Remember

Chapter 5: Remember

Zhou Leng finished eating, drenched in sweat.

Li Linhan placed a paper box in front of Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng had seen this paper box countless times in the display windows of the Martial Arts Marketplace.

It was a white paper box sealed with a round transparent film. Three red clerical-script characters on the box were exceptionally eye-catching:

Qi Nourishing Pill.

Zhou Leng's heart gave a light thump.

Even though he had not opened the box, Zhou Leng knew that it contained three small medicine cases, with one pill in each.

This was the closest he had ever come to a Qi Nourishing Pill in all these years.

"Uncle Li, I can't accept this. Even Third Brother doesn't have enough of these. How about exchanging it for three meals of Meat Medicinal Cuisine?"

Li Linhan said, "I gave it to you. From here on, I don't care anymore. If you don't want it, go tell him yourself."

"He's at the military academy, and it's a critical period for him right now. If he doesn't take the initiative to contact me, I can't reach him at all."

Li Linhan tore open the paper box, unscrewed a medicine case, shook it, then screwed it shut again.

"Once you open a medicine case, if you don't take it within ten days, the medicinal effect will dissipate. You won't even be able to sell it. Figure it out yourself." Li Linhan gazed at Zhou Leng with a beaming smile.

"You..." Zhou Leng looked helplessly at the three medicine cases.

Li Linhan rose, patted Zhou Leng on the shoulder, and said, "Just accept your Third Brother's goodwill. If you really want to repay him, then kill more Sea Sirens and demons, and avenge... his older brothers, sisters, and mother."

Zhou Leng's throat bobbed, but he could not say a word.

"All right, hurry to school." Li Linhan stuffed the three Qi Nourishing Pills into Zhou Leng's hands and pushed him out.

Clutching the three Qi Nourishing Pills, Zhou Leng returned home and sat dazed for quite a while. Only then did he carefully wrap them in layer upon layer of plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator.

Zhou Leng's gaze swept across the electronic photo album.

Then... I would kill more Sea Sirens and demons.

Zhou Leng circulated his energy to digest the Meat Medicinal Cuisine, then returned to his desk and wrote in his Martial Path Diary.

July 9.

Sunny.

The contents were the same as yesterday.

With his schoolbag on his back and the lunchbox he had prepared the night before in hand, Zhou Leng ran all the way into Eighth Middle School.

The classroom was bustling. After finishing the first two exams, the smiles on the students' faces had grown even brighter.

Especially those who did not plan to take the Martial Arts University entrance examination; some of them had not even brought their schoolbags.

"You're pretty bold, bringing a phone. Did you get permission from the teacher? Didn't your mom forbid you from bringing one?"

"I'm not taking the Martial Arts University entrance examination, so the teacher stopped caring a long time ago. I begged my mom to buy it yesterday while we were at the mall. I was practically about to kneel on the floor, haha."

"That's great."

"What's so great about it? I actually wanted to buy a Demonized Mini Portable Computer, but I was too embarrassed to ask."

"Take it easy. Even the cheapest Demonic Computer costs over a hundred thousand. The high-end ones cost tens of millions. There's no need to carry one if you're not a martial artist. Let me see your phone..."

Zhou Leng passed the two chatting students and slipped his phone into his trouser pocket.

After sitting down, Zhou Leng took out the hand-copied Zhao Dongjun's Collected Essays, Volume Two, and slowly flipped through it.

The cover was tattered, and the pages had yellowed.

The contents of Volume Two were the Martial Path insights of Martial Saint Zhao Dongjun during the Qi and Blood Realm.

Hu Yi, sitting on his desk, curled his lips and said, "You've read this book at least twenty times, haven't you?"

Zhou Leng said, "The teacher said that if you don't read the true teachings of a Martial Saint a hundred times, you're not worthy of learning martial arts. So I can only force myself to read it."

"You..." Hu Yi suddenly changed the subject. "With this kind of effort, you're definitely going to become a martial arts expert! I'll be counting on you two from now on."

As he spoke, Hu Yi looked toward Feng Wenhao beside him.

Feng Wenhao pushed up his glasses and asked, "What do you mean?"

Hu Yi stretched out both hands and draped one over each of Zhou Leng's and Feng Wenhao's shoulders. "People like me, with mediocre talent and an ordinary family background, are just as Teacher Sun said: I can't accomplish anything I do, and I never have anything left over from whatever I eat. So I won't fight or compete anymore. From now on, Blue Star is in your hands."

"What happened to you?" Feng Wenhao asked.

Hu Yi laughed and said, "I've figured life out and avoided fifty years of taking the wrong turns. Zhou Leng is the sort who refuses to admit defeat. Even demons can't do anything to him; he'll walk the Martial Path straight into darkness. What about you?"

Hu Yi looked at Feng Wenhao.

"I... don't know..." Feng Wenhao hesitated.

"I still want to follow the Martial Path. I won't get into a Martial Arts University, but I have hope of getting into an affiliated martial arts academy. If I really can't pass, I'll follow the Martial Path research route. If that doesn't work either, I'll apply to an ordinary major. If I slack off, my dad will break my legs." Feng Wenhao said.

"That's true. Think about all the Qi Nourishing Pills and Essence Replenishing Pills you've taken. Your dad can't just let you do nothing. How many layers of true qi have you reached?" Hu Yi asked.

"Small Accomplishment, Fifth Heaven."

"Good heavens, those Qi Nourishing Pills and Essence Replenishing Pills weren't wasted. You're ranked eighteen thousand now, and you have pills supporting you. After the Martial Arts Examination, you'll definitely enter an affiliated martial arts academy."

"Hard to say..." Feng Wenhao smiled sheepishly.

Hu Yi laughed and cursed, "Stop pretending to be modest. If Zhou Leng had so Many pills supporting him, he could get into a Martial Arts University even if he were injured. Don't you believe me?"

"Of course I do. No matter how Zhou Leng performs in the Martial Arts Examination, he'll definitely become a martial arts expert in the future!" Feng Wenhao said.

"Brother, don't jinx me." Zhou Leng said.

"After the college entrance examination, are you two still going to work at Pioneer Company?" Hu Yi asked.

"Yes." Zhou Leng said.

Feng Wenhao said helplessly, "I don't want to go, but my dad says I need to experience society early and temper myself. Looks like after the college entrance examination, the three of us will continue reuniting in the slaughterhouse."

"Three heartless executioners of demonic beasts..."

Everyone chatted and laughed. The moment the bell rang, the students slipped back to their seats like smooth snakes.

A middle-aged woman wearing a white short shirt and blue-gray trousers walked through the door and up to the lectern. Her sharp gaze swept across the entire class from behind her black-rimmed glasses.

Class Three of Grade Three fell completely silent.

The homeroom teacher of Class Three, Xu Meijie, slowly said, "Today is the last official day of classes. Starting tomorrow, come to school to prepare for the exams if you want. If you don't want to come, you can practice at home..."

"Those who don't plan to take the Martial Arts University or affiliated martial arts academy examinations shouldn't relax too much either. Don't go and disturb the students following the Martial Path..."

"In these last few days, lock your dantian tight. You can't let that breath slacken..."

"The college entrance examination is very important. It may be one of the most important things in your lives. But in the end, it is only one of them. In your lives, the most important..."

"The road of your lives is still very long. Walk it slowly, and walk it well..."

After Xu Meijie finished speaking at length, she suddenly stopped and gazed at the entire class in silence.

Some students' eyes reddened.

Xu Meijie rarely smiled. Turning sideways, she pointed at the wall between the blackboard and the doorway, where a red-letter banner hung.

She tapped it several times with her index finger. Her throat seemed to be blocked by something, and she could not speak.

It was the class motto.

"Stand!" The Class Monitor suddenly rose.

Amid a clatter of desks and chairs, all the students stood.

"Our class motto is..." the Class Monitor shouted.

"To be made a marquis is not my wish; I only hope the seas may be calm!" the entire class shouted together, their voices deafening.

Zhou Leng shouted with all his strength.

Xu Meijie smiled in satisfaction, nodded, and said, "You can forget the grammar in your textbooks, and you can even forget your martial arts techniques and mental cultivation methods. But I hope everyone remembers these two lines. If... I mean if, someone forgets them after growing up, that's all right. Just remember to make sure your children remember them. All right, it's almost time. Go to the internal arts classroom."

Xu Meijie turned and left, and the students rose one after another.

Zhou Leng stood and discovered that Hu Yi was sitting there blankly, the rims of his eyes slightly red.

Zhou Leng walked over, patted Hu Yi on the shoulder, and said, "Let's go."

"Mm." Hu Yi lowered his head, pulled a tissue from his deskmate, wiped his nose, and followed Zhou Leng and Feng Wenhao outside.

When they reached the entrance of the internal arts classroom, most of the students went inside. Xu Qingjin and the other three top Martial Path students left for the elite class to practice.

There were no desks or chairs in the internal arts classroom, only rows of cushions.

Everyone sat down. Internal arts teacher Sun Xiong walked in, chatted with them for a while, then said, "Today's the final lesson. We'll only be answering questions. If anyone has any questions about cultivation or the Martial Arts Examination, raise your hand."

"Teacher, why does the Martial Arts Examination only test true qi instead of having us fight and kill Demonic Beasts? You could at least give us the weakest Demonic Beasts to practice on."

"Exactly..." the students responded one after another.

"Sure. Let several million candidates across the nation go kill Demonic Beasts. Then someone dies. Guess what your parents will do?"

The crowd fell silent.

"In the first few years after the Martial Arts Examination was introduced, there really were practical tests involving killing Demonic Beasts. The death rate was less than one in a thousand, though quite a few people were injured. Guess how badly the authorities were cursed?"

The classroom was silent for a while before another student asked, "Then can't we be tested on sparring and fighting other people? We've attended high school for three years, but we've had very little practical combat. It makes us feel like cripples."

"Test you on sparring? Then how would your score be determined? You don't really think that when the time comes, you get to decide your own score instead of your opponent or the examiner, do you?"

The classroom once again fell utterly silent. For some reason, the confused students felt a chill creep up behind them.

"The current Martial Arts Examination system isn't just imperfect. You could even say it's riddled with loopholes. But this drafty, leaky examination is the fairest thing for the vast majority of people. Once you enter society, you'll understand. You will never encounter anything this fair again."

Sun Xiong continued, "Qi, blood, body, strength. The Qi and Blood Realm is divided into the Qi Nourishing, Blood Circulation, Body Tempering, and Strength Generation Stages. You don't really think all these years of training were for nothing, do you?"

"With qi circulating blood, blood tempering the body, and the body generating strength, this is the foundation of the Martial Path Civilization! True qi is the foundation of that foundation..."

"True qi certainly isn't everything, but the more abundant your true qi, the greater your achievements in the future. Without true qi, there is nothing..."

"With the Demon Worshipping Cult within and Demonic Beasts from all realms without, why does the nation still let you quietly attend classes and cultivate true qi? It's because all the Grandmasters and Martial Saints know perfectly well..."

"Letting you grow in peace will bring an enormous burden in the short term, but in the long term, this is humanity's only path to survival..."

"Letting generation after generation of children live, then grow, grow, and grow some more, is the only path. The only one..."

"Do you remember Martial Ancestor's final words? Shout them out with me! We must let..."

All the students followed and shouted together, "We must let the desks before our children remain quiet and peaceful."

Sun Xiong slowly said, "One day, each of you will encounter a desk worth protecting, just like your parents and your ancestors did."

The students' eyes reddened.

After a long while, Sun Xiong said, "All right, ask your questions now."

"Teacher, controlling true qi is too difficult. Normally there's no problem, but once I move and use moves, the circulation of energy either gets obstructed or changes shape..."

"Explain specifically..."