruyu comforted him:
"Keep training hard—once you're strong, making money isn't hard. It's just that martial arts cultivation is expensive too, so it's tough to save up... just be mentally prepared."
...
Day by day, time passed.
By the end of March, the police announced that the sweep for Void Things in Su City was complete, telling everyone to resume normal daily life. School started up again, too.
In this big sweep, 13 Void Things were killed.
The good news was, no new convergence points were found. Their conclusion: all the creatures had probably come from the Taihu convergence, though some could still be out there.
By now, the number of deaths caused by Void Things had risen to four. All were regular people, each with some kind of mental or psychological issue. All things considered, this was better than most had feared. The country had really stepped up, and everyone knew it.
...
March 30th.
Building 3, Stone Lake Garden
The eastern sky was turning pale—the dawn of a new day.
On the rooftop, a fully focused Lu Chenzhou looked like a black tiger on the move. With every punch, the air crackled. His presence reached its peak.
Finishing a complete set of 'Black Tiger Fist', he steadied his breathing.
A system prompt sounded in his mind.
[Black Tiger Fist: Mastery (100%) → Small Success (1%)]