Dragon Gate Martial Hall

The next day, Su Ti slept until the sun was high in the sky before waking up.

He had gotten home at 3 AM the previous night, then spent some time looking up information, finally falling asleep at 4 AM. It was perfectly normal for him to wake up late.

Pushing open the door, Su Ti washed up and then knocked on each door, but received no answer. He realized his family had all gone out.

Since his phone was lost during the robbery, his parents had left him a note. It said that because Su Ti was back, they had both gone to work and would return in the evening.

They had already prepared food for Su Ti; he just needed to heat it up in the microwave.

In addition, they had left him two thousand yuan in cash on the table for him to buy a new phone and cover daily expenses.

Looking at the note, Su Ti sighed.

Both his parents were junior high school teachers. Although they didn't have to work during the summer vacation, they both took on two part-time jobs to supplement the household income. Su's Father worked as a kitchen helper in a restaurant, while his mother worked as a cashier in a supermarket.

Although they had taken leave from work during the two days he was missing, they had been worried about him and hadn't rested much. The moment he returned, they rushed off to work. They were truly working themselves to the bone.

Frankly, it was because they were poor. Junior high school teachers had low incomes. Su Ti would be a sophomore next semester, and Su Ling would be a senior in high school. These were times when they needed money the most. Coupled with the fact that Su Ti would need a bride price for marriage in the future, they dared not rest even more.

He didn't know where Su Ling had gone, but Su Ti didn't care. The siblings hadn't communicated much for a long time; they were in a state of not interfering with each other's lives.

Eating the food alone at the dining table, Su Ti took the money and keys and left the house.

He was currently on summer vacation from his freshman year and had no academic commitments. With the address Team Leader Liu had given him tucked in his pocket, he planned to visit the Dragon Gate Martial Hall today.

Whether he could get protection was another matter. Su Ti wasn't someone who would hide his head like a turtle. More than getting protection, he hoped to gain strength and take the initiative.

Dragon Gate Martial Hall, Dragon Gate Martial Hall. Just by the name, it sounded like a place that taught martial arts. Su Ti hoped to learn the martial arts of this world here. It would be even better if it was "Ancient Martial Arts."

It was summer now. Su Ti first bought a new phone at a business hall not far from his home, got a new phone card, downloaded a bunch of mobile apps, and then called a ride-hailing car to go to the Dragon Gate Martial Hall.

The Dragon Gate Martial Hall was located on the commercial street in the center of Mingguang City.

Although Mingguang City was only a third-tier city, the city center was still prime real estate, with high housing prices.

The commercial street was bustling with people. It was summer vacation, and many young people were out shopping.

In the height of summer, pairs of fair legs were dazzlingly white.

Su Ti, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, held his phone and searched for the location of the Dragon Gate Martial Hall on the commercial street.

His gaze swept around, and after some searching, he finally found his destination in the center of the commercial street.

The sign of the Dragon Gate Martial Hall was quite unique.

The plaque was three and a half meters long, made entirely of brass, looking incredibly heavy. It hung high and slanted on the door frame, making people constantly worry if it would fall and kill someone.

The raised characters, written in a flowing, dragon-like style, spelled out "Dragon Gate Martial Hall." In a modern commercial street dominated by LED signs, it added a touch of ancient martial world atmosphere.

Su Ti walked inside the martial hall and found it to be very large.

Not only were there fighting areas with various sandbags and boxing rings, but there were also many fitness areas with dumbbells, treadmills, and fixed equipment.

Some urban men and women were exercising and shaping their bodies in the fitness area, while some shirtless fighters were hitting the sandbags with loud grunts and shouts.

The scene of a modern gym made Su Ti a little disappointed.

Would there be Ancient Martial Arts in a place like this?

Or was Team Leader Liu just telling him to find protection from a very influential entrepreneur?

"Hello, is this your first time at our martial hall?"

Perhaps because Su Ti had been standing still for too long, the front desk staff with a professional smile walked over and asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for someone."

Su Ti waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need assistance. He took out his phone and dialed the number on the note.

After a moment, the call connected.

"Hello, who is it?"

A strong, resonant female voice sounded on the phone.

"Hello, I was introduced by Liu Xing. I'm right outside your martial hall."

"Oh, okay, I'll be right there."

The call was quickly hung up. Soon after, a woman wearing a white martial arts uniform with an extremely exaggerated height and build walked out from the room labeled "Core Member Area."

Seeing her physique, even Su Ti couldn't help but swallow.

She was at least two meters tall, standing in front of Su Ti like a mountain. The shadow she cast even covered Su Ti's face!

"Good day, Hall Master."

Seeing her come out, the front desk lady greeted her and looked at Su Ti with some surprise, not expecting him to know the Hall Master of the main Dragon Gate Martial Hall.

This was a big shot who had won first place in the city-level martial arts competition.

"Hello, my name is Yao Juan."

"Su Ti."

Su Ti extended his hand, his eyelids twitching slightly as he shook the giant hand that was twice the size of his own.

Her arm was thicker than his thigh!

It wasn't an exaggeration; it was genuinely thicker than his leg!

With that physique, even if he tried to use joint locks, he might not be able to move her.

"You're the one Team Leader Liu introduced?"

Yao Juan grinned, showing eight teeth, and laughed heartily.

"Team Leader Liu?"

Su Ti hadn't expected this connection.

"That's right. Team Leader Liu and I both learned martial arts under Master before. Although he didn't officially become a disciple in the end, he's still considered my junior brother."

"Since you were introduced by Team Leader Liu, no matter what it is, I'll definitely give him face. Come in first and we can talk."

Just like her imposing physique, Yao Juan's personality was extremely straightforward.

Su Ti followed her through the tightly shut door of the core members' area and into an office.

A receptionist poured tea for the two of them, then withdrew and closed the door.

"Alright, what is it?"

Yao Juan was direct, and Su Ti didn't hide anything. After a moment of thought, he directly told her the entire story of his encounter with the underground black boxing.

After listening, Yao Juan frowned and, after a while, said,

"Mingguang City's underground black boxing has indeed been grabbing a lot of innocent passersby to compete recently. I didn't expect you to be one of the victims."

"However, underground black boxing is a matter of the underworld. I'm not involved in it, so I don't know much."

At this point, Yao Juan said seriously,

"But I happen to know who the organizer is."

"Who?"

"Li Mingyuan, a second-generation black market figure. His family is very influential. The underground black boxing matches in Mingguang City were also handed over to him by his father to manage."

"He's a person with a strange and violent personality. In the past, underground black boxing never had random passerby contestants. This is something he came up with to create a gimmick for profit."

"If he's targeted you, it's indeed very troublesome. His family is powerful, and I can't help you."

Upon hearing this, Su Ti's heart sank, but his mind was still sharp enough to remember the name Li Mingyuan, including the information about him being a second-generation black market figure and his family being very influential.

"However... my Master can resolve this matter."

Yao Juan took a sip of tea, changed the subject, and said slowly.

When she said this, Yao Juan's tone was very calm, but it was filled with strong confidence.

Hearing this, Su Ti's heart stirred, and he asked,

"Master?"

Yao Juan didn't keep him in suspense and said directly,

"That's right, the true Hall Master of Dragon Gate Martial Hall, my Master, Long Yuanzheng."

After saying this, Yao Juan continued to explain to Su Ti.

"I'm just a resident instructor, one of Master's disciples. This main Dragon Gate Martial Hall, as well as the other two branch halls in Mingguang City, are all Master's properties."

"Master is well-known in Mingguang City. Both the black and white sides give him some face. As long as Master speaks, a mere Li Mingyuan would absolutely not dare to touch you."

Su Ti was a little surprised. If it was really as Yao Juan said, then this Long Yuanzheng was indeed a big figure.

"However..."

Yao Juan sighed. Although she sympathized with Su Ti's situation and Liu Xing had asked for her help, she felt there wasn't much hope in this matter.

"Master hasn't been involved in worldly affairs for a long time. Even the martial hall properties are managed by us disciples. He's devoted to Ancient Martial Arts. It's not that simple to get his help."

"Over the years, many powerful and wealthy merchants have sought Master's help, but Master hasn't agreed. If you also visit him, he definitely won't pay attention to you."

"Then what should I do?"

Yao Juan was silent for a moment, then said,

"If you have talent in martial arts and can become Master's disciple, he will definitely help you."

After saying this, Yao Juan herself felt it was difficult.

If there were many people with martial arts talent, Master wouldn't have only taken three disciples over so many years, and even Liu Xing couldn't become Master's disciple in the end.

"Martial arts talent, huh..."

Su Ti looked at his Crimson Martial Arts Modifier and felt that he had a little bit of that.

"Then please allow me to join Dragon Gate Martial Hall first and learn martial arts!"

Su Ti was also someone who understood things quickly. The condition for becoming Long Yuanzheng's disciple was to have martial arts talent. And to display martial arts talent, directly going in front of the other party was clearly not feasible. It would be too abrupt, and Yao Juan wouldn't directly introduce him, even if he said he was a genius. The question was, who would believe it?

Therefore, proving himself to be a genius to Yao Juan first was particularly important. This would undoubtedly give him the opportunity to be introduced to Long Yuanzheng.

Dragon Gate Martial Hall, since it was an open martial hall, accepted disciples for a fee.

However, this kind of fee-based discipleship was fundamentally different from being a direct disciple like Yao Juan.

At this moment, Su Ti spoke, and Yao Juan also nodded.

"Okay, wait a moment."

After Yao Juan finished speaking, she stood up and walked out. After a while, she came back with two contracts.

Su Ti took a look. This was the core student contract for Dragon Gate Martial Hall. Once signed, it meant he would become a core student of Dragon Gate Martial Hall for a period of six months.

And the registration fee was...

One hundred thousand!

Seeing this price, Su Ti's heart skipped a beat.

No way, is learning martial arts this expensive? Although Su Ti had prepared to sign up for martial arts when he came, he was still shocked by this terrifying amount.

He had spent about 1,200 yuan on buying a mobile phone and a phone card, and still had the 50,000 yuan given by his uncle. This wasn't enough for the tuition fee.

"Um, can I pay in installments, or can I study for two months first..."

Su Ti was a little embarrassed. He had already discovered that the threshold for martial arts in this world was not talent, but economic strength!

Poor people shouldn't learn martial arts, go study instead!

Yao Juan shook her head and crossed out the numerical amount on the contract with a pen.

"This money will be considered an explanation to Junior Brother Liu Xing. He asked you to come, and I couldn't help you much. I'll waive the first term's tuition fee for you."

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

"Don't call me Senior Sister. You are only a core student now, not a direct disciple. You should call me Instructor."

"Yes, Instructor Yao."

"Mm, very good."

Yao Juan stood up and patted her legs.

"Let Little Fang at the front desk open a locker for you. Go change into a core student's uniform, and then come to the internal area for class."

"Yes."

Su Ti changed into a white uniform. The large words "Dragon Gate" on the back looked very cool.

He pushed open the door to the core area. At this time, Yao Juan and a group of core disciples were already waiting for him.

About a dozen students wearing white uniforms were sitting cross-legged on the ground. They were both male and female, and not old, ranging from teenagers to their twenties. But regardless of age, they all had unique temperaments, exuding a sense of nobility, completely different from ordinary people.

"Come in."

"Yes."

Su Ti walked up to Yao Juan. Yao Juan placed one hand on Su Ti's shoulder. Her height of over two meters compared to Su Ti's one meter seventy-one was like an adult pressing down on a child.

"This is our new student, Su Ti. From now on, he will be one of us. For new students, the older students should help more. Did you hear that?"

"Yes!"

Everyone answered with great momentum. Then Yao Juan patted Su Ti's shoulder, signaling him to find a place to stand.

After Su Ti stood properly, Yao Juan didn't waste any more words and got straight to the point.

"What is the most important thing in practicing martial arts? Does anyone know? Su Ti, you joined last, you tell us."

Everyone looked at Su Ti. They had all answered this question when they first joined. Some answered for coolness, some for self-preservation, some for strengthening their bodies. At this moment, they were also curious about Su Ti's answer.

Su Ti answered without hesitation.

"The most important things in practicing martial arts are strength and technique. The two complement each other. With the same strength, the one with higher technique wins, and vice versa."

"In short, it is one's own physical quality and fighting style that determine a person's ultimate combat power. I believe these are the two most important things in practicing martial arts."

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Su Ti with some surprise, not expecting him to say such a thing.

Yao Juan nodded in satisfaction. Unlike others, Su Ti came with existing skills. He had a foundation in martial arts and had even killed people in black boxing matches. His understanding was naturally different from these pampered students.

He didn't talk about why he wanted to learn martial arts, his aspirations, and other empty things, but directly stated his understanding of martial arts, and what he said happened to be the essence of martial arts.