Martial Arts Talent

After stuffing the "outer sect" junior brothers and sisters in the martial arts hall's training arena full of chicken soup about studying hard, Zhao Rui rode away from the hall.

Thinking about how he had made quite a bit of money recently, he felt he ought to buy himself a couple of sharper outfits.

Zhao Rui turned his bike around and headed straight for Taisheng Plaza in the city center.

It was a large commercial complex, sprawling across a vast area, with shops standing in rows and goods dazzling the eye.

It was also located in Lin City's most bustling commercial district, with plenty of customers visiting every day.

Zhao Rui locked his bicycle in the electric vehicle parking area, then strode toward the mall.

The streets were packed with people, and graceful women dressed in cool summer clothes could be seen everywhere. Their brightly colored outfits appeared even more eye-catching and flamboyant beneath the light and shadows cast by the glass curtain walls.

The shops on both sides of the mall were brightly lit, while colorful advertisements rolled across the LED screens mounted on the walls.

Every now and then, one or two young, pretty saleswomen in sexy short skirts stood outside the stores, handing out flyers to passing customers.

Zhao Rui had a clear goal: buy two light outfits for summer. So he headed directly to the sportswear section on the third floor.

The clothes here were all branded, and the styles were fairly casual, though the prices were a little steep.

Ordinarily, Zhao Rui would never have had the money to buy them.

His clothes had always been cheap goods his mother bought at the market. The most expensive brands he owned were nothing more than low-end labels like 361 and Cuckoo from supermarket shelves.

He took the escalator to the third floor, where high-end sportswear he often saw but had never worn came into view.

Zhao Rui picked a Nike clothing store and walked in, following the pretty saleswoman at the entrance as she showed him around.

The clothes were indeed nice-looking, and the materials felt comfortable to the touch. But the prices were truly not cheap. A casual T-shirt cost four or five hundred yuan.

What a rip-off!

Although this world had martial arts, for historical reasons, the market had developed no differently from his previous life. Foreign goods still held the first-mover advantage, while domestic products were chasing from behind.

"Handsome, you'd definitely look great in this outfit!"

The saleswoman praised him eagerly, holding four or five replacement outfits in her hands.

"Alright, I'll take these two, and those pants! Also grab one in size 175..."

Zhao Rui said casually.

"Certainly! I'll wrap them up for you right away!"

The saleswoman was instantly overjoyed and briskly packed up Zhao Rui's clothes.

Those four pieces alone cost Zhao Rui nearly two thousand yuan. It really was quite an expense.

Make money. He still had to work hard and make money.

Zhao Rui paid at the register, then carried his purchases home.

Seeing his son carrying shopping bags, Zhao Jincheng asked curiously, "What did you buy?"

"I made some money from part-time work lately, so I bought myself some clothes."

"This one is for my little brother!"

As Zhao Rui spoke, he took one piece of clothing from the bag and placed it on the sofa.

"Zhao Ke, your big brother bought you clothes. Come out and try them on!"

Zhao Jincheng called toward Zhao Ke's room.

After a long while, there was still no response.

Zhao Jincheng frowned and stood up. Walking to the door, he said in an annoyed tone, "What are you doing in there?"

With that, he turned the handle and pushed the door.

But the door had been locked from the inside and would not open at all.

"Open the door! What's been wrong with you lately?" Zhao Jincheng called out twice, his voice noticeably rising.

Hearing the commotion, Xue Wenhui came out from the bedroom as well. Seeing the father and son gathered outside the second child's room, she could not help asking, "What happened?"

"He answers when you call him, but who knows what the hell is wrong with him!"

Zhao Jincheng said impatiently.

"Dad, let's get the door open first. Something doesn't sound right!"

Zhao Rui poured Internal Energy into his ears and could clearly hear that the breathing inside was off.

He walked to the doorknob, gripped it with his right hand, and gave it a slight twist. With a crack, he forced open the simple lock bolt.

The door flew open in response!

Zhao Rui darted inside in a single stride and saw his younger brother lying sideways on the bed, one leg dangling over the edge, unconscious.

"Ke Ke!"

Zhao Jincheng and his wife immediately panicked.

"Call my master! Hurry!"

Zhao Rui felt Zhao Ke's pulse, quickly straightened his body, then moved his hands like lightning, tapping several points across him in rapid succession.

"My brother took a Qi Guiding Pill!"

"What? A Qi Guiding Pill?"

Zhao Jincheng's face turned white as paper. He was so frightened that his wits scattered to the four winds, and he could barely hold the phone in his hand!

Seeing this, Zhao Rui snatched the phone away, called his master Li Cunxin, and briefly explained the situation.

"Dad, Mom, don't panic yet. Luckily, we found him early. He'll be alright. I've sealed his acupoints and meridians!"

After hanging up, Zhao Rui reassured them.

"That's good, that's good!"

Only then did the two of them steady themselves.

About twenty minutes later, Li Cunxin hurried over with a medicine case. The moment he entered, he did not bother with pleasantries and directly performed his exquisite acupuncture technique on Zhao Ke.

Acupuncture had existed in his previous life as well, but without Internal Energy to support it, it could only disperse bruising, relieve pain, dispel dampness, and reduce swelling.

Only in this life, with Internal Energy infused through the needles, did acupuncture reveal its marvelous uses.

From minor muscle sprains to a life hanging by a thread, a few needles would always bring immediate results. It was practically divine.

Zhao Rui had once wanted to learn it too, but his energy was limited and his martial arts talent was poor, so Li Cunxin had not taught him.

As Li Cunxin inserted the needles, wisps of true qi slowly entered Zhao Ke's body through his acupoints, while black blood gradually seeped from the needle holes.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Li Cunxin finished and withdrew the needles. Zhao Ke, lying on the bed, gradually began to stir.

"Good thing you found him early. This kid..."

Li Cunxin shook his head. The meaning was obvious: if they had found him later, even he would have been powerless.

Zhao Rui nodded. Although Li Cunxin had not taught him medicine, he often brought Zhao Rui along during consultations so he could broaden his horizons.

He had seen plenty of cases where taking medicine caused the meridians to fall into disorder.

Did people really think that once martial arts emerged, martial artists would be everywhere?

Among billions of ordinary people, how many practiced martial arts?

And among those, how many had talent for martial arts?

Simply sensing qi alone had blocked countless young men whose hearts were set on the martial path.

Take the First High School Zhao Rui attended, for example. Out of more than two thousand students, there were only a little over two hundred Martial Arts Students.

That was enough to show how rare Martial Arts Students were.

Since so many people wanted to practice martial arts but had no way to sense qi, naturally, some people sought methods to change that situation.

Whether martial arts powerhouses or scientists, all of them had racked their brains to research methods in this area.

So far, there were four known methods on the market that could turn decay into magic and grant ordinary people the aptitude to practice martial arts.

One was for an expert at the Grandmaster level or above to empower someone from the crown of the head, using powerful Internal Energy to repeatedly grind at the other person's qi acupoints until, over days and months, the body developed a sense of qi.

This method consumed both time and effort, and no expert was willing to do it.

Another was to practice certain Demonic Sect techniques. Such techniques were not accepted by the secular world, and the practitioner had to endure all kinds of inhuman suffering.

It was much like washing the marrow and replacing the bones. Zhao Rui did not know the exact method of cultivation; he had only seen introductions in some online posts.

Another method was taking a semi-finished medicinal agent developed by scientists.

The success rate was one in a thousand.

In other words, out of a thousand people, perhaps one would succeed.

Many people who took the agent suffered meridian disorder and exhausted qi!

Not only did they fail to guide qi, they even threw away their lives for nothing!

As for the last method, it was purely hearsay. Even the "experts" online spoke of it vaguely, and it was unknown to the world.

According to those online "experts," this method was a "divine miracle." Only something capable of seizing the creations of heaven and earth could produce such an effect.

Everyone believed it was mere fantasy. Martial arts had flourished for nearly a century, yet historical records had never documented such a creation of heaven and earth.

"Master Li, thank you, thank you! Otherwise, who knows what might have happened to Xiao Ke!"

Seeing that his son had improved somewhat, Zhao Jincheng finally let out a breath and hurriedly thanked Li Cunxin.

"It was nothing."

"Come have some tea in the living room. I've been wanting to visit you at the pharmacy lately. Since Rui Rui will be treating guests in a few days, I planned to invite you then..."

Zhao Jincheng accompanied Li Cunxin toward the living room as they chatted.

Inside the room, Xue Wenhui wiped away her tears as she sat beside the bed, looking at her son's haggard face with endless worry.

"Mom, don't worry. With Master taking action, my brother will be fine. After he recuperates for a while, I'll give him some palace-pushing guidance, and he'll recover completely."

Zhao Rui consoled her from the side.

"Mm, I know. I just feel sorry for your brother. He's always been so competitive since he was young... Why did he go buy such a damned medicinal agent? There are plenty of people without martial arts..."

Listening to his mother's nagging and concern, Zhao Rui felt somewhat helpless as well.

When it came to his younger brother Zhao Ke's bad habit of comparing himself to others, Zhao Rui was the least qualified to comment, because the person Zhao Ke compared himself to was Zhao Rui.

Still, it was understandable. When they were young, his brother had been clever and quick-witted, and their relatives and friends all praised him. Then, when he reached middle school, he suddenly discovered that he had no martial arts talent.

Meanwhile, the older brother who had always seemed inferior to him possessed fairly good martial arts talent, creating an immediate psychological gap.

On top of that, everyone around him regarded Martial Arts Students more highly, making him feel increasingly that it was unfair.

He did not know where his brother had gotten the money for this medicinal agent, but it surely had not come through legitimate means. Once Zhao Ke got better, this matter had to be dealt with.

Li Cunxin did not stay long. Once Zhao Ke was fully awake, he drove away.

As for Zhao Ke, though he had awakened, his expression was desolate and he did not say a word. His body was extremely weak, and his vacant eyes stared at the ceiling. No one knew what he was thinking.

Xue Wenhui was worried about him, so she had Zhao Jincheng bring over a blanket and sleep beside him.

Zhao Rui stood to one side and said little. As the source of his "allergy," it was better for him to keep a low profile.

Nothing happened that night!

The next day, Zhao Rui rose early as usual to train. After finishing his practice and giving his younger brother some palace-pushing guidance, he headed for the martial arts hall.

He had spent quite a bit yesterday, so he had to earn it back today no matter what.

Moreover, the martial arts sparring progress of two students had already neared ninety percent. If they still wanted to spar today, he could probably gain another two points.

At this rate, before university began, he ought to have fifteen years of cultivation.

Cultivation was measured in years, and it was actually easy to understand.

It was the amount of internal qi accumulated after an ordinary martial artist trained tirelessly for an entire year.

It referred purely to quantity, not quality.

Of course, the depth of one's cultivation could not be determined simply by accumulating time.

There were two other factors. First, as one grew older, the rate at which Internal Energy accumulated did not gradually increase, but slowly decreased.

At the same time, as the body declined, the qi acupoints throughout the body and the Dantian would develop an indescribable phenomenon of qi leakage.

The little Internal Energy produced through daily practice and meditation would all be used to make up for the losses and maintain the status quo.

Naturally, there was no way to increase it further.

Of course, not every martial artist experienced this. That involved the issue of martial arts cultivation methods.

Ordinary people practiced only crude, shallow techniques, so these problems were unavoidable. The older they became, the more they declined.

But martial artists who possessed peerless secret manuals had no such worries.

Compared with ordinary people, their Internal Energy would develop problems such as qi leakage from aging much later.

Some had no such problems at all.

Not only that, the purity of Internal Energy produced by peerless techniques was far beyond ordinary Internal Energy, and even the cultivation speed was different.

That was why some people, after obtaining a secret manual and practicing for merely three to five years, could surpass many renowned experts.

The details were incomparably complicated, but that was roughly the idea.

Zhao Rui had tested the purity of his current Internal Energy, and it was the same as before.

In other words, the Internal Energy added by the system would only match the normal level of Internal Energy currently present in his meridians. It would not increase or decrease it out of thin air.

That was also why Zhao Rui was determined to obtain peerless martial arts.

Wende Martial Arts Hall!

After finishing a sparring session with a little brat, Zhao Rui jumped down from the ring, took a bottle of drink from the Coach, and gulped it down.

Sparring with little brats like this consumed the most stamina. Not only did he have to hold back his Internal Energy, he also had to restrain his physical strength.

It felt rather like playing with a child.

Still, though it was tiring, the result was not bad. The little brat's Bagua Palm had already been completely copied by Zhao Rui and had reached the Proficient level.

"Big brother, thank you!"

"You're welcome. Practice hard. I have high hopes for you!"

Zhao Rui encouraged the little fellow. Compared with the genius he had met on his first day here, this young man was a bit lacking, but he was still a good martial arts seedling.

At the city's best school, he could still rank among the top fifty.

Though Zhao Rui's Level Four Martial Artist strength put him among the best in his class, at other first-rate schools, he would only rank around twentieth or thirtieth in class.

This kid's talent was far stronger than Zhao Rui's had been before he gained the system panel.

At such a young age, his Bagua Palm had already reached the Proficient level, and he also possessed an impressive leg technique. The system showed its name as Chasing Wind Leg.

It had likewise reached the Proficient level.

"Mm, I will! My goal is to become a Grandmaster of my generation!"

The young man clenched his fists and gave himself a spirited boost.

"Go get busy. Recall the sparring process and look for your shortcomings..."

The Coach gave the young man a few instructions, then turned to speak with Zhao Rui.

"Hong Fei hasn't come in a long time!"

The Coach's words carried a bleak note, his eyes tinged with helplessness and loneliness.

"Mm, I know."

"People in their line of work scrape out a living on the edge of life and death. You never know what day they'll simply vanish."

The Coach spoke in a deep voice. "More than ten years ago, I had thoughts like that too, but through a twist of fate, I never went..."

"I know you got into university, but I still have to remind you: don't get involved in these underground boxing matches. There are too many hidden twists and turns inside."

"Mm, thank you, Coach. I understand!"

"In the blink of an eye, it's August already. Your admission notice should be arriving soon, right? Which school did you apply to? Are you confident?"

"Not bad. It should be more or less certain!"

The two chatted for a little while longer, then Zhao Rui packed up his backpack and rode his bike home.

(End of this chapter)