With a Buffer, It Shouldn't Hurt, Right?

Zhao Rui had no intention of winning. His body moved like a kite, rising and falling as he leaped about. Whenever their hands met, he used the Silk Entanglement Technique, overcoming hardness with softness.

After the slightest contact, they separated at once. After exchanging eleven rounds like this, neither of them had properly traded even two palm strikes.

Cui Jian shouted unhappily, "Zhao Rui, aren't you getting annoying? What can you possibly train like this?"

Zhao Rui said nothing. Suddenly, his body sank low, both palms striking the ground. He spun like a top, his palm wind sweeping sideways as force spilled in every direction, like clouds and mist soaring into the air and blanketing heaven and earth.

His right hand formed a sword with two fingers, hidden within the cloud and mist, appearing and vanishing as killing intent lurked in the shadows.

Cui Jian chuckled, rapidly retreating as he shouted, "Cloud Moves in All Directions? This is exactly what I was waiting for!"

As he slid backward, he leaped into the air, twisted his body, and swung out a palm strike straight at Zhao Rui's face.

Zhao Rui raised a hand to block. His body swayed, and all the force dissipated.

Their exchange was like rabbits springing and falcons diving, swift beyond compare.

"That was awesome! Again!"

Overjoyed, Cui Jian steadied himself and charged forward once more.

"Taihang Thirteen Palms, copy?"

"Copy!"

Zhao Rui still said nothing as he surged forward, and the two began fighting again.

They fought for another seven or eight minutes before the teacher stopped them and separated the pair.

"That was satisfying, Zhao Rui! When are we fighting again? You never wanted to go all out before, haha."

Cui Jian said this as he stepped off the platform, still wanting more.

"No problem! We'll spar when we get the chance."

Zhao Rui broke into a smile. The system interface in his mind had already changed its numbers.

Name: Zhao Rui

Age: 18

Copied martial art: Taihang Thirteen Palms, progress 10/100.

Advancement points: 0.

Zhao Rui returned to his place, his brows faintly furrowed. This progress was way too slow, wasn't it?

They had fought for more than ten minutes just now, and he had used the moves at least seven or eight times, yet the progress had only reached ten percent.

Didn't that mean that, if he wanted to copy it completely, he had to keep fighting the other person regularly?

This system was kind of...

A term that had accompanied him for more than a decade in his previous life suddenly popped into Zhao Rui's mind.

Sparring partner!

It seemed, perhaps, that if he really became a sparring partner, everything would become effortless.

He just didn't know whether the progress had anything to do with the difficulty of the martial art.

It looked like he would have to run more experiments.

Back in the group, Zhao Rui watched the other students trade blows on the stage, and his hands itched unbearably.

But over the entire afternoon, each person could only fight two matches. The remaining time was spent on the teacher's overall critiques and one-on-one guidance.

However, because the teacher was managing dozens of students, it was impossible for him to attend to everyone. He could only offer broad, general instruction.

That definitely could not satisfy most students' needs.

Families with money and influence would hire private instructors for their children, or simply have them acknowledge a renowned Martial Arts Master as their Master.

People like Zhao Rui, with neither money nor influence, were not entirely without a way forward.

Those with talent, once they began to stand out, would naturally have famous schools, major sects, and organizations come knocking to recruit them as inner disciples.

They could even skip the written Gaokao altogether and be directly admitted into the corresponding institution of higher learning.

Those with ordinary talent could choose to become disciples of martial arts schools.

The martial arts schools here were much like the ones in Wong Fei Hung martial arts films from the late Qing dynasty in his previous life.

They might not necessarily be exceptionally formidable, but they at least had a few tricks up their sleeves, knew a couple of special techniques, and possessed an inherited art to keep the household standing.

Disciples were also divided into two kinds: those who formally entered the school, and those who paid for guaranteed instruction.

The first kind were core disciples. They had to acknowledge the other party as Master, worship the ancestors of the Master's lineage, and inherit its traditions.

That was a true Master, not a school teacher.

The other kind required payment, but they were taught for real, seriously and properly. It was simply more commercialized, and what they taught were more commonplace things.

Snakes had snake paths; rats had rat roads!

No matter how this world changed, human nature would never change!

It all came down to fame and profit!

Zhao Rui had also joined a martial arts school. A few years ago, he had paid to enter one called Jiming Pharmacy.

At first, he had merely been an ordinary paying apprentice. Later, when Master Li Da Naodai saw that he had decent talent, he accepted him as a disciple.

Well, the kind where he paid an extra two thousand yuan every month.

There was no helping it. If he wanted to rise above the crowd, he had to learn some genuine kung fu. With only those commonplace skills, Zhao Rui could forget about getting into a good university.

Fortunately, Li Da Naodai truly did the work after taking the money. When teaching kung fu, he had never been vague about it.

In the training room, Zhao Rui stepped onto the platform for the second time, and his opponent was still Cui Jian.

This delighted Cui Jian, whose hands had been itching all along, beyond measure.

The two said little. Once they stepped onto the platform, they assumed their stances and began fighting.

This sparring session lasted another ten-odd minutes. Not only did they show no signs of stopping, they grew more excited the longer they fought.

Zhao Hengsheng, the practical combat teacher watching from the side, rolled his eyes repeatedly.

If he did not call a halt, these two would probably keep fighting until class ended.

"Stop! What is going on with you two?"

Zhao Hengsheng frowned.

"Teacher, I'm not satisfied yet!"

Cui Jian chuckled. He knew that he got excited whenever he encountered a worthy opponent, and assumed that he had been the one forcing Zhao Rui to keep fighting.

After all, he was usually the reason they ran overtime.

But he did not know that this time, Zhao Rui was the one who wanted to go overtime.

"Students, the Gaokao is coming soon. You must assess your own situations, identify and make up for your weaknesses, and fill those gaps as quickly as possible!"

Zhao Hengsheng looked over the crowd and spoke earnestly.

The students nodded with different expressions. Some were unconcerned, while others looked solemn, feeling pressure as great as a mountain.

"When you return, review today's practical combat process. Tomorrow, write me a summary and analysis."

After Zhao Hengsheng finished speaking, he signaled for the students to leave class.

After changing out of his Martial Arts Uniform, Zhao Rui was about to leave when he saw the buxom childhood sweetheart girl who had invited him to spar earlier standing at the entrance to the changing room, watching him.

"Ahem, Xue Ning, do you need something?"

Zhao Rui forced out a smile.

"Yes. Before the Gaokao, I hope you can spar with me a few times!"

Bai Xuening stared at him with blazing eyes, as though she had spotted prey.

"I'm not fighting you. You always say I'm taking advantage of you!"

Zhao Rui slung his backpack over his shoulder and kept walking toward the door, bluntly telling the truth.

Bai Xuening's pretty face reddened as she said reproachfully, "Can't you just..."

The girl's words stopped at her lips, and she was unable to continue.

If they truly fought, how could they possibly avoid things like taking advantage? It was not as if he did it on purpose. If a palm strike was originally aimed at the chest, he could not insist on changing it into a palm strike to the butt, could he?

The butt was no good either!

"Then... then can't you be more careful!"

Bai Xuening pouted, her face full of conflict. Her kung fu was not bad. Among the female students, only two could trade blows with her evenly.

She was even better than most of the boys.

But she did not get along with those two girls, nor did she want to fight them.

So she could only spar with boys.

But boys like Cui Jian, the type who charged headlong without a care, made her feel awkward, and she worried about getting hurt.

Only someone like Zhao Rui, who focused on nimble and agile techniques, allowed her to fight with ease, able to advance and retreat freely.

But even so, physical contact was unavoidable.

Uh, this physical contact was not merely brushing arms or legs. It was mainly the chest!

Once, Zhao Rui had failed to hold back in time and slapped his palm onto her right breast, leaving her in pain for quite a while.

The key was that after striking her, the guy had even said with an innocent look, "There was a buffer, so it shouldn't have hurt that much, right?"

He was truly infuriating!

"I have something to do at my martial arts school. Let's talk another day, bye, Xue Ning!"

Zhao Rui tossed out a perfunctory excuse, grabbed his backpack, and fled outside as if running for his life.

Bai Xuening watched Zhao Rui's departing back in grievance, her beautiful eyes faintly reddening. She could clearly feel Zhao Rui distancing himself from her.

"Zhao Rui!"

"Another day, another day! I really have something to do today!"

Zhao Rui's loud voice drifted back from the entrance of the training room.

Hearing the boy's bright, clear voice, Bai Xuening's delicate face showed a trace of embarrassed anger. She muttered softly, "You were obviously the one who bullied me."