Principal Lu

Chapter 6 Principal Lu

The students asked questions one after another, and Sun Xiong listened carefully before answering.

Half an hour later, Sun Xiong frowned. "It seems most of your questions center on controlling true qi, and they're all over the place. I've already advanced to the Vitality Stage, where qi, blood, body, and strength merge as one. When I demonstrate it for you, you end up unable to understand. Zhou Leng, come here and demonstrate according to my instructions."

"Yes." Zhou Leng stepped forward and stood beside Sun Xiong.

"Let's start with how to achieve Force to the Palm. Many of you have a misconception. You think true qi is a stream of energy flowing from the dantian to the arm. That view is both right and wrong."

"In actual combat, true qi fills the entire body. At that point, true qi is no longer a river, but a sea. I've said this repeatedly: don't imagine true qi as a line. Imagine it as a force field, present everywhere..."

"...Zhou Leng, demonstrate it..."

"...Look, Zhou Leng's use of true qi in this move is extremely precise..."

The teacher lectured, Zhou Leng demonstrated, and the students nodded lightly.

As class drew to a close, Sun Xiong asked, "Very good. Who still has questions?"

Feng Wenhao raised his hand. "I've actually always had a question about Zhou Leng. After he was injured, his Internal Energy remained stuck at Minor Accomplishment First Heaven. The amount and intensity of his true qi barely increased, yet his ability to control it improved astonishingly. His Wave Palm and Eight Trigrams Steps also advanced at incredible speed. Teacher, could you explain why?"

Everyone looked towards Zhou Leng.

Sun Xiong smiled faintly. "Let Zhou Leng summarize what he's done first, then I'll share my view. Zhou Leng, tell us."

Zhou Leng was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "This Matter was partly a coincidence. You all know that I was bedridden for over a month. I couldn't do anything back then, and I couldn't bring myself to read my textbooks, so I could only read Zhao Dongjun's Collected Essays."

"Only Martial Saint Zhao's essays could soothe the unease I felt at the time."

"The first and second volumes of the collection both recorded an incident involving Martial Saint Zhao. Whenever Martial Saint Zhao was injured and unable to practice, he would use 'Mental Cultivation.'"

"That meant closing his eyes and repeating the details of his martial moves in his mind. The key was to make them as detailed as possible. Martial Saint Zhao said that if he couldn't present a certain detail in his mind, it meant he hadn't practiced it properly and hadn't truly drilled it into his mind."

"Yes, you heard correctly. Martial Saint Zhao's words were very unusual, so I remember them vividly. He said that one had to train the skills in their body into their mind, and also train the skills in their mind into their body..."

"At the time, I kept reading Zhao Dongjun's Collected Essays, kept watching instructional videos online, kept memorizing the relevant cultivation processes, and kept recreating the details in my mind... That period was probably when I used my brain the most in my entire life."

"This kind of cultivation didn't tire the body. It tired the mind, so the fatigue felt even more intense..."

"After that, my ability to control true qi gradually grew stronger. On top of that, I Gave Up everything else and focused my External Techniques training on the Wave Palm and Eight Trigrams Steps, so those two techniques improved instead. That's about it."

The students silently pondered.

Sun Xiong said, "Very Good. I'll share my view."

"Zhou Leng overlooked something crucial: the spirit, or what you might call the Martial Will. To Innate Masters, this is basic training, but to most people, it's elusive and uncertain."

"My guess is that Zhou Leng was able to do those things in his sickbed because he experienced the journey from life to death. The torment and pain not only failed to crush him, but instead awakened his will to live—or his will to cultivate."

"In short, his spirit underwent an extremely rare tempering. Combined with the cultivation method of a Martial Saint, he was able to advance instead of retreating."

Everyone nodded one after another.

"There's one more point, though this is also just my guess. In the past, he mostly cultivated with his body. But this time, lying in a sickbed, he was forced to keep cultivating with his mind. As a result, he accidentally opened his mind's apertures." Sun Xiong laughed.

The others laughed along with him.

"Many of the details may have involved luck or coincidence, and you can't learn those things. But Zhou Leng's spirit of not becoming discouraged in the face of injury and illness is something all of you can theoretically achieve. I believe that if you possessed Zhou Leng's spirit, it wouldn't take long for you to unearth your own talents and then break through..."

After Internal Energy Class ended, the others gradually left. Sun Xiong said, "Zhou Leng, stay behind."

Zhou Leng walked over, while Hu Yi and Feng Wenhao stood at the doorway.

Sun Xiong said, "I know something about your situation. I wasn't joking earlier. I suspect that you've awakened a low-level Martial Will. But it's too faint, and your Martial Path Perception isn't strong enough, so you didn't sense it."

Zhou Leng nodded lightly.

"However, your injuries really have affected your Academic Exam and Physical Exam too severely. There are more than seventy thousand people across the city. Even if a miracle occurs, it will be difficult for you to enter an affiliated martial academy, let alone a Martial Arts University."

"Yes." Zhou Leng admitted it.

"I have two suggestions. First, continue this kind of Mental Cultivation. You should know that many people have no way to carry out this kind of training. Many people with greater talent and stronger abilities can't achieve Internal Vision like a Painting as easily as you can."

Zhou Leng nodded.

"My second suggestion is that if you fail to enter an affiliated martial academy, you absolutely must not Give Up. I can't say whether you're suited for the martial path, because the current system has no way to test it. Even Martial Saint Zhao said that whether it's technological civilization or Martial Path Civilization, existing education and selection systems are bound to be unable to cover every aspect. They'll always overlook some people."

"I... will kill my way back to West Sea Demon City." Zhou Leng spoke slowly.

"Very Good!" Sun Xiong said. "When your results come out, if you don't get into an affiliated martial academy, come find me. We'll discuss a path suited to you. I can't promise that it will definitely make you into anything, but I can guarantee that you won't fall too far behind your classmates at the same stage."

"Thank you, Teacher Sun!"

Sun Xiong rose and patted Zhou Leng on the shoulder. "Go."

After Internal Energy Class, everyone went to different main External Techniques classes according to their martial arts specialties.

Hu Yi went to the finger-technique classroom, Feng Wenhao went to the boxing classroom, and Zhou Leng went to the palm-technique classroom.

After finishing the palm-technique class, the three met again during the outdoor footwork class...

Some teachers answered questions, some explained deeper martial principles, and some described life at a Martial Arts University, causing the students' imaginations to run wild.

As soon as the midday dismissal bell rang, students poured out of classrooms everywhere.

Some headed for the school's large cafeteria, some went to the small cafeteria, and some stayed in the classroom.

Zhou Leng and the other two, together with the labor committee member, carried the large food basket filled with Class Three's lunch boxes back to the classroom. Some students gathered around to find their own lunch boxes.

The three opened their aluminum lunch boxes as usual and filled the table with them.

After lunch, the three quickly rinsed their lunch boxes. On the way back, they saw through the corridor windows that people were gradually coming out of the small cafeteria downstairs.

Xu Qingjin's ponytail swayed among the crowd.

"They've probably been eating Meat Medicinal Cuisine every day these past few days. The small cafeteria's food is seriously tempting," Hu Yi said.

"Either get into the elite class or pay over ten thousand a month for meals. We can't afford it," Feng Wenhao said.

At that moment, the familiar broadcast began.

"...We wish the senior-year students success..."

"...As in previous years... the college entrance examination rewards established by Eighth Middle School this time are..."

"...Those admitted to Cloud Splendor or Jinjing University will receive ten Qi Nourishing Pills, three Essence Replenishing Pills, and three Blood Cleansing Pills..."

"...Those admitted to the Top Ten Martial Arts Universities will receive three Qi Nourishing Pills and one Essence Replenishing Pill..."

"...At the same time, an Improvement Award for the martial arts examination has been established. For every ten-thousand-place improvement in the citywide ranking, one Qi Nourishing Pill will be awarded..."

"...The student with the greatest improvement, provided it exceeds thirty thousand places, will be the Improvement Champion and receive an additional Essence Replenishing Pill, as well as a self-selected martial arts instructional video worth 1,000 points of Battle Merit or Contribution Value..."

Everyone acted as though they hadn't heard, but Zhou Leng froze for a moment.

A flame rose in Zhou Leng's heart.

After the college entrance examination, his monthly subsidy of over a thousand yuan would end.

Zhou Leng had originally been hesitating over whether he should focus on the martial path and compete for "martial arts prize money," or temporarily suspend his martial training to earn money and resume cultivation after he had saved enough.

But if he could obtain three extra Qi Nourishing Pills and one Essence Replenishing Pill, his strength would certainly improve somewhat.

By then, he could directly earn money through martial arts.

Whether he broke through the Eighteen Bronze Men Formation, went to Demon City to kill enemies and accumulate Battle Merit, or used some other method, he could support himself—far more than he could by working odd jobs.

Even selling the pills to buy cultivation time would be worth it.

Improving by thirty thousand places seemed extremely difficult to others, but that mysterious forest, and that Frost Giant Tree...

Zhou Leng fell into deep thought.

"What's wrong..." Hu Yi suddenly reached out and lightly patted Zhou Leng's shoulder.

The next instant, Zhou Leng retreated half a step to dodge, raising his right hand to block, but he stopped halfway.

At the same time, true qi surged.

???

Hu Yi and Feng Wenhao were covered in question marks as they stared at Zhou Leng All Together.

"Qi Follows Body Movement? You probably haven't reached it yet, but you're close," Hu Yi said.

Feng Wenhao widened his eyes. "We agreed to slack off together, and you secretly broke through!"

"I was thinking about variations of the Eight Trigrams Steps, and Hu Yi happened to strike at me, so I moved," Zhou Leng made up an excuse.

"I see. I thought you had not only recovered, but also made a huge leap forward."

"But your complexion really is much better today than it was last week."

"Let's go back to the classroom." Zhou Leng changed the subject.

Hu Yi and Feng Wenhao didn't think much of it and returned to the classroom together.

After lunch break, they attended two more classes. Next came the time for finding teachers to answer questions.

When the dismissal bell rang, all the students except those in the martial arts elite class left. They no longer stayed for martial arts evening self-study as they had in the past.

The three walked to the entrance together and saw a familiar white-haired, white-bearded Old Man smiling as he looked at the students leaving.

"Goodbye, Principal Lu!" The senior students saluted Principal Lu one after another.

"Goodbye, Principal Lu." Zhou Leng also Bent Down in salute.

"Zhou Leng, take good care of your illness." Principal Lu kindly patted Zhou Leng's upper left arm.

"Thank you, Principal Lu!" Zhou Leng said.

After leaving the school gate, Hu Yi said, "Our Principal Lu is really impressive. A few days ago, he even called me by name."

"If his martial arts talent hadn't been low, and if people of his generation hadn't failed to practice martial arts from a young age, he might really have become a major figure."

"He's the head of a school. He's already a major figure, all right."

The three looked back at the gate of Eighth Middle School. Strangely, none of them spoke, and they silently walked home.