You're All Just Dumb

In an old residential district of single-story houses in the city stood an antique-looking old residence.

Two stone lions stood on either side of the somewhat archaic gatehouse, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws in an imposing display.

The main gate was coated in black paint, heavy and solemn.

Above the door hung a four-character plaque: "Jiming Pharmacy." The vermilion lettering had faded somewhat, clashing with the pitch-black entrance.

Zhao Rui stepped inside, where the sounds of people practicing martial arts—shouts and grunts—came from within.

Under the slanting rays of the setting sun, beads of sweat rolled down youthful faces, gleaming brightly.

Zhao Rui passed the junior brothers and sisters practicing martial arts and entered the main hall at the front.

Beside an Eight Immortals Table in the center of the hall, an old man sat upright, rolling a teapot in his hand and taking an occasional sip.

"Master, did you paint the gate? It reeks! Why didn't you repaint the plaque too?"

Seeing the old man, Zhao Rui asked with a smile.

"With you poor disciples, where would your master get the money to paint anything? This was leftover paint someone gave me, so I put it to use. There wasn't any red!"

The old man had an unshaven face and graying hair. His two eyebrows were as long as thumbs—who knew whether they were real or fake?

His head was noticeably larger than an ordinary person's, making him look somewhat exaggerated.

This man was Zhao Rui's martial arts master, Li Da Naodai—Li Cunxin!

"Once I get into college and make big money, I'll definitely get you a brand-new plaque!"

"Don't. I'm not counting on you lot to remember me after making big money. Did you pay last month's tuition?"

Li Cunxin crossed one leg over the other, speaking without the slightest politeness.

"Hehe, Master, didn't you say that if I tutored Xin'er, I wouldn't have to pay tuition?"

"Go on, go on. You only know how to take advantage of this old man. Xin'er hasn't finished her homework. Go take a look. She was clamoring for me to call you, but I ignored her!"

Li Cunxin said impatiently.

Zhao Rui chuckled and headed into the inner residence.

"Junior Martial Uncle, you're back from school! I don't know how to do any of these questions. Hurry and explain them to me!"

The moment he entered the front hall of the inner residence, he saw a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl bent over a wooden table doing homework.

Hearing his footsteps, the little girl looked up and happily called out to Zhao Rui.

"Can't you use your own brain?"

Zhao Rui said.

"I ran out of brains ages ago. You and grandfather knocked them all out of me!"

The little girl rolled her eyes. Her pale little hand spread two fingers apart, blocking Zhao Rui's palm as it came down to knock her head.

Zhao Rui smiled awkwardly. Remembering all the "bad habits" of bullying children from before, he could not help feeling ashamed.

That was what "he" did, not me!

In his previous life, he had doted on other people's daughters more than anyone. How could he possibly bully a girl?

"From now on, Martial Uncle promises not to knock your head again. Which question is it? Let me see!"

Zhao Rui put away his teasing attitude and began tutoring his little martial niece.

After teaching for an hour, the sky had already gone dark. A chubby boy ran in and called Zhao Rui to the front courtyard.

After giving his little martial niece a few instructions, Zhao Rui followed the chubby boy out of the front hall of the inner residence.

"Senior Brother, Senior Disciple Brother and the others are back. The atmosphere doesn't seem too good."

The chubby boy was an apprentice, the kind who paid to learn martial arts.

"Mm, got it!"

Zhao Rui answered. Before long, he reached the front courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw a row of middle-aged men and young men standing there with their heads hanging low in dejection.

Li Da Naodai held a tobacco pipe, puffing out smoke as he paced before them.

"You lot are really something. Not one of you made the top fifty in the district. What, do these old bones of mine have to go out and compete personally?"

Li Cunxin was in a foul mood. Every disciple he taught was dumber than the last.

His eye for talent truly was beyond saving.

Not only were his disciples dumb, but his sons were dumb too. Neither his eldest nor second son had inherited even this bit of his martial arts.

As he was scolding them, his gaze caught Zhao Rui, who had hurried over and stopped at the courtyard entrance.

His anger immediately doubled.

He had originally hoped this youngest disciple would make him proud. Forget the top ten or top twenty in the district—at the very least, he should have made the top fifty.

Yet he had only ranked in the top hundred.

"You too, get over here and stand as punishment!"

Li Cunxin barked at Zhao Rui irritably.

Hearing that, Zhao Rui quickly lowered his head and hurried over, joining his senior brothers and senior sisters in receiving punishment.

"Look at yourselves. What kind of state are you all in?"

"I'm not even going to talk about extra training or anything. You're all just dumb! ..."

"Back in my day, your master, I..."

Li Cunxin rambled on for most of the day before sighing, knocking out his pipe, and pacing into the back courtyard.

Once he was gone, Zhao Rui cautiously asked several senior brothers and senior sisters about their rankings.

Sure enough, after asking around, not one had a good result. The best was Senior Disciple Brother, Master's eldest son, who ranked fifty-sixth.

But Senior Disciple Brother was already forty. His talent truly was limited.

Everyone exchanged glances and sighed twice. With no mood to chat further, they prepared to leave separately.

Zhao Rui was somewhat dumbfounded. He had come today intending to spar with his senior brothers and test the system's functions.

If they all left, who was he supposed to find?

Zhao Rui hurriedly stopped Third Disciple Brother Luo Ranfeng. "Senior Brother, spar with me!"

"You sure?"

Luo Ranfeng's narrow eyes narrowed further, and an unusual glint lit up within them.

"Damn!"

Zhao Rui jumped in alarm and hurriedly waved his hands. "Forget it, forget it. Another day!"

"Too late!"

Before Zhao Rui could turn around, Luo Ranfeng had already seized the Taiyuan Acupoint on his wrist and dragged him into the Training Ground.

Less than a minute later, Zhao Rui's ghostly wails and wolfish howls came from inside!

"Holy shit, Senior Brother, are you a freak? You keep kicking me in the ass!"

"That's going too far! Even a clay figurine has three parts anger—don't push me!"

Inside the Training Ground, Zhao Rui howled for quite a while. Seeing that his senior brother was serious, he finally summoned every ounce of focus and began sparring earnestly.

Luo Ranfeng was a Level Five Professional Martial Artist, with more than ten years of Internal Energy cultivation. He was far beyond Zhao Rui, who had cultivated for less than seven or eight years and had only focused on Cloud Hand Plucks Stars for the past five.

Moreover, they had the same master and knew each other's martial arts techniques inside out. In this exchange, Zhao Rui was naturally at a severe disadvantage.

Still, it was only a spar between martial brothers, so Luo Ranfeng would not go all out.

As they traded blows, fists and kicks flying for quite some time, another line of information appeared on Zhao Rui's martial arts panel.

"Name: Zhao Rui

Age: 18

Martial Art Available to Copy: Cloud Hand Plucks Stars (Copy?)"

Seeing that name, Zhao Rui hesitated slightly. Only after taking another kick from his senior brother did he cast aside his distracting thoughts and focus fully on the fight.

"Copy!"

Zhao Rui chose to copy it without the slightest hesitation.

More than half an hour later, Zhao Rui sat panting on a stone bench beside the Training Ground. Taking the drink his senior brother handed him, he gulped it down in great swallows.

"The Gaokao is coming soon. You can't get restless. At your level, you're already much stronger than we were back then. Don't rush!"

Luo Ranfeng sat beside him, took a sip of water, and spoke calmly.

"Mm, Senior Brother, I know. My teacher said my actual combat ability is a bit lacking, so I want to get in a few more sparring sessions before the Gaokao."

Zhao Rui said, half-truthfully and half-falsely.

"Fine. I don't have any competitions recently either. Come over whenever you have time, and I'll practice with you!"

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

"What are you being polite for?"

After resting in the Martial Arts Hall for a while, Zhao Rui got up and parted ways with his senior brother, then entered the Inner Hall alone.

(End of this chapter)