Those Who Gave Me Life Were My Parents; Those Who Taught Me Were My Master! (Third Update—Please Vote and Keep Reading)

After returning home, Lu Chenzhou sent his nagging mother away.

After finishing Heaven Stance and his fist techniques, he showered, sat before his computer desk, took out the materials the hall master had given him, and began looking through information on next month's exchange competition opponents.

The hall master had given him a list of ten people.

Judging from the intelligence, all of them had Third Stage cultivation.

Whether they had broken through to Fourth Stage during this period was unknown. But objectively speaking, it was extremely difficult for someone with ordinary lower-grade bones to reach Fourth Stage before turning eighteen!

Lu Chenzhou was confident because he had the Martial Dao Tree.

Setting that factor aside, sixteen-year-old Du Men was already the limit for someone with average comprehension and lower-grade bones. Yet whether he could reach Fourth Stage before eighteen remained unknown. Breaking through from Bright Force to Hidden Force was a massive hurdle!

Though this hurdle fell far short of the shackles of the flesh, it was still not something ordinary people could easily cross. Those with average bones and comprehension often needed a long time to grind away at it.

"If I don't run into a Fourth Stage opponent, I'm confident I can break into the top three. If I do run into one, then even if I exhaust every trick in my arsenal, I still won't be a match for them."

Lu Chenzhou analyzed the matter inwardly.

In the end, he singled out three key competitors.

Rien, the eldest son of Giant Elephant Rikett, was seventeen years old. An immigrant from the Silver Eagle Federation, he had followed his father in obtaining Great Xia citizenship. His third-rate martial art, White Elephant Combat Art, was close to Major Accomplishment!

Liu Qingyuan, the direct disciple of River-Crossing Jiao, was sixteen years old. His third-rate martial art, Green Snake Palm, had reached Minor Accomplishment, and he was also skilled in Wandering Dragon Martial Arts Hall's secret martial art, Wandering Dragon Body.

The last was Wang Chong, the direct disciple of Dancing Sky Lion. Seventeen years old, his third-rate martial art Lion Fist had reached Minor Accomplishment, and he also possessed the movement martial art Lion Dance Step...

"They've all been at Third Stage for a long time, and each has at least one third-rate martial art at Minor Accomplishment. Aside from Rien, the others have all mastered movement martial arts too. They're all formidable opponents."

Whether these people had hidden martial arts was unknown.

Those listed as direct disciples were generally anything but ordinary.

Of the three, Lu Chenzhou was most wary of Rien. According to the materials, the man was 1.9 meters tall and possessed extraordinarily vigorous qi and blood, perhaps close to 2!

And 2.07 was the qi and blood standard for Fourth Stage.

Lu Chenzhou had only just reached Third Stage.

That man's combat art was also close to Major Accomplishment!

He found several videos of White Elephant Combat Art.

"Ferocious and invincible, sacrificing part of one's movement skill in pursuit of ultimate killing power. Practicing this combat art often requires an aura of 'who else but me?' It's just reckless!"

After reading the introduction, Lu Chenzhou gave that assessment.

This was an extremely radical style of boxing.

Every fist technique had its "fist principles"!

Great Xia had long been influenced by the Doctrine of the Mean and the ideas of the Three Teachings. Since ancient times, martial masters' fist principles had often pursued a certain "balance," "yin and yang," "restraint," and "moderation." Among the forty-eight thousand thickets of martial arts under heaven, few took an extreme path.

Foreign countries were different.

The Silver Eagle Federation in particular had been founded relatively recently and lacked deep historical foundations. From its peoples to its nation, it liked to take extreme paths. Under the influence of such a culture, the martial theories passed down there also favored walking the blade's edge, with everyone pursuing the idea that "bigger is better."

Their combat arts excelled at stimulating the body's development to its limits.

This gave rise to a common phenomenon:

The strong were all tall, broad, and mighty.

You could even roughly judge someone's strength from their build.

The style of combat among the strong over there might be like this:

"Oh my God! This man has reached the realm of two meters, damn it!"

"Your height is beneath mine. You've already lost!"

From nature's perspective, larger size had an absolute advantage. But martial arts were a transcendent path that shattered shackles. Lu Chenzhou still felt Great Xia's theories were better.

Of course, humanity was still on the road to breaking its shackles.

The martial path was boundless; theories had no absolute distinction between good and bad.

The struggle between martial philosophies would never cease either!

"If I can't reach Fourth Stage before the exchange competition, I may need to make a push on Sea-Skimming Body! If I clash head-on with Rien, I'll be at a disadvantage."

In martial arts, one had to leverage one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses.

If he could advance to Fourth Stage, he would simply overpower him with strength!

Next, he analyzed everyone on the list, considering methods of response based on their fist styles. He did not underestimate anyone merely because their stage was lower.

The night deepened, and Lu Chenzhou gradually fell asleep amid his research.

The next day.

Today was Sunday, so Lu Chenzhou did not need to attend school. When he got up in the morning and opened his phone, he saw a message Shi Ruyu had sent in the middle of the night.

Junior brother, come to the martial arts hall tomorrow.

After finishing Heaven Stance and his fist techniques, he ate breakfast and hurried over.

"Mom, I won't be coming home for lunch today."

"Got it."

Flying Swallow Martial Arts Hall.

Ji Xuantong arrived in his luxury car.

The trainees who were training quietly gathered around to watch and discuss it.

"I heard this car costs two million."

"The hall master is really rich."

When it came to Martial Artists with wealth and status, there was only envy.

No one was jealous, because Martial Artists deserved all of it.

Du Men especially felt this way. A Martial Artist had saved his life, yet the hall master had not even used the matter for publicity. From then on, he admired Ji Xuantong even more!

Ji Xuantong called out:

"Chenzhou, Ruyu, come with me to the Martial Artists Association."

Shi Ruyu said:

"Alright, Teacher. I'll drive."

"Mhm."

Ji Xuantong sat in the back, while Lu Chenzhou took the front passenger seat.

Old Ji thought for a moment and said:

"Chenzhou, once you come of age, go get a driver's license too. This car of mine is a Dao-Seeking Type 7 made by Great Dao Industries. It has some functions for guarding against Void Entities.

I hardly drive it myself. If you and Ruyu need to go out to handle matters for me, pick up your parents, or anything like that, just use my car."

Lu Chenzhou obediently said:

"Alright, Teacher."

He discovered that becoming a direct disciple really was different. Old Ji had suddenly become much more generous. A two-million car, freely handed over for his disciples to drive—Lu Chenzhou felt quite satisfied inside.

And that was not all.

Old Ji took a white gift box from the back of the car. After opening it, he revealed ten boxes of Qi-Nourishing No. 1 supplements. After checking that there were no problems, he packed them up and handed them to Lu Chenzhou.

"Take these supplements and use them."

Lu Chenzhou turned around, his expression changing slightly as he hurriedly said:

"Teacher, this is far too valuable..."

This was 120,000! Lu Guoping's yearly salary! How could he dare accept it?

Shi Ruyu, who was driving, smiled.

"Take them, Junior Brother. If you refuse, you'll be disrespecting Master. Generally, after taking on a direct disciple, a master gives the disciple a meeting gift. It's an industry custom."

Ji Xuantong nodded.

"It isn't much money. I'm only giving you some resources to get started in the early stages. After that, you'll still need to work hard on your own—I can't raise you forever. Besides, with these supplements, perhaps you can charge into Fourth Stage before the exchange competition and win first place for me!"

Lu Chenzhou said solemnly:

"My parents gave me life; my master teaches me! This disciple respectfully accepts your generosity and boldly accepts it. I will never forget Master's great kindness today for the rest of my life!"

He casually gave away a gift worth over a hundred thousand. What more could Lu Chenzhou ask for? Not to mention that he had waived the enormous annual direct-disciple tuition fees. Old Ji was someone worth associating with—when he had money, he really gave!

Holding the box, Lu Chenzhou noticed the words written on it: Direct Disciple Gift. Gifts for taking apprentices, gifts for juniors, gifts honoring elders—you deserve to have it—Martial Medicine Factory No. 6. So martial supplements even came in gift-box packaging. These pharmaceutical factories really knew how to make money.

"Perform well."

Ji Xuantong closed his eyes and rested.

The direct-disciple gift he had given Shi Ruyu was a Bone-Strengthening No. 1 gift box worth 300,000 in total. It was not that he favored one over the other. At Lu Chenzhou's current stage, Qi-Nourishing No. 1 was entirely sufficient. Shi Ruyu was at Seventh Stage; if she still used qi-nourishing medicine, the effects would be minimal.

After the excitement in his heart subsided, Lu Chenzhou found Old Ji even more lovable.

He asked:

"Teacher, are we going to the Martial Artists Association to handle some business?"

Ji Xuantong opened his eyes and said:

"To register the two of you on file. Taking in direct disciples is different from taking in regular trainees. Since I've accepted you, I must bear a certain degree of responsibility for your future conduct as well. That is why Martial Artists do not easily take in direct disciples—they need to observe them over a long period and test their character.

Many Martial Artists place character first, with comprehension and talent coming second. If someone has terrible character and goes around constantly causing trouble, then no one will want them no matter how talented they are. Whether at a martial arts hall or Wuda, the first lesson is always how to conduct oneself!"

Lu Chenzhou deeply agreed.

"Teacher speaks well. We will definitely conduct ourselves properly!"

Shi Ruyu also shared several examples of people around her who had been expelled from Wuda for poor character. Martial Artists were transcendent beings, but they still had to obey basic morality, ethics, and the law.

Those who broke laws and discipline would, in minor cases, be punished by the Martial Artists Association.

In serious cases, they would be jointly dealt with by the Martial Arts Department, public security, procuratorate, and courts.

Of course, because Martial Artists were powerful, there were still some lawless individuals lurking in the darkness—fugitives who committed crimes and disturbed society. They were collectively known as:

Black Warriors.

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