Practice the Ape Form, Find the Ape God

Ping'an Middle School's Martial Arts Arena.

The second-year martial arts students were warming up, rubbing their hands together as they tried to get a good result on the test later.

"Hey, have you heard? Looks like a first-year student's taking the test with us this time."

"Is it that guy named Zong Ping? He's a genius. He reached the third Qi-Blood Pass right when he started his first year. Not like the rest of us..."

"Hey, geniuses get special treatment wherever they go. It's normal."

"It's not just Zong Ping. There's also a guy named Meng Chuan taking the test. Do you know him?"

Curiosity spread across everyone's faces. The second-year martial arts students were all busy training, so few of them paid much attention to the school's gossip.

"I heard about him from my first-year cousin. He said Meng Chuan's got decent natural talent, but he practices Guoyi Fist every day and doesn't train in any other styles. Is he taking the test so we can knock some sense into him?"

As the crowd burst into laughter, a young man in a white training uniform walked over. He had a broad back and a muscular build, which clashed oddly with his youthful face.

He radiated a fearsome, tiger-like aura. He stopped beside the group of students who had been talking.

"Let's stop chatting. Qi Fei's here."

"I heard you talking about some first-year genius. I'd like to see just how much he's worth."

The students hurried to say:

"Come on, he's just a first-year kid. How could he possibly compare to our boss, Qi Fei?"

All the students nearby knew this broad-backed, muscular student. He was the top-ranked student in the year, Qi Fei. They chimed in one after another:

"Right, right! Boss Qi Fei is the best!"

Qi Fei wore a beaming smile, clearly enjoying being fawned over.

"Hey, Qi Fei, what kind of act are you putting on now?"

As the voice rang out, two young men with close-cropped hair stepped forward from behind him.

The two looked very much alike. They were on the short side, but their arms stood out: unusually thick and long enough to hang almost to their knees.

They were the Hu twins, who practiced the Ape Form. The taller one was the older brother, Hu Jiaxiang, and the shorter one was his younger brother, Hu Jiarui.

Hearing the Hu Brothers mock him, a flash of anger crossed Qi Fei's eyes.

"Looks like I didn't teach you two enough of a lesson last time?"

"Little Tiger, we'll settle this with our fists in a bit."

The Hu Brothers had never gotten along with Qi Fei. They had sparred privately plenty of times before. Either brother alone was no match for Qi Fei, but together, they could hold their own.

Just then, the second-year martial arts department head walked in through the doors of the Martial Arts Arena with two students.

"Quiet down, everyone. Let me introduce the two students behind me. They're your juniors, and they'll be taking the test with you today. Give them a round of applause."

Scattered applause rang out. Everyone stared curiously at the two juniors behind the department head, wondering what sort of big shots they were.

"They look pretty ordinary. The one with dyed blond hair is Zong Ping, and the one standing next to him with a buzz cut must be Meng Chuan, the guy they were just talking about?"

One student, annoyed that a first-year was allowed to take the second-year test, couldn't help taunting him.

"Meng Chuan, why don't you go practice your Wawa Fist? What are you doing here?"

Hearing someone mock him, Meng Chuan quietly memorized the student's face.

If I run into him in the ring later, I'll use Guoyi Fist to teach him how to talk.

Ping'an Middle School wasn't a specialized Martial Dao school, and it didn't have a dedicated Qi-Blood testing room. Whenever it held Martial Dao exams, it had to borrow Qi-Blood testing equipment from a nearby martial arts hall.

Just then, two men in black training uniforms came over, pulling a Qi-Blood Tester. A white ape pounding its chest was printed on their uniforms.

Seeing them, the department head stepped aside to make room, then announced loudly:

"Thanks to Yuanshen Martial Arts Hall for providing the Qi-Blood Tester. Practice the Ape Form, find the Ape God! Yuanshen Martial Arts Hall is the road you must take to become a martial artist."

Meng Chuan was at a loss for words.

They even slipped in an ad. Should've asked my master to provide the equipment...

The department head continued:

"The equipment still needs time to calibrate. In the meantime, let me go over today's test rules."

"The first test is a Qi-Blood test. Since there are a lot of students, get your breathing and condition in order beforehand. You only need to throw one punch at full strength.

"The results might fluctuate by around 0.2, but it won't make much difference."

"The second test is a ring match, which Principal Zong will personally oversee.

"As usual, fists and feet have no eyes. Students who haven't reached the third Qi-Blood Pass won't take part."

"All right, everyone line up. Once the equipment is set up, we'll start with the Qi-Blood test."

This was Meng Chuan's first time taking a school Martial Dao exam, and he listened very attentively as the department head explained the rules.

"Come on, Meng Chuan. Let's line up too."

Zong Ping invited Meng Chuan along. His uncle, the principal, had told him that Meng Chuan was very strong, and he wanted to see for himself just how good the other boy was.

Meng Chuan and Zong Ping joined the end of the line. Since each student only needed to throw one punch to get a result, the testing went quickly.

Meanwhile, the front of the line was lively.

"Damn it, this machine's inaccurate, isn't it, sir? I got 3.81, just short of making it into the third pass. If it fluctuated upward by 0.2, I'd have made it."

"Get out of here. You're just bad, so train harder instead of blaming the machine. Watch me."

[Qi-Blood value: 3.12, passed the second gate]

"..."

When it was the Hu Brothers' turn, their test results drew a stream of praise from the crowd.

"The Hu Brothers are still strong. The older one got 6.41, the younger one 6.05. I bet only Brother Fei can beat them."

The Hu Brothers were delighted by their results. If they kept this up, getting into Yong'an Martial Arts University was practically guaranteed.

Their family wasn't well-off; they came from ordinary backgrounds and had to support two young martial artists.

Besides their talent and hard work, they owed their success to the owner of the Yuanshen Martial Arts Hall, who appreciated their potential and had generously cut their tuition in half.

The Hu Brothers were grateful. After removing the sensor, they called out to everyone:

"Everyone, if you want to learn martial arts and train your fists, Yuanshen Martial Arts Hall is the place to go!"

The martial arts hall staff beside the Qi-Blood Tester applauded in approval, privately thinking:

"What good kids. They know how to repay kindness."

There were nearly two hundred second-year martial arts students, and the Qi-Blood testing was still underway.

Meng Chuan was the sort of person who held a grudge.

He had been watching from the back, keeping an eye on the student who'd said he practiced Wawa Fist and had no business being there.

As it turned out, the other boy's Qi-Blood value hadn't even reached the third gate. He wasn't eligible to enter the ring later.

Meng Chuan could only think, What a shame.

Qi Fei had been practicing on the wooden human dummy nearby, trying to get a feel for it as he prepared for the ring match. He hadn't joined the line.

He was supremely confident and planned to make his appearance last.

As the line for the Qi-Blood test grew shorter, leaving only Meng Chuan and Zong Ping, Qi Fei walked over.

A first-year should give way to him. Qi Fei stepped forward and put on what he thought was a friendly smile.

"I'll go first, you two. You can keep working on yourselves for a while longer."