No Martial Virtue

Training ground.

Shi Ruyu's gaze instantly turned sharp.

"Junior Brother, you make the first move."

Lu Chenzhou lowered himself into a bow stance and stepped forward, immediately throwing a swinging punch.

Black Tiger Strikes Tree!

Shi Ruyu pushed off with her right foot and drove her left foot forward, lightly tapping the ground as she slipped away from the attack.

Smooth as a dragonfly skimming the water, she hooked a hand at him.

"Keep attacking."

Lu Chenzhou's fists cut through empty air, but he did not feel embarrassed in front of everyone. He continued attacking according to his own rhythm, while Shi Ruyu merely kept dodging, weaving, and shifting.

"Senior Sister is incredible."

"Seventh Stage of the Transcendent Realm—terrifying indeed."

"That Lu Chenzhou is pretty impressive too. He's at an absolute disadvantage and can't touch the teacher at all, yet he hasn't thrown his form into disarray or lost his nerve from nervousness."

Just then, Ji Xuantong stepped out.

He looked at the chattering trainees and said sternly,

"First courage, second strength, third skill! The most important thing in learning martial arts is courage. When I have you feed each other moves, you all shrink back like turtles with their heads tucked in. How can you talk about actual combat? From now on, be more proactive!"

A boxing proverb said: If you want to learn how to practice boxing, it still takes two people feeding each other moves.

Feeding meant feeding moves—sparring practice.

Those who practiced martial arts had to be open and forthright!

The trainees watched Lu Chenzhou, who was actively putting himself forward and earnestly throwing punches.

Some felt ashamed inside, while others thought he was too eager to show off.

Naturally, Lu Chenzhou paid no attention to them.

After fighting for so long, he had not even touched a single hair on Shi Ruyu's body.

Shi Ruyu stopped and let Lu Chenzhou rest.

Looking at the observing trainees, she instructed them,

"The Inch-Step Bow Eight, Triangular Vertical Leap, and the six footwork patterns of Basic Fist Art are not things you merely need to master. You also need to use them flexibly according to the circumstances of actual combat..."

Shi Ruyu looked at Lu Chenzhou again, approval in her eyes.

"Your fundamentals are good, but you lack sparring and practical training. That is why, in the instant of battle, you cannot accurately judge what move to use, and every punch misses. Once you become skilled enough, when to strike and how to strike will all become muscle instinct!"

She added,

"But you are only at the First Stage. Being able to do this already makes you very impressive. Some martial high school students have more vitality and blood than you, yet they are still inferior to you in sparring practice."

The trainees were somewhat surprised as well.

"He's only at the First Stage? Seeing that presence of his, I thought he was at the Third Stage."

Qin Zheng, who had been idling around at the side the whole time, cheered,

"Chenzhou, that was badass!"

He was already at the Second Stage, yet he did not even have the courage to go up and spar.

The night grew deeper.

Lu Chenzhou did not want his mother to worry.

Once training ended, he took the subway home early.

He opened his phone and found that Shi Ruyu had sent him a compressed file.

Shi Ruyu: These are some Basic Fist Art materials Teacher Ji asked me to send you. They're mostly insights and experiences. Keep them for your own use.

Shi Ruyu: Oh, right. Don't tell the other trainees.

Lu Chenzhou: Thanks. Do I need to pay for this?

Shi Ruyu: No need. Teacher Ji has started to think highly of you too. Your progress in boxing has been obvious recently. Given your natural frame, part of it is hard work, but I think your comprehension must be quite good too. It just needs time to be unearthed.

Lu Chenzhou did not hide the progress he had made during this period.

Great Xia had founded itself on martial arts and placed great importance on Martial Artists. Great Xia's public education funding for the martial arts industry exceeded that of all other countries, large and small, combined.

Even the finest wine feared being hidden in a deep alley.

If you did not take the initiative, did you expect some talent scout to fish you out of the ocean with a needle?

As he improved, he saw every change in everyone's attitude.

His father was willing to spend money now, and Shi Ruyu was treating him better and better.

More importantly, Ji Xuantong had noticed him as well.

He knew that becoming a true disciple required money. But the prerequisite was having good talent too. Shi Ruyu had an inferior natural frame, yet she had reached the Seventh Stage at only twenty-two, which showed that her comprehension was excellent. He too needed to display his comprehension as quickly as possible.

Only then could he obtain more resources and accelerate his progress.

Lu Chenzhou: Thank you, Senior Sister and Teacher Ji!

After chatting with Shi Ruyu, Lu Chenzhou looked at the Martial Dao Tree.

Basic Fist Art: Major Accomplishment (52%)

Black Tiger Fist: Initiation (60%)

Over the past month, Black Tiger Fist had improved noticeably as well.

Rising one stage in two months felt unbelievably good.

However, the first three stages had always been relatively easy. Upper-grade natural-frame geniuses would not linger here for long, breaking through realms as easily as drinking water. Only the final three stages presented obstacles.

Lu Chenzhou did not feel the slightest pride or complacency.

He had started late. If he wanted to catch up to those genius peers, he still had a long way to go. Shi Ruyu had told him that at Pingjiang Martial University, one professor's child had broken through the First Shackles at eighteen, not to mention the prodigies from the top Wudas and the various nations competing in the All-Nations Martial Arts Tournament.

The Azure Heaven Dragon King had once said,

"Beneath this vault of heaven, I see geniuses as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river!"

He did not waste time, using his phone on the subway to work through academic practice papers.

"Fuck your mother!"

"Your mother's dead!"

During the evening rush hour after work, the subway was packed to the brim. Inside the carriage, people started arguing over trivial chicken-feather-and-garlic-skin nonsense after one person stepped on another's foot.

In this fast-paced age, some people had grown more full of hostility as well.

Lu Chenzhou was unaffected and continued working on his paper. Suddenly, a mass of people toppled toward him uncontrollably, squeezing him into a corner.

Those two people arguing had actually started fighting.

One of them looked like he had trained before. He was tall and burly, his arms covered in tattoos, while short videos blared from the phone in his pocket. Veins bulged across his face.

"Fuck you! You dare lay hands on Laozi?!"

He was a First Stage Martial Warrior. How could he endure such humiliation?

The one being beaten was an old man, and his mouth was just as foul.

"You stinking outsider, so what if you learned a little martial arts? Laozi trained too!"

The old man's vitality and blood were still abundant. He must have practiced martial arts when he was young. The two grappled, throwing the packed crowd into a lurch, and quite a few innocent people were caught in the crossfire.

"Stop fighting! Can't you have a little decency?"

"Exactly. What's there to argue about over something this small?"

"I've already called the police. The transit officers will be here soon."

But the two men, their eyes red from fighting, paid no heed to any of it.

Lu Chenzhou looked down on them inwardly.

Martial arts required presence, not a lack of manners.

"Stop fighting! There's a child here!"

A mother holding a baby cried out helplessly. The crowd pressed against her, and she accidentally fell. She instinctively shielded the child, but could not get back up for the moment.

She was pregnant; there was another child in her belly.

Someone beside her could not help cursing. "Fuck your mothers! There's a child and a pregnant woman here! You two idiots, if you want to fight, wait until the train stops and take it outside!"

Those two still would not stop.

Things like this were fairly common on rush-hour subways. Lu Chenzhou, still in his school uniform, ran over and picked up the child, then helped the mother to her feet.

The two men continued grappling inside the carriage.

Lu Chenzhou could not help saying,

"That's enough!"

His voice was naturally drowned out by the two men's roaring.

As the saying went, fists feared the young and strong. The old man had been a Second Stage Martial Warrior in his prime, but age had caught up to him and his vitality and blood had declined. Now, he was only barely at the First Stage. The tattooed man spun into a flying side kick. The old man blocked with both hands and was blasted away outright.

Lu Chenzhou had just settled the mother and child when the old man crashed into him. He was tall and solidly built, and having practiced Basic Stance Art and horse stance since childhood, his lower body was very stable.

"Please, you two, stop fighting."

As a high school student, Lu Chenzhou was very polite.

The old man was already lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and howling while spewing profanities.

The tattooed man had fought himself red-eyed and, on instinct, actually tried to punch the innocent high schooler. In that tiny space, Lu Chenzhou used Inch Step to dodge. He swiftly switched his phone to recording mode and handed it to the mother.

"Please record a video for me."

"O-okay... Thank you for earlier, young man."

The mother froze for a moment, but still took the phone and did as he asked. There were surveillance cameras on the subway, but Lu Chenzhou feared that something might happen and the footage could not be retrieved. Recording it himself was safer.

"What, your mother's hair hasn't even finished growing, and you want to fight me?"

The tattooed man was somewhat surprised to see Lu Chenzhou evade.

Seeing that the high schooler seemed intent on standing up for justice only made him angrier. Before Lu Chenzhou could move, he threw a straight punch at Lu Chenzhou's face.

Lu Chenzhou leaned his upper body aside, intercepted the punch with his left arm, clamped the man's elbow with his right hand in a claw grip, and used the Eight Natures technique Shi Ruyu had taught him to fling him along with the momentum.

His whole body tightened like a drawn bowstring before power suddenly erupted!

Over-the-Shoulder Throw!

Bang!

The tattooed man was slammed onto his back!

Lu Chenzhou threw a punch, the fierce wind of it blowing apart the man's dyed yellow hair.

Yet the fist stopped abruptly just inches away.

Lu Chenzhou took his phone back from the mother and returned to his seat.

The tattooed man was a little dazed. Seeing the eyes around him, he felt utterly humiliated. Rage rushed to his head, and he charged at Lu Chenzhou again even though Lu Chenzhou had already withdrawn his stance.

"What the hell!"

Bang! The tattooed man's vision went black, and he fell to the ground again, cursing nonstop.

"That's enough!"

This time, Lu Chenzhou straddled the tattooed man and restrained him with an arm lock behind his back.

The tattooed man finally behaved. He had taken the initiative twice and been knocked down both times, which showed that the other party's technique far surpassed his own. He had a foundation of vitality and blood, but he had not practiced boxing for more than a decade. Compared with Lu Chenzhou, who trained day and night and had been tempered through a thousand hammerings, he was far inferior.

Three transit officers soon arrived as well. One was a middle-aged man at the Fifth Stage, his presence standing out among the crowd like a crane among chickens. He had the other two restrain the old man, then walked over to the tattooed man, who lay on the floor unable to rise and wailed to heaven and earth, and said coldly,

"What? You still want to extort money from that young man?!"

Before someone stronger, the tattooed man lost his temper.

The transit officers then took away the two people who had been fighting.

The middle-aged man looked at the high school student, who was already sitting there and seriously working through questions.

"Your training is good. You have a future, young man."

"Thank you, Officer. You've worked hard too."

At that moment, the passengers in the carriage could not help saying,

"Impressive—handsome and skilled too."

"That really felt satisfying."

The mother beside him also asked,

"Young man, you attend a martial arts high school, right?"

Lu Chenzhou, still doing problems, said,

"No, I'm from Wanhua High School."

The passengers were somewhat surprised.

"Then that's even more impressive."

That night.

Lu Chenzhou was at home reading the study materials Ji Xuantong had sent him.

Suddenly, Li Xianghua knocked on his door and asked,

"Son, did you stand up for justice?"

"Mom, where did you see that?"

"On short videos. It's trending in Su City."

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