Undercurrents Stirring (1st Update)

Lu Chenzhou went down the mountain to attend class. With the summer examination approaching, fewer and fewer students came to the zoo side, with only scattered individuals distributed across different enclosures.

"Who was that just now? How come it feels like he's in the zone again?"

"Don't know. A freshman from Dragon City University of Martial Arts, probably..."

"So impressive. It looks like the Fang Mountain Martial Arts Tournament is going to be another fierce battle of dragons and tigers."

"Chen Yuan from Dragon City High School is very strong. I suspect he's already broken through to the Eighth Stage... Zhang Dong from Dragon Tiger High School is also fierce, undefeated across the entire school."

The crowd discussed the prominent figures and gradually dispersed.

"Chenzhou, went to see the tigers again?"

When he arrived at the training ground, Winged Tiger called out to stop Lu Chenzhou.

"Yes, Teacher."

"Sigh... When I told you all to observe the tigers, I only meant that you should learn the tiger's essence. Once you understand this principle, that's enough; there's no need for you to go every day."

Winged Tiger had heard from the students that Lu Chenzhou went to see the tigers every day.

Fearing that Lu Chenzhou might split hairs over a dead end, he came to offer a reminder.

Lu Chenzhou smiled and said:

"I understand what Teacher is saying. I just feel that at my current stage, there is still a lot I need to learn from the tiger. Once I truly grasp the essence of the tiger form, I won't go anymore."

Winged Tiger pondered and said:

"That is indeed the logic of it. Go on with your business."

"Alright, goodbye Teacher."

Lu Chenzhou ran briskly to the classroom for class.

"Chenzhou, try not to be late next time."

"Okay, Teacher."

Lu Chenzhou returned to his seat, and Liu Huan turned his head to look over.

The monitor harbored some doubt in his heart. Could it be that Lu Chenzhou had another fortune-touched insight on the back mountain? He probably just woke up late; how could anyone get into the zone so frequently?

A fortune-touched insight wasn't a period.

After class, head teacher Yu Zheng walked in and said:

"Let's talk about something. Everyone knows the situation in Su City over the past few months, and the outside world isn't very peaceful. From now on, whenever you have rest days, stay at school if you can and don't go home—especially students who live far away. Those who live close should also pay attention to safety and watch out for suspicious individuals."

Liu Huan asked:

"Teacher, is it related to the cults?"

Yu Zheng nodded.

"Yes... but it's not just cults. The Three Calamities are often closely linked, and cults also frequently collude with Black Warriors. In short, you are all still too young right now. If you accidentally encounter lawbreakers... run if you can, don't try to be a hero."

It wasn't that the school didn't support righteous acts of bravery; it was that they couldn't let seedlings cultivated with massive resources—saplings with the promising future of becoming martial artists—perish prematurely. The losses would outweigh the gains.

"You all understand what I mean, right?"

He emphasized this once more, and then left.

Young people were always full of hot blood.

April 27th.

Inside the dormitory.

Lu Chenzhou was covered in sweat, practicing the heaven stance.

After finishing, he looked at the martial dao tree.

Martial Skills

Basic Fist Art: Perfection (Fistheart Without Regret)

Black Tiger Fist: Major Accomplishment (99%)

Over-Mountain Body: Proficiency (60%)

Swallow Return Fist: Proficiency (50%)

Sea-Skimming Body: Mastery (30%)

Cultivation Method

Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance: Fifth Aperture opened

In less than a month, he had progressed by leaps and bounds.

Black Tiger Fist was on the verge of major accomplishment, Over-Mountain Body and Swallow Return Fist had both reached full proficiency, and Sea-Skimming Body had also boosted its progress bar by a large margin.

Most importantly, the fifth aperture, Shaoze Acupoint, had opened. He had clearly sensed his vital blood increasing quite a bit just moments ago, having been too busy with cultivation lately to check his vital blood. He planned to check the school's measurement room after Black Tiger Fist reached major accomplishment.

"Teacher Hong said that once Black Tiger Fist reaches major accomplishment, it's possible to comprehend Black Tiger Hidden Force; practice it to perfection, and one will inevitably comprehend Black Tiger Hidden Force."

Lu Chenzhou looked forward to this with exceptional anticipation.

Hidden force was the most important ability of the Anli Realm. Fighters abroad were accustomed to calling "bright force" the "junior external force technique," "hidden force" the "intermediate internal force technique," and the final "transforming force" the "senior force-discharging technique."

Bright force could be unleashed by ordinary people relying on instinct, though the volume was far inferior to a martial warrior's. Hidden force could only be unleashed by martial warriors who had practiced martial arts and combat to a profound level.

Hidden force emphasized concealment, suddenness, and instantaneous explosion.

Its source of power was not just conventional muscular groups, but also the internal organs, the hundred apertures of the whole body, and so on. Every time force was unleashed, tendons and bones vibrated, internal organs resonated together, concentrating all internal and external force within the body and detonating it in a split second upon contact with the enemy!

Bang!

One fist blasted out, carrying the force of a thousand jun!

One leg swept horizontally, like a tiger whipping its tail!

Sparring with a hidden force expert required constant vigilance; a seemingly unpretentious move could possess a destructive force capable of crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood. Combined with the techniques of the eight natures and movement and footwork skills, a hidden force expert dealing with an unarmed ordinary adult male could truly achieve taking ten opponents on single-handedly.

Of course, as the saying went, chaotic fists could beat a seasoned master. If a Fourth Stage martial warrior was swarmed by a large number of people, unless they had practiced a special hard qi training, defeating them completely without injury would be difficult. However, before the Fourth Stage went down, those people would inevitably end up lying on the ground first.

Minor, superficial injuries were inevitable, but serious injuries were impossible.

Nine o'clock at night.

Lu Chenzhou scrolled through his phone before sleeping. Messages popped up in the martial arts club's small group from time to time as everyone heatedly discussed a recently occurred murder case.

He took a look, his brow furrowing slightly.

The victim was from Pingjiang Affiliated High School, with Fourth Stage cultivation, and had died at the hands of cultists. After cracking the case, the police located a cult stronghold and arrested a cult incense master.

Following that, an announcement was made that a new cult had been discovered in Su City: the Holy Lord Church. This sect worshipped the Great Sage Heavenly King Lord, and had previously left traces in Great Xia before going quiet after being suppressed by the authorities. Unexpectedly, it was quietly spreading again in Su City.

The police urged everyone to keep their eyes open and prevent themselves from being swammed and deceived.

Ordinary people who were deceived by cults met very miserable ends.

These cultists really deserve to die.

Were there gods in this world?

Lu Chenzhou did not dare to make a rash conclusion.

After all, there were supernatural places like the void realm that birthed wangliang.

Yet he was certain that the so-called "gods" in the mouths of these cults were a hundred harms to humanity with not a single benefit, merely using human beings as objects of exploitation.

If human civilization had a god, that god was the martial artist themselves!

Of course, this was merely the philosophy of Great Xia.

"Divine Child Cult, Holy Lord Church, Blue Lotus Society, Mind Reading Society..."

Lu Chenzhou opened Great Xia's anti-cult official website and discovered that there were already seven cult organizations currently targeted for heavy crackdowns and attention. Knowing that Great Xia had previously eradicated three cult organizations, they truly were like wildfires that couldn't be burned completely.

Before sleeping, he looked toward the direction of Tai Lake. The roots of the two disasters—void and evil—were both right there... the void realm. When would humanity ever eliminate the void and evil, sweep away the miasma, and clear the universe? With current technology and martial arts standards, it was likely a long and arduous journey.

I'd better just sleep; I'm only a high school student.

Begging for monthly tickets, read-tracking, and recommendation tickets.