Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall

More than ten minutes later.

Zhou Wu led Qin Fen and Shi Jian out of the vice principal's office.

Qin Fen's expression remained calm, with no significant change, but Shi Jian was somewhat nervous.

Seeing the tension on Shi Jian's face, Zhou Wu could not help but reassure him. "Shi Jian, don't put any pressure on yourself. The purpose of the Freshman Martial Arts Exchange Competition jointly held by the schools is for their Martial Arts Student elites to interact, spar with one another, and improve together. It doesn't matter whether you place or not. What matters is gaining practical combat experience."

"Teacher, I understand. I'll go train first."

Shi Jian naturally understood that.

But he could not calm down immediately. He needed time to process it.

Compared to Qin Fen, it was only natural that he felt pressure and urgency.

Qin Fen had already reached the Second Realm of Jing Li, so there was no way he would finish at the bottom. He might even have a chance at placing. Shi Jian, however, was different. If he did not train hard, he might very well end up at the bottom and disgrace the school.

"Mm, go on. Watch your training volume. Don't overtrain."

Zhou Wu reminded him.

It was a good thing for students to feel a sense of urgency. It could spur them to improve and make them train harder, but they could not overtrain and injure themselves because of it. That would be more loss than gain.

Shi Jian nodded and left.

"Teacher, I want to go to a martial arts hall to learn martial arts."

Qin Fen voiced what had been on his mind.

After becoming a Martial Arts Student, he still had theory classes in the mornings. Only the afternoons were free training time. To leave the school, he needed a teacher's approval; leaving without permission counted as skipping class.

If anything happened outside, the school would be held responsible.

A student skipping class and leaving school meant the school had failed in its supervision.

Therefore, the consequences of being caught skipping class were severe. He would receive disciplinary action, which would affect his College Entrance Examination.

If Qin Fen wanted to leave school in the afternoon to study martial arts at a martial arts hall, he had to get proof from a Martial Arts Teacher before the security guard would let him out.

"Go to a martial arts hall to learn martial arts?" Zhou Wu frowned. "There's only one week left before the Freshman Martial Arts Exchange Competition begins. Even if you learn other martial arts at a martial arts hall, you can at most reach the First Glimpse of the Path. It won't improve your strength much."

Qin Fen said, "My Galloping Horse Strength has already entered the Peak Realm, and Eighteen Falls Upon Touching has also reached Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber. Even with another week of practice, I won't improve much. I might as well go learn martial arts at a martial arts hall. I'll have to go sooner or later."

Zhou Wu thought for a moment. "All right. I'll write you a permit later."

Qin Fen immediately said, "Thank you, Teacher."

Qin Fen did not ask his parents for the money to study at a martial arts hall.

There was still over seven thousand yuan on his meal card. He withdrew three thousand, leaving over four thousand—enough to pay for Nutritional Meals in the school cafeteria for more than a month. As long as he placed in the top ten in the Freshman Martial Arts Exchange Competition, he would receive a three-thousand-yuan prize.

If he took first place, the prize would be fifty thousand yuan.

With fifty thousand yuan, he would not need to ask his family for money for the entire semester.

A month of study at a martial arts hall cost ten thousand yuan, but Qin Fen did not need to study for a month.

Even difficult martial arts could be brought to the beginner level within a week. He only needed the martial art to appear on the Panel.

The reason studying at a martial arts hall was so expensive was because coaches who had reached the Sixth Realm of Jing Li provided constant instruction, imparting martial arts experience. This allowed students to avoid many detours and progress quickly.

After withdrawing three thousand yuan from his meal card, Qin Fen left the school and headed for a martial arts hall.

There were three major martial arts halls in Yang City. Two were located in Longwan District, while one was in Lucheng District.

Longwan District was the most prosperous of Yang City's six districts. Many wealthy people lived there, and all three key martial arts schools were located there as well. Lucheng District was second only to Longwan District in prosperity.

Qin Fen hailed a taxi and arrived at the most bustling area of Lucheng District.

The taxi stopped in front of a towering dark-blue skyscraper.

The skyscraper was over forty stories tall, with a blue lightning bolt emblem at its peak.

The entire skyscraper belonged to Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall. It was a massive commercial center with shopping, dining, fitness, entertainment, and everything else one could need. Security for the entire mall was handled by Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall.

People dressed in Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall uniforms could be seen patrolling everywhere. No one dared cause trouble here.

As a result, shopping, dining, and entertainment here were the safest. There was no need to worry about accidents.

The first twenty floors of the skyscraper were open to the public. Floors twenty through thirty were VIP areas, containing luxury goods, gold, jewelry, diamonds, and other expensive items beyond the means of ordinary people.

Above the thirtieth floor were the training grounds for martial arts hall students.

Ordinary people could not directly enter the thirty-first floor.

The elevators only went up to the thirtieth floor. To reach the thirty-first floor, one had to use a special passageway.

Qin Fen arrived on the thirtieth floor, which was the administrative office area responsible for operating the entire mall.

Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's admissions office was also here. Following the signs, he found it.

With Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's reputation, it had no need to recruit outside. Anyone who wanted to learn martial arts would naturally come knocking.

"Hello, miss. I'd like to study martial arts at Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall."

Qin Fen found the admissions office. The person in charge of admissions was a pretty young woman wearing a white shirt and a ponytail. About one centimeter below and to the outer side of the corner of her mouth was a dimple, and her face carried a youthful smile.

A name tag was pinned above her shirt pocket.

Chu Ling was the pretty young woman's name.

"No problem. Fill out this form first." Chu Ling skillfully took out a form from a drawer and handed it to Qin Fen. Glancing at his youthful face, she asked, "Little brother, are you still a student?"

"Yes, I just started Senior One this year."

Qin Fen answered truthfully, taking a pen and filling in his basic information on the form.

"Yang City Thirteenth High School?"

Seeing the information Qin Fen had written, Chu Ling's eyes revealed a trace of surprise.

Those who came to martial arts halls to learn martial arts were all Quasi-Martial Artists who had cultivated Jing Li. A month had already passed since high school began, so it was not unusual for Senior One freshmen to cultivate Jing Li after receiving instruction from a Martial Arts Teacher. What surprised Chu Ling was that in the realm section, Qin Fen had written Second Realm of Jing Li—Flowing Strength. Thirteen Middle School ranked at the bottom among all the martial arts schools in Yang City, yet this year's Senior One freshmen actually included a talented student who had reached Flowing Strength?

"Miss, do you have to study at the martial arts hall for at least one month?"

When Qin Fen reached the study duration section, he paused and looked up to ask.

There were four options in the study duration section: one month, three months, half a year, and one year. But he only had three thousand yuan on him, which was not enough to cover a month's fees. Besides, he had never intended to study for a month.