Moon Stepping Martial Arts Hall, Hidden from Sight

Moon Stepping Martial Arts Hall, Hidden from Sight

After school, Su Tu went looking for the "frail and sickly" Lin Feiyang.

He wanted to tell him about what had happened yesterday.

And they were going to the Martial Arts Academy today. Putting the two matters together, he wanted to find him both out of sentiment and reason.

This time, he still came up empty. Lin Feiyang was once again absent from school.

A senior-year PE teacher—those who understood, understood.

"Why have you been acting so mysterious lately?" Chen Xi, waiting at the school gates, stared into Su Tu's eyes and put on a thoughtful expression.

"If you put that wild imagination into Interstellar Language, you might still be saved." Su Tu hitched up his slipping backpack.

"Ahhh!!! Don't mention it! Damn it, damned Interstellar Language! I might not even leave Blue Star in my entire life, so why do I have to learn it?"

"When I ascend the throne one day, I'll make the entire universe speak Chinese!!" Chen Xi went mad in grief and indignation.

As Blue Star entered the Interstellar Era, Interstellar Language arose with the times.

As humanity explored the stars, all sorts of races appeared before the public eye. Interstellar Language was the common tongue used for communication among the myriad races, much like English in Su Tu's previous life.

Chen Xi was terrible at Interstellar Language. His grades in every other subject were far above the first-tier university cutoff, and he could even apply to universities on some colonial planets. Yet because of Interstellar Language, his total score could only hover around the second-tier cutoff.

"Enough talk. When I get home today, this old man will fight Interstellar Language to the death!" Chen Xi waved goodbye to Su Tu. Their homes were in different directions.

After parting with Chen Xi, Su Tu took the business card from his pocket and followed the address written on it.

"Is there really a Martial Arts Academy in a place like this?"

Su Tu was currently standing in a patch of wasteland. This was already on the outskirts of North Sea. There was no one around, wild grass grew thick, and ancient trees towered overhead.

There was not the slightest trace of a Martial Arts Academy.

"This is the place. Brother Feiyang wouldn't be messing with me, would he?" Su Tu looked at the business card in his hand, then tapped on his phone a few times. A virtual map projected into the air, showing his current location.

Su Tu looked around again, but let alone a Martial Arts Academy, there was not even a single house nearby.

Just as he was about to leave, the business card in his hand suddenly emitted a faint glow.

Su Tu felt as though something that had always gone unnoticed before his eyes had been swept away.

A building appeared before him. It was a classical pavilion, entirely black with splashes of crimson red, ancient in charm and rich in character.

Yet hanging over the pavilion's entrance was an LED electronic sign that read, "Moon Stepping Martial Arts Hall."

The combination of the two looked jarringly out of place.

Su Tu examined the Martial Arts Academy before him, and the scene of his earlier search for it surfaced in his mind.

Then he suddenly realized, to his surprise, that when he had been searching just now, it seemed he had never come in this direction. Or perhaps even if he had arrived right in front of the academy, he had never looked up. It was as though some subtle suggestion had made him instinctively overlook it all.

Only when the light from the business card restored his perception to normal had he finally found the academy.

"Martial arts can actually reach such a level?!"

At that moment, Su Tu developed a powerful interest in martial arts. This was utterly different from the simple exercise he had imagined.

He stepped into the Martial Arts Academy. Its interior decoration was worlds apart from its exterior, completely modern in style.

Inside, more than a dozen youths sat quietly on benches by the entrance, waiting. The moment Su Tu entered, they almost all turned to look at him at the same time.

They looked about the same age as Su Tu, but there was a "light" in each of their eyes. Su Tu could not say what it was, but he could sense that light was extraordinary.

They merely glanced at Su Tu before withdrawing their gazes and continuing to wait.

Su Tu walked over without saying anything. He found an empty seat, sat down, and waited with them.

Though he did not understand what was going on here, the wise watched in silence. All he needed to do now was quietly observe.

Every person around him radiated immense confidence, a quality that came from within. They were clearly familiar with one another, and quite a few of them were conversing in low voices.

"Brother, which family are you from? Haven't seen you around the circle before." A youth beside Su Tu spoke softly. He was slightly chubby, with a smile before he even spoke, and his narrow eyes made him seem approachable.

A faint smile appeared on Su Tu's lips when he heard that. He had been worrying about not understanding the situation here, and now information had come knocking.

Lowering his voice, he spoke in a deliberately mysterious tone. "Don't mention it. My family keeps a tight leash on me. I can count the times I've gone out to have fun on my fingers. If it weren't for this person..."

Su Tu's eyes flicked slightly toward the door inside. The youth immediately showed a look of sudden understanding.

"I get it, I get it. Martial arts are bitter cultivation. Your family is doing it for your own good. My name is Wang Sheng, nineteen this year."

"Su Tu, eighteen."

"Brother, we don't know whether we've caught a good time or not. We happened to run into the generation when the Federation is lifting its restrictions on the Ancestral Star and revealing the truth about martial arts."

Wang Sheng muttered on and on.

"Exactly. Who knows what those people above are thinking? They still haven't announced that martial arts will be included in the college entrance examination." Su Tu probed casually.

Wang Sheng put on the expression of someone in the know and began explaining things to Su Tu.

"Man, you've been practicing martial arts year-round, so you don't know the current situation.

"Martial arts use the mind as a guide and push the fleshly body to its ultimate limits. It's all bitter work.

"The Ancestral Star hasn't passed down martial arts all these years. Recently, who knows what changed, but the Federation higher-ups suddenly decided to include martial arts in the college entrance examination. Even if they start spreading martial arts and teaching it now, what the hell can anyone accomplish in three months?

"This Martial Examination was basically prepared for people like us. Those of us who have come into contact with martial arts are the spark. They want us to set off a martial arts craze on Blue Star and thoroughly begin Martial Propagation. But the Martial Examination is much harder than the regular college entrance examination.

"The benefits, though, are beyond imagination. Every Martial Examination quota in every city—every single slot is a path to heaven. I heard that even the prodigies among the 'New Stars' will be coming to take it. Isn't that fucking cheating?" Wang Sheng spoke indignantly.

"Those New Star people enjoy the best resources—Mind Cultivation, techniques—and now they're coming back to compete with us for slots. Fucking bastards. Still, we have it much better than ordinary people. They're nothing more than spectators."

"Spectators... Do ordinary people really not have even a sliver of a chance?" Su Tu's tone was complicated.

"Of course not. They probably won't announce the inclusion of martial arts in the college entrance examination for a few more days. Do you think an ordinary person can take us down in less than three months?

"That'd be way too outrageous," Wang Sheng said.

But what he did not know was that the spectator he spoke of had already quietly entered the stage.

"By the way, brother, what realm are you at now? I've already drawn qi into my body, but without a good visualization of the mind, I'm just waiting for a good Mind Cultivation and Dao Gathering method before I can step into the Peeking Branch Realm."

Wang Sheng looked at Su Tu curiously.

Listening to the unfamiliar terms coming from the other man's mouth, Su Tu's expression did not change. "Same here."

"No wonder your family sent you here. Let me tell you, this Moon Stepping Hall Master has quite the background. His Mind Cultivation and Dao Gathering is extraordinarily remarkable.

"But his standards are extremely high. So far, only three people have been accepted inside. I heard several other spots have already been reserved."

"They say that anyone holding a Red Seal can enter this door directly. Isn't that just nepotism?"

Wang Sheng's tone carried a hint of envy.

"Red Seal?" Hearing that, Su Tu suddenly thought of the red business card on his person.

He then took the card out of his pocket again.

The next moment—

The tightly shut doors burst open. A tall young man strode out with the gait of a dragon and the steps of a tiger. Everyone's eyes turned toward him, filled with eager anticipation.

Yet the man did not even glance at the people around him. He strode straight up to Su Tu and spoke gently. "You're Su Tu, right? Mr. Lin informed Master beforehand. Please come with me."

Hearing this, Su Tu rose to his feet and followed beside the young man, walking through the doors under the astonished and envious gazes of the crowd.

"I'll be going, then." Su Tu said goodbye to Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng was already somewhat dumbfounded. It felt like cursing rich second-generation heirs together with your best friend, only for that friend to suddenly drive up in a Lamborghini and tell you, "Actually, being a rich second-generation heir is nothing special."