On the arena, Jiang Ye and Chen Zilu stood facing each other.
Around the arena, two camera-like devices hovered in the air. They were used to evaluate practical combat scores.
"Let's begin."
Chen Zilu raised her fists and beckoned Jiang Ye over.
"Yes."
Jiang Ye nodded and raised his own fighting stance.
But just as he was about to take the initiative, a prompt suddenly appeared before him.
[Warning! Warning!] [An existence exceeding the limit has been detected!] [New achievement unlocked: Sparring with the Martial Arts Ancestor!]
"."
Jiang Ye truly hadn't expected the system to pop up at a time like this.
Once he had read the message, he was stunned all over again.
Another existence exceeding the limit?
And a Martial Arts Ancestor??
According to the system's judgment, Chen Zilu, a high school teacher, had actually become the Martial Arts Ancestor!?
Seeing this, Jiang Ye couldn't help feeling incredulous.
But soon, he thought, If I complete this achievement, I wonder what reward I'll get?
Sparring with the Martial Arts Ancestor.
The reward should be pretty generous, right?
At the same time, seeing that Jiang Ye still hadn't made a move, Chen Zilu immediately chose to attack first.
She strode forward, her figure flashing like lightning, and sent a fair, delicate fist straight at Jiang Ye.
"Boom!"
A fierce aura rushed toward him.
Jiang Ye's heart tightened. He knew that when martial arts experts made a move, they were accompanied by their own aura.
The deeper their Martial Arts cultivation, the more imposing that aura became.
Although Chen Zilu had suppressed her level to the entry stage of the Cultivation Method, her aura still made people hold their breath.
Jiang Ye immediately raised his left arm to block while driving his right elbow toward her.
"Bang!"
Chen Zilu seemed to have anticipated it. She caught his elbow with her palm and nodded. "Elbow Strike Fist? Not bad power, but your method of exerting force is wrong."
In the Star Martial Cultivation Method, fist techniques were the most crucial part.
The Elbow Strike Fist was one of its most classic moves.
"Use your legs, waist, shoulder, and elbow to exert force together, linking them into one line. Strike a point to affect the whole surface!" Chen Zilu instructed.
As soon as she finished speaking,
she used the Elbow Strike Fist herself, driving her elbow toward Jiang Ye.
"Boom!"
The force behind this strike was about the same as Jiang Ye's, but the effect was worlds apart. It even left a muffled boom in the air.
Jiang Ye crossed his arms in front of himself to guard.
"Thump!"
He felt a force as vast as the primordial wilderness crash into him, sending him stumbling backward several meters before he nearly stepped off the arena.
"Whoosh!"
In the blink of an eye, Chen Zilu closed in again and smashed down with a fierce straight punch.
Jiang Ye was now at the edge of the arena. An ordinary person would have had no chance of winning.
"Whoosh~"
But in the next instant, Jiang Ye's body slipped aside like a loach, dodging from an almost impossible angle before returning to the center of the arena.
Luckily, Physique Enhancement gave me far better control over my body than before. Otherwise, I'd have already lost.
Jiang Ye panted lightly. Along with his relief, he felt immense pressure.
They were both at the entry stage of the Cultivation Method.
But Chen Zilu's combat ability and fighting techniques far surpassed his own.
At the same time,
a flicker of surprise crossed Chen Zilu's eyes when she saw Jiang Ye dodge.
"Whoosh!"
She stepped forward again and attacked Jiang Ye.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Grabs, pounces, shakes, intercepts—the various fist techniques came with sharp shadows of fists, enveloping Jiang Ye like a violent storm.
"So strong!"
Jiang Ye kept dodging and blocking, his arms going numb from the impacts.
Soon, he was driven to the edge of the arena once again.
This time, Jiang Ye couldn't return to the center. Chen Zilu struck him with a punch, knocking him off the arena.
"Phew~"
Jiang Ye steadied himself and cupped his hands toward the stage. "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher."
Chen Zilu had indeed taught him a great deal in this practical match, and he had benefited immensely.
"Your practical combat ability has improved quite a bit since last semester. Looks like you put in a lot of effort over the winter break."
Chen Zilu smiled. "Good. Keep it up."
As a teacher, she liked hardworking students like him.
"Yes."
Jiang Ye nodded and turned back to his place.
Chen Zilu watched Jiang Ye's retreating figure, her gaze shifting slightly.
She knew this student had trained extremely hard ever since his first year of high school.
He worked even harder than the students in the top ten of the class.
What a pity.
Chen Zilu sighed inwardly.
If this kid had a stronger aptitude, he might have had a chance of getting into the Twenty-Five School Alliance. He's so diligent, yet his talent holds him back.
With Inferior Aptitude, getting into an ordinary Martial Arts University was already an impressive achievement.
As for the Twenty-Five School Alliance?
It was almost impossible.
In the classroom, the students around them were all astonished.
During this practical match, Jiang Ye had lasted on the arena for no less time than the top ten students in the class!
The top ten had all reached Minor Accomplishment in the Cultivation Method, and they had been at that level for half a year already.
Jiang Ye, meanwhile, had only reached the entry stage of the Cultivation Method.
His practical combat ability was astonishing.
At the same time,
the electronic blackboard at the back of the classroom displayed Jiang Ye's practical combat score.
"Twentieth place: Jiang Ye."
Jiang Ye wasn't surprised by this ranking.
The practical combat ranking was based on a comprehensive assessment of his fighting techniques, combat awareness, physical fitness, and other aspects.
Just now, he had only managed to hold out that long by dodging again and again.
But his fighting techniques were actually far inferior to those of the top ten students.
"Twentieth in practical combat? A Ye, you really are something. You've been hiding your true abilities."
Beside him, Wen Yuehui exclaimed repeatedly.
Jiang Ye shook his head. "You've improved a lot this time too. You went from tenth place to eighth. Don't tell me you said you were giving up on the surface while secretly training behind everyone's backs?"
"I'd never stoop to something like that," Wen Yuehui denied.
Jiang Ye didn't bother with him anymore, because a system message had already popped up before his eyes.
[You have achieved a new achievement: Sparring with the Martial Arts Ancestor. Despite the disparity in strength, you remained at ease!] [Title unlocked: Friend of the Ancestor] [Reward: The Martial Arts Ancestor went easy on you. When she teaches you martial arts, your Comprehension Boost increases by 30%]
"."
Looking at the prompt on the panel,
Jiang Ye's face darkened a little.
Was it saying that Chen Zilu had gone easy on him during their sparring just now?
That wasn't going easy. Chen Zilu had clearly been suppressing her strength on purpose!
This idiot system.
Whatever. This system can even get the world's rules wrong, so it's no surprise it got this wrong too.
Jiang Ye quickly let it go.
Then his eyes lit up.
"Comprehension Boost increases by 30%?!"
Martial Cultivation depended first on aptitude, and second on comprehension.
Comprehension was crucial. Some people had ordinary aptitude, yet thanks to exceptional comprehension, they could still achieve great things in Starry Sky Martial Arts.
A 30% boost to comprehension was definitely a huge improvement.
As for the prerequisite, "when she teaches you martial arts"?
That was perfect. Chen Zilu was already Class Nine's Martial Arts teacher, and she taught every class.
She had a Martial Arts class that very afternoon.
I'll find out this afternoon, Jiang Ye thought expectantly.
By now, the placement assessment was completely over.
The electronic blackboard displayed the overall rankings for the start-of-term placement assessment.
[25th place: Jiang Ye, 206 points]
"Twenty-fifth place?" Jiang Ye saw his ranking and nodded slightly, unsurprised.
By rights, he shouldn't even have made the top thirty this time.
Physique Enhancement had greatly improved his level.
On the arena, Chen Zilu swept her bright eyes across the students.
"For this placement assessment, I want to give special praise to Jiang Ye. He's risen directly from fortieth place last semester to twenty-fifth."
Chen Zilu said calmly, "Like all of you, his aptitude is ordinary! An improvement like this comes from his consistent, hard training."
As Chen Zilu spoke, quite a few people quietly glanced at Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye remained calm.
Compared with the final assessment last semester, he had indeed improved a great deal.
Physique Enhancement was one reason for that.
Of course, the main reason was his persistence and hard work.
If I hadn't worked hard enough over winter break, I wouldn't have activated the system this time—let alone climbed so many places, Jiang Ye thought.
At the podium, Chen Zilu concluded, "This afternoon, I'll teach techniques from the Advanced Cultivation Method."
"After lunch, remember to get back to the classroom early." With that, she turned and left.
"Yes."
The students all got up and rushed out of the classroom. It was lunchtime.
Jiang Ye ran out with them, but his mind kept returning to what Chen Zilu had just said.
"Advanced techniques?" His eyes were full of anticipation.
The teachers had never taught them these before. This would be the first time.
Perfect. He wanted to see just how much the boost to his comprehension would help him.
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