This Grudge Is Settled

"Hahaha, Old Wang, it's been ages! I've missed you so much!"

The deep wrinkles on Captain Gu's conspicuously old-looking face crinkled as he strode forward, laughing heartily, and gave Teacher Wang a vigorous hug.

"You lost the match, and you're still this happy?"

Teacher Wang's eyes narrowed, then snapped wide open in astonishment. "You broke through?"

Captain Gu smiled and gave a slight nod.

"You little rascal! Hahaha!"

Teacher Wang was overjoyed. He punched Captain Gu in the chest, and the two burst into laughter.

"I knew it. With your ability, how could you fail to make the round of sixteen?"

"Where's Elder Ge?"

Teacher Wang glanced at the team and asked.

"Elder Ge had something to take care of. He stayed in Shangdu."

"Oh. Let's go inside and talk!"

With that, Captain Gu led a large group of the team's key members into the main hall.

Once they were gone, the other reserve members who had been watching all breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, thank goodness. It wasn't all bad news.

Inside the side hall, He Zhiyan stepped back and called everyone from the Sparring Partner Group over. "Everyone, brace yourselves. Don't provoke him."

After saying that, he strode out of the side hall with his brows tightly knit.

Zhao Rui glanced back at the other members. Even Zhang Kui wore a worried expression.

"What's wrong, Brother Zhang?"

He hurried over to Zhang Kui and asked.

Zhang Kui shushed him, then took out his phone and typed a string of words in the WeChat chat window.

"Captain Gu's the only one with reason to celebrate. The others might not be happy."

After finishing, Zhang Kui continued typing. "Don't gossip right now. There's a creep who'll eavesdrop. Someone got into trouble last time, and they've already been pushed out of the Martial Arts Team."

After showing Zhao Rui the message, Zhang Kui hurriedly cleared it from his phone.

"Holy crap!"

Zhao Rui was genuinely shocked this time. People actually pulled stunts like that? Wasn't that just crazy?

Martial artists' eyesight and hearing were far better than ordinary people's because of their training, but not to an unreasonable degree.

However, if a martial artist focused Internal Energy into the meridians or acupoints around their eyes or ears, their abilities could improve dramatically.

It wasn't just that walls had ears. Someone with profound Internal Energy could detect even the slightest movement a kilometer away.

From Zhang Kui's meaning, the hint was obvious: there was a shameless official team member with a twisted mind. If he got chewed out later, he would prick up his ears and eavesdrop on everyone else's conversations.

Then he'd retaliate!

He'd probably started listening the moment he entered the main hall.

What a damn mess!

Zhao Rui gave Zhang Kui an awkward smile, then found a quiet corner and sat down to meditate and circulate his energy without saying a word.

No wonder it was called Cicada Courtyard instead of Zen Courtyard!

Less than an hour later, He Zhiyan returned. With an expressionless face, he told everyone, "Come on. We're going to the Martial Arts Hall. Teacher Wang is going to break down the match."

Then he turned and headed out.

Zhao Rui glanced at the others, said nothing, and followed.

A few minutes later, they reached a massive outdoor building that looked like a sports stadium.

The building covered an enormous area. High stands ringed a huge training ground, where all kinds of weapons and protective gear were laid out.

A group of people stood in the middle, arranged in several rows.

When Zhao Rui and the others arrived, members of another group came over at the same time. Gradually, everyone gathered in the center of the grounds and lined up according to their respective groups.

Zhao Rui stood with the Sparring Partner Group. Out of the corner of his eye, he surveyed the dozen or so official team members standing at the front.

None of them looked happy.

It was only natural. Their leader had been unable to compete because he'd broken through, and the rest of them had been eliminated in the second round.

What was that supposed to mean? That without Captain Gu, the entire Dongqi Martial Arts Team was good for nothing?

Teacher Wang would be furious.

The Martial Arts Team had a head coach: Elder Ge, whom Teacher Wang had mentioned earlier. He rarely handled anything.

Teacher Wang took care of the team's daily training and other affairs.

Teacher Wang was named Wang Zhanshan. His strength was unknown, but he was at least above the Grandmaster Realm.

His face was dark as he looked across the faces of several key members in the front row.

"Zhong Xuan, Ye Jingqiu. You two go first. What happened?"

The young man called Zhong Xuan glanced at the woman beside him, then gave a slight nod. "Teacher, I know I was wrong. I underestimated my opponent!"

"Underestimated him? How did he injure your leg? You haven't learned your lesson. You're arrogant and conceited..."

"Ye Jingqiu, what about you?"

"Teacher Wang, I've got nothing to say. I lost, and I accept it!"

The senior sister who spoke wore a thin, transparent knit top over a black sports bra. Its neckline slanted open, revealing her flawless fair shoulder and a slender bra strap.

She wore wide-legged pants, cinched at the waist to form a graceful curve. Beneath the billowing hem of her knit top, a tantalizing glimpse of her figure showed.

Her fair neck tilted slightly to the side, and her eyes held a proud disdain, as if she couldn't be bothered to explain herself.

"Accept my ass. Starting now, you're all doing extra basic training every day!"

After calling out the two most important members, Wang Zhanshan didn't spare anyone else. Everyone who had returned—even Captain Gu—got a dressing-down for poor leadership.

More than thirty people stood on the training ground, each as silent as a cicada in winter. No one dared talk back. They obediently listened to Wang Zhanshan's scolding.

He was completely different from his usual laid-back self. His eyes even held a vicious glint.

After scolding them for ages, Wang Zhanshan finally had two team members bring over a projector. They watched the match's live recording in the training ground's rest area.

This was the North China Plain Provincial Friendship Match. It wasn't an official competition and didn't affect the provincial rankings for the national league.

Even so, it was a large-scale regional competition involving nearly a hundred universities.

Zhao Rui watched with great concentration.

This was a level of competition he'd never encountered before.

"Look at that. You're the ones who kept saying your fundamentals were solid. If you'd planted your step firmly in the qian position and moved from qian to xun to zhen, how could you have failed to break through his palm technique?"

"And this! What is that supposed to be? Dog shit?"

Listening to Wang Zhanshan's foul language, Zhao Rui couldn't help twitching his cheek. Truly, appearances could be deceiving. When nothing was going on, the man was a slovenly lout.

But once he got serious, he was like a wildfire racing on the wind—fierce and explosive!

As if analyzing the footage wasn't enough, Wang Zhanshan called out a member of the Sparring Partner Group and one of the competitors to recreate the scene.

Then he broke down the opponent's moves one by one on the spot.

His temper was awful, but his understanding of martial arts was unquestionably top-tier. His eye was so sharp that he could spot a flaw in an exchange with just one glance.

The lecture went on all afternoon. Only when dusk fell did Wang Zhanshan finally let everyone leave, still seeming reluctant to stop.

Maybe Zhao Rui's level was too low, or maybe they were afraid he couldn't keep up. Either way, they didn't have him participate in the sparring.

Even so, Zhao Rui felt he'd learned a great deal that afternoon—not just about the competition, but about analyzing martial arts.

His perspective had broadened tremendously, too. No wonder people said that the platform you stood on mattered!

After the session ended, Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui walked out of the training ground together. Suddenly, a voice called out to them.

"Hey, you two up front!"

Zhang Kui's face stiffened when he heard the voice. He stopped with an extremely troubled expression, then gave Zhao Rui a meaningful look.

Then he put on a faintly ingratiating smile and turned around.

"Senior Brother Gongye, did you need something from us?"

"Are you Zhang Kui? You're getting more and more useless. You've ended up in the Sparring Partner Group. At this rate, you'll be kicked out in a few days."

The young man who spoke was tall and handsome, with the refined air of a noble young master.

But his words were cutting.

"Senior Brother is right!"

Zhang Kui smiled awkwardly.

After speaking, Senior Brother Gongye ignored Zhang Kui and looked at Zhao Rui with curiosity. "I haven't seen you before. How'd you get in?"

"Senior Brother, I'm a new first-year student."

Zhao Rui replied politely. Seeing Zhang Kui act like this, he knew the senior brother was probably difficult to deal with.

"Well, look at you. You got in through the back door? Let's see what you're made of. Since when did the Martial Arts Team start letting people in through connections?"

Before Zhao Rui could react, Senior Brother Gongye's figure had already blurred toward him. He casually swept out his right palm, which seemed to swell as it rushed toward Zhao Rui, covering his entire body.

Zhao Rui was startled. He tapped his feet against the ground and sprang away, but that palm technique clung to him like a bone maggot, relentlessly pursuing him.

"Great Demon Subduing Palm. Copy?"

"Damn it, copy!"

Looking at the palm technique that filled his vision like it could blot out the sky and sun, Zhao Rui decisively chose to copy it.

If he couldn't escape with Lightness Skill, then he wouldn't bother dodging.

Zhao Rui focused his Internal Energy into the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin and channeled his strength into the Zhongfu acupoint, bringing Cloud Hand Plucks Stars' yielding power to its utmost.

Just as he had against Company Commander Hao, he continuously used Internal Energy to wear down his opponent's palm force.

"Not bad. But not good enough!"

Senior Brother Gongye sneered. His hand suddenly drew back, then shot forward again in an instant. This time, his palm technique had become unpredictable, too.

Zhao Rui barely managed to fend off two moves before the other man struck his shoulder with a palm, sending him flying several yards.

"And that's your level? You got in through the back door?"

Senior Brother Gongye scoffed, then strode away with his companions without even looking at Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui.

The team members who hadn't left yet all turned their gazes away, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.

Zhao Rui sat up, clutching his shoulder. He was about to ask Zhang Kui who the man was when Zhang Kui waved a hand and helped him up without a word. "Come on. Training's over."

After that, he said nothing more.

Zhao Rui instantly understood. This handsome-looking Senior Brother Gongye was the petty, eavesdropping creep of the rumors.

What a waste of a good face.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Gongye had shown some restraint. He'd only hit him with one palm and hadn't used much Internal Energy. Zhao Rui's shoulder was a little swollen, but it would be fine the next day.

They had left Mingchan Courtyard some time ago before Zhang Kui finally checked their surroundings and spoke. "Gongye Lingchen. One of the four top experts on our Martial Arts Team. Keep your distance from him from now on."

Zhao Rui nodded at his words and didn't ask anything else. They were still within the grounds of the Martial Arts Academy. Who knew whether Gongye Lingchen might be wandering nearby?

"Senior Brother Zhang, I'm heading out!"

"Go on!"

Zhang Kui had seemed listless lately. He waved Zhao Rui away halfheartedly and headed toward his own place.

Like Zhao Rui, he rented a place off campus, though it was in a different direction.

The Martial Arts Academy had excellent dorms, but the Martial Arts Team's students rarely lived there.

The world outside was far more exciting than the campus.

After parting ways with Zhang Kui, Zhao Rui went straight to a nearby traditional Chinese medicine shop and bought some ointment for bruises and sprains.

That bastard.

This grudge is settled!

Zhao Rui opened the system panel in his mind and saw that his progress in the Great Demon Subduing Palm had only reached 0.1%.

A brief exchange like that wasn't nearly enough to copy the whole technique.

Looks like he'd have to find a way to get him to train with him more.

Zhao Rui knitted his brows and thought it over in silence.

The autumn night was cool. Stars appeared in the night sky, and beneath the moonlight, a tranquil haze settled over everything.

The next day, with all the official team members back, the Martial Arts Team resumed its usual training schedule.

They practiced fundamentals in the morning and sparred in the afternoon.

Fundamental training included honing Internal Energy and drilling techniques. Practicing techniques wasn't as simple as people imagined—not just performing a few forms based on martial arts moves.

Martial techniques served not only to defeat opponents; they also had the purpose of refining internal energy and opening the meridians.

Some of the stances differed slightly from the movements used in actual combat. Paired with the appropriate mental cultivation method, they stretched the meridians and guided the flow of energy.

This let the body adapt as fully as possible to performing the technique and generating its power.

That morning, Zhao Rui continued practicing Prajna Palm with Wang Zhe's group.

Wang Zhe naturally noticed the injury on his shoulder. Many team members had seen Gongye Lingchen "bully" the newcomer the day before, and Wang Zhe knew about it, too.

Still, he only shook his head and said nothing.

A little after two in the afternoon, practical training began.

It mainly involved analyzing martial arts in combat, having team members spar, and specialized training for specific members.

The Sparring Partner Group's main job was to assist the coaches and help the team members with their practical training. They also took part in simulated sparring against specific opponents.

For example, they might design a special training plan for an opponent in an upcoming match. Members of the Sparring Partner Group would play the opponent and use the same martial arts.

That focused approach made the training more effective.

But the hard part was imitating the opponent's martial arts. If the imitation only looked similar, it would be pointless.

The best results came from copying both form and essence, even imitating the flow of Internal Energy.

Perhaps because Zhao Rui was new, he and Zhang Kui were assigned to the second-year students.

Their main job was to help them improve their practical application of martial arts.

After all, the second-years had only been on the Martial Arts Team for about half a year. They might not even have mastered the team's basic martial arts.

According to Wang Zhe, the Martial Arts Team had four required martial arts. One was the Calming Heart Art mentioned earlier, an auxiliary cultivation technique.

Another was the Prajna Palm, which Zhao Rui was currently training in.

As for the other two, they could only be learned after passing two rounds of elimination during their sophomore year.

At this point, these sophomores were actually learning the same thing as Zhao Rui: the Prajna Palm.

Seeing the coach assign them this way, Zhao Rui couldn't help but rejoice.

There was his mastery-level Prajna Palm, right there for the taking!