Body Heat
"Ke Chajing, that name sounds familiar. I think I just heard it before. Who is it?" Si Ming asked, looking on in recollection.
"The Captain of the No. 1 Middle School Wushu Team is Ke Chajing."
A boy waiting next to the lottery box came up to Si Ming with a friendly smile and gestured to the location with his eyes.
Following the direction, Si Ming saw a tall woman, estimated to be over 1.8 meters tall, taller than most of the men around her. Her facial features were somewhat sharp, and with her casual short hair and large breasts, it was easy to mistake her for a man.
"So, I drew the worst possible lot?"
Si Ming turned around and asked the boy who had spoken to him.
"If your ambition is to challenge the strong, then this is an excellent omen."
It seems he overheard Si Ming's metaphysical ritual just now.
"I just wanted to say something sarcastic, but it turned out to be the opposite of what I meant, not the good thing."
"I see. Well then, I have some good news that will surely please you," the boy said, taking out his own fortune slip, which bore the same name but ranked C. "I also have the worst fortune."
Si Ming chuckled to himself, then quickly realized the other person's intention in approaching him.
Since they are the same tester, the better they perform, the more stamina Ke Chajing will expend, and the higher the chance of the other party winning when they take the stage. Although they are competitors, the number of special recruitment slots is not fixed and it is normal for it to fluctuate by one or two. Therefore, it can be said that it is mutually beneficial for both parties to cooperate, provided that the other party has the information that they need.
So he accepted the other party's goodwill and introduced himself, "Mohist School, Si Ming."
"Diplomatic School, Tao Chengsi." The boy introduced himself tacitly, adding a subtle flattery, "I tried to greet the candidate ranked first earlier, but they treated me like a thief. Sigh, it's true what they say: it's better to fight a smart person than to say a word to a fool."
You're so thoughtful.
Si Ming admitted that if he hadn't been reminded, he wouldn't have been able to think of a way to cooperate with others in a short time.
"Actually, our draw wasn't the worst. Among the twenty testers, Ke Chajing was undoubtedly the strongest, but she also wore the heaviest weighted suit, which restricted her the most. Moreover, cultivation and actual combat are two different things. If I had to pick the one I least wanted to encounter, it would be Hu Jixian, the vice- Captain of the martial arts team."
Tao Chengsi secretly pointed to the man standing next to Ke Chajing. He looked unremarkable, with a sly smile, like a fox who had stolen a chicken; the word "cunning" was practically written all over his face.
Si Ming nodded, knowing that the other party suddenly brought up the deputy Captain to prove that they had enough intelligence to be of value to cooperate with.
To be so adept at social maneuvering at such a young age—truly befitting Diplomatic School!
Just as the two were flirting, all the candidates finished drawing lots. Murong Zhe announced the official start of the assessment and demanded that all candidates outside the first-place number leave the martial arts hall and not be allowed to watch the competition.
This is to prevent candidates who are ranked lower from observing the testers' martial arts moves. As for people like Tao Chengsi who already know the members of the martial arts team, this is considered pre-exam preparation and not cheating. Ultimately, all the school can do is ensure relative fairness.
Si Ming was quite disappointed. If he could have watched the fight, even just once, it would have been enough to analyze Ke Chajing's martial arts routines and find their weaknesses, which would have been a huge advantage. Unfortunately, this path was blocked in advance, and he could only follow the crowd to the side hall of the martial arts hall under the supervision of a group of volunteers.
The reason they weren't allowed to leave the martial arts hall was to prevent the examinees from interacting with the family members watching the competition. Also, the hall has windows, so people standing outside could clearly see what was happening inside.
"The Ke family, from which Ke Chajing hails, was once a renowned Aristocratic Clan of weapon casters in Tange City. At its peak, they produced 30% of the weapons in Donghua Commandery. However, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, traditional casting methods could not keep up with the assembly line production in factories. The Ke family was eliminated by the times and gradually declined. Today, they have completely withdrawn from the low-end market and only accept private orders, focusing on high-end boutiques."
Si Ming thought of Ke Chajing's chest and nodded to himself; it was indeed very suitable for blacksmithing.
Tao Chengsi continued, "Although the once-powerful Lineage has split apart and its former glory is gone, their family martial arts have been passed down from generation to generation. Among them, the most famous are the Scarlet Refining Gold-Locking Hand and the Blazing Sun Divine Art. At Ke Chajing's age, she is not yet old enough to master the Scarlet Refining Gold-Locking Hand, but she has already learned the Iron Refining Hand as a prerequisite. Combined with the True Qi of the Blazing Sun Divine Art, it can generate a temperature of several Baidu, so you must never have any contact with her hands."
Si Ming nodded slightly. This was indeed very important information. Although he couldn't be foolish enough to play some kind of fistfight or palm-fighting trick with his opponent, it would be terrible if he were unaware of the situation and attempted close-quarters grappling.
In his past life, he often read novels that depicted duelists exchanging punches at the start of a duel. This was something that would never happen in real combat. Everyone aimed for vital points; who would be so bored as to exchange punches with their opponent?
Exchanging palm strikes makes a little more sense. In high-level martial arts competitions, palm strikes are used to understand an opponent's approximate level of skill. Or, if neither side wants to provoke a fight, they might exchange blows to test each other's strength and engage in peaceful communication, probing the depth of each other's skills. But exchanging fist strikes is utterly meaningless.
For a martial artist of Si Ming's caliber, exchanging punches or palm strikes is meaningless; no one would engage in such amateurish tricks.
For example, if you're going all out to exchange punches, and your opponent pretends to do the same, but then suddenly slips in like a monkey entering a cave, shrinks back, and strikes at your abdomen, you're completely caught off guard.
"If I don't want to have any contact with her, I guess I'll have to resort to weapons. Either I'll be agile and unpredictable, not giving her a chance to catch me, or I'll be brute force and brute strength, using sheer power to overpower any technique."
Si Ming thought for a moment. Neither the Snow Swallow Spear Technique nor the Feng and Shan Sacrifice Sword Technique was agile. Although the latter could be used to achieve ever-changing effects in Yan Jinghong's hands, that was due to Yan Jinghong's unparalleled lightness skill. The style of the Swordsmanship itself was grand and upright.
Tao Chengsi looked at Si Ming with anticipation and asked, "Brother Si, have you learned any martial arts?"
"No."
As Tao Chengsi's gaze turned to disappointment, Si Ming took out a thick, hardcover book and said, "But you can learn it on the spot."
The book's cover prominently displays the words "Complete Collection of Martial Arts of the Spirit Transformation- level Experts of the Su State" and "Platinum Collector's Edition".
"This is the best-selling book of the year, already ranking third in annual sales. Although most of the martial arts techniques of Spirit Transformation stage experts only have related introductions, some martial arts techniques also come with actual cultivation methods," Si Ming introduced.
The reason this book includes martial arts techniques is not because the author has particularly strong connections, but because he only included those techniques that could be made public.
For example, regarding information about Yan Jinghong, the Dinghu Sect's unique skills are only briefly introduced, but the cultivation methods of martial arts like "Hundred Birds Frolics," which are found in university textbooks, can be included.
Some Spirit Transformation stage experts, with the permission of their sects, publicly share their beginner-level martial arts techniques to expand the sect's reputation and attract more people to join their sects.
In addition, there are those Nascent Spirit Transformation experts who are not affiliated with any sect or school. Rather than hiding their original martial arts, they want to spread them so that more people can cultivate them and make them famous for generations. After all, at their level, they have already mastered the martial arts to the point of returning to simplicity, so even if their opponents find a flaw in their martial arts routine, it will be difficult for them to take advantage of it.
"Learn it on the spot? Are you sure it's okay?"
Tao Chengsi felt a toothache and wondered if he had chosen the wrong partner.
"Just kidding. Actually, I've already mastered some of the martial arts techniques mentioned above, but I haven't used them in actual combat for a long time, and I'm afraid I'll forget them. This last-minute practice is a good opportunity to familiarize myself with them."
Si Ming found a barely acceptable excuse and then quickly flipped through the book according to the table of contents.
"Shi Yuan, a Nascent Spirit Transformation cultivator codenamed 'Prison-Subduing Boulder' by the Mohist Knight Guard, created the ultimate technique 'Eighteen Heaven-Splitting Earth-Shattering Hammers,' and the book includes the martial art 'Nine Earth-Shattering Hammers.' That's it!"
Chapter Ninety-Six: Autogenous Heating
Si Ming chose the "Nine Earth-Shattering Hammers" weapon, which is characterized by its powerful and forceful nature, rather than a more agile martial art, in order to leverage his physical advantages.