Practical Combat Exam

Practical Combat Exam

Inside the vast Training Field, the students taking the exam stood in lines, looking up at the proctor ahead.

This scar-faced, Sha Qi-laden burly middle-aged man was none other than Zhang Yu's Martial Arts Class teacher, Lei Jun.

If Dao Heart, Magical Power, and physical education built the foundation among the five major high school Immortal Dao subjects, then Martial Dao and Daoist arts were primarily methods for the concrete application of Immortal Dao Technique.

As for whether martial arts or Daoist arts were stronger and more useful... cultivators all had their own views.

Zhang Yu still remembered the outrageous declaration Lei Jun had made during the first class.

"Martial arts are immensely useful in this world. Daoist arts are useless."

"Learn one Daoist art, go broke over one Daoist art. The more you learn, the poorer you get. In the end, all your money goes to the companies, and everyone becomes a poor bastard."

"Martial arts cost less and are cheaper, yet they are also highly practical. So only by practicing cheap martial arts can you get rich. The more you practice, the more money you make."

That was Lei Jun's Martial Dao philosophy.

And as today's proctor, Lei Jun likewise did not rely on any Daoist arts.

His arrangement for the Monthly Exam had always been to have students with similar scores in the previous month's exam draw lots, then engage in one-on-one practical combat.

The two sides would fight three rounds, each lasting three minutes. If someone was knocked down or forced out of bounds within those three minutes, that round would end.

After all three rounds were over, the teachers would score them based on their performances in those three practical fights.

This was actually very similar to the Gaokao Martial Dao practical combat exam. The only difference was that during the Gaokao, students fought Yellow Turban Warriors rather than other examinees.

But this was only a Monthly Exam, after all. They could not truly use Gaokao standards, especially when not hiring Yellow Turban Warriors could save the school a sum of money.

Thus, after Lei Jun finished explaining the rules of the Martial Dao practical combat exam, the massive screen above flickered. Names appeared one after another, and the drawing began.

Once the drawing was over, the results were sent to every student's phone, instructing them to head to their designated locations for the practical combat exam.

At this moment, the entire Training Field had been divided by white lines into small squares of over ten square meters each. Every square was effectively an arena.

Following the drawing results, Zhang Yu walked into Square No. 12 and found He Dayou already waiting there.

Seeing He Dayou politely smile and nod at him, Zhang Yu nodded back.

"Finally here." He Dayou suppressed the violent emotions in his heart and slowly walked into the square.

In order to teach Zhang Yu a lesson openly and legitimately, He Dayou had made slight use of his privilege as the school board member's son, drawing Zhang Yu—who had ranked tenth in last month's exam—as the opponent for himself, the student ranked third.

Of course, according to the drawing rules, the two could barely be considered close in total score from the previous Monthly Exam, so it was unlikely anyone would question it.

"But over the past month, aside from Magical Power Class, his progress in the other subjects probably hasn't kept up anymore, right? His real ranking should be around twentieth to thirtieth."

He Dayou believed that not only had he maintained a top-three overall score, but his Freehand Fighting had reached Level 2 half a month ago, and he had recently mastered a new martial art at cram school.

"But I won't need my new martial art. Level 2 Freehand Fighting is enough to deal with this poor bastard."

"The question now is... should I injure his hand? Or his leg?"

As he pondered, He Dayou and Zhang Yu reached the center of the square and took their positions a little over a meter apart.

He Dayou's gaze began roaming over Zhang Yu's body as he considered how to strike him hard in a moment.

Outside the square, an assistant teacher took out his phone and began recording video.

After the exam, Lei Jun and several other first-year Martial Arts Class teachers would watch every practical combat recording in turn and assign scores.

"Are you two ready?"

Hearing the assistant teacher's question, Zhang Yu and He Dayou nodded together.

"Then Demonstration Class students Zhang Yu and He Dayou, the first round of practical combat..."

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

The moment the assistant teacher gave the order, He Dayou suddenly struck. His right arm became a blur nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye as he chopped a palm toward Zhang Yu's neck.

At the same time, he had already considered Zhang Yu's possible counterattacks.

After all, as a rich second-generation heir, he had enough time and money to hire people for practical combat training every day.

He had experienced, trained against, and devised counters for all kinds of reactions an opponent might make after this palm strike.

That was the effect of practical combat experience.

Level 2 Freehand Fighting, combined with richer practical combat experience, gave He Dayou absolute confidence in defeating his opponent.

"Then... I'll hit his hand."

Magical Power surged wildly through He Dayou's body toward his palm...

Bang!

A tremendous impact erupted from He Dayou's abdomen.

Then he felt his vision shaking wildly, the hard ground beneath him, and pain all over his body.

Only after several full seconds did He Dayou gradually come back to himself.

Zhang Yu had sent him flying with a single move, and he was lying on the ground.

"I was instantly defeated?"

He Dayou's face abruptly flushed dark red. "How is that possible?"

Seeing how agitated He Dayou was, the assistant teacher played back the battle footage right in front of him and Zhang Yu to avoid trouble.

In the video, He Dayou had just thrown out his palm when Zhang Yu moved after him yet arrived first. Zhang Yu ducked beneath the strike, then rammed straight into He Dayou and threw him out of bounds in a tackle.

The entire process took less than a second. It looked as though He Dayou had deliberately cooperated with Zhang Yu and let himself be thrown.

Watching this, He Dayou felt even more indignant. He had not even gone all out yet. He still had a newly learned martial art he had not used. It had only been one lapse... I underestimated Zhang Yu too much. I was actually thinking about other things while fighting him...

At that thought, He Dayou felt even more unwilling to accept it.

But he knew that whether he had been careless or negligent, making any further excuses now would only make him lose more face.

So he took a deep breath and nodded to Zhang Yu. "Not bad. Let's continue."

The assistant teacher asked whether there was anything wrong with He Dayou's physical condition. After confirming that there was not, he had the two enter the square again.

They once more stood facing each other, a meter apart.

Zhang Yu smiled at He Dayou and thought, My practical combat score should be pretty high this time, right?

The effect of Level 3 Freehand Fighting was even better than he had expected.

Although Zhang Yu estimated that his practical combat experience was probably inferior to that of He Dayou, this rich second-generation heir.

Level 3 Freehand Fighting had made him far too familiar with its fifteen moves.

In the previous fight, almost the instant He Dayou made his move, Zhang Yu had already known what he intended to do and where the weakness in his technique would appear.

The moment the thought surfaced in his mind, his body had already moved. He charged forward, channeled Magical Power into both arms, and used the momentum to throw his opponent away.

"In a first-year Freehand Fighting matchup, as long as my opponent's Freehand Fighting is below Level 3, their in-the-moment reactions will probably always be a beat slower than mine."

"On top of that, my Physical Strength isn't low anymore. In Freehand Fighting matches against all the first-year students in the school... I don't think I'd lose."

Meanwhile, He Dayou's expression had turned grave. The easy composure he had displayed in the previous round was completely gone.

He decided that in this second round, he would focus completely and use his full strength to crush Zhang Yu before him.

This time, he would never give Zhang Yu even the slightest opportunity.

"Second round for Zhang Yu and He Dayou."

"3, 2, 1, begin!"

The instant the assistant teacher finished speaking, He Dayou exploded with full force. Surging Magical Power gathered in his right fist as he slammed it viciously toward Zhang Yu's face.

Boom!

Another tremendous impact rang out.

Again came the familiar shaking vision, the hard, cold ground, and pain throughout his body.

He Dayou climbed to his feet in a daze.

He had been instantly defeated again?

They watched the assistant teacher's recording once more.

In the video, just as he threw his punch, Zhang Yu had already kicked him in the chest and sent him flying.

Because both of them had moved so quickly, it looked as though He Dayou himself had rammed his chest into Zhang Yu's extended foot.

The third round began.

This time, He Dayou did not rush in with a full-force attack. Instead, he adopted a defensive posture and cautiously observed Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu thought, After getting instantly defeated twice in a row, he's started being careful?

The reason Zhang Yu had been able to instantly defeat him both times was that the instant He Dayou attacked, Zhang Yu had relied on his familiarity with Freehand Fighting to predict his movement and trajectory, then actively met the weakness in his opponent's path of full-force attack.

It could be said that he had used the combined speed of both sides, leaving He Dayou unable to react before losing.

But once He Dayou became cautious and no longer attacked with full force from the start, Zhang Yu could no longer recreate those two instant defeats.

Still, Zhang Yu had his own tactical preparations for this situation.

Whether it was Magical Power or Physical Strength, Zhang Yu's strength had now advanced by leaps and bounds. He was confident that he was not far behind He Dayou, the third-ranked student in their grade.

Even in terms of raw physical power, He Dayou had developed evenly just like him. He was not some hulking brute who followed a strength-focused path.

Since his opponent was unwilling to attack first, Zhang Yu would take the initiative.

He channeled Magical Power and struck a palm toward He Dayou's chest.

"Here it comes!" A sharp glint flashed through He Dayou's eyes. He threw out a punch as well, blocking the move.

Then he saw Zhang Yu send the same palm strike at him again.

"The same move? What is he doing?"

After receiving three consecutive palms from Zhang Yu, He Dayou felt his arms go numb and sore, while the Magical Power inside his body churned violently.

Zhang Yu's abundant Magical Power and formidable physical strength had exceeded his expectations.

And his opponent's tactic was extremely simple: take him head-on.

Zhang Yu's Level 3 Freehand Fighting did not merely make him more familiar with the moves. The same move, in Zhang Yu's hands, could unleash stronger physical force and more abundant Magical Power.

That gave him a tremendous advantage in a head-on clash.

He Dayou quickly realized this, yet a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"You want to go head-to-head with me?"

"Then let's collide and see whose body is harder."

He activated the newly mastered martial art, Little Heavenly Star Palm. In an instant, the Magical Power in his dantian transformed into a strand of Yin-Cold Palm Power that blasted viciously toward Zhang Yu through his palm.

Posting a chapter early. Please support the new week with your continued reading. The next chapter will still update at noon tomorrow.

Thanks to "Memory Scavenger Forever" for the ten-thousand reward.

(End of Chapter)