Chenfeng Martial Hall

Qingjian City.

The April drizzle rustled like silkworms gnawing on mulberry leaves, soaking the glass curtain walls of the surrounding buildings into a frosted texture.

Puddles on the asphalt reflected a cold leaden sheen. The red and green traffic lights blurred across the slick road into patches of swampy color, while pedestrians hurried along the bustling streets beneath their umbrellas.

Fang Qingyu stood beneath the Jinggong Road sign.

Under his pitch-black umbrella, pulled low to his brow, his gaze swept over the white text above the heads of pedestrians passing along the street, helping him pass the time.

"DiDi driver, part-time bartender at Nightfall."

"Legal consultant, part-time streamer."

"Blockchain developer, part-time kidney broker."

".Duck."

These days, it was genuinely hard to survive without taking on one or two side jobs.

It was just that other people's side jobs—

You could never imagine them.

Rumble~

Thunder rolled across the sky. Fang Qingyu looked up. The weather has been a little strange these past few days.

Fortunately, the person he was waiting for had arrived.

"Qingzi, sorry, sorry. I'm late."

A young man in a vest stretched tightly over his knotted muscles jogged over from a distance.

"It's fine. I just got here too."

Fang Qingyu turned around with a smile.

The young man was Qi Hao.

His high school classmate. The only thing they had in common was that neither of them had chosen to attend college after graduating from high school.

The difference was that one had become a Formal Disciple at a martial arts hall, while the other had entered society.

Actually, Fang Qingyu had plenty of reasons he could give.

For example, his memory had always been worse than that of his peers. Things he memorized might be forgotten the very next day. Or he might occasionally suffer sudden, severe headaches.

But as an orphan, saying any of that was meaningless. Failing the entrance exam meant failing it.

Qi Hao had recently learned that he wanted to work out, so he had arranged to bring him to the martial arts hall where he usually trained.

"Come on, let's go in. I'll show you around first."

Qi Hao greeted him enthusiastically.

Fang Qingyu followed behind him and looked up at the sign overhead.

Chenfeng Martial Hall.

Its name had been carved in archaic lettering onto a massive plaque hanging at the very top. It was imposing indeed.

What was rare was that there were no miscellaneous enrollment advertisements plastered around it.

It gave off a very clean feeling.

"How is it? Impressive enough, right?"

The entrance to the martial arts hall resembled the gate of an ancient wealthy household. Anyone standing there would first see the enormous screen inside.

The character "Wu" had been carved onto it.

Fang Qingyu nodded in agreement.

The martial arts halls in this world were indeed very different from what he had imagined.

After passing through the screen, the sound of the downpour outside suddenly vanished from his ears.

The training grounds spreading out before him were nearly the size of two soccer fields. The seven-meter-high vaulted ceiling was embedded with a honeycomb LED matrix, its cool white light falling evenly like moonlight.

Dozens of striking posts stood in formation, with a trainee in a black Training Uniform stationed before each one.

Following the coach's shouts, the trainees bent their knees slightly and settled into horse stances, striking the posts before them with all their might.

They let out shouts to encourage and reinforce their exertion.

It looked incredibly lively.

"This is where they build their foundations. If you've just signed up, you'll train here with them too, starting with stance work."

"How is it? Not bad, right?"

Qi Hao spoke with a hint of pride on his face.

The fact that newly joined trainees could have such a spirited bearing was quite impressive.

Fang Qingyu kept his expression neutral as he listened. Instead, he first looked at the white text above their heads.

Student, programmer, bank teller.

They were all ordinary people.

That included the coach.

The professional title above his head was merely Stance Coach.

The facilities here were indeed quite good, but... it seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary martial arts hall.

Fang Qingyu was a little disappointed.

After all, the enrollment fee was eighteen thousand yuan—equivalent to all his current savings.

If this was merely an ordinary martial arts hall, he might as well go home and work out by himself.

"It's fine. Let's look around some more."

When Qi Hao saw that Fang Qingyu had said nothing, he suddenly grew anxious and pulled him toward the side.

He was one of the few people who knew and believed that Fang Qingyu had memory problems and a Brain Condition.

He had previously tried teaching Fang Qingyu some moves and rudimentary techniques for exerting force.

Fang Qingyu's learning speed had been astonishing.

Although he sometimes forgot everything the next day, if he practiced martial arts for long enough, the movements would form subconscious reactions etched into his muscles.

They had nothing to do with the memory in his mind.

That was why he had been so eager to bring Fang Qingyu here to sign up.

"This is the weapons area. Once you've built your foundation, you can choose whether to study boxing or various weapons. I study boxing."

They walked to another section.

The metal racks in the weapons area fanned outward. Hundreds of unsharpened steel weapons gleamed coldly beneath the white lights.

A female coach was over here, lashing out with the Nine-Section Whip in her hand as she instructed the trainees.

"How many times have I told you? Grip with three fingers and keep two fingers loose so you can dissipate the force!"

"She's Coach Zheng from our Formal Class. She's amazing. She teaches both weapons and boxing, and I can't beat her at all."

At those words, Fang Qingyu glanced at the two of them with slight surprise.

Unless Qi Hao was deliberately exaggerating—

This coach might really have some skill.

But not much.

Whether in the weapons area or the boxing area, the professional titles of the trainees and coaches were all quite ordinary.

Weapons Instructor. Fighting Coach.

They might be considered experts in combat.

But it still wasn't enough to make him spend all his current savings learning here.

"I'll think about it some more."

Although this section of the hall was large, there weren't many people. Fang Qingyu had seen everything there was to see at a glance, so he planned to leave.

"All right, Qingzi. Think it over carefully. I really think you have a lot of talent."

Qi Hao had not seen Fang Qingyu show the slightest sign of interest from beginning to end, so he knew that he probably would not sign up.

After all, he understood Fang Qingyu's circumstances.

This fee really was a burden for Qingzi.

"I'll think about it."

Fang Qingyu nodded seriously.

But that was assuming he had more money to spare in the future.

Qi Hao escorted Fang Qingyu to the entrance. A mother and son were standing outside, seemingly about to sign up as well.

"How about it, son? Want to go in and take a look? Don't you love martial arts novels? Training here can also help you Strengthen Body and Health."

Fang Qingyu glanced over and was about to say goodbye to Qi Hao.

Another middle-aged man approached from outside.

When Qi Hao saw him, he hurriedly bowed and greeted him.

"Hello, Coach Lin."

Coach Lin nodded and grunted in acknowledgment before entering the martial arts hall on his own.

However, before going in, he glanced at Fang Qingyu, who had been staring at him the entire time.

At that instant—

Fang Qingyu felt every goosebump on his body stand on end!

It was as if he were standing with his back to the edge of an abyss.

If the other man wished it, Fang Qingyu could fall into that abyss at any moment.

"Who is he?"

It took Fang Qingyu quite a while to recover before he looked at Qi Hao.

"We all call him Coach Lin. He's the coach of the martial hall's Elite Class. He's insanely strong!"

"I once saw him kick a two-hundred-pound striking post seven or eight meters away with one kick."

Qi Hao had originally given up hope, but upon hearing Fang Qingyu's voice, he hurried over to explain.

By coincidence, the mother and son beside them were arguing too.

"Martial arts? Not even a dog would—"

"Train!"

Fang Qingyu suddenly grabbed Qi Hao and walked back into the martial arts hall.

"I'm going to train in martial arts. Sign me up."

Qi Hao was a little stunned at first.

Although he had no idea why Qingzi had suddenly changed his mind, signing up was a good thing.

"You absolutely won't regret it, Qingzi."

With that, he brought Fang Qingyu to the front desk to pay the fee.

The eighteen thousand yuan nearly emptied all the money Fang Qingyu had saved over the years.

Only 652 yuan remained.

But Fang Qingyu truly did not regret it.

There were two kinds of strong people.

One kind needed to keep climbing upward, constantly proving himself.

But there was another kind.

Simply standing there was enough.

That middle-aged man just now was one of them.

What was more, his professional title—

Fang Qingyu had seen it for the first time ever!!!

Martial Artist!

And its color was red!