Strength Test

"Sanshou combat requires footwork, punches, kicks, and throws—none can be missing!"

"Don't just focus on throwing punches; you also need to combine it with lower-body footwork!"

In the Sanshou class, Coach Lu appeared again and, as usual, began instructing everyone.

"I've mentioned footwork before: the step-in, the skip step, the cross step."

"Now I'll demonstrate each one again. All of you watch closely."

As he spoke, Coach Lu lowered his center of gravity, sank his hips, bent his knees forward, and executed a step-in straight punch.

His fist shot out with a whistling burst. Though it didn't strike the sandbag, it still made onlookers' hearts pound with tension.

Then, breaking down several movements, he patiently explained the key points he'd covered before.

Until finally, as everyone continued their Sanshou practice, he stood silently in place, once again observing their progress.

"Zheng Qiang? Hopelessly slow. Looks like I wasted my breath."

"Yu Shan. A pity—his physical talent falls just short of Xu Dongtai's."

"As for Lin Hao, I don't even know why that kid signed up. His improvement is practically negligible."

Shaking his head, Coach Lu had grown accustomed to most people's mediocrity.

After all, the majority here were just ordinary enthusiasts, not even at an amateur level. He wasn't surprised by this.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, his gaze shifted, landing on a figure not far from Lin Hao.

Whoosh!

A fist shot out, right arm straight, the form flawless.

It even carried a faint sound of cutting through the air?

His eyes narrowing, Coach Lu continued watching.

Sweat flew from the figure's body. His punches were powerful, his center of gravity steady.

Splitting punch, swing punch, whip fist, step-in, circling step. Each movement was practiced to perfection, flowing seamlessly.

It was just like he was on the verge of mastering Sanshou.

"How has this kid improved so much?"

Raising an eyebrow, Coach Lu stared at Chen Feng's back, pondering to himself.

But Chen Feng, unaware of the outside attention, simply kept practicing silently, throwing punch after punch.

Whoosh!

Shifting his stance to the side, he stepped forward and unleashed another straight punch.

[Progress +1!]

[Sanshou: Beginner (69%)]

The panel prompt appeared, and Chen Feng finally stopped, catching his breath.

Huff! Huff!

Sweat dripped down his face, his shirt soaked and clinging to his muscles.

"As expected, relying on talent alone, I'm hopeless."

Shaking his head to himself, Chen Feng walked to the side, unscrewed his gray sports bottle, and took a big gulp.

Two hours just to gain +1 progress—he had already given up any hope in his own talent.

Even so, he still had no intention of giving up practice.

The progress might be small, but it helped him better adapt to his body.

After all, his recent improvements had been a bit too fast.

Clap! Clap!

Soon, as these thoughts crossed his mind, the class ended once more.

Coach Lu withdrew his gaze from Chen Feng and clapped his hands, reciting his usual closing lines.

"That's it for today."

"Also."

After a moment's thought, Coach Lu decided to give everyone a heads-up.

"The Martial Arts Hall plans to expand its Core Disciple recruitment soon. You're lucky to have arrived at a good time."

"Once the training ends a week from now, the hall will send someone to conduct an assessment. Our class only has one slot. Make good use of it."

His resonant voice echoed in everyone's ears. Chen Feng could sense that most people looked pleasantly surprised, clearly hearing this news for the first time.

As for the few—like Lin Hao, Xu Dongtai, and a couple of others—they remained calm, obviously already aware.

"See? I told you I wasn't wrong," Lin Hao said with a grin.

Chen Feng raised an eyebrow at that, growing even more curious about how the other had known.

"Don't ask. If you ask, it's a secret."

Lin Hao flashed a mysterious smile, then quickly headed off to the locker room.

Chen Feng shook his head, and before long, he too went to take a shower and change clothes.

When he came back out, he saw that quite a few disciples were already leaving one after another, including Lin Hao.

He didn't dawdle either. Picking up his pace, he walked for a few minutes until he reached an open area on the second floor.

There were plenty of fitness machines here—barbells, bench presses, squat racks, and so on.

Beyond that, what really caught the eye was a Punch Force Tester placed at the very center.

Its body was entirely crimson red, with flame-pattern motifs winding around the rectangular frame.

There weren't many people around at the moment, and Chen Feng didn't plan to make a scene. Quickening his steps, he soon stood in front of the force tester.

Hah!

Taking a deep breath, his eyes shone bright.

His left foot planted firmly on the ground, his right leg stepped back.

His waist and back drove the motion, his five fingers Gripped Tightly.

Bam!

!!

His fist whistled through the air and slammed into the red rubber pad.

A dull thud echoed, and soon a string of numbers appeared on the electronic display.

70kg!

The digits reflected in his pupils—this was far higher than Chen Feng had expected.

"This much of an improvement?"

His eyes bright, Chen Feng couldn't help but look down at his own fist.

Even though this still fell short of Xu Dongtai, Don't Forget—the other guy had naturally strong physical talent and a build far more robust than the average person.

So, his mood right now could be summed up in just two words.

Satisfied!

"Time to head home!"

His spirits soaring, Chen Feng immediately turned and strode off, eager to get home early and continue searching for his treasure in the Dream World.

His figure vanished as he gradually left the Martial Arts Hall.

Meanwhile, a few people walked out of the Locker Room and came over to the Punch Force Tester, planning to test their strength.

"Whoa, Dong Ge, looks like someone just tested."

"70kg—that's some real power!"

Zhou Xin, his face dotted with freckles, stood nearby, staring at the 70kg strength data on the display. His expression was surprised, and a flicker of envy Flashed and Disappeared in his eyes.

Strength like that had already reached the level of Amateur Second Dan, making the tester a minor expert within the training class.

Xu Dongtai narrowed his eyes at the words, a few figures flashing through his mind.

Chen Feng? Yu Shan?

Or maybe some other expert from the training class?

He shook his head, quickly suppressing those thoughts.

Whoever it was, the Core Disciple spot was destined to belong only to him!

No one was going to take it away!

That same day, at four in the afternoon.

Chen Feng, eager to get home early, suddenly remembered that he was no longer unemployed.

His steps light, he soon arrived at the Yong Le Fu supermarket near his neighborhood and clocked in right on time.

"You must be Xiao Feng, right?"

Standing at the checkout counter was a middle-aged auntie with short, gray-black hair.

Though she wore a red employee vest and had some wrinkles on her face, her complexion was fairly rosy, and a thin gold necklace hung around her neck.

"You are...?"

Chen Feng was puzzled, since he hadn't seen this person in the morning.

"I'm He Xiuping. Just call me Aunt He," she said with a warm smile.

The explanation clicked for Chen Feng, and he realized this was the other cashier who shared his shift.

"I heard from Xiao Liu—thanks for taking the night shift. Otherwise, I'd probably have to find another job."

"Here, this is Auntie's supermarket shopping card. Use it freely. If you get hungry at night, buy whatever you want."

Aunt He was more generous and warm than Chen Feng had imagined. Such a gesture left him stunned for a moment, and by the time he snapped out of it, he quickly waved his hands to refuse.

"Don't be polite. It's not like I use this shopping card much each month anyway. It just sits there."

"So that's settled, Xiao Feng. I have to go pick up my grandson soon. The register is yours."

With that, Aunt He quickly took off her vest and hurried out of the supermarket.

Looking out through the glass window, Chen Feng clearly saw.

That ordinary, unremarkable woman was driving away in a car worth several hundred thousand.