Thunderclap Fist

"There's another option where you pay by the class, but it's much more expensive—five hundred per session. If you sign up monthly, it costs ten thousand a month. Even if you only attend one class a day, you can take thirty classes in a month, so it's far more cost-effective than paying per session."

Chu Ling explained.

"They actually offer payment by the class? I'll take that."

Qin Fen's eyes lit up as he immediately replied.

Five hundred per class meant that three thousand would buy him six classes.

He did not need to fully master a martial art. As long as he could get started and have it appear on the Panel, that would be enough.

He refused to believe that six classes would not be enough to bring a martial art to the beginner level.

"Have you really thought this through? You want to pay by the class?"

Chu Ling confirmed it once more.

"Yeah, I've decided."

Qin Fen nodded.

"Alright, no problem. I'll enter your information now."

Chu Ling said nothing further. The choice was the customer's right.

Qin Fen handed the completed form to Chu Ling, who entered his information into Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's system on the computer.

Two minutes later, Chu Ling said, "I've entered your details into Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's system. A message has been sent to your phone. Open the link in it, and you'll enter Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's official website. Your account number is your ID number, and the initial password is four zeros. You can change it afterward. Whatever martial art you want to study, you can freely choose it there.

"The course schedules and introductions to the instructors are all on the official website. The last item on the navigation bar is called Getting Started. You can look through it to learn how to use the website properly.

"Oh, and there's an agreement here that you need to sign."

As she spoke, Chu Ling printed out two copies of the agreement.

Qin Fen set his phone aside and accepted the agreement Chu Ling handed him.

Chu Ling said, "The contents of this agreement are simple. The intellectual property rights to the martial arts taught by the hall belong to the hall. As a student, you are forbidden from privately teaching others the martial arts you learn here. If you violate this agreement, we will pursue legal responsibility. At the very least, you'll spend more than a decade in prison. In serious cases, all the skills you've learned may be taken back."

The agreement was only two pages long, and its contents were straightforward.

Qin Fen quickly finished reading it. The agreement was basically the same as what Chu Ling had described.

There were two copies of the agreement. Qin Fen signed both with his name, then pressed his fingerprint in red ink.

"Alright, you can go upstairs now."

Chu Ling put away the agreements and spoke to Qin Fen.

"Thank you, sis."

Qin Fen put the agreement in his pocket, then followed the instructions on his phone to a special elevator.

There were no buttons outside this elevator, only a sensor area. Qin Fen opened the Getting Started section on Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's official website and carefully read the instructions.

Five or six minutes later, Qin Fen understood how to use Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's official website.

He entered his account's main page, where there was a unique QR code. He tapped it to enlarge it, then held it over the sensor area. With a beep, the elevator doors opened.

This setup was far more high-end than the one in Qin Fen's residential complex.

Qin Fen immediately entered the elevator and pressed the button for the thirty-fifth floor.

The thirty-first through fortieth floors all belonged to Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall. However, the thirty-first through thirty-fourth floors were free training areas, equipped with all kinds of training equipment as well as an Arena area for the hall's students to spar with one another.

The teaching area began on the thirty-fifth floor.

Qin Fen arrived on the thirty-fifth floor and found an empty spot to sit down.

He took out his phone, opened Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's course schedule page, and carefully browsed it.

Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall offered many courses, with more than a dozen different martial arts in total. Most were taught through the intermediate stage, while some reached the later stage. Today, only one new course was beginning.

Thunderclap Fist, a low-grade second-rank martial art.

There was no other information.

The instructor responsible for teaching Thunderclap Fist was named Wang Lei. He was Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's chief disciple. He had reached the Sixth Realm of Jing Li ten years ago, cultivated aura qi, and possessed Aura Strength that protected his body, making him impervious to blades, bullets, water, and fire.

The attacks of ordinary small firearms, such as handguns, could not penetrate an Aura Strength barrier.

Wang Lei was not yet fifty and was still in his prime. He might yet have a chance to break through the Mysterious Gate Aperture, nurture Internal Family True Qi, and become Thunder Spirit Martial Arts Hall's third internal cultivation Martial Artist.

Martial arts halls generally taught in two ways.

The first, and most common, was teaching martial arts for money. Those who learned this way could only be called students.

The other was taking disciples. They had to perform the formal ceremony of three bows and nine kowtows, and prominent local figures would be invited to witness it. Not only would the hall charge no money, it would devote all its resources to nurturing them. However, becoming a disciple of the hall meant inheriting its legacy as well as its grudges. They would share the hall's glory and disgrace, prosperity and ruin.

Once someone became a disciple of a martial arts hall, if the hall faced trouble and they only fled for their own lives without caring whether the hall lived or died, they would be considered a traitor who deceived their master and dishonored their ancestors, despised by everyone.

After reading the introduction, Qin Fen decided to learn Thunderclap Fist. Besides, he had no other choice.

This course was held only four days a week—on the first, third, fifth, and seventh days. There were two classes each day, one from ten-thirty to eleven-thirty in the morning and another from four-thirty to five-thirty in the afternoon. The course lasted three months in total.

Qin Fen checked the time. It was already past ten, and class was about to begin.

Every floor from the thirty-first to the fortieth had a front desk. Qin Fen found a front desk staff member and topped up three thousand into the account provided by the hall, then headed to the classroom where Thunderclap Fist was taught.

The classroom door was closed.

There was a sensor area by the entrance, and Qin Fen took out his phone and scanned it.

With a beep, the classroom door opened.

Qin Fen saw that five hundred had been deducted from his account balance—five hundred for one class.

The situation inside the classroom could not be seen from outside. When Qin Fen opened the door, however, he found more than a dozen people already waiting inside. As he entered, the classroom door automatically closed again.

Qin Fen swept his gaze around. Everyone present was fairly young.

Most students who came to martial arts halls to study had failed to get into a Martial Arts University through the College Entrance Examination but did not want to give up the path of martial arts, so they were willing to spend large sums to train at a martial arts hall.

If they were lucky and a department in the hall happened to be hiring, it would select the best candidates from among the students.

Once they entered the martial arts hall as employees, as long as they did not make any major mistakes, they would have food and clothing for life. Their descendants might also receive excellent training resources. As long as they worked hard, each generation would surely surpass the last.

Even if they could not work for the martial arts hall, once they had learned stronger skills, they would have an easier time finding work anywhere. They could become Martial Arts Teachers at schools, security consultants for corporations, or take the Guard Bureau examinations and become armed police officers.

These students made up the majority. Another group consisted of people like Qin Fen, who had reached Flowing Strength. Since schools only taught fierce and domineering martial arts after students reached Smooth Strength, they came to martial arts halls to learn. A small number were third-year high school students who had completed their studies early and came to the martial arts hall for special training, hoping to raise their strength by even one more point before the College Entrance Examination.

Due to the typhoon, there was a widespread power outage across the city. No one knew when the electricity would return.