Five Elements Fist!
Wang Zhen's voice rang out with resounding force, echoing through the spacious testing room.
His apology was crisp and straightforward, without the slightest hesitation. As soon as he finished, he turned and swept his sharp gaze over the class.
"From today onward, Chen Fan is a member of Grade Four Class One. His place is in the first row."
As his words fell, he gave no one time to react or discuss it and clapped his hands.
"Everyone, back to the classroom. We're starting today's second lesson immediately!"
Chen Fan glanced at Lin Tao. Seeing Lin Tao nod at him, he followed Wang Zhen back to the classroom.
Grade Four Class One's classroom was less a classroom than a small indoor martial arts training ground.
The floor was covered with shock-absorbing polymer material, and all kinds of training equipment hung on the walls.
Wang Zhen stood at the front of the group. The anger Chen Fan's file had stirred in him yesterday had long since vanished, replaced by an almost fanatical excitement.
An eight-year-old prodigy whose qi and blood had reached 3.6 calories on his second day of martial arts training!
At long last, a true uncut jade had come to his class!
"The Five Elements Stance is only the most basic of basics, a method for sensing your qi and blood and tempering your bodies. But the Martial Dao is, in the end, an art of killing!"
Wang Zhen's voice abruptly turned sharp, and an iron-blooded killing aura spread from his body.
"Last semester, I taught you the Five Elements Fist. Now that we have a new student, I'll demonstrate it again!"
Before he had finished speaking, he took a fierce step forward.
"The Five Elements Fist consists of five forms, with the emphasis on fusing the five elements!"
Whoosh!
Wang Zhen moved.
His entire body was like a bow drawn to its limit, instantly pulled taut.
His right fist shot out like a cannonball. Before it reached its target, the fierce wind from the punch had already pressed down on the students in the front row, making their breath catch.
His movements were broad and expansive, fierce beyond compare.
With every punch, the air gave a muffled boom, as though an invisible force had smashed it apart.
His footwork flowed into his punches without the slightest flourish, yet it was full of power and rhythm honed through countless trials.
After finishing the set, Wang Zhen settled into a standing position. His expression was unchanged, and his breathing was steady.
The dozens of top students in the classroom stared fixedly at Wang Zhen's movements, afraid that missing even one would leave their Five Elements Fist incomplete.
Although Wang Zhen had taught them before, this fist art was more than one level harder than the Five Elements Stance!
The Five Elements Stance emphasized stability and the circulation of qi and blood.
The Five Elements Fist, however, demanded that they unleash the power of their qi and blood in an instant amid rapid movement and changes of direction. Its demands on bodily coordination and control over strength were exceptionally rigorous.
As a result, among the current students of Grade Four Class One, only five had managed to reach the introductory level of the Five Elements Fist!
"Practice on your own for half an hour!"
Wang Zhen spoke indifferently, and as soon as his words fell, the training ground erupted into chaos.
The top students, whose blood had been boiling with excitement as they watched, discovered problems as soon as they tried it themselves.
"That's not right. Why can't my steps keep up with my punches?"
"Hiss, my force scattered. I can't get it out at all!"
"How do the third and fourth forms connect? It was too fast. I can't remember!"
These students, considered geniuses by those in the ordinary classes, were now like headless flies, their movements twisted and distorted. Never mind producing wind with their punches—they couldn't even perform the five forms in a continuous sequence.
Wang Zhen paced back and forth among them, his expression cold as ice.
"Your waist and hips must move as one! You're using the strength of your arms, not the force of your whole body!"
"Your feet have no roots, and your center of gravity is unsteady. Go back and hold the Five Elements Stance another hundred times!"
He mercilessly scolded every student who made a mistake, until he reached Chen Fan at the back of the group and abruptly stopped.
The noise in the entire classroom seemed to be muted at that moment.
Everyone's gaze instinctively converged on them.
Wang Zhen's eternally unchanging iceberg face had actually melted in an instant.
He bent down, his voice gentler than ever before, even carrying a trace of caution as he asked a question.
"Chen Fan, how does it feel? Was there anything you couldn't understand or keep up with?"
"If you don't understand something, ask. Don't try to figure it out blindly on your own. If your qi and blood go astray while you're practicing, it'll damage your foundation."
????
At this sight, the students' eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
Was this still the Iron Yama who would punish people with laps at the slightest provocation and curse at them as if they were his grandsons?
This difference in treatment was far too obvious!
"Holy crap, has the boss changed his nature?"
"Favoritism! Naked favoritism!"
"Isn't his qi and blood just a little higher? What's so great about that..."
Whispers rose one after another, and many people looked at Chen Fan with eyes full of envy.
In a corner of the classroom, Li Wei suddenly sidled up to a powerfully built youth and said with a chuckle, "Zhao Jie, I think this kid's going to snatch your title as number one in the class!"
"Even the boss is treating this kid so gently now. If I remember right, even you haven't gotten that kind of treatment, have you?"
The youth named Zhao Jie looked somewhat displeased, and there was envy in his eyes when he looked at Chen Fan.
Young people were at an age when they couldn't hide what was on their minds, and their feelings toward others always showed at once.
"Hmph! Isn't it just 3.6 calories of qi and blood? Mine has already reached 4.2 calories. I'm still number one in the class!"
Zhao Jie raised his head, a trace of pride on his face.
"Besides, I've already reached the introductory level of the Five Elements Fist. This kid's got a long way to go before he catches up with me!"
Li Wei merely smiled at Zhao Jie's words and said nothing more.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Chen Fan raised his head, met Wang Zhen's concerned gaze, and calmly shook his head.
"There's nothing I didn't understand."
He paused, then added,
"Instructor, I memorized it when you demonstrated it the first time."
As soon as he said this, the whole room fell deathly silent.
Every discussion stopped abruptly.
Several of the top students even snickered aloud, looking at Chen Fan as though he were an idiot.
He had memorized it?
What kind of joke was that?
Although the Five Elements Fist had only five forms, fusing all five together was not so easy.
They had learned it long ago, and even now only five of them had reached the introductory level. Yet Chen Fan had memorized it in one go?
Even a genius couldn't be that monstrous, could he?
Sure enough, even the gentleness on Wang Zhen's face grew somewhat stiff.
His brows slowly furrowed.
With an A-grade talent and the ability to remember anything at a glance, perhaps Chen Fan really could do it.
But in Martial Dao cultivation, nothing was more taboo than impatience and aiming too high!
Had this child's attitude started to drift because his astonishing talent had been detected yesterday?
Did he think that being a genius meant he could disregard the basics?
Thinking of the note about autistic tendencies in that file, Wang Zhen grew even more suspicious.
Children with this kind of personality often had an extremely strong sense of pride. Perhaps Chen Fan had forced himself to make such a boast to maintain his image as a genius in front of everyone.
This was not a good sign!
He had to be given a warning!
He had to understand that talent did not equal strength, and that humility and diligence were the cornerstones of the Martial Dao path!
Wang Zhen slowly straightened up and fixed his gaze on Chen Fan.
"Then... demonstrate it once!"